My Creative Blog [Search results for Room Makeover] 

When a close friend asks you to help re-do their bubble-gum pink, non-descript guest room, you can't say no. You almost feel like you need to stage a design intervention immediately. Everyone has a room like this one: a forgotten catch-all guest room/play room/ exercise room/ office. We decided that it was our duty to save the world (and Connie and Mark's parents!) from this room so we spruced the place up a bit. I mean, anything would have been better than that color pink, and we were game for the challenge. So.without further ado, here's our first official SuperFab Room Redesign!
Update: Welcome YHL Readers!
For the Stencilled Wall Tutorial and Paint colors click HERE
To see the room with and without accessories click HERE
For the Shutter Headboard Tutorial click HERE

Yay! Doesn't it look incredible? Over the next few days we'll be posting the tutorials on everything you see in the rooms, but for now, let's take a look at some beauty shots, huh? Obviously, the scene-stealer is the multi-colored houndstooth stenciled wall. This was a definite labor of love (we even called in some backup assistance), but it makes a huge impact in the room, don't you think? We love the mix of the classic houndstooth pattern with the modern color scheme. It definitely set the tone for the rest of the room: mixing old with new. We'll be posting a tutorial next week, but if you want to get a jump start on your own, you can visit Royal Design Studio to get this amazing stencil for yourself!

Just take it all in, people.: ) Another fav is the headboard we made out of old shutters (or are they doors? Not sure!) we found at our favorite salvage place, Architectural Antiques. We needed something that would stand out from the wall, command attention, and add some character and and this baby does that. Gorgeous!

Another fun part of the design for us was coming up with a unique way to showcase Connie's collection of old family photos. This gallery wall is super simple and allows the photos to be the main focus. We can't wait to tell you how we did it, so you can try it too. And now you know what the gears were for!: )

Connie & Mark had this dresser that we knew we could make fabulous with some paint and new hardware, so that saved us some big bucks! That blue may be one of our all-time favorite colors and changed this dresser from one that was ready to be kicked to the curb, to something that they'll never want to part with!

This little vignette makes us super happy, because not only is it adorable, but it's totally functional, as well. Since this is their guest room, we made sure to add some towels and an extra blanket to the cart to make their guests feel at home. An $8 industrial cart never looked so good! The metal cubby shelf was a great find from HomeGoods that completes this corner of the room.

And a room makeover is nothing without accessories. Pulling together all of these items was our idea of a good time, and they make a world of difference. We'll show you the proof this week, trust us.

We're already planning a sleepover at Connie and Mark's.; ) We hope you enjoyed our makeover! Be sure to stop back over to see all the juicy DIY details in the next few days. Oh yeah, one more thing: You can see a whole lot more of our DIY escapades on our projects page!

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!
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November marked 2 years in our"new" house. I can't believe it's already been two years, and at the same time, it feels like we've always lived here! Before we moved in, I quickly painted each of the kids' rooms in a solid color and did very minimal decorating. Last year, I did Callen's room with the fun Pallet Wall, but he's the only one that has a"cool room" as my kids say. Kira was next on the list for a room makeover and thankfully, it's already gotten the"cool room" stamp of approval from my kids!

This room makeover was part of one of my projects for P&G. It was my first video for those readers, so sorry about the introductions, but this video does give you a great little room tour! (Excuse the creepy freeze frame… why does Youtube do that?)

Here's a still shot before and after

Pretty Big Difference isn't it? I can't wait to share all the fun projects and DIY details with you- I'll be featuring one project each day this week, but for now, here's ton of pictures!

I grabbed this adorable little hooter at Target.
The mirror was something we DIYed about 8 years ago, yup, we DIYed before DIYing was cool!

Little Book Nook!

Spray paint and round bulbs make all the difference!
All the color details coming later this week.

And this is the other side of the room! Helloooo… huge whiteboard wall!
As you heard in the intro video, KJ had a tendency to write all over the walls. We now have a dedicated place for that!
Wednesday you'll get all the product info and tutorial for this.

A little DIY took this dresser from boring to custom-ish!

For P&G I can't have any pictures showing, so I left Kira a little note in this cute frame instead.

Creative coloring storage!

Masterpieces from my little artist

Now that you've gotten the quick tour…
Here's the plan for the posts for this week… Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'm going to give you all the details on this stinkin' awesome mosaic accent wall. I'm not sure I'm allowed to say something I did was awesome, but man I love it!

Wednesday, I'm going to tell you all about Idea Paint and how it can turn almost anything into a cool whiteboard surface!

Thursday, it's more Staples LOVE and I'll give you the 411 on these foam core faux canvases. And to think I almost bought 4 frames at 39.00 each! The entire project ended up costing me under $25!

There's actually one REALLY BIG step left before this room is finished. You might have been thinking that the walls are a little too plain and white, and I agree! They won't be that way for long! One crazy-talented Art Teacher from my school, who Kira has now titled"The Artist" is coming to doodle on the white walls with paint pens! Kira has all sorts of fun, things she wants doodled… peace signs, butterflies, and flowers are at the top of her list."The Artist" and I are coordinating our schedules, but once we do I'll be sure to do an update post! Until then, make sure you check back this week for all the tutorials and fun details of the room! So what do you think of my colorful bedroom makeover? Any favorite parts? Do tell!

If you missed all the amazing projects in the first three weeks of CWTS, be sure to check them out below!
Round 1 Projects & Winners Round 2 Projects & Winners Ro und 3 Projects & Winners

We want to thank HomeGoods and Homes.com for partnering with us for this competition. They believed in this contest from the start and I'm positive the contestants have knocked their socks off! Since this is the Final Round, and we'll be crowning a CWTS 2013 Champion, we needed an awesome Grand Prize Package! The Grand Prize Winners -Contestant and Blog Star- will EACH receive:
$500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods
Project featured by HomeTalk

Also, for this round, HomeGoods provided each contestant a $100 HomeGood's gift card! Jess and I adore HomeGoods and just last week we picked up about 8 rolls of the best wrapping paper ever! You never know what awesomeness you'll score!

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Okay, now let's get to business! There are only 3 projects this week, so you're voting for your 1 and only favorite! We're so proud of each of these ladies and we know they've worked crazy hard the past month! As you're voting and commenting, please keep things positive & encouraging and just pick your favorite project. We've tried to keep things as anonymous as possible, so don't bother playing Sherlock Holmes.: )
Without further ado, We present to you… The Round 4- Grand Prize Projects

#1- Guest Room Makeover
For my final CWTS project, I chose to makeover a guest bedroom. I envisioned a guest room that was full of personality…fun pops of color and an interesting mix of textures and objects that feels comfortable, unique and welcoming to guests.

What do you make with an old fireplace mantel and a shower curtain? Create a headboard of course!
I loved the gorgeous detail in the border of the dark wood, in addition to the design of the shelf with the mirror and paneling. To complete the transformation to a headboard, I closed in the fireplace opening with plywood. and then I upholstered it with the blue and green ikat fabric---A.K.A a shower curtain from Target!

After I spent about an eternity installing bead board and chair rail, I felt like the room needed a really fun pop of color that would also work well with the headboard fabric. For balance, I purchased a white round side table at HomeGoods, and painted it with some fabulous emerald paint!
In selecting bedding, I chose to go with a crisp white duvet cover, so as not to overshadow the headboard fabric and pillows. Picking out pillows was super-fun and HomeGoods never lets me down when I am in need of a"new pillow fix." I fell in love with the vintage camera pillow (also from Home Goods) and felt it added an interesting and unique element to the room. The blue lamps added another great pop of color. My goal was to incorporate interesting objects with a mix of coordinating colors and textures into the room…the collage below shows all the details that I hope will make overnight guests feel cozy, comfortable and inspired.

Homegoods was the perfect sponsor for the home decor round. HomeGoods is one of those stores where you may go in with the intention"just to browse"…but never leave without something"you just had to have!"

