DIY
Pre-Prepping
Now that we've decided on flooring for our upstairs (you can read about our choice here), this weekend we officially started the prep. Or maybe pre-prep? Our home is a ranch-style home meaning it is two levels of the same size basically stacked on top of each other. You walk in on the first floor […]
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January 27, 2014
DIY
Our Flooring: Solid Wood vs. Faux Wood Tile
We have, literally, been researching and planning to replace all the flooring on the first floor in this home since last August. We were initially going to go with a bamboo, but the one we were looking at wasn't very thick and we didn't feel confident it would outlast the daily wear and tear of […]
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January 23, 2014
DIY
8 Projects on Deck
I just finished uploading all the photos for this post, and I am already second-guessing our ambitions for this year--especially since I have to take it easy (doctor's orders) these next 3 months and then we'll have a newborn and then...?? And then apparently we'll be tackling the staircase, that's what! As "fun" as it […]
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January 3, 2014
DIY
The Before and Afters of 2013
2013 has been the most eventful and unexpected year of our five years of marriage. It has been stressful, but wonderful too. It has been a year of growth and change--lots of change--and surprises. We all feel...tired and a little worn out, but really really good about where we are right now. In addition to […]
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December 30, 2013
DIY
The Reading Room Shelves: Fully Loaded
Friday, we left you with our finished and hung shelves: Which was lightyears away from where we started: But over the weekend, we got them loaded up and the room feels so much more complete. My entire family flew in for an early Christmas this weekend, and we were hosting dinner and games on Saturday […]
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December 23, 2013
DIY
DIY Solid Wood Wall-to-Wall Shelves
Last night we hung the shelves in the reading room and the design that has been in our minds finally came to fruition. From this: To this: We really wanted wall-to-wall thicker solid wood shelves that maybe looked like they were floating, but not necessarily are--since you can't very easily achieve that with solid wood. […]
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December 20, 2013
DIY
Staining our Douglas Fir Shelves--A Different Ballgame!
We actually expected to have these shelves hung and posted about today, but we really wanted to make sure we were 100% happy with our stain and we just weren't on our initial test piece. So we have tried and tried and tried again until we found a method that worked and we were happy […]
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December 18, 2013
DIY
White Mosaic in the Nursery
When we bought this home in the summer, we had plans to turn this room into an office, but we're so much happier to transform it into a nursery in the coming months. We have a direction for this room, but not a complete mood board put together yet. I think that will be one […]
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December 16, 2013
DIY
Cedar & Moss in the Reading Room
The last time we visited "project shelving," this is where we left off: In a whirlwind weekend plus a few late nights, we built a wall to house some library lights for what we're calling the reading room. The whole thing involved lots of trips to the small attic to run the electrical, drywall, texturizing […]
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December 9, 2013
DIY
The Easiest Way to Paint a Crib + Giveaway!!
We weren't planning on starting the nursery until after the new year, but here we are--painting the crib. I feel excited and sad at the same time. Especially when I watch old videos of Greta jumping around in her crib, like this one from 19 months:< Oh squeeze that girl!!! So, about the crib--it's so […]
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December 6, 2013
DIY
Project Shelving: A Wall for The Sconces
Our reading room shelving project has officially taken off and has changed a little bit since the last time we talked about it. We discovered a legit lumber yard down the road a few miles that made it too hard to turn down wood shelves instead of painting them white. But before we even get […]
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November 27, 2013
DIY
A Neighborly Pantry
As I mentioned here, one of our favorite things about being on the Ace Bloggers panel is that there is a real focus on the neighborhood. In fact, we recently had the chance to do a whole project for one of our neighbors. It's not like we're hurting for projects to do around here, but […]
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November 25, 2013
DIY
Our Advent Calendar + Ideas
Last night I finished our advent calendar that will hopefully be in our family for years and years: As a reminder, this is how it looked when I bought it on clearance for $20 from our local craft store (Porter's for anyone close) As a reminder, this is how it looked when I bought it […]
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November 21, 2013
DIY
Ask Julia: A Venture Into Painting Walls
Sometimes we get asked such a great, in depth question that can be helpful to so many others we have decided to answer such questions (with permission, of course) right here. Today's question comes from a couple that just moved into military housing--their first place they are allowed to paint: Julia, I am […]
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November 15, 2013
DIY
Winterizing The Lawn
We were recently invited by Ace Hardware to be a part of their first ever Ace Blogger Panel. It's exciting and new and the reason for my trip to Chicago (their headquarters) a few weeks ago. Ace's whole goal is to create a hardware store experience that makes you feel like you're getting help from […]
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November 13, 2013
DIY
A Pop for the Patio Door
Every night, when we're tucking Greta into bed, she usually asks what we are going to do fun the next day. (The girl keeps me on my toes!) A couple nights ago, I wasn't sure. "Um, what do you want to do?" And she said, "I want to go to the store and get paint […]
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November 6, 2013
DIY
Half Bath: Afters!
We're calling this bathroom done! ... For now. We still need to replace the faucet and eventually the tile floors, but those things will come. You can see lots of befores in this post, but here's a before and after side by side (and lots of photos following with sources at the end): The lines […]
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November 4, 2013
DIY
Painting and Planking the Hall Half Bath--Part II
I feel like we have left you with a few loose ends when talking about the hall half bath. First, we left you with a photo of the paneling installed, but unfinished. And then Friday, we spilled the beans that while painting the paneling, we also repainted the walls. Anyway, without further ado, here's how […]
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October 28, 2013
DIY
A New Fixture and Paint-a-thon
We put in a lot of painting hours yesterday. The good news is, it's done! (The painting part.) The bad news is, it was so late (11pm) that I didn't get to snap any photos for you, so we'll have all of those pictures for you on Monday. Painting the planks took a lot longer […]
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October 25, 2013
DIY
Planking The Bathroom--Part 1
Before I even start trying to break down this process for you from observing and interviewing Chris, I have to note--he did this one all by himself. We planned on adding planked walls to the lower half of this hall bath, but when? When I stopped throwing up all day. I wasn't sure. Last week, […]
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October 24, 2013
