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.  

Kid Art That Doesn't Look Like Kid Art

I'm back with another painted glass project the kids tackled so long ago that I'm not even going to tell you how long ago because it involves years.  If you've been reading for long, you might've seen me paint glass a time or six.  Let's see, there's...

this coffee table

the "choose happy",

Our Kitchen - Before & After

I almost called this a "Reveal" but we're waiting to get some cabinet doors made to fit over where the old wall oven used to go and there a couple of other tweaks that we want to happen so revealing our finished kitchen I am not, but I am here to show you how far we've come in five years.

Spoiler alert:  Things have CHANGED.  Big time. 

This was move-in day:

And this was last week:

A Little Closet Makeover

Last I checked in with kids' bathroom progress we were talking about the newly smoothed ceilings and cruisin' (maybe more like inching) onto the vanity.  Well so far, we've bought sinks, new faucets should be here Monday, and I'm going to try and hunt down a countertop next week.  I sanded down the cabinet frame sanded down the cabinet frame and need to start working on the doors but I've got an idea I've got to iron out before I keep going there.  Soooo...

I took a quick detour over to the closet.  I'm pretty sure it hasn't seen a fresh coat of paint maybe since the house was built 50 years ago much less a deep, deep clean.  Throw a bunch of stuff inside from a family of seven and...it was time.  Makeover!

First I emptied the whole thing out and scrubbed down every inch.  Then I painted the trim (Pure White by Sherwin-Williams color-matched to Valspar).

Bean Refashioning: Spaghetti Straps to Ruffled Cap Sleeves

Look who's back with a refashioning of her very own (I used to do lots of these, check out the Snips & Tucks section here)!  I found this dress, originally sold at Target, for $6 at Dirt Cheap last year.  I know, steal of a deal.  I love how different it is, with the pleats on one side and color-blocking all over - u to the n to the i to the q to the u to the e.

But as much as I loved it, it never once left our house on me because the spaghetti straps held me back.  It's probably the mom in me or my old age but if I'm wearing a dress like this, I'm usually going to a wedding or church or something like that and I like to cover up my shoulders.  This dress is a hard one to pair with a cardigan and it would have to have the right color scarf.  So, never worn...   

...until this past weekend.  

I spent maybe an hour last week adding ruffle cap sleeves!  I don't know about where you live, but here in the south big ruffled or puffed up sleeves are somewhat of a thing right now (along with Lululemon and pleated tennis skirts...I can see it but I hear it most from my very astute sixth grade girls.)  I don't usually gravite to some"thing" that's trending but this just seemed like a match made in fashion heaven.

Here's how I did it:

When In Rome...

do as the Romans do.  But since I'm not anywhere close to Rome, I'll just hang a (fake) roman shade and call it good.

Have you ever been bothered by something so much that you absolutely had to do something about it real quick like?  That's what happened to me with those cafe curtains I hung in the storage room (see the reveal here...I almost called this post the re-reveal but thought that might be a bit too far).  The curtain fabric was cute (and free!) and it paired nicely with the wall color...but that's it.  They were just wrong in here; not my favorite; best placed somewhere else.

In all reality, they didn't look too too bad but I had couldn't let go of the roman shade look and once you see those up, I think you'll agree that the cafe curtains had to go. 

Skim Coating the Bathroom Ceiling

I'm probably too happy to say that we finally have smooth ceilings in the kids bathroom!!!!!!!  It was a daunting project that we stared down the past month but finally tackled.  It only took us almost five years to get from painted popcorn that wouldn't budge to the leveled plane they are now.  Well, that and a good amount of joint compound and elbow grease.

When we first found out that we wouldn't be able to get the popcorn texture on this ceiling off like we did the others in our house, we talked about maybe covering them with something like tongue and groove planks or some sort of paneling but after researching how to skim coat (putting a thin coat of joint compound on top of the texture to make it look smooth), we decided to go that direction so they'd match all of the other ceilings in the house.  Not that all ceilings have to match because I definitely would not agree with that, but more importantly, putting on a skim coat was the cheapest option coming in (for us, because we had half the tools we needed) at just around $30.

While we should have done this ages ago, what really kick-started it was the fact that the popcorn above the shower was starting to crack and come off thanks to the super hot, super long showers our kids like to take.  At first, we got excited thinking that maybe the added humidity had, over time, dug into the texture making it removable now.  But, as we started chipping away at the stuff coming off above the shower, we realized we could only get so far until we were stuck once again with popcorn that wouldn't budge.

This is as far as we got:

With our hopes of an easy removal dashed, we planned out our first experience putting on a skim coat.

Skirtin' the Issue

The issue is that we have had two skirts in our to-sew pile for ages.  But last weekend after a rousing round of "I have nothing to wear to church!!!" 100% not true of course, we finally made time to take them in so they could be put in rotation.

Here are the skirts in their former state on two of the girls:

Too big.

 

And too big.

The top one is a J. Crew hand-me-down from a friend and the other I found at a thrift store and bought because I liked the pattern.