#2- Colorful, Texture-filled Bedroom Makeover
The home decor challenge gave me the perfect opportunity to complete some of the projects I have wanted to try for a long time! Starting with a bare white room, I couldn't wait to add some color, pattern and texture

. To frame the bed, I created an accent wall covered with grasscloth wallpaper and used trim to frame the bed and nightstands. I love the touch of glamor that the nailhead adds to the space. While installing the nailhead, I tried a few new techniques that made it go surprisingly fast! Best of all, this wall is completely removable, renter or indecisive designer approved!
I added a few accessories from Homegoods. And customized a few pillows using scarves, napkins and paint.

I constructed the headboard from lumber and cut the detail in the arms with a jig saw. I then upholstered it with foam and a bright coral fabric. I love the simplicity of the headboard, but the curved detail and bright coral color make it extra special!

I love the subtle texture of the grasscloth, and how the nailhead adds a little extra detail.
I hope you enjoy this colorful, energetic transformation!

#3- Reading Room Makeover
When it was time for the Home Decor round, I waffled back and forth on what to do until I remembered that I had this nice (relatively) empty room in my house just waiting to be turned into something fun. After playing around with a few ideas, I decided I wanted a place to relax, read, and spend a little quality alone time…and the next thing I knew, the reading room was created.

I took regular ol' Ikea Billy bookcases and turned them into built-ins (thanks to some crown molding and a little DIY magic) and amped up the room a bit with trim and some paint in a traditional"library"-ish color. To make it more modern, I painted the back of the bookcases with some chunky gold stripes and tossed in a cozy chair and pouf, a DIY-ed tree stump table, and a ton of bright and colorful accessories.

When I was shopping for the room, one of the first places I wanted to hit up was HomeGoods — I'm obsessed with basically everything they carry and knew their store would be perfect for our bookcases. I managed to snag that gorgeous throw pillow for the chair, as well as several of the cute accessories you can see on the bookcases (including my personal favorite, the blue elephant up at the top)!

I'm so excited to have this space now, and I can't wait to settle in and start reading!

Now, it's time to Vote!

You can only vote once and only for one project. (the past weeks you could change your vote if you wanted. You might have thought you could cast multiple votes, but nope- it was just changing your vote- it was set to just one per IP. This week we didn't allow vote changes, so make sure you have your mind made up when you vote! Good Luck- it's a tough choice!!) In order to vote, you must first LIKE EC2 on Facebook.

Ok, folks. Yesterday we shared our BLOG goals with you and today's the day we publicly lay out our plans for our homes in the hopes that putting it down in writing for the whole world to see will motivate us to actually geterdone. These goals include our big plans for the year, but we'll be sharing lots of little projects and ideas along the way.
So, here goes:

1. Finish the dining room, goshdarnit. I'm the worst at putting the finishing touches on a room (ugh, the details!), but that's all I have left to do. Look for the full reveal later this month!

2. Update the Living Room. This room is attached to the dining room, so it looks a bit drab compared to the new cottagey/coastal dining room. The stenciled fireplace is just waiting for the rest of the room to catch up!

3. Tackle the Master Bedroom. Oh, this room. It's dark, dingy and in dire need of some love. I'm ready to paint, add an accent wall, change out the bedding, refinish the furniture, and make some art that speaks to my hubs and me. This will be the last room on the main level that gets done! (Oh wait, there's the master bath too…)

4. Create an organized (but beautiful!) desk area under the stairs in our finished basement. We need a place to keep our files (instead of my husband's underwear drawer. I kid you not!) and house our computer. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do there, but I know it will include this fabulous antique door. We planned to use it in our Guest Room Makeover, but we went with shutters instead.

5. My baby turns 3 this year and it's time for a big boy room! I'm so torn about the direction I want to go in for Charlie's room: preppy and nautical or vintage baseball. I know he'd go nuts for baseball, but I'd go nuts for nautical! Who will win?!

Pottery Barn Kids & Source Unknown
6. Be content to just live in and enjoy our home without constantly scrutinizing it for problem areas. I'll be honest. Sometimes being in the home blogging world feels like everyone has the perfect house. I don't and that's ok. I'm going to try to read a book in my ugly bedroom every once in a while and just enjoy it, instead of wishing it were someone else's gorgeous retreat. You know why? Because I am blessed…ugly rooms and all.

1. Eliminate Wasted Space. Almost everyone has that one room (usually the formal living room) that is just totally wasted space. Either, it looks pretty, but no one uses it or it's kind of an unfinished eyesore… Mine is the later. When you walk into our foyer you see our bold wallpaper, fun word art wall, and then BAM it hits you… to the right is a completely unfinished jumble of a room. I was going to make it a completely predictable formal living room, but I'd never really use it. Jess, the hubs, and I have been brainstorming and I think we just might have a plan!
(this is part of the current jumbled up mess- don't worry I'll just be relocating this area, because the kids do use the crafting area all the time)

2. Compromise in the Bedroom No! It's not what you think (geesh you guys!)… Eric and I recently discovered (okay, he knew, but I was oblivious to the fact) that we both have really different styles. He would love a bedroom that's warm and I believe he used the word"Lodgey" (like a ski lodge). If you look at my home for even a second, you will notice that nothing about it fits that bill. So, we're making it a 2013 goal to finally design a bedroom that we both love (Honestly, I'm okay with me loving and him liking… just keepin' it real) and I'm thinking it will be sort of Rustic-Industrial.
So, as embarrassing as it is to show you… welcome to my current master bedroom.

3. Details. Details. Details. I am not good at the little details of designing a room. I am a big-picture, big-ideas kind of gal. Once the walls are painted, a few pieces of furniture are in, I tend to walk away and never bring it all together with accessories etc. It's my goal this year to work through each room and make sure it feels finished. So you'll be seeing a lot of thrifted accessory upcycles, fabulous accent pillows, and who knows what else.

4. Kenzie's Room (Heaven Help Us All!) Man, if you could meet one of my kids, I'd want it to be Kenzie. She's a trip (and I sounds 98 yrs old for saying that)! She's funny, spunky, sassy, and adores animals like no one I've ever met.

Anyhow, she has been promised a room makeover this year and it's going to push my design skills to the limit. Have you ever seen this guy?

He's the"TurtleMan" and he has a reality show where he rescues"critters" and it's by far Kenzie's favorite show (sometimes I feel like I live in the Twilight Zone). Anyhow, she would like a combination Turtleman and Equestrian room. I have a strong feeling that will be a first on Pinterest! Ha! So far, her only specific request is a pallet wall ceiling. This project is going to be a challenge to say the least.

So, there you have it. Our home goals for 2013! We know there will be about 2 million other projects we tackle this year, but hopefully all of these will make the list too!
Now…who wants to keep us accountable?!!
What are YOUR home goals this year?

Hey there! We thought it would be fun to show you the major difference that accessories can make in a room design. So many people can pull together the"big" items in a room, like a buffet and dining table, or a couch and accent chair, but then seem to have trouble getting the room to look"finished". We all look at design magazines and read home blogs and see rooms that look absolutely perfect; stylish, yet still cozy, warm and inviting. What is it about those rooms? Take a closer look, and you'll see that the room feels finished because of all the finishing touches (ie: accessories)! Well, duh.

Let's look at our guest room makeover before we added in the fun accessories:

Ok. that wall is cool, but besides that, this could be anybody's room. It lacks personality and excitement don't you think? Now look at the after picture:

Ahhh… now that's a finished room. Adding accessories to a room design is a great way to personlize your space. Find stuff that makes you smile, or that has sentimental value and bring them into your room. You'll notice that we added two vintage suitcases at the foot of the bed, put a darling little pillow on the chair, added some funky throw pillows on the bed, and put a plant by the bed (all easy things to do!) and the room immediately looks more put-together.

