This latest before & after comes from one of our neighbors to the north, Kahley from Ontario, Canada. She and her husband Steve revamped their home’s only bathroom. And in the process proved that going dark and sophisticated can still be bright and airy. Here’s her letter: We are a young family of four – me, my husband, and our kids Noah (4) and Lexie (2). The only bathroom in our house dated back the 1950’s, so it was HIGH TIME to reno! Since it was our only bathroom, we wanted it to be insanely multi-purpose. We needed a tub AND shower, some closet space, a dirty laundry area, lots of concealed storage, etc etc
Fab Freebie: Cameo Appearance
***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries – see who won below!*** Random.org cut its way through over 6,000 entries and picked our winner as… Stephanie (who would love to have a few hundred laughs with Zach Galifianakis). Congrats! I believe it was the renowned Dave Coulier who once immortalized the words “cut it out” on Full House… but I don’t quite think Uncle Joey had a clue what potential those words could hold when it came to the Silhouette CAMEO digital cutter. You guys may have seen Silhouette cutters mentioned around the blogosphere before (our friends Jessica at How About Orange and Nicole at Making It Lovely did some cool projects with theirs). Now
Using A Display From The Gap As Home Art
A couple of weeks ago we were at the Gap and I spotted this on the wall. It’s a bicycle from Public Bikes that was disassembled and shot for this in-store display (thereby they’re not for sale). I thought they were pretty darn good looking. I’m more of a bike admirer than an actual bike rider (apologies to my cycling enthusiast father), so I feel like a bit of a poser saying this, but… I really want those posters to hang in our house. Not sure where, but somewhere. Here’s a better shot of one of the panels from the Public Bikes blog. I talked with the manager at my local Gap and they “made
A Blue And White DIY Kitchen Renovation
It’s no surprise that we’re in the mood for a good kitchen makeover these days. Okay, who are we kidding, we’re always in the mood for one. But Erin & Zach’s do-it-yourself remodel of their 1950’s kitchen is especially familiar (and inspiring since we’re just at the beginning of our current kitchen’s transformation). Here’s their letter: We wanted to share the redo of our 1951 kitchen (take note of the sweet before lamp and the heavy-duty ceiling beam disappearing act). We were so lucky to peel up the old laminate floor and the plywood to find original (albeit quite damaged) wood floors that extended into the middle of the kitchen. We found matching red oak
Four No-Cut Pumpkin Decorating Ideas For Kids
Since one-year-olds aren’t really “of age” when it comes to pumpkin carving, we’ve been trying to figure out a way to involve Clara in pumpkin decorating this year. And she deserved a promotion from last year’s job as hand model: So a few days ago we finally figured out a way for Clara’s hand to come in, um, handy again. But first – let’s introduce our subjects. We’ll call them Big Brother, Middle Child, and Little Piggy. On Monday night I broke out my favorite all-purpose medium (aka painter’s tape) and marked out a traditional jack-o-lantern stencil on Middle Child. Then with an exacto knife I cut out the pattern carefully (okay, not that carefully
Rehanging Cabinets And Removing Granite Counters
When our saga last left off, our heroes were being shuffled around the kitchen. That is, if a refrigerator and a pantry are your kind of hero. But before our new appliances arrived last week, we had to put the moves on a few more things. First in line? The cabinet that held the wall oven. You probably recall that we were ditching the wall oven because it was burnt on the front, bisque colored, and cooked things unevenly. We opted not to replace it with another wall oven because (1) wall ovens are expensive – usually 1K more than ranges, (2) our cabinet is unconventionally narrow – most modern wall ovens wouldn’t even fit,
A Porch Update: Adding Mums With Our Yellow Door
We’ve done it again! For the second year in a row, we managed to accidentally allow the bushes in our big wooden porch planters to die. Oh the shame. Chalk it up to a miscommunication. Sherry thought I was watering them. I thought she was. Clara didn’t have a clue who was watering what (or what watering even is) and all the while Burger was “watering” plants in the back. By the time we realized our folly it was too late (although Sherry desperately dumped five cups of water a day on them for the last few weeks to no avail). So I’d say we’re equally to blame for our plants getting a bit on
Reupholstering A Loveseat With Striped Fabric
Having wrestled for an unnaturally long time with our own chair upholstery project (well, I was more a bystander while my wife played the role of the wrestler), we’re that much more impressed with Erin’s redo of her great aunt’s loveseat. Here’s her letter: A few months ago I set out to reupholster my great aunt’s old loveseat. I actually planned on hiring someone to reupholster it, as I have never done anything like this before (not even close!). But then I got to thinking “Why not try my hand at it first?” So Project Loveseat was born! It was definitely a challenge. And one that I just sort of winged. I couldn’t even write
Shifting Cabinets And Appliances For A New Kitchen Layout
In Monday’s appliance post we mentioned a couple switches (like wall oven out, stove in) but that was just the beginning. And then yesterday we shared that we were contemplating a new spot for the fridge. Well, it has all been settled. And we’re excited about it. But before I lay out the new layout for you, let’s talk demo again. This past weekend we found ourselves poised to purchase a slightly smaller yet not counter-depth fridge at the Sears Outlet (aka Scratch & Dent) – which was basically short and narrow enough to fit into the existing fridge spot but a bit deeper (so it actually would have stuck out into the room more
Fab Freebie: Ideas For Ikea
***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries – see who won below!*** Random.org has selected the two random folks who are about to get $100 to IKEA. And they are… Jennifer (who improves lives by teaching and will also be adopting a child from Ethiopia) and Ashley (who says needs some improvement for herself). Congrats! If you take one thing away from this post, it should be this: two people are winning $100 gift cards to IKEA this week. Woot! But if you have room for a second thing, know that it’s because Ikea is hosting their second annual Life Improvement Project that, among other things (like hilariously helpful “instructions” for living a better life)
How We Saved Money On Our Kitchen Appliances (63% off!)
We bought nearly $3,800 worth of kitchen appliances this weekend. But if you know anything about us, you know we love a deal. So here’s how we managed to shave off about $1,400 from that total (we ended up paying 63% of their original cost). Yee haw! Before I dive into the heavy math, let’s cover some basic questions first. Why new appliances? We’ll make this one multiple choice: A: We prefer stainless steel over the current bisque / black mix we’ve got going on. B: The wall oven has a big burn mark up the front of it and cooks/burns things unevenly. C: Our refrigerator is slowly dying (the ice maker doesn’t work and
A Quick Trip To The Carolinas
Last weekend my cousin got married in Brevard, North Carolina. Translation: weekend road trip! Okay, so it wasn’t on the scale of our road trip to Texas for my cousin’s wedding two years ago (different cousin, btw – I’ve got lots of ’em) but it was still a good time. Brevard is in southwestern NC somewhere between Asheville and the South Carolina border (so close actually, the rehearsal dinner was in SC). It’s about a seven hour drive from Richmond, though we broke up our ride with a stop in Charlotte to see our pals Matt and Kristin. The wedding was obviously the highlight of the trip (you can see some pics over on Young
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