Quick and Easy Chalkboard Sign

Hi everyone!  Today I'm excited to share my first DIY project.  We're starting out really easy with a simple chalkboard sign.  This was the finishing touch on my coffee bar, which I'm going to be sharing shortly!  This project came together in less than five minutes, and I absolutely love it.

To get started, here are the supplies you'll need:

• Chalk contact paper (I used this one)
• Photo frame of any size and shape (I used this cheap one from Ikea)
• Liquid chalk markers (I used these)

Once you've gathered up the supplies, here's how you make it:

1.  Take out the glass in the frame, clean it with an alcohol wipe to remove any oils or dirt, and line it up on the back of the contact paper.  Mine has a grid on the back, which made it easy to measure.  If yours is blank, just trace around the frame, and cut it out.

2.  Starting at one corner, peel off the back of the contact paper and line it up with the corner of the glass.  Working your way to the opposite corner, continue to peel off the contact paper and sticking it on the glass.

3.  If there are bubbles, use a plastic putty knife to smooth the paper.

4.  Trim any excess paper around the edges.  This is going to be covered by the frame, so you don't have to be too neat!

5.  Add the glass back to the frame, and you're done!

My frame came with a white border, so you can add that as well.  This didn't give me enough area to write on, so I ditched it.

7.  Decorate your chalkboard!  These chalk markers were really vivid and wrote easily, so I would highly recommend them.  This was a really small area to work on, so I think a larger frame would work out better!

Here is what the chalkboard looks like on my coffee bar.  I'll be sharing the entire bar in my next post, so stay tuned for that!

post contains affiliate links.  thank you for your support!

linking up with Amanda

Home Plans : Bathroom

We finally made it to the final room in the house!  If you haven't seen the other home tours, you can find them all here, or look at the living room, kitchen (and eating area), office, and basement.  Today we're going to be talking about the bathroom!

To be honest, there's not much that I want to do with this space.  It's a really small bathroom, and everything is in good shape!  I want to make some cosmetic changes, but for the most part I'm fine with how this looks.  As usual, I'll be sharing "before" pictures, projects I want to do, and some inspo!

Before

As you can tell, this is a tiny bathroom.  It was really hard to get pictures of everything, so just imagine a big white tub/shower on the other side of the toilet and sink.

Project number one was replacing the burnt out lightbulb!

Thankfully, there's a huge closet in the bathroom!  Even though it's a tiny space, there's plenty of room for toiletries and other bathroom supplies.  This is beside the tub.

Projects

- Paint.  I'm not really a fan of the brown color (plus we already did some work and messed up the paint on one wall, so this is a necessity!).

- Add a medicine cabinet.  Right now there's just a mirror with a shelf, so I would love to add a medicine cabinet to increase our storage.

- Accessorize.  I want to add some open shelves above the toilet, and decorate the bathroom a bit!  It's looking really brown and boring right now, so this should make it look a bit better.

- Organize the closet.  It's such a mess right now, so I need to figure out a storage system!  Hello, Container Store!

Inspiration

source

Doesn't this look like a spa?  I love how simple but effective the storage is.

 

source

Such a simple, clean design.  I think this could work!


Who else has a tiny bathroom?  Any suggestions?
Which inspiration pic do you like better...1 or 2?

linking up with Amanda and What's New With You! (go check out my other blog!)

Home Plans : Basement

After a bit of a blogging hiatus and lots of house work, we're back to the "before" home tour!  We're almost out of rooms, but today we have a really exciting one...the BASEMENT.

One thing that I really wanted when we were looking at houses was a finished basement.  When we were touring this house, I liked all of the rooms and the location.  Then, our realtor took us down to the basement...and I was completely sold.  Half-finished, separate (unfinished) area with all of the utilities, and an attached garage?  SOLD!

Today I'll be sharing some plans I have for this space, along with pictures and inspiration!

Before

 This door leads to the unfinished area (and all of our utilities/washer/dryer!)

 Hey- another fireplace!  This one is just decorative though.

Note the weird cubby on the left..we'll be talking about this below!

