6 Tips to Sleep Better

Maybe you’re a morning person, but chances are you could be getting better sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults should get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per day. Are you getting enough sleep? Follow these tips to help you sleep long enough and sleep better!

Tip #1: Go to sleep at the same time each night.

Bedtimes aren’t just for kids! Set for yourself a reasonable time to hit the hay and try to stick to it. Yes, even on the weekends.

Tip #2: Wake up at the same time each morning.

Once again, this applies to the weekends. For those mornings when you just can’t get up, try to limit yourself to hitting snooze only once.

Tip #3: Stay out of sleep debt.

Nap when necessary. It is unrealistic that you will be able to stick to your sleep schedule every day, especially on those busy weekends. Even if you miss your bedtime, wake up as scheduled and take a short nap during the day.

Tip #4: Wind down before bed.

Skip out on the after-dinner coffee and save the dessert wine for special occasions. Caffeine and alcohol right before bed may make it difficult to fall asleep. Instead, wind down by reading, listening to calming music or taking a hot bath.

Tip #5: Set an ideal environment.

Keep your bedroom at a cool temperature. Harsh temperatures, either too cold or hot, may cause you to toss and turn throughout the night. Spring for some blackout curtains if you’re sensitive to sunlight. Fill your room with sounds that soothe you. A sound machine may work for you, but a fan or humidifier could do the trick too—multitasking at its finest!

Tip #6: Sleep on a comfortable mattress.

Your mattress may be the cause of all your tossing and turning. Whether it is too small or it has lost its cushioning, a new mattress could be the solution to better sleep.

Sealy mattresses are available at H3 Home + Decor.

Try these tips out and let us know how they work for you!

Festive Holiday Treats

Holiday Season is in full swing and that means one thing: lots of parties and potlucks. During this time of year, it isn’t rare to spend hours on end in the kitchen making dishes to bring to several different get-togethers. These festive treats are an easy and quick fix. Not only are they easy, they’re a fun and edible activity for the whole family. Make a new tradition this year!

Krispie Treat Christmas Trees

Talk about a tongue twister! These cute little treats {from Raining Hot Coupons} are perfect to make and decorate with the kids!

Snowball Cookies
These cookies {from Setting for Four} look just like bite-sized snowballs and you don’t have to worry about them melting. What a perfect snack to leave for Santa this year!

Grinch Fruit Kabobs

Need a quick snack for the kiddo’s class party? Skip the sugar high and make these fruit kabobs {from Nourishing Minimalism} instead. They’re ridiculously easy and quick, plus they’re adorable. Your kids will love making—and eating—these, too!

Santa Hat Oreo Cookie Balls

A holiday spin on everyone’s favorite—Oreo balls! This recipe {from Endlessly Inspired} transforms these yummy cookie balls into cute little Santa hats.

Rudolph Brownies

These brownies {from Kitchen Fun with my Three Sons} require almost no effort and are as cute as can be!

We at H3 hope you have fun in the kitchen and bring the most festive treats to your holiday parties this year!

La-Z-Boy 3D Room Planner and In-Home Design

La-Z-Boy is one of the many brands we carry at H3 Home + Decor. When you hear La-Z-Boy, what do you think? The iconic recliner may come to mind. Of course, La-Z-Boy has a lot more to offer than recliners, including chairs, sofas, sectionals, ottomans, loveseats and tables. With over 900 fabrics and leathers to choose from, La-Z-Boy allows you to make each piece of furniture uniquely yours.

With that many choices, you may need some help. Don’t worry, La-Z-Boy has you covered!  Free in-home designers provide you with expert advice and help make the design process easy and fun!

La-Z-Boy also provides a 3D Room Planner to help you visualize pieces in your home or even recreate your whole space. Use the room planner on your desktop or you can download the app for your iPad! Draw your floor plan, add wall colors and floors, and add the La-Z-Boy products you’ve got your eye on. The room planner is fully customizable, allowing you to add in windows, doors, and other existing pieces of furniture in your home so that you get the full effect.

  

Design Expert Kelly Edwards explains how to use the 3D Room Planner:

Whether you’re adding to your space or completely redecorating your room, take advantage of the resources that La-Z-Boy offers and skip out on all of the rearranging! Check out the 3D Room Planner ask us about our complimentary in-home design services at H3 today!

Cozy Up Your Home This Winter

The temperature is dropping quickly and winter is soon to arrive in full-swing. Bring some warmth into your home this winter without laying a finger on the thermostat. All you need are a few accessories to cozy up your living space! That’s right, no need to repaint or rearrange—just add a few homey touches.

Toss out some extra throw pillows and blankets. 

What makes you feel warmer than cuddling up with a fluffy pillow under a warm blanket? Functional and decorative, you can’t go wrong. This sofa pairs perfectly with the patterned chairs! The throw pillows and blanket tie all of the patterns and colors in together very nicely.

Throw a rug down. 

For those who already have an area rug or have carpet, don’t shy away. Rugs on carpet and layered rugs both bring dimension and texture to a room. These are two of many beautiful rugs Surya offers. There are endless possibilities when it comes to patterns, textures, and sizes.

Bring in some lamps. 

