Splash of Color on the Gallery Wall - super cheap DIY

I have dreams of a beautiful gallery wall in our upstairs office/guest room. The room itself has slanted ceilings which is a bit of a decorating dilemma to begin with - but then you add in where I want the room to go and those ceilings don't matter one bit! Part of my Home To Do List included finishing up the gallery wall, which is just what I attempted to do the other day.

It was one of the easiest projects I've done in this house and I love the color it brings to the area! With gray walls, and all white frames, it was just screaming for a splash of color!

I've been collecting the frames on the wall since before we moved. I visit a thrift store that's next to a local grocery store when I see that their frames are 50% off and I snatch up whatever I think would look good size and shape wise. Then I bring them home and spray paint them Krylon's Bright White in a satin finish (I find my spray paint at WalMart) so they all match. I've been tossing them up on the wall until I find inspiration to fill them - and recently I found just that.

It was simple. It took 30 minutes, tops. I used a couple frames I already had (one was marked $1.50, the other was $0.50 - so with the 50% sales I shop, I'm pretty sure I paid a whole dollar for these two frames), and two magazines that I was about to toss. I also gathered a sheet of white scrapbook paper, ModPodge, a paintbrush, a glue pen, scissors, and glass cleaner.

I started by cleaning the glass for the frames to get all the fingerprints off. Then I ripped into the magazines looking for any bright colors or neat patterns. When I found something I liked, I traced a raindrop shape and cut it out. I repeated that over and over until I had about 30 raindrops to choose from. From there, I just arranged them on the pre-cut white scrapbook paper that fit in the frame. It took a little bit to find an arrangement I liked, but eventually I was ready to start gluing.

You can choose to use ModPodge or a glue pen - I started with ModPodge but switched to the glue pen just because it was faster and less messy. Anyway, you'll want to glue/ModPodge your raindrops to the paper and let them dry.

Once dry, you can choose to put another coat of ModPodge on top, or just pop them in frames to hang on the wall!

Wham, bam, done!

Cost breakdown:
Frames - $1 from a local thrift store during a 50% sale (you could always hit up the Dollar Tree for two frames for $2)
Scrapbook paper - already had, just took out of my stash
ModPodge - already had, just took out of my stash
Magazines - already had, thank you Ladies Home Journal for the free subscription!
Glue pen - already had, from DIY our wedding invites years ago
Glass cleaner - already had

Total cost: $1 for me, but if you needed a couple other supplies (glue pen, scrapbook paper, frames) it could cost around $3-$7 for two completed pieces of art. What a steal!

And of course, you can do this same project with any shape. I was going to circles (and use a scrapbook punch, which would have been even easier and quicker) and then I wanted to do snowflakes and then I settled on raindrops. Mix it up and try a different shape, if you want! I bet a polka dotted version would be super cute!

The Never Ending Honey-Do List

As promised in my post from last week, I'm here to share the short version of my to-do list around the house. While our new home is structurally sound, it leaves a lot to be desired in updated features. When we moved in, we were surrounded by honey oak: floors, trim, doors, cabinets, even the walls were a honey color. We're slowly making progress a little bit at a time (read: what I can accomplish during a Saturday afternoon) but I still feel like I need a list that can hold me accountable to the updates I want to make and make me feel good when I cross things off. I'll be using this as my master list and I'll link you to any projects that I've finished!

I'd love to have all of this done in the next six months... and then work on saving our bones for residing the house (it's currently a magnificent MINT GREEN), eventually gutting the main bathroom, and buying new living room furniture. Six months might be a stretch, but I'm not one of those people who like to leave projects unfinished so hopefully if I can get a good start on some of these, we'll be good.

So, here goes nothin'!

