when life hands you a wood slat wall {paint stripping tips included}

Strip it. Then whitewash it. Then strip it again. Ok, maybe that strategy isn’t the best approach.  ;) You’ve all seen the whole mood board concept, right?!?!  Where people put pretty images all in one spot and use it as inspiration to design and decorate a room.  And then the room ends up looking eerily similar to the original mood board. I honestly have no idea how people do it. I think I have more “mood moments”.  And they can be fleeting.  :) To take you back to when we moved into this house in the beginning of April and there was paneling Ev. Ry. Where. We got busy tearing down all of the paneling only to find drywall (painted pink in spots!) so we took a leap of faith and started tearing down the drywall, knowing there was a chance we would need to just re-install new drywall.  I definitely prayed to the DIY Gods about our work not being a waste of time and money and energy and potentially my sanity. But it was the best decision ever!  Like ever ever, even. We uncovered beautiful wood slat wall after wood slat wall.  And their paint colors even made me a little giddy. I can’t even tell you how many different design places my mind has wandered with these planked walls. How fun would it be to salvage the original colors? But how cool would it be to strip a couple to expose the beautiful wood? What about a dark stain for contrast against light painted walls? Or what about a whitewash for a more nautical/beachy look? And when my mind is shifting through these ideas faster than Kim K is getting press over another questionable pregnancy outfit … I’m just sitting in the middle of the madness. Do you do … continue reading

newspaper as a {creative wall covering}

Hello, hello!!  If you happen to follow along on Instagram you saw a little sneak peek of a creative wall covering idea I worked on with my bff at one of our rental houses in Maryland. I’m going to start by saying that I am seriously in love with how this little experiment turned out.  A $6 upcycling idea that I worked on for 2 hours with my bff and had no idea what to expect for a result … when something like that works out in the end what’s not to love, right?!?!

open cabinets {with $32 wood slat backs}

Back in December, when I was on my little DIY trip to get some work done on rental properties we have in MD, it was freezing! Well, it actually wasn’t freezing outside but it was down right frigid in the house.  (You can see more of my lovely cold weather DIY outfit here.) That’s where I’ll start to explain that I really did think I had taken some better pictures.  I guess the foggy mess I saw on the camera wasn’t just my breath … but a not-totally-focused or properly exposed picture as well.  Sorry about that! But that doesn’t put a damper on my excitement of the transformation I was able to make in this worn little kitchen in about a week. We started with the counter transformation, then we updated the cabinets … and left most of the cabinet doors off, and then updated the hardware on the cabinets we kept AND then we backed the newly open cabinets to give it a wood slat look on a $32 budget. Let’s remember what the cabinets looked like before …

joy to the world {simple Christmas wreath}

This time of year really is the best, isn’t it?!?! The holiday spirit is in the air, holiday decor is strewn about and holiday cheer is abundant.  :)  I practically hear carolers singing “Joy to the World” right now. I love that first delve into the Christmas decor and crafting.  I like to see what we’ve got from year’s past that still inspires me and try to come up with a few new ideas at the same time.  All while I watch my husband roll his eyes at me as I pace to and fro between him and his football, or futball, or whatever sport he’s watching at the time. Hey, this decor thing takes time.  You gotta step back, look at it from all angles, scootch it around a bit and then step back for another look … am I right!?! On my decor day we even had the island equivalent of what could be considered a winter storm.  Brrrrr! Just kidding I think it did get down to 79 degrees though … which is close to a record low.  And the perfect day for dilly dallying around with some Christmas decor I say. So I made a few new driftwood Christmas trees and gave our fall leaf wreath a winter makeover.

side table transformation

Today we’ve got a quick side table before and after for you before you head over to the real business at hand at Jamie’s, the 4th day of Organizing 101: Back to Basics. This is a transformation of a little side table we’ve had sitting outside for a few years.  A side table we bought at the same auction we got our frame and couches at a few years ago.

{diy} wall calendar

This isn’t going to be the first, or the last post about a spontaneous project that just took over me and happened on a random evening in a random week. Remember the striped rug?  That happened. Well, in my quest for a functional blog room and with all of the focus on organization these days (you’ll be prompted to head over to Allison’s blog House of Hepworths to get your fill of Day 3 of Organizing 101 at the end of this post … you won’t want to miss it!), I had an idea for a diy wall calendar one night and ran with it.

diy {striped and painted} rug

You know when your husband goes away on a business trip. And you’re just itching to get a project or two done around the house. And you have about a half a dozen projects already in mid-stream. But then you can’t seem to take your eyes off a little eye sore that’s been pulling at the back of your brain for a few months now.