Paint color and sheen absolutely added to the interest of this small niche. I “gifted” this feature wall as a housewarming present to my nephew who just moved into a new house. This is the before picture of the space. (There used to be a fish tank there.) My nephew selected this photo for design inspiration. (Design credit to Gwendolyn Akers) To be honest, the design is more complex than I have tackled. And, I needed to consider an efficient way to paint with the two sheen. Hand painting would be very labor intensive. I drew a sketch to get...
DIY Projects
Green is on Trend in 2022
Each year, there are many articles on 2022 color trends and I love pouring over these. Porch Day Dreamer has a great post on 2022 color trends, including cabinet color trends, which is an extension of the overall color trends. “Green” is on trend for 2022 and I’m loving it! I love color and tend to introduce it in a measured way. Think decor such as pillows, curtains, throws, artwork, etc. I have been a bit more brave with my investment properties by incorporating color in bathroom and kitchen cabinets. This has been so fun! In my most recent renovation...
Closet Shelving | The Joy of Organization
I definitely had a closet that reminded me of Monica Geller’s (Friends) secret hall closet. My closet was in a guest bedroom and was home to tons of crafty things, luggage and an over abundance of gift wrapping supplies. Every time I opened the closet to grab something (almost daily), it made me crabby. All of this stuff was in a small bedroom closet. The bedroom closet is small and the aim was to optimize the space. It seemed doable?? The standard wire rack was removed and the holes patched. The plan was to use melamine boards (pegged and non-pegged)...
Christmas Tree Canvas
Handmade gifts are so fun to give and make! I saw this simple Christmas card (below) and thought it would be lovely painted on a canvas. My daughter has lots of navy in her decor so this would be perfect gift for her. One of the advantages of DIY, is that it can be customized to whatever size to you need. I purchased a yard of navy fabric from Hobby Lobby and washed and ironed it. I decided on the size of the canvas and tree. I used whited paint I had on hand and painted basic brush strokes to...
Popcorn Ceilings | Not hard, just messy
If you haven’t had to tackle removing popcorn ceilings, you’re lucky. It isn’t difficult. It’s just messy! In my recent reno, the property had popcorn on all the ceilings. The crew that I had subbed this out to, backed out on me and I needed to do this myself to stay on schedule. I didn’t take lots of pictures along the way, but I can share what I learned. This picture shows the popcorn in one of the bedrooms. It was the same throughout the house. (And, check out the paint color.) Since this was essentially a construction zone, I...
Kitchen Reno Florida Villa
Taking down a couple walls in this kitchen had such a huge impact to the entire living space. Here is where it started. This is a 2 bedroom 2 bath villa in Florida. Originally intended to be a flip — but, I’m holding onto it for awhile. The wall between the kitchen and dining room was demoed. And the wall between the kitchen and the hallway was taken down as well. Peninsula A wall was added for the peninsula. Some detail, using scrap wood added some interest to the island. With the walls removed, there was a lot of room...
Garden decor
I just love garden decor, a good dupe and repurposing items into a new life. I was gifted some metal wall decor and found inspiration on the Grandin Road site to give it new life. These Grandin Road wall panels are $199 each and really quite pretty. I thought these would be beautiful outdoor decor outside my kitchen. Since the aim was to create garden decor, I spray painted the metal decor and hardware with Rustoleum to help with the outdoor wear. I used cedar pickets as an affordable way to frame out the metal decor. I applied outdoor sealer...
Standing Mixer Refresh
A good friend of mine moved houses and gifted me a bunch of random items and I have been creating ever since – and, in this case, this standing mixer got a refresh! I love the DIY community on Instagram. I got inspiration from Dale at Blooming DIYer and had confidence to tackle this unexpected paint project. I am a baker and love the Kitchenaide. This one is about 30 years old and in good working condition. I thought it would be fun to paint it the color of the kitchen island. It really was pretty straight forward! I removed...
Play Kitchen
This DIY play kitchen was one of my favorite projects! Using mostly salvaged and surplus materials, this was a super affordable project. These are the materials we started out with for the build. Let’s take a look at how we put it together! The Build I looked at build plans from Shanty2Chic and Ana White to get an idea of how to build the cabinet boxes. In the end, the size of the play kitchen was guided by the size of the cabinet doors. The cabinet doors were salvaged from a neighbor’s kitchen that was remodeled. The boxes were made...
DIY Dresser Hardware
Adding furniture hardware is like adding jewelry to an outfit. It can definitely add interest and sometimes “bling”! I have refinished a lot of furniture over the years and this time, I decided to fancy-up this piece with new legs, paint and, yes, hardware. I removed the feet; sanded, primed and painted! The paint is SW Emerald Urethane in a color match – Limousine Leather (color from Behr). This is my favorite paint and the finish is great. I applied with a paint sprayer. I was inspired by the hardware on this Ballard Design piece. The hardware nearly covered the...
Bifold Door Refresh
This latest investment property had several louvered doors with old dripping paint on the inside. And, since I was itching to try canning on a project, I took inspiration from Erika at Peony and Honey for this bifold refresh. I love how these turned out! I primed and painted the doors first, then removed the louvers with a jig saw by cutting through the louvers down the center. The louvers popped out easily. I attempted to file the spaces with the louvers as Peony and Honey did but found I could not get a smooth edge. In the end, I...
New Furniture Function & Design with Six Simple Changes
Ever look at a dated furniture piece and wonder how to give it new life? This piece was a handmade sideboard and needed a bit of a transformation. (I only tackled the bottom piece.) I took lots of inspiration from several intragramers and furniture manufacturers and cobbled together great features into a single piece! Reduce the Height I thought this piece would work well as a TV console. The height was reduced 8 inches to 28 inches. I also removed the panels in the small doors. Shelf I used wood from my scrap wood pile to add a bottom shelf....