Home Shortlist: The Things We Can't Live Without

More Gwyneth Paltrow inspiration!

(And as an aside, I’ve been trying lots of recipes from her cookbook, My Father’s Daughter, and they’ve all been easy and delicious. Hits with us *and* the kids. Sorry to disappoint all you detractors out there….)

Anyway, Gwyn‘s in Elle Decor this month sharing the things in her home and home life she can’t live without — a bathtub in her bedroom, Coro tumblers, seasonal flowers, Charles Edwards star lanterns, and more. There’s a lot we love — and get a little daily lift from — in our home, too. (We could do endless other lists about more personal items as well — must-have perfume, lipstick, handbag, etc. — but one thing at a time.)

Here’s what made our shortlist for things we love/can’t live without at home:

Framed French dinner menus — they hang above our kitchen sink, all vintage-y, sweet, and oh-so-pretty. We framed the menu from our wedding, too — personal and memory-evoking every time we look at it.

Alora Fragrance Diffuser — when buying something new for the living room or rearranging the furniture on a whim isn’t realistic, flipping these sticks upside down to release a burst of your favorite, fresh scent makes you feel like the room just got a mini-makeover.

Dark-stained wood floors. They’re dramatic, they’ve worn well, and they covered a ton of imperfections in our floors when we renovated, which made replacing them all with new boards unnecessary.

Patterned window films. We have these on our bottom windows in the bathroom and we love them! They disguise what you don’t want to see — the siding on our neighbor’s house comes to mind — and still let in all the sunlight.

Double-basin farmhouse sink. It’s big, it’s pretty, it’s functional, it’s from another old Brooklyn house, so it’s local goods. It is actually my favorite thing in the entire house, hands down.

Different paint colors in every room. When our contractor was ready to paint after our remodel, he asked just to make sure: You want all white everywhere, right? Uh, no. Sorry! But color adds so much warmth to a space! Try it. You’ll like it.

A daily baguette. This is a holdover from our trip to France in July and, I have to say, fresh bread adds a lot to the day. The kids love it, too — and they seem to know instinctively that it’s way better than the sliced stuff that comes out of a plastic bag from the grocery store.

Zyliss garlic press. Feel like you spend half your life chopping garlic? Us, too. But this handy little gadget speeds up the process by a lot — you don’t even have to peel the garlic! Seriously. Just pop a clove in, press it, and out come the minced pieces — with the papery bits left behind in the press. (Thanks for turning us on to this one, Kim!)

Tell us — what’s on your shortlist? What are the home essentials you can’t live without?