Sorry for the delay on our fabulous mudroom tour… hopefully the technical difficulties just built up the suspense and excitement!: ) So just to refresh your memory, I want an amazing mudroom, but right now it's not on the Mangin top ten. That doesn't mean we can't take a look at some awesome inspiration… Here we go! Bright, cheery mudroom, but for some strange reason all of my kids' clothing and accessories don't coordinate with our wall colors?: )
I don't love the curves at the top, but I do like the white/wood combo.
Again wood and white, and this room has drawer storage as well. Just in case everything you own doesn't match perfectly!
I love the idea of incorporating cabinets in a mudroom. Wide moulding at the top gives them a more custom, built-in feel. The shoe area is super functional, but you've seen how many shoes we have…
How beachy and coastal is this? LOVE it!
Cabinets again, but really I love the patterned cushion with accent pillows and the personality that the striped wall adds.
No room for a mud room? Some hooks will do the trick for a more"adult" household.
Not a true mudroom, but an excellent option. Coat hooks to the left, simple metal storage to the right. I LOVE the painted door an numbers. I definitely think the painted door with numbers just made the Mangin top ten list. Stay tuned to see an garage door re-do. Shh… just don't tell my husband!
traditional entry design by detroit media and blogs Just a Girl Chic, grownup mudroom. This is far too pretty to be called a mudroom… it's like the"anti-mudroom."
This adorable mudroom was made using IKEA shelves, combined with base cabinet. I love taking IKEA products and making them into something a little more!
Awesome cubbies. These were created by utilizing the space between the wall studs. This could totally be a DIY project!
And last but not least, a very classic mudroom. Clean, crisp lines. White paint. All-American kid accessories. Classic and Cute.
My dream mudroom is a combination of many of these inspiration rooms. Although, as amazing as these are, there are a few reasons why I will never have one of these mudrooms…
1. I have 4 kids… We will actually have mud and dirt in our mudroom. 2. My 4 kids are MESSY. They might hang up their coats, but they won't precisely place their backpacks to look like acessories. 3. Again, for some reason all of our belongings don't coordinate perfectly: )
Do any of these mudrooms thrill you? Let us know which one got your juices flowing!
The most important part of my Garage Mudroom Makeover was definitely the DIY Lockers. Honestly, even when our home was being built, and all we had were studs, I was envisioning a mudroom with lockers. My hubs thought I was certifiably insane!
I was pretty patient (especially for me!) and waited almost two years after moving in to create my garage mudroom.
Just as a reminder here's the before and after…
I surfed Pinterest for some inspiration, and then turned to the guru of all things woodworking… Ana White. We had the awesome opportunity to meet Ana at Haven and she was so down to earth and man can she rock out a pair of heels and a power tool like no one else!
The plans on her site are called Smiling Mudroom and they were really simple to follow.
I definitely made some changes to fit our garage and our needs. 1- I'm never a fan of anything scrolly, so I made the dividers straight. 2- I knew I wanted to add the foot artwork above the lockers, so I didn't add the top cubbies because I thought it would get a little busy. 3- I made four lockers, because well, I have four kiddos. 4- I added lots of extra wooden supports to the backside because my kids are crazy and because even I doubt the quality of my own woodworking skills. Since Ana has all the step-by-step directions, I'm just going to fill you in on a few things I learned along the way. The very first steps were the trickiest for me. I was working alone, so it was hard to get the pieces lined up and nailed in with only two hands. A nail gun would have been SO helpful. I'd highly recommend using one if you tackle this project.
Thankfully Jess came over to lend a hand and one of my husband's buddies came by to see the progress and we totally put him to work as well!
I had this wood leftover and used it as additional support on the backside. It made the piece so much sturdier.
Have you used a Kreg Jig yet? I used the Kreg Jig Junior for this project and it worked so well. You use it to make pocket holes and it's a piece of cake. If you're planning any DIY woodworking projects, I'd recommend a Kreg Jig as one of your first purchases.
One thing I learned to love during this project was trim. It makes a rookie's work look all fancy-pants professional. Before trim…
After trim…Booyah!
