I’m so excited that it’s $100 Room Challenge time again! This time I’m taking the challenge to the streets, so to speak, with a makeover for my camper. I’ve participated in several other $100 Room Challenges, and it’s one of my favorite subjects on the blog. I love the challenge of making over a whole room in four weeks, for $100. This time, I’m going all in with our family camper trailer. It’s one room that does every job in the house, so this makeover will be the ultimate challenge! Before we get too far into my plans for this challenge, let’s recap, shall we? The $100 Room Challenge all… Keep Reading
Back to School Grownup Bedroom Refresh
Now that my kids are back in school, I get to take time to work on my own projects again! I thought I’d start by giving my master bedroom a little makeover This grownup bedroom refresh is all about the details, clean lines, and soft colors. We recently sold our latest flip house, that did double duty for a while as an AirBNB property, and had a few items left over from staging it. I enjoyed them so much in the flip house that I wanted to bring them home and find a place for them in my house. And I didn’t have to look far. A few months ago,… Keep Reading
How to Unwire an Old Chandelier for Outdoor Lighting
This month we’re giving our patio a makeover, and today’s mini-makeover is how to unwire a chandelier to make it suitable for outdoor use with no electricity. We’ll be taking an old, dated chandelier and reworking it to turn it into a cool candelabra to hang over our outdoor dining table. I don’t know about you but I find electricity to be a little scary. I do a lot of DIY projects, but one thing I don’t touch in our house is wiring and electrical fixtures. So when I decided to turn this old chandelier into a functioning non-electric one for candle-lit dinners in our backyard, I felt a little… Keep Reading
How to Hang Curtains the Easy Way with a Laser Level
When it’s time to hang curtains, make your life tons easier with this simple inexpensive hack. You’ll never hang curtains without a laser level again! This is the third in my Back to Basics series, where I’m covering all the basics on things like making art from color palettes, tools that make it easier to paint a room, and now hanging curtains with a laser level. Hanging fresh curtains is a great way to change the look of your room. It may not be the most fun job but with the right tools, it doesn’t have to be frustrating. First I have a confession. This post is difficult for me… Keep Reading
How to Make Painting Simple With the Right Tools
Painting a room doesn’t have to be difficult or intimidating. Make painting simple with the right tools, and a few insider tricks. I’ve been meaning to write this post for years, but I always assumed I’d be telling you something you already knew. That changed this week when I stopped by a friend’s house as she was painting her living room. Watching her try to do the job with only a roller and a paintbrush made me realize it’s time to share what I’ve learned over many years of painting rooms. (Hint: the right tools make all the difference!) Some folks are intimidated by painting rooms, since it’s such a… Keep Reading
Neopolitan Palette and 9 ways to Use Color Palettes
As a color enthusiast, I believe that color is an end to itself. Color is its own reason for existing. Or another way to say it: because things can be colorful, they should be. I mean, just look at the delicious macarons in this neopolitan palette. In theory, they would be just as tasty without their colors, but I somehow doubt it, at least for me. When I saw these, it took me back to when I was kid and we would visit the grandparents. My grandma always had giant bowls of neopolitan ice cream waiting for us as soon as we arrived. It didn’t even matter if it was… Keep Reading
Replacing Carpet with Waterproof Laminate Flooring
We replaced our nasty old carpet with new waterproof laminate flooring, and I couldn’t be happier, both with the product, and with the process! It had to go. It was dingy, dirty, and just downright gross. The carpet that lived in this house before we moved in had seen better days. It had also seen more than its share of the underside of the previous owner’s dogs. We knew we had to get rid of it as soon as possible, but as the days turned into months and even years, that day couldn’t come soon enough for me. One Saturday morning while my husband was out with his friends, I… Keep Reading
How to Make Your Own Simple Chair Covers
No need to call an upholsterer when you want to change the color or pattern on your occasional chairs. Here’s how to figure out how to make your own pattern to create simple chair covers. Do you have any furniture in your house that you mostly love, but it just needs a little updating? I do because I’m a sucker for garage sales, estate sales, and generally anything with a little history (and a low price tag) to it. I got these sweet little chairs from a Craigslist ad a couple of years ago, and immediately fell in love as soon as I sat in one. These might be the… Keep Reading
16 Money Secrets That Will Save Your Next Remodel
I love saving money. And I love remodeling my house. Alas those two hobbies, by definition, often seem at odds with each other. But I’ve learned a few things over the years that help me drastically cut my remodeling costs, and I thought it might be helpful to share them with you today. This is our third house that we’ve owned and remodeled, and it seems like there’s always another project on the horizon for us. Right now, we’re working on our floors (more on that soon) and we hope to hit our bathroom next. We normally work on one project at a time, whenever money becomes available, which means… Keep Reading
Ancient Pink Plaster Palette
I’ve been enamored with all things pink since writing last week’s DIY Pink Himalayan Salt Scrub post. I’m not usually a girly girl, and my favorite color has never been pink (it’s green) but something about this salmony pink color has grabbed my attention lately. I think what I loved about the pink Himalayan salt is the variation in color, and that’s what I love about today’s palette as well. As much as I have a thing for painted front doors, I also have this thing about layered plaster on old walls. I think there must be so much history covered with each layer of color. If these walls could… Keep Reading