Rain on a Tin Roof

Category: DIY Projects

Budget DIY projects to give your home a high-end custom look, but on a budget.

How To Make Faux Crystals
This has been one of those projects I’ve had in the back of my mind for a year.

A freakin’ year.

That’s how long I’ve had the idea and supplies.

And I did try it a year ago, but it didn’t work out the first time around, so I put it to the side. Finally, two weeks ago, I decided to try it a different way and what do you know – it worked like a charm.

While I am for the most part, anti-trends, these pretty crystals and geodes that are all around is one trend I do love.

However, that shit is expensive.

I was at T.J. Maxx yesterday and one single crystal-type bookend cost $25. And that was at T.J.Maxx. And just for one bookend, not two. While $50 for a set of bookends isn’t like highway robbery or anything, I’m used to finding that kind of stuff for $5 – $10 a set at yard sales and thrift shops.

Well with this DIY faux crystal tutorial, you could make your own bookends for way less than $50. You can also use these to adorn many other things, which I will also be showing you tutorials for in the coming weeks. If you love the crystal look, but not the crystal price tag, then today, I am your girl.

DIY Faux Crystals

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

Tools and Supplies Needed
- Rocks or Stones painted gold – I used these from Michaels. These also appear to be the same thing from Amazon. You could also buy unpainted stones and paint them gold – I would recommend this spray paint if you go that route.
- Sea Salt
- E6000 Glue
- Clear Gloss Topcoat Spray Paint
- Small Old Paintbrush
- Paper Plates
Steps

This is a simple DIY project, but I thought it would be better explained in a video, rather than pictures. The video below shows you how to make the faux crystals step-by-step and I’m also including written instructions below the video, however there aren’t any photos to go with it.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”6KCwDZIN” upload-date=”Tue Feb 28 2017 11:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)” name=”DIY Faux Crystals” description=”How to make faux crystals for home decor projects.”]
Step 1

If your stones aren’t already painted gold, you will first want to paint them using a gold spray paint such as this one. Give them 2-3 coats and let them fully dry overnight before proceeding.

Step 2

Place a good bit of sea salt in a paper plate. Select a stone that has at least one semi-flat side. The side can be sloping, but you don’t want it to have lots of ridges and crannies. Apply E6000 glue to that side and spread it out with a small paintbrush. Press the stone glue side down into the sea salt.

Step 3

Apply a dollop of E6000 glue on top of the sea salt you just put on the stone. Once more, press the stone glue side down into the sea salt.

Step 4

Use your fingers to push any sea salt that is sliding onto the sides of the rock onto the top of the rock. You will also want to come back and do this a few times while the glue is drying as this glue is slippery. Let the stones dry overnight.

Step 5

After the stones have dried, give them three coats of a clear gloss topcoat spray paint. This will provide another bonding agent for the salts and also shine everything up.

You can make these as large or small as you wish, depending on the size of rock you use.

White Bust (similar) / Glass Display Case (similar ones) / Brass Key (similar ones)

You can display them simply in a glass display case or you can create other home decor items out of them as well – see the links below!

Here’s some things you can make with the crystals:

How to Make Faux Crystal Knobs – gorgeous for embellishing side tables and such.

DIY Faux Crystal Vase – easily kick a boring vase up a notch!

How to Make a Crystal Lamp Finial – a great way to add a little glam to a lamp.

How to Make Crystal Magnets – who knew magnets could be so chic?

Other projects you might like to see:

DIY Agate Slice Finials – high-end lamp finials on a beer budget.

DIY Selenite Knobs – another great knob idea for furniture!

Want to remember this post for later? Be sure to pin the image below!
February 28, 2017
DIY Wood Panel Wainscoting
One of my favorite things in our recent half-bath remodel are the walls – the glorious black and wood stained paneled walls.

Grunt Labor and I came up with this idea when we first started brainstorming ideas for the bathroom and they turned out even better than we thought.

If you have never done any sort of wainscoting on a wall before, but you really want to, then this wood paneled wainscoting is a great place to start. It’s really simple, but has a big impact – and best of all, it’s easy on your pocketbook!

DIY Wood Panel Wainscoting

Affiliate links may be contained in this post.
- Luan Panels
- Chair Rail Trim of Your Choice – preferably one with a lip that will slightly overlap your panels to hide any imperfections. We used one like this.
- Inside Corner Wood Trim
- Baseboard (you may be able to re-use what you already have)
- Stain Color of Your Choice
- Polyurethane
- Circular Saw
- Drill and Hole Saw Drill Bits, if you have circles to cut out for pipes.
- Miter Saw
- Nail Gun and Finish Nails or Hammer and Finish Nails
- Jigsaw, if you have electrical outlets to cut out.
Step 1.

Measure all the walls you’ll be covering with the panels. Mark the measurements on your panels and cut the panels with the circular saw.

If you have any places where there are electrical outlets, pipes or water lines, mark where these are on the boards and use a jigsaw or a drill with a drill bit that makes a large hole to cut out these spots.

Put all the panels in place to make sure they fit.

Step 2.

At this point, I opted to go ahead and stain everything before actually attaching it to the wall. I stained the panels, the chair rail and the corner pieces at this time. I painted the baseboard. I gave everything two coats of stain. I did not apply polyurethane at this point though.

Step 3.

After the stain is fully dry, you can attach everything to the wall using a nail gun or hammer and finish nails.

The image below shows the order in which to attach everything. First, attach the luan boards to the wall.

Next, cut the chair rail to the needed length at 45 degree angles on each end and attach to the wall.

Repeat with the baseboard at the bottom of the panels at the same angle on each end.

Finally, measure the distance between the bottom of the chair rail and the top of the baseboard in the corners and cut the inside corner pieces to that size, then attach to the wall.

Step 4.

After everything is in place, fill any nail holes with nail filler and touch up the stain as needed. Give all the stained woodwork two coats of polyurethane and then let it fully dry.

See! Pretty easy – even a beginning DIYer can do this!

You might also want to see…

The Complete Half-Bath Remodel

Criss-Cross Accent Wall

DIY Carpet Covered Wall

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February 14, 2017
Eight Ways to Extend the Life of Your HVAC Unit + Free Air Filters

Disclosure: This post was in partnership with FilterEasy, however all opinions and references to potentially having to run around in your undies because your A/C unit went out are 100% mine. Affiliate links included in this post.

**Don’t miss out on the free air filters! Be sure to see #2!

If you read my post about reducing your electric bill, then you know we are trying our best to keep our ancient, ok not really, but it looks like they are ancient, HVAC units going strong. We know they need replacing, but we are trying to get new windows installed before we have to switch out the units.

So that means we are treating them like special little newborn babies.

We are getting them check-ups, giving lots of positive reinforcement, and immunizations as needed.

Well, HVAC unit versions of immunizations and check-ups. No, I’m not quite sure how I came up with a connection between immunizations and HVAC units, but I’ll just go with it.

These are eight things we have done, are doing or planning to do in the near future to extend the life of our HVAC units. It’s not pretty and it’s no fun spending money on non-pretty stuff, but it’s well worth it.

8 Ways to Extend the Life of Your HVAC Unit

1. Give your units an annual tune-up.

Once a year, call a heating and air professional to have them come out and give your unit a once-over. They will hook it up to their fancy little reader, which of course has a more technical term that I’m not familiar with, which will give a reading of how well the unit is performing and if anything needs to be fixed or replaced on it. They can also check on the level of coolant and add more if needed at this time. At our old house, when we had this done, I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that our unit wasn’t as old as I thought it was.

2. Change your air filters.

Every time we’ve had the pros out to look at our units for a tune-up or fix, they always say the number one way to prolong the life of your units is to change those air filters regularly.

Grunt Labor and I have always failed tremendously at this.

I mean, yes, you see those air returns most everyday which should be a reminder, but really they just become part of the landscape and the next thing you know, six months have went by and as you are trying to drift off to sleep one night, it hits you that you can’t remember the last time you replaced those filters and soon you’re in a full-on panic attack that your units are going to die right then and there.

Oh, that’s just me? C’mon, you know you’ve done it too before.

That is changing at the LaFevor household though.

We signed up with FilterEasy to get air filters shipped to us every three months.

You just select your filter sizes, what grade of filter you want and like clockwork, they appear on your doorstep according to the delivery schedule you set.

We have four different returns in our house and of course, they are all different sizes. Before FilterEasy, we had to go around to every return, make note of the size and then go buy the filters. It is so much easier now not having to keep up with all that. As soon as the box arrives, we switch out the filters.

In terms of filter grades, we went with the middle of road there – the micro allergen. Grunt and I both have allergy issues, but they aren’t horrendous, so we thought a filter in the middle would be the best way to go. You can also get lite allergen or super allergen filters.

**The folks at FilterEasy are actually offering all of y’all a free trial at FilterEasy. Just click this link and you can get set up! Shipping is free with this offer as well! I hope you love it as much as we do! It’s so nice to have at least one little piece of life simplified.**

3. Clean those air ducts.

This is something we are planning to do soon. If you’ve never had your air ducts cleaned before and you live in an older home, I would highly suggest having them looked at to see if they need a cleaning. If you’ve also done a recent renovation, you’re most definitely likely to need a good duct cleaning. I held my head in shame as the HVAC guys were inspecting our ducts. Needless to say, a seven month renovation doesn’t exactly play nice with your ductwork.

4. Be realistic when it comes to temperatures.

So if it’s 100 degrees outside, setting your unit at 65 degrees isn’t really the best idea unless your home is super insulated and you have an amazing unit. Realistically, your home probably won’t ever get to 65 when it’s that hot and your unit will just be running non-stop. Getting a programmable thermostat is a good way to keep temperatures steady.

5. Don’t block your floor registers.

Trust me, I know that sometimes those floor registers can be in the exact spot where you wanted to sit that console table. #beenthere And while it’s tempting, putting that piece of furniture over that register isn’t a great idea. Of course, it’s going to keep the air from circulating correctly in the room and therefore not heating or cooling like it should, but forcing that air back into the ducts could also create mold issues in the ductwork.

6. Keep the area around your outdoor unit clean.

Don’t let weeds grow around your unit or any other shrubbery. Keep anything else away from it that would block the unit and keep it from working incorrectly.

7. Use blinds.

I said this about reducing your energy costs, but it also goes for extending the life of your HVAC unit – use blinds in your windows! Blinds were a total game changer in blocking out the sun in some areas of our home and keeping it from being a sauna. We bought these blinds for most of our rooms and couldn’t be happier with them. The more heat and cold that you keep out, the less your unit has to work.

8. Give your unit a break when you can.

On those spring and fall days when the temperature outside is perfect and there isn’t a drop of rain in sight, open those windows and give your unit a rest!

And last but not least,

Pray.

Pray that those bad boys don’t go out on the hottest summer day and you’re left having to walk around in your undies because it is that hot in your house and you’re just praying no neighbors stop by or look in your windows too long.

I mean, that’s never happened to me or anything though.

Don’t forget to grab your free trial of FilterEasy by clicking here!

Disclosure: This post was in partnership with FilterEasy, however all opinions and references to potentially having to run around in your undies because your A/C unit went out are 100% mine.

*Affiliate links may be contained in this post. That just means if you click on one of those links and buy something, I may receive a small commission, but you won’t pay a dime more.

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February 2, 2017
Three Things That Could Cut Your Electric Bill In Half

Affiliate links included in this post.

Ahhh, the joy of renovating a house. Picking out new paint colors, flooring, new bathroom vanities and maybe even some kitchen cabinets.

You put your heart, soul and waaaayyy too much thought into finding that perfect shade of gray, deciding what kind of pattern to lay the tile in and you may even spend an entire month deciding what light fixtures to go with.

And when it’s finally done, you sit back, prop your feet up, and open a cold (cheap) beer while you leisurely go through your mail.

You spit the beer out when you see the $300 electric bill that has your name and new address on it.

True story.

Ok, I wasn’t all feet up, relaxing, but I was sitting at my desk.

I was in no way prepared for that first electric bill we got when we finally moved into The 70’s Landing Pad. Before moving in, the heat and/or air was only running when we were there working on something. Otherwise it was off. And sometimes, it wasn’t even on while we were there because we didn’t need it.

So when we did finally move in after all the remodeling and I got that first $300 electric bill, followed by another and another, we realized that something might be up.

Where we live, there is an eScore program you can sign up for and have an energy professional come out and do an energy audit on your house. They will tell you what you need to fix to stop losing energy and in what order you should do it. It’s all free and sometimes you are even eligible for rebates after fixing many of the things.

These are the three biggest things you should address first if you’ve got a crazy high electric bill.

Three Things That Could Cut Your Electric Bill In Half

1. Insulation

I never realized just how damn awesome insulation was until last year. Have your attic, crawlspace, and garage inspected to make sure enough insulation is there. Our garage was fine and we don’t have a crawlspace, but our attic had almost zero insulation. There wasn’t enough to keep any heat or cool air in the house at all. Having a high R value of insulation (around here, they recommend an R38 value) is the biggest thing you can do to help stop losing energy out of your house and reduce your electric bills. We also had air sealing done in the attic, which sealed up all the joints between the drywall below and any other holes where air could escape. The energy expert who inspected our house made it clear that getting more insulation in the attic should be our first priority. We followed his advice, did just that and yes, it made a world of difference. If you’ve already got plenty of insulation, look at the weatherstripping around your doors. Hold your hand up to the sides of the door and if you feel any air coming in, you probably need to replace the weatherstripping there or add some.

