Eileen

How to Make an Amazingly Simple Wooden Christmas Star

November 3, 2018 by Eileen 23 Comments

There’s something about Christmas that makes me so happy.

I love coming down the stairs on a December morning, seeing the room warmly lit with the glow from the Christmas tree. I haven’t heard a Christmas carol that I didn’t like, and don’t even get me started on those Hallmark Christmas movies. 🙂

Needless to say, Christmas is my favorite.

So for this holiday season, I have something really special for you. I am collaborating with 26 other DIY and home bloggers to bring you {drum roll please} the Deck the Home Blog Hop.

Deck the Home Blog Hop is a series of amazing Christmas DIY and home projects that we will be posting every Monday morning from now until the first week of December, giving you plenty of time to peruse the projects and make some of them yourselves!

Each week has a theme – this week’s theme is Door Decor.

So, all 27 DIY bloggers have posted Christmas DIY door decor projects to their blog today! How cool is that?!

I’ll be sharing mine with you below, and I’ll be featuring one special blogger’s door decor project on Wednesday. As an added bonus, on Friday, I’ll be posting a little roundup of my favorites 🙂

And, below my project tutorial, there is a link-up of all of the Deck the Home Door Decor projects from the week.

Without further ado, here is my door decor project which will show you how to make a simple wooden Christmas star for your door. This project cost a whoopin’ zero bucks because they were all items I collected from around our workshop and craft room.

How to Make a Simple Wooden Christmas Star

The below instructions will show you how to make this easy holiday star.

Materials for the Wooden Star

The star itself is made just with ribbon, plywood, and greens. However, I did stain and wax the star, too. Check out the materials below.

Scrap plywood
Ribbon
Greens – Read below on how I got these 🙂
Wood Stain – I made my own!
Wax – We used Daddy Van’s Beewax, provided to us by Old Fashioned Milk Paint.

Optional – Jingle Bells or other fun accessories.

Tools Needed for the Wooden Star

Scroll saw (jig saw or even a handsaw will work too)
Orbital sander (or you can just sand by hand)
Hanging hardware

Draw out the Star

The first thing I did was grab a piece of scrap plywood from the garage, and I drew out a star. I didn’t want a perfect star, but one that had character – so I intentionally exaggerated some of the points.

Cut out the Star

Once I was happy with it, I used my scroll saw to cut it out.

If you haven’t used a scroll saw yet, ohmygosh, you are missing out! It’s super cool and super easy to use. It’s kind of like a sewing machine, but with a little blade instead. The cuts take a little practice, but it’s definitely a low-pressure tool.

After I cut it out, I rounded over the edges with a light sanding from my orbital sander. This made the star splinter free and easy to handle.

Stain & Seal the Star

Next, I stained the star with a homemade stain mix. I love making my own stain, and you won’t believe the materials I used. 🙂

After staining and letting it dry a while, I sealed it with beeswax that Old Fashioned Milk Paint provided when we did our mudroom makeover. I like to use all natural ingredients, so you won’t find many chemicals here.

Decorate the Star

Now, for my second favorite part (first favorite part was the scroll saw). I took out my Christmas ribbon collection and starting looking for the perfect one.

I’ve bought all of my Christmas ribbon from Michael’s 70% off last year, during the Black Friday sales. I didn’t have any projects in mind, but rather I gravitated toward the ribbon I loved and saved them for the rainy day 🙂 That’s one of the best ways to save money with DIYs and it saves trips to the store later on.

After I chose my ribbon, I started looking for greenery. I didn’t have any of my Christmas decorations out yet, and although they are labeled and stored in a pretty easy spot, I only had 10 minutes before I had to start to dinner. So I grabbed a Christmas wreath that was easier to reach and clipped a few pieces of greenery from the back.

Not yet happy with the results, a tree outside grabbed my eye, and next thing I know, I was clipping off some greens.

So there you have it, a mix of real and artificial greenery, tied with a thrifty yet gorgeous ribbon.

I was so pleased with the results and I still had a few minutes to spare before starting dinner. 🙂

Adding the Hanging Hardware

I keep a few frame hanging kits in the garage for hanging all types of things on the wall. They are very useful to have handy. I opted to use two mini eyehole screws and frame hanging wire.

I was pretty pleased with how the star turned out. Not only did I not spend a dime, but now I had a homemade Christmas star that I love to add to my holiday collection.

It’s fun when you find decor that you love in the store, but it’s a pretty amazing feeling when you made it yourself.

More Holiday Decor for the Home

So, my friends, I encourage you to make something yourselves this holiday season! And, we are giving you tons of ideas with our Deck the Home Blog Hop.

Check out my top favorite door decor projects in this roundup, or see all of the Deck the Home DIY projects.

Check back on Wednesday – I’ll be featuring one of my favorites 🙂

Get Ready for the Holidays with the Deck the Home Blog Hop

October 31, 2018 by Eileen 1 Comment

Before I had kids, I used to have my home decorated for Christmas in November, enjoying the magical decor for as long as I could.

My Christmas cards were ready to go the first week of December, and my holiday shopping was usually done before Black Friday.

After I had my son, I still was pretty prompt with my tree and my cards. My shopping took a bit longer because I had different priorities.

Now that I have two kids, I feel like I am always behind on everything.

The activities, schedules, cooking, cleaning, laundry, making sure everyone gets what they need – it’s hard.

I usually don’t think about the holidays until we are already there.

After last year was quite a bit chaotic, I decided that this year would be different. I will be starting my planning early – to ease up on the stress and enjoy the holiday season the way I used to, when I wasn’t running like crazy.

So, if you’ve been feeling like me, I have something really special for you this holiday season.

I am collaborating with 25 other DIY and home bloggers to bring you {drum roll please} the Deck the Home Blog Hop.

Deck the Home Blog Hop is a series of amazing Christmas DIY and home projects that we will be posting every Monday morning starting November 5th and going until the first week of December.

This gives you, my friend, plenty of time to get started with your holiday decorating and creating.

Every Monday morning, 26 DIY and home bloggers (listed in the picture above) will be sharing their themed projects! As an added bonus, on Wednesdays, I’ll be featuring one of my favorites. And, on Fridays I’ll be doing a round-up post! Below is the DIY project schedule.

Deck the Home Schedule

Week 1 – Nov. 5 – Door Decor

Week 2- Nov. 12 – Wood Projects

Week 3- Nov. 19 – Outdoor Decor

Week 4 – Nov. 26 – Gifts

Week 5 – Dec. 3 – Home Decor

How cool is that?!

Now instead of perusing Pinterest the week before Christmas looking for decorating or gift ideas, you’ll have a whole directory at your fingertips before December even comes!

Each project is DIY and home-related too. So, my friend, check back Monday morning for my first Deck the Home post of 2018. It’s something for your door 🙂

If you just can’t wait until Monday, I have a few holiday posts from last year – including this cookie decorating gift, an Advent Calendar made from felt, and a cute gingerbread house gift box.

