Happy Monday! Or should I say “May the 4th Be With You”? In all honesty I’ve never been that into Star Wars even though growing up the rest of my family was, and by not being that into Star Wars I mean I don’t even know which of the movies I’ve seen or how many there even are. Don’t judge. The good news is now that I have a 6 year old son it seems to be some sort of a requirement that I become a fan, you know since he’s slowly becoming a fan. He’s super into Baby Yoda right now and I will say he’s pretty darn cute and his cuteness is almost tempting enough to make me sit down and watch from the beginning. But enough about that. I wanted to share another project I finally checked off my never-ending home improvement to-do list. Anyone else have one of those?

I shared a picture of our painted stairs on my Instagram account a while back and I was totally digging the dark blue color we ended up painting them, but after leaving them like that for a couple months I decided something was missing. They needed some sort of a “pop” (as if dark blue stairs don’t “pop” enough). I agonized, as I do best, over installing a stair runner or stair treads or painting the risers a different color, but I decided I wanted something a little more unique, like something with a pattern on the risers, but I also knew I wasn’t about to stencil anything … insert removable stair riser decals that look like tiles. Who knew there was such a thing?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QTXHLQF/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apip_ePkF1ypLDY1HJ

I decided to start with every other stair to make sure I liked the look. These came 12 decals to a pack with each decal measuring 8 inches by 8 inches. I ended up ordering 4 packs since after measuring I figured I’d need about 6 decals per stair and I was doing a total of 8 stairs. After taking close to forever to get here, I was so excited to get them on the stairs. I figured I’d just slap them on and be done with it. That was before I realized each of our stairs was a different length and a different height. So there was a little (or a lot) of cutting involved and a few (or several) do-overs, but after a good bit longer than expected I was finally done and I have to say I was pretty happy with the outcome.

A few things to keep in mind during this project:

• Clean your stairs really well before applying (and let them dry completely)
• Start where you feel most comfortable – I started at the left side of each stair and worked my way over. These decals can be moved several times and still stick so no freaking out required if you don’t get them on straight the first time
• A razor blade is super handy to have for the cutting (cut gently so you don’t gouge the stairs). I ended up having to cut the tops all the way across & the side of the last one on each stair.
• After applying the decals, run a cloth over the surface to apply pressure & get out any air bubbles
• Applying heat helps to activate the glue so run a hair dryer over each step at the end. I originally skipped this step and the corners started peeling after a few days, so I’d definitely recommend not skipping

If you like patterns and pops of design as much as me, this is an awesome and super inexpensive way (like less than $100) to liven up your stairs. I even decided I liked the look of just doing every other stair so I can now say this project is officially completed! Enjoy your Monday and may the 4th be with you 🙂

I’m a huge fan of wallpaper. And by huge, I mean I would deck out the entire house in it if it wasn’t so dang expensive … and if my husband would leave town long enough for me to get away with it. But since we’re under this thing called quarantine I can’t really send my husband anywhere and then there’s still the financial aspect of it. I truly had every intention of wallpapering the nook area in my soon-to-be-yet-still-under-construction craft room upstairs, but after realizing it was going to cost close to $1000 to do a smallish area that nobody was ever really going to see, I talked myself out of it, and for those that know me well you know once I get an idea in my head it doesn’t leave easily. Granted this has been a 6-month long process – quote after quote, waiting for my beloved wallpaper to go on sale (which it never did), thinking of doing it myself even though I’ve never wallpapered anything in my life, looking at tons of peel and stick options, so on and so on. I was kind of at a loss and about to just bite the bullet with the do-it-myself option, but then while scrolling aimlessly through Pinterest late one night (as I love to do when I can’t sleep), I kept coming across pins of wall designs that people had painted themselves. And there it was … the solution to my 6-month long, not important whatsoever, dilemma. I was going to handpaint a design on the walls of the nook area myself. It’s like Pinterest had been listening to me this whole time.

I started by painting the walls white (flat finish), which took 2 full coats because I was painting over a darkish blue color and because I was too lazy to use a primer. I had seen lots of fun designs on Pinterest and I tossed around the idea of using a stencil to do a couple of them, but then remembered I hate stenciling because I have no patience when it comes to painting, so I picked something I could do completely freehand – a brushstroke pattern. This tops the list of easiest projects ever – no straight lines needed, no same size brushstrokes needed. I literally just dipped the tip of a 1.25 inch paintbrush in some blue paint I already had sitting around and made some brushstrokes on the walls. I absolutely love the outcome … and the few people I texted pics to all thought it was wallpaper. Bonus.

The biggest key to this project is to not get a ton of paint on the tip of your brush. You’ll end up with drips (take it from me). It’s better to get just a little at a time, which means you will have to re-dip your brush in the paint often, but it’s worth it. It’s handy to pour some paint in a smaller cup so you can carry it with you as you move across the walls. I started in the middle of a wall and simply made brushstrokes going down to the bottom, then used a step-ladder to go from where I started to the top of the wall. After the first go-round I went back and added some brushstrokes in areas that looked a little bare.  And that was it. It’s a super cheap and super easy way to add some “fun” to your walls, not to mention a pretty awesome alternative to wallpaper. However wallpaper will always be my first true love.

