DIY
About A Bench
Last week we showed you our entry that got a little makeover, but is still very much in progress. We have baseboards to install, grout to fix, a light switch and doorbell to move, art to add above the hooks--but we're getting there. And it really is a drastic change in a week's time, both […]
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August 18, 2014
Decor
The Entry Gets a Makeover!
The entry has been on my radar for awhile, but when August hit, I knew it was time to seriously start thinking about it. Jacket weather here is just around the corner and we'll be working on the mudroom throughout the winter, so we needed to get something in place here. I went back and forth on […]
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August 14, 2014
DIY
A Decor Interview with Greta
We are getting ready to renovate Greta's room and I can't help but feel, didn't we just do this?! Kind of. We had finished her last room shortly before we moved here. Her new room is a little dark, made darker by the current paint color. Made more depressing by the lack of anything. We are in the […]
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August 5, 2014
DIY
TIME is All You Need + $200 To Ace!
One of our favorite sponsors, Ace Hardware, recently ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Home Improvement Retail Stores" for the eighth year in a row by J.D. Power*! Ace is literally the only hardware store within a 30 minute drive--and it's just a mile down the road. Score. We go into our store (maybe 15 times […]
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August 4, 2014
DIY
A New Project + 25 of the Best Modern Barn-Style Doors
After we made plans for the new laundry room/mudroom area (you can see those here), we realized we needed to think of a new door situation. Our current door swings left into the room which felt like it could get a little cramped to us. Especially since that would be the mudroom side of the […]
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August 1, 2014
DIY
Would You Rather: Real Wood vs. Composite Decking
Our actual back-backyard is pretty small. We are anxious to get the fence finished in the next couple days because we know that will help define a larger backyard for our family that will include our expansive side yards, but as for the back--this is what we're working with: Womp, womp. That scalloped fence belongs […]
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July 28, 2014
DIY
The New Laundry/Walk-In Pantry Plans
Back in May, we asked you if you would rather have a 4th bathroom or walk-in pantry and we loved reading all of your thoughts--there were a lot (!!) and most of you declared hands down a walk-in pantry. Considering there is a guest bathroom already on this level, and we haven't used this 4th bathroom off […]
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July 24, 2014
DIY
Getting Rid of Dandelions (And Yard Shame)
To say we had the worst yard on the block would be quite accurate. All last summer, this house was vacant and the lawn wasn't cared for either. We tried our best when we moved in at the tail end of summer/beginning of fall to give it attention and honestly, it was looking alright--but the […]
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July 21, 2014
DIY
Is the Inside of Your Front Door Painted?
Last week, on a whim, I painted the inside of our front door a shiny black. I actually used the same gloss paint I got for the bench, but in this lighting it definitely reads black--which I love. I can't believe the difference! It made our old beat up door look new and expensive. I was kind […]
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July 7, 2014
DIY
Beginner's Guide to Upholstering a Bed
This is a beginner's guide, by a beginner. I've maybe upholstered two other things (benches!) in my life and this was still a 2 on the hardness scale. And bonus, the outcome looks expensive! Last week, when I revealed our plans for the quick revamp in the guest bedroom, I mentioned we picked up a […]
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June 30, 2014
DIY
Choosing a Gray for the Guest Room
We got the guest room painted and the photos aren't very good. Womp Womp. It's been pretty rainy and gloomy compounded by the fact this room is on our lower level. I hate to call it a "basement" because it's so nice and finished and not musty or cold--everything I think of when I say […]
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June 27, 2014
DIY
DIY Industrial Step Stool
Greta is at that magic age, where she is actually capable of helping out in the kitchen--washing the grapes and picking them off the stems, making her own peanut butter banana, helping Chris by dumping ingredients into the bowl, and her current favorite (that takes place in the kitchen sink) is helping with Faye's bath. […]
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June 19, 2014
DIY
Dyeing Grout [A Floor Update!]
Months ago, I think it was the day after the grout guys left and we were feeling a little let down by the results, I ordered grout dye. The grout is the only thing about our floors that we don't love. Which is hard to swallow, because it is the only part we didn't do. […]
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June 17, 2014
DIY
Hardware + The Kitchen Mini-Revamp is Done!
Wednesday night, we stayed up late and put all of our new hardware on the newly painted cabinets. A lot of our old knobs were bent or broken so we gave them to my parents since they don't have hardware on their cabinets now and have about half as many cabinets as we have so […]
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June 6, 2014
DIY
Our Painted Kitchen Cabinets!
We hung all of our recently painted cabinet doors this past weekend and are here to share lots of photos. We must have adjusted quickly to the new look, because when I was searching through my files to find a before photo to share with you, I was stunned at the wood-riddled kitchen we were […]
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June 2, 2014
DIY
Keep on Truckin'
We are all over the house right now. Our base cabinets are still sprawled throughout the basement waiting for hardware. I decided to rearrange the whole great room to make room for more seating this weekend and, of course, we threw in one more exterior project for good measure--luckily it only took a few minutes. […]
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May 29, 2014
DIY
Would You Rather: 4th Bathroom OR Walk-in Pantry
Off of our kitchen, there's a laundry room and half bath with a sink and a toilet. Our home is currently a five bedroom and 4 bathroom (2 full baths and 2 half baths) and as of now, we have a standing pantry we recently scooted into the kitchen. There's half the contents of our […]
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May 23, 2014
DIY
Microwave Down!
This weekend, we started painting our cabinets in the kitchen. The goal was to get all the uppers painted, but we only got as far as priming them because we decided to add another spur-of-the-moment project while we're working in here. Our over-the-range microwave has been driving us crazy since we moved in. It is so low. […]
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May 19, 2014
DIY
Our Kitchen Cabinet Paint Colors
Part of my Ace Hardware Blogger duties this month included checking out their new paint studio--which is very boutique like with the slide out drawers of paint chips. Classy!--and trying out their new line of Valspar Optimus line they started carrying. Choosing what to paint wasn't difficult, our kitchen cabinets have been on my list […]
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May 15, 2014
DIY
Easy "Chalkboard" Basket Labels
A couple of you asked about the chalkboard labels on the extra storage baskets when we showed you Faye's nursery last week. I added the labels to help me identify what's in them (naturally) but also to bring a cohesiveness to the mismatched baskets. Also, the truth is, they aren't chalkboards at all and they […]
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May 13, 2014