This cart was a great find at a store named Impact and cost us only $8. On it's own, it's fine, but it's not going to cause anyone to pass out with excitement. But once we added a globe, some books and a whole bunch of linens (remember this is a guest room?), it makes a big impression. Don't you love it when form and function meet in beautiful, accessorized harmony?: )

I have to admit that"dressing up" a room is one of my absolute favorite things to do, and while Monica is amazing at dreaming up the big projects in a room, she (admittedly) doesn't like accessorizing at all. (That's why we make a good team!) Here's what I do when I'm trying to decorate my mantel, buffet or anything else: I gather absolutely every accessory I can get my hands on that isn't nailed down and lay them all out. Then, I fiddle for about an hour trying to find the perfect layout. Bringing items you already have into the room allows you to evaluate what items you can work with, and what items you may need to purchase. Just to help you out,, here are a couple of things to keep in mind when you are trying to accessorize:
1. The Rule of Three: Not sure why this is, but it's proven that groupings of odd numbers are more appealing to the eye than even-numbered pairings. It forces your eye to move from piece to piece and adds visual interest. You can group like things (for example: three identical glass bottles) or things that have the same materials (ie: three stacked books).

2. Mountains and Valleys: When you stand back and look at whatever your accessorizing, you should see varying heights and shapes. (ex: square frame beside a round bowl). Think about putting opposites next to each other. They always say opposites attract!

3. Symmetry or Asymmetry? A good rule of thumb is that symmetrical groupings creates a more formal look, whereas asymmetrical design looks casual and informal. 4. Texture and Color: You'll want to add lots of texture to make things interesting (ie: adding a woven basket next to a glass vase), and repeat your color scheme throughout the design. Doing this creates a more unified look.
5. Layer! Nothing is more boring than a row of frames on a shelf. Try leaning a framed family picture against a piece of art on your mantel, or stack a few books on a tray and add a plant on top. You want the room to appear alive and full of movement, not static!

These rules are not set in stone, they simply offer a guideline. If something in your home makes you happy, and it doesn't include anything from this list…then who cares? It's your home.: ) But hopefully you won't forget to add the finishing touches to your room design! It makes a WORLD of difference!: )

PS. Want more info about this? We got some great tips from these places: Honey & FitzThe Red PinEverything in 3'sFireplace Mall

I'm excited to share one of my favorite projects from Kira's Room Makeover today! These faux canvases make an awesome impact on the room and man alive do they make me smile! Everyone knows that Jess and I are slightly obsessed with Staples' Engineering Prints and this project just added one more reason to love them!

Oh, and if you haven't seen the rest of the post for this room makeover, you can check them out here: Room Reveal & Video
Mosaic Accent Wall
Whiteboard Wall

This could perhaps be the easiest DIY on the planet and, I think I might have said that about a few projects before, but really it is! Here's What You'll Need: Staples' Engineer Prints Foam Core Scissors Tape The first thing I did was to edit and crop my pictures into squares. Next, Jess cut down the foam core into squares (we needed 4)

We placed the prints over the foam core and left plenty of extra on all sides so that we could basically wrap it like a present.

To hang these canvases, I nailed directly through the foam core into the wall. The nails barely show (I used really thin ones), but you could use chunky ones for an industrial look, or Command Strips for a more polished look.

Don't they look awesome? Kira LOVES them and I do too. The bottom picture is of KJ and her Papa while we were waiting for the gates to open at Disney World last year. The look on her face is priceless!

And oh.my.word- Those Converse with her skirt rock my world! This little girl has so much spunk and personality and I just love that this simple DIY project captures that.

You can check out some of our other Staples Prints Projects: Huge Family Art for Under $20

Garage Artwork for $6.99

Ginormous Family Art

So tell me, do you have a have a place in your home where these faux canvases would be an awesome addition?
P.S. Jess and I are pretty excited to spend the day FILMING something amazing on Monday. We are bursting at the seams to tell you all the details, but our lips are sealed… for now!!

Today marks our first day back to work filming for Knock It Off! We've had 6 weeks off so that Jess could enjoy time off with Baby Bennett- I was the lucky one to get maternity leave too! We really enjoyed our break, but we're also super excited to get back to helping homeowners with some awesome room makeovers!
Before we went on our break we tackled our first Formal Living Room makeover. We were super excited about the challenge because neither of us have particularly formal homes.
If you haven't watched the episode- check it out HERE!

Here's where the room started off… The family had a TON of amazing pieces of furniture, but some of them were being hidden because there was a lot of stuff in the room.

We used a bright, yet sophisticated kelly green on the top portion of the walls.

And added a clean, crisp board and batten on the bottom two-thirds.
And of course, we couldn't leave the black piano alone. It looks okay in pictures, but it was pretty beat up and needed some love… you know what that means… Yup! We painted it!! (painted piano haters everywhere are cursing us! lol)

Isn't that so much more fun? The homeowner's kids all play piano and they were excited to have their first lesson on their blue piano. I kinda wanted to be a fly on the wall when the piano teacher saw it for the first time. Mwhaha. Actually, I heard the blue color made the kids play so well that they're all headed to Julliard!
From the homeowner's submission video we actually hardly noticed there was even a fireplace in the room! It was so covered up by furniture and accessories.

We narrowed down all the accessories and furniture, replaced the glass shelves with wooden ones, lined the back with fun zebra paper (we couldn't resist adding a fun pop) and then displayed some of their amazing plate collection on the freshly painted white wall.

We kept many furniture pieces the same, but others- like the one below- we changed. The wood dresser on the left is what we turned into a mini office on the right. We painted it, added new hardware, removed the bottom two drawers and it became the perfect place to keep all their office supplies. You'd never know that it's totally functional… well minus the two printers I suppose!

The room had a huge picture window, but it was really covered up by the sheer curtains. Sometimes people think sheers are great because they let in the light, but in this case, they were hiding so much!

We brought in 4 curtain panels (you can only see three), and even though they're solid, not sheer- the window looks so much larger! These curtains are IKEA curtains that we painted to have a custom feel. You can see how to paint your own curtains in this post.

We were so happy with this room- it might have been one of our favorites from Season 1! We can't wait to see what season 2 has to offer!!
Check back tomorrow to see how we added the fun pop of gold on the piano wall…

If you missed all the amazing projects in the first three weeks of CWTS, be sure to check them out below!

Round 1 Projects & Winners Round 2 Projects & Winners Ro und 3 Projects & Winners Round 4 Projects
Before we do anything else, we want to say thank you to all of our sponsors! This fabulous contest was made possible by them and we are ever so grateful! Also, a HUGE shout out to Homes.com and HomeGoods for sponsoring the Grand Prize round this week! You guys are the best!
The Grand Prize Winning Team will EACH receive: $500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods Project featured by HomeTalk

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We just can't keep you guys waiting in suspense any longer! Without further ado…
The Grand Prize Winner of
The 1st Annual Creating with the Stars Contest is…

1. Sarah { Sarah M. Dorsey Designs } & Brooke { All Things Thrifty }

(Sarah, her hubs, and cute pup!) Colorful, Texture-filled Bedroom Makeover

Congratulations Sarah and Brooke! Sarah has delivered such amazing projects throughout this contest. Let's take a look back, shall we? Round 1: Statement Light Fixture

Round 2: Custom Cornice, Drapes and Bench

Round 3: Painted Secretary Desk and Accent Wall

We have LOVED having Sarah in the contest and have been continually inspired by her. Well done, girl!
Make sure you keep up with all of Sarah's DIY awesomeness- Follow her on Facebook!

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Melissa and Amanda have been awesome competitors too! They worked hard, stretched their DIY limits and came up with some super fun and stylish projects. Thanks for being a part of the contest, ladies! We also want to thank Beckie and Sherry for being amazing blog stars! Their partners loved working with them, and we already love them (duh!)

2. Melissa { 5 foot 12 Creations } & Sherry { Young House Love } Guest Room Makeover

3. Amanda { Love and Renovations } and Beckie { Infarrantly Creative } Reading Room Makeover

Here's the official vote tally…

This contest has been absolutely amazing and we're so thankful to all of you for playing along! Tomorrow we'll share how Sarah put her room together and then Friday we have a fun wrap up post for ya… think David Letterman top ten meets Monica and Jess. We know… you can hardly wait right?!? We'll also be sharing our favorite home decor project from the link up party (you have until Friday at 10 PM EST to link up right here).
The good stuff just keeps on coming!: )

Yesterday, I shared my daughter Kira's Colorful Bedroom Makeover with all of you. Check it out here if you missed it. It's interesting when you're doing a room for a little person… there's this part of me that wants to go all crazy blogger-designer-nutso on the space, and then there's the realistic mom side that reminds me that her room will be a disaster of toys in about 3 minutes flat and that I don't need to go over the top to make her happy. Honestly, I'd kind of be going over the top just for my own self-interest. So, with that being said, the mommy voice won out and I went with a fun, yet practical room makeover. I'll guess I'll save up the glitz and glam for the master bedroom (if I ever do tackle it!).