Here's a little tip that I figured out after making a few bad cuts when I was just trying to use a tape measure to get the length right.
If you're planning a garage mudroom, make sure you check out the edge of your walls. I overlooked the concrete lip and had to go back and notch out each base piece.
I gave it a quick sanding… AKA I sanded for about 30 seconds before thinking, This is for the birds! Let's get painting! Since I used a VERY cheap plywood it sucked the paint up and actually gave it more of a stained look, which I fell in love with.
I added some hooks to the back wall for backpacks, coats etc. I didn't have studs centered for each one, so I had to use mollys (wall anchors). I picked up the grey bins at Walmart for $3.00 each (they still have them- I checked this weekend)
The locker project was so simple and if my husband and I had worked on it together, we could have whipped it together in about an hour. I was honestly surprised at how easy it was because of Ana's plans.
To check out the Before and After post click HEREFor the Painted Rugs post click HEREFor the Foot Artwork post click HERE Tell me, do you have a mudroom type place in your home? If so, do you feel like it's functional? If not, would you want to build one somewhere? And don't forget that we're in the running to be the New Face of Proctor & Gamble Home! Please head over and vote for Monica. You can vote once a day, now through October 3rd. We SO APPRECIATE you taking the time to vote each day!
I can be honest… I want an awesome mudroom. I can also be honest that I don't need an awesome mudroom right now, but I did need to do something about the organizational mess that was our coat closet. Life has a lot of wants vs. needs, and sometimes I can get the two confused, but luckily my hubs is very good at reminding me of the difference.: ) Since the awesome mudroom is low on the budget totem pole, I had finally had enough and did an impulsive closet redo… Here's the Mess — In the kids' defense they had a hard time reaching the to hang their coats, but really they were just MESSY!
Library books, cleaning supplies, camera accessories, beach towels (for snowy boots)- seriously in need of some organization!
I pulled out all the junk… it was a whole lot of junk…
I had bought these hooks for the kids bathroom, but since I had them on hand, I just decided to use them… did I mention this was impulsive? The cute, pantsless toddler is optional, but makes the project more exciting if you're up for a challenge.
And lest you think that these DIY projects are all cute and blog-pretty… look at my hallway mid project! Cal enjoyed the umbrella for a while and it kept him from being under my feet!
Added coats and backpacks. Yes, I have 4 kids, but only 3 are in school, so we went with those for now.
Library books in basket up top, toddler jackets and extra jackets hung, baskets for hats and gloves etc. Impulsive project done, and one super-happy husband on hand (he's a big fan of organization!)
You might notice that there aren't any shoes in the closet. We have another, non-glamorous system for that…
These are just over-the-door shoe holders that we nailed onto the studs. Not pretty, not amazing, but really works for us and all of our shoes! Time for a little more honesty… I did have all these great, creative ideas for how this closet could be super-cute. Painted walls. Vinyl kids' names. Coordinated hangers. Matching Baskets. BUT, again it came down to Want vs. Need . I might be learning something here… So, I'm being patient on my pretty little mudroom, but a girl can dream… This is just a sneak peek of the Mudroom Tour we'll be going on tomorrow…
We Interrupt this Post to Bring You Something HUGE! We've had to keep this secret quiet for a while, but now we can dish. We were contacted by Proctor & Gamble about being the face of their home division. SCORE! The one catch… we're one of 4 bloggers in the running. Oh SNAP! So, today begins the voting on P&G's Facebook Page. We need you (and basically everyone you've ever met) to vote for Monica once a day now until October 4th. I know that the daily voting thing is a pain, but man, this opportunity would rock our world! So, pretty please, with a cherry on top- go vote for Monica (you'll even get to see our very cheesy entry video!)
You can VOTE once a day for the next 15 Days!!
Okay, now onto today's post. Thanks so much for voting! **************************************************************************
Probably the part of my Garage Mudroom Makeover that I got the most questions and comments about was the huge artwork of my crew (or at least their bottom half!) Staples Engineer prints aren't anything new to our blog (we use them all the time!), but every time I fall a little more in love!
