The Ultimate Guide to Beating the High Cost of Decorating

by RoxanneK, in category DIY, home interiors, How-to, Inspiration, Interior Design Tips and Tricks

Decorating. It can seem like a frivolous thing.

It’s really not when you think about it. It’s not about showing off your home to others or trying to one-up the neighbors. It’s about how you’re home makes you feel, and how it makes your family feel. That’s important.

So, today I have a little surprise for you. I’ve been working on something behind the scenes over here. If you’ve been following along with me for any amount of time, you know by now that I am always thinking up ways to decorate on a budget. That is out of necessity, but even if I had an unlimited decorating budget, I wouldn’t overspend on home decor. Plus, I do like the challenge as well. When I can create a DIY chandelier or imitation designer closet doors, for a small fraction of the retail price, it’s a very satisfying feeling!

My goal has always been to share all I’ve learned with you. So I’ve taken all of my decorating and DIY experience and put together an eBook called The Ultimate Guide to Beating the High Cost of Decorating! I use the term eBook lightly, it’s under 20 pages long but I packed each of them with my best cheap decorating ideas.

Such as when and where to find the best deals, how to repurpose and reuse outdated items, and how to think outside the box. It’s full of practical tips and tricks you can use to create a beautiful home without draining your bank account.

I created this as thank you gift for subscribers of my blog. If you’re already a subscriber, you should have gotten this in your inbox last Friday. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can type in your name and email using the form at the bottom of this post to get placed on the list (your email will never be shared with any third parties!). Once your subscription is confirmed, you will receive an email with a link to the eBook.

By the way, as a subscriber, you will receive my new posts by email, filled with tons of decorating tips and tricks, as well as being the first to know about giveaways.

I am committed to decorating my home on a budget and I want to share with you how you can do the same!

Jun182018Jun 17 2018

DIY Granite Countertops – Yes, Really!

by RoxanneK, in category cheap decorating ideas, DIY, Kitchen

I live in a development where all the houses have pretty much the same layout. They were all builder grade basic to start out, and that is one reason I’m always trying to personalize it and add some interest. One of my neighbors was itching to upgrade her kitchen and asked me to help her out with it. She had seen how I painted my niece’s kitchen counters and wanted to do something similar to hers. We talked about it and decided to go with the look of granite countertops as opposed the marble look I did at my niece’s. The granite is better suited to my neighbor’s kitchen and style.

Here is what her kitchen looked like before. She had just replaced the flooring and had someone scheduled to come over and paint the cabinets. My neighbor wasn’t ready at this point to spend the money on new counters, or new backsplash so we matched everything to the existing backsplash.

The Giani Granite countertop kit I used last time worked so well that I wanted to use that product again. We decided to go with the Sicilian Sand kit to compliment her existing color scheme. Here is her kitchen before:

As you can see, it’s very similar to what my own kitchen looked like before I remodeled it, it’s just flipped. Her’s is to the right and mine is to the left.

What You Will Need*:

Giani Countertop Kit (We used Sicilian Sand)

Painters Tape

Utility Knife

Small Artist Brush

Light Sanding Sponge

How to DIY Granite Countertops:

The first step is to clean the existing counters with a brillo pad. This does double duty. It cleans them as well as roughens them up a bit, no sanding required. Then rinse twice with water.

Next, I used painters tape all around the perimeter of where I’d be painting to protect the walls, cabinets, and appliances.

After that, you prime them with the black primer included in the kit. It also comes with the roller to apply it. I used a brush around the edges and where the counters meet the backsplash. Once it’s primed, let it dry for 8 hrs. My friend and I were saying we even liked how it looked at this point.

The kits come with 3 accent color paints and a sponge for sponging them on. Open all 3 cans, and pour a little of each into separate trays. Working in 2-foot sections, sponge color 1, then 2, then 3 without letting it dry in between, you want them to blend.

There is no right or wrong way to do this part. You can add as much or as little color as you like. One thing I did notice, was that as I was progressing along and the sponges became more and more saturated it was leaving more paint on the counters. I had to go back and touch up some of the areas where I started to make it match.

When that is dry, roll on your sealer (also included in the kit). Wait four hours before using a second coat and sand the first coat very lightly first if needed.

When everything has fully dried, score the painter’s tape with a utility knife before removing so you don’t pull any paint up with it. That did happen to me in one or two tiny spots. I used a small, flat artists brush to touch up those spots.

Also, keep in mind that real granite countertops are a natural stone so the pattern is never exact. This should help alleviate any fears you might have about trying this yourself.