2. Windows

We have a lovely mix of windows at the 70’s Landing Pad. In the front of the house, we have wood, single pane windows (some of which don’t even open) and in the back of the house, we have aluminum, single pane windows. When one of the previous owners decided to change the windows, I guess they just didn’t want to spend all the money to switch out all of them when no one ever saw the back of the house. Thanks, really appreciate that, guys! Not. After insulation, the next thing on the list to switch out were windows – new, energy efficient ones. We haven’t been able to do this just yet due to problems with the money tree out back that isn’t bearing fruit. We are really hoping that by the late spring or early summer though, we will have all 20 windows that the house sports switched out.

We have done a few things to decrease the loss of energy through our current windows though:

• Blinds

Blinds can be really helpful at stopping cool or warm air from the outside coming and keeping the air inside from going out. Case in point would be our bedroom and my office. Both of those spaces were like sweatboxes by about 2pm due to the sun beating down through the windows. We bought cheap $10 blinds and those were a game changer.

• Heavy, Light Blocking Curtains

In the Circus’ room, we bought her blinds and room darkening curtains. The curtains are heavier in weight so they also helped to keep the hot and cold air out.

• Caulk and Seal

Caulk around any of the trim that is around your windows. You’d be surprised how much air can leak out that way. You could also seal around your windows if you feel any air coming in by using some weather stripping.

3. Central Heat & Air Units

And then there are the central heat and air units. The energy inspector said that our units did need replacing, which we knew, but he also said if it was him, he wouldn’t replace them right away unless they just died. He said to replace the windows first because the units could end up lasting for another five years. So, we are saying lots of prayers that the units won’t die anytime soon and also trying to prolong their life. In fact, I have some tips here about things you can do to prolong the life of your central heat and air units. 🙂 Of course, getting a programmable thermostat to regulate your heat and air is always a good idea to cut down on energy bills as well.

And just to reiterate, of all these things, insulation is key.

I am a believer in the power of insulation and I don’t care how corny it makes me sound.

What have you done to reduce your electric bills in the past?

You might also want to see….

How I Made $2K+ in Two Months Selling Our Clutter

Eight Ways to Extend the Life of Your HVAC Unit

*Affiliate links may be contained in this post. That just means if you click on one of those links and buy something, I may receive a small commission, but you won’t pay a dime more.

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January 31, 2017
Door Upgrade in a Day

*This post is sponsored by Schlage®, however all opinions and over-thinking of design ideas are 100% mine.

I’ve been decorating and DIYing for a little over a decade now and the one thing that still surprises me sometimes is how much impact a simple paint job and a hardware switch can have on a space. Two little things that take up a pretty short amount of time and effort can equal a pretty big wow factor, no?

Case in point: I had big plans for this pantry door in our kitchen.

At first, I was going to add molding to it. But then, Grunt Labor and I couldn’t really settle on a design for the molding because the door was so narrow. Plan B: I turned to my old standby of paint and painter’s tape. I was going to paint an elaborately patterned door that would no doubt be a showstopper. The whole thing would be topped off with a pretty new doorknob.

I took off the old doorknob and got to work. I painted two coats of black paint on the door and let it dry overnight.

The next morning, I sat at the breakfast table and stared at the pantry door.

It looked pretty darn good just being black with all the white molding around it. I contemplated leaving it black and just switching out the doorknob. But then, the over-achiever in me proclaimed that I had to give the door some more wow factor.

I mapped out the design. I measured and taped and measured and taped some more. I painted on the contrasting color that would create the pattern.

Then I pulled off the tape and hated the way it looked.

And that was when I realized that the over-achiever in me had been wrong. Sometimes, all you do really need is a simple coat of paint and a pretty new doorknob.

The black on the door tied in perfectly with the cabinets and the new Schlage® doorknob was the icing on the cake. Schlage recently launched a campaign, “Open Possibilities,” to bring door hardware to the forefront as an accessory that can complete or enhance the look of any room.

Shockingly, sometimes pretty things really do just take a small amount of investment, but give a big return. No elaborate designs needed. 😉

The doorknob is a Schlage® Accent Lever with Camelot Trim in Satin Brass.

The doorknob has a touch of Hollywood Regency glamour, which goes nicely with the rest of the kitchen and much of the house as well. The knobs pop perfectly against the black and I love the lower sheen the satin brass has. These babies are going to end up on the rest of our doors, to tie more of the whole house together. I’m thinking the hallway doors might get the black paint treatment, too.

To get more information on Schlage’s® new line of door knobs and finishes, visit their website here. Schlage products are also available online at Amazon and Build. You can find them at Home Depot and Lowe’s as well. Or you can join the conversation online: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.

When’s the last time you upgraded your door knobs? Do you see any satin brass knobs channeling the Hollywood Regency style in your future?

Elaborate door designs not necessary. 😉

*This post is sponsored by Schlage®, however all opinions and over-thinking design ideas are 100% mine.

January 12, 2017
DIY Wall Shelves: How to Build Wall to Wall Shelving
These DIY wall shelves are one of my easiest DIY projects that I’ve also built over and over again! You can’t beat the great storage and decorative style they add to a space. Learn how to build wall shelves easily and super affordably below!

Sweet Lord, it is unbelievable to me how much a person who has been on this earth for less than five years can amass. The sheer number of stuffed animals that the Circus owns is unfathomable to me. She has little plastic horses in every shape, size, breed, and color. Let’s also not discount the other varieties of plastic animals we have on hand: a bald eagle, a grizzly bear, a mountain lion, a silver back gorilla, a water buffalo – and she can specifically identify each of them.

All of the paraphernalia that comes with four year olds is just cra-cra.

If you’ve followed along with the 70’s Landing Pad renovation, you know that we took what was the master bedroom walk-in closet and turned it into the Circus’ playroom. It worked out perfectly, as the closet backed right up to her bedroom.

However, walking into that playroom was essentially like walking into a black hole of toys. Consider yourself blessed if you only stepped on one plastic horse that made you mutter a cuss word or two under your breath. When we moved in, we just kind of threw all her toys in there, threw up a cheap prefab wall shelf or two and called it a day.

That was a mistake.

This space desperately needed shelves that didn’t bow in the middle and lots of them. Doing a “spinoff” of the bathroom shelving at our previous house in the Circus’ playroom didn’t occur to me until last week. So this past weekend, I built these shelves into a wall in the playroom and life there is a touch more organized – and cute if I do say so myself. 😉

This wall to wall shelving was a lifesaver in here!

And let’s just be real, we all know those shelves aren’t going to stay that organized after a couple of days, hell, a couple of hours. I gave it a shot though.

These shelves are so easy to make, y’all. If you can nail a piece of wood to a wall, then you can build these. I built all four of those shelves in about an hour for about $50. Of course if your walls are longer or shorter, your cost would be different. Here’s how to make them.

How to Build Wall Shelves

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Velvet Finishes, however all opinions and multi-colored shelves are 100% mine. This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

Tools & Supplies Needed:

As a reference point, my shelves are 58″ wide. These are the supplies I needed for the four shelves.
- 2 – 1″ x 2″ x 8ft Furring Strips (supports for shelves)
- 2 – 1″ x 12″ x 10ft Common Boards (actual shelves)
- 20 feet of Decorative Molding – I used this basic chair rail.
- Stud Finder
- Nail Gun & Nails or Hammer and Finish Nails
- Saw (either a miter saw, circular saw or handsaw. I used our miter saw. You could also pre-measure and have the pieces cut at your local home improvement store.)
- Level – a small one and a large one are ideal for this project, but a small one will do the job if necessary.
- Measuring Tape
- Pencil
- Paint: I used Velvet Finishes Paint in Exotic, Boheme, Stately and Glamorous.
Steps

Step 1.

For each shelf you are building, cut at least two 11″ pieces of the 1″ x 2″ furring strip. If your shelves are close to the same width as mine or longer, you will need to cut at least one more 11″ piece of the 1″ x 2″ furring strip for additional supports in the middle of the shelf.

Grab your measuring tape, stud finder and pencil. Using the measuring tape, mark on each side of the wall how high up you want your first shelf to be. My lowest shelf was 27″ off the ground to accommodate for storage underneath. The rest of the shelves are 12″ apart from one another.

After making the marks on the walls where you want the shelves to be, use one of the 1″ x 2″ strips you cut and place it on the mark, then draw a line under the piece. Use your stud finder to locate wall studs where the line is and mark those on the wall.

Step 2.

Place the 1″ x 2″ piece along the mark you made. Use a small level to ensure the strip is level, then nail it in where the studs are located behind the wall.

Repeat this process on the opposite wall at the same height.

Step 3.

Cut a 1″ x 12″ board down to the width between the two walls. (Mine was 58.”) Place it on top of the two strips you just attached to the wall.

Place a level on top of the shelf (a larger level if you have one) to check to make sure its level and then nail the 1″ x 12″ board from the top down into the strips of wood you attached on the side walls.

Step 4.

For these shelves, I needed an additional middle support. To do that, use the stud finder to locate where the studs are under the shelf, then place one of the 1″ x 2″ strips just under the shelf where a stud is located. Nail the strip in place, then nail the shelf into the strip from the top down as you did with the sides.

If you don’t have a stud in the center or close to the center of the wall, then you can do two supports split between the middle of the shelf where studs are.

Step 5.

Cut a piece of molding, I used chair rail, down to the width of your shelves. Mine was 58.” Attach to the front of the shelf even with the top of the shelf.

Repeat this entire process for as many shelves as you want to build.

Step 6.

Paint those bad boys!

I decided to have fun with these shelves and paint each one a different color. This added a little more color to the playroom. I used Velvet Finishes Paint in Stately, Boheme, Exotic, and Glamorous.

With Velvet Finishes Paint, there is usually no prep required and it has a primer already built-in.

I just brushed the color right on. Each shelf got two coats of paint. Velvet Finishes also has a built-in topcoat, so I didn’t worry with a topcoat for these either. If I had been painting something like a tabletop or end table that would see a lot of drinking glasses and other action, I would have used an additional topcoat.

Are those just not the most fun shelves you’ve ever seen?

Honestly, these DIY shelves are a great way to add storage to just about any space in your home.

The Circus was using the lower shelf where the typewriter, phone and cash register are as her “office” the other night. Apparently, the shelves are cute, colorful, functional and also moonlight as a work space for her. 😉

Will you be building wall shelves anywhere in your home?

You can see how I made these shelves for extra storage in our bathroom here.

Need more great ideas for your kiddos?

IKEA Bookcase turned Dress-Up Closet – a super easy hack that your kids will love and you’ll love it too for keeping all those dress-up clothes organized!

DIY Kid’s Stage with Hidden Dress-Up Storage – for all those theatrical and singing kiddos in your life.

Easy DIY Lemonade Stand – great for little entrepreneurs, but also makes a fun pretend play center too!

How to Create an Object and Text Feature Wall for Your Little One – the perfect way to add a punch of their own little personality into their rooms!

Want to come back to this project later? Just pin the image below!

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November 10, 2016
How to Create an Object and Text Feature Wall
Man, this wall has been nearly a year in the making. When I found out we were moving and started plotting out the Circus’ room, I knew this wall was a must. I really wanted a way to convey the Circus’ unique personality and I think this object and text feature wall was the perfect way to do it.

You may have seen a wall similar to this in a Kate Spade store. I’m not sure if every store has them, but I know the one that I have been in does have one and it’s what inspired this wall. Of course, the Kate Spade version doesn’t mention yard sales or tutus, but that’s their loss. 😉

How to Create an Object and Text Feature Wall
- Custom Wall Decal (I got mine from Wall Quotes – I’m going to show you how I made it. Disclosure: They gave me my decal to use in this post, but I had planned on buying one anyway.)
- Objects (to add into the wall and take the place of some words)
- Paint and FrogTape (if you want to change the color of your wall where the decal will go)
- Command Strips and Command Hooks to hang the objects
Step 1.

The first thing you’ll want to do is come up with your text. If you’re doing it for a person, make a list of things they really love or that describe them and then work those into sentences. After you’ve done this, go back through and make note of words that you could actually replace with objects. We did this with the words horse, tutu, cowboy boots, money, yard sale and umbrella.

Step 2.

Now you’re ready to make your decal. I made my decal through the Design Your Own feature at Wall Quotes. The design center walks you through all the steps, but I also made a video to show you specifically how I made mine.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”rejB6yTP” upload-date=”Fri Sep 16 2016 18:40:58 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)” name=”Rain on a Tin Roof – How to Create a Text Feature Wall” description=”Create a text feature wall that perfectly describes your child with a touch of whimsy!”]

When you make your decal in the design center, I think the biggest thing is making sure you have the dimensions of the wall area set correctly. The spaces in the sentences didn’t really matter that much while making the decal because I had to cut some sentences into two pieces to make room for the objects anyway. Also, make sure to take into account your wall color. I knew I was painting this section of the wall white, thus why I set it to white when making the decal.

Next, try to wait patiently for your decal to arrive! 😉

Step 3.

If you’re planning to paint the area of the wall where the decal is going, go ahead and do so. I didn’t realize that the wall needed to be painted at least three weeks prior to the decal going on until I got my decal, so that slowed my project up a bit. I just rolled some bright white paint (Bit of Sugar), onto the wall.

Step 4.

When your decal arrives, pull it out of the box and unroll it.

When I unrolled mine, I realized I was definitely going to have to cut the sentences into strips for it to feel the space I wanted it to on the wall.