If you missed the reveal of my makeover, you can check it out HERE. You can check out the Custom Painted Rug tutorial HERE
On our final Nate Show episode, we used a really large wooden frame with some cool fabric and skeleton keys. All the furniture from the show was shipped back to us, so I knew months ago what I had in mind for it.
I knew I wanted to frame a picture of my kiddos' feet and put it in the garage, I just had to wait until my garage was no longer a disaster! Once the mudroom makeover was underway, I immediate saw the perfect place for my artwork!
I gave the Nate Show frame (originally purchased at a thrift store) a quick coat of spray paint using Valspar's New Avocado. I recently used the same color on some chairs and I'm a pretty big fan of it.
Since we've done this kind of project a few times before I'm not going to go into the full tutorial, you can check out one tutorial HERE or the other HERE. I know a few of you have had questions about what kind of print to ask for at Staples etc… I went in and talked to our store and got the low down on some details for ya.
I did make a few small tweaks this time around. Since the frame was empty, I needed to use foam core to mount my image and then staple it to the back of the frame.
I sort of underestimated the size of the frame- it's huge! So I just mounted the left and right sides and left the middle… shhh, no one would ever know.
The process was really simple, and would have been even easier if I hadn't run out of foam core. I actually caught my finger in my heavy duty staple gun and a month later, my nail is still purple. Ugh. Although, it doesn't compare to slamming your finger in a car door and cutting off the top of it while taping a TV show for Nate… not that I know anyone who did that: )
For $6.99 I'm over the moon excited about the impact that this art makes in my garage. I come in and out of this door a million times a day and it's pretty awesome to have something I love to look at.
So, what do you think of my Shoe Artwork? Are you ready to try a Staples Engineering Print in your home?
You might remember that last spring I gave my front porch a face lift. I love the door, the planters, the numbers… I love it all! BUT… no one ever comes through the front door. We're those laid back friends where you can just swing by unannounced and you'd never dream of coming through the front door- and that's how we like it.
However, what we didn't love was the hideous garage entryway that we were making our poor friends and loved ones endure…
In my defense, we have a Bernese Mountain Dog that gets MUDDY in the spring, but still, it was nasty! We also had a bit of a shoe issue… Basically our kids never put them away! Grr! My hubs was going away for a few days and I decided that a garage makeover would be a perfect birthday present- he was coming home on his actual 30th birthday. In 48 hours that tested me as a DIYer and a single mom, I managed to get the reveal done in time!
Isn't that SO.MUCH. BETTER? I love that it actually reflects what you're going to see when you get inside our home (not just a mud pit) and the hubs loves that the shoe issue is taken care of! Here's what I did…
I'll be completely honest here for a second too… the shoe bins actually work! Only once or twice have I had to remind my oldest (of course it would be the oldest) to put her shoes away. It's so practical and awesome!
I'm calling this a REAL LIFE Garage Mudroom Makeover because I was not going to go all out and spend hundreds of dollars on a garage- it's a Garage! I love some of the pictures I see in magazines and on Pinterest where every little detail is exactly perfect and pristine, but news flash… I don't live in a magazine… My 4 kids are messy, my garage is usually housing a DIY project, and is being spray painted in all the time. I wanted a makeover that looked good, but was realistic and not fancy just for the sake of blogging it. Here's an example… I could have painted the garage floor and it would have looked much cleaner, but really- spend time painting a floor that will get dirty or have fun with my kids? I went with the kids and I'm happy about it. So, I hope this inspires you to be willing to try a project- it doesn't always have to look Pottery Barn perfect. Okay, off my soap box… Here are some more fun elements…
The rest of this week, I'll be sharing the tutorials for all the projects in the room. Lockers, Custom Rugs, Foot Artwork, and more! In the meantime, I have one final detail to finish… I am going to add some vinyl words to the door. We have a no knocking policy in our house. Honestly, there's one of Kaden's sweet little friends that always knocks when his family comes over and I give him such a hard time! (Matt, if you're reading this- no more knocking!) So, what I want to put on the door is something about friends and family not knocking, but I can't come up with a good way to say it. Can you help a girl out?
