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Do It Yourself Shiplap: Get the Popular Trend for Less

A Shiplap Accent Wall will make a dramatic visual impact in any space! Do it yourself shiplap is a way to get the look for less! Our do it yourself shiplap accent wall totally transformed our living room. The white shiplap instantly lightened and brightened up the room plus added some popular farmhouse flair.

Do it yourself shiplap is a great way to get this poplar farmhouse trend in your home on the cheap! The main difference between “real” shiplap and this do it yourself shiplap is the thickness of the shiplap planks. My do it yourself shiplap planks are only 1/5″ thick. That means they are super thin and lightweight which means it is easier to hang, and of course- less expensive!

If you are willing to do this one extra step… make your own shiplap by cutting shiplap planks out of sheets of plywood… you can have shiplap on the cheap! I used very thin 1/5 inch thick plywood sheets. Each sheet is 4 feet x 8 feet wide. Because they are super thin they’re light-weight which means easier to hang and less expensive! With the hack to give the do it yourself shiplap extra dimension- no one will ever know the difference!

Do it Yourself Shiplap TV Wall in 3 Steps:

Measure, mark, and cut your sheets of plywood. I made my planks a tad less than 6 inches wide. I don’t have a table saw to make perfectly straight cuts. We used a handheld miter saw to try to cut down the lines I marked manually- therefore they weren’t perfectly straight. I love the look of it, because it just adds to the character of the wall making the gaps little bigger here and there.
Paint the shiplap planks after cutting so you can sand any jagged, sharp edges and wrap the paint around the edges. To dry the planks I balanced them on the crazy amount of items I had in my garage at the time… yikes!
Attach the shiplap planks to the wall with a nail gun if you have one… if you don’t you could totally just hammer them in with nails to make this work… anything that’s a little different just adds to the character! Use a nickel or a two nickels stacked together in between them to space the planks apart uniformly.

Do It Yourself Shiplap Hacks for Clean Edges & Hiding Cords

My wall was just a little wider than the 8′ shiplap planks so instead of making it complicated I just centered them and added a 4 inch strip of the same plywood vertically on each side. Since the planks are so thin you can’t tell that it doesn’t lay 100% flat (because it covers the edges of the shiplap on one edge and then goes down 1/5″ to the wall in the corner). I utilized that space on this side to feed the cords for the hanging lamps down the wall.

We mounted our TV right over the thin planks (into studs) so when you pull & swivel the TV around there aren’t any unsightly patches of missing shiplap. A friend came over to show me how to drill a hole behind the TV with a spade drill bit to feed the cord down behind the drywall.

Add Extra Dimension to Your Do It Yourself Shiplap

The wall was already painted a charcoal gray color so the contrast between each plank adds that much more dimension. Even though the planks are so thin you would never guess that because these dark crevices make it look so much deeper.

So it seems just some elbow grease & under $100 are the only things standing between you and having do it yourself Shiplap in your home!

Happy Shiplapping!!!

Another inexpensive accent wall DIY- Faux Brick, check it out in our garage!

3 Stand Up Shower Ideas to Enhance your Basic Shower

Our basic builder-grade stand up shower went from zero visual appeal to being one of the most attention-grabbing elements in our home! We implemented 3 different Stand Up Shower Ideas to totally transform our small shower stall on a tiny budget. These DIY Stand Up Shower Ideas gave our dull shower some style and luxury.

The 3 stand up shower ideas to instantly upgrade your basic shower to a luxury level are:

Paint Shower Door Frame
Add Window Grids to Glass Shower Enclosure
Incorporate Luxury Shower Accessories

Here are tutorials, tips and tricks for each of these 3 stand up shower ideas!

Stand Up Shower Idea #1: Paint Shower Door Frame

The first of the 3 stand up shower ideas, is to paint the shower door frame and fixtures. This stand up shower was as basic as they come with a shiny chrome frame and chrome shower fixtures. I’ve painted bathroom plumbing fixtures the wrong way and figured out some tips and tricks to paint them to LAST! These painted shower fixtures have held up for 3 years, and are going strong!

STEP 1 is PREP WORK

It’s all about the prep work. This is the unglamorous part. I do the amount of prep work you’d think would be sufficient and then do a little more. Here the prep process to paint plumbing fixtures that will last:

1. Clean them with Krud Kutter Pre-Paint Cleaner and paper towels.
2. Sand them really good with steel wool while wearing gloves. Make sure you get every area well. (You can repeat the first 2 steps again to be sure its all de-glossed and roughed up enough for paint to stick to it.)
3. Wipe down with Klean-Strip Liquid Sandpaper and a clean lint free rag.
4. Let it air dry.

If you don’t have either of these products- you will have them for many more projects to come! I’ve had my same bottles of both of these for countless projects on all different surfaces.

STEP 2 is BLACK PAINT

This same paint has been used on so many surfaces in my house- Rust-Oleum Satin Black Oil Based Paint. I do 2 coats of this paint with 12 hours of dry time in between coats. I like to use a small smooth brush to get into all the crevices. Oil based paint is a bit messy and you can’t get it off of things with regular soap & water, but paint thinner will take it right off if you end up with drips. (Just don’t let it sit for a long time before you get it off.)

STEP 3 is the TOP COAT

This is a secret tip I’ve learned! I use Varathane Matte Floor Poly as my top coat. (I have found it the least expensive to order from Menards- check it out here. It does seam expensive but I can’t even list all the projects I’ve done with this one gallon of it and I still have half a gallon left!) It is more durable than regular Poly! I know because I’ve tried both on bathroom fixtures. The floor poly holds up amazingly, and the other… not so much.

