My Five Favorite Home Basics I Can’t Live Without!

My Bathroom Favorite

There are a few things that just aren’t worth skimping on and one of them is bath towels – I LOVE stepping out of the shower to a big, soft, plush towel! I’ve read a ton of towel reviews and tried out several brands over the years and {these towels} are definitely my favorites. They’re plush and absorbent but are always dry by the next time I need them – basically the perfect luxury towel! 

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One of my other bathroom must-haves is Bliss Body Butter which I love and have used daily for over ten years (I first got addicted when my husband brought home a travel sample from a business trip where he stayed at a W Hotel). It’s a a really good moisturizer and also smells absolutely amazing – my favorite scent is a toss up between the Grapefruit + Aloe and the Lemon + Sage. I’ve found it at TJ Maxx from time to time but otherwise order it {here}. 

My Car Favorite

I know we’re talking all about HOME basics today, but my car is basically my second home (the amount of time I spend carting my kids around and running errands is crazy) so I’m calling it fair game! This is kind of silly but I have a serious love for {this car seat gap filler} that I bought after seeing it on Shark Tank (love that show!). It’s super easy to install and keeps you from dropping your phone, receipts, etc. in that gap between your car seat and the center console where it’s a huge challenge to fish things back out. One of those things that you don’t know you totally need until you have it!

I also love having {these headrest hooks} that attach to the bars of your headrest and are stored neatly folded in:

but swivel around to hold your purse or shopping bag:

My Kitchen Favorites

There are two things in my kitchen that I use almost daily – one that I’ve mentioned before (but I had to include because I’m obsessed with it!) is {this clip-on strainer}. I use it mostly for pasta but have also used for draining fat like when we’re making tacos. You simply clip it on the edge of your pot or pan (it adapts to fit all sizes), strain your food, and then throw in in the dishwasher. So much better than a big colander!

And between my husband’s biking and my girls sports, we use a lot of water bottles and while I’ve tried several products to clean them, {this water bottle cleaning set} is amazing!

The largest brush is super long to get down into any water bottle and there’s also a brush to clean out the straw and a detail cleaner that gets into the crevices of the water bottle caps. And they’re all on a single ring hook (the two smaller cleaning accessories can be snapped on and off the hook without opening it). Love it!

My Nighttime Favorite

I mentioned a few posts ago that I love books and read a little bit almost every night before I go to sleep. I’m a bit of a night owl while my husband’s a morning person so often he’s already asleep when I come to bed so I do my reading (all of five pages before I invariably fall asleep 🙂 ) with my book light. 

I’ve tried four or five over the years but like {this book light} the best – it’s rechargeable, has two different levels of light to choose from, and uses a nice, warm LED (as compared to a lot of other book lights that have a cooler-toned light). 

My Laptopping Favorite 

I do a lot of my laptop work at the desk in our home office but also love sitting in our window seat and on our family room sectional (with my buddy right next to me of course!). Whenever I’m laptopping or just hanging out at home, you’ll most often find that I’ve thrown {this super cozy cardigan} over whatever I’m wearing:

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It’s basically as comfy and warm as wearing a robe but without big sleeves that get in my way and you can totally get away with wearing it out of the house and be as cozy as if you were in your plush robe without looking like a slacker! It has two deep side pockets which is perfect for holding my cell phone and keys if I run out. My husband gave me this cardigan as a birthday gift (it’s available and currently on sale {here}) because he knows how much I love my robe from the same brand (you can find that {here}). My other must-have-by-my side is a glass of seltzer water! I decided to try and break my Coke habit about six months ago (as in the drink, not the hard core stuff 🙂 ) and found that the fizz of the seltzer water totally satisfies my Coke cravings. So whenever I’m sitting down with my laptop, you can count on finding a glass of seltzer water nearby! You can also count on Hope bugging me for belly rubs – of course she makes the things I can’t live without list too! 🙂