That wasn’t a big deal at all – it didn’t affect the text in any way.

Tape your strips onto the wall and move them around until you get them where you want them.

Once I got the strips where I wanted them, I tested out the objects in their spaces and ended up cutting most of the sentences where the objects would go so I would have room for the actual object.

Step 5.

Once you have all the strips in place where you want them, it’s time to start actually applying the decal to the wall. Instructions and an application tool are included with Wall Quotes decals. It’s really simple though.

Just apply tape to the top portion of the strips (as shown in that top sentence of mine), carefully pull the backing from the strip, then smooth the top portion onto the wall. Use the application tool to fully smooth and apply the decal onto the wall, then pull back the top portion.

Add in your objects as you go so that you can move strips if you need to.

Step 6.

If you painted the area where you put the decal and objects, then use FrogTape to straighten up the edges and go back over the outside with your wall color.

I used Command Strips to keep the horse and boots on the wall. The tutu is held up by clothespins that are hot-glued to the wall. The dollar bills are just taped and the coins are hot-glued. The yard sale sign is taped and the umbrella is hung on Command Hooks.

I really love this little sneak preview you get of the wall when looking into her room.

The Circus can still easily get the umbrella and tutu down to play with. The cowboy boots are actually too small for her, so she’s ok with them being on the wall. She was a little upset when I went to put one of her horses on the wall, but when I pulled out the 50 other ones she had, she forgot about that one real quick.

Only a couple more projects to go in her room!

What do you think about the new wall?!

You can make your own custom decal at Wall Quotes.

You might also want to see these…

IKEA Bookcase turned Dress-Up Closet

Easy DIY Lemonade Stand

How to Build Wall to Wall Shelving Easily

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September 29, 2016
7 Wall Treatments That Aren’t Shiplap

Honesty is the best policy. And in all honesty, I don’t think I could ever lie to you guys anyway even if I wanted to.

I’m not a shiplap fan.

That’s not a secret around here.

It’s not so much that I dislike shiplap itself, I think I dislike more that it’s freakin’ everywhere. Everywhere, y’all.

I now fully understand why Woody disliked Buzz so damn much.

I mean, come on. Fly your own freak flag! Don’t be swayed by the trends!

Ok, I’ll stop. If you do love shiplap, that’s great. Go for it. Own it. I’m just owning not liking it. At all.

These wall treatments are ones that I’ve done in the past and ya know what? You guessed it – they don’t include a single inch of shiplap. Hopefully, they will inspire you to whip a wall into shape with your own spin on it. And if they don’t, then there are four more gals sharing their wall treatments sans shiplap today and then 15 more bloggers sharing theirs throughout the week.

That’s right. It is anti-shiplap week up in here, ya’ll! Get excited.

If you’re coming over from Suburban Bitches, welcome! Here’s hoping I can live up to Erin and Tricia’s wall treatments!

7 Wall Treatments That Aren’t Shiplap

DIY Indoor Lattice Feature Wall

While many people thought I was crazy for putting lattice on my walls, I went for it anyway! I’m so glad I did – I love how this wall treatment turned out! Read the full tutorial for the DIY Lattice walls here.

My Master Bedroom Accent Wall

This wall is probably my most favorite one ever. I love the design, I love the black and white, I love how the mid-century dresser looks in front of it. I love it all. You can see how I made it here and see more of the final product here.

The Carpet Covered Wall

Yes. I did cover a wall with carpet. Green carpet. And I love it. It added just the right amount of color and texture to this wall. See how I did it here.

Cane Inspired Accent Wall

This wall added some much needed interest and color to an otherwise all white bathroom. It has a cane inspired feel, but was pretty easy to accomplish. Read how I did it here.

Criss-Cross Wall Treatment

This wall was one of my first bigger DIY wall treatments and I was so happy with how it turned out. It’s a simple criss-cross pattern, but also classy at the same time. Find out how to make this wall here.

Black and White Gallery Wall

Some people like gallery walls that are more “random” in terms of what they have on it. I often prefer clean lines though. This black and white gallery wall also helped to make the television disappear. See how I did it here.

The Confetti Wall

Ahh, the confetti wall. It was such a fun project and super simple too. This wall was in the entryway at our Beloved Foreclosure so guests knew what to expect when they entered. 🙂 Find out how to do it here.

Half and Half Walls

In the guest room at our old house, we painted one wall completely black, one wall completely white and the two other walls half-black and half-white. It gave it a really cool modern effect, while still keeping the room from not feeling too dark from all the black. See more of the space here.

That’s all I got right now – I have a few more wall treatments brewing up in my head though. Of course, none include shiplap. 😉 Up next today is Cassie Bustamante – you’ll love her earthy, vintage, eclectic style!

To get your full dose of wall treatment sans shiplap inspiration, be sure to visit everyone this week:

Monday, September 19th

Rain on a Tin Roof

Cassie Bustamante

Up to Date Interiors

Two Thirty-Five Designs

Suburban Bitches

Tuesday, September 20th

Place of My Taste

Erin Spain

Bright Green Door

Polished Habitat

Casa Watkins Living

Wednesday, September 21st

House by Hoff

Monica Wants It

Design Asylum

Craftivity Designs

The Happy Housie

Thursday, September 22nd

This is Our Bliss

PMQ for Two

Amber Oliver

September 19, 2016
How to Paint Trim and Doors | Painting 101
Have a lot of trim and interior door painting to do? This guide will walk you step-by-step through the entire process for how to paint trim and doors. We’ll cover what kind of paint to use on trim and doors, the tools you’ll need and what to tackle first.

Some painting questions I’ve been asked more recently pertain to painting trim and doors – what kind of paint to use on them, how to patch holes, etc.

In the past 13 years, I have painted more trim and doors than I want to think about. Like three full houses of trim and doors worth. It makes me a little sick just thinking about it. In my early days of painting trim, I actually thought that just slapping the paint on there would magically fill any nail holes in the trim.

I was an idiot.

Needless to say, paint does not magically fill those nail holes.

Here’s what I’ve learned over the years about painting trim and doors. Hopefully, you can learn from my stupidity and save yourselves a few tired arms.

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

Best Paint for Trim and Doors and Tools

Interior Door and Trim Paint

First off, let’s talk about what kind of paint to use on trim and doors. Do not, I repeat, do not use flat or eggshell paint on trim or doors. Especially not flat. Guess who made another idiotic move in her early days of painting and used flat on trim. This girl right here. Big mistake. Flat and eggshell paints don’t clean up as easily as semi-gloss and gloss sheens do. If you get dirt and grime on flat paint, you might as well go on and get your paint brush out to paint over it. With semi-gloss and gloss sheens, you can grab a wet cloth and usually wipe away any dirt or grime.

I’ve used four different colors on doors and trim: Behr’s standard semi-gloss white that you just pick up right off the shelf, Behr’s Bit of Sugar (a white-white), Behr’s Limousine Leather (black) and Crumb Cookie by Valspar (more of a creamy white). The Bit of Sugar and Limousine Leather were used in various places throughout the 70’s Landing Pad and the Crumb Cookie was used in the Beloved Foreclosure, if you want to see those colors in action.

Brushes and Rollers

When it comes to painting tools, such as brushes and rollers, this is not the time to buy the cheapest one you can find. You don’t want to end up with trim and doors that sport fuzz from the roller and hairs from the brush. If you buy the cheap ones, that is exactly what you will get.

During all the painting of the 70’s Landing Pad, I found that my favorite brush for painting trim and edging in along walls as well was an angled 2″ Wooster paintbrush. Purdy is another good paintbrush brand as well.

As far as your paint roller covers go, you’re probably going to want a smaller sized roller for painting doors (I’ve found that for the most part using a brush is easier than using a roller on trim). My personal pick for those smaller sized roller covers are the Purdy brand ones. As far as the actual roller frame, just about any of those will work no matter the brand. Just choose one that feels good in your hand and fits the size of your roller cover.

Paint Trays and Pails

A paint tray is a paint tray. Unless you just have a certain preference, this is where you can usually buy the cheapest one. One little gem that I have found very helpful when painting trim though is the Handy Paint Pail. It has a nice little handle that easily fits over your hand and also a magnet inside the pail so that you don’t lose your brush.

Wood Filler and/or Spackling

If you have any holes to fill in your trim or doors, you will want to fill those before painting. I’ll go over how to do that in just a minute, but in terms of what to buy, you can either go with a wood filler or spackling. Now, I used to be a wood filler girl for any holes in woodwork that needed to be filled. However, a contractor who did some work for us suggested I try using spackling instead, which is used to fill holes in drywall.

I tried spackling once and was sold. It’s much easier to use than wood filler and often doesn’t even require sanding.

P.S. Isn’t spackling like a super funny word? Who came up with that one?

Caulk

If you have any gaps between the wall and trim, you’ll want to fill those gaps with caulk to get a finished look. For this you’ll need caulk and a caulk gun. For caulk, I like to use DAP’s Premium Molding and Trim Sealant. You can use a regular caulk as well, but it will be more likely to crack over time. A basic caulk gun will be just fine.

Tape and Dropcloths

Once more, don’t buy just cheap masking tape to tape off the walls and floor alongside your doors and trim. There really is a difference in tape. Masking tape isn’t made to seal out paint, therefore you are bound to get some paint bleed. Some tapes may also not be made to go on walls, therefore you could risk pulling paint off your walls. Always use an actual painter’s tape.

I use FrogTape for all my taping off on walls and floors. I also use it to tape off trim when I’m painting walls. If you are applying tape to a freshly painted wall, then use their Delicate Surface version which is made specifically for newly painted surfaces. Use their Multi-Surface tape for cured painted surfaces and if you have textured walls, they have a textured surface tape you can use for that.

Make sure you also pick up a drop cloth to put over the floor in the area you will be painting as well.

How to Paint Trim and Doors

Do I paint trim or walls first?

If both your trim and walls need to be painted, then you might be wondering what you should paint first – the trim or the walls. For me personally, I find it best to paint the trim first, then the walls. Most people prefer to paint their trim white and oftentimes, your wall color is not white and usually darker than white. So, if you accidentally get your wall color on your trim, it’s going to take more coats of white trim paint to cover it. For this reason, I paint my trim first, let it fully cure for at least 24 hours, tape it off, then paint my walls.

Prep

Before you can actually paint your trim and doors, you’ll need to prep it.

Fill Holes

The first thing you will want to do is fill holes with either the wood putty I noted above or the spackling. My personal preference is the spackling.

To fill the holes, just take a bit of spackling on your index finger, gently push it into the hole, then rub your finger back and forth gently over the hole to smooth out the spackling. If you smooth it out enough with your finger, you most likely won’t have to sand any of the spackling after it dries. Let the spackling dry (it’ll take less than an hour probably unless you had some big holes to fill), then look at it to determine if you need to sand any to make it smooth or if you need another coat of spackling. Most smaller holes only require one coat of spackling. If you need another coat, just repeat the steps above. If you have to sand it smooth, use a fine grit sandpaper.

Caulk

If you have any gaps between the wall and your trim, then caulk those gaps with your caulk and caulk gun. Apply a small, but even amount of pressure on the gun and then use your finger to smooth the caulk out.

Tape

After the caulk has dried, tape off around any walls or flooring that the trim is attached to. Be sure to run your finger or fingernail firmly along the edges of the tape to seal it and prevent paint bleed.

Finally, lay a drop cloth down in the area where you will be painting.

Painting Interior Doors and Trim

Brush first.

Anytime you’re painting something, a general rule of thumb is to brush all the places that need to be painted with the paintbrush first, rather than rolling first.

I’ve found that trim such as baseboards and molding around doors usually just need to be brushed anyway and not rolled. Don’t go back and forth with your brush, make long strokes and as soon as you see your brush is running out of paint, get more on it. By making long strokes rather than going back and forth, you will hopefully only have to do 1-2 coats.

If you are painting doors that are not flat, then brush the detailed places on the door first, then come back with the roller for the flat places.

With my front door, I used a paintbrush on all the trim/detail work on the door and then used a roller on the flat parts.

Roll second.

After using the paint and paintbrush as needed, go back over the flat or smooth areas of your trim or doors with the roller. Once more, as soon as you see your roller starting to run out of paint, load it back up.

All the interior bathroom, bedroom and closet doors in our house are flat, so I was able to completely roll them, with the exception of using the brush around the doorknobs and hinges.

Remove the tape.

As soon as you have rolled or brushed on your final coat of paint, remove the painter’s tape. Pull it off slowly at a 45 degree angle. If you let the paint dry before removing the tape, you have two options:
1. Go back over the spots right where the tape is with a little more paint and the paintbrush, then remove the tape immediately.
2. Use a utility knife to score along the tape and paint, then pull the tape up.
Whew, that was a lot! I don’t think I realized how much actually goes into painting trim and doors. I’m off to drink a cheap beer – leave your tips and questions in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer them!

You might find these other painting tips helpful too:

Types of Paint to Use on Cabinets – I’ve painted cabinets five different times and this is what I’ve learned.

What kind of paint do I use on that? – A guide to what kind of paint you can use on various types of surfaces.

Topcoats and When to Use Them – Every kind of topcoat and when you need to use them.

My Best Tips and Tricks for Painting Furniture – All my tips in one place.

