Bedroom Built-ins {Part 1}

I am beyond thrilled to be writing this post because it means I am finished with this project!!

Last Fall we finished our basement and moved our older boys down there.

The bedrooms down there are big!

We thought that adding built-ins would help take up a little space while also being functional.

This was the first big project I've tackled by myself, and I'm so happy with the way it turned out.

I will be breaking up the details and steps into 2 separate blog posts.

This first post will mainly cover the details for the tall bookcase/shelves, the second post will be for the window seat with cupboards, and the floating desk.

I did go back and forth between the different sections because I needed things to dry, or ran out of some supplies but still wanted to get other things done, so it might be a little all over the place, but stay with me here!

Kitchen Counter Declutter

For the longest time I have been trying to come up with a better solution for storing our fresh produce.

Some fruits and veggies go in our fridge, but for the rest they've always just been put in a kind of pile on our counter.

A few people suggested a fruit bowl or a fruit stand, but I still didn't like the idea of it on the counter. I wanted to free up as much counter space as possible so I turned to the internet and started searching for ideas.

I had seen a couple of hanging baskets but it wasn't quite what I wanted, until I found this shelving kit for only $27 on Amazon! 

(I’ve linked this shelving kit and all of my recommended household finds HERE)

I have a pretty small pantry door, only 18" across, so this 12" wide set was perfect! 

It was on back order for a week, but it finally arrived yesterday and I put it up right away.

Hallway Closet Organization

Guys, I am so excited we finally got this checked off our to-do list!

I am loving how this turned out.

This is our hallway closet.

It's supposed to just be a coat closet, but the way the layout of our house is, it doesn't really work for just that purpose.

On our main floor this is really the only storage space we have, which meant we needed it for a lot of different items.  

Let's get a better look at the 'Before' picture to see what we were working with...

Shoe Rack Tutorial

In the winter months, since we're stuck indoors so much,  I start to notice projects around the house that I haven't gotten to yet.

This would be one of them.

When we first moved in to this house over 2 years ago I was bound and determined to make some sort of shoerack/shelving in our master bedroom closet. 

It bothers me when stuff is spread out when I can have it stack up, if that makes sense.

Well, throw in yard projects, painting projects, being pregnant, and having a baby, and our closet kind of got pushed to the back of my mind for a while.

A few weeks ago we made a trip to The Home Depot to buy some stuff to organize our hallway closet and while we were there my husband grabbed some shoe racks that were like $30 each (!!)

He told me it's been 2 years of me talking about building something, and he just wanted to get the shoes off the ground. 

Reluctantly I let him buy the racks and the next day I put one together.

I hated how it looked and it was too small and way too boxy.

This kicked my butt into gear and I took it apart, boxed it back up, and made shoe racks myself.

For a ton cheaper.

DIY Temple String Art

A few months ago I was trying to come up with a craft project for our upcoming 'Relief Society Super Saturday'.

I had Google searched ideas over and over and I ended up finding a picture of some temple string art, I don't even remember which temple it was a picture of, but it sparked my mind and thought it would make the perfect craft.

I had a an idea of what I wanted so I started sketching my own design of some temples, and I was really excited with what I came up with.

I had to make a 'trial run' to see if this would all work, and actually look like a temple, so this was the sample I created. I also needed a sample to show the women at church what we would be creating.

This is the Mount Timpanogos temple.

I loved the result, so I put together a tutorial together if you want to make your own.

SnapPower Guidelight Review

* I received the following product for free in exchange for an honest review here on my blog.

All opinions are 100% my own and honest.

I do not receive any compensation for clicks on links or if you purchase the product.

We have been hitting some bitter-sweet milestones here at our house lately.

With in the last 3 months my 2 year old has turned into a big boy :(

We got rid of the binky, he is fully potty trained, and the most recent event was taking down the crib and upgrading him to a toddler bed.

To be honest, I was pretty nervous to make the switch to the bed.

To get to our room from his he needs to walk down a hallway and then turn after a staircase down another hallway area.

He doesn't really sleep well through the night and will wake up a couple of times. I was really worried that one of those times, instead of calling me in, he would realize his new freedom and try to come to me on his own. 

I was nervous that he wouldn't see where he was going, because it's so dark, and would fall down the stairs.

Do you see my legitimate concerns here??

Here is where this amazing product comes in to play!