The Varathane Floor Poly can says to apply at least 4 coats with only a couple hours of dry time in between coats, so you can get this step all done in one day easy. If at all possible wait 30 days for the poly to cure before you use the shower if you are painting the inside of the frame as well so it can cure before it is gets wet.

Stand Up Shower Idea #2: DIY Window Grid on Glass Shower Enclosure

This is one of the best stand up shower ideas I’ve seen! I thought of this idea, and was thrilled to find Robert & Lauren’s blog over at Bless’er House where they executed this beautifully. I pretty much followed her tutorial besides the painting part. To paint them I used the same process as I did on the shower frame so it would match! Here is the process to create the Window Grid Shower Doors:

Plan out design & get the Polystyrene Lattice Moulding (get flat moulding if you can find it- I could only get rounded at the hardware store by me, so that’s what I used.) It is lightweight & very inexpensive.
Cut the vertical pieces, paint & poly them. Attach them with the Loctite Go 2 Glue using the measured marks & a long level. Wipe any glue that leaks out away with a clean cloth while its wet and then hold it into place with some painters tape while it dries. **If I could go back and redo this part I would have used a brush to cover the whole back of the moulding with the glue rather than just putting a line down the back because it would look even cleaner from the inside and might save some effort on the caulking next.
Then I measured the vertical pieces each individually because even though the moulding looks straight it is off by a few millimeters in different squares. Then cut, paint, poly, & attach those. Taking the painter’s tape off of these final pieces is SO rewarding! You will truly see your vision come to life!
Final step is to caulk the grids with clear silicone caulk as shown in this video. This will prevent any debris from getting caught in the cracks.

Here is a video version of the process of adding window grids to your stand up shower enclosure:

Stand Up Shower Idea #3: Add Luxury Accessories

The last of the stand up shower ideas is to adorn your small shower with luxurious shower accessories.

The Teak Wood Shower Caddy was a splurge but after reading the reviews I ordered one. That was years ago and its still going strong!
The Rain Shower Head just gives a little bit of a luxurious feel. I would love a hand held to go along with it someday.
To decorate or not to decorate it… I have hung a boxwood wreath on there for now, but also love it crisp & clean. Whats your vote?

Hope these 3 stand up shower ideas give you a newfound excitement about your basic shower stall!

Looking for more Bathroom Ideas- all the details for our Painted Bathroom Floor Tile can be found here! This project along with the Shower Ideas changed the whole feel of the bathroom!

Achieve a Floor Paint Pattern Without a Messy Stencil

This black and white floor paint pattern reinvigorated our whole Master Bathroom! This herringbone floor paint pattern took our bathroom floor from dull, dated, basic-beige ceramic floor tile- to this fresh, light, & bright modern vibe.

The impact from painting a fresh pattern onto your floor is huge. The floor is the anchor for the whole appearance of a bathroom. Therefore, changing the flooring instantly changes the entire feel of the bathroom. We’ve got that beautiful, bright, luxurious bathroom floor we’ve daydreamed of for our little ensuite for less than $100!

If you’ve considered creating a floor paint pattern in your space you’ve likely seen the same old floor paint pattern stencils over and over. There are not a whole lot of variety available if you add your floor paint pattern via a stencil. You’ll have the same exact floor paint patterns as everyone else.

**Watch the whole process from start to finish on the video at the end of this post!**

Painting Floor Tile- PREP WORK:

This is my second bathroom floor to paint so I learned some things along the way on the last project, most notable being: its all about the prep. This was the step that I didn’t mind so much how small the bathroom was because that meant less tiles to clean, sand & prep for paint. The tedious job that no one likes to do.

First I cleaned each tile with Krud Kutter’s No-Rinse Prepaint Cleaner. This cleans and takes the gloss off.
Then I sanded the tiles with the power sander using course sandpaper. I used sanding blocks for the areas the power sander couldn’t get to- like the corners and under the cabinets.
Then I used a wire bristle brush and gave the grout all a good scrub.
After that I used TSP to give everything a good clean. This is a strong chemical so I re-read the box every time to make sure I get the correct ratio & wear gloves. You also can’t pour it down the drain when you’re done. Its a whole process but it is the strongest and the best pre-paint cleaner, so when you want to be sure you’ve done your prep well… this is it. I rinsed off the TSP warm water and rags and then also with the steam mop 2 twice to be sure it was all rinsed off and my paint would stick well.

Painting Floor Tile- PRIMER COAT:

Next I used Zinnser Bullseye Primer in white. I used a brush to apply that to the grout and the tile. Only 1 coat needed and it can be top coated in 1 hour, so this step was super quick!

Painting Floor Tile- FLOOR PAINT:

The most exciting part- adding the first coat of floor paint. This was my first project with Behr Porch & Patio Floor Paint. I used it in Low-Lustre Ultra Pure White. I painted over the grout and tiles with a big angled brush. The recoat time on this is 4-6 hours so I got both coats on in 1 day.

Adding Floor Paint Pattern- DIY HERRINGBONE STENCIL PATTERN:

I let the freshly painted floor tile sit for about 48 hours while I planned and practiced my herringbone floor paint pattern on a piece of scrap wood. For this design I used painter’s tape as my stencil and a sponge to apply. The paint I used was a sample size of Behr Marque Flat Paint in Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black.