Upstairs:
Photo wall up the stairs
Put up curtain rods
Paint curtain rods
Cut curtains
Hem curtains

Fill gallery wall frames

Hallway:

Paint hall ceiling

Paint hallway walls
Refinish hardwood floors
Buy and install quarter round

Buy new light

Install new light

Hang art

Bedroom:
Put up curtain rods
Paint curtain rods
Cut curtains
Hem curtains
Paint trim in bedroom
Refinish hardwood floors
Buy and install quarter round

Downstairs guest room:
Paint trim
Paint walls
Put up curtain rods
Paint curtain rods
Cut curtains
Hem curtains
Refinish hardwood floors
Buy and install quarter round

Kitchen:

Stain kitchen cabinets
Board and batten wall

New countertops

Paint walls

Buy new light

Install new light

Living room:

Paint trim in living room

Patch living room ceiling

Paint living room walls
Put up curtain rods
Paint curtain rods
Cut curtains
Hem curtains
Refinish hardwood floors
Buy and install quarter round

Dining room:

New windows in dining room
Put up curtain rods
Paint curtain rods
Cut curtains
Hem curtains

Bathroom:

Paint bathroom walls

Peel and stick tiles in bathroom (for short term use)
Stain bathroom mirror

Two floating shelves above toilet

Side entry:

Paint trim

Paint ceiling

Paint walls

Paint steps

Install new light

Am I a glutton asking for punishment by trying to do all of this in a small amount of time? Only time will tell!

Welcome to 2014

Hey there and happy new year! It's been a little over 2 months since I last checked in because nursing school is keeping me so busy. By the time I'm done with my 12 hours of studying for the day, the last thing I want to do is type out a blog post... plus, my life doesn't change much day-to-day. Boring!

I realize I haven't shared any photos of our new house so I'll make a point to do so in the future. However, I have a few pictures I can share today that show the intermediate steps of our home improvement projects so you'll get a little peek into the money-pit we call home!

Just recently, Trevor and I adopted a 4 year old pup from our local humane association - we named her Maggie. She's as sweet as pie and is the perfect dog for us. Talk about unexpected, though! We just went to put in a general application to be approved for future adoptions and saw her sweet face. We met her and had submitted an application to take her home before we left. The day after Christmas, they called and told her she was all ours! She's from Mississippi and is slowly adjusting to the -30 degree windchill days we have around this time of year but her favorite thing to do is to cuddle with us under a heating blanket. We are so blessed to have a happy, healthy pup like Maggie!

We've also been staying busy with fixing things around the house. Before we even bought the house, we knew that we'd need to work on some landscaping before winter hit because the soil around our house was sloping towards the foundation which was basically sending the water down the footings and making our sump pumps (yes, two!) work overtime. We had about 5 different basement people look at the house while we were in escrow to make sure it wasn't an expensive issue... and thank goodness it wasn't: all we had to do was hire a landscaping company to come take out our walkways, truck in two dump trucks full of soil, spread it out, and regrade everything so the water flows away from our house. After being stood up by a company earlier this fall, we found a local place that agreed to do the work within our budget if we would take out the walkways. So we rented a jackhammer (uh, yeah, check that off the bucket list!).

And then found out that 1) our neighbors are incredibly tolerant of jackhammering noise. Nobody complained, not once! and 2) idiots lived here some time before us and decided it would be really cool to layer concrete over concrete over concrete. This meant, there were areas of the jackhammer project that required us to get through over a foot of concrete - which we had to do in layers. It's funny to think about now but it was FAR from hilarious when it happened.

We've also done a lot of painting around here! We painted our bedroom less than a week after we moved in (because Trevor wasn't enjoying sleeping in a pink bedroom) and I've been slowly - SLOWLY - working on painting all of the trim in the house white since then. Here's a look at our bedroom with grey-blue walls and white trim...

...and the built-ins in the hallway.

During Christmas break, I had a chance to sit back and gather my thoughts about where I want this house to go, updates wise, and I made out a "short" list that I'll be sharing with you soon. It's the list of things I'd like to get done in the next six months, which makes me believe that I am crazy. You'll understand when you see just how long the list is!

School starts up again this Sunday, the 5th and our clinicals start on the 7th. I'm really excited to get back into the hospital and work with patients but I'm also incredibly nervous that I'll be partly responsible for the care of my patients in a capacity I've never had before. Butterflies in my tummy doesn't even begin to describe it!

At the same time, I'm also so excited to see my nursing school friends again! We've all only met in person once - during orientation last September - but we've been working so closely online through discussions, projects, readings, and exams that I feel so much closer to these 29 people than I do to some of my friends who are local! Some of my classmates are arriving on Saturday, some on Monday, and we have a couple of dinners already planned for us to just catch up on life. It's corny, but these people have kept me going through the content that I couldn't wrap my head around (hello, nephrons and acid/base balances!) so it's going to be great seeing them all in person again.

