Eileen

A Terrific Table Saw for DIYers

July 17, 2016 by Eileen 3 Comments

The Kobalt KT1015 Table Saw

In short, the KT1015 Kobalt table saw is an outstanding saw for its value and should perfectly suit the needs of any DIYer. From ripping plywood sheets to cutting lap joints with stacked dado blades, this table saw does it all for a budget price.

Earning 4 out of 5 measuring tapes, it’s definitely one of Ash’s most treasured tools. With the Kobalt in his collection, he is able to complete a whole new range of projects.

The Nitty Gritty

For many years I got by without a table saw. I’ve always just used my trusty handsaw or circular saw.

Because our previous home was small, I just didn’t have a need for it. I couldn’t work on as many projects as I wanted to.

This changed once we bought a larger home. The list of projects we wanted to complete on our new home was endless.

A larger yard meant things like planter boxes, storage sheds and picnic tables. A more spacious garage meant custom shelving and work benches. The projects went on and on.

It was inevitable that the need for a table saw would come up. It was the construction of the shed that prompted this.

The first couple weeks of working on the shed, I used my handsaw and portable power saws. Then as I got deeper into the project, I ran into a wall.

I realized that I needed to make certain long narrow cuts. These cuts were nearly impossible to do reliably and consistently with my current means.

So it was time for a table saw. I was really excited as I had always wanted one, and this was the perfect opportunity to make the investment.

I researched many table saws online until I settled on one I liked. At the time, the prices ranged from around $250 to thousands of dollars.

I opted for the Kobalt KT1050 table saw from Lowes. After a 10% coupon I purchased on eBay for $2, I got the table saw for just under $300 with free delivery. (Here’s a very similar tablesaw on Amazon)

Deciding Factors

There were two main deciding factors for choosing this saw versus others in the same price range. The first one was the maximum cutting depth at 90 degrees.

The KT1015 Kobalt table saw allowed up to 3.5 inches of height on the blade, which meant I could cut a 4 x 4 with one pass on the blade. Most of the other saws maxed out at 3.125.”

I could also cut 2 x 4s on the longer side if I needed as well.

The second decision factor was that it came with a folding built in stand.

I didn’t fully understand the mechanics of its intended operation until watching some YouTube videos. Then I decided this saw was perfect for me.

During normal usage, the saw sits on its stand and works like a regular table saw.

Then when you’re done your cutting for the day, you press a foot lever, raise two handles and the saw tilts vertically on its side and is wheeled away for storage.

The Kobalt table saw in its wheeled storage position:

The Absolutely Best Table Saw for DIYers In this mode, it looks and maneuvers like a two wheel dolly. Because it stands up vertically, it takes up minimal space against the wall when not in use.

This was perfect for my setup as I did not want a permanent spot for the table saw and was hoping to easily pull it out as needed.

In the picture below, the lever with the lock icon transforms the saw into working position.

The Kobalt Table Saw In Action

The table saw arrived about a week later at my front door. I was held up from working on the shed project due to cuts needed from the saw, so I was eager to set it up and continue construction.

It took about an hour to assemble all of the parts and learn operation of all the features.

Since it was my first time using a table saw, I did a number of practice cuts with scrap wood to get a feel for the saw and its mechanics.

I verified the 3.5” max blade height with a piece of 4 x 4. Then, I tried some angled cuts with the included miter slide. I also ripped some bevel cuts on some 2 x 4s.

The cuts were clean and effortless.

The dust port sprayed most of the sawdust out and away from me, piling it up in a hill.

Once I was comfortable, I did the real cuts I needed for my project and was very happy with the results.

Here is a picture of the side showing the yellow power switch and the blade adjustment wheel. You can raise or lower the blade by spinning the wheel.

Also, attached to the wheel is a bevel lever that you can use to adjust the angle of the blade. I found the power switch to be in the perfect location because it is easy to turn the saw off with your knee after a cut.

The opposite side of the saw is where the sawdust shoots out.

The Absolutely Best Table Saw for DIYers One thing I was not too happy about with the Kobalt table saw was the misalignment of the riving knife. The riving knife is a metal splitter that sits just behind the blade.

As the saw blade cuts through the wood, the riving knife slides right into the freshly cut groove and forces the wood to remain parallel to the guide fence.

It’s a safety feature of table saws that helps to prevent a lot of kickback (when the spinning motion of the blade forces the wood to jerk back at you).

The riving knife is supposed to be aligned perfectly with the blade, but mine was not. It actually wasn’t too bad at the beginning, but as I used the saw over the next couple months, the alignment got worse.

The Kobalt table saw manual did come with instructions on aligning it via some hexagonal screws, but I haven’t gotten around to fixing it.

I did also read online about a number of people having trouble with the alignment and could not fix it regardless of the adjustment screw settings.

Some people have even had to stick washers into the riving knife mounting points to align it manually.

Hopefully when I get the time to look into it more, it will work out for me.

In the meantime, when I cut wood, the riving knife either happens to nudge into the cut groove, or I have to place a pre-cut block of scrap wood to force the alignment.

I do occasionally just use my finger to manually nudge the riving knife into place with the blade spinning, but this is highly dangerous and I would not recommend to anyone (note to self to stop doing this and fix the alignment).

Another thing that I was not too fond of was aligning the guide fence. This is the guide that runs parallel to the blade that you slide your wood against to ensure your cut is even.

The guide has two clamping levers on both ends that you engage to lock it down to the table saw surface.

The problem with this technique is that you have to manually ensure the guide is parallel to the blade. If the guide isn’t parallel (within a close margin of error), then your cut is not going to be straight.

Also, your wood will likely get stuck at some point as you slide it through the blade. So both ends of the guide have to be the same distance away from the blade.

It’s really not that difficult to do. However, it can get annoying if you’re making a number of cuts and constantly adjusting the fence.