Leave me a comment if you have any ideas! I always get so inspired by all of you! What do you think of my Real Life Garage Makeover?Stay tuned tomorrow for tutorials! Linking to:
Hopefully you got to see my Garage Mudroom Makeover. If you missed the reveal, you can check out the full post here.
Today I'm giving you the inside scoop on the fun rugs I made. I'll be sharing the other tutorials over the next few days.
I used the same Home Depot rugs that I used for my stenciled outdoor rug. Check out that post for all the details on where to buy them. They were under $20 each!
Instead of one big rug, I wanted two runners, so I folded it in half and cut it.
For the first runner, I decided I wanted some graphic arrows going in and out. I measured from the side, and used chalk marks to keep my lines straight.
Scotch Blue tape worked like a charm for really well sealed lines.
Once it was all taped off, I had to cover the rest of the rug. I had a pile of old circulars around, and they did the trick!
It was a tad windy, so the hubs helped by holding up a piece of foam core (we had used it as a target at Kira's Brave Party) so the spray paint wouldn't get all over the rug.
Because of the wind, some of the paper lifted and I had some bleeding. Thankfully, soap and water removed it all and I was left with crisp lines.
For the second rug, I was excited to use our new Silhouette Cameo. I wanted to write the word shoes nice and large so that my crazy kids just might happen to remember to put them away! So far it's working!
For this rug, I wanted to have the letters be negative space, so I taped off the area to be painted and then used spray adhesive to attach the letters to the rug.
I used the same method of covering up the rest of the rug so that I could spray paint it.
I was so excited to see how crisp the letters turned out!
I'm such a fan of graphic word art and these rugs make me excited every time I walk in the door.
What do you think? Will you be trying out some DIY Rugs anytime soon?
Hey all! Since we're already three-quarters of the way through 2012, we thought it would be really fun to look back at our most popular posts so far this year. We have so many projects up our sleeves for this upcoming Fall and Winter, but it's encouraging to know that we've already accomplished so much in our homes in the last nine months! One of the biggest changes in Jessica's living room was her labor-of-love fireplace makeover using a honeycomb stencil from Royal Design Studio.
Another big statement piece that got rave reviews was the Gigantic Framed Photo we created for under $20. Seriously, this project was super easy and is a show-stopper!
Outside, Jess added some much-needed curb appeal to her house by painting her shutters and front door a happy blue, and Monica's front door facelift and tiered planters finally have the outside of her house reflecting her style.
Jess' kitchen was a major priority the past few months. She knocked down a wall, added a gorgeous wall stencil and painted the cabinets during her Kitchen Renovation.
And Monica made an impromptu decision to add a bold Chevron Accent Wall in hers…
We both went nuts with DIY rugs and saved ourselves a bundle in the process!
Stenciled Outdoor Rug
DIY Fabric Floorcloth
Monica showed how she's not afraid to design it how she likes it and added some serious personality to her foyer.
Monica's Foyer Tour
We were pretty thrilled that together we were able to pull off a surprise garage mudroom makeover!
Garage Mudroom Makeover
You know we like to keep it real here, and Monica kept it really real with her now-you-know-way more-than-you-want-to-about-her-love-life Game of Love.
Game of Love Tutorial
And finally, we're getting ready to share some awesome pumpkin ideas for 2012, but if you're itching to get started with your Fall decorations, check out our fab pumpkins from last year!
Thanks for hanging out with us so far this year! We have SO much more in store, and can't wait to share it all with you.: ) And don't forget that Monica is in the running to be the New Face of Proctor & Gamble Home! Please head over and vote for her. You can vote once a day, now through October 3rd. We know voting things can be a pain, but this one is simple and man, winning would Rock our World! So thanks so much! Want more EC2? Use the icons below to follow us!
