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Category Archives: Home Accessories
The Power of Arrangement
Sometimes, you look at a space and it just feels blah. There’s nothing particularly offensive about the space and it serves its purpose, but it just leaves you feeling a bit lackluster. That is exactly how I feel about the media niche in our family room. While I have grand plans for what the media niche will become, until I have the time and money to carry out my vision, I am left with a piddly DVD shelf, woven basket that holds all of our throw blankets, and TV stand. I’m sure many people would be happy to have them and I DO appreciate their functions, but in the end, this are irks me. I want it to be soooo much more. So, the other day while I was picking up the house, I got a wild hair to rearrange some things! I know, I know… totally never happens to me! Truth be told, the rearrangement came about while I was in the process of concocting a Craigslist/Yardsale plan to purge our house of things that we don’t love. (Eric has yet to fully come on board with this idea, but I’m hoping to convince him with numbers… yes, I am halfway through drafting a “this is what I’ll sell and how much I’ll get… and this is what I’ll buy and how much it will cost” list! Once composed, I’m going to plan my attack and convince him!) Teeheehee… ok, back to the issue at hand. After a quick move of the basket, I realized that it looked a ton more balanced! Then, I decided to make the best of the DVD shelf and dress it more like a formal shelf with pictures and knick-knacks. After putting a little lipstick on the pig, I felt a bit better! … Continue reading
Posted in Family Room, Home Accessories
2 Comments
CHALLENGE RESULTS: No Money, Big Results
Well, it’s official, March is over and we’re already into April! Whew… that went fast! At the beginning of the month, I challenged myself to an entire month of projects without spending a dime! I am proud to say that I got quite a few things accomplished, but there are still tons of projects that can still be done for free that I just didn’t get a chance to get to. So how’d I do on money? Almost perfect! I spent a total of $30.50 for the entire month of March! Not bad right?!?!? I really did plan on spending no money at all, but when push came to shove, there were a couple things I needed. First, Target seduced me into purchasing five baskets for my office closet makeover! Though, in my defense, I knew that I would not be able to get comparable baskets for less than $7 a piece, so it was basically a 66% savings and something I just couldn’t pass up! Do you blame me? Second, I needed to come up with a fun DIY donation for a local charity, so I spent $20 for an Ikea Latt Kid’s Activity Table. Technically, I think this $20 shouldn’t count since it was for charity. Now, how’d I do on projects? I’ll let you be the judge… Biggest Impact: Building Custom Storage for my home office closet, and then using mostly items on hand to get everything organized! This has given me a ton of usable space, where I had none before. Now, all of my camera equipment, office/craft/art supplies, and electronics (including cords) have their very own basket to call home. After I’ve lived with this a bit, I will likely work on an inner-basket organization system to compartmentalize each basket to make them even more … Continue reading
Master Bathroom Updates
Our master bathroom has been a long source of shame in our household. It was terribly ugly and nasty when we moved in, and besides an extremely thorough cleaning and a quick coat of beige on the walls, it really hasn’t received much attention. Part of the reason that this room has been put so far on the backburner is that we plan to do a full gut of the bathroom and start from scratch. The basic RENOVATION PLANS include: DIY-built double vanity Removal of the junky soaking tub Build out a huge walk-in shower for two people Change out standard window for a really long and high window Removal of carpet (seriously, who puts carpet in a bathroom?!?!? c’mon people!) Installation of fun tile/stone floor Removal of “hollywood” light bar Installation of new light fixtures Vanity mirror dress-up Install pocket/bi-fold door for entry to closet Lots of plans, right?!?! Exactly! That’s why we just haven’t gotten to any of them. We’re thinking that our bathroom will likely be last on the list to get attention because we are the only ones who use it, and it functions perfectly fine. But, since it will likely be a while before any serious work gets done in there, I figured I should at least make a small effort to bring it up from completely shameful to at least passable, especially since there is no visual separation from the master bedroom! As paint was really all that had been done, my next steps involve getting accessories! Fun stuff!!! As you may have read in my earlier post, I had quite the ordeal finding just the right bath towels, but for now, I am completely happy with my selection. After I settled on the towels, I scoured the shelves of multiple Ross, Marshalls, and … Continue reading
Posted in Home Accessories, Master Bathroom, Painting, Shopping
10 Comments
Maximize Your Closet Functionality FOR FREE!