Christmas and New Years were pretty low-key around these parts, so I don't have much to share... however, I want to know how yours went! Did you get to spend time with family from far away? Did you get some great gifts? Did you fall asleep before midnight like we did?

I'm not apologizing for being so absent the past couple of months because I am working so hard at school getting to a point of reaching my dream, but I am letting you know that I've thought about this little blog and all of you, my readers, often during my break. I can't promise that you'll be seeing a lot more of me around here, but I can promise that if you follow me on Instagram @YouAndMeAreWe that you'll get more real-time updates and none of this two-month-catch-up stuff! I'm notorious for sharing pictures of house projects, school stuff, and sleeping dogs - come join me!

5 Cost-Effective Updates for Redesigning a Living Space

Trevor and I are definitely looking forward to owning our own home! And of course, we want to put our own touch on everything but have to watch our pennies... so what's a homeowner to do? This post, by Tali Wee of Zillow definitely helps the budget conscious {read: US!} person decide on the updates to take care of first.

--------------------------------------------------

Professional interior redesigns are often costly for homeowners, which deters them from making upgrades. However, there are some simple improvements that homeowners can make – without breaking their budgets – to transform spaces.

Here are five easy and economical ways to renovate home interiors for a more homey feeling or to stage a house to attract potential home buyers.

1.     Choose a New Color Palette

Painting is a less obvious, yet extremely affordable, choice to upgrade a living space. Upgrading wall color can give interiors a whole new feel while covering general wear and tear. Most importantly, painting is an easy do-it-yourself (DIY) project. Make sure to prepare surfaces by cleaning thoroughly and protecting areas that aren’t being painted with tarps and tape.

2.       Reconsider Lighting

Recessed lighting gives a home a modern and expensive look. Aside from being aesthetically pleasing, this option brightens up a room without being intrusive on the open living space. Recessed lights are fairly easy to install, but make sure to shut the power off before beginning any project that requires contact with electricity. Already have recessed lighting but a room is still feeling drab? Update lamps, shades and chandeliers for a new and refreshing décor.

3.       Update Fixtures

Dated door handles and light switch plates are easy and inexpensive to change. If classic is more the style of the room, head over to the nearest antique shop. Resale stores often have vintage fixtures from historic homes. If the space has more of a contemporary vibe, home improvement stores offer an array of modern, low-cost fixtures. Check out home interior images to get inspired by a plethora of options.

4.       Install Crown Molding

Molding instantly adds character to a room and isn’t as complicated to mount as it may seem. This adornment takes a room from ordinary to distinctive without the added expense. A tricky part to DIY molding, however, is cutting corners so the pieces match up correctly and look professional. An easy alternative is to use corner blocks, which are pieces of decorative wood that fill the corner and join two pieces of molding together without requiring exact corner angles to be cut into the molding; corner blocks save time and prevent unsightly misaligned molding.

5.       Accessorize

Sometimes just adding a few extra throw pillows or a new area rug can change the atmosphere of a room. These simple additions can alter the entire mood of a room, but are simple to replace as style preferences change. Decorating on a budget is especially easy with a sewing machine. Buy fabric and recover existing pillows or sew new window treatments to tie new flair into a living space. Garage sales are a great resource for uncovering unique pieces that add distinctive style to an otherwise bland room.

Not everyone can afford to splurge on a professional interior designer or renovate an entire home. However, stylish upgrades are feasible. With a little creativity and some home improvement tools, a drab space can appear like a custom, designer home. Whether looking to appeal to house hunters or simply in need of a change, use these five tips to conduct a cost-effective makeover.

What are your favorite cost effective updates you've done in your own home? I need all the help and ideas I can get! Link me to your posts, your Pinterest, your photos, and more!

check this out!

Spruce Up Your Bookcases!

Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link.

This is Part 2 of a tutorial on how to upgrade your laminate furniture. For the first part - how to paint your laminate furniture - you can visit yesterday's post.

Today, though, you're gonna learn how to bring your bookcases up a notch!

This can be used for any existing bookcases you have that need a little help, though it's much easier to give this treatment to cheap laminate shelves versus a solidly built one.

Here's where your shelves are going to end up after all this.