Paint source – Behr Low-Luster Enamel Porch & Patio Floor Paint in Rainstorm. Like I said, I literally just used what I had sitting around 🙂

I’d love to say our attic renovation is completely done but it’s still missing some paint, some wallpaper and some light fixtures … and some organization. The attic bathroom, however, is done!

The “construction” phase of the bathroom reno involved tearing up the tile floors, tearing out the 2 vanities and knocking down a wall – you know, just totally minor stuff. We (and by “we” I mean my handy brother) then installed new tile floors – NuCore Luxury Vinyl Tile to be exact, which I was totally skeptical about to begin with but now that they’re installed I couldn’t love them more. We then put in one new vanity and left the area where the other vanity had been open to give the bathroom more space. Due to having to cut the vanity top to make it fit in the space and due to the cut not exactly being what you’d call straight (no renovations are trouble-free, amiright?), my brother installed a wood surround around the top of the vanity to hide the imperfection and I have to say it looks kinda like perfection at this point. The walls were painted with a custom-made color by yours truly.  Basically I mixed two blue paints together (Sherwin Williams Regatta & Sherwin Williams Oceanside). It’s not quite the color I was going for but I’m not about to repaint it so it’ll do for now. I may leave the custom colors up to someone else next time. We replaced the toilet but decided to leave the bathtub as is since it was in such good shape. We did update the faucet, showerhead and drain parts. Two new light fixtures and a new mirror were installed and then I began my favorite part – the decorating!

Here are some pics with sources tagged at bottom:

The Before 

Goodbye Old Vanities & Wall

Hello New Floors, New Paint, New Vanity

Final Touches

Vanity – Home Center Outlet // NuCore White Grouted Rigid Core Luxury Vinyl Tile – Floor & Decor // Birds Shower Curtain – Cost Plus World Market // Wood Barrel Mirror – Target // Threshold Towels – Target // Teak Wood Bath Mats – Amazon // Cactus Prints – Target // Cactus Scroll – Amazon // Bamboo Tissue Box – Amazon 

Next up — my craft room!! Keep an eye out for that post coming soon (I hope) 😉

Happy Monday to all!

We’ve been working on our attic transformation since late last Fall and I’m a bit embarrassed to say we still aren’t quite finished. I’ve done a lot of projects in my life but never have I ever spent SO much time on one … I think it’s gonna be good though and totally worth the wait 🙂

We bought our house 2 years ago and we’ve done a lot in that length of time, or at least I like to tell myself that. The entire downstairs has been painted, the sunroom has been wallpapered, hardwoods have been installed in all the bedrooms, the interior columns have been replaced with wood beams and a crazy-large window was removed to create a walk-through from the dining room to the sunroom … and that’s just the big stuff. We’ve also had our roof replaced and the outside painted but those things don’t trigger quite the same amount of excitement as the others. It was hard to pinpoint what our next project would be, because the kitchen and outside are fighting each other at the top of my list, but we decided to go with the attic. Weird choice some might say, but we’ve been excited to make the space usable for us. All of our living is on the first floor, which I love, but there’s not much space left to “play” … enter the attic space. The people before us had transitioned the attic into some sort of a second floor with three large rooms and a bathroom, which I find so amazing in itself, however it wasn’t quite working for us so we’ve made (and are still making) some changes to make the space our own. So far we’ve ripped up all of the carpet and installed some amazing hardwoods we found ON CLEARANCE at Floor & Decor. We’ve knocked down some walls and moved some doorways, we’ve redone the bathroom, we’ve installed all new lighting and we’ve done some painting. We’ve designated one room as Austin’s playroom, one room as the game room (think ping pong, air hockey, darts) and one room as my craft room – can I get a hallelujah?!? I’m happy to say that although we may still be in the process of finishing up this huge undertaking at least the playroom is complete!

After the “construction” phase of the playroom renovation was complete, we installed the hardwoods and painted the room Sherwin Williams Dewy to help brighten up the space. We designated one wall as ‘the chalkboard’ and painted it from top to bottom with Valspar black chalkboard paint. We then hung french doors in the brand new doorway and stained them with Varathane Provincial wood stain. Recessed lights were also installed, as well as a new fan, and to keep it simple we painted the ceiling the same color as the walls! After that it was time for the fun part – decorating! And because I’m obsessed with Rethunk Junk’s Denim Blue chalk paint, I did paint an existing piece of furniture with it and did a glossy finish.

Here are some before and afters with sources tagged at bottom:

Construction Phase

Pre-Paint & Pre-Hardwoods

Post-Hardwoods

Post-Paint

Final Touches

IKEA KALLAX storage unit (I painted with Rethunk Junk Denim Blue chalk paint & a gloss finish) // IKEA LEKMAN storage cubes // IKEA LYCKSELE futon with black/white EBBARP cover // IKEA KNAGGLIG wooden storage crates // Triangle wall decals – Amazon // Threshold Schoolhouse wall clock – Target

Keep an eye out for a bathroom reno post soon! Happy Monday to all 🙂