Our Next Project - the Kids Bathroom

A few years ago we tackled a Phase I makeover in the kids bathroom...and then we didn't touch the bathroom again. Not to mention the fact that we didn't actually get everything done that we wanted to in that phase.  Those plans are here.  We knew at the time that adding another sink to the vanity would happen someday but didn't have concrete plans (that would be an excellent pun if we were planning on concrete countertops in the bathroom like the ones we did in the kitchen...except we're not).  Fast forward to the now and our kids are bigger and double sinks would really, really help the morning routine go a little smoother so we've decided that there's no time like the present to get that ball rolling.

Here's basically what the bathroom looked like last week:

I stole this picture from a post I wrote three years ago and it hasn't changed one bit - except maybe adjust the shower curtain so it's less hanging correctly and toss countless hair accessories on the counter for good measure.

But things are really changing now, not quite yet for the better but changing nonetheless because it looks like this today: 

Storage Room Reveal!

Before we pop into the storage room to see how it all checked out, I'll just say quick that it definitely isn't one of our more glorious reveals (I think this one still takes the cake), but there is still a pretty big leap from before to after.  It's another one of those budget-friendly makeovers that we hold firm to, coming in at just under $180.  It really helped that the large cabinet was a free hand-me-down, the shelves were already here, and the upper wall cabinet we moved in from the kitchen.  It was on the wall we took down.

So, let's just start from the very beginning - the day we got the keys - the blank slate.  If I told you I pulled this photo from a 1980s archive, you'd have no reason to doubt me.

We moved in in 2019 and this is what this functioning corner looked like for many moons:

Hardware + A Fun Cabinet Upgrade

There's lots of new hardware in the storage room (still thinking I need to come up with a much more charming name...ideas?).  Some, like these double hooks*, have been hanging out for awhile, waiting for a fresh coat of paint on the wall to make them shine.

Adding Faux Legs to Cabinets | DIY

Sounds exciting, right?  Well, maybe not but over here, I get excited about adding legs where there aren't any.  Dressers, nightstands, and now cabinets.  It just seems to take things up a notch...get it, get it?  Up a notch?  ;)

Last year around this time I found three of these cabinets* at Dirt Cheap for 15 bucks a pop.  They're technically "upper" cabinets but with a little reinforcement, I figured I could use them as base cabinets since they were the perfect size for the kids' little drop zone in our storage room.  They were priced as such because each has damaged backing, nothing major and who will notice that damage anyway?

Not a single human being.  For $45, I'm banking on it.

My then-pregnant self got them from the car to the house with some very careful dragging on a blanket and set them up so I could see what we were dealing with. 

It was a start...one that stayed put for a whole year.  #storyofmylife

Hey There 2024

Are you like me, wondering where 2023 went?!  It seem like we were just stepping off the 2022 Christmas season and experiencing some spring weather when all of a sudden, boom, Happy 2024!  Or maybe it was the longest year ever for you and you're just happy to have made it.  Either way, 2023 is out and 2024 is the new in.

2023 wasn't a great year for the blog.  Our biggest project was birthed (quite literally) in February and it seems we took the rest of the year to recover and savor.  While we did tackle a few small things around our home, only one made it into writing.  We're ok with it though because it lets us start the new year with a healthy (low) standard that we can surely build on...

in between food storage clean up, of course. 

rug* (<---These types of Loloi rugs are my favorites for bathrooms and kitchens.)

We have a few "we can definitely get this done" projects on our docket this year.

A Dress Fit For a Tween

My twins have a little bin in their room that's stuffed to the brim of clothes that need to be altered to fit them (and so does their mom).  *eye roll*  We find something at a thrift store or somewhere that's super cute but too big and we toss it in, again, again, and again.  But time eludes us, giving priority to school and sports...you probably know how it goes.

This weekend though, Phia and I found a minute (or 15) to grab something out of that bin to refashion.  It's a dress my sister sent me during a closet purge that the girls love but that is obviously too big for them right now.

Obviously...

How to "Hide" an Electrical Outlet | DIY

Hey!  Hello!  Guten Tag!  

It's been a minute.

We are getting nicely settled into the new normal that having a baby brings about and, while I can't say each day is highly organized and all of the gears shift together, I can say that...well, organization is for the birds at this point and I'm not even sure all the gears are here.  Hahahaha...hahaha...ha...like I said, new normal. 

This new normal has allowed for some quick and easy projects (emphasis on quick and easy) and one of those involves painting baseboards. You might remember that we laid new floors last Thanksgiving.  They're still awesome and we still love them but we don't love the baseboards above them that we just haven't gotten around to painting...until last week, when I started the process in the dining room. 

 

I'm slightly ashamed of how long they've been the yellowy-beige color (we bought the house with them this color) but really only slightly.  Baseboards aren't one of those things you first notice when walking into a home and so I guess I've really relied on that fact...or at least lied to myself and gotten away with it.  ;)

Either way, the dining room baseboards finally look fresh in Pure White by Sherwin-Williams and match the ceilings and crown moulding.  Side note:  If I could go back in time, I would have planned to paint them to match the wall color.  I've felt myself drifting towards painting all trim to match the wall color lately but I pre-painted the base shoe moulding before we installed it after the flooring went in and I really don't like spending time painting trim (it's the worst) so I'm not going to go back and repaint everything.  Maybe some other day in the far future.  What do you think?  Are you team moulding is all the same color, different from the wall color or paint them both to match?  Maybe it depends on the room...