I’m used to using a tape measure to ensure both ends of the guide fence are the same distance from the edge of the table. Other people use a speed square to quickly align the fence.

The fancier table saws use a rack and pinion system for the guide fence. This is where you spin a handle to slide the fence left or right.

This would be perfect for me if I had a few more hundred dollars to spend on a table saw. Yet, that was outside my budget.

Here is a picture showing the guide fence with one of the adjustment levers.

There is a ruler on the front to help you set the distance from the blade, but I find this not to be always accurate. I tend to rely on my trusty measuring tape.

Using the guide fence on the table saw So the misaligned riving knife and the work needed to setup the guide fence are my only squabbles with the KT1015 Kobalt table saw.

It’s a terrific saw for a great value and should satisfy the needs of your typical home DIYer. My most prized item in my tool collection is definitely this Kobalt table saw.

For a mere $300, it has put me on a whole new level of craftsmanship, and allowed me to accomplish projects that would have been nearly impossible in the past.

Hammering It Home…

Listed below are the projects where I used the Kobalt KT105 table saw. To see detailed steps and pictures, click the project below.

Gel Stain that Completely Transforms Furniture

July 16, 2016 by Eileen 10 Comments

General Finishes Gel Stain

General Finishes Gel Stain is a DIY dream. If you are up for the work, you can completely change the look of your dated kitchen cabinets or bathroom vanities. You can also refinish furniture with this stain.

Easy-to-use, General Finishes gel stain is undoubtedly the best gel stain brand, as it involves little prep, and produces high-quality results.

With kitchen renovations costing thousands of dollars, this gel stain is about $30 for a quart (a quart goes a long way).

My only complaint is the strong smell, but a well-ventilated area solves this.

Earning 5 out of 5 measuring tapes, it’s my best kept secret.

The Nitty Gritty

When we moved into our new house, a lot of our cabinets were old oak originals from the 1970s. Our bathroom looked completely dated with an oak vanity.

In our kitchen, the previous owners updated the countertops with granite but left the old oak cabinets. The speckled tan and brown granite clashed with the oak.

I wanted a cost-effective solution, and at this point, I wasn’t quite sure how to do it.

Here’s a picture of our dated kitchen. I couldn’t wait to refinish those oak cabinets with a much darker look.

Deciding Factors

Spending time scouring pinterest and googling my options, I stumbled across a blog post where gel stain was used to completely change the look of a bathroom cabinet.

The blogger recommended General Finishes Gel Stain and emphasized this was the best brand of gel stain.

I had some time on my hands and decided to try the gel stain finish on the bathroom vanity. I started small – on the inside of the cabinet door.

If I liked the way it turned out, I could go ahead and finish the cabinet. In the back of my mind I was thinking that if it went really well, I could attempt the kitchen.

Below is a before and after of the gel stain used on the bathroom vanity. I was thrilled with how it turned out.

Between the gel stain on the vanity and the new mirror, this bathroom had left its aging past behind.

Prior to gel staining cabinets, I had a lot of experience working with regular wood stain, but I had never worked with gel stain.

However, it was easy-to-use and yielded exactly the results that I was going for.

I was so thrilled with how the bathroom vanity turned out that a few months later, I gel stained all of my kitchen cabinets. It was a huge project, but the results were phenomenal, especially for the money.

What makes gel stain different?

To give a little background on gel stain versus regular stain, when using regular wood stain, or thin-liquid stain, it actually penetrates into the wood. Whereas with gel stain, the stain sits on top of the wood.

When using regular stain, sometimes the wood unevenly absorbs the color and you end up with some dark splotches.

With gel stain, you don’t have this problem because the wood doesn’t absorb the stain. Because it sits on top, it masks the grain of the wood, especially if you pick a dark color.

When using gel stain, even though no uneven spots will show through, you will also lose some of the grain of the wood, depending upon how dark your stain is.

This is a matter of preference though.

General Finishes in Espresso is very popular color stain on the blogs. It’s so dark that is almost opaque, hiding the grain or any other imperfections.

I thought Espresso would be a little too dark for my kitchen countertops. I went one shade lighter and used Antique Walnut.

With this hue, you can still faintly see the grain of the wood, which makes the cabinets look authentic.

When using gel stain, you don’t wipe off the excess stain the way you wipe off regular stain.

It also is a thicker consistency and doesn’t really drip. This makes it easy to stain vertical surfaces.

After loving the bathroom cabinet and doing a little more research, I decided to tackle the kitchen. Here’s the after picture. (We also installed backsplash and new appliances, but the difference just in the cabinets was amazing.)

I haven’t even told you the best part – when using this gel stain, you don’t need to strip the wood or spend too much time sanding.

You do need to do a thorough sanding, just enough to give the gel stain something to stick to.

General Finishes Gel Stain in Action

Here’s the back of the cabinet door after a light sanding.

After sanding and thoroughly wiping down the pieces, I used foam brushes to start applying the stain.

I preferred using the foam brushes (I used a regular size foam brush and a smaller size for crevices) rather than rags because I was wearing thick chemical gloves. So, I was able to get into the nooks and crannies with the foam brush more easily than with rags.

The stain went on easy – just like painting. And again, there’s no need to wipe it off.

I did three to four coats, and while it did look streaky during the first and second coat (it is supposed to), the third coat is magic.

One thing you have to be careful of is leaving a build-up in the corners and grooves.

These will harden and dry, and then stand out like a sore thumb.

After each coat, thoroughly check the grooves and other areas for any build-up.

After three to four coats, the cabinets looked great. You can get by with three coats, but four seals the deal. There were absolutely no streaks or uneven surfaces.

As far as color, Antique Walnut is a solid dark brown – like Hershey’s chocolate brown.

As far as smell, the stain isn’t too pleasant on the nose. Make sure to keep your area well-ventilated.