How to Build Drawer Fronts for Cabinets and Furniture

October 21, 2018 by Eileen Leave a Comment

How to Make Quick and Easy Shaker Style Drawer Fronts Post Preview: You’ll find out how to build simple drawer fronts that can be used on cabinets and furniture. These simple raised panel drawer fronts are easy to make and truly look professional.

One of the things I love about DIYing is that you can make anything.

The possibilities are endless.

A few years back, I undertook a large bookshelf project with a window seat. For the cabinet under the window seat, I bought premade cabinet doors. They look awesome, and the whole project turned out really nice.

My most recent project was building an entryway piece with cubby shelves and hooks – which is a similar project. At the last minute, we decided we would add in some custom drawers to hold more things.

This time around, I made the drawers and the drawer fronts, and I couldn’t believe how simple it was. And, my wife was blown away at just how amazing they look.

Just as beautiful and professional as the store-bought cabinet doors from the bookshelf project – and it couldn’t have been easier.

Today, I’m sharing exactly how I made these DIY shaker-style drawer fronts for our entryway cubby shelf storage project.

Here’s a picture of the end result of these basic drawer fronts. While very simple in design and easy construct, you can see that they look elegant, especially with the shiplap paneling and the card catalog drawer pulls.

Looks very professional, don’t they? You too can make these faceplates yourself in very little time.

In case you need some help making a drawer, check out my drawer post here.

Materials Needed for Drawer Fronts

3/4″ thick pine board strips, 2 1/4″ wide
3/8″ thick plywood
1 1/4″ pocket hole screws
Finishing nails
Construction Adhesive
Paint
Drawer Handle

Tools Needed for Drawer Fronts

Miter saw
Table saw (or circular saw with edge guide)
Coarse sand paper
Finishing nail gun (optional, you could use some screws instead)
Drill
Kreg pocket hole jig
Rubber mallet
12″ bar clamp
Face clamp (optional, but helps)

1. Measuring & Making the Cuts for the Drawer Fronts

To determine the size of the drawer front, look at the hole that your drawer will go in. You want your drawer front to be at least a ¼” bigger on each side than the hole or opening that the drawer will go in.

So if the drawer hole/opening is 8 inches wide, then you want your drawer front to be at least 8 ½ inches.

So my faceplate drawer design consists of 5 pieces of wood. I used a combination of pine boards and plywood because that is what I had on hand. Four ¾” thick pieces form a border (2 ¼” thick), wrapping a rectangular piece of plywood in the middle.

I liked the thickness of 2 ¼ for the border – it made for a really elegant-looking, shake-style piece.

Pictured below are the cuts I made for the homemade drawer fronts:

Did you notice in the picture (above) that the four perimeter pieces of the drawer front have a groove in them?

That groove is to hold the center plywood piece in place. I cut the groove with my table saw with the blade set to a very shallow depth of ¼ inch. If you don’t have a table saw, you could accomplish the same cut with a circular saw and edge guide.

Using my table saw, I cut the grooves into 2 ¼” wide strips of pine boards (the strips were originally cut from my table saw as well). I did have to make the groove cut with three passes on the saw.

The saw blade was a standard ⅛” thick blade, but the groove needed to be at least ⅜”’wide to fit the plywood.

So after each pass on my table saw, I nudged my guide fence ever so slightly for the next cut. Next I used my miter saw to divvy up the strips for all my drawer fronts.

Here’s a closer shot of the grooves on the bordering pieces:

Here are the pieces I made for the drawer front, along with an assembled one in the back (below).

2. Drilling Pocket Holes for the Drawer Fronts

After the pieces for the DIY drawer fronts have been cut, I drilled pocket holes into the bordering pieces (the two long pieces – see pic below) to secure them to each other.

Here’s my Kreg pocket hole jig in action for this task:

Here are all the pocket holes required for a solid DIY drawer front:

Don’t worry about the holes in the final drawer front. These pocket holes were drilled into the rear facing side of the drawer front, so they will not be visible once attached to the drawer.

4. Assembling the Drawer Front Pieces

With the pocket holes drilled, assembly of the single panel drawer front pieces could begin. I started to knock the pieces together with a mallet.

Here’s the fully assembled Amish-style drawer front. Next, I had to insert the pocket hole screws.

5. Locking the Pieces in Place

Here I am putting in the pocket hole screws. I used a bar clamp (left) and a face clamp (right) to help keep the pieces in place while I put the screws in.

6. Attaching Drawer Fronts to Drawers

Here’s a helpful tip on attaching the DIY drawer fronts to drawers. To get the drawer fronts, lined up perfectly with the drawers, I found it easiest to attach them while the drawers were already in place:

So I put the drawers in place (see above pic), I liberally used construction adhesive on the drawer itself.

Then, I pressed the drawer front to the drawer, adjusting it as necessary to make sure it was perfectly placed.

Once I was satisfied with the positioning, I locked it in place with a few finishing nails around the perimeter. I used about three nails on the left and three nails on the right. This strongly secured the shaker-style drawer fronts to my drawers.

If you don’t have a finishing nailer, you could just insert some screws from inside the drawers to fasten the drawer fronts.

To finish the drawers off, I lightly sanded the edges to make them smooth.

7. Attaching the Handles to the Drawer Fronts

I did run into a small hiccup attaching some handles. My wife picked out these card catalog-style drawer pulls. The problem was that the screws that came with the drawer pull were not long enough to pass through both my drawer and the drawer front.

So I used a Forstner bit on my drill to cut away some of the wood inside the drawer to accommodate the screws. This worked perfectly.

After a paint job (we loved using milk paint) and some drawer pulls, the drawers with awesome-looking drawer fronts are ready for action!

For the mudroom makeover, we did numerous things to makeover the space – painted the room, stenciled the wall, installed shiplap, built cubby shelves, added almost 20 hooks for organization, and everyone’s favorite part is always the homemade drawers.

Not only is making things fun, but it feels wonderful to make things that make you feel productive and that others adore.

6 Easy Things You Can Do to Love Your Home

October 10, 2018 by Eileen Leave a Comment

6 Easy Things You Can Do to Love Your Home Post Preview: You’ll learn six things that you can do to bring you more happiness in your home, emulating that Christmas morning feeling.

You know the feeling you get when your home looks ready?

Everything is in its place, it’s clean and sparkling, and you are surrounded by things that bring you happiness.

This is usually the feeling I get around Christmas when I walk down the steps and see the Christmas tree lighting up the room – I absolutely the holidays.

Since we can’t have Christmas all the time, and we deserve to love our homes year round, I’ve put together 6 easy things you can do to bring you more happiness in your home. (If you need a little more help with your home, check out our room makeover workbook!)

1. A place for everything

One of the biggest issues in our home was stuff. So much stuff. Everywhere.

Declutter

If you are feeling like there’s always toys without a home, or piles of papers laying around, or boxes of pictures that you haven’t hung up, it’s time to find a better way.

