Category Archives: D+I+Y

Toddler Room Inspiration

Once I got the bones of Grant’s room corrected, I starting building my Pinterest inspiration board for his décor. Not only was Grant going from baby to toddler, but we were going through a transition of buying our first home. Of course this meant we were super excited to really have a place to call our own.

I have grown very fond of minimalist colors like gray, black, and white because of its understated elegance. I think using a basic color scheme will make future transitions easier as well. I searched around for the perfect pop of color for quite a while before I found it. I tried to think of a color that matched Grant’s personality and finally came up with yellow as the accent color for his room. I mean, what’s more vibrant and loud than Grant and the color yellow?!?!? Ha ha.

This collage contains most of my pins from his room board. Having this helped me to stay focused and DIY with things I already had. This kept the budget low while yielding the same aesthetic results.

If you or your little one is going through a transition, (baby to toddler or toddler to school age) it may be time to start thinking about adjusting the space to match the growth. Begin with collecting inspiration and go from there. If you start with the right base and get creative with things you already have you can keep your $wallet$ intact in the process.

Enjoy!

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Modern Cottage|Grant’s Room

Our cottage was built in 1929 with 1 bedroom, 1 living area, 1 bathroom,and the kitchen. Somewhere along the line the previous owners added an addition(2nd bedroom) and a detached single car garage to the house. The second bedroom is now our son Grant’s room. Since our total space is about 891 square feet we decided that using one continuous color through out the house would make a big difference in making the space feel open.

Grant’s room was being used as a dining area previously and needed lots of love because of the salmon colored walls and horrible pink tile. The first order of business was to paint the walls. After looking at paint chips for days we finally got some samples and tested them in the house. (Boy was that exciting!!!!) We chose a beautiful Behr Marquee Natural Gray paint in the perfect tone. It wasn’t too dark or too light, and most importantly, not too brown. (I hated the idea of having any brown/tan paint in the house at ALL!) Behr Marquee paint is a bit pricey but it saves you some time, energy, and mental anguish by knowing that all you need is ONE coat. That was important to us because every room in our house needed to be painted.

Next, I tackled the floors.The rest of the house has hard wood floors that we refinished. The tough part was finding flooring to match the original refinished hardwood in the rest of the house. We ended up finding a really good deal on laminate floors in the perfect color at Lumber Liquidators. I was able to put down the floors by myself over a few days but I must admit, the first day was the toughest because I wasn’t prepared. If you ever plan on putting down floors start by taking an entire day to just watch installation videos on youtube. (seriously,Lol) Also, be sure to get a complete kit with spacers, rubber mallet, etc. Have the proper tools to cut boards with as well. I found that a circular saw worked much better than a jig saw in this case. Never the less, I got it done.

Another important note is to remember that if you are using a flooring product that goes over existing floors, it will affect the doors. I wanted the flooring to go inside of the closet as well so I had to remove the doors while I was installing the floors. Before reinstalling the doors, I had to trim some length from the bottom of the closet doors so they would fit the new space.

It was a ton of hard work but we saved some serious $money$ by doing it ourselves. After completing this project I felt like I could take on the world! I hope this will inspire and encourage you to spruce up your living space however you see fit. Just know in your heart that if I can, YOU can D.I.Y. (Do it yourself )

Enjoy!

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Gray Paint-Behr Marque Natural Gray Semi Gloss

Floors-Lumber Liquidators Dream Home Chrisma African Rosewood

 

Matte Nails

I have been wanting to try almond shaped nails for the longest and I finally did! (I think I love them. Lol) The icing on the cake is the matte finish. The good news is you can get trendy matte nails at home! Even in the nail salon they just use a top coat to create a matte nail look. If you have a polish that you love and want to make it matte go to your local drug store and pick up your preferred brand of matte top coat. Apply it and give it enough drying time and you’re done. Enjoy!

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Modern Cottage?

I’m very excited to finally start sharing one of my primary inspirations for my blog! My (our) MODERN COTTAGE!!!! Back in April of 2015 the Mr. and I closed on a 1920’s cottage in a historic neighborhood of a Houston suburb. The first time we got the listing from our realtor we could not even believe she sent it to us.? The cottage probably had 1 or 2 items on our lengthy “must haves” list and needed everything in the universe done to it. Lol

Needless to say, for various reasons we ultimately decided to buy the 1920’s cottage. Throughout 2016 I will be sharing all the TLC we had to put in our house to make it our home.  The process of completing all the work and moving in was extremely long and stressful. We closed in April of 2015 and did not move in until August of 2015. In fact, I spent my entire summer (I’m a teacher) working on our house with minimal days off. We eventually got it done with the support of our friends and family.We couldn’t have done it with out them. We still have projects to do around the house so go with me on this DIY journey, Enjoy !

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These are photos from the original online listing that we saw when we decided to check out this house. Pretty bad right?!?
  
  
  
  
  

How to Make Fruit Infused Water

It’s a struggle to get water down for most people. I do like to drink water but sometimes I just crave flavor (mostly when I’m eating a meal). So you guessed it…I decided to try my hand at fruit infused water.

Of course I started with my Pinsperation (pinterest inspiration) and jotted down a few combinations I wanted to try. Many of the combinations called for herbs like mint but I want to test out the fruit flavors on their own first.

For the containers I opted for mason jars with a handle. It’s portable, spill proof with a lid on and well….Heck, I just LOVE mason jars!!! I just look for excuses to use them. Lol

It’s really pretty simple to get started. Wash your fruit well and follow suggestions for portions until you know what you prefer for the strength of the flavors. Put the lid on and put it in the refrigerator over night. The longer you wait to drink it, the stronger the flavor of the fruit in the water. I will keep you updated as I try different fruit combinations and learn new tips. The first one I will try is lemon/raspberry and the second will be grape/strawberry/lime. Happy hydrating, enjoy!

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