About Us
Hi! We’re Ash and Eileen! We love dreaming, building, and creating.
There’s something so special about creating something from nothing.
So many of our projects started with a tiny idea followed by a scrap paper sketch.
Little by little, they turn into something we love.
Many of our DIY projects start from a “problem” area in our home, such as too many coats and shoes and nowhere to put them (see our incredible mudroom makeover).
Sometimes our projects are a dream project that we’ve been wanting to do for years (see Ash’s garage computer). And sometimes, our projects are creative crafts for a party or fixing up an old piece of furniture that’s begging for new life.
Proud of our creations, we started this website to share them. We share step-by-step tutorials, videos, tips, tricks, pictures, money-saving tips, and stories along the way (like a rock dilemma with our shade sail install).
Somewhere along the way, our DIYs started to inspire more and more of our readers, which brings us so much happiness.
More About Us
Want to learn more about us? Read our story here, including how we met and the thing we never built.
How Did We Start Learning DIY?
It all started when we wanted to put our first home on the market. We lived in a small, cookie cutter townhome, and we wanted to fix it up, so it would sell quickly.
Little by little, we started working away at little projects – painting rooms, fixing caulk, installing new closet doors.
Happy with the results, our smaller projects became larger projects. We started to learn more skills and add more tools to the toolbox – literally and figuratively. 🙂
Our first DIY build was a simple built-in bookshelf, and our most impressive was building an entire shed – from the ground up! And it’s gorgeous!
Ash and I have both always loved to dream and create, but we didn’t know that we could also build.
Our best advice for you? Start small like we did.
Project by project, I’m sure you will start to surprise yourself.
How Can I Start Fixing My Home?
Sign up for our free e-guide on 5 Steps to Makeover a Room, and start to transform a space in your homes. No matter your ability level, you can definitely start with these steps.
And, now for a little fun…
We truly do love the projects we have created. They are a product of us – our creativity, our hard work. A lot of our DIYs have helped make our home more functional and enjoy it more too. When you spend so much time in your home, you want to enjoy your spaces.
We thought it would be fun to share with you our favorite projects, high school superlative-style!
Ash’s Favorite DIY Projects
Most Proud Of – Who would have imagined me erecting 4 framed walls and hoisting up a bunch of rafters to make a 10×16 shed? I certainly surprised myself by building our shed. It was a huge undertaking, but I kept working on it piece-by-piece, and was amazing to see the end result.
Most Creative – Our most creative DIY project was definitely the CD tower that I installed inside a wall of the pantry to act as a DIY spice rack. I knocked down a useless wall and upcycled a CD tower that was on its way to the curb.
Most Fun – The speedbag platform was definitely the most fun to make. I’ve never seen a speed bag platform that can raise and lower, so I thought it would a cool idea to implement for my garage workbenches. The rubber dampeners even helped cut back some of the noise.
Nerdy Favorite – I love the wooden computer case that I made for the garage. I’m certainly no noob when it comes to building computer cases but this wooden case really was a blast to work on. Not to mention its function in the garage for more builds!
Eileen’s Favorite DIY Projects
Most Functional – Without a doubt, the most functional DIY project was definitely the locker-style cubby shelves that we installed in our oddly-shaped mudroom. As a busy mom, having an organized space for backpacks, bags, shoes, and coats is so necessary. Instead of buying a piece of furniture and trying to make it work, everything about this DIY hall tree was customized for our family.
Most Adored – I adore so many of our DIY projects, especially because they were such a team effort. I would come up with designs and Ash would bring them to life. It always feels so magical! My most adored DIY project is definitely my floor-to-ceiling bookshelves with a window seat in the middle. It feels like such a dream room – very Beauty and the Beast-esque!
Quickest – I love a quick project! Anything that is finished in a weekend always makes me smile! Ash built these DIY sliding garage shelves in just a weekend, and they hold so much! Seriously, how have sliding shelves not become a thing yet!?
Best Before & After – Ahh! There are so many amazing before and afters, but my favorite is probably the chalk paint nightstand makeover. Everything in my childhood room was the same style 1970s oak, and it always drove me nuts. As a child, I even used to paint the knobs on my dresser for a little pizzazz! So making over this old nightstand from my childhood was so fulfilling – and it literally looks nothing like it used to!
Crafty Superlatives
And, we can’t forget our favorite crafty projects too! Here are a few of our family’s favorites:
Most Fun – I absolutely loved painting this world map wall art. I used three wooden boards and a custom stencil, and then I painted bold colors gradient style to create this fun piece. I felt like I was back in high school art class – it brought so much creative joy.
Most Creative – This is another favorite of mine! This was our son’s DIY fire truck Halloween costume – and it was absolutely adorable. So adorable that a neighbor asked me to save it for her grandson for the following year. I made it out of a diaper box and construction paper. It was a no-cost project, and Ash decked it out with lights and sound.
Cutest – I made this adorable wall art for my son’s room with wall stickers and canvases. They turned out so cute and brought so much vibrancy into his room. This had a vehicle theme, but the awesome part is when he is over that theme, the stickers peel right off!
Kids Fav – This DIY felt Advent calendar is a hit every year in our house! It has taught both my kids their numbers (I love a craft that doubles as a learning activity).
We’re making headlines!
- Life Hacker recently wrote an article on Ash’s folding workbench called “This DIY Floating Workbench Folds into Place When It’s Time to Work, Away When You’re Done.”
- Make Magazine also featured Ash’s folding workbench in a post titled “Building a Folding Shop Workbench.”
- Apartment Therapy wrote a piece on our pantry doors. We replaced our old pantry curtains with French doors. It was quite an upgrade and Apartment Therapy featured it in a piece called “Before & After: Adding Some Pretty to the Pantry.”