Ok, we all know that the reason we love DIY and home decor blogs is that we can legitimately snoop in other people's houses. Seriously, you know it's true. Well, I'm here to please, folks, so I'm going to give you a little glimpse into the house where my family (parents, both sisters and their families, and my fam) stayed the last week. We have this awesome tradition of spending a week together on vacation every year and we always go somewhere new. This year, my dad found this gorgeous house called"Old Wintersell" right outside of the adorable little town of Oxford, which is situated on the Chesapeake in Maryland. We've been to a lot of places, but this spot was definitely in my top 5 locations. Let me show you why:
This beautiful old house was built in 1845 and sits on a sprawling 14 acres. It was impeccably maintained and obviously nicely updated. Just in case you were wondering, here's the aerial view of the house (taken from the home's website- you can see lots more pictures there. This house is for sale, too!)
The kitchen was well-appointed and had everything we needed!
Loved these decorative spheres (I would have said balls, but that just didn't sound quite right)
The butler's pantry was so big that I couldn't get it all in one shot. On the left was a desk and bookshelves, stocked with loads of Bon Appetit magazines, and on the right was the coffee station and plenty of pantry space.
The kitchen opened into the main living area, where we spent most of our evenings hanging out.
This trunk-turned-coffee-table was a fun piece that added a lot of character to the room.
The bathroom off of the kitchen was very dark and stately-the gold framed mirror was a show-stopper!
My favorite feature of the house was this enclosed all-weather sun porch. It overlooked the yard and the water in the distance, and had a gorgeous brick floor and several seating areas. It was light and airy and very long. This space had to be close to fifty feet long!
I loved the sunny mudroom, which had a long bench along one side that was rustic and perfect and an awesome shelf with drawers on the other side. I'm thinking that shelf might be a DIY project calling my name!
I didn't take many pictures of the bedrooms (I tried not to spend my every waking minute taking pictures of just the house!), but this bedroom my sister and brother-in-law stayed in was so peaceful and calm. Plus, that fabric headboard was really cute!
This was their view…not bad, huh?; )
I never would have thought to hang plates in a bathroom, but they look so sweet above the beadboard. And, that vanity with it's marble top is looking mighty fine, as well.
Now, on to the outside:
We had so much fun kayaking, crabbing, and riding the boat off of this dock. There's nothing like getting up early and walking right down to the water. Love that.
The pool was wonderful, but the fence didn't go all the way around, which made for a few nervous moms. But, we spent a good amount of time in that thing, so I can't really complain.
The back of the house and the yard were perfection to me. It felt like I was kind of living in a movie or something. The evenings were absolutely perfect: the kids played in the yard while my parents watched from their adirondack chairs and my husband and brothers-in-law check the crab traps. Just lovely.
Oh, and the flowers…
The Chesapeake is only a 3 hour drive from our house and I highly recommend it as a weekend getaway or a week-long vacation, like we had. It's quiet, peaceful and quaint. It almost feels New England-like, but is a only a short drive away. St. Michaels offers lots of cute shops and good restaurants, and Oxford has the BEST icecream place on the Eastern Shore: Scottish Highland Creamery. If you go down to Oxford, stopping there is a must.
There's nothing I enjoy more than family vacation and being on the water. Combine the two and you have one pretty amazing time.
Can you tell we loved it?
What's your favorite vacation destination? We're always on the lookout for our next one!
*Due to some technical issues, Monica was unable to post her Mudroom Tour. Stay tuned tomorrow for the awesome rooms she has found!
Designed by Jones Design Company Did you know that Fathers generally have as much or more impact as mothers do in the following areas of their daughters’ lives: achieving academic and career success (especially in math and science), creating a loving, trusting relationship with a man, dealing well with people in authority (especially men), being self-confident and self-reliant, being willing to try new things and to accept challenges, maintaining good mental health and expressing anger comfortably and appropriately (especially with men)? (Source: Dr. Linda Neilsen, Psychologist and Professor at Wake Forest University) Most of you also know that a girl develops her idea of God and her faith by her experience with her father. Dr. Meeker, author of Strong Father, Strong Daughter: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know, who has more than 20 years of experience working in Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, says this; "If [a girl's] dad has not been trustworthy, she will have difficulty trusting God. So if a daughter sees a father who loves God, who turns to Him in times of need, she is more likely to do the same. Also, faith has been shown repeatedly to be a “protective” factor for girls. Research shows that girls who have faith in God stay away from sex, drugs, and alcohol, and are less likely to get pregnant."