First thing I did was tape the grout lines with painters tape so that I would have a clean, uniform part where the floor paint design stops on each tile. Then I taped the herringbone floor paint pattern onto the tiles. One diagonal section of herringbone on each row of tile.

DIY HERRINGBONE PATTERN TIPS:

One thing I would do differently is make the diagonal lines on each part the same angle. I was at a loss of how to do this other than eyeballing it when I was in the midst of it. But now, I would have used the long level (or any long flat edge and go from one diagonal to the next column in the same direction to get the start.

Then cut a piece of paper lining the edge to the edge of the tile and cut along the line so you can flip it and use it for the other side of the “V” to get that direction going at the same angle. Once you get one diagonal line in each column it is pretty easy to get the rest in the row by eye.

After I got all the blue tape down I sponged the tricorn black paint on in between the painters tape to make the herringbone floor paint pattern. I liked the more imperfect ones where I used less paint and let some white shine through rather than the dark crisp black lines when I used more paint and covered the white completely.

I pulled off all the painters tape while the black paint was still wet. My creative little 9 year old asked if she could, “do the honors” and pull off the tape. So I had a helper for this part! We got a few smudges of black paint here and there and I just touched those up by going over them with the white floor paint.

Floor Paint Top Coat:

None, so far. I was planning on doing a top coat with Floor Poly, but I could tell this paint seemed so durable. If it can hold up on porches and patios in the rain and dirt of the outdoors it can handle our wet feet getting out of the shower and the dirt and dust inside. Besides if I need to touch up anything it will be so easy without a top coat overtop. It has such a nice matte finish it looks great as it is!

Using the white really brightened up our bathroom! I love the transformation that painting the floor tile made for the whole bathroom. The whole feel and vibe of the room is different!

Here is a video of the whole transformation from start to finish:

Painting this Floor Paint Pattern on our bathroom floor was step 1 to our Master Bathroom Facelift! We will be sure to show you everything else we are working on to refresh this cute little bathroom!

If you want to see another idea besides adding a floor paint pattern, you could paint your tile to look like high end slate tile. We painted our other bathroom floor with this Faux Slate Tile Method! The tile in that bathroom was the same builder beige ceramic tile to begin with. But now it has a rich variety of marbled gray slate tones!

Revolutionary DIY Shoe Storage to Replace Over the Door Shoe Racks

This DIY Shoe Storage is an upgrade to your current entryway closest shoe organization! If you have one of those ugly over the door shoe racks, you will love these Shoe Organizer Bins so much more.

These DIY Shoe Storage bins can be made from scratch or bought and hung on your closet door with the instructions below. I have included the full DIY route & a link for finished wood bins I found that are almost identical to the ones I made!

The DIY Shoe Storage boxes will securely attach on the inside of your hollow closet door. No ugly hooks sticking out of the top of the door. These Shoe Bins have kept the kids’ shoes easy to find and put away for the last 6 months. They are very sturdy and add a sleek clean look to our entry closet. These bins can also fit more shoes than our over the door shoe rack could.

For all you anti-DIYer’s here is your caveat! When I was knee deep in the middle of this DIY with wood pieces, power tools and overwhelm– I was perusing through Hobby Lobby & saw these finished crates- that were my ‘vision come to life’! I could have just bought these- used some Wall Dog screws and hung them on the inside of the closet door and been done in an hour flat! So if you want to save the DIY hours- these are your easy button!! Don’t forget to use the Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon if they don’t happen to already be on sale.

BUY Option:

Here is a link and a picture of the pre-made bins at Hobby Lobby that would also work perfectly.

These ones from Hobby Lobby would work as well.

For me, there was no turning back on the DIY since I had already spent the $$ on the wood and cut it up… but for all y’all who would rather B-U-Y– it makes me feel even better about my hours spent happily wandering through the aisles of Hobby Lobby for giving you this finished project option!

Mounting DIY Shoe Storage Bins on Closet Door

I have regular builder grade interior doors, they are not solid wood. These Wall Dog Screws have mounted several things on the inside of our closet doors with success!! I actually used them to hang the cheap shoe pockets before I upgraded to these bins- so at least I didn’t have the hooks hanging over the top of the door. 3 Wall Dogs even held up that heavy shoe pocket panel loaded with shoes.

DIY Shoe Storage Bin Tutorial:

First, dust off your math skills and measure the door and the DIY shoe storage bins to get them spaced out evenly on the door. Make sure there is enough clearance for the door to close with the depth & placement of the bins.

Then pull out some plywood from your stash- or run to Home Depot & grab you some. I used 1/4″ plywood- it is very thin, so it is cheap & lightweight. I also picked up some of the pre-cut 1.5″ wide long poplar wood pieces for the front of the crates- you could also just use solid plywood for the front if you’d like though.

Dimensions of DIY Shoe Storage Bins:

Back (x1)- 10″ tall x 16.5″ wide
Sides (x2)- 5.5″ wide x 5.5″ tall
Bottom (x1)- 5.5″ wide x 16.5″ long
Front (x2)- 1.5″ wide & 16.5″ long (these poplar wood pieces came this width- I just had to cut each of them to 16.5″ long

The other supplies needed are a hot glue gun, caulk & paint…

I was planning on using a nail gun to nail the pieces together but with the 1/4″ thin plywood it was pretty much impossible to get the nails in without them splintering out.

So I got out the old handy dandy hot glue gun! I wasn’t sure if they would hold up… but the verdict 6 months later is YES- with perfection!!