Here is a full side by side before and after. Can you believe the difference here using only paint?

Using a kit to achieve granite countertops is such a great alternative if you can’t afford to update your existing counters right now. I highly recommend giving it a try. Especially if you have laminate counters, you really have nothing to lose! If you do try it, I also recommend reading the instructions on how to care for them. Even though the top coat is solid, you don’t want to use abrasive cleaners on them so that they last as long as possible.

*Thank you to Giani Granite for supplying the countertop painting kit. All opinions are 100% my own. This post contains affiliate links, you can read my full disclosure here.

May312018Jun 8 2018

DIY Wooden Sign For The Porch

by RoxanneK, in category DIY

Every good home decor blogger knows you never throw out leftover wood. Or fabric. Or pretty much anything else because you never know when inspiration will strike next, or what you will need when it does. You basically become a hoarder. That’s how it all began with this DIY wooden sign.

When we do have unusable scrap left from projects we load them into the bed of my husbands truck so he can bring them to the dumpster. As I was adding some scraps in there awhile ago I found a perfectly good piece of wood leftover from our sliding barn door that my husband snuck by me. Which gave me an idea. I’m still loving the wooden sign trend, so I made my own welcome sign for the front porch.

I started out by staining the wood, using the same technique as when I aged these wooden crates. First I stained it with Rust-Oleum weathered gray stain*, once that was dry, I went over it with Annie Sloan dark wax to give it a distressed look and to seal it.

While that was drying, I got out my Cricut machine to create the lettering. To determine what size I wanted the lettering to be, I measured my piece of wood and divided that number by 9. Seven for the lettering and 2 more for spacing at the top and bottom. My piece of wood measured 4’H X 5.5″ W and I made my letters approximately 3.5″W X 4.5″H.

I couldn’t fit them all on one mat, so I had to make two separate sheets. I used the Cricut alphabet font for this project.

I cut out each letter and used the Cricut transfer tape to apply each letter. Once I had them all cut out, I figured out my exact spacing on the wood. I drew pencil lines to divide each of the 9 sections to keep me on track. Each letter section was approximately 6″ H.

When I applied the letters I lined them up with the top pencil line of each section, this way the letters are spaced evenly in between without much effort.

You can read how to use the Cricut transfer tape here.

I’ve had my wooden sign outside on my covered porch since last fall and it’s holding up really well.

I have seen double-sided welcome signs at flea markets, which I didn’t do but I might add lettering to the back later. I’m thinking the word Autumn would be nice for fall and since it has 7 letters in it, I know the spacing will work out the same.

You can see my front porch all decked out for summer here.

*This post may contain affiliate links, you can read my full disclosure here.

May282018May 27 2018

13 DIY Garden Ideas

by RoxanneK, in category DIY, Garden, Uncategorized

Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all of our men and women in uniform that put their lives on the line everyday to keep us safe! I’m so happy that summer is finally here, and we can get back to outdoor activities again. Do you love working in the garden and on outdoor projects as much as I do? If so, you’re in luck because today I’ve rounded up some really clever outdoor and DIY garden ideas. Just in time to kick off the season of outdoor living.

This beautiful DIY garden bench is simple yet creative, those are my favorite kinds of DIY ideas.

Yet another use for old pallets! this garden pallet organizer is genius!

Or make an entire walkway out of pallets!

This one isn’t really a DIY, it’s something you can buy. These rustic shovel and pitchfork planters are so cute, I wanted to throw it in here.

I love creative planters, anything is better than the ugly plastic pots you get at the garden centers. This container idea is definitely a step up.

I would really love to have an outdoor pizza oven. Who wants to heat up the kitchen on those hot summer nights?

What do you think of this raised garden bed, made using wine boxes?

Creative upcycle idea; refresh an outdated table like my friend Deb did with hers!

If you love that idea, check this one out too. The same concept, only wood was used in a herringbone pattern instead of tile. You know I’m a sucker for herringbone pattern!

Don’t forget the red white and blue with a pretty tiered garden using terracotta pots.

Build a DIY outdoor grilling station (this would be perfect for that pizza oven)!

Or a cozy outdoor fire pit.

And if we are talking about DIY garden ideas, we have to throw in a DIY pond !

Lastly, every great outdoor space includes some string lights, read 9 Ways to decorate with patio lights here.

So many great project ideas, so little time! Do you have any clever DIY garden ideas? Tell me about it in the comments!

