Guest Bathroom: Paint Job

New Paint Smell header

Painting

There’s just nothing like that new paint smell. Ahhhh. I hate the new car smell, but paint I can handle. We painted the main-level bathroom. We felt like this was just the thing the room needed. Something inside me said, “Silver.” And so it was. I have an unusual infatuation with the color gray. I wanted to find just the right one and ended on this Pittsburg version called “Antique Silver.” Come have a look!

Paint Swatch Sample gray

Much deliberation took place. Actually, we just looked at the options and went with our gut. Joe was worried that it wouldn’t match the brown hardware and counter, but this particular shade of silver had some brown tones to it.

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Guest Bathroom: From Popcorn to Knockdown

knocking out popcorn

Popcorn vs Knockdown

Are you like Joe and hate popcorn ceiling with a passion? It never bothered me much, until I realized how many alternatives are out there! Joe has always wanted to try doing a knockdown ceiling treatment, so we decided to pick a sample room and try our hand. Since Steve’s bathroom is basically unoccupied now, we figured it was the perfect small space for a test run!

The Supplies

You’ll need to buy a few things before attempting this yourself.

how to DIY knockdown ceiling supplies

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Sun Room

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Surf, Sand and Sun

Two out of three ain’t so bad for a Minnesota winter. We’re still pretty sad that Steve and Shila Bear moved out, but on the bright side, there’s a new room in Joe’s house. What was once a porch addition, because a four-season bedroom. Now it’s restored to a four-season porch! Or “sun room” as we’ve been affectionately calling it.

sun room photo

Come take a peek inside!

sun room renovation

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Storage Alert

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Bookshelf Hack

Not exactly a hack, but I’m using a bookshelf as shelving for pants. I have a bad habit of over-stuffing drawers full of my clothes, so I needed a remedy. Bingo – used bookshelf! It’s now an extension of my closet and dresser space. I swung by the Goodwill and snatched this up for the cool price of $3.99! I was hoping to find an old dresser that I could gut and refinish, but this thing is the perfect size and needs no work at all. Practically new. And for the price, I couldn’t say no.

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Happy New Year!

3, 2, 1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We hope you truly have a blessed year in 2015 and beyond. And a very fun and safe night tonight. Joe and I are still deciding how we want to ring in the new year, but I’m sure we’ll make it a memorable one 🙂 We hope you’ll hang around next year for some new adventures. Many surprises to come.

Here are some fun highlights from our blog. Click below if you’re curious and want to see the full infographic.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,300 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 55 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

 

What are YOU doing for New Year’s? And what are your resolutions?

It’s Gonna be a Crafty Christmas

it's gonna be a crafty Christmas header

Crafty Christmas

Looking for Christmas crafts this year? I’ve got some super simple ideas that you can whip up. Honestly, if I can make them, so can you. It’s always fun to give/receive a personalized gift. Bonus points if you make it. If that’s not your style, no big deal. But this post is for all the Christmas DIY’ers.

Coasters

I made coaters again, this time for my coworkers. I had to reference my tutorial from last year just to remember how. But they’re just like riding a bike – pretty simple to pick up again. I found these funny napkins at World Market last year.

Christmas crafts coasters

DIY coasters mod podge

Candles

I bought a few little candles and peeled the labels from them. I took some music paper and stamped the names of my friends on the paper, then cut them to the size of the labels. The jars were still sticky, so it was easy to stick the new labels on. The candles were less than $1 each. Then just added some twine bows!

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Updates October

summer to fall

All Things Fall

We have a lot of things to share coming up. It’s been a whirlwind week, so hang tight. Not to mention it’s Joe’s birthday tomorrow – Happy 26th Joe!

Meanwhile, we’re working on winterizing, holiday projects, and converting a new room.

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Concrete Jungle

Concrete Slab

It’s a Jungle Out There

And by out there, I mean in the back yard. Hey life is what you make it – maybe it’s just a simple pile of hardened dirt, but it’s pretty darn exciting to us. The yard is really coming together! And you may even notice a new addition out there…

This task involved a lot of 2×4’s, H₂O and this:

DIY concrete slab

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Good Things Come in 3’s (2/3)

bean bag toss DIY cornhole bag toss game

Sewing Things

I think you can guess that my three projects were all sewing related! I’m afraid I jinxed myself when I said good things come in threes, because first Joe was sick and now I’m sick! I hope there’s not a third person next. I’ve tried my best to quarantine myself all week.

At least I was able to whip out my sewing machine last week before all the sneezing ensued. Now I just have cabin fever.

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Good Things Come in 3’s (1/3)

DIY food dehydration

Good Things Come in 3’s

They do! And I’m gonna make you guess the next two in my trio of trio posts.

I make great use of the food dehydrator – it’s so easy to cut up food and leave it for a couple days. Not to mention, it’s a healthy alternative to pre-packaged snacks. It does run up the electric bill a little bit tho…  Hey, anyone want to join me for Unprocessed October? The dehydrator will definitely come in handy! No added salt or sugar to these three snack recipes.

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