All that to say that Kevin and I have realized the importance of developing a strong relationship between him and our daughter. A few years ago we attended a seminar at our church run by the Focus on the Family Institute that talked a lot about being intentional with scheduling quality family time. So, we decided to be more intentional about planning Daddy/Daughter dates. I can not tell you how much both Kevin and C1 love these times together. We are aiming for once a month, but it doesn't always happen that way. Just recently, on a Friday, Kevin told C1 he would be taking her out that night for a"daddy date". C1 was so excited she almost couldn't contain herself, and all day long she kept asking me if it was time for her date with Daddy. When Kevin finally got home from work, she was nearly bouncing off the walls.
These dates do not have to be anything elaborate, and this one certainly wasn't. He just took her to a local pet store, which she loves, so they could look at all the animals and play with a puppy.
Then, off they went to good ol' Mickey D's for some shamrock shakes and french fries (C1 LOVES mint). It was honestly a very cheap date, but it included stuff C1 really enjoys. And that's the goal isn't it? Building a strong, trusting relationship through shared experiences so that in later years, when C1 needs help or advice, she can go right to her Daddy.
Bonus: I got to spend some extra time with my little man, C2. It was a win-win for everyone! If you want to read a little more about this idea, check out this article from the Focus on the Family website. It's never too early or too late to start investing in your kid's lives! What do you do to connect with the little people in your life?
Phew! Can you believe that 2012 is over already? We are gearing up for an unbelievably awesome 2013 filled with lots of fun and exciting things for this little blog (we'll share those with you tomorrow!), but we thought we'd take some time to round up our favorite projects from each month in 2012. Take a look, let us know what you think, and pin it if you like it!
January Monica's Fav: I loved going green in 2012! Not really in the earthy-crunchy way, but by adding a pop of color to my collection of ornate frames. These Green Granny Frames had a fun impact on my dining room!
Jess's Fav: I breathed some new life into our New and Improved Entryway by adding a striped accent wall and a big gallery wall.
February: Jess' Fav: This project injected what can only be called Stencil Happiness into my kitchen renovation. Thanks to an awesome stencil from Royal Design Studio, my kitchen now has style for miles!
Monica's Fav: I took a bit of a risk and got personal with all of you by sharing my Game of Love Perfect Valentine's Gift. You ladies sure loved it, because it became our #1 post of 2012! Stay tuned for this year's version- it'll be on the blog on Monday!
Since 2012 was a leap year, I get to add another for February! This post went live on 2/29 and it's such a time saver in our house! Once a Month Sandwiches
March Jess' Fav: This Giant Shaped Frame is by far my favorite project from 2012! I'm pretty sure there is no better way to dress up your wall for this crazy low price. This is a big impact project, people. *I also have to nominate this one too! Jess and I had no idea how successful this project was going to be when we created it- we sure love Staples Prints! -Mon*
Monica's Fav: I love the BIG impact my Chevron Wall made in my kitchen. It's packed with personality and was pretty easy to paint!
April Jess' Fav: My hubs and I surprised my daughter with this Playhouse Loft Bed for her fourth birthday. It was totally worth it, because she and my son play in it all the time. I'm all for a DIY project that keeps the kids happy and occupied! *wink*
Monica's Fav: My Front Door got a major face lift with a super cool color and house numbers that are so my style!
May Jess' Fav: We started our kitchen renovation in December and were finally ready to do the big Kitchen Reveal in May. Of course, I'm still tweaking it, but this room makes me super happy. It's filled with tons of DIYs like painting the cabinets, stenciling the wall, making a fabric shade pendant light, painting color-blocked curtains and adding a fab rug.
Monica's Fav: Warm weather meant it was time for some outdoor projects! I loved how simple and inexpensive these DIY Planters were. Even now, they have winter pansies and look great on my front porch!