This is the SnapPower Guidelight.

It replaces your old outlet cover and doubles as a nightlight. It doesn't require any batteries or wires, and leaves your outlets free.

Bathroom Makeover Reveal

It's a cold, cloudy, snuggly kind of day today so I thought I would finally get around to posting the full makeover I did in one of our bathrooms.
We've been in our house just over a year now, back when we first moved in we kind of just put up some decor we had on hand and left it at that.
I've been trying to take one room at a time and 'finish' it, and this one was at the top of my list.
Not only is it our kid's bathroom, but it is also the guest bathroom for anyone who might be over as well.

I've got some before and after pictures for you, and I listed where everything came from or how I made it.

Let's see how it all came together!

DIY Beach Themed Canvas Art

Two weeks ago I posted a tutorial for removing the towel bar in your bathroom and replacing it with towel hooks instead.
It was the first post for our bathroom makeover. (If you missed that one you can check it out here).
We had some beach-themed artwork already in the bathroom, but I felt like it was a little out-dated and I wanted something to tie in with the other colors.
I knew I wanted to make something myself, so I went to Hobby Lobby and grabbed a 2-pack of blank 8x10 canvases. I think they are only $3.99 (and then use your 40% off coupon!)
I decided on a seahorse picture and an anchor picture.

I've got step by step pictures to show you how to whip these up yourself!

Towel Hook Tutorial

Over the last week or so I have been dabbling in about 10 different projects around our house.

One of these said projects is re-doing our guest bathroom/the kids bathroom.

While I have not yet completed the transformation, (I still am deciding on wall decor...) I wanted to share this simple yet amazing transformation that has already made a huge difference, and anyone can tackle!

I ended up installing 4 hooks, and I've got lots of pictures to show how it all came to be.

Pictured below is our bathroom before.

Yes, I did paint the walls a fresh airy light blue color, and got a new shower curtain, but I will talk more about all those details when I post the full bathroom makeover. (Stay tuned!)

Right now I want to focus on where our towels were hanging. Or, I should say towel.

That's it, one small towel bar that only fit one towel with a very big empty wall...

Wall Decor

I love looking through Pinterest and getting inspired by so many different decorating styles and ideas, and I wanted to share my own in hopes that someone else can be inspired too.

I have kind of fallen in love with this look, mostly because almost all of the pieces we used were already ours and they have a little backstory, which I will share.

Between our family room and dining area windows there is a blank wall.
The only thing that separates the rooms is the flooring, it changes from carpet to hard floor.
We have high ceilings which also adds to the large blank look.
I had a couple of ideas floating around on what I wanted to put there, but it took me forever to finally decide and get it done.

PVC Pipe Curtain Rod

A couple of weeks ago I shared the Color Block Curtains I made for my son's room.
I mentioned at the end of the post that I had hung the curtains with hardware and a rod for about $3.
I am back now to show you what I used and how it all came together.

We had a lot of pvc pipe my parents gave us a while ago, so I figured we should start using up some of it!

Color Block Curtains

I have kind of been on a sewing kick for the last little bit, and I have been loving it!

Since the Spring months have started the sun is naturally rising a little earlier each day.

Both of my boys are early risers anyways, but I wanted to make curtains for my toddlers' room so I could get him to sleep as long as possible...so until around 6:30-7...
This project was a lot of trial and error, I was kind of making it up as I go.

Zippered Pillow Case Tutorial

Guys, I am so excited about this post. What we have here is a Pinterest success!
So first, a little background...
A few months ago we were on the hunt for new couches.
We had owned a set since we were first married, over 10 years ago!
Our old couches were actually still in really good condition, but didn't fit our new home as well as we wound have liked. We ended up selling them and inherited a used L-shaped sectional from family.
After a few months with that couch we decided we wanted something a little bigger to fit the space better.
My husband also really wanted to upgrade.
We ended up finding the perfect couches, and after a couple of weeks they arrived.
My husband mentioned getting some pillows, but I honestly hated the idea of throw pillows. In reality I knew they wouldn't ever stay on the couch, they would be thrown on the ground, and I didn't want to give myself something else to pick up :)
I was browsing through Pinterest and came across an amazing tutorial from Corey at Tiny Sidekick for zippered pillow cases. The tutorial was so inspiring, and I really wanted to try something new.
This was my first time sewing pillow cases, and my first time sewing a zipper, and now I'm kind of addicted!
I think I want to make 2 more pillows now to go with these ones....