Want to remember these painting tips for later? Just pin the image below:

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September 8, 2016
A Simple Blue Accent Wall for the Circus
As you know, my in-laws moved into our Beloved Foreclosure after we moved into the 70’s Landing Pad. The Circus of course got a new room here, but she also got to keep her old room at our old house. So now, the child has two rooms of her own literally within walking distance. As if she wasn’t already planning for the global shutdown of Toys ‘R Us, she now has two rooms that she can fill with stacks and stacks of toys.

While the Circus’ wanted to paint her entire old room blue, her Gaia (Grandma) and I weren’t too sure about that. So instead, we picked out three blue colors that worked well with the gray we were painting in the rest of the room and let her choose which blue color from those.

And I have to say, she did a pretty good job choosing a blue.

This is a really simple project and a great way to add a little dose of color to a room – especially when you have a kid that would paint her entire room an electric blue if you’d let her. 😉

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by FrogTape, however all opinions are 100% mine. Affiliate links may be contained in this post.
- FrogTape – I used both the green Multi-Surface and Delicate Surface because I had to tape some walls that were freshly painted.
- Good Paintbrush
- Paint Tray & Roller
- Accent Wall Color (She chose Boat House.)
- Main Wall Color (only necessary if you want to give the rest of the room a fresh coat of paint, which this room desperately needed. We used Dolphin Fin.)
Step 1.

Prep all your walls by filling any nail holes with spackling. If you’ve got some areas with dust on the walls, wipe them down with a wet cloth or Swiffer cloth.

You can see where we spackled holes in the photo above. Before painting the walls, we also gave the baseboards a fresh coat of paint as well as the newly added crown moulding. If you need to touch up that trim, now is a good time to do it. We didn’t tape it off since we knew we were painting the walls.

Step 2.

Use FrogTape Multi-Surface to tape off the trim anywhere you will be painting.

We started by painting the main wall color, the gray Dolphin Fin color, onto all the walls with the exception of the wall that would get the blue.

When I tape trim, I like to use the widest FrogTape and leave the outer part of the tape (the tape not closet to the wall) not taped down. So, I just firmly apply it right along the top of the baseboard and edges of the trim, but leave the outer half kind of standing up. Does that make sense? You should be able to see what I’m talking about in the picture above. I’ve found that this gives a little extra paint splatter protection.

Step 3.

Start painting. Do your edging first.

Come back and roll on your paint.

Step 4.

As soon as you’ve painted your last coat on, remove the FrogTape.

Let the walls dry for at least 24 hours before doing your accent wall.

Step 5.

For the accent wall, once more tape off the trim first. Use FrogTape Delicate Surface along the edges, right in the corner, where the accent wall will meet the other walls.

You want to use the Delicate Surface FrogTape because of how fresh the paint on the other walls are.

Firmly press the FrogTape down along the edges with your fingers.

This helps to ensure that there isn’t any paint bleed.

Step 6.

Paint your accent color on the wall.

Once again, edge first and then come back with the roller.

And again, after painting your final coat of paint, remove the FrogTape.

Stand back and give yourself a high five. 🙂

Seriously, how cute it that room?!

The Circus came to me after she saw it for the first time and said, “Thank you for painting my wall blue, Mama. It’s the perfect blue ever.” #notkidding

It’s also just enough blue for all of us not to have our hearts shocked back into rhythm when we walk in the room.

Looking for more accent wall ideas? Well that just so happens to be my specialty….

Wall Painting Ideas and Paint Designs Anyone Can Do

Criss-Cross Accent Wall

Black and White Gallery Wall

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August 23, 2016
How to Paint Metal Handrails
While I have come to love split-level homes, I have not come to love the metal handrails that tend to always accompany split-level entries.

You know what I’m talking about.

Those handrails that belong outside. Not inside.

Alas, it seems every builder in the 70’s just had to have these metal eyesores in the stairways. There are some things I will wholly embrace from that era – such as wood paneling. At this point in my life though, those metal handrails are not one of the things I wish to embrace.

However, my pocketbook doesn’t exactly have enough money in it for me to totally kick that handrail to the curb just yet.

For the time being, I chose to just paint the handrail and live with it. I wanted to make sure it took as little away from the overall feeling of the entryway though. I wanted the art, lighting, rug and lucite handrail going downstairs to be the stars. For that reason, I thought it best to paint the handrail black to kind of blend it in with the walls.

As you know, the handrail is metal. Painting metal in general is different than painting a wall or a piece of furniture. You can’t use latex paint unless you just want to have the paint peeling away in a matter of days. Here’s how I painted my metal handrail.

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
- Oil Based Paint – I used Behr’s oil based paint in a semi-gloss black.
- Small Good Paintbrush – I used a Wooster Pro 1.5” angled paintbrush. Notice I bolded the word “good.” Use a good, high quality paintbrush. When painting metal, having a good paintbrush is a necessity.
Step 1.

Tape off around any walls, trim, or floors as needed. Lay paper or dropcloths underneath your railing for paint splatter.

Step 2.

Working in small sections, brush the paint onto your railings. Do not try to roll the paint on with a roller. I tried this initially and it doesn’t work well at all. I ended up going back over all the rolled places with a paintbrush. This is one of those things where you have to suck it up and brush the whole damn thing. Oil based paint takes longer to fully set-up and dry, however you cannot easily go back over places you missed while the paint is drying as it will mess up the finish. This is why you want to work in those small sections.

Do the top of the railing all at once. Then go back and do entire spindles and in between them all at once and so on. Apply the paint in long even strokes – don’t go back and forth with the brush. As soon as you see you are starting to run out of paint, get more on your brush and overlap a little where you left off. If you apply the paint this way, then you should only have to apply one coat.

Step 3.

If you end up having to do an additional coat, wait at least a full 24 hours before reapplying the paint. Be sure that no one touches the paint while it is curing as it will smudge and mess up your finish. It may take 3-5 days for the paint to fully cure, so be as careful as you can around the railing during this time.

You should have little to no brush strokes if you bought the good paintbrush. Oil based paint is very good about self-leveling when used with a good brush.

Our metal handrail runs the length of the upper staircase, as well as a good bit around the top of the stairwell. It took me about 4 1/2 hours to paint the entire thing and I only needed one coat. I do think that if you wanted to, you could unscrew the handrail, take it outside, and spray the handrail with oil based paint in a paint sprayer. I wasn’t willing to go to all that trouble though. You could also spray paint it outside, but I find that over time spray paint will wear off of something when it’s constantly in use – like a handrail.

Do you have any tips to share for painting metal handrails or just painting metal in general?

Need more painting and home improvement tips?

DIY Lucite Handrail – a drop dead gorgeous handrail that only looks like a million bucks.

The Full Entryway Makeover – see how we made over the entire entryway…

My Best Tips for Painting Furniture – any kind of furniture at all.

Want to remember these metal painting tips for later? Just pin the image below!

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August 9, 2016
How to Hang a Heavy Picture: Easy and Sturdy

Hanging heavy pictures, art pieces, mirrors and more can be difficult. What kind of anchor to use, how to install it, etc. Well, I’m here to help and show you how to hang a heavy picture easily and securely. This is absolutely the best way to hang heavy pictures that I’ve ever found.

If you haven’t noticed, one thing the 70’s Landing Pad has a lot of that the Beloved Foreclosure didn’t is art – big art.

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

Wall Color / Art / Full Entryway Makeover

I like big art and I cannot lie.

Figuring out how to hang heavy wall art though can sometimes be a problem. Before, I was always the girl that did her damnedest to find a wall stud behind the drywall to hang heavy pictures, mirrors, etc. on. I would even scoot whatever piece of furniture over a few inches to make it centered under the heavy object if I could find a stud for it. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

However, those studs haven’t always been exactly, or even close in some cases, where I needed them to be in The 70’s Landing Pad. I went to Home Depot planning to just buy some regular old heavy duty wall anchors to hang some of the pieces, but instead I found these Wall Driller Picture Hooks.

Hanging Heavy Pictures

It could very well be that I am the last person in the world to know about these things, but they have made my life so much easier when it comes to hanging a picture that I had to tell you about them. I found mine at Home Depot in brass, but you can also get them onlin e. Each brass hook holds up to 60 lbs.

The anchors and hooks are separate in the package.

You put the hook and anchor together before screwing it into the wall.

You can use a drill or screwdriver to fasten it to the wall.

I’ve used both a drill and a screwdriver when putting these into the wall and either way works just fine.

Then, just hang your art on it.

Art / Wall Color / Faucet / Full Bathroom Makeover

Most all of my art came with D-Rings attached on each side. For the piece above, I was able to run a heavy duty hanging wire from side to side through the d-rings and then hang the wire on the hook anchor.

Some of my pieces however were too heavy to run the wire back and forth like the art in my dining room.

Art / Glass Dining Table (similar one) / Chairs (similar ones) / Dining Room Tour

For those pieces, I used two of the wall driller picture hooks spaced apart the same distance the d-rings were spaced apart on the back of the frame.

Art / Brass Unicorn (similar ones) / Living Room Tour

The same was true of the Lion art in my living room.

Faucet / Full Master Bathroom Tour

You can also use these to hang a heavy mirror. In my master bathroom, I didn’t have any hooks at all on the back of the mirror, so I bought d-rings and attached them to the back of the mirror, then attached the Wall Driller Picture Hooks to the wall and hung the mirror on them.

Most all of these things have been up since around mid-May and none of them have budged a bit. Update! It’s now been nearly three years since I first used these anchors and they are still going strong!

These anchors are my go-to for hanging heavy pictures and other heavy things on the wall now. Of course, finding a stud and drilling a screw into that and then hanging your heavy stuff is always the best way to go, but when that can’t happen, these hook anchors are the next best thing in my opinion.

Palm Art / DIY Huge Wall Frame / Banana Leaves Pillow / Leopard Print Pillow / Wall Color / Full Master Bedroom Tour

Also, this is not a sponsored post for the picture hooks in any way. I just found this product and thought it was great, so I wanted to tell you about it. 🙂

Can you share any tips in the comments for how to hang a large picture?

More wall art related posts you’ll want to see…

How to Make a Huge Frame for Cheap – not too hard either!

Best Sources for Affordable Wall Art – some of my go-to places for great art.

DIY Wall Art with a Gift Bag – yep, a gift bag!

Want to keep this post for later? Pin the image below!

August 2, 2016
DIY Lucite Handrail
Hello Lover.

Not even gonna lie, that’s what I say to this handrail each time it greets me.

I dare you not to say the same thing.

And you know what, Grunt and I DIY’ed this lucite handrail ourselves. You know what else? It was so damn easy.

Needless to say, it’s much prettier than a plain old wood handrail too.

DIY Lucite Handrail

Affiliate links may be contained in this post.
- 2″ Acrylic Rod cut to the length of your current handrail (don’t worry, I’m going to walk you through this in just a minute.)
- Two or more 2″ Brass Flush Center Post s (Depending on how long your rod is, you may need more than two. You can also get these in other finishes and widths if you don’t want to go with the 2″ acrylic rod. Also, do a google search for these. I found that it seems the various suppliers change the prices on these often, so there might be a better price elsewhere.)
- Sugru Moldable Glue
- Stud Finder
- Drill
- Heavy Duty Drywall Anchors (If you can’t find studs.)
Step 1.

First you’re going to need to order your acrylic rod cut to the length of your current handrail. I ordered my rod through Nationwide Plastics. All you do is go here (yes, it does say curtain rods on that page, but it’s the same thing), fill out the quote form and they will send you an email with a price and order information. It’s really simple.

My handrail is a 2″ diameter cell cast acrylic rod cut to a length of 80″. The rods come in 96″ lengths and you do have to pay for the whole rod even if you have it cut down, so the cost for my rod was $123.00. You can have them throw in the extra portion you had cut off for a craft project in the future. Also, unless you are going to cover the ends of the rail in some way, you’ll want to have each end of your rod polished so that it’s clear and not opaque. This is an additional $15, I believe.

Step 2.

Order the center posts in the diameter of your rod. Since I got a 2″ diameter rod, I ordered 2″ center posts. I only needed two mounts for my handrail. If you have a handrail that’s longer than mine, you may need three or more mounts.

Step 3.

Mount the center posts to the wall. To do this, locate studs in your wall first using a stud finder. Hopefully you will have a stud near the top and bottom of your handrail to mount the posts into like I did. If you don’t, you’ll want to use anchors first and then mount the posts to those.

Mount the posts approximately 32″ up from each step and angled the same or as close as you can get to the same angle as your steps. Figuring out the angle is best done with another person. To do this, I put the lucite rod through the posts, placed it against the wall at my 32″ up mark, then had Bill hold it in place and angle it as needed until I found the right angle for the handrail. When I did find the right angle, I used a pencil and marked inside the holes on the post where the screws would go then we took the handrail down, removed it from the posts, then mounted the posts to the wall right where I had made those marks. Make sense?

Now, please note this: I had enough room between walls where I was able to remove the rod from the posts, install the posts and then slide the rod back through the posts. If you don’t have enough room to do this, then you will want to keep your rod in place while you screw the posts to the wall. See the alternate instructions after step 4 for more detailed instructions on this method.

Step 4.

After we got our brackets in place and slid the rod into place, the rod would slide out because of the angle it was at. This may not be a problem for you – your stairs might not be as angled as mine were. However, if this is a problem for you, there is a simple solution. After you mount your posts to the wall and before sliding in the rod, cover the inside of the posts with Sugru.

Sugru is this moldable glue. It’s kind of like play-doh when you get it out of the package, but creates a strong bond to whatever its holding together when it dries.