While I was painting the baseboards though, my eyes crash-slammed into the electrical outlets in the room.  

Hi!...atus

Welp, I didn't mean to be away so long from our online home away from home but here we are, already about to jump right into MAY!  

You might know the reason for this little hiatus if you're an Insta follower but if not, here HE is...

Faustin Anthony - a big surprise in the first place and already boasting two months of extrauterine experience in this thing we call life.  While it was possible to do big things like help lay new floors and paint stuff while he was safe inside my bell, outside of it has made anything like that relatively impossible.  We've literally been just surviving and maintaining our home.  The unpainted baseboards and light fixtures I want to replace have been calling out to me but I've been calling back "not yet".  I fully intend to start doing again and blogging all about it but for the time being, we're going to keep on keeping on, soaking up this baby and keeping our back burners fully-loaded for later.  ;)

Christmas Art-Making with Kids | DIY

We don't have our Christmas tree up yet even though it's not abnormal for us to wait until we get closer to Christmas, but we do have some treeS hanging out in the breakfast nook.  

And nope, I'm not talking about the plants.  I'll zoom in for ya in a minute but let's start from the beginning.  Awhile ago, when the blue patterned linoleum floors were still being walked on in here, I whipped up that big 'ole painting on the left wall to add a little fun and color (you can actually purchase a digital download of mine here or follow my lead and paint your very own!) 

The Case for Matching Hinges to Cabinet Color

I've become very passionate about something.  It started out as something I tried in our first house down south years ago and since then, I've done it a few more times and I now won't ever deviate from not doing it.  It's maybe a small matter in the grand scheme of painting cabinets but I feel like it's not so small in the impact it makes.  

Hinges.  Specifically, like it gives away in this post's title, matching the color of your hinges to the color of your cabinets.  I know that these days, most cabinets are made with hidden hinges so this is a moot point for most truly modern kitchens but if you've got old cabinets that you're hankering to paint or have already painted, take note.  You might agree with me and you might not but here's my argument...

If you're doing a little kitchen makeover (or bathroom...or anywhere there are cabinets that could use a fresh coat of paint to modernize them), it's only natural to then replace the old hardware on them with new.  New pulls and knobs go a long way in updating cabinets.  You might even go a little farther and want to replace the hinges on the cabinets to match that pretty new hardware.  Makes sense.  It's logical.  But here's where things could go two ways.  You could get new hinges that match the hardware - you know, brushed nickel hinges to go with your new brushed nickel hardware -  OR you could scrap that idea and either buy hinges that match the paint or paint them to match.  If the color you're going with is black or white, you probably won't have the hardest time finding new hinges in those generic colors, making the switch fairly simple.  But, if you're going with the latest trend of green, blue, tan, etc...you'll probably end up having to paint your hinges.  Lucky for you, you can pretty much find every color of spray paint on the planet these days so finding a match may not be that difficult.  (I'd recommend this primer* first though along with several light coats.  Opening and closing the hinges between coats also helps them not to stick in the process.)

Do I sound crazy?  Or are you smelling what I'm cooking?  Let me give you a few examples...this is the fun part.  This whole idea of mine started here in our master bathroom back in our second house (click here to get a whole tour): 

It's hard to tell at this angle but it was the best I could find.  Can you spot the hinges?  They're the same color as the cabinets.  They're definitely not invisible but they don't stand out like a sore thumb either.

$33 Marble Backsplash | DIY

Alright, alright, maybe that title deserves the eyebrow raises I'm sure it'll get and maybe I should've put quotation marks around "marble" because it's probably pretty obvious that you can't get a marble backsplash these days for $33 buckarooskees but it'll sure look like you can if you pick up what I'm throwing down here in this post.

This was a still of our kitchen a few months ago:

When we first bought the house, the backsplash was wallpapered with the same stuff that continued throughout the entire kitchen and breakfast nook area (see a before and so far house tour here).  We ripped that off and primed the wall for what would eventually go up, which leads me to that same spot last week:

Spotted: A Thrift Trip

It's been a good long while since I've been able to take a couple of hours to just roam through a thrift store or two.  But, as last week's errands would have it, there were four of them within the near vicinity of places I had to go and since I had a little extra time on my hands (well, borrowed of course from continuing painting the kitchen), I roamed...and these things are what I spotted...

(Pssst...if you're local to Mobile, I'll put the thrift store under each photo in case you have your heart moved and want to see if any of these are still there!)

This long tray was only a couple of bucks and would be a nice valet tray to set in a bathroom or atop a dresser in the bedroom to hold pretties and things.  In a kitchen it would also make a great place to lay cooking utensils that are in use next to the stove.

Goodwill on Azalea

Are you a plant person?  Pots can get pricey but I've always found thrift stores to have them.  These three were cute.