It's been a quiet two weeks around here, but I have a good excuse...Adam and I have been in Costa Rica! With no kids! And other adults! It was an amazing trip and just the break we needed. I'll write up a post about it when I'm finished with this bedroom makeover (so two weeks...I have a deadline) and share all the details.
Speaking of the bedroom makeover, we've finished a small section of it...the reading nook!
I love it so much, I just sit in bed at night and smile at it until I …
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Painting RV Cabinets (and what I did wrong)
Y'all...I did it. I finished painting the cabinets in the RV. Somebody get me a drink.
I'd love to tell you a wonderful, uplifting tale about how it was an easy project and I enjoyed every second of it, but that would be a lie. This project sucked and I'm really glad its over. I CAN tell you it was worth it though, so at least this story has a happy ending.I mean, just look at how much brighter and less depressing the kitchen looks with bright white cabinets. Worth it.
Alright, let's …
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A Bedroom Ceiling (Un) Update
A few weeks ago I blogged about our wooden bedroom ceiling, and I finished that post by saying I was pretty sure I was going to stain it.
My issue with the ceiling was that it looked very fresh and new, not rustic and old like I had hoped. Adding to that feel was the fact that the wooden window headers are old and gray, and the two just didn't look like they belonged in the same room.
Staining it seemed like the best solution. Nothing too dramatic, just something to add age. After …
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Vaulted Wood Ceiling (from cedar fence pickets)
In the process of building our house, Adam and I messed up. We knew that we only wanted the builder to build the "shell" of the house and leave the rest for us to DIY, but what we didn't realize (no one along the way did... I'm guessing people don't finance half-built houses very often) is that in order to close on a construction loan, the house has to be 100% finished. This led to a giant, stressful, drawn-out mess when we tried to convert the construction loan to a mortgage. Our solution was …
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Installing Our Highback Drainboard Sink
The first draft of this post was titled "Installing our Highback, Double Drainboard, Faux Vintage Kitchen Sink", which is quite a big description for a simple sink. That title is like when they introduce Kahaleesi on Game of Thrones, and they're all "Daenerys of the House Targaryen, The First of Her Name, The Unburnt.... eight more super long descriptive tiles...and Mother of Dragons." It's the longest title ever, and I'm over here rolling my eyes at the TV and thinking "just call her the queen …
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Mudroom Reveal – Where Form Meets Function
IT'S MUDROOM REVEAL DAY!! Let's just skip the forced introductory paragraph and get right to the good stuff. Here she is!
I don't think I could love it more. It's so satisfying to have a blank space and a vision, and then watch that vision actually come to life!
From start to finish the mudroom remodel (makeover/finish out/whatever you want to call it) took us almost exactly six months. That definitely isn't a short amount of time, but I think it's realistic for a DIY family …
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Simple Farmhouse Window Trim
The mudroom is so incredibly close to being finished, and I can't wait to get the reveal post up on the blog (thinking it will be next week). It's been way too long since we've had a reveal post around here. In the meantime though, let's take a detour and talk about window trim.
So all of the window and door frames were finished with drywall returns during the building process. Adam and I knew we wanted trim eventually, but figured we would do that later (plus they weren't going to make the …
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Herringbone Brick Paver Floor
Y'all. The brick paver floor is finished and it turned out AMAZING.
It is exactly what I wanted, which is impressive considering my list demands was pretty specific. I've seen plenty of brick floors that aren't my favorite, so I was only interested in installing a brick paver floor if three things were involved....lots of earthy color variation, light colored grout, and a herringbone pattern. Oh, and not shiny. So four things. Knowing exactly what you want is a good thing, …
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Rustic Wooden Blanket Ladder (for free!)
There is this empty wall in our living room that has been begging me to put something on it, something large but with a slim profile. A framed picture would be too small, furniture would be too big, but a wooden blanket ladder....well that would be just right. So I decided to make one myself, and the best part is that is was an easy project that I did for free using branches scrounged up from the yard.
Materials needed:
branches - two large ones, 3-4 smaller ones
using …
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Everything I’ve Learned About Painting Shiplap
I logged onto my website this morning to publish this post and saw that it has been a month since my last one. I would have sworn it was only a week or two....time is flying. Flying. Anyway, progress is still happening around here despite my blog neglect, and the shiplap in the laundry and mudroom is painted and officially checked off the list. So here it is!
Before
and after!
I love it, it's so fresh and clean and just a great starting point for the …
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DIY Epoxy Floor Coating – A Step by Step Tutorial
Rustoleum generously donated the products used in this post. All opinions (good and bad) are 100% my own.