You can see the Sugru inside the post here. Follow the package instructions for application and rub it thinly around in the post all the way around. Immediately after doing this, slide your lucite rod into the posts. Some of the Sugru will be pushed out, simply wipe it off with toilet paper. Yes, toilet paper – that’s what it suggests on the package. Be sure to clean any excess away right then though because if it dries, it’s there forever.

To keep the handrail from sliding out while the Sugru dries, come up with some form of redneck engineering to hold it in place.

Ours was a scrap piece of wood standing up vertically at the end of the handrail with the old school sewing machine keeping the scrap wood in place. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried, ya’ll.

The Sugru will dry overnight and then you can remove whatever method of redneck engineering you used. I am a firm believer in the Sugru after doing this project. This baby hasn’t budged once.

Now, let’s back up for just a second. Let’s say you don’t have enough space between walls where you are installing the lucite handrail to mount the posts first, then slide the rod in like I did. Here’s what I would do in that situation.

Alternate Instructions:

Step 1.

Order your rod to the length needed as I told you about above. Order your posts in the diameter needed as noted above.

Step 2.

Before mounting anything to the wall, go ahead and secure your rod to the posts with Sugru. Just apply the Sugru like I said above, slide the rod through and move your posts as needed to make them evenly spaced on the rod. Wipe off the excess Sugru. Place the rod somewhere that it can’t get kicked over (it will most likely stand up by itself on the posts) and let the Sugru harden overnight.

Step 3.

Mount your posts to the wall at the height and angle noted above. Have someone hold the rod in place while you determine the correct angle, then drill those posts into the wall. If there isn’t a stud where you need to mount the posts then mark the spots on the wall first, install drywall anchors, then mount the posts.

After mounting the posts you should be good to go.

I know that sounds like a lot, but really it’s an easy project. Just having someone to help you hold the rod and get the angles right is the hardest part.

Rug / Flooring / Wall Color / Trim Color

Here’s a shot from the bottom end of the staircase. It was difficult to photograph it from this angle, but you get the idea.

If you have any questions at all, please leave them for me in the comments! I’m happy to answer whatever I can to the best of my ability!

Do you see a DIY lucite handrail in your future?

Liked that? Then see this…

Complete Entryway Makeover

DIY Lucite Frame and Free Printable

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July 28, 2016
How to Make a Huge Frame for Cheap
Have a large picture to frame, but don’t want to spend a fortune on the frame? No problem! This oversized DIY frame will only set you back about $25. You won’t need extensive woodworking skills to make this DIY large picture frame either!

I tried to come up with some eloquent title for this project, but really all that just fit it perfectly was what you see above. So I went with it because that’s what it is – a huge a** frame that was way cheaper to make than buying one.

When I did our master bedroom makeover, I already had this large print poster palm art on hand which was what kinda became the jumping off point for the bedroom’s design. The print was huge – 40″ x 54″. What I didn’t have on hand was a frame for it. I searched around online for one big enough to hold it and was met by price tags starting at $150 – and that price tag was for plastic frames. Our version however, will cost about $25 to make.

DIY Large Picture Frame

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

Tools and Supplies Needed:
- Piece of 1/4″ plywood or luan (I used luan because it’s lighter and cheaper) cut to the size of your art print. My print was 40″ x 54″. You can cut this with a circular saw at home or measure your print before going to the store and have them cut the wood for you there.
- 3 – 1″ x 2″ x 8′ furring strips (You may need more or less depending on the size of your print.)
- 20 feet of lattice molding (Once more, you many need more or less depending on the size of your print.)
- Nail Gun (We used this Hitachi one, but any brad nailer should do.)
- Miter Saw or Miter Box and Saw (We use this Dewalt one.)
- Circular Saw (If you don’t have the hardware store cut your plywood for you.)
- Spackling or Wood Putty
- Paint or Stain (whichever you prefer)
- Double Sided Tape
- Small Corner Braces
- Picture Hanging Wire & Eye Screws
Steps

Step 1.

If you haven’t already done so, cut your piece of plywood down to the size of your art print. We did this by laying the print on top of the plywood, tracing around it with a pencil and then cutting the piece of wood along the traced line with a circular saw.

Step 2.

Lay your plywood on the ground. Cut two pieces of 1″ x 2″ to the length of the plywood. You can cut these pieces with either the miter or circular saw – they just need to be straight edges. These will be two of your vertical pieces on the frame.

After you cut the long vertical pieces, lay them around the plywood. Measure the width from end to end of the long piece of 1″ x 2″ and cut two more pieces of 1″ x 2″ to that size. These newly cut pieces will be your horizontal pieces. After cutting, lay all the pieces out around the plywood and make sure they snugly fit around it.

Step 3.

While the 1″ x 2″ pieces are still around the plywood, nail them together at the corners of the wood with a nail gun.

Optional: You can also use wood glue on the edges along with the nails for a super solid joint.

Step 4.

Measure the long pieces of 1″ x 2″ from end to end and cut pieces of the lattice molding to that size on a 45 degree angle – you’ll have to use the miter saw for this.

Lay the pieces out along the top of the 1″ x 2″ frame with the long edge of the lattice molding flush against the outside of the 1″ x 2″. Measure the distance between each piece of vertical lattice molding you just cut from long end to long end. Cut two pieces of lattice molding to this measurement at a 45 degree angle. Lay all the pieces out along the 1″ x 2″ pieces and make sure all fit well – all the lattice molding should be flush against the outside of the 1″ x 2″ frame.

Step 5.

Using the nail gun, nail the lattice molding against the 1″ x 2″ frame making sure the molding is flush against the outside edges of the 1″ x 2″.

Optional: Again, you can use nail glue here as well if you wish.

Step 6.

Fill any nail holes with spackling or wood putty and paint or stain the frame. You don’t need to paint the plywood – only the actual frame. I used semi-gloss black spray paint on mine.

Step 7.

Mount your large art print or picture to the plywood with double sided tape, then lay it face down in the frame. The lattice molding you cut should be face-down on the floor.

Step 8.

Screw four corner braces along the edges of the frame. You will only need to screw the braces once to the 1″ x 2″ part of the frame as shown below.

The braces should be installed to push the plywood up against the lattice molding.

Step 9.

Screw eye hooks into the back inside of the frame and run hanging wire through them.

Hang it on the wall!

Headboard / Bedding (similar) / Palm Print / Curtains / Light Fixture / Wall Color

If your wood frame is as big as mine, I would try to find a stud to hang it on or use a drywall anchor – these are my go-to wall anchors.

Banana Leaf Pillows / Leopard Print Pillow

Not too shabby for a $25 wood picture frame! I’ll take it over the $150 one any day!

Have you made your own DIY picture frame before?

Looking for more low-budget easy DIY projects and decorating ideas?

DIY Lucite Frame – Here’s an easy DIY frame to make for all you lucite lovers.

How to Hang Heavy Art – my go-to easy, but solid way to hang heavy pieces of home decor like art and mirrors.

Sources for Affordable Wall Art – some of my go-to places for great art at great prices.

And you can also see the entire bedroom makeover featured in this post.

Want to come back to this post later? Pin the image below!

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June 30, 2016
DIY Green Carpet Covered Wall
This wall has been in the making for over a year now. I had the idea to cover a wall with AstroTurf quite a while back, but just couldn’t find the perfect wall to do it to.

When I started dreaming up the design plan for the master bedroom makeover at the 70’s Landing Pad, I realized that an astroturf wall might just work perfectly in the space. I then looked around and realized that our closet wall would also be the perfect candidate for a little carpet treatment.

The carpet isn’t actually true AstroTurf. The real astroturf was just too shiny for the space, but this green outdoor rug was the perfect shade. It helps to create that vintage Palm Beach vibe along with the pink and black.

I used two rugs for the wall and also bought moldings for the ceiling and around the door. The total for the whole project is roughly $50. And it was so easy.

DIY Carpet Covered Wall

Affiliate links may be contained in this post.
- Green Outdoor Rugs (I used two of these for a wall that was about 10′ feet wide x 8′ high. I’m not including the double closet doors in that measurement.)
- Staple Gun (a battery powered one will make the job so much easier.)
- Green Sharpie Paint Pen
- Scissors
- Moldings for around the door trim and ceiling (these are optional, but really give the project a finished look. Mine came from Home Depot.)
Step 1.

Choose one edge of your wall to start on. Unroll the carpet and first staple it to the wall at the top where it meets the ceiling. Align the edges of the carpet with the top of the wall and one of the side edges of the wall.

You want all of the staples to be flush in the wall. If you have any that stick out, hammer them in. This was one reason why I used my battery powered stapler because it gets them all the way in the wall without hammering.

Step 2.

Pull tightly on the carpet at the bottom and staple it down right along the top of baseboard in a couple of places. Trim the carpet as needed and continue to staple it down along the edge. Don’t go staple crazy. I found that one staple about every 9 or 10 inches was sufficient.

Step 3.

Staple the carpet down along one side edge of the wall. Once more – don’t go staple crazy.

Step 4.

Pull the carpet tightly against the one remaining edge that needs to be stapled down. Staple it in a few places then trim with scissors, pull tightly and staple.

Step 5.

When one rug is up, continue covering the wall with another one if needed.

Step 6.

Use a green Sharpie paint pen to cover the staples along the edges of the carpet. You can also use trim as I did to cover them and give the wall a polished look.

Closet Door Medallions / Chair / Leopard Print Pillow / Elephant Table (similar ones)

I had one small place above the closet that I had to cover with a scrap of rug. I just stapled it up and covered the staples with the paint pen.

Closet Door Medallions / Door Knobs / Bamboo Lamp (similar)

I love the extra texture and element this wall brings to the space.

Bamboo Lamp (similar) / Sunday Morning Print (similar) / Jewelry Box (similar)

Ok, what do you think? Am I crazy for covering a wall with carpet?

You can see the rest of the master bedroom makeover here.

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June 22, 2016
Our DIY Hollywood Regency Headboard and New Mattress
So you’re ready to make your own headboard? Not just any old headboard, but one with serious style – like a Hollywood Regency headboard? You’re in the right place! This black velvet headboard will make you swoon and it’s totally DIYable.

I have never been so stressed about a project before. Never, y’all. I swore I was not making a new headboard for the master bedroom at the 70’s Landing Pad myself. I even found some great options that were less than $300, but as I kept coming back and looking at them, they just didn’t have that “wow” factor – they didn’t make a statement.

And we all know I prefer to make a statement in both decorating and life in general.

So I ate my words (not for the first time) and made the king sized headboard for our bedroom.

Our headboard wasn’t necessarily cheap, but it was significantly cheaper than if we would have purchased what I really wanted brand new. We have about $250 in the headboard, but would have easily spent $600, probably more, if I would have bought one similar to our DIY version new. This headboard is made of panels that all get screwed together in the end. The build is really pretty easy. The hardest part for me and where I stressed the most was the upholstery and that was probably because I’m such a perfectionist and wanted super smooth edges which just won’t happen when it’s not a professional upholstery job. In the end, you can’t even see the imperfections that much unless you look closely. Of course, I eyeball them constantly though because I know exactly where they are. #storyofmylife

DIY Hollywood Regency Headboard

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

Tools and Supplies Needed:

*Please note that all the measurements and amounts are for a king size headboard that is approximately 85″ wide when assembled.
- 1/4″ Plywood – Two sheets of 4′ x 8′ and one sheet of 2′ x 4′
- Two pieces of 1″ x 2″ x 8′ wood furring strips
- 8 yards of Upholstery Material (I used black velvet.)
- Four packages of Poly Foam size 2″ x 27″ x 76″
- Two packages of Extra Loft Polyester Batting size 81″ x 96″
- Something round that is about the size you want your top edges to be (you’ll see what I mean in a second)
- Circular Saw
- Jigsaw
- Staple Gun
- Electric Knife
Steps

Step 1.

Cut a panel of wood that is 16 3/8″ wide x 4 1/2′ long from the 4′ x 8′ sheet of plywood using a circular saw.

Step 2.

Find something round that will nicely fit into the width of the plywood panel and will allow you to create a semi-circle.

We ended up using a footstool. You could also use a lampshade, a large bowl, basically anything round that will give you a curve. Once you find something, place it on one end of the wood panel and trace it as shown above.

Step 3.

Using a jigsaw, cut along the traced line.

Step 4.

You now have one of your headboard panels. Trace the shape of this panel onto the rest of your wood and cut out the remaining four panels.

The curve of all your panels will be the same, however, only the end panels need to be 4 1/2′ long. The remaining three panels in the middle of the headboard need to be 4′ long so that you have enough plywood.

Step 5.

Roll out the Poly Foam and place your wood panels on top of it.

Trace the shape of the wood panels onto the foam with a black marker. All but two of the panels will fully fit on the foam strips. For the remaining two panels, lay them out as shown below.

Trace them and use the scrap from the remaining foam to fill in on the bottom of the panel.

Use an electric knife to cut out the foam shapes.

P.S. This was the first project using foam where I finally bought an electric knife to cut the foam. Every other time I used a box cutter which was the biggest pain in the you know what. Trust me, the $14 investment for the electric knife is so worth it. I am mad at myself for not buying one sooner.

Step 6.

Lay out all your wood panels with the foam on top of them, then cover each panel with two layers of batting.

Loosely staple the batting around the back edges of the panel.

Step 7.