I've got a lot of pictures for you to kind of explain the process, but it's something that beginners can totally tackle.

Making a House a Home

About a week or so ago I was inspired by Compass, a technologically savvy real estate company based in NYC, from a new project they began entitled Starter Stories. 

The project is about bloggers sharing stories where they are/were starting out in a home, apartment, wherever, and how to make that place your own.

I wanted to participate, but didn't know where I would start or what I would share. I had lots of ideas floating around that were how-to's and DIY's, but one project from our past stuck out in my mind.

Since being married, my husband and I have moved 7 times so far.

Each place we have been in we have tried to make 'our own', but we weren't at most of those places long enough to do too much.

I'm so glad this project got me thinking though, because I started looking through old pictures and it brought back so many wonderful memories of our first home.

Here is a picture of our home on the left during building, and on the right was 5 years later when we put it up for sale.

We accomplished so many things in this home, and really made it our own, but one of our biggest accomplishments was this built-in entertainment center.

My husband and I had been married for about 9 months when we found this new community being developed.

DIY Magnet Board

Years ago I worked at a doctors office and in the waiting room there was an area for kids with a magnet board around the whole wall.

Ever since then I have wanted to make something like that for my kids.

Yes folks, this idea came before the days of Pinterest.

Gasp!  :)

As always, I've got lots of pictures for you on how this all came together!

(Sorry the pictures aren't the best quality, I used my phone for all of them. I know, I know...)

So here's a quick run-down of the supplies and where I got everything.

DIY Seashell Picture Frame

Have you ever taken a trip to the beach and taken a cute sand photo and collected some shells?
Well, I have a small project for you!
About two days before we moved from California back to Utah we decided to go to the beach one more time. It was 'our beach' because we went to the same spot every time.

We knew it was our last trip to there for a while...maybe a couple of years...so we wanted to somehow remember it.

We did the classic footprints in the sand of each member of our little family. (Yes, we had our then 2 month old do a little chubby footprint as well :) )

While we lived in California we went to the beach MANY times and my son loved collecting seashells.

Over time a bunch of the shells broke or got lost, so I wanted a way to keep the shells intact and also display our cute picture.

This is what I came up with.

DIY Kids Coat Rack for Under $5

So this is what we were up to last week.

I love how this little project turned out!

I think the 'nesting' stage of my pregnancy is starting to kick in, I want to organize and clean everything!

Since moving into our apartment back in September (yes, almost 10 months ago), this is how my son's bedroom door has looked.

We've got a backpack, super hero masks, a super hero umbrella, and super hero capes all piled on those door knobs.

T-ball Picture Display

What's this?? I have a craft to show you?! 

I know, I know.

It's been a while since I posted about something crafty/DIY. 

I'm using my pregnancy as an excuse :)

So, I have mentioned we were visiting Utah last week to see friends and family since we had a little time off with the long weekend and all.

A couple of days before we left I decided that we should take a little something for my parents and my husband's parents as a little token from our son's baseball season that just ended. 

I know both sets of grandparents would have LOVED to be at every game cheering on our little guy, but we did send them pictures and videos, so they felt somewhat like they were apart of it all.

The team had taken pictures a couple of weeks ago, so I thought we could use the picture and make something for them to remember the season.

This is what we came up with.

I love how this turned out. 

We have the year, my son's #, and his hand print so they can remember how small and cute it was :)

DIY Shoe Rack

Since moving into our apartment a short 4 months ago I've had a mental to-do list of things I wanted to accomplish.

Well folks, I can now check one of those things off of my list :)
I looked around for a shoe rack to fit behind our front door, but they were all kind of big, or pretty pricey, etc.
I figured we could make one.
My son loved helping me with this project. This is what we came up with.

We have this square of hard floor around the front door, and then carpet in the rest of the front room.
That's where the shoes end up. Just kicked right off once we come in the house.
Living in a smaller space makes it look more messy, so I decided to fix this problem.

DIY Jewelry Organizer

Hello world!

This week I was in the mood for a project.

This is what I was up to, what do you think??  

I'm pretty pleased with it, I especially love the colors!

I've seen this earring holder idea all over Pinterest,
(so I'm not sure who to give credit to for this awesome idea...)