I did a lot of the cabinet doors in the garage with the garage doors wide open, but I still prefered having a fan, blowing out the stinky air. (The good news is that the polyurethane sealer is water-based and has little to no smell.)

Will it match?

During this project, we added a cabinet to our kitchen, so we ordered two new, unfinished cabinet doors.

I was worried about the gel stain looking the same on the unfinished cabinet doors – as the rest of the kitchen, where the gel stain was resting on top of an oak finish.

I’m happy to report that the gel stain went on the unfinished doors easily and matched all of the old doors almost perfectly.

The only difference is the two new doors looked a tad shinier than the other doors.

In hindsight, we would have only used one coat of polyurethane.

The Savings

Because I put on thick coats, I went through three quarts of the General Finishes gel stain between the bathroom and the kitchen.

Between the foam brushes, stain, and polyurethenane, the whole project was under $150. You simply cannot beat that!

Kitchen renovations are thousands of dollars.

If you are willing to put the work in, this is a fantastic solution.

General Finishes Gel Stain is the only gel stain that I’ve worked with, but I heard it’s the only brand to work with.

Ash used a different brand of gel stain with a piece of furniture years ago and ended up sanding the stain off.

He was extremely skeptical of my desire to use the gel stain but was sold when he saw the bathroom vanity completely madeover.

I’ve also read posts from other bloggers who have tried different brands and been disappointed with their results.

If you are thinking about using gel stain, definitely go with this brand!

Pictured below is Ash reattaching the cabinet doors.

Where can I find General Finishes Gel Stain?

General Finishes Gel Stain is a little hard to find – you have to buy it a specialty shop or on Amazon.

We bought the first quart on Amazon and found the next at a speciality shop a couple hours away, due to poor planning on my part!

I did have a funny conversation with the store owner, who asked me what I was using this stain for because it was selling like hotcakes. He also thought I was crazy for driving to another state, so I could finish my cabinets 😉

Looking at the before and after pictures of our kitchen cabinets, the difference is incredible. Don’t get me wrong, it was a lot of work, but it completely modernized our kitchen.

Hammering It Home…

Here are the projects where we’ve used this gel stain. For detailed steps on how to gel stain kitchen and bathroom cabinets, click the project below.

Easy and Fun Bridal Shower Game with Free Printables

July 8, 2016 by Eileen 39 Comments

In addition to our home projects, I always have a crafty project (or two) up my sleeve. A few months ago, I was asked to be a bridesmaid in my friend Meg’s wedding, and her sister reached out to me asking for help with fun bridal shower games.

Thinking back to fun bridal shower games, my sister PK planned an awesome game at my shower. She collected a dozen photos of me at different times in my life and projected them onto the wall. The bridal shower guests guessed what year the photo was taken.

Even though I loved the game, putting a version together for Meg would have involved collecting and scanning a lot of photos, not to mention getting their dates correct.

Although it was a fun bridal shower game to play, I probably wasn’t the best person to head up that game.

I thought a little more and remembered my friend Tiff’s bridal shower. Tiff and her closest friends always go all out and plan the most awesome parties.

And, you know that I love a good theme party (Check out our Beatles party, Sesame Street party, and Seinfeld party)!

Tiff’s bridal shower theme was Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and everything was so amazing – from the invitation to the party props. (See her awesome invitations)

At Tiff’s bridal shower, we played the best bridal shower games. One of them was called Mustaches and Tiaras and it had bridal shower game questions about the couple. And, there were props! Everyone got tiara and mustache props (card stock cutouts glued to popsicle sticks).

How to Play this Fun Bridal Shower Game

To play this fun bridal shower game, each player received one tiara, one mustache, and a list of questions that were asked to the bride and groom ahead of time. It’s basically a game of “Who said it?” with silly props.

The Hilarious Details

The bridal shower questions that the bride and groom answered can include anything from favorite ice cream topping to biggest fear to random questions, such as, “Why doesn’t the glue stick to the bottom of the bottle?”

The bride and groom answer these questions about themselves and then submit them to you, ahead of time. They aren’t allowed to share answers.

From the bride and groom’s responses, prior to the party, you chose one answer to be read aloud.

Then at the party, you read the question and then the one answer you chose. The guests needed to decide if that answer was the bride’s answer or the groom’s answer.

If it was the bride’s answer, they put their tiara up, and if it was the groom’s answer, they put their mustache up.

Once in awhile, there’s an answer that both the bride and the groom gave, and then the party guests hold both the tiara and the mustache up.

When you see a sea of faces staring back at you with tiaras and mustaches held up, it’s pretty funny! (Check out some great pictures of this game being played at Tiff’s shower on her blog).

I had to recreate this unique bridal shower game for Meg. I emailed her and her fiance the couple questions ahead of time, and sorted through their answers for the bridal shower game.

Here are the mustaches and tiaras, along with the question cards that I made for her bridal shower.

The great thing about this fun bridal shower game is that it’s so low pressure. Everyone can participate and have a good time. There aren’t any fill-in-the-blank parts about how well guests know the bride or questions about milestones in the bride’s life. The bridal shower game is easy on the attendees, always gets a good laugh, and fun to create!

Ready to start making Mustaches and Tiaras?

Download the free templates below – and you’ll have all of the templates you need for this hilarious bridal shower game!

Materials

Pink scrapbook paper
Brown or black scrapbook paper
Thick popsicle sticks
Gem stickers (I found mine at Dollar Tree)
And, the files listed above

I used this pink paper (lots of shades to choose from and use for later projects too), and I used the brown paper in this collection. I didn’t need too many sheets of brown and liked the other paper colors this pack had.

Making the Tiaras and Mustaches

Print one copy of the tiara sheet on pink scrapbook paper and one copy of the mustache file on brown or black paper.