Today I'm going to share with you the focal point of the room… The Mosaic Accent Wall!

I'm a total sucker for an accent wall. Honestly, since I was a junior in high school I've been whipping them up! My very first was a blue feather dusted wall in my parents' house. Then, I did a pretty cool square grid wall (again at the 'rents house) when I was a senior. Kenzie's first bedroom had vertical stripes and stars, then I changed to a fun magenta gingham. We had an argyle bedroom too! I wish I had pictures of all of those, but it was in the film day and age- boo! Enough of the trip down memory lane, let's get going with the tutorial! How to Create a Mosaic Accent Wall Since this is the room of my 5 year old, I asked her what she wanted, and she told me LOTS of colors."Mommy, I want purple, blue, green, orange…" and the list went on and on. I thought about it and finally decided, I could give Kira exactly what she asked for- lots of color!

I bought a sample size of each color and a gallon of white paint to use as my base and for all the other walls. One word of caution, Valspar sample paints do not have the normal bonding agents that regular paint has. It will require more coats for solid coverage. Just keep that in mind when you're planning a project. For me, buying 8 quarts wasn't an option (this was a makeover on a budget) and I'd rather have to do a few extra coats of paint. I had JUST enough- it was close, but we stretched the samples far enough.

This unfortunate event occurred as soon as we got home with the paint. Grrr… I was sort of hoping Hurricane Sandy would wash some of the stain away a few weeks ago- No.Such.Luck!
Blogger Fail!

Here's my supply list: Valspar® Sample Paints Base coat paint Purdy® Paint Brush Chalk-line (a DIYer Must Have!) Tape Measure Pencil Frog Tape® Mini Rollers Paint Trays

I had to get rid of that BRIGHT aqua color and amazingly, the Valspar white paint & primer in one did the trick! I was left with a blank"canvas" and two weirdos (the hubs and my oldest)!

There are all kinds of approaches to getting perfectly straight painted lines, but I really think we use the BEST method. I'll tell ya about it, and then you can be the judge…
1- Measure out your stripes and put tick marks on both sides of the wall.

2- Use a Chalk-line to get Perfect Guide Lines- Simply, put the string directly on the tick marks on both sides of the wall, pull the string taut, and snap that baby! It is so much MORE accurate and FASTER than using a level and a pencil. Let me remind you of something… you've seen how awkward I am at dancing… would you trust me to use a level on wall stripes? I think not.

These bad boys are crisp, straight and ready for some Frog Tape!

3- Use Frog Tape to Divide your Stripes. When I'm working on an accent wall, I know it's going to be the main focus of the room, so I have to have crisp, perfect lines (yes, perfectionist tendencies admitted).

My hubs uses a few pieces per stripe, but I'm a one stripe wonder. I definitely prefer to do the entire stripe with one piece to make sure there aren't any uneven seams. Also, make sure you tape off the two side walls.

I love me some stripes!

After all my horizontal stripes were finished, I randomly placed my vertical dividers. I toyed with using a mini level to get them perfect, but then decided I could do it well enough by eye. Please ignore the epitome of frumpy DIY clothes, no shower, and tape on the leg.

Whenever I'm working on a project like this I rip off a bunch of pieces the length I need and keep them on the wall so I can get to them quickly, if I'm not using that method, I keep the roll of tape on my arm. Works like a charm.

4- Paint the Edge of your tape with your Base Color. It's one extra step, but it's the MAGIC INGREDIENT to perfect, crisp lines. Frog Tape alone is excellent, but on an accent wall like this, I had to be sure everything would be perfect. Just take your base coat color (whatever color is under the stripes) and with an semi-dry brush (not dry, but not sopping wet either) paint over every edge. I don't recommend using a roller for this step, I always use a paint brush.

It makes the wall look a little scary, but it will all work out in the end! Allow it to dry- I gave it about 40 minutes before putting color over it.

I had a tray and roller for each color. I wanted to work in a random pattern and that meant making decisions as I went along- no time for washing rollers and brushes.

Finally, it was time to put some color on the walls!

If you want a random look (like mine) I'd recommend working in one section at a time, mixing your colors as you go.

Because of the sample paints, it took 3 coats per square. It was a tad scary at first, but by the second coat, I was confident the coverage would be good.

Jimniy Cricket- Even before I removed the tape I knew I was in love!

Now, for the Moment of Truth-Removing the tape…
Once again Frog Tape & the Mangin Method = Perfection!
Seriously, I do a cheesy dance (you can picture it) every time I remove tape from a project!
I do recommend removing the tape as soon as you're done-I don't wait for the paint to dry, and I remove it VERY slowly and evenly.

Here's the finished product!
It was so simple and took me and Eric about 4 hours from start to finish.

Here's a before and after…

It's a lot of color (as requested by Kira), but I like the extreme contrast that the white walls bring. I also could totally picture doing this with muted tones or even all in one color with an ombre effect!

Almost every morning, I find KJ hunkered down reading books in her PJs… She loves her new room!

Tomorrow, I'll be giving you all the details on the whiteboard wall and Wednesday one of our favorite things… DIY faux canvases with Staples prints! Make sure you check it out!
What do you think of the accent wall? Have you ever tried something bold with paint?

Have you ever looked at your house and thought, well… this is just what it has to be. I can't do much to change it. That's exactly what we heard from Terry, the homeowner of this episode of Knock It Off. I should mention that even though she wasn't liking much about her house, she had the most meticulously clean and cared for home- I want to be like her when I grow up! Now, back to the design- Terry had dark wood everywhere (which some peeps love, but it was dragging her down), wallpaper from almost every decade, and just not a whole lot going for them… Or so she thought!

See what I mean? It's just not the kind of room that inspires you to"Be Awesome" on a daily basis. So, Jess and I decided to take this room from dreary to cheery (yes slightly cheese ball-ish) with a really fun, bright color palette.

How's that for bright and cheery and just overall awesome?!?

We love the impact an accent wall can have and after we removed the circa 1970s wallpaper, we knew that a Royal Design Studios stencil was the way to go! We'll be posting on how to remove wallpaper (we know you want our tips and tricks!) and all about stenciling an accent wall. For now, just enjoy the eye candy!

Terry's family room connected directly to this tiny sunroom she uses as an office and study area. We didn't have money for new chairs, but we were able to build a bench seat (all we needed was wood and 1 piece of drywall! Tutorial coming soon!). We tossed on a few World Market pillows that were on major clearance and we had ourselves a super inviting sunroom! I literally had to pull Jess away from this comfy seat to keep working!

We worked with furniture Terry owned, like this gem and just gave it a new sassy swaga with some paint and two pieces of hardware. If you have a piece of furniture that seems beyond dated, just try giving it a bold color paint and see what happens- it's kind of like magic!

Some of Terry's furniture we used (like the adorable table we upcycled), but other things like the huge ottoman they had, had to go. Instead, we built our own table using 2x4s and 2x6s. This piece looks so expensive because of the X frame, but it's easy-peasy to build (tutorial coming soon!).
I think my favorite thing from this episode was seeing how empowered Terry and Jesse felt. I sound all Dr. Phil, but I'm serious! They thought they just had to settle for how their house was, but now they know the awesome potential it has! Since we filmed that episode Terry has sent us pictures of other furniture they've upcycled, and she's painted her dining room walls and all the trim! Jess and I feel like proud Mamas!
So, no, we can't come to every single reader's home (we wish we could!!), but hopefully by seeing what we're doing with homeowners on Knock It Off, you're feeling like you don't need to settle either!
Here'a a little more before and after action for ya!

