DIY
A Snarky, but Helpful Wallpaper Removal Guide
Here’s a Snarky, but Helpful Wallpaper Removal Guide for when you are already over it and you haven’t even started. Don’t worry. This feeling is totally normal when it comes to wallpaper removal. For every beautifully wallpapered room I see online I know there is a poor schmuck that will someday have to remove that no longer beautiful wallpaper. Guess how often that poor schmuck has been me? Eight times in our current house alone. Our house really isn’t that big, but almost every vertical surface, including the stair risers, was covered in decades old wallpaper. Why did I want this house again? Removing wallpaper is like unwrapping a present…
Built-In Computer Desks One Year Later
When we constructed built-in computer desks for our kids we didn’t do it with a pandemic and remote school in mind. Our pessimistic nature really let us down on that front. We just needed a place for our kids to realize their lofty career aspirations of becoming YouTube stars that play Roblox and Fortnite. See how supportive we are? Not supportive enough to give them cushy chairs to make them comfortable dabbling with this dream though. We truly didn’t anticipate the office and those built-in computer desks becoming the hardest working space in our house besides the kitchen. The kitchen is always the hardest working space, right? But then the…
Colonial Farmhouse Kitchen Mini Makeover One Year Later
Do you know what I enjoy more than a room makeover reveal? Learning how that makeover is holding up over time. Instead of the pretty spaces, give me all of the hard-working, well-loved spaces that shine. Last January we did a Colonial Farmhouse Kitchen Mini Makeover that mainly involved staining the cabinets and changing the backsplash grout color in our kitchen. To get the full impact of this kitchen mini makeover I need to take you on a quick trip down memory lane. The below photo is how the Colonial Farmhouse Kitchen looked when we purchased the place in June 2019. I know I say this every time I show a before picture, but that…
DIY Wood Stool With Brass Leg Tips
I have the best furniture hack to share with you today on how to DIY a wood stool with brass leg tips. This is going to be a semi-handmade DIY project. Those are one of my favorite type of projects because not everything needs to be created from scratch. Better yet, no power tools were used in this project. Shocking, I know! I started with a pair of unfinished 18-inch wood stools. This is my first time purchasing unfinished furniture and this is what arrived – a total blank slate. The wood stools received two coats of black stain with poly. I just happened to have a can of black stain with poly mixed in, so…
Vinyl Tile Pedestal Stand
I created a vinyl tile pedestal stand from leftover vinyl flooring to go next to my kitchen sink and I’m thrilled to show it to you today! This was such a fun way to repurpose leftover vinyl floor tiles. I like to corral the dish soap and cleaning spray bottle on a tray next to the kitchen sink, but I do not like how soap and water inevitably drips all over that area. I needed a tray or stand for my dish soap that would hold up well when my kids do dishes next to a wet area. We had a handful of leftover black hexagon vinyl tiles from a flooring project. This particular…
Trying Out An Electronic Lock
Do you have an electronic lock on any of the doors in your home? If so, do you have strong feelings about it either good or bad? We just got our first electronic lock and I must admit, it’s kind of handy! The first thing anyone in the real estate field will tell you to do when you buy a new house is to change the locks! You don’t know how many keys for your house are floating around out there and who is in possession of them. Sound advice, don’t you think? Do we heed sound advice? Of course! Except in one peculiar instance. I shouldn’t even mention this out loud, but we did not have…
Under the Stairs Closet Shelves
We now have under the stairs closet shelves and I’m pretty darn happy about it. I’m also happy about “Clean Sheet Day,” a fresh jar of peanut butter, and no-show socks that don’t slip off my heel. I guess I’m an adult now. We have an under the stairs closet in our music room. When we moved into the Colonial Farmhouse, I found three fur coats hanging in this closet. So fancy…if moth hole chic is your sort of thing. That area looked like this when we moved in: Sorry. I forgot to warn you that picture was going to be a little harsh on the eyes. As a reminder, that wasn’t our stuff. It was all…
How to Remove a Dog Door From a Wood Door and Repair the Damage
Do you want to know how to remove a dog door from a wood door and then repair the damage to that door? Oh, good! You’re in the right spot. I need to caution you. This is not a beginner woodworking project, but it is totally doable with patience and the right tools. We had a solid wood door that we deemed was worth the effort to remove the dog door and repair the hole that had been cut into the door to make way for the dog door. Here are the steps we took to return this door to its (almost) original glory.Step #1: Unscrew the dog door and remove all the door components. The…
A New Old Closet Door for our Bathroom
We have a new old closet door for our bathroom. Did that sentence even make sense? Don’t worry. I’ll over explain what I meant in nauseating detail. Our main floor bathroom is a special place. It’s special because it even exists. This house was built before indoor plumbing was invented. It’s special because of its awkward location. Bathrooms were often tacked on to the end of an old house when indoor plumbing was eventually added. It’s special because holy moly it needed to be updated in the worst way. Here’s the bathroom on the day we took possession of the Colonial Farmhouse. Please note this was how we found the bathroom. None of the items you see…
Faux Copper Metal Awning
If I can’t have a real copper awning, I’m going to try my best to create a faux copper metal awning. I’m not 100% convinced I nailed it. However, I am 100% convinced that the metal awning over our small side deck looks better than when I embarked on this project. That counts for something, right? For reference, this side deck is right off the porch where we built my favorite shelves of all time for drink storage. Here’s how the metal awning started out. Quite frankly, the metal awning looked and sounded a little worse for wear. By “worse for wear” I mean it was an eyesore, especially after I…