Upholster each panel with your upholstery material. I used black velvet from Hobby Lobby. For me, the toughest part was covering the panels with velvet. I found that if I first stapled the velvet to the back somewhat loose, then came back and tightened it up with a staple while smoothing it from the front, it worked best. Also, this was another case when it was so worth it to have the electric stapler. Those staples went in fast and flush.

Step 8.

After all the panels are upholstered, lay them face down on the floor. Move them around in the shape you want the panels to be. I opted for our panels to work it’s way up in the middle.

The two end panels are at the same height, the next two are at the same height, but higher than the two end ones and the middle panel is higher than them all. You can keep them all at the same height too if you prefer. The only thing you want to make sure of is that the bottom of the middle panel doesn’t go higher than your mattress.

After you have the panels in position, attach the two 1″ x 2″ x 8′ furring strips across the back as shown below. You will have to cut them down some. This part is best done with two people. While one is attaching the furring strips, the other should be pushing the panels together tightly.

Step 9.

Once you’re done attaching the furring strips, you’re pretty much finished with the headboard. The only thing left to do is attach it to your bed frame – which we decided was optional and I’ll tell you about in just a minute.

Mattress Details

Disclosure: Tuft & Needle provided me with a new mattress, however all opinions are 100% mine.

The mattress for our new bed came from Tuft & Needle. We didn’t have room for a king size bed at our Beloved Foreclosure, but did at the 70’s Landing Pad, so we jumped on that because both Grunt Labor and I have always wanted one. Also, it helps to have all that extra space when the Circus comes and gets in bed with us at 7 a.m. in the morning and we aren’t ready to get up just yet.

Tuft & Needle mattresses come straight to your doorstep – in a box. #mindblown Yes, that is a king size mattress in that box.

Also, my Vanna White is hotter than your Vanna White. 😉

All you do is just take the mattress out of the box and remove the plastic from it.

You will immediately see it begin to expand as you do this.

Lay it out on your bed frame or box springs and it will continue to fully expand.

Tuft & Needle mattresses are made of adaptive foam in the top layer and a support layer on the bottom which is the foundation so to speak of the mattress. The adaptive foam basically conforms to anyone’s weight or size to give you the ideal amount of support. In non-fancy words, it’s really comfortable.

To me, the mattress doesn’t “give” as much as our old pillow top one did, but instead it just kind of contours to your body. We’ve been sleeping on it for a little over a month now and really love it. It did take a few nights to get used to the difference from our old mattress, but now we’re out like lights every night.

Since we were starting from scratch with this bed and headboard, we bought a SmartBase mattress foundation to put our Tuft & Needle mattress on top of.

The foundation puts the mattress at standard height, but it has much more storage space under the bed. You can also use a regular box springs, slatted bed frame, etc. with Tuft & Needle mattresses.

Back to the headboard, you can use nuts and bolts to attach it the bed frame, however after we got it in place and pushed the bed frame and mattress up against it, it stayed in place and has ever since. For now, we are leaving it like that, but may attach it to the bed frame at some point.

Apparently, the new bed is so good that Bill set up camp in our bedroom while we were away on vacation.

According to him, he went to lay down for just a minute before he was going to clean the house up on the day we got home, but fell asleep. I’ll let you guess how clean the house was when we got back… #notsomuch

You can see more of our master bedroom here.

Looking for more DIY home projects?

How to Make a Huge Frame for Cheap – like the one you see in the picture above!

How to Turn a Side Table into a Bench – easy and the possibilities are endless!

Want to remember this DIY headboard for later? Just pin the image below!

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June 20, 2016
How to Find the Best Contractor for Your Renovation + Our Contractor Nightmare

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by HomeAdvisor. However, all opinions and contractor nightmares are 100% mine.

If you have ever done a renovation, I think you will agree it is one of the most stressful things you will ever take on in your life. They are stressful, time consuming, messy and dirty. If you can make it through a renovation with your spouse, then chances are you must really love each other.

Needless to say, the renovation at the 70’s Landing Pad was no walk in the park – not by a long shot.

There were many things we were able to take on ourselves. We installed a good portion of our flooring, did the hall bathroom remodel, of course we painted every wall, door and piece of trim, built a closet, painted the cabinets, etc. But then there were a few things we didn’t do ourselves – primarily drywall work and the master bathroom remodel. You know how much I despise drywall work, so I won’t go down that road again, but let’s talk about our master bathroom.

When we bought the house, the master bathroom did not have a shower – only a jetted tub you had to climb to get into. The whole thing was just configured really oddly and it was not functional for us at all.

We wanted to get rid of that tub and replace it with a tiled shower, add a soaking tub elsewhere in the room, relocate the toilet, the doors, the vanity and a few other small things. All of that – specifically moving the plumbing, wiring, etc. was waaaaay outta our league. We knew we would have to hire someone to remodel the master bathroom. Since we hadn’t ran into this at the Beloved Foreclosure, almost everything there we had been able to do ourselves, we asked around for contractors that our friends had used.

I called probably around 10 different contractors that came recommended by friends and their sources. I think I got calls back from maybe five of them and only four actually came out to look at the bathroom and then three only followed up with me on a price. One of those three only followed up with me on a price because I pestered the heck out of him. I just didn’t get it. If these people took the time to come out and look at it, then why in the world wouldn’t they call back with an estimate?! Was it a huge job? No. Was it a small job? No. This was a pretty good sized job that I thought someone would be interested in taking on.

So when one of the contractors called me back with a price the next morning after he had been out that previous afternoon and it was a good price and he had came recommended by a friend, I figured he was my guy.

We made the deal on December the 3rd. He said it would take roughly seven days to complete the job. Per the contract, he got a 1/4 of the payment up front, 1/4 of it when demo was done, 1/4 of it when tiling was complete and the rest when it was all finished.

I scrambled around to make sure everything was here and ready for him to start as soon as he had finished demo. I picked out tile and fixtures and all that other stuff as quickly as I could. It was all here and ready to go.

At the end of December, the bathroom looked like this:

Ok, I thought, it’s December. It’s the holidays, people like to spend time with their families. He’ll get going after the new year.

Wrong.

This guy might come three days a week and work for 2-3 hours, four hours if I was lucky, when he was here. Now, we did ask him to do some other stuff around the house, but still he only worked for a couple hours a day, maybe a few days a week and never completed one single thing we asked him to do. He would start something, then move to something else. Mind you, he had already been paid for some of the work as well.

This dragged on until the beginning of March. March, people! We had signed a contract at the beginning of December and he said he would be done in less than two weeks!

And do you know what my bathroom looked like at the beginning of March?

Exactly the same as that picture above with the exception of the toilet out and a few pieces of subfloor up and a little bit of drywall pulled off. None of the actual plumbing, electrical, not to mention tiling, etc. had taken place. At that point, we gave him a deadline (which, yes, we should have done long before) and said he had two weeks to finish everything or he was done. When we told him this, he decided he would work the following weekend. He came that Saturday, stayed for less than an hour and left. We fired him the same day.

For someone who feels bad if she misses a deadline by 10 minutes and is constantly on the go doing something which is usually work related, this whole situation was just unbelievable to me.

At that point, I turned to Bruce who I had found through HomeAdvisor to do some other work for me. He is the one who covered up and made new openings in the old master closet for the Circus’ playroom and also did lots of other drywall work for me around here. I told him the situation, asked if he wanted the job and if he could get me a price together. A day later he gave me the price and worked me into his schedule. (I was on a deadline because my master bedroom makeover with FrogTape had to be completed by the third week in April and I didn’t even have carpet in there yet because it couldn’t go in until the bathroom was finished.)

Within days, he and his helper had the rest of the walls out and backer board installed and ready for tile.

Two weeks later, he had the bathroom finished sans paint and trim, which we did to save a little money (or will do because I haven’t had a chance to finish it yet, thus why you haven’t seen the bathroom reveal yet). Had I went through HomeAdvisor and found Bruce first, this whole fiasco never would have happened.

From all that, I learned quite a bit and here’s my take on finding a good contractor to actually get the job done:

How to Find the Best Contractor for Your Renovation

• Get multiple quotes.

I used to work with a guy who I called Stan-the-Man. Stan-the-Man is a plethora of wisdom. Among other things, he told me “If it’s a $500 or less job, get three quotes. If it’s more than that, get five at least.” I think that’s pretty good advice when it comes to remodeling. You can use tools like HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Guide to find out the median price for home renovation and repair costs in your area. And also, if you have to pester a contractor to call you back with an estimate, he ain’t your guy. Call some others to come out. If you don’t have to be in a rush, then don’t be.

• Get references. Read their reviews. Ask to see photos of their work.

Yes, you should ask around to find out who your friends or family members have used, but don’t just trust that one reference. Use HomeAdvisor to find a local pro in your area and read their reviews from their customers. I’ve found most of the reviews to be a true reflection of the quality and dependability of the contractor. Ask them for references and ask to see photos of their work. Never be afraid to ask. You could even do all this over the phone before you have them come out to give you an estimate.

• Just because it’s the lowest estimate doesn’t mean you should go with it.

If you do use the True Cost Guide and someone comes in waaaaay under the median price, then there’s a good chance they won’t provide you with quality work or they may be desperate for money. Look more for bids right in the middle.

• If the contractor is busy or booked up for a month, that probably means they are pretty good.

My dad once took my brother and I around the entire state of Texas for vacation one year. (Yes, this does relate, just stick with me.) We had never been to Texas before so we had no idea what places were good to eat at and what wasn’t. So my dad said, “Look for the crowded places – that means they’re good.” Well just like with crowded restaurants being good, a busy contractor probably does quality work. It will most likely be worth your time to wait on them.

• Do not pay any money up front.

I still kick myself for ever paying that guy any money up front. I didn’t feel comfortable doing it, but I also hadn’t really worked with a contractor before so I thought that just might be how it was and I went with it. That being said, I do think that some contractors may ask for some money up front for materials if that is worked into their estimate. Once more, this is where you need to read their reviews and get references to know whether they are really going to use that money for materials or not. If you can, tell them to give you a list of what they need and you can go buy it. If you can’t transport it, most home improvement stores will deliver it for you for a fee. That fee might very well be worth it.

• Determine a payment schedule.

Once you pick your contractor, be sure to come up with a clear payment schedule. With Bruce, he doesn’t want any money until the job is done. Other contractors may not always be the same way though. I would say that if they are asking for a large portion of the payment up front, then they might be too shady for you.

• Get it in writing.

I do think that having your agreement written out with your contractor and signed is a good idea. Make sure it includes the payment schedule, the details of the project, estimated start and finish dates, proof of their insurance, and any materials you are responsible for purchasing for the job. For example, Bruce, our bathroom savior, included all the basic building materials in his quote – drywall, backer board, electrical wiring, etc. However, we were responsible for getting the tile, sinks, faucets, etc. which of course we already had on hand.

• Check up on them during the work.

If you’re living in the house where work is being completed this doesn’t really apply to you, but if you’re not, it does. Stop by the workplace at least 2-4 times a week. You don’t want to be in their way, but you do want them to know you’re around and keeping an eye on the work they are doing.

• If they did good work, recommend them. Give honest reviews.

After the job is done, give an honest review of the contractor’s work on HomeAdvisor. This will help others during their contractor hunt process and most likely, your contractor will see it and be grateful for the review – if they were good that is.

Do you have any other tips to add for finding the best contractor for a renovation? Or perhaps horror stories to help me feel a little better about mine? 😉

You might want to see this too…

Three Things That Could Cut Your Electric Bill In Half

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by HomeAdvisor, however all opinions and contractor nightmares are 100% mine.

June 9, 2016
Why We Opted for NuCore Flooring and How It’s Holding Up
Let me just say that when I first wrote about the new flooring we would be installing in the main living area and kitchen at the 70’s Landing Pad, I was not ready for you. I thought I had done enough research on the flooring we chose, but you guys brought the questions and had me saying multiple times, “Why didn’t I think to ask that?” You brought your A-game.

If you don’t remember, we went for NuCore flooring from Floor & Decor which is an engineered floor that has luxury vinyl on top of a waterproof core. It also has a cork backing which was supposed to give better noise resistance than traditional vinyl planks or wood laminates. There are more details on the flooring and how we installed it in this post. Floor & Decor did provide me with the NuCore flooring, however it was the top contender in the flooring department after we researched various types and we would have bought it for the renovation anyway. While they did provide me the flooring, all these opinions are mine.

There were a few reasons that NuCore stood out to us:
- Installation
We were able to install NuCore ourselves. It’s a tongue and groove installation that snaps together. We were on a budget and having someone else install the flooring wasn’t much of an option. Grunt Labor had installed our traditional hardwood at the Beloved Foreclosure, but literally every piece had to be nailed down and it was a back breaking task. He didn’t want to go through that again and I didn’t want him to either. Now of course, we did have to think things through a bit in the beginning, but once we got going, it was relatively smooth sailing. The video below shows how to install the NuCore Flooring.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”EmAIvJzB” upload-date=”Wed Jun 29 2016 14:23:39 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)” name=”Rain on a Tin Roof – How to Install NuCore Flooring” description=”How to Install NuCore Flooring by Rain on a Tin Roof”]
You can read more about the installation here.
- Waterproof
NuCore is waterproof. We have a four year old and a dog. That in itself should be enough to warrant waterproof flooring for us. Honestly, until I started researching, I didn’t know there were any wood look waterproof floorings available that weren’t straight sheet vinyl. When I found out NuCore was, it was a game changer.
- Look & Feel
Of course, when you are putting new flooring in such a large space in your house, you want it to look good. We knew for the 70’s Landing Pad, we wanted wider planks and maybe even a little more texture to the flooring. We wanted to stick with a darker stain as well. The Cocoa Oak shade of NuCore fit the bill.