After I cut out the tiaras and mustaches from the pages I printed, I took one tiara and traced as many as could fit on a piece of pink paper, and then cut these out. I continued to do so until I had the number I needed.

You could also print as many sheets as you need directly to the printer, rather than tracing. I preferred to save some scrapbook paper and not burden myself too much with our testy printer.

Then, I simply hot glued the tiaras and the mustaches to the popsicle sticks. I made sure the traced version was face down, in case any pencil marks came through.

I also made sure I hot glued the popsicle stick to the back of the right-side of the tiara and to the back of the left-side of the mustache (vice versa would also work), so guests could hold both up to their faces simultaneously, without having one backward.

Last, I placed a few adhesive gems on each tiara, which made for a great final touch.

Getting the Couple’s Game Questions Ready

Email your bride and groom with the list of bridal shower game questions well in advance, so you have time to read through them and decide which responses you will announce for each question. That’s part of the fun!

When choosing the responses for this fun bridal shower game, I tended to go for the funny ones because everyone loves a good laugh at a bridal shower.

I also tried to have an equal number of responses from the bride and groom. Additionally, I had at least 3 “boths” thrown in there too for good measure (and more laughs).

Be sure to make yourself a good answer key for the bridal shower game. It will help with easily referring to that when reading the correct responses at the end.

For the question cards, I simply printed these on regular blue paper (blue because that’s what I had). For efficiency, I formatted the questions so fit two on each sheet.

Mustaches and Tiaras - Easy, Fun Bridal Shower Game

I was so busy running the bridal shower game that I simply forgot to take pictures of the guests with their tiaras and mustaches. However, here’s one of our favorite pooch, sporting the props with just a little bit of help. 🙂

If you are looking for fun bridal shower games, definitely look no further! This laid-back, hilarious game is one of the most fun bridal shower games – and it’s easy for all to participate and play.

Four Happenings from our Fourth – A DIY Holiday

July 4, 2016 by Eileen Leave a Comment

It’s been a busy holiday weekend over here.

We didn’t go to the beach like most do on the Fourth nor did we see any fireworks this year (although hearing them was a different story).

And, we certainly didn’t party like it was 1776.

Instead, we got a heck of a lot done off of our DIY summer projects checklist.

Finishing the Bookshelf

First, we wrapped up the window seat bookshelf project, which was my favorite of our DIY summer projects, so far. 🙂

This was a long project, being that a lot of the work needed to be done in the room next to where our little one sleeps.

With our downtime being his naptime and bedtime, the project was more drawn out than we had hoped.

After taking the above photo, I caulked a few last spots and put the last coat of paint on the shelves.

Here’s a selfie (or should I say shelf-ie) before I did some last few spots.

I’m just so pleased the shelf is done. Not only is another project checked off the list, but we have about 12 boxes from our move stacked in our mudroom that are filled to the brim with books.

We hadn’t unpacked them because we hadn’t a place to put them.

So, now we can finally finish unpacking from our move.

I’m so excited about that! (Now if only I could finish getting all of our pictures on the walls…).

Check out how the bookshelf looks completely finished and filled 🙂

A Picnic Table in a Day?

Just when I thought the weekend couldn’t get any better, Ash finished the picnic table that he started the same morning.

He built a picnic table in ONE day.

Crazy, right?! And, his post tells you how you can too!

Here’s what I saw Ash working on in the morning, when I snapped a few quick shots:

And, the same evening, a perfectly-built, sturdy picnic table was in our driveway.

I was floored!

But I shouldn’t be too shocked being that this is also the guy who single-handedly built a shed last summer.

We brushed the table off and moved it to the backyard, so we could put it use on the Fourth. Definitely a useful summer project:)

Fresh Veggies!

Our third item of the weekend was discovering vegetables in our garden! So exciting!!

Ash and I have been together over a decade, and this is our first garden.

This year, we have made a switch to clean eating and living a more healthy lifestyle.

I have been living by Anthony William’s book The Medical Medium, which is all about healing our bodies through what we are eating.

His information is life-changing, and he most prominently discusses just how amazing organic fruits, vegetables, and herbs heal our bodies.

With our new way of life, our beautiful backyard, and Ash’s talent at construction, we decided to plant a garden this year. Ash built a DIY planter box as an early summer project.

We hadn’t seen too much happening in the planter box…until this weekend. First we noticed a couple of hot peppers…

…then a few tomatoes, and finally some itsy, bitsy red and green peppers. It was a Fourth of July miracle!
I can’t wait to keep checking it, let alone harvest our fruits and veggies! If our garden is a success, I might have to help Ash build another DIY planter box next year.

Catching Some Shade

The fourth, and last project we had happening this weekend (other than some yard work) was installing a shade sail for our very sunny patio.

We were looking for a cost-effective way to throw some shade on our hot patio in the summer months, and we came up with this solution.

A shade sail is a weather-proof fabric that is held up by the house and a few poles.

It appealed to us because it’s quite modern-looking and not permanently affixed to the house. We didn’t get too far into the project, but we will keep you posted on how it turns out (update – check out the full tutorial).

Here is Ash double checking the measurements of the fabric, and Zeus who always seems to make his way into the photos 🙂

We didn’t have a conventional Fourth of July weekend, but it was a great one. We spent some time checking off a few projects, starting a new one, and of course, discovering our homegrown fruits and vegetables!

Above all, the best part was our family picnic on our new outdoor table – built in ONE day. I’m still impressed 🙂

How to Beautifully Fix Up an Old Mailbox

June 23, 2016 by Eileen 12 Comments

Having recently moved, we loved our beautiful new yard. It was spacious and neatly groomed with lots of seasonal foliage.

However, there was just one thing that needed a fix – our leaning mailbox. When I opened the box to collect our letters, the mail would literally fall right out.