Decluttering is one of the best ways to keep your house in check. Grab a box or a garbage bag and start collecting things to donate or trash.

If you are holding onto things that you really don’t need or that you don’t like but keep because of obligation, start rethinking that.

While thinning out your belongings, you can make more space, so everything else has a place.

Make space

If you’re thinking there’s no way that I can thin out my book collection or my spouse is a kind of a hoarder (ahemmm my husband), then declutter what you can – but make a spot for everything.

You can buy under-the-bed boxes to toss extra shoes in, you can buy more storage baskets or bins for toys (heck, you can even make these from cardboard boxes and contact paper), or you can hang shelves on the walls that can store fabric containers. Vertical space is amazing.

Little problem areas

You might just have a few areas in your home that are little problem areas. For us, the top of our washer and dryer becomes a dumping ground for mail and school papers.

It was making me so crazy because things would get lost. So, we are attaching hanging inserts to the side of our entryway piece with eight slots for paper organization (tutorial coming).

So, think about those messy areas of your home that seem to add stress or affect your productivity. Rethink how you have it organized – if it’s something as simple as adding some organizational boxes, you’ll be kicking yourself for not doing it sooner.

2. Rearrange for a fresh look

When I’m getting tired of a room, one of the first things that I do is rearrange it. In fact, I’m thinking about rearranging my office furniture as I’m typing this. I would love my desk to face the window 🙂

My love for rearranging runs deep. When I was a kid, I always shared a room with one of my sisters. I used to make little floor plans of our room and figure out how I could rearrange my furniture without having to move it more than once.

Rearranging this space made me love this room again

Last spring, the family room in our home was driving me crazy. When we moved to the house, the furniture all got placed, and it just stayed that way for years.

We had the TV mounted low on the wall, above the television table, and I arranged a gallery around the TV. Even though it looked nice (and we always got compliments on it), I just didn’t love it.

So, we remounted the TV high in the corner of the room, moved the TV table up to my son’s room for a toy table, moved a couch over to the wall where the TV was, and did a smaller gallery wall.

And, I just love it.

It brought a fresh look to the room.

Plus, there are all these other advantages – like I can now see the TV from the kitchen. Also, with the television mounted so high, the kids can play anywhere in the room without being too close to it.

If a room is driving you crazy, think about how you could rearrange it to make more functional or more enjoyable for you.

2. Do easy DIYs

Did you know that anyone can do simple DIYs? You don’t have to be really awesome with wood or really talented with designing a room. Anyone can watch a youtube video and learn a new skill.

Simple DIYs like updating old drawer pulls or old door handles (goodbye brass knobs) can make a huge difference.

Loving these card catalog drawer pulls with space for labels

Painting a room can be absolutely huge. When we moved to our house, the entire house was painted stark white. In a few of the rooms, we painted a softer grayish white.

While we knew it wouldn’t be a drastic difference, it feels like one because the entire room feels warmer and more welcoming than that harsh white. Color can make a huge difference.

There are tons of other easy DIYs too – stenciling a wall, using peel and stick tiles, and refinishing furniture with milk or chalk paint (no prep work).

If you aren’t sure where to start, pick one DIY project you are excited about or one space in your home to hone in on.

3. Bring in things you love

I can’t emphasize this one enough – bring in things that you love, things that make you happy.

It’s way too easy to get caught up in the trends. Don’t just buy things or decorate with things because they are popular. Go with the items that make you happy.

If you just adore a print you find or a patterned chair, go with those things! Leave the trendy stuff behind. Unless, you love the trendy things, then by all means, go for it.

Treasure-Hunting

Go to thrift stores for new finds. I can’t tell you how many things I’ve found at thrift stores that I just adore! And the price and the fun of the find makes me love these things even more.

Sentimental Things

Decorate with sentimental things. My grandpop was a woodcarver, and we have many of his wooden animals and Santa Claus figures around the house. I love them because they remind me of him. My son recently asked if he can keep the wooden dog in his room 🙂 He’s learning young to surround yourself with what makes you happy.

Photographs

Photographs are also awesome – print a couple pictures that you love and put them in some picture frames that are on sale at Michaels. The pictures could be family photos, photos of your kids, your engagement photos, some awesome candids, or pictures of your travels. Or even some original artwork.

Love these DIY photo ledges – they make it so easy to display tons of photos

Things that you adore

Last, if there are any special items that you love, decorate with those. I totally have a thing for pillows. What can I say?! They make me happy 🙂

4. Get rid of things that you don’t love

If you don’t like something anymore, then why keep it?! Lots of times we keep things out of obligation, just to collect dust in the basement or on the shelves.

Or, sometimes your style changes and you are no longer into the same things.

I used to have a huge collection of gold frames that I really am not so crazy about anymore. Yet, I got tired of the space they occupied in hallway closet boxes, so I went through them. I spray painted a few and donated the rest. I do have to say, it felt really freeing.

I also just got rid of a box of beach-related things that were former bathroom decorations in our old house. I never was really into beach-themed but I wasn’t sure how else to decorate a bathroom.

That box went straight to the thrift store, and I’m sure someone who loves beach decor was excited to find new treasures. (What’s in my bathroom now? Just a simple vase with flowers and a few simple pictures).

Big ticket items

If it’s something big that you don’t like, such as a couch, think about how you can change it.

Could you get a slipcover that would fit? Could you use throw blankets and accent pillows to spruce it up? Could you swap the couch with one from another room? Or, would you rather save up for a new one?

If you don’t like something, think about how you can change it so you do.

But, if you really don’t like something and it’s not a necessary item, don’t keep things around just to keep them around.

5. Find ways to bring more light

You know the feeling you get after a few days of rain and sunshine finally comes out? That long-missed sunshine always makes me smile.

An easy way to bring that happiness into your home is more light!

You can do this by taking down cumbersome old blinds and valances and replacing them with honeycomb blinds or long, flowy curtains, which will allow more light in.

For kids rooms, room darkening shades are great because they work perfectly to block the light for naps and early bedtimes, but they are easy to open to let the light back in.

Bulbs & Fixtures

Another way to bring more light in is through replacing dim bulbs or changing out your light fixtures, for a lighter, more modern look. And, the benefit on this is twofold – more light and a prettier fixture.

6. Work on the areas that need a little love

If there’s a particular room or space in your home that you feel needs a ton of work, you can easily pick a project or two and start chipping away at it.

We had a horrible mudroom, and it’s on our list to do a full renovation to one side of the room (tearing down a closet and replacing with countertops and cabinets).

However, as it was, that room made me crazy. It doubles as our entryway and our laundry room, so you can imagine how much time I spent in there.

Finally, I started chipping away at some projects I could do, independent of our grandiose future plans, and the change is insane.

Mudroom makeover – you won’t believe the “before”

We painted the room, stenciled a wall, added shiplap, added an entryway piece, and switched out a light fixture. Now this room is my happy place. Seriously, it’s the nicest room in the house 🙂

And to think, I almost didn’t touch it because of the future closet-to-countertop plan.