The photo above was taken just after I had cleaned the floors, thus the oily look, however it’s also the best way for me to show you in pictures the texture of the flooring. You can see the hand-scraped texture in each plank. The texture isn’t so much to where it’s hard to clean or bothers you when walking on it. It’s just enough to add a little depth.

This image best shows the color of the floor up close. It’s dark, but not too dark. To me, the color seems to somewhat have a 70’s vibe going on and that of course, fit perfectly for the house.

We installed NuCore in January of this year, so we’ve had it for about five months. Since then, the following things have happened:
- The flooring got covered in at least a 2 inch layer of dust.
Okay, maybe not 2 inches, but pretty close. Either way, it was disgusting, but cleaned up perfectly well.
- It also took it’s fair share of paint splatters and tile mortar splotches from us working on the house.
Once more, those also cleaned up just fine with the help of a regular kitchen sponge scrubber.
- The dog has peed on it – multiple times.
And the pee just sat there. The flooring didn’t absorb it, there wasn’t a stain, and it wiped right up.
- The dishwasher leaked.
When I say the dishwasher leaked, I mean that water was pouring out of the sides like no tomorrow. The NuCore didn’t let it go anywhere though.
- We moved in.
While I was certain that moving in would cause at least a few dents / dings /scratches on the flooring, I was wrong. Even the three piece cabinet unit that Grunt Labor and Nicky refer to as the three steel boxes I bought didn’t hurt the flooring. The only place where we got scratches on the floor was when the kitchen oven had to be moved in and out while we were working on the cabinetry. I think most of that was due to the fact that Grunt Labor was doing it alone and therefore couldn’t really lift it like it needed to be lifted to be moved.

Like I said earlier, there were many questions you guys posed that I didn’t think to ask when I went with this flooring. I tried to get you the best answer I could by asking the people at Floor & Decor if I didn’t know and responding to your questions in the comments of the first post or email. There were also some questions I had asked, but forgot to include in the first post about the flooring, so I thought I would take this time to answer questions most frequently asked here:

Q: This flooring has joints. How can it be waterproof?

I’m assuming since this is a tongue and groove flooring that when those snap together, they form a waterproof seal. Now, that isn’t to say that some tiny amount of water wouldn’t get in those joints, but I don’t think it would be enough to damage the flooring as long as it was installed properly.

Q: Does it feel like vinyl? Does it feel cheap or plastic-y?

I am not a great one to ask this because my experience with wood look vinyl flooring is minimal. I had it in one other house and I can tell you that that flooring did feel cheap to me. That was also nearly 10 years ago and things in the vinyl department have greatly improved since then. I often associate vinyl flooring with being really shiny – like sheet vinyl we all used to have in our kitchens. This flooring doesn’t look or feel like that to me. It does feel different than traditional hardwood flooring because obviously it isn’t hardwood flooring and isn’t as thick or hard like hardwood. I’ll have to pay more attention to how my feet feel and sound on it when I’m walking and come back to this one again.

Q: How long did it take to install?

Like I said earlier, once you get the hang of installing it, it goes pretty fast. Grunt Labor worked on the flooring for about 2-3 hours each day after work. He was probably able to complete one room every 2-3 days.

Q: Did you lay down a barrier or put it straight on the floor?

No, we did not lay down a barrier. NuCore has a cork backing which helps as a sound barrier. NuCore can be installed over many existing floors. We went right over the old laminate flooring in the den area with NuCore. Of course, we pulled up the carpet in the living room and dining room before installing it there and put it on top of the subfloor. Most people would also be able to take it right over vinyl flooring in their kitchens, but we had some issues in our kitchen where previous owners had remodeled and the kitchen actually had two subfloors, so we had to rip some of that out first before installing NuCore in there.

Q: Does it scratch easily?

Like I said above, the only problem we had with it scratching was right around the oven.

Q: How do you install it on stairs?

They make stair noses that fit over the front edge of the steps and then you would do regular installation on the rest of the step.

Q: We have 700+ square feet of tile in the kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, etc that’s gonna cost $7000 to demo and re-tile, so I’m trying to see if there’s a cheaper DIY alternative. I assume you can install this on top of existing tile? But how thin is it? The issue I see there is a dropoff when transitioning into other rooms.

I do believe you could install it over existing tile if your tile is level for the most part. I’m pretty sure that each color of NuCore has various accessories in that same shade you can purchase. I know they have transitions you could use for the variation in floor levels. The flooring is thin, so it shouldn’t add too much height. We installed this on our landing which actually had tile previously. We could have went right over the tile, but the problem we ran into was that the tile was really thick and we would have had a really large transition which I didn’t feel too comfortable with. I was worried it would be so much that someone might trip over it.

Q: This flooring is thin. I’m worried it won’t hold up and will snap.

Dude. This was my biggest concern when we were considering this flooring. The flooring is 6.5 mm thick. According to Google, that translates to 0.255906 inches. It’s tough though. One of the first things I did was get a piece out and try to bend it in half to break it. It didn’t crack at all. The only way to cut it is with of course with a saw or score it with a utility knife and then snap it while holding one half of the piece on a solid surface and bending the other half. I won’t lie – this thinness still freaks me out a little, but time will tell….

Q) How does this stuff stay in place without gluing it down? My concern would be if there is a slightly uneven place in the floor then this could shift or not rest flush.

The way I understand it, the tongue and groove locks it all together. Once it’s all locked together it’s pretty heavy enough that it stays in place. Most people will need to go back around the edges where the flooring meets the baseboard and add quarter round, which will hold it in place even more.

If you’ve got any other questions, send ’em my way! I’ll do my best to answer them or get the answer for you.

UPDATE: I did a review of our NuCore Flooring one year later. You can read about it here.

You can also get more information about the install of NuCore including a video here.

Disclosure: Floor and Decor provided me with NuCore flooring. However, all opinions and roughness that our family and this renovation gave our floors are 100% mine.
May 31, 2016
Renovate for You.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Regions Bank, however all opinions and proclaiming my belief of renovating for you are 100% mine.

When Grunt Labor and I realized that the new construction home wasn’t for us, we put it on the market and started house hunting. We were pretty open when it came to houses – we weren’t scared of having to do a little work. We were picky when it came to location though. A good sized yard was a must and a “real” neighborhood would be nice.

We looked at countless houses. No, I’m serious. Countless. Lucky for us our realtor also happens to be a good friend and he was a great sport about showing us just about anything and everything under the sun.

There was the house that sat right across from a would-be neighbor who owned a school bus and parked it right on the street every day as if it were a ~~lawn~~ street ornament.

There was the house that had a dead bird in the shower.

There was the one with a creepy downstairs that I ran out of faster than should have been naturally possible.

After hunting for probably a month with no contenders, we were ready to just sell the new construction, put most of our things in storage and live in an apartment until we found the right place.

And then our realtor called and said, “Have you looked at the house in my neighborhood?” Oh, you mean the neighborhood we consider the perfect neighborhood and dream about every night? Nope, we didn’t let ourselves look there because we knew it was too far out of our league. But our realtor said there was a foreclosure on the market in his neighborhood. And it was in our price range.

We went to see it – with flashlights as there was no electricity or even running water turned on.

And before we even looked at the downstairs level, we knew. We knew that this was our home. Well, I knew. Grunt Labor had to have a bit of coaxing.

There was just a problem or two, well besides not knowing if the water or electricity even worked. It needed some renovations. We knew that even if it took us a year to finish all the work that it was worth it to get into this neighborhood though.

And so we bought the beloved foreclosure. We closed on the house one day after our summer vacation started (both Grunt and I were teachers at the time), moved in enough furniture to get by and renovated 90% of the house that summer.

Living Room

We took out a wall between the living room, dining room and kitchen.

First Kitchen Remodel / Current Kitchen Design

We painted the cabinets, got new appliances, eventually built an island and switched out the countertops.

First Bathroom Remodel / Current Bathroom Design

We laid new tile, ripped out the old vanity and installed a new one in the hall bathroom.

We painted every. single. wall. We bought all new trim and doors and painted every. single. one. of. those too.

We installed hardwood flooring throughout the main living area and carpet in the bedrooms.

We renovated our house for us. Yes, we did do it on a budget, but we also didn’t think twice on the things we really wanted for our home. I heard my in-laws say once that everything they had done to their house had been for them – because they liked it or had always wanted it. I thought that was a pretty good take on it, so we kept this in mind as we renovated the Beloved Foreclosure. And now, we’re sticking with it once more as we renovate the 70’s Landing Pad. If you’ve always dreamed of living in your house and making it a home, I suggest you give it a try. A home you love does the heart good. Why yes, I did just come up with that cheesy (but true) line all on my own.

If you’re ready to renovate your house or buy your own beloved foreclosure, Regions Bank has a wealth of information about home buying and renovating on their Facebook page. They even have information about all the “non-pretty” but money related things like should you take out a home equity loan, how to navigate mortgage disclosures, how to be more energy efficient and ways to reduce your property taxes. Regions has resources for both first-time and seasoned home buyers as well and are always looking to provide you with financial solutions that are perfect for you and your budget.

So let’s have you weigh in – How would you renovate and make it yours?

May 12, 2016
DIY Black & White Diamond Feature Wall

This post is sponsored by FrogTape, however all opinions are 100% mine. Affiliate links may be contained in this post.

Last week I left you with a design board that included visions of palms, pink, black and green dancing in ~~your~~ my head. The master bedroom makeover’s theme is Well Traveled – one of FrogTape’s 2016 design trends.

This week’s master bedroom makeover update is about the prep – creating a pattern on your wall with FrogTape® to make a kick-butt and take names accent wall.

If you remember from my design board, I wanted to do a variation of the pattern I painted on my office closet doors and also on a larger scale.

And that’s exactly what I did. First though, I had to get the walls painted.

To start with, I taped off all the trim in the room with FrogTape® Delicate Surface. I had actually sprayed my trim with my paint sprayer just a couple days prior to painting the walls and before new carpet went in, so I used the Delicate Surface since the paint was still fresh.

After painting all the walls pink, I turned my attention to the one wall that would be my accent wall. First I measured it’s length, which was 196″. To get the design I wanted, I needed to create multiple even sections across the wall. I played with the 196″ and found that if I divided 196″ by 7, I would get seven 28″ sections across the wall. At that point, I went across my wall and made a mark at every 28 inches.

After making my marks, I used a level to draw a line vertically down from each mark.

After that, I ran strips of FrogTape® vertically right over those marks. I had let my paint dry for nearly a week, so I went with the FrogTape® Multi-Surface on this wall.

Obviously, the tape width is larger than the line (I used the 1.41″ width), so I just eyeballed the line under the tape and kept it in the middle of the tape as I ran it down the wall.

Next, I used a yardstick and marked 6″ and 18″ down from the ceiling on every other strip of tape.

On the other strips of tape, make marks 12″ down from the ceiling.

Next, run pieces of FrogTape® diagonally from the 6″ and 18″ marks to the 12″ marks to create diamonds.

Continue this down the wall.

You will also want to run strips of tape on both edges / corners of the wall as well as seen in the photo above.

I wanted to add in one more “layer” of pattern underneath this one. To do this, I got back out my yardstick and made a mark 30″ down from the ceiling on the strips of tape that had originally gotten the 6″ and 18″ marks. On the strips of tape that had originally gotten the 12″ marks, I made marks 24″ and 36″ down from the ceiling.

Next, I ran diagonal tape strips from the 24″ and 36″ marks to the 30″ marks to make more diamonds.

Use an X-Acto knife to even up your tape edges and to remove the strips of tape in the middle of the diamonds as shown below.

Use a credit card or your fingertips and firmly push down along all the tape edges to seal it.

After all the tape was secured down, I painted over the wall with black paint.

I did two coats of the black. I could have probably gotten by with one coat, but did two just for good measure. I used FrogTape® Multi-Surface for the accent wall. I had waited about a week between painting the wall and doing the taping and painting of the design, so using regular FrogTape® would be just fine for this part of the project.

Immediately after applying your last coat of paint, remove the FrogTape.

I had been feeling pretty good about the pink and black color scheme. But, when I got all the tape off the feature wall, I wasn’t loving the pink and black together there.

While the black trim and plain pink walls worked well on the other two walls in this room, it just seemed too much on the feature wall. So as I like to say – I had to back up and punt. I opted to change the pink on the feature wall to white. Instead of mapping out my entire design again, I just used FrogTape® Delicate Surface and taped off around the black parts of the wall and painted the white in-between. And after two coats of white paint and removing more tape…

I got exactly the product I’d been looking for.

This wall is by far one of my favorite feature walls I’ve done to date. What do you think about it?

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by FrogTape®, however all opinions and love of diamond patterned walls are 100% mine.

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May 9, 2016
How To Keep Rugs From Sliding
Nearly broken your neck or a limb before because a rug slid right out from under you? My hand is raised over here! When a heavy piece of furniture is on your rugs, then you’re in good shape. Runners through your hallway though, kitchen rugs, rugs in your entryway – those are the ones that can be a pain to keep in place. I have found the solution though for how to keep rugs from sliding on hardwood floors, tile floors, linoleum and other hard surfaces. Read on to see how easy it is!

This post is sponsored by RugLock, however all opinions are 100% mine. Affiliate links may be contained in this post.

