You already knew that our bathroom project had some unforeseen challenges. Well, here are five little ones that we didn’t cover before, but prove something are never as easy as they seem.
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Archives for January 2010
A Repurposeful Life Freebie Winners!
Announcing the winners in our Kathie’s Finds reusable grocery bag giveaway.
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Susan’s Second Design Dilemma
Of course we were excited when Susan contacted us for a second mood board makeover (her living room is still in progress, but you can check out that mood board right here). Here’s her letter: I’m so happy to be working with you guys again! My office is in need of a makeover and it’s one of the first rooms you see when you enter the house. Our style is mainly traditional, but we do like a touch of color. We don’t like things to look too traditional though. We love Pottery Barn, Target, IKEA, JC Penney, and West Elm. Everything in this room can go! The paint can also be changed if you feel
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Making Vintage Looking Wall Signs With Wood & Paper
As promised, we’re back to detail the simple steps that anyone can follow to DIY some chic and cheap vintage-looking wood signs. We first unveiled these guys in our big bathroom reveal post yesterday morning, but now we’ll divulge the step-by-step process so you can follow along at home. Just remember to sing “I saw the sign” by Ace of Base the whole time you’re making them like we did. Good times. John actually came up with the idea of creating vintage-looking wood signs (isn’t he quite the artisté?) after I lamented that square frames next to the rounded mirror might look a bit chaotic. We wanted something simpler (nothing with reflective glass or a
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Reader Redesign: Feeling Frosty
When Courtney sent over her awesome entertainment center transformation we just had to share the goods. Here’s her letter: YHL always inspires me because you find ways to tweak or repurpose the resources that you have rather than blow the budget on something expensive. I’m not a fan of clutter and have tried multiple ways to hide the shame that is the DVD collection in my entertainment center (I’ve covered the glass doors with wrapping paper, but this required opening the doors to use the remotes for the cable box and DVD players). Then I came across these cut-outs at Michael’s that are used for scrap-booking and thought they would make great stencils. Down came
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Our Bathroom Makeover Reveal (A Full Reno For Under 2K!)
Oh happy day. We’re here to share all of our bathroom after pictures complete with a full timeline and a budget breakdown to detail every step of this month-long weekend and evening project of ours. First we should remind everyone what the room looked like at the bleakest moment of the makeover. When it comes to most major renovations, rooms usually have to get uglier before they turn the corner and start looking good, so let’s take a moment to appreciate just how un-aesthetically-pleasing our bathroom was when it was all stripped down after John demo’d the entire thing by himself over the course of about 24 hours spent in the bathroom (my hero!): Now
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Fab Freebie: A Repurposeful Life
We love when things can be repurposed, so that why we want two of you to win reusable grocery bags made from recycled materials thanks to Kathie’s Finds. Enter through 1/20.
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Our Go To List Of Go To Sources
This post has been a long time coming. For years people have been asking us where we like to look for rugs and where we find cheap but chic lamps. And thanks to whipping up over 120 mood boards (see them all en masse right here) as well is transforming our entire house, we’re pretty well versed in hunting down many an item from many a store. Now we’re letting it all hang out in one mondo post full of our favorite places to shop for house stuff. Hold on to your hats folks, this could get crazy. We did our best to include stores that should be pretty universally available in the US (and
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Burning Question: What Wood You Pick?
We asked a similar question a while back with regards to your bedroom preferences, but on the subject of the kitchen floor, do you like sleek easy-wipe tile, simple stress-free vinyl/linoleum or warm and welcoming hardwood/cork/bamboo? There’s definitely more than one way to skin a cat- er, kitchen- so we’d love to hear what you prefer underfoot. Do tell. And speaking of flooring, here’s how to install peel & stick tile, paint wood floors, pick the right rug, and even stain a concrete porch– all without breaking the bank (or even much of a sweat).
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How To Turn A Side Table Into A Bathroom Vanity
With tile in, trim set and toilet reinstalled it was finally time to build our DIY vanity out some Internet bought fixtures and a Crate & Barrel nightstand.
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Stamp Of Approval Freebie Winners!
Announcing the pair of winners in our Paper Cafe and Three Designing Women giveaway of a personalized stamper package.
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Ania’s Second Design Dilemma
After Ania came to us for help with her living and dining room (and sent over the amazing after pics!) we were thrilled to hear from her again. Here’s her letter: Sweet, sweet victory! I got a mood board before they sold out! Ok, I’m back for some design advice for our multi-functioning office. I was inspired by a previous client of yours and wanted to incorporate more lounge furniture. We would like a room for our computer/books, a day bed to lounge/read on during the day (and potentially board a guest overnight), and last but not least: an area for our two Basset Hound children’s beds and feeder. Style-wise, I have recently fallen hard for the modern
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