It's worth it, right?!

At this point in the tutorial, my bookcase has already been painted and didn't have a back nailed back on quite yet. If you're working with an existing bookcase that has a back on it, take it off first.

It'll look something like this:

That's the original color of the bookcase... and you can tell I used the backing to protect my garage floor from paint when I was painting the shelves. All that ugliness got covered up!

Then, head to a nearby fabric store and grab a yard of a coordinating fabric. I went to JoAnn's and happened to find this stuff for 60% off of it's regular price of $19.99/yard. I also picked up a spray adhesive - my favorite is made by Elmer's.

I took my fabric and backing board outside and cut the fabric so it would be able to wrap around the back of the backing board by about an inch.

Then, while kneeling on the fabric to keep it in place, I lifted small sections of the fabric {starting from the middle} and sprayed the adhesive on - following the directions with dry times. I made sure to rub the fabric firmly from the middle out so that any trapped bubbles could get out.

Eventually, the entire front was stuck down so I flipped it over and did the same to the two short ends first followed by the two long sides.

I let the fabric board dry in the sun for a couple hours. It was also good because it allowed everything to air out - boy, that adhesive is potent!

The next day, Trevor nailed the backing board right back where it was before I painted everything - and TA DA!

Let's look again at the finished project.

The fabric and adhesive set me back about $11. Not bad for a significant upcycle, right?

What do you think? Do you have any furniture you want to do this to? Have you done this already?

check this out!

Painting Laminate Furniture {and other lengthy tales}

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

I've been wanting to paint two pieces of laminate furniture for a long time. They both lived in our guest room and were mismatched. The dresser was a medium Oak color while the bookcase was a light Birch color. Neither color looked attractive and both had a little wear.

I figured if they were only being used here and there for guests and "decoration", why not try a little paint to bring some life back into them?

So I dragged both into the garage, gathered my supplies, and went to town. After two coats of primer, three coats of paint, and two coats of polycrylic I've refreshed a dresser and a bookcase {that now match!} I couldn't be happier!

Here's how you can do it, too. And don't be intimidated by the number of steps involved. I broke things down pretty darn simply because I wanted to add photos of some of the in-between steps.

 - Go shopping: buy medium to fine grit sandpaper, a primer that can be used on laminate furniture {I did lots of research and ended up with this Zinsser BIN Shellac base one}, a crappy brush for the primer that can be tossed out afterwards, a quart of paint in the color and finish you desire, a nicer brush and/or roller that will be washed and reused, and a polycrylic for the top layer.

- Prep your area. You're going to be painting for a few days, so make sure there's space around you and you don't need to use the area you're painting in while everything is drying. {See the blue in the corner in the photo above? That's an ugly old blanket that protected our garage floor from paint drips.}

- Lightly sand your furniture with your sandpaper. You don't have to go crazy - just a quick once over will do. Then wipe off all the dust and grime with a moist towel. Let air dry.

Yes, I realize this isn't the bookcase... this is a laminate table that I also redid at the same time. It just so happened these pictures turned out about sixteen times better than the photos of the process of the bookcase. Be on the lookout for the table makeover and office reveal in the upcoming weeks!

- Bust out your primer and crappy brush. Paint a light layer on your pieces. It's going to look streaky and horrible and bad... and you're going to curse yourself for even starting such an ugly project. But it gets better, I promise you.

- Let the first coat of primer dry {according to package directions, mine was 45 minutes} and apply a second coat.

Remember that comment about looking streaky after one coat? Yeahhh...

- Let the second coat of primer dry and apply a light layer of your color using your nicer paintbrush. There's going to be a longer dry time on this coat so I suggest tossing your good paintbrush into a zippered plastic bag so you don't have to wash it and it doesn't dry out and ruin the brush..

While this may look gray, it's actually the table after two coats of white primer.  That's what I get for shooting photos in a garage. Lesson learned!

- Let the first coat of color dry according to the package directions and apply a light layer of color again. By now, you should start seeing how lovely your furniture will look when it's not the laminate or a streaky primed piece. It's all coming together - I told you! Note: this was the end of Day 1 for me

- Let the second coat of color dry and apply your last coat of color.

- Let your final coat of color dry {I gave it some extra time between coats just to ensure the paint was dry all the way through} and then apply the first coat of poly with your nice paintbrush that has been washed.