May102018May 9 2018

How to Make DIY Herb Pots

by RoxanneK, in category Cricut Projects, DIY

You guys may know by now that I have a thing for herbs. I love herb gardens, herb planters, herb markers, etc. There are just so many fun ways to grow them. Last weekend I made these DIY herb pots, it was an easy project and I love how they turned out.

I started with simple terra cotta pots* and painted them white using Fusion Mineral Paint in Picket Fence. Next, I measured halfway down the pots to mark the center point. I made the lettering using my Cricut machine. I cut out words for several different herbs because I wasn’t sure which ones I was going to use at that point.

I used Cricut adhesive vinyl (I used purple knowing this was going to be removed later) for the lettering and transferred them to the pot using the transfer tape method like I did here. Then I painted over the pots again using chalk paint by Plaid in the color nautical.

Lastly, I used the Cricut weeder tool to remove the adhesive vinyl from the pots, letting the white show through.

They looked cute at that point, but I thought what would add more interest is to wrap the pots with some twine. I used hemp string, it’s a little thinner than twine. I attached it with a few drops of hot glue. If you try this project, take your time with this part. Let each spot of glue dry well before wrapping the next loop, and pull the string tight. Here is the finished result.

These would also look cute indoors on a windowsill.

I’m keeping these herb pots in a protected area outside for now because I did not put a sealer on them yet and I am not sure how this chalk paint would hold up if it gets rained on.

*This post may contain affiliate links, you can read my full disclosure here.

May32018Jun 8 2018

How to Make a Wreath

by RoxanneK, in category DIY

I’m calling this post how to make a wreath even though there are SO many different ways that wreaths can be made. After I finished my armoire makeover, I really wanted to add little wreaths to the doors. I loved the simple spring wreath that I made last year so I decided to do something similar, only with artificial greens this time as opposed to real.

I started with a 6″ embroidery hoop* from Michaels. You will also need faux greenery of your choice and fishing line.

I cut a few long stems from the faux greenery and began attaching it to the hoop with fishing line. You could also use floral tape, but I find the fishing line holds better and because it’s clear it just disappears into the greens.

Keep winding it around the hoop until you have your desired amount of greens on it. I had to go back in some spots and secure it with more fishing line where it looked a little wild.

To hang it on the door of the armoire I used a clear command hook that I attached to the inside of each door. You need to attach it UPSIDE down for this to work.

When you tie the fishing line from the wreath to the command hook, the weight of the wreath will pull the hook up to support the wreath, this is why you attach it upside down.

I thought about using twine to hang these wreaths like I did on my book page wreaths in the kitchen, but I used the fishing line instead thinking you would not see it. Because the armoire is a dark blue, it does show up a little. I’m okay with how this looks for now but may change it if I find something I like better here.

I hope you like my version of how to make a wreath. Pretty simple, right? In other news, we are finally making some progress in the living room. We started installing moldings and board and batten last weekend and hope to finish it up this weekend.

Lastly, congratulations to Kim from NJ, the winner of the wooden wall hook giveaway!

*This post may contain affiliate links, you can read my full disclosure here.

Apr302018Jun 18 2018

Painted Furniture – Armoire Makeover

by RoxanneK, in category DIY, Furniture Makeovers

The one room in my house that always seems to get neglected when it comes to decorating is my master bedroom. I guess that is because it’s a room that guests rarely see so it’s not a priority. We purchased a matching set of furniture for the room when we first moved in that now looks super dated. It’s an ugly orange wood tone, but the scale still fits the space well. Giving it a new look with paint is an easy way to make a dramatic change. Painted furniture can look as good as new. The armoire we have in this space was a huge eyesore, but it offers a lot of storage so I wanted to keep it. Here is what it looked like before.

Not only is it an ugly wood tone, it was also missing a door pull. I went back and forth in my mind whether to paint this a distressed white or a dramatic dark blue. I really could not decide, so I ended up doing a combination of the two. I first sanded the entire piece, inside and out, and then I primed it with a white primer that I had in my paint stash. Then I began painting the inside of the armoire with my blue paint, which I mixed with white.

I left the back wall unpainted because I wanted to line that with fabric. Remember the blue ticking stripe fabric I mentioned in this post? I went back to buy it so I could use it here. I measured the back wall, cut the fabric to size and attached it to the back wall using Mod Podge. To smooth the fabric as I was applying it, I used a large plastic ruler that worked perfectly.

Once that was done, I began painted the exterior. I used Fusion Mineral Paint in Midnight Blue. I love this shade, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted this armoire quite that dark, so I began mixing it with white. I experimented on the inside until I found the finish that I liked, which is a bit of a stippled effect.

