My Mother's Day orchid has received a new home 🪴💕

Today I wanted to share the stair makeover I took on at the colonial home we owned back in 2018.

I was inspired by someone else’s staircase makeover on Pinterest…I literally woke up one Saturday & decided I was going to give it a try…on a whim. Yep. That’s me 😬

I wanted to open that area up to bring in more light, and extend the stairs out another 6” where the wall was.

First I ripped out the carpet, and then started hammering away at the wall. 🔨 I finished removing the wall and railing with a reciprocating saw…which was super fun 😜

Next came ripping out the stair treads. I did every other one so that I was able to still get up & down the stairs easily in between steps, & then notched out the side wall to align with each of the steps.

I replaced each of the steps with a longer pine board, & then stained each one, doing every other one at first so that we may use the stairs until they had dried fully…those got a coat of poly-acrylic.

For the risers, I painted them white, let them dry completely, & then installed them under each of the stairs. I also started ‘beefing’ up the bottom post, by adding boards along the sides, & then small blocks of wood onto the corners.

Next I added mdf boards over those blocks, & then spindles & a railing. I installed two spindles on each step per code, & into the railing that had been pre-stained, & then coated with poly-acrylic.

Because I had removed the wall upstairs, I had to install a new banister post on the landing at the bottom to attach the new railing to.

I also removed the carpeting from the upper stairs/landing, & then installed click & lock flooring on the landing.

I did all of the same steps on the second staircase, added moldings on the side of each stair, & then finished everything with caulking & paint.

I was thrilled with the outcome! We gained 6” of each step, & so much more light! It was also more visually appealing in the end…even my preschoolers stuffed animals approved. 🧸
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💯 would do it again ☺️

You can now purchase UNFINISHED cookies in 14 different flavors!

Today I wanted to share the pantry project I took on awhile back in our colonial home. I decided to do this based off the fact that I wasn’t a fan of the wire shelves that came with the original pantry, as things were always falling through, and it was hard to stack things 😣. I also didn’t like the space above the last shelf being so underutilized…so there-in came my next idea…a built-in pantry! 🥳

I should also mention I love anything that’s built into walls, as I feel like they are using every space imaginable while creating a custom look!

Originally the pantry was your standard, run of the mill shallow closet with wire shelves, going all the way up to about the top, leaving quite a bit of space above…about a foot and a half.

To make the built-in…I first removed the door, the door frame, the shelves, and the wall sections on the sides and top with a reciprocating saw.

I measured the space inside, and constructed sort of a book shelf on the floor…but in three sections, so it was easier to lift and assemble into the void left behind.

The bottom got a 3” platform to sit on, so I could continue wrapping the baseboard moldings all the way around in front, and then I assembled the ‘bookshelf’ by stacking the three pieces.

Next, I hand made the doors, and drawers…painted and caulked, and then installed them with hinges, drawer slides, and handles that I purchased at Lowe’s.

Originally I left the center open for my books and decor, and hand painted a quarter foil design on the back…but eventually I decided I wanted that for extra storage as well 😬 So I changed it up a little latter down the line.

Of course everything got moldings, and a couple of coats of semi-gloss white paint, to finish it all off and it was done!

This was one of my favorite projects, and I definitely got to utilize that space at the top! Alllll of it! 😎 Happy mama here!

What do you think? Would you give this pantry a try?

In this post, I’m sharing how I created a ‘faux’ shiplap look using thin wood planks I found at a discount at Lowe’s, a quarter, and some paint 🎨

I first started out by ripping out the old ‘picture frame’ molding I had previously installed, and then, starting at the top at the ceiling line, I used my air nailer and level to attach the boards horizontally.

To make the wall look like it was shiplap, I used a quarter to separate each of the boards as I was stacking them. I slid the quarter in between the two boards all the way down, as I was nailing them to the wall…this way, the gap then stayed the same size all the way through.

After completing the entire wall (including around the top section of the fireplace wall), I painted everything white, which not only added to the shiplap ‘feel’, but it made the lines really stand out 🥳

I was so happy with the results, that I went and added this to my kitchen and the dining room after too 😬

If you’re looking to create a shiplap look without the cost, I highly recommend this project 🙂

Back in 2017, we embarked on a massive project to transform our back deck into a cozy three-season porch! 🪚🔨

We hired a pro to handle the heavy lifting, like tearing out the old railings and framing in the porch, but the rest was up to us! We put in the sweat equity, finishing the interior with sheetrock, putty, sanding, wainscoting, and painting.

I was obsessed with finding the perfect grey tone, and I finally found 'granite grey' at Walmart for only $20 a gallon! 😳

The end result was worth it - our sunroom became our favorite spot, filled with natural light and the soothing sounds of crickets at night 🙂

I wanted to share some of the projects I took on in the farmhouse that we rented for a short time! It was an older home…about over 100 years or so, & I was more than happy to spend some time updating it on a small budget 😎

Here, I’m sharing the downstairs bathroom 🛁

I started by taking out the shower bars, & the short sink first. Once those were removed I went ahead & painted over the walls, that were sheets of linoleum with little flowers on them. I used boat paint to paint over each of the flowers first, let them dry & then went back over the entire walls with a roller for a seamless look. I would have had to have used sand paper to scuff it up, but I was able to avoid that step by using a boat paint that I found online. It adhered a lot better than most wall paints, & it was waterproof, so I knew that there would be no chipping/peeling.

After that was completely dry, I painted the ceiling, window sill, crown molding, & the shower with the same paint, & replaced the outlet covers with bright white ones.

Next, I adhered the floor tiles onto the area where the vanity was going, installed the vanity I found at Lowe’s for about $200.00, & installed the sink. This vanity was cool, because you could install it either left or right with the doors/drawers. The toilet got a good cleaning & a new seat, & then I finished working on the tile floor.

For the floor, I found this really cool black & white design that I absolutely fell in love with, & bought quite a bit of it. I wanted both bathroom floors in the house to match, so I made sure to get enough up front. This is peel & stick linoleum tile, which not only is super easy to apply, but also easy to cut into the pieces you need for hard areas like around the toilet. I actually decided to use adhesive before laying the tiles down, because this is a room that was going to get a lot of shower use, & I wanted to be sure the tiles stayed put in case of pooling water.

There wasn’t a closet in this room, just a few shelves in the corner, so I found a closet that was small enough to fit from Amazon, & installed it in that corner & it was done!