- I waited a couple days between poly coats because the can said to wait at least 24 hours... so I doubled that and called it good. After the two days passed, I applied my final coat of poly.

- I waited three days before even touching the furniture after the final coat of poly was applied. So far, even with moving it around and bumping it into every wall between our guest room and the garage, it's held up just fine. no chips or paint tears here!


This is how the bookcase looks today - nice, right? At the very least it's definitely an improvement over the laminate from before!

Come back tomorrow to see how I transformed the back of the bookcase. Spoiler: it's cheap and easy!

check this out!

Project: Do You #17

Today's Project: Do You post is going to be the last one. I don't know if I should be sad it's over or if I should be excited that everything's checked off!

Let's do a quick run down on how things went:

#1 - Read one book per month. Pretty darn self explanatory, right?

#2 - Work out on a regular basis. I was doing much better at this before my wisdom teeth surgery at the end of June, but since then I've stayed active at home rather than going to the YMCA 3-4 days a week.

#3 - Run a 5K. I ran/walked The Color Run on Sunday with 5 other teammates. We did incredibly well - seriously, I'm so impressed! - and I'm ready to sign up for another one already! It was so.much.fun!!

#4 - Add another 2K to the vacation fund. This one went out the window when a house came into the picture. It would be silly to put money in a fund that we won't use until late 2014 at the earliest, especially because more money that we can put towards a house, the less money we'll be in debt to our mortgage lender!

#5 - Plan a date night ahead of time for each month. This doesn't take a lot of explanation.

#6 - Enjoy a weekend away with Trevor. And it was a relaxing one at that!

#7 - Shape eyebrows. I finally was happy with the shape a few months back... and I've been pretty happy since then, too!

#8 - Finish our wedding scrapbook. I know it didn't say this on the list, but this was a summer goal. Now that summer's over for me, this is done and over with as well. It's not close to being done, but there's just simply much bigger and better fish to fry. I still have everything I need and I may have a scrapbooking weekend with my mom sometime in the future, but it's just not high priority right now.

#9 - Travel more. I had checked this off a while ago and I've since planned another trip to Chicago with Whitney in a couple weeks. I'm excited!

#10 - Learn to say no more often. I put this on the list because I felt that I was kind of getting walked all over at work. I'm still sticking to my guns and saying no when I don't want to pick up extra shifts at the drop of a hat.

#11 - Make more time for crafting. I finished a table, a bookcase, and a dresser within the past week and they look fantastic. I'm also in the middle of finding stuff for a gallery wall {leave links to your favorite free printables in the comments below!!} Crafting is a nice relaxer for me and I'm loving it in my life right now!

#12 - Get out of my comfort zone more often. Rule number one: Nothing about starting an accelerated nursing program with 29 strangers or buying a house is within your comfort zone.

#13 - Share our wedding on the blog. So glad I did this!!

#14 - Attend a concert. Checkity, check. And, Trevor and I are thinking about going to Chicago for another concert the first weekend of October!

#15 - See a Broadway show. BOM was amazing!

#16 - Get hearing tested again/look into surgery. It's good to know where my hearing stands and what my surgical options are. I'm not planning on going under the knife quite yet, but I'm glad I had the appointment.

#17 - Bake someone a birthday cake. I totally didn't skimp on this one! The chocolate cake I baked for Trevor was pretty yummy!

#18 - Go to the beach. What's summer without a little time with your toes in the sand?!

#19 - Forgive. I honestly feel like I've become a better person and that this comes a lot more naturally to me now.

So that's that! The list is done! Are you sad to see it go?

How are your goals coming along?

You can recap my journey by reading all of my Project: Do You posts here.

check this out!

Mind Dump

There's been a lot going on around here lately so it's about time for a quick dumping of photos and ideas, right?

Last week, I joined Callie, Whitney, Sheryl, and Jane for a Girl's Night. We ate some yummy, yummy Mexican food and slurped down 2-for-1 margaritas. It was fun to sit around and talk for a couple hours. I love little breaks from life like that!

I've spent countless hours in our garage priming, painting, and sealing three pieces of furniture that I've been meaning to fix up for quite some time. I chose a soft gray for the table and a coordinating gray-blue for the bookcase and the dresser. I can't wait to show you pictures of everything all put back together! But thank goodness you can't see our office right now - the contents of the bookcase and dresser have buried the guest bed and a desk. Oops.