To make matters worse, the wood on the mailbox post seemed to be rotting. And, there was the day that the mail was covered with ants.

Here we had this amazing yard with an eyesore of a mailbox. I was on a mission to fix the old mailbox.

Here’s a closer picture of our mailbox before the makeover. You can’t tell just how badly the mailbox was leaning in this photo, but you can see how badly the mailbox needed to be beautified.

I was hoping Ash would take on this mailbox fix project soon, but he was preoccupied building the shed.

So, I did want I do best, and I got project “how to fix your mailbox”rolling.

Planning Mailbox 2.0

To kick off fixing up our mailbox, I did what I usually do for exterior projects: I went on a few walks around the neighborhood looking at other mailboxes, deciding what I wanted for version 2.0.

Taking walks around your neighborhood is almost like searching through Pinterest. You can see what you like, see what you don’t like, and make an idea work for you.

For our updated mailbox, I decided on the classic look of a white mailbox post with a black mailbox, as it really made the red flag pop.

To keep the mailbox momentum going, Ash made the material list, and I offered to pick up the materials.

I love using Home Depot’s store pick-up, especially for heavy items, since the materials are already pulled aside and placed in a cart.

Then, all I have to do is get them from the cart to the car, which usually is not a problem.

This time, I struggled a little with the 6 ft posts – they were a lot heavier than they looked! Yet, I managed, as I was determined to not catch our falling mail anymore.

With the materials for the mailbox now laying around the garage, Ash started working on the new mailbox post. Victory!

How to Build a New Mailbox Post

The mailbox post design was fairly simple. It consisted of 2 perpendicular pieces of 4 x 4 pressure-treated wood joined together with a lap joint.

The vertical 4 x 4 would have about 2 feet submerged into the ground for support, with the remaining 4 feet above ground. The horizontal 4 x 4 served as a mounting piece for the mailbox.

Finally, a shorter piece of 4 x 4 ran diagonally below this horizontal 4 x 4 to provide additional support, stability, and aesthetic appeal.

The first step of the mailbox post process was cutting the 4 x 4s. After, Ash created the lap joint.

This joint was very simple to make and was very strong. It involved cutting out half the thickness of 2 pieces of wood, and combining them together, as in the diagram below:

Next, Ash had to cut the grooves.

He used his 7 1/4″ circular saw, with the depth of the blade set to half the thickness of the 4×4 (so 1¾”).

Then, he repeatedly ran many perpendicular cuts into the wood, staying within the confines of the outlined groove. This left him with slivers of wood that he easily removed with a hammer and chisel.

Finally, he used a small Mouse sander to smooth out the carved groove, since the chisel left it a little rough. If you happen to have a set of dado blades for your table saw, you can also use those to cut the lap joint groove. (I’ll have to remember that when I need a gift for Ash.)

After repeating the process for the second piece of 4×4, he applied some construction adhesive to the grooves and merged the 2 cuts. He further strengthened the joint with 2 lag bolts.

Using 2 more lag bolts, he attached the diagonal support piece to reinforce the mailbox arm. The new mailbox post now had its basic design.

How to Paint the Old Mailbox and New Post

I then applied 2 coats of white exterior paint to the mailbox post and let it dry overnight.

The next day happened to be Sunday, which was perfect for replacing the existing mailbox (no mail delivery). We didn’t want our mailman puzzling over where to deliver our mail.

The old mailbox came out quickly. I unscrewed the box itself and put it aside for some refurbishing.

I removed the red flag post and sprayed the metal mailbox container with some black exterior spray paint.

If you are looking to fix your mailbox – fresh paint works wonders.

How to Install a New Mailbox Post

As the paint was drying, Ash used a sledge hammer and pounded the old rotting mailbox post out of the ground.

We started to think about how to securely install the new post, so we wouldn’t have to deal with another slanted mailbox down the road.

The old post was just stuck in the ground with a long metal spike, and over time, it started leaning forward. So, in figuring how to fix our leaning mailbox, we decided to use concrete.

So, Ash prepped the new mailbox post by partially screwing in some lag bolts at the bottom.

These bolts would be engulfed in concrete and provide some extra grip to prevent the mailbox post from lifting up out of the concrete.

They would also give the mailbox post a lot of stability and help prevent any wiggling inside the concrete over time.

He then dug a 2 feet deep hole where the mailbox post would be going. Then, Ash made the hole about 1 foot wide for the concrete.

Of course, Ash sent me to Home Depot again for a 50-pound bag of concrete mix for fixing up the mailbox post. (Good thing I have practice from those 40-pound dog food bags!)

Before mixing the concrete, he had to get the mailbox post in place and leveled properly. He dropped it in the hole and used a level to get it standing straight up.

Then using some scrap wood, he nailed on some temporary wooden supports to keep the mailbox post in place.

For the concrete, Ash emptied the mix into the wheelbarrow. Then, he used the original packaging box as a measurement cup and added in the correct proportions of water per the directions.

He gave the mixture a really good mixing with a shovel until all the chunks were gone and a nice flowing slurry of concrete was left. After, he tilted the wheelbarrow and carefully poured the mixture into the mailbox hole.

Ash let the concrete dry for most of the day in the hot sun. By evening time, he was out working again. He removed the temporary supports from the mailbox post and gave it a gentle push.

The brand new mailbox post stood very firm and straight in the concrete.

Happy with the results, we covered the rest of the hole with extra dirt and packed it down tightly with an 8 lb tamper.

How to Finish Up Fixing the Mailbox

For decorative purposes, I had purchased a pointed plastic fence post cap to install at the top of this mailbox post. It made the mailbox look so stately.

Sized to fit a 4 x 4 mailbox post, it went on very easily. I secured it in place with some small screws.

Then, we attached the freshly painted mailbox to the new post, and adhered some exterior numbering stickers for the address.

