Projects
Slow and Steady Lays the Tile
DIY
Slow and Steady Lays the Tile
Y'all wanna know what I've been working on lately? Shhh... it's a secret... Psyche. Not a secret. Everyone knows. Floors. Floors, floors, and more floors. As you can see from the above photo, Saturday we made serious progress in the great room. But, here's how my daily schedule breaks down: 7am: Wake up, get ready […]
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March 24, 2014
Projects
Tips for Achieving Realistic Faux Wood Tile
DIY
Tips for Achieving Realistic Faux Wood Tile
This weekend, with the help of a few friends, we started laying our faux-wood tile floors and made some real progress, extending from the entry into the nursery, half bath and starting in the master bedroom. The process is slow, but exciting! Now that we can see the actual end product, our spirits are definitely […]
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March 17, 2014
Projects
Things We've Done besides Work on the Floors this Week
DIY
Things We've Done besides Work on the Floors this Week
I know, I know. We're a broken record over here lately talking about our flooring project. The project has consumed our lives in almost every way. The goal was always to have the project done before the end of March, and I am happy to say--right now, I think we're on track to do that. […]
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March 14, 2014
Projects
Tilemageddon and the Point of No Return
DIY
Tilemageddon and the Point of No Return
Right now we're in the "what were we thinking?!" phase with this project. We just started week 4 of what we're calling "tilemageddon" and we haven't even started laying tile yet. We finished up laying a second subfloor of OSB last week, and this week the concrete board is going down. It's a back-breaking long […]
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March 11, 2014
Projects
A Glider and a Revamped Ottoman
DIY
A Glider and a Revamped Ottoman
Last week our glider for the nursery arrived! I shared several I was deciding between here and ended up going with one I didn't list--the Graham glider from West Elm. I almost went with the Sweep Swivel chair that I depicted, but after learning it just swiveled and didn't glide, I decided on the Graham […]
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March 5, 2014
Projects
Our Latest Indispensable Find + $100 Ace Giveaway
Toolbox
Our Latest Indispensable Find + $100 Ace Giveaway
Chris and I have always been very selective about the sponsors and partners we work with. Our main goal of our blog is to document our home renovation and to share a little peek into our lives occasionally. We look at it as a story and we like our simple story. We pass on a […]
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March 4, 2014
Projects
A Sneak Peek at the Floors
DIY
A Sneak Peek at the Floors
It's been a really hectic week over here. I thought I could get a painting in, but I am glad I didn't push it. I haven't been feeling the best (pregnancy-wise) and Greta, Charly and I were stuck in the basement all week while the particle board sub-floors covered in mortar were being torn up […]
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February 28, 2014
Projects
Upgrading the Boob Light
DIY
Upgrading the Boob Light
Our home has standard height ceilings. We have looked into having the great room vaulted, but at a staggering cost of no less than $30K due to the way our roof is supported, our 8' ceilings are suddenly looking a-okay. But the boob fixtures, you know the ones, are not okay and we have them everywhere. Chances are, you […]
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February 27, 2014
Projects
Snowballing Projects
DIY
Snowballing Projects
Last week, in this comments portion of this post, reader Jacqueline wrote: In a similar vein to your post about painting the ceiling, do you think now would be the time to paint the cabinets too (if you’re planning on doing that as an interim step to replacing them eventually)? Or is that just tackling […]
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February 26, 2014
Projects
Why Particle Board Subfloors Are Bad
DIY
Why Particle Board Subfloors Are Bad
Let me first preface this post by saying, DIYers sometimes get a bad rap. But honestly, sometimes we earn it. We cut corners, we find shortcuts, we think to ourselves "Oh this is good enough. You aren't going to see this or that." Even Jules and I have been guilty of this in the past. Nothing that […]
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February 24, 2014
Projects
Tilemageddon: The Removal
DIY
Tilemageddon: The Removal
Monday we were able to get all the carpet torn out of the main floor and the tack strips up and last night tile demo started. When I say "we" unfortunately I am excluded from all the fun while trying to keep this baby of ours in and Greta downstairs. But I did peek up […]
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February 20, 2014
Projects
On Painting (and paying attention to) Ceilings
DIY
On Painting (and paying attention to) Ceilings
Two days ago, I had the realization that now would be the ideal time to paint the ceilings on the main floor of our home. It was one of those circumstances where I almost chose to ignore the aha moment because painting 1700 square ft of ceiling sounds about as fun as...what is the least […]
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February 19, 2014
Projects
The Beginning: Demo Day 1!
DIY
The Beginning: Demo Day 1!
Our day started early on Saturday, waking up in our bedroom to our normal house that we've lived in for the past six months. But the difference was, Saturday was the beginning of demo to prep for our new floors. As I mentioned in this post, we are replacing all the flooring on our main […]
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February 17, 2014
Projects
A Heated Flooring Update
DIY
A Heated Flooring Update
It has been an intense 3 weeks since we pulled the trigger on going for faux wood tile for our first floor instead of hardwood (as well as a few other options we looked at). A few of you asked how the process was going, so while we are technically still in the same place--womp […]
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February 12, 2014
Projects
Ikea Tarva Dresser Makeover
DIY
Ikea Tarva Dresser Makeover
Since the nursery doesn't have a closet, we really needed a dresser--which is actually completely fine because I, personally, prefer itty bitty clothes in drawers anyway. Our friends bought the 6-drawer Tarva dresser from Ikea and it didn't fit in their space so we offered to buy it from them after our local Craigslist was […]
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February 3, 2014
Projects
Pre-Prepping
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
Projects
Our Flooring: Solid Wood vs. Faux Wood Tile
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
Projects
8 Projects on Deck
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
Projects
The Before and Afters of 2013
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
Projects
The Reading Room Shelves: Fully Loaded
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