Slowly but surely, our house hunting is coming to an end. If our offer that's currently out there is accepted, we'll be new homeowners next month. If not, then we've agreed to give up the hunt until Spring 2015 - when I'm done with school and there's not three feet of snow on the ground. Pretty soon {aka, within the next week}, any accepted offer will have a closing date of right around when I'm starting school, so that may be a little bit tight time-wise. We are hoping and praying that good news will come from our current situation and that we will have a place to call our own soon. What's meant to be will be but sometimes it's hard to tell just what that is.


Check this out!

Lemon Sugar Scrub

I don't know about you, but it's around this time every summer that I start ignoring my feet.

You know what I mean, when you start pretending they're perfect, beautiful, lovely, etc... without looking at them. I mean, they've been in sandals for a couple months now, almost exclusively, so you know what they look like. No need to look any closer. You've painted your toenails every pretty shade that comes up on Pinterest so you know they've gotta look like a million bucks, right?!

Right.         I mean, wrong.

I got a little more up close and personal the other day with my feet and let me tell you it wasn't a pretty sight! The bottoms of my feet and my heels have skin that is peeling off them {TMI? Nah.} and the balls of my feet have seen better days, that's for sure.

It was a day I was at home, being productive {read: searching for house after house after house that resembled something we could see ourselves in} and I wasn't about to head to the mall for a pedicure or even a fancy foot scrub. Instead, I raided my kitchen for what has now become my favorite body scrub ever!

It's cheap to make, you most likely have most {if not all!} of the ingredients on hand right now, and it's incredibly effective.

Seriously, bookmark this baby right now. Go ahead and pin this sucker! It makes a great gift in a small jar with a new polish or two, I'm tellin' ya! Just try it!

Here's what you need:

- a jar to store your scrub in
- 1 ripe lemon
- olive oil
- white table sugar

It's simple: mix two parts sugar to one part oil (1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup oil) - then add in sugar or oil to get to your desired consistency. I like the 2:1 ratio for my feet, but if I make a face scrub I generally like more sugar and less oil. Add the juice of your lemon. If you're making a small batch, just use the juice from half a lemon.

Mix it all up, spoon it into your jar {or, if you were smart, you started mixing everything together in the jar itself}, and scrub all your dead skin away!

Make sure your jar has a lid that seals and store it in the fridge for extra freshness. It will solidify at colder temperatures because of the oil, but that quickly goes away when you use it in the shower or let it warm up a little before use.

If you like lemon as much as I do, check out this scrumptious treat sure to please all!


check this out!

Wedding Wednesday #4

Every Wednesday this month, I am recapping our wedding as part of our two year anniversary celebration. Two weeks ago, I showed you photos from our ceremony and told you about our unity tree. You can catch up on that here if you missed it or need a little refresher. Last week, you were overloaded with photos from our reception, so don't miss that post either. Yesterday, I recapped the attire of our wedding party.

Today's post is a smorgasbord of detail photos from our wedding day. I won't narrate them too much, but I want you to absolutely feel free to leave a comment or question below if you want to know more about anything you see!

We did a first look and I regret nothing about it. We got a few moments to ourselves {and our photographer and videographer} before the wedding and it was incredibly special. It didn't change the feelings we felt as I was walking down the aisle towards Trevor - he still had an amazing reaction even though he had seen me already that morning. Plus, we got so many more photos taken and were able to get to our reception and be with our guests sooner!

I cried so much during picture taking. All tears of joy, but you can clearly tell where I get my teary-eyed tendencies from, right?

Photos of all of our grandparents on their wedding days.

Wedding Mad Libs and ribbon wands were both DIY projects. Both are featured in other photos in this mini-series and even this post!

Please leave any wedding related questions in the comments below and I will happily reply to you via email. You don't have to limit your questions to be about our wedding - I love helping brides no matter the size, feel, or location of their weddings!

And don't forget to check back next Wednesday for the last of our wedding recaps! I'll be discussing what I've learned, my regrets, and general dos/don'ts. It's bound to be full of information, so don't miss it!

All photos courtesy of Laurie Marie Photography.