Hello adorable sunglasses pillow! Thanks Homegoods for always having amazing things to use in our makeovers!

See how the little sunroom flows right off the family room?

If you missed this episode, what are you waiting for? Click HERE to watch it online!
We promise we'll get all these tutorials to you really soon! I mean with our amazing intern Diana, is there anything we can't do??: ) She's the best!
What do you think of this makeover? Do you have one of those rooms in your house where you just feel stuck? Do Tell!

We've been doing some rearranging in our home the last few weeks. Charlie's room is in the process of getting a big boy room makeover (pics of that coming soon!) and we decided to build a bedroom in the basement for our new little guy coming this Fall. I even put a sneak peek of the space all cleaned out up on Instagram (@jess_ec2blog) a few weeks ago.

Some people might think it strange that we're going to put the baby in the basement, but we thought it through and decided this was the best and easiest decision for us in the long run. We have a three bedroom, cape cod-style house, so our master bedroom is on the main floor and the kid's bedrooms are upstairs. Rather than move the kids out of their bedrooms and into one (which would have been fine, just tricky with naptimes), we decided that building a room in the basement made sense, since either way, we'd be a whole floor away from the baby anyway. The last time anything was done to this part of the basement was for our first appearance on The Nate Show, when Monica gave it a nautical makeover using stuff from Nate's Crate.

Then, two years and a whole lotta toys later, it looked like this:

Just keepin' it real, folks,: ;)
Since the basement is already finished, all we need to do is construct a wall in the middle of the room and build a small closet. The other half of this side of the basement is pretty much staying as is, except that we're going to tear down the bar that is impossible to get behind and that takes up a lot of space (we'll get to that when we get to that, you know?)

My hubs and his dad got to work this past Saturday building the wall. I was filming all day, so I apologize for the pictures! And oh yeah, this is not a how-to-build-a-wall tutorial- there are tons of them online. I just wanted to show you our progress!

We decided to use metal framing because we had read and heard that it might be easier to install into the concrete and to attach to the drop ceiling frame. Turns out it's a bit more expensive than using regular 2x4's., but did the job pretty well, as expected.

Woohoo- it's coming together!

This is the view from the inside of the new room looking out towards the new wall. It's a pretty decent-sized space! Since this picture was taken, all of the drywall has been hung and is waiting to be spackled and sanded.

My favorite part of this space is the faux-built-in's. I can't wait to decorate these and make them useful for baby boy!

I'll keep you posted on the progress in this room as it happens. I'm hoping to have my hubs finish up the construction part and start painting in the next week or so. UPDATE: Several people have asked about the window situation down in the basement. Unfortunately, both tiny windows are on the other side of the wall. Our house was built before it was required to have an egress window in a finished basement,but we have plans to add an egress for safety reasons, anyway. We're just taking it one step at a time for now, especially since that's such a big project! Until then, anyone have any favorite places to buy cute, inexpensive baby bedding? I, of course, fell in love with this bedding on Etsy that is just more than I want to spend! Boooo.

I'm so excited about this space! Have you ever made drastic changes to your house when expecting a baby?Am I the only one?

PS- Did you see the invite to our premiere party? We want YOU to join us! Click here for all the info!

PSS- Don't forget to enter to win $400 in Ryobi Tools, just in time for Father's Day! Click HERE to enter!

When we opened submissions for Creating with the Stars on February 4th, we had no idea how how incredibly amazing the submissions would be. Really, we knew we'd get some good ones, but this was out of control! You guys made choosing so.incredibly.hard! We want to thank all 361 of you that took the time to enter. It has already been a great start to our first season!

Without further ado, let's get down to business… Introducing the Contestants for CWTS2013 (In no particular order)

1. Janel

#23 Boys Bedroom Makeover on a Budgetand her Blog Star is… Brittany from Pretty Handy Girl!

2. Jourdan & Ashley

#33 DIY Barndoor Headboard

and their blog star is…
Beth from Home Stories A to Z!

3. Sarah

#48 80's Chandelier to Glass Mirror

and her blog star is…
Brooke from All Things Thrifty!

4. Jane

#75 DIY Plank Wall

and her blog Star is…
Jamielyn from I Heart Naptime!

5. Amanda & Corey

#131 Handmade Dining Room Light

and their blog star is…
Beckie from Infarrantly Creative!

6. Nancy

# 137 Owen's Nursery Makeover

and her blog Star partner is…
Kari from U-Create!

7. Jessica

#164 Anthro-Inspired Inventor's Bell Jar Lamp

and her star is…
Mandi from Vintage Revivals!

8. Sarah

#223 Herringbone Metallic Artwork

and her blog Star is…
Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick!

9. KariAnne

#243 Shutter Wall

and her blog stars are…
Ashley and Whitney from Shanty 2 Chic!

10. Nat & Holly

#281 Living Room Makeover

and their blog star is…
Jane from Tatertots & Jello!

11. Ann Marie

#344 Mom Cave Makeover

and her blog star is…
Shaunna from Perfectly Imperfect!

12. Melissa

#345 Bedroom Reading Corner

and her blog star is…
Sherry from Young House Love!

Aren't those projects amazing? It's going to an incredible season! The first week's challenge is a fun one. Week 1: UPCYCLE

You Can Play Along with CWTS Too! Now, if we could have chosen all of you, we would have. We still want to showcase all of your talent and project. For every weekly challenge, we're going to have a link party where you can link up one of your favorite projects that fit in with the weekly theme. We'll pick our favorite project each week and we'll feature our favorite here on EC2. Get your Upcycle DIY projects ready for week one, starting next week!
And we're sure don't need reminding, but just incase… we have an EPIC prize package! The 2013 CWTS Prize packages Total over $4100!! A special thanks to Homes.com, HomeGoods, HomeTalk, and Home Depot for their generous sponsorship of CWTS. We're so honored to have them!

The Grand Prize Winners (Contestant and Blog Star) will each receive:
$500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods Project featured by HomeTalk

All contestants that make it to Week 4 will be given a $100 Giftcard to HomeGoods to use during the week 4 home decor challenge!

The Semi-Finals Winner will receive:
$500 Gift Card to Home Depot (Contestant & Blog Star) $100 worth of Martha Stewart supplies from Plaid Crafts $125 Gift Card to Lucent Lamp works Project featured by HomeTalk

The Week 2 Winner will receive: $100 Gift Card to Royal Design Studio A pair of $120 Robert Allen pillows from Chic Decor Pillows Project featured by HomeTalk

The Week 1 Winner will receive: $50 worth of 31 Gifts products $60 worth of Twysted Yarn products $70 of Henle Headbands products $100 Blog Re-design from 733 Design Project featured by HomeTalk

This bedroom makeover was so fun to work on because we were challenged to combine both rustic and industrial styles together to make the space work! This room was huge, so we were able to do lots of fun DIY projects. Take a peek…

Now, to fully appreciate this room, you've got to see what it looked like before we started…

Talk about a transformation right?? You can watch the full episode online by clicking HERE.
We had a blast working with Tiffany and Jon and were so glad they BOTH liked the finished room!

Later this week we'll post all the juicy details about all the projects in the room, but for now, here's just a little room tour for ya…

This world map project wasn't featured in the show much (there's just never enough time), but we loved how it turned out and it might be one of my favorite projects of the makeover!

After a fun trip to one of the BEST salvage shops around, we built these reclaimed wood floating shelves using conduit pipe! The awesome shop we went to is Architectural Antiques in Bedminster, PA. Click here to visit their Facebook page for more info!

Using a mantle we found at the salvage shop, we used wood slices to create a faux fireplace look. It really helped define the sitting area we created!

One of our wildcard projects (AKA we'd never tried it before and just crossed our fingers it would be awesome) was our metal headboard. Toilet bowl cleaner and inexpensive metal sheets never looked so good!!

And stealing the show… herringbone barn doors with a custom made track for UNDER $200! I love how these doors are barn, but with such a modern twist. The yellow color and the arrow pattern made these doors super unique!
So, go check out the episode HERE, and then check back this week for all the complete tutorials!!