I Hot Glued the pieces together to form the boxes. Then I caulked over the seams so that when I painted them the paint would have something to stick to since it won’t stick to the dried hot glue. Caulking was fun and easy- if you haven’t used caulk before I just get the squirt bottles and then squirt out a line of it and then smooth it down with my finger.

After that I painted them with my favorite Door & Trim Paint, Behr Marquee Ultra Pure White in Semi-Gloss. Its the same paint that I used to paint the door it will be hung on as well as all the other interior doors and trim throughout the house.

Then I used E600 Glue and Wall Dog Screws to attach these beauties to the door. You do NOT have to drill any holes for the Wall Dogs- You just mark where you want it to go in and use a screw driver and some pressure and they go right through the wood and the door.

Family DIY Shoe Storage Labels

DIY Shoe Storage bins can be organized even further with labels. Add a cute label to dedicate each shoe bin to each family member. I used Canva to design my labels and I used little metal frames (I picked up these eclectic little frames from a junk store along the highway on one of my trips to Austin when my sister lived there, oh the nostalgia.) I used hot glue to attach each label to the fronts of the DIY shoe storage bins.

Enjoy using & maybe also just staring at your custom DIY Shoe Storage!

If you’re looking to stay motivated & rocking through your home organization join us on our current Organization Series!!

Small Linen Closet Organization on a Budget

Okay, you are ready to tackle the Linen Closet Organization in your Home Organization journey– but you don’t know where to start. I’ll get you from overwhelmed- to confident and ready to dive in! Read on..

Small Linen Closet Organization Step #1

First think about everything that HAS to be in there. If your linen closet is small, brainstorm if any of the contents can be more appropriately stored somewhere else. For example, our linen closet is tiny and was bursting at the seams. We store the towels we use everyday in our bathrooms so they are there for us when we get out of the shower.

The kids pull out all the extra blankets on the reg for fort building and other shenanigans. The blankets always get shoved back in there- definitely not folded pretty, ha! I switched the storage location for their extra blankets to their bedrooms rather than the linen closet. I did have all the cleaners in there- but decided to store the bathroom cleaners & supplies in the bathrooms.

Here is how we store the kids’ shower towels in their bathroom:

Small Linen Closet Organization Step #2

After finding more appropriate homes for those that you’d like to remove from the linen closet, assess:

What you have left
How to group it up
How much space each category will take up

Organizing Bins for Linen Closet Organization

Bins are really useful if you don’t fold your towels picture perfectly. Labeled bins also assure everything gets put back into its ‘designated spot.’ That way every time you open the door to the linen closet its always easy to find just what you need! But are you wanting cute bins for free?- Check out how to make custom bins from cardboard. If you’d prefer to buy your bins, Target’s Dollar Spot has had some cute ones like these that I got from there!!

Put the stuff you don’t need to get into and out of very often up high so you don’t drive yourself nuts with it! Our extra sheets go up there- we only get out those if someone is sick or something.. otherwise we just wash the ones on the bed and put them right back on.

The other bins are from Target, At Home, and Ikea.

Labels for Linen Closet Organization

After you get everything situated into bins take the time to make some cute labels & don’t feel bad micro-labeling every little thing that is in each bin, because then everything will always be easy to find!

Hope you are feeling inspired and know exactly what you are going to do when you dive into your Linen closet organization!!!

Woooooohooo! Give yourself a pat on the back for going after it and organizing your space. You will feel productive and have those amazing DIY Vibes of satisfaction and pride in a job well done! Extra bonus- during home quarantine- you get to be around 24/7 to fully enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Create a DIY Storage Cube on the Cheap

“I’m bored in the house, and I’m in the house bored…” Tyga’s lyrics ringing true to you in quarantine at all? Okay, lets use this time to for something productive and satisfying then- Organize!! Woohoo! But wait, its only fun when you have cute organizing cubes to put everything into. Plus money is tight and those cubes are expensive. This DIY storage cube is your free solution.

Your DIY storage cube might even turn out to be better than those expensive bins from your favorite stores. And it reuses something you probably already have. Ready for the magic component- Those Discarded Cardboard Boxes! You know- the ones your online retail therapy arrives in?!

Those discarded boxes can be quickly transformed into: Cute, Custom-Sized, Matching Storage Bins! (*And if you’re curious if they hold up- scroll to the end to see how the ones I made 6 years ago look!)

Perfect quarantine project because I was able to only use everything we already have, which also means $0 spent- yayAH!

Think of whats on your ‘To Organize’ docket… Art Supplies, Tools, Clothes, Toys, Makeup, Pantry… and make yourself a set of custom storage cubes to complete and beautify the job. Gather up your empty boxes & get excited! Because you are going to transform them into cute matching storage bins! The perfect sizes and shapes for your latest organizing voyage are all about to be born right in front of you!

Sift through your house to see if you have any shipping paper, cute wrapping paper, or fabric. Think outside the ‘box’ with this part- I just set aside the old curtains I took down- made from drop cloths- for the next round of organizing cubes!