It just goes along with everything I’m saying – create spaces in your home that make you happy.

Don’t wait. You deserve it 🙂

Looking to makeover a room right away? Get our room makeover workbook that will guide you through making over a space in your home.

How to Keep Your House Looking Good When the Kids are Sick

October 9, 2018 by Eileen Leave a Comment

How to Keep Your House from Becoming a Mess When Kids are Sick Post Preview: Here are 7 tried and true ways to keep your home looking good when your kids are feeling under the weather. My favorite tip is #2 – as a mom, it might just be my best-kept secret.

Only two days into the new school year, my son already was under the weather.

Ugh. I knew this would happen – but after only two days of school?

Last winter, we had a terrible stomach bug hit our household. After scrubbing for hours and tossing so much away, I really learned my lesson about how to maintain the house while my kids were sick.

I’m wishing you and your kids good health as the school year progress, but if the kids do come down with something, here are some ways I’ve learned to keep the entire house from becoming a disaster while they are not feeling their best.

1. One Room is All You Need

My son has toys in every room in the house (the family room, living room, playroom, gosh they’re even toys in our bathrooms!).

When sick, rather than have him playing in his playroom one second and moving to the living room the next, tearing up the house and sneezing on everything, we usually have him play in the family room when he gets sick.

That’s the room with the TV, the cuddly blankets, and the most sunshine, so that room is perfect.

It’s much easier to deep-clean one room after a sickness than every room. This also keeps the playroom relatively germ-free, which a hard room to deep-clean, being that their are about a gazillion toys in that room.

2. Disposable Crafts are Key

Throw-away crafts are my best-kept secret…

We keep a bin of random things from around the house and add to it often – paper towel rolls, cardboard, ribbon, small boxes, chalk, etc.

When my son isn’t feeling well, we get creative and make all kinds of things – things that are hours of fun, but that you can throw away later.

We’ve made a paper towel robot, construction sites from the cardboard, a diaper box puppet theater (he wanted to keep this one haha), or sometimes he just starts cutting and gluing thing to things.

The best part of these crafts is that there is no spraying, cleaning, or sanitizing later because you just throw them away!

Huge Coloring Sheets

If you don’t have a bin of random things, there are AWESOME coloring activity sheets. They are these huge sheets that you spread on the ground with tons of random things to color. Seriously, hours of coloring time 🙂

The other day my son, in the midst of his cold, was giving me a hard time eating his lunch.

Easy Activities

So, the teacher in me spread a blanket on the floor, grabbed a couple of nearby stuffed animals and a bunch of paper products from the pantry, and said we were having a picnic.

His face lit up, he happily ate his lunch, and he played picnic for the next TWO days. He was begging for small plates, empty food boxes, and such from the pantry for his animal friends.

He was ecstatic when I gave him muffin wrappers for bowls and plastic spoons. 🙂

I was happy to provide because it was another perfect sick day activity. The food boxes and plates get trashed and the blanket and animals get tossed right in the wash. Much easier than cleaning all the play food he has. Again, I learned this the hard way.

Think about things you have around the house that could be simple fun – but are easy to dispose of later.

3. Fresh Air is Always Best

If possible, it’s always best to the kids out for some fresh air when they aren’t feeling well.

Not only is fresh air healing, but with the kids outside, the house becomes less of mess. There are tons of things you could do outside. My son’s favorites are his dirt box and his rice box.

These are just large under-the-bed plastic containers (with a lid) filled with sand, rice, or dirt and little toys. We have beach toys in the rice box and construction vehicles in the dirt box.

Kids love these, and if it gets completely germed up, just toss the contents and let the rain wash the toys.

4. Use Blankets or Slipcovers on Couches

Couches can be hard to clean, so slipcovers are a dream because you can easily wash them.

If you don’t have a slipcover, you can spread and tuck blankets over the cushions of the couch while the kids are sick. Then, you can just toss the blanket in the wash when everyone is all better.

Easy peasy – and much easier than scrubbing a couch.

5. Always Wipe Down

Even if your kids are outside or spending their time in one room, while there’s germs flying around, you’ll want to make sure you are wiping down all those frequently touched areas. Fridge, microwave, faucet, sink handles, door knobs, light switches, phones, ipads, etc. And, the floors.

Plus, keeping everything clean and shiny will make you feel better during the state of disarray.

6. Steamers Are Your Best Friend

I don’t know why it took me so long to buy a steamer, but I guess I made up for it because now I have two.

I have a floor steamer and I have a handheld/rolling steamer that’s perfect for spraying anything. (If you do buy a steamer, make sure you read the reviews. That way you’ll get one that gets really hot aka eliminates the germs).

The floor steamer is great because it will steam any type of floor – carpet or tile. And, the rolling steamer is wonderful because you can steam anything – couches, toys, stuffed animals, anything at all. I’m a little crazy and I usually wash and steam stuffed animals.

So if you are like me, a steamer will be your best friend.

7. Start Using the One-Touch Rule

Ahh, you have to use the one-touch rule. Admittedly, we aren’t the greatest at it, but it’s an amazing rule.

The one-touch rule is you touch something once. Only once.

So, say you get an Amazon box in the mail and you are unpacking a new stapler that goes in your upstairs office. Rather than leave the stapler on the kitchen table, and then maybe eventually to the bottom of the staircase, and then to the hallway table, you walk it to where it goes.

Hence, you touch it once.

Same with the cardboard box – you take it to your recycling spot. It’s seems so simple, but it’s exactly why my house looks the way it does right now 🙂

When you use the one-touch rule, you’ll be surprised at how much less cluttered your home is. When your home is less cluttered, it’s not as bad cleaning up after a sickness in the house because there is less to clean.

If sickness happens to strike your house this school year, keep these tips in mind to keep your home looking good and your sanity in tact.

Easy & Gorgeous Wooden Christmas Ornaments for Kids to Make

October 1, 2018 by Eileen Leave a Comment

Easy Christmas Popsicle Stick Ornaments for Kids to Make Preview: You’ll find out how kids can make seven different Christmas ornaments from popsicle sticks and wooden shapes with this simple tutorial. It’s a perfect Christmas craft for kids of all ages.

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is getting to enjoy the excitement of the holidays with my kids.

My son loves to do crafts with me, so we try to come up with new Christmas crafts, decorations, or ornaments to make each year. This year, we happened to have a huge box of colored wooden shapes along with popsicle sticks.

From those things, we created 7 different ornaments.

Not only did we have a blast making them, but it’s always fun to deliver them too. My son sang Jingle Bells while delivering ornaments and Christmas fudge to our neighbors 🙂 I’m sure my daughter will be joining in on the songs and crafts next year.

Without further ado, here are the instructions on these easy Christmas popsicle stick ornaments for kids to make.