I’ve made huge headway over the weekend in maximizing my home office storage and functionality!!! Since I’ve been working behind the scenes on some non-DIY projects, I’ve realized that my home office now needed greater functionality than it had before. In an effort to build extra storage to the existing space without buying anything, I decided to maximize the closet’s functionality! How, you ask? Built-ins! I decided to devise some built-in storage for those awkward, generally useless spaces that seem to be built into builder-grade closets. Not sure what I’m talking about? These are the two spaces I was looking to improve: While I had made some basic improvements to the closet when cleaning out and creating my wrapping storage system, there was still lots to do! My basic idea was to take the left side of the closet and build in four large, deep shelves, and build in just one large shelf on the right side, situated just below my hanging wrapping paper. The finished results were 100% worth it! In the end, the spaces now serve the EXACT purposes that I need- storage and beauty! And… the best part is the price tag! This project came in at 100% FREE! We used already purchased MDF that was taking up space in the garage and painted it using the same white paint we’ve used to paint trim throughout our home! Who doesn’t like free?!?!? I’m loving my results so much, that I actually enjoy keeping the closet doors open now, but I can’t! After all, I have to be able to see the notes on both sides of my chalkboard! What a terrible problem to have! I’ll be back tomorrow with a full tutorial and supply list to get this look and functionality yourself! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO … Continue reading
Posted in Closets, DIY, Get Organized, Guest Bedroom, Home Accessories, Home Office
11 Comments
DIY Custom Wine Barrel Planter Tutorial
Normally a project like this is only free if you are able to snag a free wine barrel, because usually, wine barrels are expensive! For example, at a home improvement store, I’ve seen a “less-than-half-barrel” planter that is nothing special at all for sale for a minimum of $45 a piece! Crazy, right?!?! I think so too. Because of this, I haven’t yet ventured into building any for our home. I’ve actually been waiting to snag some barrels for free, and the opportunity came calling (literally) this month (that’s right, my No $$$, Big Results month- perfect timing!!!)! Doug Tolson of Doug Tolson Construction and Sol Boards (oh yeah, and DIY Network fame) called because he “had something to show me.” I love Doug’s mystery phone calls! I hung up the phone and swung by his house to find that he’d inherited an extra wine barrel and he thought it’d be a perfect project for me!!! He was totally right! Last year I’d posted a bunch’o wine barrel inspiration, so I knew that we should tackle making a planter and that is exactly what Doug had in mind! Before we get started, Doug had some amazing, invaluable tips for breaking down wine barrels before using them to create planters, or just about anything else! Tips to Break Down Wine Barrels for Projects, courtesy of Doug Tolson: Tips to Break Down a Wine Barrel to Make Planters How to Build a Raised Wine Barrel Planter: 1- Cut wine barrel in half using a circular saw, with the wine barrel’s metal band as your saw guide 2- Set aside smaller half- this will become your planter 3- Remove metal rings from larger half- to do this, use a grinder to “break the bands.” Once the bands are broke, use a pry bar … Continue reading
Posted in DIY, Great Outdoors, Home Accessories
9 Comments
Quick Functional Fix Clearing Daily Counter Clutter
Every day, when we come to and from our home, inevitably, our clunky keys land smack in the middle of the kitchen counter. I constantly find myself moving them around all the time to accommodate whatever it is that I may be doing. Silly, right? Well, we’ve had key “storage” for quite some time, but it doesn’t really fit this particular need. You see, we have what I call “uncommon-key-storage”… meaning that any keys that are not used on a daily basis go into a tray in our kitchen handy-not-junky drawer. But, for keys that we use every day, day in and day out, it just doesn’t make sense to have to pull out the tray and dig for the keys that you want. So, when I came across this old key rack, I knew I needed to give it a quick cleanup, and it would serve perfectly! And let’s be honest, maple wood and tacky, brassy-gold is just NOT our style! To prep the rack, I removed all of the hooks, gave the wood a quick sanding with my handy-dandy sanding block. Once wiped down, the wood, mounting screws, and the hooks got a quick shot of grey spray paint primer. Finally, the wood and screw heads got two thick coats of the white trim paint we had on hand (since my white spray paint can decided to clog) and the metal hooks got a thorough coating of silver spray paint! Simple. Understated. Perfectly functional. Aww… peace! No more keys on the counter… and one more “win” towards a clutter-free, efficient home! And possibly the best part of all, NO COST! I think Eric is totally diggin’ this no-spend thing! Oh ya, and in case you’re wondering where this bad boy is ending up, it’ll probably find a … Continue reading
Posted in DIY, Home Accessories, Laundry Room, Painting, Wall Decor
6 Comments
