Apr 26, 2017
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I was at a DownEast Home one day when I found these plank shelves from West Elm for $10 a piece. I snatched up the three shelves they had and knew exactly how I wanted to use them.
I tend to like the industrial look -I like when metals mix with wood. Several years back I opted for industrial pipe for our curtain rods and I’ve loved the look and feel. Using the same material as the curtain rods, I made shelf brackets.
I used 1/2″ pipe and it comes precut in 8″, 10″ or 12″ lengths. You’ll also need a flange and a cap and spray paint in the color of your choice. I like the hammered spray paint by Rustoleum – it gives a durable finish.
My shelves aren’t very wide, so I only needed two brackets per shelf. I screwed the pipe directly into the wall through the flange. It would’ve been ideal to screw them into a stud – but there never seems to be a stud where I need it. So I used some strong mollies in the drywall to screw into to prevent them from ripping out.
The shelves are just sitting on the brackets. For safety, you can add a pipe bracket underneath that would screw into the wood to keep it in place.
I really don’t like the staging part of these projects, but after a year we finally have items sitting on the shelves. I ended up using his toys/books as the decorations. Not toys that were purchased to be cute on a shelf, but the toys he actually plays with, the robots, cars, wooden dinosaur and Baby Lit books. So it really only looks like this every week when I tidy up the room and put everything back in its place. The shelves ended up being more functional than decorative and they fit the space perfectly.
Jan 26, 2017
I love a fun and eye catching wall treatment. I’ve used wood treatments in two of the rooms – which is permanent in my mind and really takes some commitment. In my office, I used paint to create a herringbone pattern which took some time but I know the minute I’m bored with it I can paint over it. And now I have my decal wall.
I love the idea of wall decals. You can transform your space using a trendy shape or pattern and the next year when it’s out – you can buy new decals and be trendy again. I thought decals would be the perfect addition to the loft area. Then I priced out decals and I changed my mind. They were crazy expensive for a vinyl sticker and I decided it wasn’t worth it. But my mind was still stuck on the decals so I came up with DIY solution: use Silhouette matte vinyl and cut the shapes yourself. Now I know some shapes would be ridiculous to cut yourself and it wouldn’t be worth it. But what about some fun diamonds or triangles. Or a + sign. This was so easy and it cost me $20 for two rolls of vinyl.
I mapped out my wall and decided how many decals I wanted and how large I wanted them. I then started cutting vinyl to size with a straight edge and rotary cutter. And used the small exacto knife for the cut in portions.
Here’s the wall I measured and prepped.
I used a laser level to make sure everything stayed level. I taped the decals on the wall and then when I knew I measured right, I peeled off the backing and carefully placed them on the wall.
It took me longer to set the level for every row than it did to place the decals in the right spot!
I have an orange peel textured wall and I was worried they wouldn’t stick – After two years, its safe to say they worked just fine. I peeled a corner of one a while back just to see how it will be when I remove them and there was no residue. I could pull them off all tomorrow and put hexagons on the wall!
This would be a great technique for anyone that is renting or has issues with wall commitments. The only downside I see is that the vinyl comes in limited colors. But if you’re in the market for a basic color, and you’re willing to spend time cutting out a shape – you could save buckets of money with DIY wall decals.
DIY USA Wall Art Tutorial can be found here
The darling 50 States books (with great illustrations can be found here and here, same author)
Jan 12, 2017
It’s time to start dressing the house in red and pink! A while back, I showed a rag banner I made for Hallie’s birthday party in navy and gold. It was surprisingly easy and cheap enough that I’ve made it again for Valentine’s day.
Here’s how to make it:
1. Buy 1/4 yard of four different fabrics.
2. Cut 9 one inch strips of fabric. (I folded it and used a rotary cutter to make the process quick)
3. Take each one inch strip (which is the width of the fabric you purchased) and cut them into fourths. I take all the strips of one color and hold them in my hand – fold it over and cut and take each half and cut it again. This will give 36 strips of each fabric.
4. Choose what material you want to tie the fabric to. It could be ribbon, baker’s twine, string, etc. Fold a piece of fabric in half with the twine sitting on top of it. Take the ends and put them through the loop and this will create a knot.
5. Continue alternating fabrics, tying knots, pushing the fabrics together until you have the fullness and length you desire.
It really is that easy. This is a sit-on-the-couch-and-watch-a-movie project which is just what I need sometimes!
May 18, 2016
I’m not sure how I missed posting this sooner – considering it’s been done for over a year now!
I know I’m not alone in my love for shiplap – thank you Joanna Gaines! And yet it always seemed like a lot of work. Not only that, but I questioned just how long I would love shiplap. And when I get tired of it, I will have to rip it down and repair the wall behind it. Yet, I had a wall in Hunter’s room that was screaming, “Cover me in wood!” And I obliged.
I found a pinterest image of a wall in a nursery room that I fell in love with. I loved the variation of the color in wood, I liked the relclaimed look. I found a company locally that sold reclaimed wood and I priced it out – over $2000 to cover one wall. That wasn’t in the budget. I went back to my inspiration picture and traced it to a design group website – who just so happen to sell a tutorial to the wall. Part of me knew it couldn’t be that difficult and I could definitely figure it out on my own. But part of me wanted to follow a step by step instruction and get it done. I spent the $15 and bought the tutorial. I’m glad I did.
The tutorial walked me through step by step as to what to do. I did deviate from the plans just a bit. It called for pine boards in different widths. I knew finding nice, straight boards would be hard. I bought plywood and had Home Depot rip it down to the different widths that I needed. The most helpful part of the tutorial was being told what custom stains to purchase and the process of creating different colors. Paint white on these boards, stain these boards wipe off after 3 minutes, stain these boards, wipe off after 7 minutes…you get the idea. It gave me the color variation I loved in the reclaimed wood.
Here’s how the room started out.
I prepped and stained the boards per the tutorial.
I located the studs on the wall and used a brad nailer to nail the wood directly to the wall. I started at the bottom (I chose a plywood depth that worked with my baseboards) and worked my way up putting a penny in-between for spacing.
It was a weekend warrior project while Steve was out of town and he was pleasantly surprised to find it finished upon his return. It’s very masculine – perfect for my boy’s room and definitely a look that will grow with him.
Mar 30, 2016
I found these cool animal head hooks at Home goods over a year ago. I wasn’t sure how I would use them but I picked them and put them in Hunter’s closet until I figured out a permanent place for them.
They found their permanent place on Hunter’s wall just before Briggs was born.
They were different finishes when I purchased them, so I used a glossy Rustoleum spray paint and gave them a couple of coats of paint.
I had a scrap pine board in the garage that got a fresh coat of white paint and I mounted the hooks to the board. Hunter was excited to come home from school and find he finally had a place to hang his hats.
