Looking through the photos from 2019, it was fun to see an accumulation of projects that was new for me. I was reminded of a few things — to leverage experience from previous projects, to optimize available resources and to have comfort that everything is “fixable”, if you make a mistake. New colors and new patterns seem to fill my photo collection this year. Let’s take a look back! COLORS Paint is such an easy and affordable way to experiment with color. While I am not particularly bold in my color choices on rental properties as the properties need to...
DIY Projects
Kitchen Cabinet Update
Paint and hardware can simply transform the look of 1990’s oak cabinets. And, this was my plan for the galley style kitchen in my investment property. While the kitchen had some great features (new appliances, huge pantry), the oak cabinets looked dated. PAINT COLOR For these cabinets, I wanted to try a couple of new (for me) ideas to add some interest. I used a less traditional blue (Magnolia Under the Stars) for the base cabinets and Alabaster for the uppers. I used Sherwin Williams paint products for both. The blue was a color match. Painting this time was a...
Fireplace Refresh
The fireplace is a great feature for this investment property but needed a bit of an update. With a little paint, stain and spray paint, the oak mantel, brick and fireplace doors took on a new look. This is the fireplace before any updates. FIREPLACE DOOR There are no other brass or gold features in the property, so the brass on this fireplace door was not in keeping with the rest of the metal features. I taped off the brick and glass and painted the brass frame with Krylon High Heat Max in matte black. BRICK This brick is in...
Interior Doors as a Design Feature!
Paint color, door design and hardware can transform the look of a plain door into something really eye catching. In a recent investment property renovation, I needed to replace the wood grain, brown interior doors with brass door knobs. And, there were a lot — 6 handicap assessable, 2 bi-pass and 4 bifold. I haven’t had to do replace doors before, so I decided to have a little fun with it. DOORS I really liked the two panel door with a straight top edge. I checked Menards, Lowe’s and Home Depot and this style and the door sizes I needed...
DIY Bridal Shower Attendee Gift Hanky
I wish I could say I thought of this but idea, but, I was inspired by the Offbeat Bride blog post and took it from there. And, it was really quite simple, cute and affordable! We had a great time putting these together. Hanky My sister, Julie, found these vintage hankies from a online marketplace site listed as “free”- although the owner was particular to whom she gifted these hankies. My sister thought we could do something cute with them for my niece’s shower. Bag and Twine I purchased both the baker’s wax bag and twine from Amazon for less...
DIY Bridal Shower Attendee Gift Candle
A candle and a hanky were the beginnings of our ideas for bridal shower attendee gifts. Pinterest is my “go-to” place for DIY ideas – so, we looked for ways to customize the candle and hanky to make each special for the event and add to the table decor. I really wanted to incorporate some of the special talents from friends and family. This post shares the thoughts around the candle. My son owns C & J Candle Company, so we knew we wanted to gift a candle to the bridal shower attendees. My niece (the bride-to-be)selected the scent and...
Photo Stands | Great for any occasion
Adding photos to the decor of any celebration is so fun and makes the event so personal. This weekend, my family hosted a bridal shower for my niece. As part of the shower decor, we displayed photos of the future bride and groom. The event was in a restaurant, so I needed to be creative about how to display about 25 photos! FRAMES I wanted the photos to have a finished look, but didn’t want to spend a lot on frames. I found inexpensive frames at the dollar store. The frames held 4×6 photos, but the frames themselves were different...
Color and Dimension mean Big Impact
As part of the master bath update, I added a small feature wall that was very simple and affordable AND added huge impact through color and dimension. This master bath has both classic and on-trend design features. The traditional lines of the vanity and a classic style of the light fixture pair well with the polished chrome faucet, drawer pulls and towel bars. I loved the look of the board and batten I recently added board and batten to a kitchen and decided to add some batten and a bold color to create a feature wall in this master bath....
Bathroom Update! Affordable changes with big impact
Another bathroom update? You bet! I had 3 weeks while my nephew was traveling on business to update 2 bathrooms and the laundry rooms. I have a few units with this footprint, so I knew exactly what to do! My son, Kevin, helped with removing the toilet, mirror and vanity. Check out the in-progress demo below — 2 layers of linoleum. Flooring I hired someone to remove the linoleum. To be honest, that is one of my least favorite jobs and I had 3 rooms to get done. Worth the investment in my book! I had just enough left over...
Three Basic Updates to Make Your Laundry Room a Happy Place
Anything I can do to make doing laundry a bit more enjoyable, I am all for it. In my case, changing the aesthetic of the room definitely uplifted the vibe and made it more pleasing to enter the room. Now, to be clear, I am not doing cartwheels over doing laundry. I’m not crazy. But, these three basic updates will easily change the look of the room. It’s always fun to see the room from the start. My laundry room had a very 1990’s vibe with oak cabinets, medium green walls and vinyl flooring. Flooring As with any room, the...
New Builder Tips | 4 Things I Learned from My Cabinet Build
I am a new builder and only have a few basic builds under my belt which include a table pedestal, a mantel and a storage cabinet. So, I am still very much learning with every build. If you are a beginning builder, these learnings might help you too! Build on Site (if a precise fit is important) Since I am shy on experience, I am still doing a lot of measuring along the way to ensure proper fit. In my recent cabinet build, I began work in my garage and then worried I would assemble the whole cabinet and it...
Board and Batten to the Rescue! Wallpaper No More!
Wallpaper removal is a daunting task, especially in an investment property where speed of renovation means money. So, is there another approach to add interest to a room with tired wallpaper and NOT remove the paper? Yes! Board and batten! In a recent investment property renovation, the kitchen had 1990’s wallpaper throughout the entire kitchen and to be honest, the prospect of removing the paper was daunting and a huge time suck. Instead, we invested time in adding some architectural interest to the kitchen walls – and, in the process, covered the wallpaper with board and batten. It’s always fun...