Projects

- Add a (half) bath.  The house currently only has one bathroom, so I think even adding a small half bathroom in the basement would be a huge improvement.  I'm hoping to also add a standing shower if we're able!  I do want to make it a little room where our utilities are, and definitely do NOT just want a Pittsburgh toilet.

-  Add a bar area.  We have a decorative fireplace that takes up one corner of the room, and Dan came up with the idea of building a bar in that area.  I have an image in my mind of what I want this to look like, so I'm hoping that I can really make it happen because it's going to be AWESOME.

-  Make a workout corner.  There's a weird corner of the room that would be perfect to add some shelves and organization for all of my workout gear (the cubby pictured above!).  Right now, I have everything thrown in that corner, so I need to do something to make it look neater and keep everything organized!

- Add some COLOR!  As you can tell from the picture, this is a very brown room.  Brown carpet, brown walls, brown fireplace.  I want to add some color so it doesn't look so dead and monotone!

Inspiration

source

I think this would look perfect for our workout area!  I love the bright cabinets and open shelving, so I can store some items and display others. 

source

I like the layout of this bar, and think this could work with what we have.  I would change up how the bar looks, but I love the stone mixed with wood!



Thanks for stopping by!  One more room to come, then we can start getting into projects and more fun!

Most Used Tools (so far)

Hi everyone!  As anyone who's moved to a new place (particularly a home) knows, you have to buy a lot of stuff.  The first week of moving in to our house consisted mostly of running back and forth from Lowe's to Home Depot, spending every bit of our paycheck just to pick up the "necessities".  It was so overwhelming!

Today I wanted to share the products that got the most use in our first month of home ownership.  I hope that seeing what I used most will help any one else who feels overwhelmed by the cost of moving!

Tool Kit

Of course, having a good tool kit is absolutely essential!  I got a small kit a few years ago from my dad, and it consists of all of the staples.  Having a hammer, pliers, screw drivers and tape measure on hand is really important when moving!  While you can always buy specialized or higher-quality tools later and build up a connection, having a small set to start out with is a good idea. Here is a good starter kit for under $40!

Step Ladder

I thought that having a step ladder was a waste of money, but I'm so glad that we picked one up!  We use this for just about everything - reaching the top of the wall when we painted, installing smoke detectors,  cleaning kitchen cabinets, trimming trees.  I really like this particular model because it has a huge top step which makes me feel safe (I get a little scared on ladders!)  Here is a similar ladder that looks sturdy!

Lawn Mower

When we first moved in, my parents gave us some advice- buy a lawn mower right away.  The last thing you want to do is let your lawn get overgrown and have your neighbors get a bad first impression!  While mowing the lawn is not a fun task, it's one of the main features of a house that people will notice when they drive by.  Nothing looks worse than an over grown lawn!  

Keyless Entry

While this isn't really a "tool", Dan and I have used our keyless entry more than anything else in the house.  I love how convenient it is, whether I'm juggling bags of groceries or go out for a run.  Not having to carry keys around is such a time saver!  Plus, you can give the code to family members so that they can stop by when you're not around.  If you haven't tried one out before, I highly recommend giving it a go!

Cordless Drill

This was definitely the tool that I was most excited to get.  For some reason, this always symbolized a home owner for me.  In apartments you don't have any use for a power drill, so I always told myself that once I owned a house this would be the first tool that I bought.  While it wasn't the first, I did buy one eventually!  I've already used this for a few projects around the house, and I love it!  I have this one and it works really well (at least so far!)

What are your most used products?

What do you think every homeowner needs to have?

linking up with Amanda

Home Plans : Spare Bedroom / Office

This is probably the room that I'm most excited about!  I've never had a spare room in any of my places before (I've always had one bedroom apartments), so the opportunity to make this my own is really exciting to me.

This house has two bedrooms that look the exact same (the "master" is a tiny bit bigger).  I'm not going to be sharing a separate post on the bedroom, because I'm not changing much about that room.  The "before" pictures all look the same, so I'll just share the room once it's done!

Right now, the room is kind of boring.  It's small and has yellow walls and a closet.  This is currently where we're storing a lot of things until we get it all organized, so it's definitely the room that needs the most work!  Here are some "before" pictures, the projects that I want to do, and some inspiration for what I want the room to look like.

