Family Ever After Blog

Family Ever After Blog

Archives for February 2020

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3 Design Tips To Make Small Spaces Feel Larger

If you live in a small space, like an apartment or a condominium, you may have a hard time making your space look and feel like there’s enough room for you and all of your belongings. Luckily, with the right interior design, you can make even the smallest of spaces seem bigger simply by the way it’s set up and decorated.

To help you see how this can be possible within your space, here are three design tips to make small spaces feel larger.

Embrace Mirrors

To make your space seem bigger, you should embrace certain design elements that use mirrors.

According to Laura Mueller, a contributor to Moving.com, mirrors are great to bring into small spaces because they make it easier to light your room as well as making your space appear like it has more square footage. This can be achieved by hanging one big mirror or multiple smaller mirrors. Whichever way you choose, try to align your mirror close to a light source, either natural or artificial, to really get the biggest impact and effect from using a mirror in your small space.

Make Storage Space Beautiful

One of the biggest problems with living in a small space is the lack of storage space. While you can add more storage space by bringing in storage pieces, if you don’t pick the right ones, you could just wind up having your space look like a storage locker filled with boxes and bins rather than the home in which you live.

To help you create more storage in your small space without giving up a lot of your living space, Hadley Mendelsohn, a contributor to HouseBeautiful.com, recommends that you try some customizable storage options. Ideally, you should look for storage options that can be integrated into the design and decor of your home. This might include adding more shelving, corner nooks, or built-ins so that you can have more space for your belongings without taking up too much of your living space.

Try To Give Everything Some Breathing Room

Nothing makes a room feel smaller and more cramped than having it filled to the brim with furniture. But while this might seem like something hard to accomplish in a small space, Elizabeth Stamp, a contributor to Architectural Digest, advises that you leave space between each item or piece of furniture you bring into your space.

By letting your decor have room to breathe, it will make your space feel larger and like there’s more living space to take advantage of. While this might mean getting rid of some of your pieces, it will be well worth it.

If you live in a small space that you’d like to feel larger, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you accomplish this.

 

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5 Things Every Woman Goes Through After Giving Birth

The nine months of pregnancy is something that can’t be imagined by anyone who hasn’t gone through it. A woman’s body goes through an intense series of changes from the inside out, ultimately ending in the extraordinary pain of labor and childbirth. As if that wasn’t already enough, a woman then goes through a series of experiences that have the potential to throw her sanity for a loop.

Between hormones, lifestyle changes, and waves of emotions, here are some of the things that most every woman will experience at least once following birth.

Insecurity About Her Shape

The changes that your body goes through after a baby is enough to shake even the most confident of women. Your body stretches out and abruptly deflates, leaving you with places looking a little different than you remember them before. You may wonder if your body will ever look the same again and may even consider plastic surgery.

Feeling unsure about your body is very common after having a baby since your physical form has gone through so much throughout the process. Have faith knowing that most women feel unsure at some point. With enough exercise and a healthful diet, you should return to your desired shape and feel your regular self within 1 to 2 years, in many cases, even sooner.

Pain And Swelling

Regardless of whether you had a vaginal delivery or a cesarean, your lady bits will be in some pain for a while following the birth. In the event of a vaginal delivery, your vagina will be swollen and likely bruised. It may even look a little rough, but don’t worry, it’s totally normal and will soon look as good as new. In the meantime, you can use ice to calm down the swelling, and wear loose and comfortable clothing.

For cesarean mothers, it’s important to follow doctor’s orders regarding your incision. Some women have a relatively quick recovery after their operation, while others find that it can take several months for their scar to heal completely.

Bleeding

A lot of women don’t realize how much bleeding will happen after giving birth. Most women have to wear heavy-duty pads for as many as six weeks after the birth.

It’s always a good idea to carry around industrial strength pads with you wherever you go. Don’t use tampons since they can cause post-delivery infections.

Hair Changes

Once thick and luscious hair will often become lifeless and dull after giving birth. It can be frustrating since a woman’s hair is noticeably more fabulous during the pregnancy itself. Unfortunately, the sudden drop in hormones will cause your hair to fall out. Not to worry, however! It will go back to normal within a few months!

 

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3 Tips For Caring For Your Body While Breastfeeding

Being pregnant, having a baby, and then caring for that baby can all be very hard on your body. To be performing at your best, you have to know how to take care of yourself during each of these times in your life and in the life of your child.

To help you with this as you deal with being postpartum and nursing your newborn baby, here are three tips for caring for your body while you’re a breastfeeding mother.

Get Enough To Drink Each Day

When you were pregnant, you were likely told that it was important for you to keep yourself hydrated. Well, now that you’ve delivered your baby, hydration is still very important, especially when breastfeeding.

According to the Mayo Clinic, you should be drinking enough water each day that you don’t ever actually feel thirsty and that your urine never appears dark yellow. If either one of these things is happening, you’re not getting the water that your body and your baby needs to breastfeed effectively.

So to keep yourself, your baby, and your breasts as healthy as possible—even though you might find yourself wanting to get some help from a plastic surgeon once you’re done nursing—make sure you’re getting your recommended daily amount of water. Because if you’re not properly hydrated, you’re going to have a hard time producing the milk that your little one so desperately needs.

Be Wary Of Dieting

When you were pregnant, you likely put on a few pounds over the nine-month process. And while some women seem to drop their baby weight very quickly, especially if they breastfeed, others don’t have that same experience. But as much as you might like to buckle down and lose that baby weight fast, while you’re nursing isn’t the best time to be putting yourself on a strict diet.

According to Alina Petre, a contributor to Healthline.com, nursing mothers need to be eating at least 1,500 calories per day to keep up their milk supply. While this is the bare minimum, you should shoot to be eating more like 1,800 calories or more. So rather than trying to diet by cutting calories, just make sure you’re eating healthy foods in proper proportions if you’re worried about keeping your weight down.

Practice Proper Hygiene

Having a newborn means you’re going to be up close and personal with their spit up, urine, feces, snot, and much more. And if you’re nursing, you’re also going to be dealing with breast milk as well. So while it might seem like fighting a losing battle, Melissa Kotlen, a contributor to Very Well Family, shares that you need to practice proper hygiene both for your own health and for the health of your baby. This means that you shower often, cleanse your breasts regularly, and keep your breasts clean and dry.

If you’re unsure about the best ways to care for your body when you’re breastfeeding, consider implementing the tips mentioned above.