DIY Storage Cube Supplies:

Sharp Cutting tool– I used a pocket knife (make sure it is sharp enough to easily cut through cardboard- if you try to do this with scissors you will be cursing your way through each cut and it will take forever!)
Measuring Tape
Packing Tape
Modge Podge
Something cute to wrap them in- fabric, shipping paper, wrapping paper
Scissors

DIY Storage Cube Tutorial:

Measure the dimensions you need your cube to be
Cut the boxes down to size or completely flatten them and build them from scratch by cutting the cardboard into the size you need & taping it together with the shipping tape.
Test out the box in the space as you’re building to be sure it’ll be a smooth fit.
Cut the fabric/paper to cover the front and sides that will be showing- or if you’re an overachiever just cover the whole thing- then if you decide to use this container somewhere else to store something else in the future it can be turned any which way!
Paint on the modge podge- (a little tip for fellow modge-podgers- I use a cheap paint brush dedicated for modge podge & keep it in a sealed baggie, and store it with my modge podge. It doesn’t dry out and is always ready for the next use without having to go through a ton of brushes like I used to before thinking of this!)

This is what the two different afternoons of making all the new storage cubes for the girls’ closet looked like.

If you want to gussy up your DIY Storage Cube- (and also be able to remember what is in which cube)- you can make cute little labels.

I used canva.com to make mine. I’ll do a separate post with the details to make these labels at an effort to keep this post less squirley than my all-over-the-place brain is right now;)

Enjoy the fruits of your labor and give yourself an extra pat on the back for making something out of nothing!! Feels so good!

Here is a video ‘tour’ of these finished DIY Storage Cubes!

If you are curious about if they hold up- here is a DIY storage cube x6 I made out of diaper boxes. They’re wrapped in canvas fabric, and were made about 6 years ago. They’ve moved locations and items several times and are still in great shape! After making the girls’ closet cubes, these are calling out for some cuter labels though right?!

Share your DIY storage cube with me!!!

On a roll with organizing? Check out these other Organizing Posts for more inspiration:

Pantry Makeover

Linen Closet Organization on a Budget

Kicking off a Home Organization Motivation Series

We are kicking off a Home Organization Series for your hidden spaces! Doing it together will keep our home organization motivation going until the end. We will be tackling what you see when you open the:

We’ll discuss why to go through the trouble of organizing these ‘hidden spaces’ that are behind closed doors. We will also discuss the obstacles you’ll face and some strategies to keep-on-keeping-on the organizing bandwagon. Then we will celebrate our progress together and enjoy the simplicity of living in our organized spaces!

WHY ORGANIZE YOUR HIDDEN SPACES

Closets, the pantry, the cabinets under the sink- these spaces become a place to shove things, and quickly close the door. Trust me, I’m no different! I’ve had to balance all the things just so and quickly slam the door to keep everything in 5 min before a kid’s birthday party begins many a time!

I am trying to transform into one of those people who has a place for everything and I am telling you…. it has taken away so much frustration! When i need something random (or something I use all the time) and I know right where to go to get it… ahhh it is just the best feeling. Keeps me on track with what I’m working on, I don’t loose steam and become the Mouse in “If you give a mouse a cookie…” (If you don’t know that book- its a kids book, but worth the read because “chances are” you’ll relate, lol.

I just love how organization carries over to how your headspace feels. When the hidden spaces are all clean, pretty and organized- they are optimally functional, & it creates calm in a frenzied brain. Organization of your hidden spaces will benefit you… your heart, your enjoyment, your ease of life, your simplicity, your pleasure. Organizing your home will aid you in your busy life, facilitate everyday tasks, boost your time management, help your future self, and provide encouragement for a tired soul when you open those doors to the organized space where things are where they are designed to be.

OBSTACLES:

The common obstacles during an organization project are:

To stay motivated
Have an actual method to get it DONE,
Remember where everything is after the organization project.

Here are the strategies I’m using to keep me motivated on this mission, the practical on how I move through each task to get the job done, and the gift that labels keep on giving. They’re so good, I wanted to share!

KEEP THAT MOTIVATION ON THE UP & UP

Now that we have gone over the why- here are some obstacles we all face while organizing these jam-packed hidden spaces. The “during” is always worse than before you started. When you are redoing a closet/pantry, even under the sink… Everything has to get pulled out into a disastrous looking mess. There is always that wide-eyed moment of “What did I get myself into?!” Just remember it is always worse before its better- and you are on your way to better! Now during the worse…

It will all be worth it, stay focused on the prize. One common thread I’ve heard a few times lately from different sources on productivity and creating positive change is that you have to celebrate your wins to stay motivated. There are chemicals released and things that happen in your brain when you celebrate that makes you subconsciously want to do that again. Keep that in mind with your organization mission. Celebrate each step you’ve taken! Celebrate that you’ve even decided to take these spaces on- to improve the flow of your everyday life. What does celebrate mean? Give yourself those words of affirmation, even out loud, smile, pause to give yourself that pat on the back for making these steps towards positive change. Even if you feel silly, remember it is science. There are brain chemicals- just try it!

SCRUM METHOD

Now that we have some tips to stay motivated- we need a method to get the madness done- Have you heard of the scrum method? You can learn more about it in this easy breezy podcast episode by Screw the 9 to 5- 3 Time Management Hacks to Help You Get More Done in a Day. For the SCRUM method, you’ll list out all the steps to get a single task done. Then, those steps then get transferred (on sticky notes) between 3 columns: Backlog, Doing, Done.