Materials for Popsicle Stick Christmas Ornaments

One of the things I love about these popsicle stick ornaments is they look so pretty! You can’t tell if a kid made them or an adult 🙂

Die-Cut Colored Wooden Shapes (you could also get uncolored wooden shapes and have the kids paint them)
Colored Popsicle Sticks (you use regular popsicle sticks instead and paint them)
Glue
Ribbon or twine
Optional: Additional crafty things such as cotton ball, ribbon, googly eyes, glitter, washi tape, pom-poms, etc

Instructions for Kids Christmas Ornaments

Instructions are pretty simple for this popsicle stick Christmas kids craft. Just set up your pieces, glue, and tie with a ribbon.

I tend to use hot glue because it works so well. So after my son put the shapes together, I glued them down. I also found that the twine a little hard to work with, but ribbon worked much better.

If you do use uncolored shapes or popsicle sticks, you’ll need to account for dry time. So, the first session would be painting the shapes and popsicle sticks, and the next session would be piecing together the shapes into ornaments.

Here are the different ornaments we made with the wooden shapes.

Christmas Tree from Popsicle Sticks

Simply take 3 popsicle sticks and shape into a triangle. Use a rectangle or square for the tree stump, a star wooden shape for the top, and decorate as you wish. We used glitter on some and ribbon on others. Washi tape would also work well.

Rudolph the Reindeer from Popsicle Sticks

Another one of my favorites – Rudolph is a fun one to make! Start with an upside down triangle. Add oval or teardrop wooden shapes for the ears. We then used googly eyes on stars for the eyes and a red heart for his nose.

Simple Star from Popsicle Sticks

For the star, take five popsicle sticks out. Start by making an upside down V with two popsicle sticks. Then make an X with two more popsicle sticks. Lay the X on top of the upside V, and you will see your star starting to take shape. You’ll place the 5 stick across the middle to finish the star.

Nativity Scene from Popsicle Sticks

This one is my favorite – so much, that we made many more of these than the others. We started by making the stable with 6 popsicle sticks (see pic). Then, we used various circle and rectangle shapes to create Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in the manager. Don’t forget the star at the top!

Snowflake from Popsicle Sticks

For the snowflake you just lay four popsicle sticks on top of each other to form a snowflake-like shape. Easy peasy!

Christmas Candle from Popsicle Sticks

This Christmas candle works well if you have oval or teardrop shape wooden pieces. You’ll use that piece for the candle’s flame. Then, use rectangles or squares or a combination to build the candlestick. Lay on a short popsicle stick for a holder, and you’ll have a Christmas candle.

Santa Hat from Popsicle Sticks

The last one is the Santa hat popsicle stick ornament. You just form a triangle and then lay cotton balls or pom-poms on the bottom to create a fuzzy hat look. Don’t forget to put one cotton ball or pom-pom at the top!

Connecting Lesson

I know what you’re thinking – a lesson?! With a kids craft?! The way my former-teacher-mind works is always in the form of a lesson. So I thought, I would share it with you, just in case you could benefit from it 🙂

Toddlers: Colors. Have your child sort by color, using construction paper. Lay out the construction paper and have toddlers place the red shapes on the red paper, yellow shapes on the yellow paper, etc. (Be careful of small pieces with little ones.)
Preschoolers: Shapes. Have your child sort by shape. Cut each shape out of construction paper and have the kids place the little wooden shapes on the construction paper shape you cut out.
Kindergarteners: Patterns. Make a couple of sample patterns. Use all the same color for the first few (e.g., red circle, red square, red circle, red square). Ask your child what comes next. If they seem overwhelmed or have a tough time, pull a couple of shapes to give them a multiple choice. (e.g. “What comes next? The red circle or the yellow square?”) Gage their level and make harder patterns or have them make you a pattern! 🙂
Elementary Level: Compose Shapes. Have your child put various shapes together to create something cool – like a robot, a fox, a flower, a person, etc. Make it easier or harder by pulling shapes for them.

Fun Christmas Craft

If you’re looking for a fun Christmas craft for kids this year, you can’t find an easier one than these popsicle stick Christmas ornaments. Plus, everyone loves receiving them as little gifts!

Don’t forget to make a few extra for your Christmas tree too.

How to Get Astonishing Results with Milk Paint & Raw Wood

September 29, 2018 by Eileen 8 Comments

How to Use Milk Paint on Raw Wood Post Preview: You will find out how to use milk paint on raw wood to create beautifully-finished furniture with a non-toxic, zero VOC paint.

This post is sponsored by Old Fashioned Milk Paint. All opinions are entirely my own.

We have been on a mission lately at the grocery stores, when online shopping, and even at the home improvement stores.

We’ve been choosing products that have the healthiest ingredients. Ones with basic ingredients, instead of long lists that we can’t pronounce. Ingredients that aren’t detrimental to our health.

If you’ve ever read the ingredients or warning signs on a regular can of paint, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

After a ton of research on paints with the best ingredients, I stumbled upon milk paint.

Milk paint is a non-toxic, water-based paint. It has been around for thousands of years – before adding solvents, toxins, and chemicals into paints was a thing.

I’ve painted tons of furniture before, and I was worried that milk paint would be hard to work with or not give me the results I wanted.

Well, my worries were met with a beautiful, easy-to-work with milk paint and that delivered the same results that a high-quality furniture paint would, without all the chemicals.

How to Milk Paint Unfinished Furniture

My husband and I were in the middle of a mudroom makeover when we started our quest for natural paint. We had built a wooden entryway bench with locker-style cubbies. It would hold backpacks, coats, hats, diaper bags, mail, shoes and more.

In our search, we were ecstatic to find Old Fashioned Milk Paint, made from just milk casein, lime, and earth pigments. The milk paint worked exactly as a high-quality furniture paint without solvents, toxins, and other chemicals that have since been added to paints. Old Fashioned Milk Paint has absolutely zero VOCs, it’s bio-degradable, and non-toxic.

Most times when you see milk paint used on Pinterest and blogs, it’s usually used to refinish an already-painted piece of furniture.

However, milk paint can also be used very easily on raw wood. And, it looks beautiful.

Milk Paint Materials

Milk Paint – We used Old Fashioned Milk Paint in snow white
Angled paint brushes
Mixing container
Mixer or drill with paint mixer attachment
Extra bond
Safe Coat Sealer

Materials for mixing milk paint

How to Mix Milk Paint

First, milk paint comes in a powder form. You simply mix it with water and then it’s ready to go.

While this is an extra step, it’s totally worth it to be painting with zero VOCs. There are also advantages to mixing your own paint. For example, you can easily create your own colors, the paint dries quickly, and it can be cleaned with simply soap and water.

To mix your Old Fashioned Milk Paint, follow these instructions.

1. Measure your ingredients.

First measure out equal parts of the milk paint powder and water. Dump these into a bucket or mixing container.

2. Add in bonding agent, if necessary.

You’ll want to figure out if you need a bonding agent mixed in your first coat. A bonding agent helps the paint to stick. It does make the first coat more watery but subsequent coats will be thicker.

