For the record, I have finally started remodeling our guest bathroom. But I also need breaks from the carnage. So, I revamped our guest room while I’m at it, and for this project I only spent about $45 because I had extra paint (which I’m also using in the bathroom so that the guest spaces will tie together). There was nothing wrong with the guest room per se, but it could be better.
Continue reading No-Wood Wall Features
While avoiding my bathroom reno project, I found one other thing to do in my basement main room besides adding texture to the walls (and that looks awesome all around the main room now). Our TV area needed some kind of shelving unit to hold extra DVDs, kids books, and knickknacks. So, I started to think of ways I could build a shelving unit for as little money as possible.
I am all for using scrap materials whenever possible to make something new out of something old. And so, this project meant I finally found a way to use the last of my scrap bifold doors. I also still have a LOT of kitchen cabinet doors, so those would work nicely as shelves. Other than that, all this would take was some scrap wood for backing and narrow wood strips for shelving cleats. Plus paint, stain, and polyurethane – all of which were leftovers from other projects. I did end up buying decorative molding for the fronts of the shelves to better complement the antique cabinet we use as an entertainment center, so that meant this entire project ended up costing me $28.
Continue reading From Bifolds to Bookshelf
I can’t be trusted. If left sitting around, looking at our house for too long, I’m going to come up with a project whether we need it or not. I also put off doing overwhelming projects by diving into fun ones. So, this week while cuddling with my girls on our basement couch, glaring at our nearby bathroom which desperately needs demo, I naturally decided to upgrade our basement bar nook’s walls.
It helps that I already had all the supplies and didn’t have to spend any $$. But if you need to buy all the supplies, you can still do an entire room like this for under $100!
Continue reading “Meh” Nook Wall Upgrade
Our kitchen has one of those deep corner cabinets for pots and pans, and of course it’s a daily annoyance to bend down and bang around for the pot or pan I’m looking for. And we have a LOT of pots and pans. (First-world problems, I know.) Everyone’s storage solution for this seems to be installing razzle-dazzle corner pullout systems, but I don’t think a fancy pullout would even work because of the position of our stove. And even a simpler fix like a lazy susan… Well, I just don’t like them. Every corner cabinet lazy susan I’ve ever had has wasted space, plus the pan handles bang against the sides as I’m swinging them around, or they get stuck, or whatever. I’m not a fan. 🤷♀️
Continue reading From Assorted Organizers to Nice Pan Storage
Kids never do anything according to best-laid plans, do they? For Baby #1’s baby shower registry, we thought we were smart when we asked for a crib that would convert to a toddler bed and later to a full-sized bed. It was an absolutely beautiful crib/bed…which she never slept in unless you were lying beside her on a floor mattress. Then Baby #2 came along, so we decided to give it another go and bump Kid #1 up to a Montessori/ floor bed that we could fit on with her (that battle was lost). Baby #2 would sleep in the crib (hooray!). But, later when it became a toddler bed, she’d wake up every time she moved or touched something (a regular “princess and the pea,” that one).
Continue reading Using a Pallet to Make a Toddler Daybed with Bookshelf Headboard