Example:

The task: “Paint the Pantry”

The steps:

Empty the pantry out
Clean shelves and walls
Dry them well, Tape off edges and floor
2 coats of paint with drying time and fans going in between

Each of those steps gets moved- ONE at a time- into the doing column until its complete. That is the cue to start the next step. This method keeps you focused on one step at a time. It also clarifies every step in writing, taking the brain work out of it. I don’t even use sticky notes- I just turn my notebook sideways, make my 3 columns, write the task on the top, all the steps in the backlog column and then arrows over to the doing & done columns as I go. It takes only a few minutes and it simplifies each task. I also look forward to sitting down with a cup off coffee and writing out all of the steps to get a task done. Makes my brain feel streamlined as I’m working 😉

LABELS

One month later- you perfectly organized all of your different linens into bins & open the door to grab some throw pillow cases to change out your throw pillows and you are wide eyed & wondering which bin?!?!?! When you are doing the organizing it would only make sense to have it in this bin, so you think you’d never not remember that but….. you do, lol. Trust me, I’ve been there- many times! Labels have been a game changer for this issue. They are so much fun to design (if I had to go back to 18 years old I would have chosen graphic design). Labels make each organized closet, under the sink cabinet, and even the trunk to the minivan so beautiful and functional. Everyone in the house knows where to put that item, and where to find it, including myself;)

Here are the labels I made for my pantry, you can check it all out here:

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CELEBRATE A JOB WELL DONE

With kids and parents and life going in so many directions all at the same time it is such a nice thing to do for yourself to simplify the things you can to keep everything as easy for you as possible. A busy life is so fun and exciting! Sports x3 is what our extracurriculars are these days. It is so great to watch the kids thrive and make friends on their different sports teams. I love that they get to be outside & active- and sing softball chants with their teammates (prob Kendall’s favorite part about softball;) Extracurriculars are so beneficial on so many levels for the whole family, but it takes a lot of planning and prep on the backend to keep it all rolling smoothly (or just rolling, even when its rough!)

Home organization motivation- bottom line: The effort makes living in our home as easy on ourselves as possible. We get to design the spaces we live in and having organized closets and a labeled spot for everything makes navigating through busy schedules and fun activities that much more light and fun for us too! And when its pretty its more rewarding and more reason to keep up with it 😉

7 Tips for Designing a First-Rate Home Coffee Bar

Are you like me and have had ‘a home coffee bar’ on the wish list for years? This year a home coffee bar I’ve always dreamt of was my Christmas present to myself! These shelves are rustic & textured, and magically arrived at my door from the Amazon fairy!

There are some functional and design items to think out when you’re creating a charming little Home Coffee Bar. I’ll share the 7 tips I learned making ours. These tips will help you design a functioning Home Coffee Bar of your own! [Some of the links in this post are affiliate links]

1. Home Coffee Bar Necessity #1: Used Coffee Grounds Receptacle

Unless your coffee bar is right next to your trash can you will need somewhere to put the used coffee grounds. The whole point of a cute little coffee station is defeated if you have to treck over to the kitchen garbage to dump the coffee grounds every time you go to brew a fresh cup.

Some brilliant mavens on Facebook gave me a progressive (crunchy) solution to this problem… a compost bin. Coffee grounds can be added to the soil for a little boost for your plants. There are some really cute countertop compost bins you can find to go with your design aesthetic. I use the coffee canister for this and dump, rinse and wipe out every few days.

*These vines have been getting these magical beans sprinkled on their soil for about 3 months now. I swear they are growing faster!

2. Wipeable & Sealed Countertop on your Home Coffee Bar

I love different coffee bars made out of different creative pieces! Although, some of the unique pieces don’t hold up well to spills. If you’re working with a piece of furniture thats not already sealed, be sure to seal the countertop. It is essential to have a sealed countertop for the coffee splashes and spills.

The base piece of our home coffee bar is a Media Cabinet from At Home, and it did not come sealed. I used 2 light coats of Fusion Tough Coat. I was hesitant to go heavy with it because I didn’t want to wait forever for it to cure before I could set up my coffee posts and use my long awaited coffee bar. But it was not enough protection…

The unwanted effect is a coffee ring stain on it. I’ll have to buff out and then add some of the Varathane Floor Poly I have left from sealing our Painted Bathroom Floor. It is thicker and more durable than the Fusion Tough Coat finish. I am confident it will hold up because our bathroom floors get far more water spilled on them from kid’s showering and they are holding up! I’ll let you know how many coats it takes to get a solid sealed finish for the coffee bar countertop!

3. Accessible Outlet for your Home Coffee Bar

On another practical note- you’ll need an outlet to plug in your coffee machines. You may need to get creative with hiding cords behind canisters. This coffee bar has an outlet behind the media cabinet. Which is a perfect location EXCEPT when I plugged it in the media cabinet was no longer flush with the wall.

A traditional plug caused a gap between the wall and the furniture. Our home coffee bar is against the wall of the main walkway in our house so it can’t stick out. If this extra gap is unsightly for the location your home coffee bar is in all you need is a flush mount extension cord. I ordered a flush mount extension cord on Amazon and was able to push the furniture right up against the wall… crisis averted!

4. Home Coffee Bar Shelf Styling with Various Sized Items-

You want items of all different heights and shapes and sizes to work with when you start to style your shelves. Don’t run to the store and drop hundreds of bucks… First, root through your kitchen cabinets, extra signs, empty glass bottles of different shapes and sizes and heights… you can fill them with coffee grounds, salt, sugar.

5. Home Coffee Bar Shelf Styling with Groupings of Items-

Home designers will tell you to style your shelves with “groupings” of items. Don’t just spread the items out one by one on the shelf. You will want to group about 3 items together to create several vignettes on each shelf.