We've gotta know… What project is your fav? Any you'd like to try?

Did I ever mention that I'm impulsive? And that I'm really good at convincing my hubs that the impulse is a good one? Well, I am. Such is the case with our kitchen remodel. I have, of course, been thinking about creating a more open kitchen, one that flows easily into the dining/living room, but it was sort of a spur of the moment decision to tackle that project the week before Christmas! . All of this was inspired by our oven breaking down. We needed a new oven, so why not remodel the kitchen while we're at it??!! Yes, I am crazy. However, I couldn't be more excited about this project, especially since it's the first full-blown remodel my hubs and I have ever done! We're totally newbies at this, but I'm fully confident we can handle it. And we know several DIY"experts" that we can call with questions. I keep telling my hubs that unless we burn the house down, there's nothing we can't fix. Can you tell that I'm an optimist?
Disclaimer: This is going to be one long, ongoing project that will probably take several months to completely finish. I'll be walking you through all the nitty-gritty details, ala Young House Love, so don't expect the"After" photos next week!: )

Here's a peek at our kitchen BEFORE:

That's the dining room beyond the kitchen. See how closed off it feels? That doorway could not be any more narrow!

This wall is getting a MAJOR makeover. You won't even recognize it- I promise!

That hole there is where the oven used to be. It now has another home!

And now, the view into the kitchen from the dining room. The first thing we did was take down that huge mirror. We're so lazy that we didn't ever take that thing down when we painted the room. We just painted around it (in our defense, it's HEAVY, and was really, really attached to the wall). Then we measured and marked and measured again where we wanted to take the wall out. We didn't really use any scientific methods here- we just planned according to what looked good to us, and also where the studs were located. (I've highlighted our sketch below so you can see it better:)

Then, it was demo time! The hubs took his drywall saw and started cutting away.

Oops! There was a major heating duct running right through the middle of our opening! Gah! I'm pretty sure that my hubs was less than thrilled with me at this point (and that's putting it nicely). Lesson learned: do some research, like cutting a small hole in the wall to see what's in there first, before knocking down the entire wall. Luckily for us, after some brainstorming, we realized that this duct could be cut down and redirected (more on that in a minute).

Demolition is not glamorous. In fact, it's gross, messy and downright ugly. You might even find mouse droppings everywhere, along with the home they've made in your insulation. Makes me gag just thinking about it.

We took out that unbelievably-foul-it-makes-me-want-to-throw-up insulation and got to work cutting the duct with a sawzall. We called in the big guns, aka, my father-in-law, to help since he just remodeled his kitchen and it's ah-mazing! At first we just cut it to the height of the half-wall while we decided what we wanted to do from there, but then we decided to remove the entire duct and redirect the vent into the dining room.

Kevin took the old ductwork and reconfigured it to shoot the heat into the dining room, then installed it back where it was, but facing the opposite direction into the dining room!.

The next step was rebuilding the half-wall to make it sturdy. The wall that we removed is a not a load-bearing wall, so it was ok to take it out. Definitely check with someone who knows whether a wall is load-bearing or not before removing it! For whatever reason, this wall had (2) 2x4 studs backed up to each other (for extra support maybe?), so he re-installed new studs with braces in between them. Then came the drywall- an exciting step for me because you really start to see what it's going to look like!

Of course, we still have to add corner bead, spackle, sand and paint the wall, and add a piece of decorative wood that will act as the countertop to the wall. Phew! The list of things is overwhelming, but the important thing is, we're making progress!: ) So here's where it stands right now: (and yes, you're getting a glimpse of the few other changes we've made, but I'm saving those for another post so this one doesn't become the longest post you've ever read and are not that interested in; ):

It already makes a HUGE difference in how the two spaces feel, and I can tell that we'll be using our dining room in a whole different way in the future.

It makes the kitchen so much larger, it's nuts. Woohoo! I can't wait to get to the fun stuff- decorating!
So, tell me, have you ever remodeled a kitchen? Do you have any tried and true tips we should know?

And oh yes, this is getting pretty annoying:

Don't Try This at Home This mother's day weekend, I had a DIY happy mother's day to me project planned. I bought two inexpensive Adirondack chairs and planned to make them fabulous.

I was all geared up for a perfect DIY, camera in hand

I planned to use this cute paper on the back of the chair and then seal it with mod podge.

However, I forgot that I am a lefty, living in a right-handed world. I stink at cutting! I went through five pairs of scissors before I realized this was NOT working out.

I actually texted Jess a picture of the blister I got from using these dreadful scissors!

Oh, but look how cute this could look. What you can't tell from this picture is that it took me nearly an hour and a half to do that one strip and I had 11 more to do! (I might have been a little OCD and trying to get it perfect!)

I did two more strips and then decided this was a DIY not to try! I quit and peeled off all the paper. Blah!
Do Try This at Home! We're in the middle of the Design Challeng{ed} contest, and we want your pictures! Use the menu tab above to get all the details. Take a picture that shows your challenge room and you could win a professional design consultation by ME! What? What has this lady ever designed? Good question, and one we thought we should answer for you!
Although, I now only do design work on the side, I loved the years I spent making staging and design my occupation. The majority of the homes that I worked in were vacant or semi-vacant. I used a combination of the homeowner's belongings and rental furniture. Having a staged room makes a big impact on a potential buyer. Another home looking Empty and Blah

Simple Staging and ready for buyers!

The tricky part to staging is that you're not designing the room based on your preferences, (or even mine as the designer) we worked off of the demographics of potential buyers and the feel of the space.

This room isn't my personal style, but it was the right look for this high-end condo on the Main Line.

We're really excited to work with our Design Challeng{ed} winner. We hope that this mini portfolio peek gets you excited to think about a room makeover in your home!
So, my advice is to pass on the Adirondack DIY, and instead to use your time taking pictures and entering the Design Challeng{ed} contest so we can work together designing the perfect space for you! Good Luck!

P.S. Don't forget that you can enter the Design Challeng{ed} contest even if you're not in Bucks County! Virtual design is all the rage and this"cyber teacher" has all the right technology to make it happen for you!

Linked up to: The Stories of A to Z, Tip Junkie

Are you looking for the link party for your Creating with the Stars submission? Yay! We're thrilled to have you! Click here or use the button below to link up. Submissions are now open until February 21st. If you want to read more about the contest and all that it entails, click here.

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At the end of 2011 I set a goal to give our hideous powder room a face lift… well, 2012 came and went and I'm here to apologize to anyone that had to do their business in my ugly bathroom. My bad! This isn't a full, makeover so let's just call it a"pick me up" (I thought about calling it a poop-me-up or something like that, but Jess hates jokes like that. Ha! I think I might need to hang out with Katie Bower or something!)

Part of the reason I waited so long is that this bathroom is Weird, with a capital W… I actually got on the floor to take a picture of the ceiling, so you can see the wonky shape of the room…

Yeah, it's straight up weird, but I finally got over it and got to business!
Here's what we did for our Powder Room Pick Me Up…

The pear colored paint, stayed the same, but we added a birch stencil that made it so much cooler (and almost aged me by about 15 years… really, who decides to stencil the one wall that has the light, toilet, and sink!Ahhh!)

I recycled some old frames and added some super inexpensive Ikea prints
The mirror was another freebie! I used a piece of wood that was an old wagon side- Jess hooked me up with the wood. BFF with barnwood hookups = Awesome! Tutorial coming later this week!

I said ADIOS to the builder grade light fixture…

And fell in LOVE with this outdoor light from Lowes! It was under $40!

I recycled an old, ugly piece of art into a custom piece with one of my favorite verses from an old hymn. I love how the words are subtle, but man, do they speak to my heart every time I read them. I've got a full tutorial coming your way on this baby. The before and after is crazy different!

And if you don't know by know, I can't really have a room without a touch of my sense of humor, so in direct contrast from the hymn artwork… let me introduce you to POTTY TALK!

