Neutral Rugs to Brighten Any Room

It’s no secret: I’m on a mission to brighten several rooms in our house from the darker and mid-darker grey pallet we currently have.  I’ve talked about some of my favorite whites here.  We’re in the process of lightening up our formal living space and upstairs stairway and hallway.  The upstairs space has no natural light, and the key to brightening this space up will be light paint.   Our formal living room is only occasionally a place we chill in and most often...

How to DIY Wood Wrapped Canvas Art for under $100

Landscape canvas large form prints have a huge impact in any room. Many designers are using these as focal pieces in dining and living rooms, and I’ve seen some gorgeous wood floating framed canvas prints that I would love to have for my home. McGee and Co. has some beauties, including this landscape piece in a floating frame for about $1,478 for a 72×48 inch print: And for around $600 and at a size of 26×37, this piece is another...

How to Make a Floating Picture Frame

We’ve been updating our wall art over the past few months. One way we’re updating our art is by swapping out smaller art pieces for large form art. We’ve found a great way to save money by creating canvas wrapped frames from downloadable art, which you can read about How to Create Wrapped Canvas Art for under $100 here. With all the large form art now, we wanted to frame them. We opted for a floating frame style. This post...

Hanging Green Plant Wall Art

Adding dimensional art to your walls can create depth and comfort to any room. Make it live plants and your walls will thank you. Hanging live plants on walls can requires some minimal upkeep, but there are some very low maintenance options you can consider. Here is what we chose for my office walls: To use this wall pot, I bought a set of small succulent plants to spread between the two wall vases. I used black river stones I’ve...

6 Steps to Winterize Your Sprinkler System and Avoid Freeze Damage

Getting the water out of your sprinkler system before the weather turns frigid avoids potential damage to your sprinkler heads and lines. It’s also a great way to wear out the kids as they run around seeing what sprinklers are hissing like dragons. As water freezes, it expands, creating pressure that can break plastic and metal. Here in the PacNW, the crisp October mornings bring yard crews with pamphlets announcing winterizing in the $75-125 range. And one of the things...

Round Wall Mirrors

After Ryan built the new Restoration Hardware hack entry table, I began looking for a 28-32 inch round mirror to place above the table. We previously had a portrait of my son as a baby that was too cute for words. But it was time to dress that wall up more with the wood table. And it’s nice to have a mirror to check ourselves before answering the door. I found a great deal at Target, where really great designers...

You and Your Contractor: #02 Bids and Estimates

This segment discusses some ways to inform the project cost and estimate process. These steps have helped us negotiate with contractors. More importantly, they have helped us understand our project budget and protect our pocket book from overpriced help. The first estimate is rarely the final price for your project. That generally holds true for remodel work or larger projects. If it’s a simpler project, like repainting a room, chances are the price is the price. Yet, there is usually...

Updating Pendant Lights

Replacing and updating lights is a great project. Here is our adventure in finding the perfect modern lighting solution for our kitchen. It is a project that is possible to take on yourself. If you aren’t comfortable around electricity, then you should check with an electrician. For most replacement projects, it’s a matter of swapping out the fixture as the existing ceiling box should work. First Things First – Power Off and Check your Product Updating lights could get complicated...

Update Console Table – Black and Brass

Before Ryan made this awesome Restoration Hardware Oak Hack Console Table, for several years we had this console table in light grey by our front door. After about a year, we painted it a deeper blue hue. I liked it and it served its purpose as a narrow console in our entry way in our last house and our current house. I didn’t want to get rid of it when Ryan made our new RH hack console table (as you...

How to Make Kid Art Photo Books

My Littles are now 5 and 7 and they LOVE art. They love making it and have since they were babies. And I love looking at it and can’t bring myself to throw out the pretty pieces, including chalk drawings from my son when he was 18 months old that don’t really look like much. We keep an Ikea hack cork frame in our kitchen for kid art, which we proudly display on a rotating basis. It’s nice to keep...