6. Home Coffee Bar Color Scheme-

To make it look like it all look cohesive think of a color scheme of about 4 colors max and what shades of each you will incorporate and then look for anything in your house that fits within that color scheme that you can try out on the shelves. I went with one color– green and then neutrals- white, black, wood and clay. Everything I pulled fit into those colors. You can also paint anything you want on there that doesn’t fit into your color scheme!

7. Add a Hanging Plant to your Home Coffee Bar-

A charming little hanging plant just gives so many hygge vibes. That cozy cute factor is sure to give you a genuine smile- so real that your eyes smile along 🙂 This one is new to the Dollar Spot at Target and is only $5!! It’s my favorite touch of the whole home coffee bar.

These are the things I’ve learned through the creation process of this stunning & completely functional coffee bar. And in case you were wondering- yes, coffee does taste better from my new coffee bar! Can’t wait to have some friends over for a Hot Cup of Joe.

How to Make Cute & Practical Kitchen Sink Decor with 5 Kitchen Essentials

Everyone wants a straight out of the magazine looking home! A cute little vignette of kitchen sink decor placed beside the sink instantly adds that magazine-worthy appeal! This practical and attractive kitchen sink decor is made up of your 5 kitchen sink essentials.

When you are on a budget, but you want your space to give you all the good feels and you don’t have time to do a big DIY project you can add some beauty right next to your kitchen sink! Here are some tips for changing your kitchen sink essentials into a thing of beauty.

Kitchen Necessities Before Creating Kitchen Sink Decor:

This is an honest pic of what the counter beside my kitchen sink has been looking like lately- a far cry from kitchen sink decor. This area of my kitchen was a complete eyesore. Yes, these kitchen sin supplies are used everyday, but they’re also on display to be seen 24/7.

Here are the Kitchen Sink Decor Don’ts that I was guilty of..

The dog’s nasty toothbrush was out for all to see….ick!
The countertop spray. I don’t prefer the scent of and I don’t really use very often. It was just one of those Target items that hopped into my cart bc the bottle was pretty, ha!
The dish brush that I grabbed at the grocery store couldn’t be uglier to look at everyday
The dish soap was in need of a beautiful new container
I scored this AHH-MAZING Crabtree and Evelyn lotion at Homegoods because I need to lotion my hands after dishes! It is like a drug my dried out hands feen for the second I am done with the dishes.

The truth is that I do need all of these items- but I could certainly choose ones that I enjoy to look at! Just a few tweaks and you can turn your kitchen essentials into a charming kitchen sink decor set.

How to Turn Kitchen Essentials into Kitchen Sink Decor:

1. Natural Dish Scrubber-

Replaces the big plastic dish brush. I saw this natural white sponge while shopping at the home decor store- At Home. It only cost $2. I got a few different kinds of dish scrubbers from this brand, Twist. It is my first time trying out Twist products, and I like how they perform as much as I like how they look!

If online shopping is more your jam- here are some other cute dish scrubbers that will appear on your porch via the magic of Amazon:

- Natural dish brush from Amazon
- Twist Sponges from Amazon

2. Pretty & Practical Dish Soap Container

This has been my favorite upgrade by far! I was one of those that fell for the ‘Oh, dish-soap-in-an-olive-oil-bottle-is-cute-and-functional’ myth. The olive oil containers annoyed me because the soap dripped out of them so very slowly. I still have laugh attacks of other people’s reactions when they tried to use our dish soap and had to wait 20 seconds for soap to begin to drizzle out.

This time I wanted to treat myself to a container that did not test my patience every time I needed soap. A nice large glass bottle with a cute label and a PUMP! Woohoo! The frustrating thing about finding dish soap in a cute reusable container is that there are NONE available online! There must be some underground operation going on to keep all of us online shoppers from having cute dish soap! I googled high and low and actually resigned to ordering an empty glass soap bottle and thought I’d have to make a cute label for it.

Then my last visit to Homegoods I happened upon this beauty! It was only $7 and comes with SOAP IN IT! This is definitely a cheaper & easier option! I still don’t understand why no one sells dish soap in these glass containers online- but now you know where the heavens open for pretty dish soap- the kitchen section of Homegoods! There were a couple of different dish soaps in big glass containers with cute labels, & pumps to choose from! Instant kitchen sink decor upgrade from just replacing a plastic dishsoap container with one of these!

3. Board/Tray to Display Kitchen Sink Decor

Now you need something cute to place all your pretty essentials on and it will be a complete kitchen sink decor set. I totally lucked out and got this Mudpie serving platter on clearance at Homegoods… (although I have to wonder if these bargain finds actually save me money… when I go to check out with all my ‘great deals’ and they tell me it is $200… and I’m wondering what is even in those shopping bags…haha- #bargainshoppingprobs)

The first place to look for a beautiful base is your cabinets! Are you storing a beautiful little serving board or cheese platter or cake stand out of sight? If you already have one you’d love to look at it everyday, pull it on out!

A helpful way to decide on a base for your kitchen sink decor that will add the element you are going for is to look at your kitchen and see what color you want to incorporate. If you have an all white kitchen maybe you want a slate board to add some contrast, or a wood board to warm it up and add some texture. To lighten & brighten up your kitchen go for an all white accent with marble.

If you have no idea- Wood & marble is a hot combo right now.