I switched out the rugs in my dining room a while back. I had Grunt Labor and Nicky move one we had downstairs upstairs under the dining room table. I could have done this myself, but when you have free labor around, you should take advantage of it, no?

Both Grunt Labor and Nicky said, this rug is too light (in terms of weight), it’s going to slide around up here on the hardwood. I said they were wrong. The table would keep it in place.

Well, I realized I was the wrong one after about 10 minutes of having the rug in place.

Yes, those words did just taste like vinegar.

The table kept the rug in place where the four legs stood, but other than that, when you took one step on it, the rug went another way.

We put a rug pad under it which helped some, but not completely.

Now, let’s fast forward to my office at the 70’s Landing Pad.

This is one of two rooms in the whole house that didn’t get new floors. It already had the hardwood and while the finish is coming off right in the middle (you can see around the edges of the rug where the finish is wearing away), I just couldn’t justify the money to refinish the floors (it was going to be $500 just for this small space) when it was just that one area. So, I opted to cover most of it with a snazzy leopard print rug I found at a yard sale for $2.

The problem: The rug was sliding all around the room like the floor was it’s own personal slip n’ slide.

And that’s when I heard about RugLock.

RugLock actually tweeted me and said they were in the Chattanooga area too, told me about their product and ask if I wanted to try it out. Yep, I have the perfect place to do just that.

RugLock is a spray that creates a permanent non-slip rug backing which grips to your floor.

Here’s how to use it…

How to Keep Rugs From Slipping

You’ll Need:
- RugLock
- Painter’s Tape
- Drop cloth
You can buy RugLock by itself or purchase it with a kit which includes the painter’s tape and drop cloth for $5 more. You can find it on RugLock’s site or on Amazon.

Step 1:

Lay out your drop cloth and place your rug upside down on the drop cloth.

If there’s any dirt or junk on the bottom of the rug, clean that off. A lint roller works well for that.

Step 2:

Run painter’s tape along the edges of the rug to protect the banding or any fringe the rug may have.

Step 3:

Shake the can of RugLock, hold it at knee height and spray it back and forth working your way down the rug.

It should look like snow falling on the rug.

Cover the entire rug with RugLock and let it dry for 8-12 hours.

Step 4:

I let my rug dry overnight, then came back and removed the tape. The back side of the rug will be tacky. This is how it’s supposed to feel. Place your rug where you want it and lock it in place by applying pressure to it.

I walked all around on mine. Yes, I know I have sexy supermodel legs. 😉

You can move the rug at any time. If any of the RugLock sticks to the floor, it can be rubbed off by hand or with a damp cloth. If the rug starts to slide over time, just flip it over and wipe down the backing with a damp cloth, let it dry and the tackiness will return.

Now obviously it’s hard to tell that the rug is really locked into place with just pictures. So I made a quick little video of me pulling, jumping, etc. on the rug. I had to hold the phone myself because no one is ever around to video this stuff for me.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”B3SMuhgT” upload-date=”Wed Jul 20 2016 13:33:20 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)” name=”Rain on a Tin Roof – How to Keep Rugs From Sliding” description=”How to Keep Rugs From Sliding by Rain on a Tin Roof”]

I was seriously impressed by this stuff and can’t wait to try it out on a couple other rugs. So far, this has been the best way I’ve found to keep a rug in place.

RugLock will most likely work best to keep rugs from sliding on hardwood floors, tile floors, laminate floors and linoleum flooring. Since the spray on backing is tacky, I wouldn’t recommend it for carpet.

You can find RugLock here and on Amazon.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by RugLock, however all opinions and love of $2 leopard print rugs are 100% mine.

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May 5, 2016
Wall Paint Design Ideas with Tape that Will Completley Transform a Room

Get huge bang for your buck using these wall paint design ideas with tape. These tutorials use paint and painter’s tape to create gorgeous patterns on your walls and furniture that you can do yourself and will leave guests in awe!

My mind works in mysterious ways. It thinks in shapes and patterns and then says, “Can I paint that pattern on the wall with painting tape?“

More than once, I have jumped up from the sofa and yelled for Grunt Labor to pause the television show so I can take a picture of some pattern/door/wall/what-the-freak-ever that I’ve seen and am sure I can replicate with paint and FrogTape. I’m not even kidding. I’m a freak. #freakflagflyer

I have found patterns to replicate from doors on Scandal, wall art from Vinyl and floors from How to Get Away with Murder.

I’m not right. But if it’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.

I haven’t tried out all my ideas just yet, but here are my favorite wall painting ideas and painting designs that I’m convinced anyone can make because if I can do it, anyone damn well can. You just need painter’s tape, paint and in some cases, a ruler (but not all, because I’m terrible at measuring).

Painters Tape Wall Designs

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

I’ve included both wall designs with tape that I’ve created and tape and paint designs I’ve done on furniture. Both could be used on any surface of your choosing!

Chic Diamond Patterned Black and White Closet Doors

Painting Closet Doors with a Pattern

The closet doors in the office at our 70’s Landing Pad have become a fast favorite of mine. I love, love, love this paint design. In fact, I did a very similar version of it in our master bedroom…

Diamond Feature Wall

Black and White Feature Wall

This wall steals the show in our master bedroom. I love the drama it adds to the space, while also lending a vintage vibe.

Washed Out Stripes Wall

Striped Bathroom Accent Wall

Guess how much this bathroom wall cost me. Seriously, go on and guess.

A roll of painter’s tape and a sample pot of paint! That’s right! And it was easy too!

Cane Inspired Wall Paint Design

Cane Inspired Accent Wall for $25 or Less

If bright green isn’t your thing, you can easily switch out that hue for another one of your liking. This paint technique is cane inspired and I only needed a quart of paint for it.

Black and White Gallery Wall

Black and White Gallery Wall

Who knew dark colors could be so chic? Here’s another favorite. This one is such a simple wall painting idea. Essentially all I did was create a frame on my wall to showcase the art. Notice how that TV just fades away too?

Confetti Painter’s Tape Design

Gold Accent Wall Paint Design

If you don’t want to worry about measuring a thing and want a dose of fun, this painter’s tape design is for you. I call it the confetti wall.

Criss-Cross Wall Paint Design

Criss-Cross Accent Wall

The criss-cross accent wall was one of the first bigger wall art with tape and paint projects I did. In all honesty, I was shocked when it actually turned out like I envisioned it in my head.

Plaid Pattern Painter’s Tape Design

How to Paint Plaid

Don’t be scared – this plaid painted table is one of the easiest painting designs around. You need a ruler – but you won’t use it the way you think you will…

Half and Half Wall Paint Designs

Masculine Bedroom Makeover

The guest room room is still one of my favorite spaces we’ve made over. The half-black half-white walls are easy to pull off.

Modern Design Flower Pots

Painted Planters

The modern paint designs on these planter pots can be replicated on anything you wish.

Triangle Paint Design

Easy Painted Triangles

Another project from the guest room, this vintage laundry hamper makeover got a dose of upside-down triangles – another really simple painting idea using painter’s tape.

Painted and Striped Rug

Painting Artificial Grass

Slowly, but surely we are getting closer to summer. This painted astroturf rug is great for your porch or patio and helps to add a pop of color.

Share any wall design ideas you have in the comments below!

Looking for more painting and wall inspiration? See these then!

9 Accent Walls for $30 or Less – serious bang for your buck!

Object and Text Feature Wall – such a fun way to jazz up a room and perfect for kids!

DIY Indoor Lattice Wall – YES! You can put lattice on walls inside your home and it’s gorgeous!

7 Wall Treatments that Aren’t Shiplap – for the rest of my ‘not on the shiplap train’ folks!

Want to easily come back to these designs later? Just pin the image below!

Follow us on social for more painting inspiration!

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April 12, 2016
How to Make Lamp Tassels in Five Minutes. BOOM.
BOOM.

That is literally what I said after I made one of these lamp tassels and attached it to a sconce in my living room.

It was so easy – it should have been a sin.

Not to mention, it’s pretty sexy too, so that should have made it even more of a sin.

#hubbahubba

Also, I am aware that I just referred to a lamp tassel as sexy. I fully realize I’m not right, y’all.

How to Make Lamp Tassels in Five Minutes

Affiliate links may be contained in this post.
- Two Keychains – preferably one that is a large tassel like the black one pictured above (it came from Michael’s) and one that is something else like the jaguar one pictured above (it came from Loft Outlet). Here are some other ones I found online which could also work…
Unicorn / Fleur de Lis / Eiffel Tower / Peacock / Elephant / Leopard / Wine Glass / Lips
- Package of Small Leather Tassels – I got the Boho ones from Michael’s, these would also work.
- 1 Large Tassel (I had one left over from a tassel garland project from long ago. There’s a link in that post for how to make one or you can buy one like these.)
- Chain Jump Rings
- Lobster Clasps
- Pliers are useful, but not necessary. I used my fingers.
Step 1

Remove the keychain ring from the large tassel keychain. Connect the large tassel keychain and other large keychain together as shown below.

Step 2

Add 1-3 of the chain jump rings and one lobster clasp to two of the smaller tassels as shown below.

Step 3

Attach the smaller tassels to the other two keychains you’ve already put together.

Step 4

Attach a chain jump ring and lobster clasp to the large tassel and attach it to the rest of the tassel behind the other items as shown below.

Step 5

Attach the finished lamp tassel to a lamp by first attaching 1-2 jump rings to the switch on the lamp and then attaching the lobster clasp at the top of the tassel to the jump rings.

Once you get it on your lamp, you might want to adjust how high/low some of the tassels hang. Just add on or take away jump rings as needed. I ended up removing the actual keyring from the jaguar as well once I had it on my lamp.

Isn’t he sexy?

Of course, gnomes are always suggested to add a little sexy flair – ha!

Any lamp tassels in your future?

You are probably going to want to see this too...

DIY Agate Slice Lamp Finial

How to Make Your Own Lampshade and Finial

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March 22, 2016
DIY Painted and Patterned Doors
This post is sponsored by FrogTape, however all opinions are 100% mine. Affiliate links may be contained in this post.

After you complete a project and you look at it and say, “Hello, lover,” you know it’s good.

For example, “Hello, lover” doesn’t exactly fit with removing popcorn ceilings or ripping out tile. But it does fit perfectly for closet doors…when they look like these…

Hello, lover…

You just said it, didn’t you? I knew you would. They are totally Carrie Bradshaw / Sex and the City worthy.

So these doors are the closet doors in my office at the 70’s Landing Pad. Yes, I said this is the 70’s Landing Pad and yes, there is a rug on the floor and a semi-styled bar cart. This is the one room that, sans furniture (besides a bar cart turned craft cart and rug), is finished.

Did you just feel me across the world jumping up and down with glee? Because I did.

While most of this room is all white because I’ll be using it quite a bit for photos and white backgrounds never fail me for those, I needed something to be a wow factor in here – enter flat front closet doors.

You could practically feel the sadness radiating from them. So I fixed that.

DIY Painted and Patterned Doors

Materials Needed:
- FrogTape® Delicate Surface 1″ tape (I had freshly painted doors, so I used delicate surface, if you don’t have freshly painted doors, you can use the regular FrogTape®.)
- Black Paint or another color of your choice – this is my favorite shade of black. You can easily get by with a quart for this project or maybe even just a sample pot or two depending on the size of your doors.
- Paint Roller
- Paint Brush
- Ruler or Measuring Tape
- Craft Knife
Step 1

Run FrogTape® all along the edges of each door.

Since this is a set of sliding closet doors, part of the door on the back is behind the front door. I just acted like that part didn’t even exist and ran the FrogTape on that door right along where the front door met the back door as shown in the photo below.

Step 2

Find the center of each door and run a piece of FrogTape® right down the center.

Step 3

On the center piece of tape, come down 8″ and mark with a pencil. From the 8″ mark, come down 11.5″ and mark with a pencil.

On the outer pieces of FrogTape, come down 14″ and mark with a pencil.

Run pieces of tape diagonally as shown in the image above to make a diamond. As long as your diagonal pieces are meeting on the marks you made, they should be even.

With the second door, the one that is slightly behind the front door, since the length of the doors didn’t change any with the measurements, only the width, I still made my vertical 8″, 11.5″ and 14″ marks. The tape strips that make up the diamonds, the 11.5″ strips, will only be slightly shorter, but you shouldn’t have to actually measure those as long as you meet up the strips on your vertical marks.

Step 4

Use a craft knife and ruler or other straight edge to remove the excess tape as shown on the right door below.

Your doors will look like this when you are finished removing the excess tape:

Step 5

Firmly press along all edges of the FrogTape® to seal the tape against paint bleed.

Step 6

Paint over the doors with a small paint roller.

I used a small paintbrush to paint around the handles.

Step 7

Remove the FrogTape® immediately after you paint the last coat. Do not wait for it to dry.

Step back, and in your best Carrie Bradshaw voice say, “Hello, lover.”

Well done, my friend, well done.

By far, these babies are one of my most favorite painted pattern projects. P.S. I also seem to like alliteration.

What do you think?

Are you a painted pattern fiend too? You might want to see these then…

Criss-Cross Accent Wall

Black & White Gallery Wall

Cane Inspired Accent Wall

Easy Confetti Accent Wall

You know you don’t wanna miss any of this crazy.

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Disclosure: This post was a collaboration with FrogTape®. However, all opinions and mentions of Sex and the City quotes are 100% mine.
February 9, 2016