Here’s a picture of our fixed up mailbox:

Our slanted eyesore of a mailbox became a stately structure almost overnight.

We now had a beautiful mailbox which suited the rest of the yard. This fixing up our mailbox project that had a huge impact for minimal cost and effort.

If you are looking to fix your mailbox, you can’t go wrong with price or simplicity. The total cost was under $20. We completed it over the course of a weekend. A prefabricated mailbox of this quality would cost at least $80. If you are looking to fix your mailbox up, doing it yourself is definitely the way to go.

The best part? Our mailbox stood perfectly tall at 90 degrees – which meant no more falling mail. You’re welcome, mailman 🙂

How to Easily Make a Wedding Wine Basket

June 19, 2016 by Eileen 61 Comments

Recently, I took a little break from the home project list to work on some crafty things for my dear friend Meg’s bridal shower.

My fellow bridesmaids and I wanted to make a first year of marriage milestone wine basket that would include 12 bottles of wine for our her first year of marriage.

After scouring the Internet, I couldn’t find what I needed – so I created my own. I’m including the printables for you too!

First, I choose 12 occasions that Meg and Steve would celebrate during their first year of marriage.

I wanted to pick milestones that they would definitely enjoy their initial 12 months of being married, such as first Christmas, first Valentine’s Day, first snowfall.

I didn’t want to use occasions such as first baby and first home – because those milestones might not be in the couple’s immediate plans.

Therefore, the occasions I went with were wedding night, first New Year’s, first Valentine’s Day, first snowfall, first spring bloom, first beach trip, first big purchase, first dinner party, first fight, first Christmas, first Thanksgiving, and first anniversary.

Next, I needed tags to go with each milestone.

I used cute poems that fit the occasion and I fitted them all to one sheet of paper with the titles running vertically.

This made it easy to print just one sheet of paper for all of the tags.

Download the Wedding Wine Basket Tags

The wedding wine basket tag is a PDF, and it is not personalized, meaning none of these poems include the bride or groom’s name. Therefore, it’s easy for you to simply print, cut, and attach. No formatting necessary 🙂

Making the Wine Basket Tags

First, I printed the wine tag sheet out on thick manila paper. Afterward, I used squiggly scissors to cut out each blurb. Squiggly scissors are my favorite because they hide my lack of ability to cut in a straight line.

Then, I took out my scrapbook paper collection and cut out tags. I coordinated the scrapbook paper colors and designs with the occasion. After that, I glued the poems to the tags, punched a hole in each, and voila!

The tags were done. Don’t they look cute?!

Choosing the Wines for the Wedding Basket

Ash and I then took a trip to Joe Canal’s, a discount liquor store, for the bottles of wine.

We had a ton of fun, as we ended up matching the occasions to the names of the wines. Although, this wasn’t the initial plan, Joe Canal’s had such a great selection that it was easy and fun to pair each milestone with wine.

We found a Christmas Chardonnay to go with the first Christmas tag, Jersey Blush to go with first beach trip, a wine called 30 degrees to go with first snowfall, and the list goes on.

Putting the Basket Together

To attach the tags to the wine, I simply cut a piece of ribbon and tied it in a bow around the neck of the bottle.

I then bought a basket from Michael’s and covered the bottom of the basket in tissue paper. Then, I added the title “Quenching Your Thirst Through a Year of Firsts” and a sign that said “Carry from the bottom.”

Twelve bottles of wine get heavy!

Wedding Wine Basket Bliss

Overall, the first year of marital bliss wine basket turned out great! My mom, who isn’t normally a fusser, fussed over it every time she came over (I had it sitting on a bench in the mudroom for a few weeks). At the shower, the bridesmaids and guests loved it, raving over it.

Additionally, a few sweet older women at the shower asked me if they could find the idea on the Internet. 🙂

Moreover, recently a friend of mine was looking for a special gift for her nephew’s engagement party. She asked me if I had any ideas for the couple that had everything.

She LOVED this idea and put together her own, also adding a beer of the month club gift too to keep with the theme. I thought that was another cute idea!

Overall, the milestone wedding wine basket is a creative, fun, and unique project, with plenty of opportunities to add a personal touch. And of course, Meg and Steve loved it too.

How to Professionally Paint an Old Wooden Desk

May 31, 2016 by Eileen 30 Comments

Years ago, I painted an old dresser white with turquoise knobs. It looked really cute, but it was apparent that it was painted – the surface wasn’t anywhere near the quality of the furniture you would buy from the store.

There are so many tutorials online about painting furniture, and so many say that you can skip sanding or priming. Here’s my advice – don’t skip sanding, don’t skip priming, and use a high-quality paint.

Lately, I had been in the market for a new desk in my craft room. I was determined to find a good deal on an old wooden piece and then figure out how to paint the desk like a professional would.

You see, my current desk was an old kitchen table. Ash was in the process of updating my craft room with beautiful built-in bookshelves and a window seat, so it was time for my kitchen table-desk to get the boot.

I didn’t want to pay $200 for a new, modern-looking desk, so I scoured a few flea markets and thrift stores. Finally, at a Habitat for Humanity thrift store. I found a brown wooden desk that I could work with. It was originally $40, but with a 50% coupon – I paid $20.

Being that my craft room would have mostly white furniture, I decided to try my hand at learning how to paint a desk like a professional.

How to Paint a Desk White

Below is a picture from before I started painting the wooden desk.

It’s not a great picture. It had only been in the garage for about two hours, and Ash had the desk covered with tools and wood from another garage storage project. (I should have taken a better picture, but I am always so excited to start my projects that I forget.)

Preparing the Wooden Desk

Before painting the desk, the first thing I did was remove the drawers and knobs. Then I cleaned the desk really well – wiping off dust and anything else that had collected on the surface.