Also functional and decorative, lamps will provide a warm and inviting glow into a living space. These two Surya lamps certainly have a lot of personality.

Add a few natural elements—plants, flowers, wreaths, etc.

Build a fire for an authentic warmth. Decorate with leaves, twigs, pinecones, and even fruits or vegetables. Whether or not they’re real is up to you. Don’t go overboard, just a few touches to give a seasonal feel. This beautiful mantle is from Home My Design.

Make it smell amazing. Appeal to the sense of smell with scented candles, wax melts, or potpourri in festive winter scents. What is your favorite scent? Fill your home with it!

Finally, make the room look lived-in. Add some personal touches—books, photos, vases, baskets, stools, etc. These act as fillers for bare spaces and bring personality to the room. Once again, don’t go overboard—add just enough that your room doesn't look bare.

10 Thanksgiving Recipes to Try This Year

Thanksgiving is near, which means families and friends across the nation will gather to kick off the holiday season with a feast and some football. Here are 10 of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes. After trying these, a nap will be inevitable. Dine and then recline in your favorite recliner from H3 this Thanksgiving!

1. Hot Spinach Dip 
Somewhere between the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and a backyard game of football, your guests are likely to get hungry waiting on that turkey to roast to perfection. Satisfy their appetite with this hot spinach dip from Martha Stewart. The best part—most of this recipe can be assembled up to three days in advance so you don’t have to waste valuable Turkey Day time making an appetizer.

2. Good Eats Roast Turkey
It’s not called Turkey Day for no reason—the turkey is the star of the Thanksgiving feast (and every other meal for the following 3 days). You may have perfected your turkey technique, but if you haven’t, Alton Brown's Good Eats roast turkey recipe is a must-try.

3. Stuffing and Gravy (with gluten-free option)
Another Thanksgiving staple is the stuffing and gravy, of course. This recipe from King Arthur Flour can be made gluten-free with one simple substitution!

4. Can-Free Green Bean Casserole
A Thanksgiving feast without homemade side dishes is no feast at all. Try this can-free recipe from the Talking Kitchen for the holiday classic, green bean casserole.

5. Creamy Parmesan Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes are another staple, but these are anything but ordinary. Set this common side dish apart with this recipe for creamy parmesan garlic mashed potatoes from Simply Scratch.

6. Honey Pumpkin Biscuits
Festive 52’s honey pumpkin biscuits are a perfect way to add another festive touch to your Thanksgiving menu this year.

7. Spiced Cranberry Sauce
Put some color, fragrance and most importantly, flavor, on the table with this spiced cranberry sauce recipe from Taste of Home!

8. Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie with Toasted Pecan Crust
That's a mouthful! A feast would not be complete without dessert. Is there a more traditional Thanksgiving dessert than pumpkin pie? Try this brown sugar pumpkin pie recipe from Williams Sonoma for a delicious spin on a classic. The toasted pecan crust is just perfect!

9. Sweet Potato Cake with Marshmallow Frosting
A unique and festive dessert to try is Smitten Kitchen’s sweet potato cake with marshmallow frosting. Those marshmallow dollops are mouthwatering!

10. Mini Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Last but not least is this mini chocolate pumpkin bundt cake recipe from the Chic for all you chocolate lovers out there. These mini bundt cakes are cute, Thanksgiving-themed, and chocolate. What’s not to love?

Don’t forget to let us know in the comments if you plan on adding one (or all) of these to your Thanksgiving spread this year. May your Thanksgiving be filled with good food and many memories!

Pick the Perfect Paint Color

Whether you have one in mind or you don’t know where to start, choosing the right paint color can seem next to impossible. Choosing colors to coordinate room-to-room may prove to be even more difficult. Thankfully, we live in a day and age where technology can be used to make our lives much, much easier. There are many resources available to help you fill your home with the perfect palette of colors!

If you’re clueless and can’t choose a room color, start by looking for inspiration. Find a rug, sofa, bedding set, etc. that you like and build a color palette around it. For all you pinners out there, do you even need instruction on how to find inspiration? Open Pinterest and pin away!

Sherwin-Williams offers a great tool called Color Snap that allows you to turn any online image into a “personalized paint palette.”  The Snap It Button allows you to identify Sherwin-William's paint colors that correspond to any image of your choosing—perhaps and image of your favorite fabric or a throw pillow you found on Pinterest. You can install the Snap It Button to your browser by adding it to your bookmark bar. Simply click your Snap It Button bookmark whenever you see an inspiring image online to create some color magic! You can even enter in a site URL or upload a specific image on snapyourcolors.com to create your palette.

Use Color Snap or another similar tool to create a color flow from room to room in your home. Sherwin-William’s suggests that for a smooth transition between spaces, choose a color for one room and paint the adjacent space two shades away. Use tones from the same color chip, of course—lighter or darker is up to you.

If you’re looking to liven up your space, you don’t have to stick with a monochromatic color scheme. Choose an accent color for a feature wall. A complimentary color will contrast the main color in your space by opposing it and adding interest to the room.

Of course, we’d love to help you find some inspiration at H3. Don’t forget to take advantage of our free in-home design assistance!