To get that effect I poured white paint (I actually used the white primer) and my blue Fusion paint side by side in a large pan.

Then I dipped the brush in each and swirled it around. In some areas, I used more of the white and in others, I used more of the blue.

We replaced the outdated drawer handles with these new champagne colored pulls from Amerock. After spending hours searching knobs and pulls on Wayfair, I finally decided on these bar pulls. For the lower drawers, I used the 18 7/8″ center pulls and for the doors, I used the 7 9/16″ length pulls. I love how they contrast with the blue. Then I styled it up with storage baskets inside and mini wreaths that I made on the doors.

I have to say painted furniture really can make a dramatic difference in a short amount of time, it’s like night and day.

I still have the dresser from this set to refinish (or possibly replace), you can see what I did with the nightstands here. I went with blue here to match the DIY knock-off wall decor I added above the bed last year. I am really loving the pop of color in here.

I usually seal my painted furniture with some kind of furniture wax. I haven’t sealed this piece yet, the fusion paint is pretty durable and this is not a high traffic area so I may skip that step with this piece.

*This post may contain affiliate links, you can read my full disclosure here. Thank you to Amerock and Wayfair for supplying the hardware and to Fusion Mineral Paint for the paint! All opinions are 100% my own.

Apr52018Apr 4 2018

How to Remove Tile (Ugh!)

by RoxanneK, in category DIY, How-to

Let me apologize in advance for the lack of pretty pictures today. This project was a messy one, as you will see! One thing I have wanted to do forever in my house is to remove the outdated flooring that we have downstairs and replace it all with new matching wood floors. We had tile in our tiny entry, carpet in the living room (you can see pics of the living room here) and plank flooring in the kitchen. I really disliked the carpet, so I always kept a large area rug over it, which sort of added to the crazy mishmash of flooring I had going on. I am happy to say my husband and I have finally started this project! We began by removing all of the old flooring, and I wanted to share with you today how to remove tile. Although I would say this is something you can do yourself, it was NOT FUN.

What You Will Need*:

A Chiropractor (just kidding)

This is one time I was really happy to have a small foyer. If this were a larger space I might suggest hiring out because it is tough work to get old tiles up. I started it myself one day while my husband was at work to see if I was able to get any of them up. The most important thing to remember with this project is to wear safety glasses and gloves and to keep kids and pets far away. When the tile starts popping up, it flies everywhere.

How To Remove Tile

We had removed the carpeting first, so I was able to access the tiles from the side. If you don’t have that option, break up the first tile with the blunt side of a hammer. I wedged a flat head screwdriver under the tile and hammered it until it slid underneath. There were times I couldn’t get it under but I found if I moved it around I would eventually find a spot where I could get a little leverage. I would hammer it until I heard a little suction noise and then I was able to pop the tile up, though it came up in pieces.

Some came up in big pieces and some came up in tiny pieces, but it wasn’t terrible getting it up.

Sidenote: I should also mention at this point that the yellow line around the wall is there because I also removed the chair rail (learn how easy it is to remove moldings yourself here) that we had in this room, we plan to add board and batten in this space once the floors and moldings are done.

Once the tiles were up, it was what was underneath that was kind of a nightmare. All the mastic from the tiles was stuck to the cement floor underneath.

I believe there is a machine you can rent or buy to get this stuff up, but for such a small area I didn’t think it was worth it. So we chiseled it off by hand. Ugh! My husband used this type of chisel.

I found this one was easier for me, it was more lightweight and this is also worked as a sander/scraper. I also use a hammer and most tools from my own little toolkit because they are smaller and easier to handle for me than my husband’s heavier tools.

This little 5 x 4 space took us quite awhile to clear that mastic out. It was very slow going because it only comes up in tiny pieces. I had to keep reminding myself, “This will be worth it. This will be worth it!”, while my husband’s motto was “I love my wife, I love my wife”. You may have seen a snippet of him working on this in my Instagram stories a week or so ago.

It was tedious and exhausting. I could barely lift my arms to brush my hair the next day because I was so sore. There were some areas where we got some of it off but not all. In those spots, I was able to use the smaller chisel as a sander/scraper and flatten those areas out that way.

We have the new floors installed now, which I’ll show you as soon as we get the moldings back up. I’m not going to write a how-to post on putting those in because it was exactly the same process we used when we installed the vinyl plank flooring in my daughter’s room. I will say now that they’re in, it really was totally worth it. 🙂 Here’s a peek at them, as I mentioned we still have to replace the moldings.