I know everyone is in holiday mode right now, but I'm here today to give you some (much needed?) relief from everything Christmas. Not that Christmas isn't amazing and all...but so an epoxy floor coating, right? I know that when I showed the kids the finished garage floor they were like "That is so much better than Santa!" Ha...obviously that's not true, I think their exact reaction was …
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DIY Reclaimed Wood Ceiling (so cheap, so pretty)
I don't think I've been THIS excited about showing y'all a project in a long time. The reclaimed wood ceiling in our kitchen and dining room is finished and it is just SO GOOD.
It's cozy and warm and I just love it. The house feels so much less like an unfinished white box and more like the home I have always pictured in my head. Also, the whole thing only cost $322. That's a deal in my book.
A wood ceiling in the kitchen and dining room was on the "must have" list from the …
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Wood Slice Coffee Table
So this morning I woke up at 6 am, made breakfast, made lunches, got the kids ready for school, finished that last little bit of homework, found everyone's shoes, and made it out the door in time to meet the bus. The boys and I waited for about 20 minutes (while getting attacked by mosquitos) and the dang thing never showed. Since we are at a new stop (just added last week), I figured they forget us and went to get the car to drive them to school. Well guess what? Turns out it's Colombus Day and …
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Double Sliding Barn Doors for the Office
Remember that time Adam and I DIYed some double sliding barn doors and it was the biggest fail ever? Well I'm happy to report that we have learned from our mistake and these sliding doors are a complete success. I love DIY, but many times it is just not worth it. Considering this hardware was about the same price as the failed DIY hardware (that now sits in our garage taking up space) I'd say DIY barn door hardware is forever on the "just buy it" list.
Alright, so here is the story of the …
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How To Install a Light Fixture with the DIYZ App
*Thank you to the DIYZ® app for sponsoring this post. All opinions are 100% mine.
Let’s be honest here....progress in the kitchen is pretty much not happening these days. We got it to where it’s almost completely functional and then quickly became sidetracked with other things. It’s looked like this for a while now -
BUT, we did hang a light above the sink recently, so yay for steps in the right direction!
So last month I was at a local home decor boutique and spotted this …
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Try Something New: Macrame Results
If you missed the first part of this post you can read it here.
It’s time for the results for the macrame challenge! So sorry about being a date late posting this, life happens and sometimes blogging has to wait. I’m here now though, so lets talk macrame.
For those of you that missed the previous post, I’m starting a new blog series where I try a project or technique that I’ve never tried before and post about how it went. For this round I chose macrame and I challenged y’all to join me, …
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The Reason We Have Sealed Concrete Floors
Whenever I post pictures of the inside of my house I get questions or comments about the concrete floor. I’ve never talked about it before, and just like most things there is a story behind it.
So why did we choose concrete floors for our new home? Was it because we love the look? Because they're indestructible and easy to clean? Budget friendly? No, no, and sorta.
The only reason we have sealed concrete floors in our new house is because we can’t afford to put wood …
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Six Months of Landscaping
For the past six months the big project around here has been landscaping. Its been labor intensive and expensive, but the final product has been completely worth it. So let’s dig right in....here is our house in November of last year (at this point we had been living in it for about three months).
Our property is slightly sloped, so drainage is something we needed to address, and Adam and I also wanted a lawn. Real legitimate grass...not something that comes easy in hot, dry, …
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Breezeway Makeover and Family Dinners: No Excuses Edition
For years now Adam and I have said we should start hosting big family dinners at our house once a month, and for years now we have come up with excuses not to. Either we were too busy, or the old house was too crowded, or the new house was too unfinished, or a variety of other things. We ran out of excuses after laying sod a few weeks ago though, and decided that Mothers Day weekend is going to be the start of a new tradition. Once a month, every month, we will have a giant potluck and hang out …
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Master Bedroom Progress and the Nicest Draperies I’ve Ever Owned
Progress has been happening in the master bedroom! We haven’t done any big projects (there still isn't a ceiling or a floor) it’s mostly just been me shopping and dreaming, and its been fun. Last month I posted the plans for the room and showed you these before pictures -
This is the design mock-up I came up with (it’s not great, but you get the picture) -
And here are some of the updates I made -
There is still plenty to do, but it is certainly a huge improvement. The …
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Simple Faux Leaded Glass and Our Rustic Pantry Door
There's nothing better than character in a house. Old houses are unique and tell a story, and my goal is to make our new house look anything but new. I think the pantry door and transom accomplish that goal pretty well.
I bought the door from the antiques fair in Round Top a few years ago (not the failure of a trip I blogged about, but a previous one) and paid $80 for it. Even though the green on my cabinets and the green on the door don’t match (or maybe because they don't) it works …
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