Reed 'Em & Weep...

...tears of joy.

Because...

Several months ago I got click-baited into reading one of those "Ten Ways to Make Your Home Look More Expensive" articles the online arm of a decorators' magazine threw onto the internet.  Maybe it's just how the algorithm gets me but I see those kinds of articles from blogs, magazine, home websites, etc, all the time.  Everyone thinks they know which I why I don't usually give two snippets about what they say because much of the time they're all fluffy opinion based on trends or based on zilch but one of the points in this particular article was to "add reeding".  At the time I was reading said article, we had already solidified our plans to add reeded panels to our kid's bathroom cabinets in an effort to update them and now that they're done, I'm 100% here to say that yes, one way to make your house look more expensive is to add reeding.

In twenty years, they'll be spouting the one thing that's dating your house is reeding, won't they?

I'll add some photos for proof but first, here are the cabinets I'm talking about.  

I started working on these two years ago and just finished a few weeks ago.  I know.  I'm a great starter, not a great finisher.  Blame the kids.  These cabinets were custom made in 1983, well made (albeit laden with chipping paint), and knowing how much that would cost today and not wanting to throw out quality cabinets, we gave them a whole new life with gel stain and reeded panels.

Framed Calendar Prints | DIY

This post is dedicated to and made possible by JoAnn Fabrics...may that lovely store rest in peace.  I was sad to see it go because it was my go-to store for random fabrics I needed for lampshades or costumes or anything like that, not to mention ribbon, trim, foam...so many, many crafting things that I could just run into a physical store and grab quick.

It's also a post about something I want to start doing more often - taking an old post I wrote way back when and bringing it to 2026.  This old post hearkens from way back in 2010 and is all about framed art - read it in its entirety here.  Long story short, I needed to fill some frames with something and so I filled them with pages from a calendar.  The photos in that old post need to stay in the past but the idea is still a goodie and so oops, I did it again - this time with pages from a 2025 calendar I snagged at JoAnn's during their last week open, when everything was super duper clearanced.  

It wasn't my intention to buy a calendar for $2 but when I spotted it, I knew the perfect place for some of the pretty prints inside - our newly dotted powder room.

Hand-Painted, Scattered Dot Walls | DIY

Our little half bath..it's come a long, long way.  

It's a tiny little thing so getting pictures isn't the easiest of things but all you need is a small slice of perspective to see how it's changed.

This is a blurry shot taken right after we moved in:

This room was low on the priority list but we did manage to get a few things done like rip the outdated wallpaper down and prime the walls quick.  I also painted the countertop to look like marble on a whim (see how here...it stayed looking like the day it was painted until the day it was replaced years later!)  Here's an old post with more deets.

One Year Later

I'm just going to slide right on in here like it hasn't been a whole year since I typed out some words in a post and hit publish...

Aaand so, I'll just cut to the chase.

We had another baby this past March.  Theo Francis - swallowing the family weight record by a whole pound and a half at 9 lbs. 3 oz.

Built-Ins Outta Built-Ins | DIY

Remember our twins?  I don't write too much about how our kids are aging but let me tell you, these twins of ours are aging.  They're TWEENS!  I know, right?!  Nuts.  Anyway, with growing up comes the accumulation of stuff - and I would argue that that is even more so the case with girls.  More clothes, crafts galore, collectibles, books, bags, jewelry, and most recently, make up (just mascara and blush on limited occasions but good grief time, slow down).  All of that is to say, these tween twins were running out of places to put their stuff.  Their room isn't huge though and their closet nothing to write home about but they did have an empty wall that had potential written all over it (and a mess all around it too).

(Painted arches tutorial here.)

So... 

We did NOT need another project this past summer but for several weeks, I kept a side eye out on Facebook Marketplace for a shelving unit/cabinets/whatever I could find that would hold all of their accumulating stuff.  

Then one day, this popped up:

It certainly looked like it fit the bill and it was listed by a good friend who only lived five minutes away.  Bingo.