June Jess's Fav: I love the ability to customize things and this Fabric Floorcloth let me create the perfect mat for my entryway!
Monica's Fav: Jess and I completed our Super-Fab Guest Room Makover. We loved everything from the shutter headboard, fun accessories, and of course the houndstooth stenciled wall! We also had a blogger's dream come true when Young House Love featured our makeover!
July Jess: My son turned 2 this month so I showed you how I made his custom invitations using digital scrapbook paper and picmonkey. How to Make Custom Printables became one of our top posts- you guys obviously love free things!: )
Monica's Fav: While we were busy finishing up our patio project, I also worked on an Outdoor Furniture Upcycle
August Jess' Fav: We took our house exterior from boring to awesome by painting the front door and shutters. Hello Curb Appeal!
Monica's Fav: August was when I pulled off a birthday surprise for my hubs with a Garage Mudroom Makover I'm still loving the organization and how it's actually functional for this family of 6!
September Jess: It's a tie! I just can't decide between Stenciled Faux-Tile Fireplace & Planked Wall with Exposed"Stud' Shelves. Both of these guys transformed the room and I'm in love with them!
Monica's Fav: I went a little outside the box with my Shut the Front Door — Foyer Update. It's still one of my favorite things in my house.
October Jess: Our dining room has been slowly undergoing a transformation and my refinished dining table fits perfectly in the new space! Refinished Dining Room Table
Monica's Fav: In October, we had our DIY Patio Reveal! It was a HUGE DIY project, but we saved tons of money doing it ourselves and the end result was pretty awesome!
November Jess's Fav: I love Mr. Berkus and didn't think he would mind me knocking off one of the items from his new line- the Rope-Wrapped Hurricane Vase. Want to know a secret? I like mine better.: )
Monica's Fav: During a road trip to visit one of my best gal pals, I whipped up a Fireplace Makeover in her new house. It's a super-simple way to get rid of that brass fast!
December Jess: This project was honestly a surprise to me. It came out so much better than I ever thought it would! The Wood Slice Wreath is the perfect winter decoration.
Monica's Fav: Just in time for Christmas Jess and I made this Illuminated Silhouette Art. It looked great next to my Christmas tree, and now I'll be swapping out the silhouette for a lovey-dovey Valentine's quote!
One thing that stands out to us the most this year is how thankful we are for YOU! We so appreciate your comments, emails and faithful visits to our blog. Here's to another crazy, fun year!
Like many of you, I was totally inspired by Monica's surprise garage mudroom makeover and decided to organize our out-of-control garage. By out of control, I mean can't-walk-through-without-tripping-on-wood scraps/kayaks/bikes/kids toys/trash/old furniture/tools etc. It was bad. Very bad. And while our garage is clearly not as cool as Mo's, it is at least more functional. So, with the helps of my hubs, I got my rear-end in gear and cleaned out the entire space, painted a few walls and built a super simple coat rack using materials I pretty much had on hand. I'm not showing you the whole space yet…you'll have to check out Infarrantly Creative this week to see that!
How to build the EASIEST coat rack known to man: 1. Have a handsome man cut a 1x3 to the size you want.
2. Spraypaint it white (or the color of your choice)
3. Spraypaint cheap hooks. I bought mine at my local hardware store for around $1 a piece and sprayed them with a variety of spraypaints I had on hand.
Tip: Put the screws in a piece of floral foam to easily spray the tops, since they will be visible.
After I spraypainted my hooks, it started to rain a bit. I set up a makeshift shelter, and yes, before you even say it, I'm crazy. Thank you for saving my project, Elmo!
4. Mark where you want your hooks to go on the board and drill pilot holes. 5. Find your studs and drill the board into the wall.
We spackled over the screws, sanded and then touched over the paint for a seamless look.
Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done and the colors make it fun! The total cost for this coat rack was somewhere around $5, because I only had to purchase the hooks.
That's it! Make sure you stop over to Infarrantly Creative later int he week to see what I did to the rest of the space!
What do you do to corral all your bags, coats and other necessary everyday items? A hall closet? A set of hooks? Do tell!
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