The next step of the desk makeover was sanding it down. To sand, I used a random orbital sander with 80-grit paper. This got the desk down to the bare wood quickly. However, even though the desk was smooth to the touch, I probably should have gone over it with 220 grit paper afterward for a more fine finish.

Here is the desk after the sanding and before painting. Notice I put the feet of desk on pieces of wood to raise it up, so I could easily sand, prime, and paint the desk’s legs.

Priming the Wooden Desk

After I was finished sanding, I wiped the desk down again to get all of the sawdust off. You can use a cheese cloth for this or even paper towels. Next, I was ready for the primer.

Priming Materials

I had a 2-gallon bucket of indoor/outdoor primer leftover from painting the shed last summer, so I was all ready to go.

I used a large roller brush for the desktop. Then I used a small roller brush and a 1-inch brush for corners and tight areas.

In addition, I used an 1-inch foam brush for the rungs.

If you are wondering what the most challenging part of how to paint a desk is – it was painting the rungs. The rungs on this desk were in such close proximity to each other.

As soon as I would paint one side of the rung, paint would build-up on the bordering sides.

I would then smooth this, and once again, the bordering sides would have some build-up, continuing the cycle.

Thus, I had to very meticulously spend time painting the desk rungs, being careful not to use too much paint and being conscientious about going around and around to smooth everything.

If your furniture has a design like this, be sure to leave lots of time (and have plenty of patience).

Also, since the foam brush put on such a light coat of primer, I knew I would have to do at least two coats on the rungs of the desk I was painting.

After two coats of primer on most of the surfaces (I did 3 on the top of the desk as well as the rungs), I was happy with the results and continued on to painting.

Painting a Wooden Desk White

After priming, I was ready to start painting. I was already happy with how the white primer was looking and was excited to finish up the project.

Using a High-Quality Paint

For this, I used a high-quality enamel paint (urethane acrylic satin).

This type of paint differs from regular paint in that the paint pigments are floating in a urethane solution so it dries to form a very hard, protective surface – much like how polyurethane dries.

It is expensive (about $50 a gallon), but its recommended for furniture that gets a lot of use. (Also, I only used about 1/3 of the can painting the desk, so I had a decent amount left for future projects.)

Applying the Paint

To apply this special paint on the desk, I used a foam roller brush.

It is recommended to use a foam brush with this type of paint to give it a smooth finish.

If you use a regular nap roller (like the ones you use when painting walls), it will soak up and waste a lot of the paint, and it leaves a textured finish.

In addition to the foam roller brush, I also used a 1-inch foam brush for the rungs and tight areas.

I applied a thick topcoat on all of the surfaces of the desk, taking my time with the rungs.

After it dried, I put a second coat on the top of the desk only. This provided extra protection on this surface since it would get a lot of wear and tear.

Also, this probably goes without saying, but if it’s a windy day, paint your furniture in the garage if you can, so particles don’t blow and stick to your piece.

Here’s how the painted desk turned out:

The White Painted Desk

The surface of the painted desk had a nice protective enamel that made it easy to wipe, and it looked professional painted.

However, the painted desk still looked like there were ridges in the wood; it wasn’t a sleek, smooth finish like the brand-new furniture you buy directly from the store.

Don’t get me wrong, I was still very happy with the way the wooden desk turned out. However, in hindsight, when I sanded the desk down to the bare wood (even though the wood felt smooth to the touch), I probably should have gone over it with 220 grit paper for a more fine surface.

The 80-grit paper quickly got the old finish off, but the 220 would have given it a smoother seal.

I still loved the way the painted looked – it was a welcome addition to our bright, airy craft room, and I learned exactly how to paint a desk.

Here’s a side-by-side view of the before and after pictures of how to paint a desk. Not bad, right?!

Time & Cost of Painting a Wooden Desk

The time span of painting the desk was the course of a week – including dry time and airing out time. The paint fumes were not strong, but a little extra time never hurts.

The total cost came to $70. The desk was $20, and the paint was $50. We had previously purchased the primer and the painting materials, so that wasn’t a cost for us.

And, there was primer and paint leftover for the next project 🙂 If you are wondering how to paint a desk like professional, these tips and tricks should definitely set you on your way, keeping you loving your professional-looking piece for longer.

Refinishing an Old Telephone Table

May 15, 2016 by Eileen 25 Comments

With the warm weather, Ash and I have been working on so many projects – a built-in bookshelf in our sitting room, a planter box for our garden, painting an old thrift store desk, transforming a kitchen desk area to a cabinet, and refinishing an old telephone table.

Today I’m sharing how Ash and I refinished our old telephone table. I found it for $20 at my favorite flea market years ago and feel in love with its charm. I’d been wanting to stain it dark for years, but it fit in pretty nicely at our old house.

However, in our new house, our family room is much more modern looking, and this old telephone table stood out like a sore thumb!

Preparing the Telephone Table

I was excited to finally have a chance to redo this old telephone table.

My plan was to use wood stain, as we redid my nanny’s coffee table years ago with wood stain. It turned out beautiful.

The first thing I did was wipe it down really well, getting rid of any dust. Then I started to sand down table.

Here’s where I made my mistake. I didn’t sand it down to bare wood. I just did a light sanding, enough to give the stain something to stick too.

Mistakenly, I then moved onto staining the piece, and it was turning out horribly. Since I didn’t sand this old, weathered piece down to bare, there were lots of little knicks and grooves in the surfaces. The stain was filling these in, turning them almost black. So, the surfaces were looking spotty and uneven.

I figured that I now had three choices: I could switch gears and use gel stain like I did on the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, I could paint the table, or I could start over again and sand it down to bare wood.

I decided to sand it down to bare wood and start again. Here’s where Ash helped me. We decided to leave the rungs as is – they looked fine with the first coat of stain, and we were hoping they would blend in well with the second application of stain.

