We all have to stare at blank walls when we move into a new home, and decorating them can be time-consuming and expensive. If you're looking for a solution, I've been so impressed with the DIY wall art projects that my sister Jordan has been featuring lately. She and her family are living temporarily in an apartment in Paris, so they're looking to decorate on a budget. I think she's done more in six months than most of us do in five years!

Hanging above her couch are two abstract paintings she and her husband did. Abstract art is harder to pull off than you'd expect, she tells me, but I think it looks fantastic. Check out her step-by-step instructions. And see two more projects below -- one your children could even help out with.

It doesn't smell bad to meSo here's the good news, we just bought an awesome new house. One that's unique style perfectly matches our own. One that doesn't rely on stainless steel appliances to look cool, and one that I know we'll be able to live in for years to come. The bad news? Apparently we were so blinded (and lost our sense of smell-ness) by the multi-colored brick fireplace and ski lodge from the 1960s style dining area, and did not notice that the shag-a-rific carpet smelled like cat pee.

Yep, the previous owners had cats and I'm going to go out on a limb and say they were not fans of the litter box. And our dog doesn't like this either and shows her disapproval by peeing over the cat markers. Good times!

I made it my mission to solve this problem that many deemed unsolvable, and without ripping out all of the carpet and investing in very expensive wood floors. It took multiple attempts, but here's how our carpet finally lost its stinging cat urine smell:

In New York, you can’t be too rich or too thin – even if you’re a building. A recent news report about a really skinny house has people around the country laughing their heinies off at poor, beleagured lower Manhattan, where a cool $4.3 million is what you’ll have to pay if you want to live in a house just nine feet wide.

That’s four feet smaller than the length of a Volkswagon bug, and three feet smaller than a teeny-weeny Mini Cooper. It doesn't even have a full address -- it's 75 1/2 Bedford Street.

The city is full of tiny-abode stories, but this one takes the teeny-tiny sliver of cake!

Prince William and Kate Middleton have finally decided on a permanent residence. By the end of June, the newlyweds will be moving into a two-bedroom apartment in Kensington Palace -- which, if you're well-versed in the subject of royals, you know that this is where William grew up with his mother, Princess Diana.

The couple has been spending most of their time shacking up at a $1,200 a month farmhouse in Northern Wales, near William's work. And when in London, they've been staying at Clarence House, which also happens to be where Prince Charles, Camilla, and Prince Harry happen to reside.

Seems like it's a good time to get their own London pad. But is it weird that they're going to be living where Princess Di did? And that they've essentially been living with William's brother?

We've been fortunate enough that as a (now ex) military family, we've only had to move once in an eight year period. At that time, my son Rowan was an only child, and only 18 months old. My husband was deployed, we had a civilian moving company move our things (which only took a few days), and my cousin drove my car from Georgia to Washington and I flew. It went pretty well, and Rowan was also a pretty easy kid to travel with anyway.

But now that we're done with the Navy (involuntarily, thanks to multiple lung collapses, whee!), we're getting to move back home to Colorado. FINALLY.

Now with two kids, one 7-years-old, and one almost 2 and quite a different character, not to mention one cat who meows the whole way to the vet, I'm getting nervous about driving 1,300 miles with them in tow.

At least once a week, either my husband or I makes some mention to the other about "when we have a house." We dream of a yard. A washing machine. A little more room, and how all the snippy little comments would go away if we just had it. ("Ugh, watch out." "You're still in the bathroom?!" "Can't you wait until I'm done washing dishes to get a drink?")

Alas, we simply can't afford it right now (and we're not ready to make the move to the 'burbs), so yo-ho-ho, it's apartment life for us ... unless we buy ourselves a tiny micro-home in Portland. Yard? Check. Washing machine? Check! More room? Ehhh ...

But two out of three ain't bad! And, dudes, for $120,000, who gives a rat's?

Not My Idea of a Dream HomeIf you believe the news, now is the time to buy a new home. Prices are at all-time lows and mortgage rates remain respectable. Sound good? It sounded great to California resident Jack Hagerty. After going through a divorce, he took the bait. 

He lucked out and found a condo perfect for him and his young son, in San Francisco, one of the most expensive places to live in the United States. Unfortunately, that's where his luck ran out.

No sooner had the ink dried on the closing papers and Hagerty made plans to rip out carpets due to allergies, than his new neighbors emailed him to prevent the carpet removal. 

Why? The neighbor is into rough leather sex.  "I am a sexual enthusiast and enjoy leather sex," the neighbor wrote.

I often ask those "what if" questions. What if I won the lottery? What if I dyed my hair? What if my husband was actually an alien? What if I lived somewhere other than my apartment? It is fun to ask myself these questions, yet it drives my husband crazy, but I showed him that other people ask themselves questions like this too ... and some even reveal their answers.

Someone did a survey to see what people would answer to the following question: if you could live anywhere other than your house for a week, where would you live: a tree house, the White House, a life-size Barbie dream house, the Brady Bunch house, or none of the above.

What do you think got the most votes?