Typically, if you’re using raw wood, you typically don’t need to use a bonding agent. We used the bonding agent for the first coat because we used birch to build our entryway piece. Birch is a close-grained hardwood, so we needed the bonding agent to get good coverage.

If you aren’t sure if you need a bonding agent, Old Fashioned Milk Paint has tons of information on types of wood and whether the bonding agent is needed.

3. Combine ingredients with a mixer.

To mix milk paint, we found that the paint mixer attachment on the drill worked perfectly. You can also use a regular kitchen mixer.

I’ve also used milk paint without use of a drill or electric mixer and I haven’t had as much luck, especially when mixing colors.

So you just dump your ingredients into the container and mix it very slowly for 2-3 minutes.

After your done mixing, let it sit still for 10 minutes. Then give it a good stir with the paint brush, and you are ready to start painting your wood with milk paint.

Mixing milk paint with a drill attachment

How to Paint Raw Wood with Milk Paint

Now that your paint is mixed well, it’s time to start painting that wood.

1. Make sure your wood is clean of any sawdust or dirt.

Wipe down your wood to make sure it’s ready for painting.

Unfinished wood bench ready for painting

2. Use an angled brush to put on your first coat.

We found that an angled brush works really well with furniture because you can easily get all of the nooks and crannies.

We also preferred a brush to a roller because we could control the paint better and watch for drips more easily.

If you have the bonding agent in your first coat, it will be more watery and thin. So you want to be careful of paint drips. Definitely start at the top of your furniture and work your way down. This way if you do have drips, you are painting downward and can even them out more easily.

The first coat is more about coverage than anything else. So a thin coat is fine as long as you are covering the area well. The first coat won’t look beautiful and that’s okay.

Let the coat dry and then you’ll be ready to move on.

After one coat of milk paint (with extra bond) on wooden cubby shelf

3. Stirring frequently, apply your second coat, making sure to use even paint strokes.

While the first coat was about coverage, when painting the second coat, you want to make sure that you are evenly coating your brush and evenly spreading the paint on. Take time to go over your brush strokes to make sure the paint looks smooth.

As with the first coat, start at the top of the wooden piece and work your way down. If your paint is extra drippy, use less at a time or apply a thinner coat.

If your milk paint mixture is too thick, you can add a little water at a time and mix well. The paint shouldn’t be difficult to apply or difficult to spread. You could also wet your brush a little to help.

Getting a second coat on the cubbies

4. Apply additional coats as you see fit.

Depending upon how thick or thin your paint coats were, you might need three or four coats. Or, you could need three coats and a touch-up coat. Decide what you’re comfortable with. You might put an extra coat in areas that are more visible.

Homemade bench drawers with three coats of milk paint

Remember if your paint is too thick, add a little water and stir. The paint shouldn’t be hard to apply.

Here’s a useful tip for you. Keep some sand paper handy while applying milk paint. After some coats have dried, you may notice some hardened drips you missed. Just lightly sand them down with 150 grit sand paper and cover up with the next coat. Also, when your last coat of milk paint has dried, the surface may feel a little rough as you run your hand across it. A very light sanding of 300 grit sand paper yields a super smooth finish.

Here is the finished cubby piece installed in our mudroom. The cubbies and the drawers were all painted in Snow White from Old Fashioned Milk Paint.

Finished locker-style cubbies and bench drawers painted with milk paint

Here’s a close-up of the drawers. The paint looks so professional. Out of all of the various furniture paints I have used, I’ve never been more pleased than I have been with milk paint.

Not only is it non-toxic and absolutely zero VOCs, but it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Homemade face plates (and drawers) with snow white milk paint

How to Seal Milk Paint

Milk paint doesn’t always need a sealer, but if the furniture is prone to spills or moisture, then sealing is a good idea. We sealed our entryway piece because the kids would be sitting in there taking their shoes on and off, hanging up their wet coats and hats, spilling their water bottles, etc.

To maximize the longevity of the milk paint, we opted to seal the finish with an acrylic type glaze. The dried milk paint already seemed pretty sturdy, but we didn’t want to risk early wear on the milk paint. We used SafeCoat AcriGlaze because of the extremely low VOC content. Applying it was very easy. We used a good quality bristle brush, and applied just two coats of the sealer, about 2 hours apart. We were very happy with the product. True to its word, it had a very low odor which dissipated quickly with a fan. The glaze dried clear. You could not tell it was even there unless you ran your finger across the wood. It was well protected.

All in all, we couldn’t be more thrilled with our milk painted entryway cubbies. The milk paint was extremely easy to use, proved itself as a high-quality furniture paint, and most importantly, it’s a safe, natural alternative to the chemical-laden paints that are out there.

Thank you Old Fashioned Milk Paint for offering a safe alternative so that we DIYers can build and create without compromising our health.

If you are looking for an easy to work with paint with zero VOCs, definitely check out Old Fashioned Milk Paint. You will love it 🙂

And as for the building of the cubby shelves, that tutorial is on its way to you next!

Want to see what our mudroom looked like BEFORE the makeover?

It’s almost unbelievable – but all of the pictures are here –>

How to Transform an Ugly Space into a Completely Functional Room

How to Stencil an Accent Wall You’ll Absolutely Love

September 24, 2018 by Eileen 11 Comments

How to Stencil an Accent Wall Post Preview: You will find out how to paint a stenciled accent wall, along with stenciling tips and tricks.

This post is sponsored by Stencil Revolution. All opinions are entirely my own.

Everyone has a spot in their house that drives them crazy, am I right!? For me, it was our mudroom.

It was boring, barely functional, and beyond a mess.

So, we embarked on a mudroom makeover and starting building an entryway bench with locker cubbies. In the meantime, I wanted to add a little character to the walls.

With its beige walls and grayish tiled floors, the mudroom room was just so plain.

So, I had a plan to DIY my own “wallpaper” aka stencil an accent wall.

Can I just say that stencils are amazing?! I’ve used stencils before on a world map wall art project, but never on a wall. I couldn’t get over how much the stencil completely changed the look of the room. The previously boring space became completely modernized with the stenciled accent wall.

The best part?

With wall stencils, you get to choose your own colors, rather than be stuck with premade wallpaper. And, you can save money by doing the work yourself – perfect for DIYing on a tight budget.

If you’re thinking about stenciling a focal wall in your home, it’s super easy – it’s definitely a DIY project that anyone can do.

Today, I’m sharing all my tips and tricks for how to paint a stencil on an accent wall.

How to Stencil an Accent Wall

First, I’m going to take you back a minute and show you a crazy before and after. It’s a little embarrassing, but seriously, this is what the room looked like prior to the mudroom makeover.

And here is what the mudroom looks like after its makeover.

And here’s another angle – I continued the stencil across the adjacent wall too.

So let’s get started! To stencil an accent wall, you’ll need a good chunk of time, and the following items.

