At the start of the pandemic, like most millennials, I reluctantly downloaded TikTok. It’s shameful to admit the amount of hours I’ve since spent on it, but I saw this beautiful planter clock being sold by Decor Deals. Of course, it’s always sold out and doesn’t quite fit our aesthetics … so I took it upon myself to make it my own. Here’s how if you’ve been eyeing some new décor like this too!
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The self dubbed DIY queen of using what I have and making it work… we recently did a shiplap wall in our dining room/kitchen [that post is coming soon] and we had some extra wood. I made a post about our guest bathroom earlier when we added a wallpaper accent wall, but I felt the bathroom still needed a little more. Using the remainder of our DIY shiplap wood, we built a half board + batten wall. Follow along to see how we got this look for less!
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So you have your concrete paver patio in place, now to amp it up a notch and make it the backyard oasis you’ve always wanted. Follow along here to see what we did.
If you haven’t read part 1 on how to build your concrete paver patio – you can do that here: DIY Concrete Paver Patio [pt. 1]
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Wood grain. Live edge. Bark accents. Sleek metallic legs. Mid-century farmhouse feel. Perfection.
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Let’s kick this thing off with one of my favorite DIY tutorials, our Pallet Wall. Leep was very unsure about this project in the beginning when I told him we were going to cut up some nasty old pallets and nail them to our wall. But knowing my eye for design and track record of not having an unsuccessful house project yet – he allowed me to be the Foreman and lead! Continue reading
Chalk art makes my heart happy.
This week has been crazy, and it’s only Wednesday. Sure a glass of wine [or 3] at night can help to de-stress after a long day, but sometimes I like to start the day off relaxed by letting my creative juices flow. A little chalk dust and a few cups of coffee later and I was ready to start my day.
I’ve posted previously how to make your own chalkboard wall, but I figured I’d do a quick tutorial on how I actually create my chalkboard art for the average person. [let’s be real – no one has time or sanity for that elaborate fancy shit] I’ve seen people print out their designs and cover the back of the paper lightly with chalk dust then trace over it, I prefer to do mine all by hand. I find it therapeutic to see what you picture in your head come to life.
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We’re doing something a little different this post – a guest post!
My sister and her fiance are moving so that he can attend dental school. [excuse me while I go cry] She’s been busy buying and crafting away to fill their new apartment. We come from a family of crafty ladies.
She recently made this amazing hand-painted, antler silhouette, wall pallet art to hang above their bed. Check out how she did it below!
Take it away, Kaitlyn!
When decorating, you typically have an idea in your head of what you want the space to look like. It’s frustrating when you can’t find the perfect piece of art or furniture to make that vision a reality. In this case, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make it myself! Here’s how you can too – and you can customize it with any silhouette of your choosing – you could do your initials, last name, child’s silhouette – the options are endless!
The piece I was pulling inspiration from was about $300 at Pier One, this one cost us about $75 total.
Our house was built in the 80’s and I don’t think our hall bathroom had been updated since then either. Every time I walked past it and saw the faux marbled sink, orangy wood vanity, pink rose linoleum with pink walls to match, I would shudder. When we first bought our house we updated almost every room except this bathroom. Money was tight from all the other updates so instead of a full overhaul, it was time to give it a face lift.
Here are some before pictures so you can relive the 80’s style in all its glory.
The first step was to take everything out! Since the vanity was in good condition I knew we could re-purpose it. We carefully removed the sink top and then the vanity. Next was the mirror, light and toilet. The wall cabinet was attached to the wall really well so we left it to just paint around. The tub/shower was in good condition and since this was just a facelift – it was saved from my sledgehammer. We then primed the vanity, wall cabinet and baseboards and painted the walls a lovely shade of tan. [we weren’t thinking of needing to see when we originally removed the light -ha!]
Now to tackle those hideous dated floors. We decided on a large tan/grey and white glossy porcelain tile. We first installed the tile cement board and nailed down all the creaks. Then it was placing and cutting the tiles and adhering them to the floor. After many years of watching and helping my mom remodel her house and do tile – I had a general idea of how to. Just apply a generous amount of tile adhesive to the floor and mark ridges using the trowel. Do the same to the back of your tile and stick them together! Using spacers to allow room for grout and a level and more adhesive to keep things even. Once all your tile is in and set a day or two – apply your grout using a float and then a large sponge and water to wipe away the excess. Boom – beautiful tile.
We then painted the vanity and cabinet a light Robin’s Egg Blue and reinstalled the vanity. We topped it with a pure white sink and new brushed silver faucet and hardware. We installed a new light fixture, white toilet, towel rod and other accessories. Our mirror isn’t pictured because it took us a while to find the right one… but I finally found a white framed mirror at TJMaxx.
Here is our updated 2010’s hall bathroom. We were able to complete the entire revamp for less than $500 and in about 4 days!
Does anyone else fall in love with something ridiculously expensive, put it in your online shopping cart knowing you’ll never spend that much on it, then obsess over it for a while? Just me? It’s OK – you don’t have to raise your hand, I know you ‘serial shopping cart abandoners’ are out there.
I knew I wanted a rustic farmhouse-esque table for our dining room, but I couldn’t bring myself to spend the $1500+ they are at Pottery Barn or West Elm. So being the amazing Supervisor/Forewoman that I am – I knew this was the perfect job…for Leep.
It all started with a butcher block counter top we found at our local home goods store. It was about 9 feet long, which was too big for our space so we first cut it to size – about 6 ft.
Once it was cut to size and the edges sanded, it was time for a couple coats of stain and sealant.
Now, to make this beauty stand! We used 2 – 4x4s cut to the appropriate height for our chairs. This is not the place to use an exact measurement others use, but better to “sit” at it with your chairs and cut the legs to your desired height as some chairs sit taller than others. We also used 2 – 2x4s to create an under-edge and supports. We probably didn’t need so many cross supports since the table isn’t huge – but what can I say, Leep likes a sturdy table.
Once everything was ‘measured twice and cut once‘ to the proper length, it was time to stain the underside pieces to match and put it all together. We used wood screws to attach all the parts together and L brackets to attach the bottom structure to the underside of the table top.
Voila! I say this beauty can stand tall and proud next to those $1500 tables. We were able to make it custom to the size that best fit our room & chairs and choose a stain that matched our decor. Costing about a total of about $220.
Malmy Madness 