It's just a little ol' chalkboard where you can leave a note while you… well… ya know… We told our kids that bad words excluded, anything goes on the Potty Talk wall. The first week we had a lot of #1 and #2 notes, but since then it's been pretty entertaining. I'll also mention that Uncle Bry and Daddy are responsible for the potty poems. Those guys make me laugh!
Last, but not least, I added a rug from Target and called it a day.

The entire room cost me under $60 and now it's a decent space, with a bit of personality! I love when I can switch things up for almost no money! Check back later this week for the mirror and artwork tutorials!
What do you think of this Powder Room Pick Me Up? Would you be willing to do your business here??

Thanks for all your feedback on Kira's Colorful Room Makeover this week! Funny story… Jess and I are doing some filming this coming Monday (can't spill the beans yet!) and they need to get some footage of Kira's room… can I just tell you how messy her room is now? There are about 200 tiny Polly Pocket accessories on the floor! If only my house could stay as clean as it is on the blog! If you missed the makeover reveal check it out here and you can read the full accent wall tutorial here.

Today we're talking whiteboard walls!! It's the perfect solution for creative kids that color on walls anyway!

I recently learned of IdeaPaint and I was super excited that they wanted to have me try out some of their new CREATE Idea Paint and accessories! I am a sucker for packaging and good fonts and they scored major points with me right off the bat!

Most people think of whiteboard paint as just that… White! Guess, what? IdeaPaint actually comes in clear (also black and white) so that you can put it over any color wall. That allows for so much more creativity… so guess what I did?? Yup, painted it on white walls! Ha! I have another can that I plan to use on a color-filled space when Jess and I get a blogging office (someday!)
I have to show you the way IdeaPaint comes… you get two ingredients that need to be mixed… you add THIS to THAT (did you know I love witty things?!?) The prep directions were super simple.

So, here's how it all went down… We painted the entire room stark white. It's actually the first time I've ever painted a wall white…ever!

We didn't use a chalk line to mark off our whiteboard area because we didn't want blue chalk getting into the clear paint. We made really small pencil marks. I knew I was adding a frame, so the edges didn't have to be perfect. The paint was simple to apply with a roller (included in the paint kit) and you could clearly see the painted and unpainted areas because of the shine.

We bought two 8 foot pieces of plywood for the frame.

I wanted to mirror the rectangular shapes of the mosaic wall, so I sketched out a happy little drawing. I'd almost kill for just an ounce of artistic ability! (Don't worry, I won't really!)

We cut the plywood with a jigsaw (Jess and I sure love our jigsaws!!) We didn't take any pictures of that part, because it was really late… Yes, that's AM!

We waited until the IdeaPaint had dried for about an hour and was dry to the touch before we placed any wood near it. We needed to measure for a few cuts.

One REALLY important thing to know about IdeaPaint… you need to let the paint cure for 4 days before you write on it at all. They even include a really cute sign to put on the wall!

The next morning (yes, we do sleep sometimes) I spray painted the plywood. I really liked how some of the grain showed through.

Want to see something funny?… I don't have sawhorses… but I do have Power Wheels!

Once the boards were dry, we simply nailed them into the wall with finishing nails (making sure to hit some studs)

We were left with a HUGE area for Kira to color on! She and her little friends have so much fun playing school, store, and creating"Princess lands" on her wall now! (And don't forget the plain surrounding walls are getting something very special- hopefully this weekend!)

I highly recommend IdeaPaint- I know chalkboards are all the rage, but they're really messy! I didn't want a constant pile of dust on Kira's light carpet. The whiteboard wipes off easily and I feel like the kids can be even more creative with their color choices. There are so many dry erase colors available.
I was browsing the IdeaPaint website and found these other cool ideas that I just might try in other areas of my house!
I love the simple calendar!

See how cool a colored surface looks with IdeaPaint? That green is awesome!

Kaden has bunk beds in his room and as soon as he saw this picture he wanted a bunk bed that could write on! I've also seen it used on student desks and table tops for homework etc… There are so many cool ideas you could try (no pun intended!)

I want to give a great big Thank You to IdeaPaint for allowing me to try out their CREATE paint. Kira and I love the result and I can't wait to try it in on some other surfaces!
Have you ever thought of adding a whiteboard to your house? Where would you try one first?

Check out IdeaPaint's Website IdeaPaint on Facebook
** I was provided with IdeaPaint to review. I was not compensated in any other way for this post. All opinions are 100% legit and all mine. **

This room makeover all started with a pallet and became the coolest pallet wall ever. This free project made a huge impact with its wooden walls and white wash technique.
We're so excited to share it with you today! ******************************************************************
When the hubs and I moved into our house 12 months ago (holy moly it's been 1 year already!) we decorated 3 out of 4 kid's bedrooms. I wanted to wait until the little man was out of his crib and into a"big boy bed" before tacking the room.

Well, the crib is history and we were ready to make this tiny space small, but mighty!
Jess and I have a thing for pallets. We've written a Pallet Possibilities post and Jess shared a pallet shelves post. Well, this time we thought we'd take it to the next level and do an entire wall of pallet wood!

Here's how we did it: (Shhh… don't tell, but this was super easy and the wood was free!)
We called around and found places that were okay with us taking their pallets. The hard part is taking them apart and not cracking the boards. We started with a hammer or two or three… TIP: don't buy cheap hammers. Then, we moved to a sawsall. It worked okay, but not great. Finally, the hubs pulled out his circular saw and we were in business!

We separated out the keepers and made sure we had a good blend of various lengths and widths. We took out most of the nails for safety, but left a few for character (we put those pieces up high on the wall so the little man would be safe and sound)

Thankfully my hubs is pretty darn smart and helped me and Jess figure out the layout. We placed each piece on the wall temporarily (one nail in each board) just to see the layout and get all the cuts out of the way. We don't have any great tips on this step, just find someone that likes doing puzzles and invite them over to help! (You might notice that between breaking apart the pallets and doing the wall that I moved from a blonde to a reddish brunette. 2 hair colors in one post… is that a blogger foul?)

Once we had the layout, we took each piece down and labeled it so we'd know where to put it back. We gave each row a number and a letter going from left to right… 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B etc… Then we brought all the wood down to the garage to begin the fun part… sanding and whitewashing!

We sanded the wood lightly… we didn't want to lose cool character, but we didn't want splinters for the little man either. We arranged the wood as it would look on the wall, so that we could figure out how we wanted to whitewash the wood.

Some of the"blonde" pieces of wood needed some grey stain to make them look a bit more weathered, so we put in on randomly and rubbed it in a bit.
To make our whitewashing colors we just filled cups with water and added a few dabs of paint. It was trial and error. We used the grey-blue wall paint, white paint, and some navy (which we used full strength). We wanted cool tones, not the warm honey ones it originally had. (Will I ever remember NOT to wear sweatpants for all our projects?)

Once it was all dry, we were so thrilled with the colors and couldn't wait to put it back on the wall!

Before putting the pallet wood on the wall, we added some industrial looking lights. The hubby did this part of the job because these girls don't mess with electric- we have our limits!

To adhere the pallet wood to the wall we just used nails. You could use liquid nails, screws, etc. I thought nails would be the easiest just to spackle over when we we want to change the room (which I don't know if I'll ever will want to). Once we had the wall installed we got busy decorating and then pretty much fell in love with the finished product! How do you like it?

There are so many fun details in this room! You can read about the message board made from reclaimed barnwood here! (Yup, we're still lovin' the reclaimed barnwood!)

Not too shabby for a FREE statement wall eh? My son loves his new room and my only complaint is that we didn't try this fabulous project in one of our master bedrooms! We love it!

So there you have it! Free pallets transformed into a crazy, cool statement wall! It was free, simple, and we totally think you should try this at home! So, what pallet possibilities are you thinking of trying?

P.S. Did you see our second Nate episode? How'd we do? We're counting down the days to Cancun and of course will take you all with us through the blog!

Friday night we had the awesome privilege of being the special guests at Calvary Church of Souderton's Ladies Night Out. We were asked to come up with something involving DIYing and be super entertaining while 450 women looked on… yikers, no small task right?