Materials for Stenciling a Wall

Paint
Stencil – We used the Freya tile stencil
Rounded brush – This is a great brush set for stenciling
Paper towels
Optional – level (not needed if you use registration marks on the stencil), paint stirrers, plastic cup for small amount of paint, baby wipes (to quickly wipe mistakes)

Check out our wall stenciling video to see me in action, stenciling the wall.

Step 1 – Choose your stencil and paint colors

First, you’ll want to choose your stencil. Stencils are awesome because you can create a wallpaper effect for a really inexpensive price. We love the stencils from Stencil Revolution – you’ll definitely be oogling over their new tile line. The stencil we used is the Freya stencil and it’s part of their new line. We loved the colors they used with the stencil, so we mimicked those.

These stencils are especially easy to work with because they have registration marks, where you can easily line up each stencil with the one before. Because of these registration marks, you can get by without needing a ruler or a level.

After you have chosen your stencil, you’ll want to start thinking about paint colors for your stencil and, if necessary, the wall. Stencils don’t have to be the mono-colored. You can use two or three colors. Additionally, consider painting the wall or room, if it’s not the right background color.

We painted over our beige mudroom with white paint, as we wanted the background of our stencil to be white.

Then we chose two colors for the stencil – tan and charcoal. When you’re deciding on colors for your stencil, try them out with the stencil in a test area. I had a few different versions of tan before I settled on my favorite. You can try the wall stencil on an area of your wall that will be covered (I tried mine where the shiplap was going) or you can use a foam board.

Paint Tip: When choosing paint for the stencil, it doesn’t need to be wall paint. You can use acrylic paint from the craft store. Using the small acrylic containers from the craft store make it really easy to test colors too.

Step 2 – Prepare the wall

Next, you want to prepare your wall. If you are painting the wall first, you’ll want to do that now.

If you want to wipe down your wall or the baseboards or tape off any area, you’ll want to prepare that before starting to stencil.

Side note – If you’re painting your wall white over a darker color like we did, it can take extra coats to get back to white. Keep that in mind when you’re thinking about your project timeline.

Step 3 – Decide where you want your stencil to start

Choose an ideal starting point for your wall stencil. Ideally, this is the spot where you’ll want your wall stencil to look the best. The most visible part of the room is always a good choice.

Keep in mind that at the opposite end of the wall, depending upon the length of your wall and the size of the stencil, the last stencil could cut off. When you’re making your starting decision, factor in the opposite end or ends of the wall.

Depending upon your stencil’s design, you could nudge your starting point just a little bit to help the opposite end terminate at a better point.

Or if you get really lucky, the stencil might fit perfectly across the whole wall.

I started the stencil right next to the window, as this part of the wall was the most visible when walking into the room. The stencil cut off at the opposite end of the wall, but I started the first stencil a half an inch inward, so the last stencil would cut off exactly halfway. I was okay with it cutting off there because that end was in a more hidden corner of the room.

Note – The starting point for the stencil doesn’t necessarily need to be where you first start painting. It’s just where the stencil pattern starts. You could begin painting in a less visible area, such as toward the ceiling, so that any early mistakes are made high up, where people won’t be able to see.

Step 4 – Secure stencil to the wall

Next, you’ll want to attach the stencil to the wall. To do so, I just used four pieces of painter’s tape. It was super simple. When you’re done, you just peel the stencil and tape off and move to the next spot.

Some people like to use a spray adhesive, but I found that unnecessary. The tape was very simple.

Step 5 – Use a small rounded brush to start dabbing on the paint.

Now the fun part! To stencil the accent wall, you’ll want to use a rounded, stiff brush to stencil your wall. If the brush is too soft, it will bend. The best brushes are rounded that come to a point.

With your rounded brush, you are just going to dab the end of your brush in the paint. Do this as evenly as you can, and then blot the extra paint. This is important because if your paint is too thick, it will slip under the stencil and cause unclean lines. A little paint goes a long way.

As soon as your paintbrush is ready, gently dab it onto the wall. When you’re painting the wall, don’t use brush strokes, just stipple it onto the wall.

Now it won’t be perfect. But with a small amount of paint and a small rounded brush, it will be pretty close.

If your stencil isn’t flush against the wall, you can use your marker or pencil to hold the stencil flush against the wall with one hand, while you paint with another. I used a drill bit, rather than a marker, because it was the first thing I found 🙂

Brush Tip: As for brush size, keep in mind that a smaller brush will get you more accuracy and a bigger brush will get the job done faster. You could use a bigger brush in higher areas, where people won’t be able to see up close (because it goes faster) and a smaller rounded brush in lower areas.

Step 6 – Remove stencil and repeat

Simply peel back the stencil and remove. If there are any stray marks, you could always wipe with a paper towel or a baby wipe before it dries.

Then, line the stencil up with the registration marks (see above) and work on your next stencil.

It will be slow going at first, but like anything, it gets quicker as you get used to it.

A Few More Wall Stenciling Tips

For our mudroom wall, I only stenciled the top third of the wall. On the lower part, I attached shiplap, which made for a really cool look.

I also ended up stenciling more than I thought. My plan was to just stencil the wall around the window, but I kept going around the doorway of the laundry room. If you are undecided on whether to continue the stencil on a neighboring wall, you can start with the wall that you are sure about. Then, go from there.

Stencil Cut-Off Tip: If you are doing a lot of stenciling and your wall stencil cuts off at the corner or around a window, you could do a couple of things. You could simple bend the stencil and tape it. I would use a lot of tape so it doesn’t slide when you are painting. It’s a little tricky to do but that’s what I did (see picture above).

Or, you could order more than one stencil, and cut the stencil so that you have a flush fit when stenciling around windows and near corners.

Here’s a close up of the finished wall, with the stencil at the top third, and the shiplap at the bottom.

Next, we put shiplap on the lower portion of wall, and we have a full tutorial coming on this! It was super simple 🙂

Here’s a few more pictures of the other side of the room, including the portion above the laundry room nook.

And, I just adore these hooks! They look perfect with the stencil and the shiplap. I think there’s about 16 of them in the mudroom now 🙂 They’ll be no excuses for bags and coats not hung up.

Go for it!

If you’re debating whether or not to stencil a wall, definitely go for it. Stenciling a wall is an easy, budget-friendly DIY. With a little bit of work, you can completely transform the look of a room.

If you love the way the shiplap looks on our accent wall, that post is coming next, and our whole mudroom makeover will soon follow.

So, there we have it! A completely transformed room with something as simple as a wall stencil. If you are looking for a thrifty way to redo an old space, definitely consider stenciling an accent wall.

How to Transform an Ugly Space to an Insanely Functional Room

September 8, 2018 by Eileen 15 Comments

Every time I walked into the house, I cringed.

Every time I did laundry, every time I went to grab my coat, every time I went to get the mail.

I couldn’t stand our mudroom, and I was constantly in and out of it.

It was a tight space with a bench blocking the window. The bench filled up quickly with backpacks, hoodies, and amazon boxes. There wasn’t any place to put anything down and then of course a third of the room was a huge closet.