- This Hexagon Wood & Marble Tray from Amazon is cute

If you are a bargain shopper and love to ~~waste~~ spend hours perusing Homegoods, Hobby Lobby and At Home like this girl- there are plenty to choose from! Just remember when you check out and realize you just spent $200 on God knows what because everything was “such a good deal” -I warned you, xoxo.

4. Greenery Accent

Greenery makes my eyes smile. A touch of greenery is the perfect finishing touch to almost any Home Decor project, and this kitchen sink decor is no exception. This might be something you have already too! If not any glass bottle with a small branch from outside can work until you find one you like!

- Here is a mini cute faux plant from Amazon with good reviews

I’ve resigned to faux because I don’t have the skill set to keep plants alive! If you have that radical competence to keep real plants alive, your vignette will look even better!!!

5. Hand Lotion

The lotion was already cute and smells heavenly and is the oily texture I love, I just used some citrus essential oil to get the red clearance Homegoods sticker off of it. Find a lotion that has the texture and scent that will make you pause and just soak in the goodness for a second on an everyday afternoon of household chores.

Kitchen Sink Decor Tips:

Sometimes we get wrapped up in thought about the BIG things like ugh, I hate these cabinets, I wish I had butcher block countertops and subway tile backsplash….. A curated vignette of kitchen sink decor draws in the eye in, and the ugly cabinets fade into the background. It is so refreshing that we can add beauty to our home without a big ticket item price tag.

I love when our space is a place we delight to be in… doing dishes is one of my least favorite things, but looking at this, using all these lovely scented products, and listening to a good podcast- make it a little more enjoyable.

Put yours kitchen sink decor together & share a pic so you can hear one of the comments we all love to get: “Looks magazine worthy!” Then share how easy it is for them to do as well!

For some more DIY kitchen inspiration check out these Inexpensive but High-Impact DIY Kitchen Upgrades:

How to transform Honey Oak Kitchen Cabinets Before & After:

How to Transform Your Kitchen Backsplash with Paint:

How to Create Faux Roman Shades:

How to Create Stunning DIY Pantry Labels with Canva

You asked and I’ve answered! I received so many questions about the pantry labels from my Pantry Reorganization. So I wanted to share the step by step details to make them, so you can make your own custom pantry labels!

The pantry labels were the finishing touch for the pantry makeover to be sure I remembered where everything was, where to put everything new after a grocery haul, a guide for the others in my house to find what they need without the bellowing, “MOM! Where is……..” every other minute.

The design of these pantry labels has an industrial flair and adds a stunning design element to the organized pantry. Yet, these pantry labels are simple and clean looking.

Step by Step DIY Pantry Labels with Canva

To make it as easy as possible for you to recreate these labels I took screen shots of each step! Of course feel free to change/customize it to look just how you like!

I created the pantry labels using the online graphic design program, Canva. If you haven’t used Canva, you can get 30 days for free. Then you can decide to cancel, or if you fall in love with it join and continue all the designing fun.

Once you get signed up/logged into Canva you will see a search bar, type ‘luggage tag’.

Canva’s different luggage tag templates will pop up. Click on the template on the right in the first row.

When you click on that you will see this screen:

Click on ‘Use this template’. Then you have the template on your page and you’re ready to design your pantry labels!

Here are the steps I used to modify this template to create the labels in my pantry.

First click on the background and then on the color box in the top left corner, your color options for the background will pop up, choose white.

Then click on the orange items and change the color to forest green, you can create your own shade of forest green, (thats what I did), or you can use one of the default color options they have.

Click on the items you don’t need and once they are highlighted click the delete button and they’ll disappear. Do this to ‘TO’ ‘FLIGHT NO’ ‘WEIGHT OF BAGGAGE’ and the orange and white lines at the bottom.

Then click on the remaining words and you will see arrows in a circle show up underneath, Use that button to turn the words 90 degrees. Then use the other set of arrows in a plus sign to move the text to this placement:

Once you have all your text boxes moved you can move one of the lines using the same method and then turn it and elongate it to go all the way across under the ‘Baggage Tag’ text.

Then turn one of the lines 90 degrees to go under the ‘LON’ text. Move the remaining 2 lines out toward the edges.

Now you can click on your text and change it to the appropriate wording for your label.

You can adjust the placement and the size of the text to get it just so..

When you are ready to make your second label just click double page button that is just on the top right of your design and it says ‘copy page’ when you hover over it. It will create an exact replica of your design in a “page 2”. From there you can change the words for your next label on page 2.

If you need to change the size of the label, download and print the page of the label that has the correct size first and then you can change the size for your label as many times as you need for the different size labels.

You will notice when you adjust the size you will have to move all your lines and text boxes around to get the placement correct again. That is why you want to print the ones that you need for that particular size before you change the size for the next size you will need.

When you go to download your design, just download the page that has the design with the appropriate size. Then when you work on the next one with a different size you will already have your original one saved to your computer with the correct sizing and layout.

I printed mine onto white cardstock and then cut them out and modge-podged them onto the baskets/canisters. *Update- I’ve learned from experience to use resume paper to print the labels on as it is more durable and will stay looking nice far longer than cardstock. Here is a link to some resume paper on Amazon (affiliate link).

If this is not your jam, and just seems WAY too overwhelming but you NEED these labels for your pantry let me know and I can make you a custom set for minimal $.

Enjoy the cohesiveness and practicality your new labels add to your now-gorgeous pantry!

After you’ve turned your pantry into functional eye candy- check out the Faux Subway Tile Wall I did in my Laundry Room without using actual Subway Tile!

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