DIY Laminated Recipe Book

Laminated Recipe Book DIYUnprocessed October is coming up! And that means a lot of time in the kitchen for me. To help make my life a little easier, I whipped out my recipe book. And to help make your life a little easier, I’m sharing my splash-proof laminated cookbook DIY idea.

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Movie Room REVEAL

movie room reveal header

 

Movie Room Remodel Reveal

It’s official! We’re finished with the movie room. Or at least, finished for now. Truth be told, most of the work was done towards the end of last year, but all the finishing touches took some time. Instead of posting a play-by-play like we did with the big bathroom remodel, this time around we thought it would be fun to do one big reveal.

enter movie room

Enter if you dare.

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Easy DIY Thanksgiving Tablescape

easy DIY thanksgiving centerpiece header

Thanksgiving Centerpiece

Well, our fourth annual Friendsgiving was a great success. I’ve been full for three days straight. And there’s still a week of great eats ahead of us! If you’re looking for a unique and creative tablescape idea, here’s a good one. If you’ve got some basic tools, 10 minutes and a few candles at home, you’ll be set. And it won’t cost a penny.

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Bathroom Remodel: Décor Dilemma | Rustic or Modern?

decor dilemma

 

Rustic or Modern Décor?

That is the dilemma at hand. We’re putting the finishing touches on the bathroom, and it’s time to make some style choices to complement our tile. Now that we can see how the paint and tile look, we have a framework for what the rest of the room will look like. Time to tie it all together!

 

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Burlap Lamp Shade Upgrade

lamp shade upgrade

Lamp Shade Upgrade

This project was incredibly simple and affordable. I’ve been seeing burlap-covered lamp shades everywhere, and noticed my trusty bedside reading lamp was looking a little dingy. The shade was getting dirty and it was just too plain. So, why not use what I had and make it a little more homey?

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Patio Pillows

DIY Outdoor Patio Pillows

 

Outdoor Pillows

It was about time we decided to set up a patio table on the deck outside our bedroom. And pillows were the most exciting part! It was actually my first project that I had planned, even before we moved from the old house. I had bought fabric weeks before we even moved. Call me crazy, but it was my #1 project idea since May.

There are so many fun and funky patterns of outdoor fabric, why would you buy them from the store? And I think they’re a little overpriced if you buy them from a Target or Home Goods. So I headed to Joanne.com to find a few patterns I liked. Luckily there were many! And a few cute ones in-store too. They were even all 40% off! All I needed to do was buy some stuffing and I used my sewing machine to do the rest.

Mix’n & Match’n

 

outdoor fabric

Here’s what I found on my first round of shopping in Joanne.

outdoor pillow patterns

 

In love with the geometric one.

Mix 'n' Match

 

I ordered these three on Joanne.com.

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5 Tips for Staging your House

setting the stage banner

5 Tips for Staging your House

If you’re in the midst of trying to sell your house, you know how stressful it can be. But if you follow some of these basic tips, it doesn’t have to be hard.

  1. Get help – A staging person has a great eye and experience. When in doubt, have someone walk through your house and uncover your blind spots. Many realtors offer to include this for free and have connections in the industry who consistently stage houses that sell.
  2. Borrow – Ask friends and family for select pieces of furniture before footing a bill on new things. Thrift shops and consignment stores can be your best friend.
  3. Keep it simple – Neutral paint colors, sparse furniture and minimalistic decorations are the name of the game. Clean, clean, clean! I could say it again. It makes such a difference. People like to envision what they could do to a space, not see that someone’s living there.
  4. Storage – Invest in a storage unit, or rely on friends and family to hide away your clutter. Nobody wants to walk into the garage and see mountains of odds and ends. On that note, hide away anything that is valuable to you. If someone makes an offer, they may ask for you to leave that favorite rug or those expensive pillows behind in order to seal the deal.
  5. Breathe  – This is a process with lots of moving pieces. Get yourself a good team and do what you can to best prepare your home for showings. After that, let go and trust that things will work out. It’s important to get good sleep during this transition and eat healthy (even if you’re not able to use your kitchen.) It can feel chaotic, but it will all be worth it once you get a happy buyer for your house 🙂

 

Stage Presence

Here’s how we did it. We were pretty confident in our staging abilities, and guess what? We didn’t do too bad! When Barb the professional came in, we didn’t have a whole lot to change. Mainly this is because we had already cleansed the premises and shipped all our possessions off to various garages.

If you’re currently trying to stage your home, you don’t necessarily need to hire a professional staging person. Although, you may find it helpful. Luckily Joe’s parents had some furniture to lend us and his mom got to be the personal shopper for staging. I’ll try to give as many details as I can.

 

staging layout drawing

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Making a Customized Picture Frame

how to make a personalized picture frame

Most people, like it or not, will get a homemade craft from me at some point. I love giving birthday presents! If you’re in a pinch to make a friend a fun birthday gift too, this might be a neat idea for you.

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Fall Funsies

falling for you

(Almost)

Holy smokes- it’s only 2 weeks away! Are you ready for the cool down this week? It’s sure feeling fall to us. And that’s 100% ok. I’m a summer baby, converted fall aficionado. Loving the crisp air.

fall decor

I’m ok with fall, but are they selling Halloween costumes already? I draw the line here.

I don’t have any grand updates, but just some day-to-day stuff that I’ll fire off.

Updates

For instance, did you know it was Joe’s 5 year anniversary at work awhile ago?

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Movie Room Roundup

movie room updates

Little Updates, Big Difference

Well this room has certainly come a long way since it was here:

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