It was beige-y, boring, and not functional for our family.

We had big plans to knock out the closet and put in countertops and cabinets. However, we didn’t have the time or budget to take that on this summer.

We thought that we were stuck with this room as it was.

However, we changed a few things here and there – and it started with painting an accent wall and building cubbies. Before we knew it, we had a whole new room even with the old closet.

So, here are our 4 proven steps to transforming a room in your home.

If you love these, check out our room makeover workbook and you’ll be on your way to making over a room in your home too!

1. List the things that drive you crazy.

The first thing we did was think about what we didn’t like about the room. Figuring out what we didn’t like (other than just saying “ugh I can’t stand this room!”) helped us see what we could and couldn’t fix.

Here’s our list of things we didn’t like about our current mudroom.

There was nowhere to store coats, shoes, and backpacks – and therefore was always a mess.
There was not enough light.
It was a boring space – beige paint, beige and brown floors.
And, there was the huge walk-in closet, taking up a huge chunk of the room.

2. Brainstorm fixes for each item on your list.

Next, we jotted down a fix for each thing that drove us crazy.

Nowhere to store outdoor gear –> Build locker-style cubbies with bench and plenty of space for drawers or baskets
Not enough light –> Move bench away from window, switch out the light fixture for a brighter (more modern) one
Boring space –> Paint, stencil an accent wall, install shiplap?
Huge closet –> Tackle this stage of the project at a later date

By simply listing out the problems and fixes, we had ourselves a blueprint of what our mudroom makeover would look like. Now, we weren’t planning on tackling the closet/countertop fix this time. However, that’s okay!

With all of the other changes, I was certain our mudroom would get its much needed makeover. Here’s an after picture – what do you think?!

3. Make a master list – break large goals into smaller action items.

In order to get our mudroom from the before picture to the after picture, we took our list of fixes (above), and then we turned it into our master list. We had four main items to work on.

Stencil the wall
Install shiplap
Build an entryway piece with bench and cubbies
Replace light fixture

And then, within those large items, we broke it down into smaller tasks. For example, the stencil task looked like this:

Stencil the wall

Choose paint colors for wall and stencil
Paint entire room
Review stenciling techniques
Do a practice stencil
Stencil wall

Breaking large items into smaller ones make them more manageable and it gives you direction on what you need to do next. Also, action items keep you from getting overwhelmed or wasting time.

4. Set goals to complete action items each day or week.

Now that we had a master list with manageable action items, we set goals each week to complete certain action items. Each day, we chipped away at our action items, crossing things off the list here and there.

It took us a month – but we had an incredible mudroom makeover. The process of listing out the problems with the room, then determining solutions worked so well for us.

All of the years that we’ve lived in this house that I spent frustrated with the mudroom or complaining about it, could have been channeled productively through creating solutions and chipping away at the projects.

I mean, you can’t tell that it was the same room!

5. Check out 33 Days To a Space You’ll Love

Looking to transform a space in your home? Tired of the room or space driving you nuts?

Check out our Room Makeover Workbook to guide you through transforming a room in your home in just 33 days! We will take you step-by-step through the process of making over your space.

10 Photos from this Insanely Awesome Mudroom Makeover

August 29, 2018 by Eileen 20 Comments

Is there a room in your home that frustrates you? An area in your house that totally stresses you out? A space that just doesn’t work for you and your family?

For us, this was the mudroom. It was absolutely dreadful.

There wasn’t a good place anything – bags, coats, shoes, or packages that came in the mail all haphazardly piled up. We had a old bench awkwardly blocking the light from the window.

The room itself was pretty boring – the beige walls, the brownish tan floor, and an outdated light fixture.

Tired of sighing every time I walked in the house or did laundry, I decided to make some simple changes to the mudroom.

Here are 10 photos from our mudroom makeover that are totally awesome and will hopefully inspire you to transform a space in your home that drives you nuts.

Mudroom “Before” Photo

Let’s start with the before photos. Now, I just have to say that these before photos are real life. This is exactly what the room looked like day in and day out. You can see why it drove me so crazy.

Mudroom Makeover Details

First, we cleared out the room, relocated the wooden bench and started fresh.

Stenciled Accent Wall with Shiplap

We decided to do an accent wall – that was half stenciled and half shiplap. It turned out so awesome, right?! The stencils are from Stencil Revolution, and we have a stenciling tutorial coming soon!

L-Shaped Entryway Bench with Cubbies

We also built a DIY bench (see above and below). This was a simple place for people to sit to take their shoes off.

Additionally, we put drawers underneath for winter accessories. Underneath the drawers was open space for shoes. A tutorial and plans for this DIY bench are coming soon!

As you can see, the bench allowed much more light to come through the window.

One of my favorite parts of the room are the card-catalog style drawer pulls. Insert heart-eyed emoji here 🙂

Above the bench, we also built locker-style cubbies. Within these cubbies, we installed more shiplap to create a uniform look across the room. Then, we stenciled the wall above the entryway piece.

New Mudroom Light Fixture

We found a new light to replace the dated one. We partnered with Wikibuy to find this awesome lamp. Wikibuy is a website and browser extension that finds you the lowest prices on things you want to buy online. It’s just like having a shopping assistant 🙂

It’s amazing the difference that a gorgeous light fixture makes.

Next, we put hooks everywhere. You can never have too many hooks in the mudroom or entryway. I think we put at least 16 in 🙂

Mudroom “After” Picture

This was the view walking in. What a difference!

And, it was so much more functional for our family because there are tons of places to put everything. The drawers the huge, the hooks are plentiful, and the baskets help with extra storage.

The baskets were an awesome find from Michael’s. They have three different sizes – this one is medium. I was able to use their coupons and make several trips to get each one discounted. 🙂

You could also make your own storage bins with cardboard and contact paper – thrifty and easy!

And, comparing the mudroom to the before picture, here is the same view as the before picture. SUCH a difference, right!?

It’s absolutely amazing to walk into the room and not see a disorganized mess.

Everything has a place in the entryway cubby shelves. The locker-style cubbies help to keep everyone in the family’s things organized. The L-shaped bench provides plenty of seating for our family and visitors to put their bags or sit and take off their shoes. The stencil and shiplap add so much character to the room.

It definitely looks like a completely different space.

Have a room that you want to makeover?

If you are wondering if you can do this, you CAN!

You can totally makeover a room into something you love too!

Join our FREE Challenge!

If you have a room in your home that’s driving you crazy, stressing you out, adding to your frustration, then definitely sign up for our FREE challenge 33 Days To a Space You’ll Love.

We will send you daily emails with simple assignments which will help you transform a room in your home in a month’s time.

You don’t need to have a lot of time or money to makeover your room – just a willingness to make some small changes. Small changes in a room make a HUGE difference.

Make sure to sign up for our FREE guide and you will be transforming a space you don’t like into a space that you LOVE.

And when you do, don’t forget to send me before and after pictures. I would love to see 🙂