We chatted about it a bit and then decided we were up for another White Box Challenge!! If you missed our first one with Nate Berkus, you can check it out HERE. We set up a Plain Jane, Ho-Hum room, talked through each project, starting it on stage in front of everyone, and then had 30 minutes during intermission to actually transform the room. Yes, we know we're completely insane!!

We wish all of you across the country could have come to the event- it was SUPER fun, but since you couldn't- we thought we'd share some of the fun with you!!
One of the first things we talked about was using what you've got. We've all got"mad skillz" but my skillz are probably pretty different than yours. Rather than feeling like you've got to fit into a perfect mold, instead, find a way to use what you're good at- and what you most likely love- to help others. Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking we need to serve in the traditional ways i.e. church nursery, ushering at church, helping at a food bank- and while all of those are awesome and perfect for some people, God might have gifted you in a different way, to do different things. For some weird reason, I can make rooms look pretty… not your typical serving"gift", but Jess and I have been able to use it in awesome ways- decorating the women's recovery center, Jess did the children's room at her house, our Design It Forward projects etc… Bottom line: Use what you've got, don't try and fit into someone else's mold- God wants to use YOU with the cool talents he's given you.

Then, we talked about using what you've got in your home!! We all have rooms in our houses that we'd like to change, but odds are we don't need to go out and start from scratch- so we explored ideas for making generic items awesome!! The biggest things to remember hear are #1- Don't be afraid to try something!! Working on Knock It Off, we're now 100% convinced that fear is what holds peeps back from making their home exactly how they want it! #2- Your home should reflect YOU! It doesn't need to look like a Pottery Barn catalog (although those are pretty)- it should be a place that YOU love. If that means a green piano, then go for it. If it means neutral, planked walls, then have at it! Whatever you do, just make sure it feels right for you and your family.

So, here's where our room started off… (We actually struggled to make it look"bad" Jess kept staging things nicely and I would go through and mess them up on purpose!)

The space was fine, but kind of blah- no real personality at all… Now, please forgive me… this is a blogger foul, but the after pic is from a different spot- you don't get the full room. There were 450 ladies in the room at the end and I couldn't get off stage to get a good pic. My bad!
BUT…Here's the room after our 30 minute makeover!

Just a wee bit better eh? Here's a bit of a before and after all you can eat buffet, and we'll be back later this week with more project how-to info!
Ikea RAST dressers are under $40 and you can do so many things with them! Here it is BEFORE…

And AFTER… We combined two to make a fun, color blocked buffet.

And in case you didn't notice… we found the biggest shade this side of the border!! We picked up this baby at a thrift shop…

We knew it had potential, it was just being hidden by a 10 foot shade… it was like a"shade-nado" Ok, bad, lame joke sorry!
With some fun orange spray paint and a new shade trimmed with ribbon, it looked much better!

My official survey showed that 8/10 households has at some point owned an Ikea LACK side table. I mean at $7.99 it's almost impossible not to buy one. The problem is that it SCREAMS Ikea more than any other piece.

The good news… it's one of the easiest Ikea pieces to hack! We turned ours into a tufted ottoman with this gorgeous Ikat fabric (we got it at Joann- use a coupon to get the great price we paid!)

Another common Ikea piece is this chair… Again, so cheap, but sadly, looks it.

We added nail head detailing and paint dipped the legs in the same orange as the lamp. Added a fun pillow and suddenly this Ikea chair isn't so generic anymore!

Art can be expensive and unless to want to unload tons of cash, it's usually pretty generic. This is just blah artwork you could find at Target, Kohls, etc…

We used letters cut on paper, some spray adhesive, and spray paint to make our own custom art. The options are endless with this project.

How 'bout that for some fun before and afters?!? And honestly, every project was started live on-stage and then we finished all of them, painted the top of the wall, and added chair rail in 30 minutes! It was insanity and oh, so awesome all at once.
We couldn't have done it without the help of some awesome volunteers!! Our blog readers rock and 3 awesome ladies worked behind the scenes to have all the projects ready to go for intermission. Dana, Beth, and Donna were great to work with and plus, we love meeting readers in real life!! Thanks again ladies!!
Also, our carpenter and friend Matt made our entire white box before the event and then installed a chair rail and painted the teal walls during intermission in about 5 minutes flat! Matt's in the Philly area and does amazing contracting work! If you need a project done- he's our #1 recommendation! You can reach him at mattvapps@hotmail.com Tell him we sent you!!

So, all-in-all we felt like the event was a success. We loved the challenge and thrill of doing a room live, but more importantly- we LOVED being able to challenge so many women to use what they've got in their homes and also in their lives. We're honored and feel pretty darn blessed to have been given this opportunity.
Check back later this week for project how-to's and other inspiration ideas for these pieces! If you were at the event… what'd you think? Are you ready to try some DIY in your own home?

Happy Friday to our favorite readers ever! I've been really excited to share this tutorial with you! I wanted to hang canvas prints of my kiddos in a unique way. Add some wire, screws, and clamps, and I think I came up with something pretty cool!

Industrial Faux Canvas Collage

Everyone loves gallery-wrapped canvases these days, and why wouldn't you? They're fabulous! Although, we don't know about you, but sometimes $60.00+ for one print is a wee bit hard for us to swallow. We were super excited to hear that WalMart came out with a faux canvas:

Now what, you ask, is a faux canvas? Well, we were wondering the same thing, so of course we tried it out. What they do is print your photo on heavy, dimpled paper (canvas look-alike) and then wrap it around a cardboard box. Sounds glamorous, huh? Let me tell you that for the price, we were thrilled!

And, of course, we didn't pay full price… and neither should you! We used a coupon that brought the total down to $9.96 each but… it's expired. BOO! Have no fear, we've got your back! Canvas People will give you a FREE 8x10 canvas and it's not even cardboard! lol. Just use this link to get the deal.

So, you should know by now that I have 4 kids, yup FOUR, and so we got prints of each of the kiddos. We thought it would be fun to add a little boys vs. girls flare, so, inspired by Mandi's Epic Room Makeover we made two graphic canvases as well. We just used some images we found online and Picnik to create them. Sadly, Picnik is actually closing (today in fact!) but PicMonkey is the perfect replacement!

The first step was to add the screw eyes to each canvas. Just measure to the center and screw them in. Since they're made of cardboard it was crazy simple to do. (Umm, please ignore my creepy monster looking hands)

Add screw eyes to the top and bottom of each canvas except for the one which will be at the bottom of your display. The bottom canvas will only get top screw eyes.

Next, add screw eyes to the ceiling. This will require a little measuring, but you'll want them to be even. My vaulted ceiling required some additional math, but we made it work.

Here's where it got a bit tricky. The nice man at Lowe's gave us these clamps to lock the wire in place. Have you ever felt like your hands were made of stone? It's very clear that we're not surgeons. It took about 30 minutes to clamp the first side. Ugh! The hubs finally got home and it took him 30 seconds. We were just happy to have it done!

Now for the fun part! Weave the wire through the screw eyes on the top, behind the back and out the bottom. Repeat for the remaining canvases. Ok, we're all about keeping it Real on our blog, so we'll be honest here too… This is a two person job and preferably with a person you really like, because it's a tad frustrating. The canvases tend to slip down a bit and did we mention our stone hands? We promise it's all worth it in the end.

Once your canvases are threaded through, you'll want to secure the bottom one first. We used a staple gun to hold the wire in place and then added some hot glue (because they were slipping and because Jess is slightly obsessed with the stuff!)

Determine how far apart you want your canvases and adjust them accordingly. The tension of the taut wire should keep the upper canvases in place, but if you want extra support you can add some glue to each one.

The end result is a unique, industrial-looking display that we love!

I couldn't be happier with this project and the unique way to share pictures of my kids! I have to give a shout out to our photographer and friend at Salvatori Photography. These pictures are SO my kids!
This was just the first project in my breakfast room makeover, we have lots more planned. I've switched out the light fixture (thankfully!) and this weekend I'm adding avocado chairs, stenciling my table top, and more! I hope to have more to reveal next week!

So, what do you think? Is the wire style workin' for you?