Before

Projects

-Paint.  I'm not a fan of the yellow color, so that will be one of my first jobs!  I'm thinking about having a neutral color with one statement wall.  This is where I really want to get creative!

-Add storage.  Right now, I have a few mis-matched bookcases and other shelves that look really cheap.  I want to have a good storage system that integrates with a desk so that I can finally have a work station at home!

-Find a good sofa bed.  Since this will also be our guest room, we need to have some kind of a bed.  I'm hoping to find a reasonably priced sofa bed that is actually comfortable!  If anyone has suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Inspiration

source

I love this wall!  It looks really cute and fun.  Mandi always makes incredible rooms, and she outdid herself with this one!

source

This is exactly what I'm thinking in terms of organization!  How amazing and inspirational does this look!?  This just makes me want to get to work right now.


linking up with Amanda

Design for Less : Pottery Barn

Hi everyone! I'm happy to share my latest installment in my Design for Less series. Today we're going to be talking about Pottery Barn!  I absolutely love the classic, comfortable style of Pottery Barn, but the prices- not so much.  I made it my mission to find similar pieces that I fell in love with for much, much less and I think I succeeded!

I gravitated towards this living room setup, which ended up being really similar to my last DFL from Crate and Barrel.  You can probably tell by now that this is my style, so next time I'll work on focusing on something new.

I love how rustic the pieces are- from the faded leather couch to the lightened rug- yet they all go together to form a sophisticated room.  Just like in my last post, the tables have a wood and metal theme that I absolutely love! I would love to just grab all of these pieces and put them in my living room.  Check out the actual pieces below, followed by the pieces I found for less!

Pottery Barn

Griffin Coffee Table

Taos Diamond Tufted Rug

Vince Metal-Clad Accent Stool

Griffin Reclaimed Wood Side Table

Turner Leather Sofa

Gibson Tripod Floor Lamp

Design for Less

Wildon Home Coffee Table

nuLOOM Beaulah Rug

Highland Honeycomb Barrel

TRIBECCA Cyra Industrial Reclaimed End Table

Diplomat Leather Sofa

Tripod Wood Floor Lamp

post contains affiliate links

Home Plans : Eat-in Kitchen

Hi everyone!

The last room that I showed you all our kitchen, and now I'm going to be sharing the dining area.  We have no official dining room in this house, but there's a blank space between the living room and kitchen which is just enough space for an eat-in kitchen!

To be honest, Dan and I rarely actually eat at a table (usually on the couch..guilty), so I doubt a dining room would be used very often.  This space is just big enough for some storage and seating, so I'm excited to get creative and make the most of the space!!  Here's what I have planned:

Before

This opening goes to the living room, and where I'm hoping to add the drink bar (which I'll talk about below)

A view from the other side!  The kitchen is on the other side of the door (which leads out to the back deck)

Not very big, but plenty of room for fun projects!  Here's what I have in mind:

Projects

- Add a corner booth.  I think the best use of the space is to add a corner booth right beside the back door.  I have so many ideas on building this myself and I think it will be a great addition to the room!  The bench can also be used as storage for things like linens and special serving ware, so I think it's going to be very useful.

- Add a drink station.  This is probably the project that I'm most excited about in the entire house!  I have so many ideas right now about what I want and what I want it to look like.  I'm still not sure if I want this to be something that I build myself, or modify something that I can buy.  I've been getting lots of inspiration though, which you'll see below!

- Add some color.  I'm keeping the room blue, but besides that there isn't much color in this room.  The floors are gray, and the cabinets are white (I also want the coffee bar and drink station to be white so it's cohesive).  That means that I want to get creative and add in some color with things like rugs, cushions, and table decorations!

Inspiration

source

This is where I originally got the idea to add a drink bar.  This one is specifically for coffee, but I also want it to be used as an actual bar!  How amazing does this look though?!

source

I love how modern this corner booth looks!  It's nice and simple, and I love the built-ins above the seat.  Sleek and functional!

source

 I really like how the counters blend into the corner seat, and I could see this working in my space!  I could have a corner seat attached the the drink bar.  Love this design!


Check out my other room plans here!
linking up with Amanda