If you have outdated tile like we did and aren’t ready to remove it just yet, see how I updated the tile floors in my bathroom – the easy way!

*This post contains affiliate links, you can read my full disclosure here.

Apr22018Apr 3 2018

9 Creative Ways to Use an Embroidery Hoop

by RoxanneK, in category cheap decorating ideas, DIY

I’m really not a crafty person, I don’t have the patience for it. I do, however, love cheap decorating ideas and sometimes that requires a little crafting. Embroidery hoop wreaths are so versatile, there is no end to the creative things you can make with them. They only cost a dollar or two at the craft store, so they definitely fall into the budget-friendly category.

One obvious thing you can make with an embroidery hoop is a wreath. My little eucalyptus wreath is one of my favorite craft projects that I’ve ever done. It was so simple, it took less than ten minutes to make!

Here’s a genius idea, add succulents to mini hoops and hang in groups.

When it comes to embroidery hoop wreaths, more is always better. Make a wall of wreaths like you see here from Cotton Stem. Isn’t this gorgeous?

Another creative idea is to use two slightly different size hoops and create a lampshade.

This wall hanging made using several hoops hung from a large branch is beyond beautiful and would not cost too much to make for such a large statement!

You could also make a beautiful mobile for a child’s room that can be easily customized to fit your theme.

Orbs are a great decorating accessory, that can be used almost anywhere! Make a decorative orb using several embroidery hoops.

Take it one step further and fill that orb with succulents and make it a terrarium!

If you prefer more modern decor, try this boho wall hanging.

You can even use it to make a canopy for your bed! These crafty projects are cheap and easy while still making a big impact and those are my favorite kinds of crafts. Want to see more? Check out some of my favorite cheap decorating ideas that look chic here!

Mar82018Mar 11 2018

Tall Kitchen Cabinets – How to Add Height

by RoxanneK, in category DIY, How-to, Kitchen

This post is a little overdue. We remodeled our kitchen almost two years ago, and I realized I never showed how we extended and customized our builder grade kitchen cabinets. I like the look of tall kitchen cabinets that extend to the ceiling and I figured out a way to do this on a budget.

The existing cabinets had a gap between the tops of the cabinets and the ceiling. I wanted to close that gap completely. I knew doing so would make the kitchen look and feel bigger and reduce the amount of visual clutter that accumulates up there. It would also give a more custom look and provide more storage space. For those of you who didn’t see the before photo of the space, here is what it looked like.

We had 18 inches of space between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling. The set of cabinets that were originally over my fridge (circled below) measured 12 inches in height. I figured 12″ cabinets would be perfect because we could fill in the remaining 6″ of space with molding. When we began the renovations, we removed that cabinet above the fridge and installed it above the cabinets.

Obviously, I needed more of these cabinets. To save money, I visited my local Habitat for Humanity where I found another set of 12-inch cabinets that were the perfect width for only $20. I added that one above the microwave.

kitchen before adding height to the cabinets

Next, I needed two irregular sized cabinets to fill out the ends. I recruited my contractor to build these for us, as you can see it the picture above. He also built a third one to add to the right of the microwave.

installing kitchen cabinets, kitchen cabinet height, upper kitchen cabinets

To finish off the construction of the tall kitchen cabinets, he filled in the rest with wood. We also had an awkward space over the fridge due to a soffit. We had to customize this space as well. I opted for wine racks to help maximize storage space here. Because my kitchen is small, I try to make displaying kitchen items pretty as well as functional by storing things in plain sight, like I did with my kitchen spice rack. The last thing we did was add a slim slide out pantry. That 8″ of space packs in a lot of storage!

adding height to kitchen cabinets, tall kitchen cabinets

Once I had all the pieces in place, I needed to make them cohesive. I painted the cabinets white and added cabinetry hardware. We took our makeover one step further and had glass inserts installed into all of the new upper doors. To completely finish the cabinets off and help achieve a custom look, my contractor installed crown molding. My husband and I added the shiplap wall a few months after the kitchen renovations were done.

white kitchens, tall kitchen cabinets, cheap kitchen cabinet ideas that look expensive

By saving some money on cabinetry, we were able to splurge on other things. Our kitchen is really a mix of high/low spending. We chose new quartz counters and stainless steel appliances, but made over the existing cabinets, as well as the table and chairs, and the chandelier over the table was a DIY project that we put together for under $25!

tall white kitchen cabinets, adding height to cabinets

The tall kitchen cabinets really does make the space look and feel bigger. You can see all the details of this kitchen makeover here.