To begin the sanding, Ash started with the random orbital sander and 80 grit paper. However, the existing finish on the table proved to be very challenging to remove. The sander was doing its job but very slowly and burning through lots of paper.

After some experimentation with different tools, Ash found the best one to be the oscillating multi-tool.

Using a flush-cut saw blade, running the blade against the surface at the right angle scraped off the thick, difficult finish. It did leave behind a very ragged surface due to the oscillating action of the blade, but he sanded it down smoothly after with the orbital sander.

One caution about using the oscillating multi-tool is that Ash had to be careful to pull the blade versus pushing it through.

When he pushed the tool, it would sometimes snag a groove and start cutting deeply into the wood. The pulling action worked out best.

I made sure to wipe off all of the sawdust – using a combination of a cheese cloth and Ash’s Shop-Vac.

Staining the Telephone Table

Next, I re-gathered my materials for staining:

Dark Walnut Wood Stain – Minwax
Polyurethane – Minwax
Pre-stain – Minwax
Four rags (two per coat)
Foam brushes
Gloves

I prefer to stain wood using rags because the stain rubs into the wood better. You have less excess and build-up; however, I keep the foam brush around for hard to get to places.

Also, I grabbed our can of pre-stain since the wood was now bare. I used the pre-stain first, brushing it on with a foam brush and waiting about 20 minutes before starting to stain.

I used the first rag to rub on a nice coat of stain. Then, I started with the seat and worked my way around.

Since I was working in the hot sun, the wood was absorbing the stain faster than usual. So, I needed to wipe off the excess before I finished the whole piece. I used the second rag for this, lightly brushing it along the surface. Don’t skip this step – or you will end up with globs.

Also, make sure to do a good job removing the excess around tight areas – like where the rungs meet the table. Otherwise, you will end up with ugly, globby lumps.

Even though I used the rag for most of the staining, I took out the foam brush to get the really tight corners or spaces. Be careful with the foam brush because it holds a lot of stain and drips easily and messily.

After I was done staining and removing the excess, I did a quick scan to make sure I didn’t miss any drips. I let it dry until it wasn’t tacky anymore.

Then, I put on another coat.

Sealing the Stain with Polyurethane

After I was done with the two coats, I was pleased with the results. So, Ash put on a coat of polyurethane.

He used a foam brush, going along with the grain of the wood, and carefully making sure there were no lingering air bubbles on the table’s surfaces.

He let that dry overnight and then did another coat. The refinished telephone table was almost done.

Completing the Refinished Telephone Table

The last step was choosing a new knob at Home Depot and screwing it into the drawer.

We let the refinished telephone table air out for a few days. Then, we moved it back into our family room.

Here’s a before and after picture of my charming newly refinished telephone table.

Since we had all of the wood staining materials in our garage, the cost of refinishing the telephone table was $2. Just the cost of the knob. 🙂

The time of project spanned about a week or so, due to the dry time between coats and the couple of days we let it air out. While the refinished telephone table was drying, Ash and I had other projects we were working on – like a desk update.

Overall, the telephone table update was quite an improvement. The dark stain modernized the old table perfectly. I’ll be on the lookout for my next flea market find 🙂

How to Sell Your Home in Less Than a Week

April 18, 2016 by Eileen 84 Comments

In the weeks leading up to putting our house on the market, Ash and I worked tirelessly getting our home ready.

As parents of a little one, we did not want our house sitting for the market for weeks, let alone months. Therefore, we did a great deal of packing, updating, cleaning, and staging in order to sell our home quickly.

Once ready, our home sold four days after it went on the market (after a weekend of showings).

It was an amazing moment knowing that our hard work got us exactly what we wanted. Our goal was to sell our home in five days or even a week, so we were thrilled after it sold in four days.

How to Sell Your Home Quickly

These five tried and proven tips are amazing and helped to sell our home in no time. These ways to sell your home quickly will definitely have you on your way to signing papers 🙂 Here’s exactly what we did that working amazing for us.

1. Pack, Pack, Pack

If you are looking to sell your home quickly, our number one recommendation is to pack up two-thirds of your things. It sounds like a lot – but you will be packing up anyway, and I assure you that your home will sell more quickly.

With our home, we had a lot of things. Our walls were covered with pictures, there was furniture everywhere, closets were stuffed to the brim, not to mention all of the baby things.

We needed to empty out to make our home look more spacious, to depersonalize, and to properly stage it in order to sell our home quickly.

Packing can be really overwhelming, so read on to see exactly how we packed up our home, in order to get it ready to quickly sell.

Start with the Pictures

First, I worked on the walls. I took down most of the pictures, leaving a few here and there to stage it. I probably had about 15 picture frames up in the living room. With these, I took them all down and then rehung up 3 simple pictures symmetrically above the couch.

I did, however, really like the gallery that I had in the kitchen – it looked modern and cool (see below), so I left that as it was, just swapping out the personal photos for scenery photos.

Simplify Furniture

Next, I removed clunky furniture – extra chairs in the corners, extra dressers in the bedroom, and any other kind of filler furniture. For example, I took everything out of my dining room except for the dining set and the hutch (see below pictures – don’t mind our pets).

The rooms looked more spacious, less “lived in,” and people could walk around more easily. Emptying out some of the superfluous furniture definitely helps sell your home quickly.

Declutter Cabinets and Shelves

The next step of project “sell our home quickly” was to start packing up dishes, knick knacks, extra kitchen gadgets, and smaller picture frames. For instance, our bay window was filled with personal picture frames. So, I packed them all up and put a plant there instead.

Also, I wanted our cabinets and bookshelves not to look stuffed. When people look at houses, they open cabinets, closets – everything. It all needed to look organized and roomy. You don’t want prospective buyers to see a cabinet full of shoved, mismatched Tupperware.

This was around Christmas time, and we ordered a lot from Amazon and Kohls (great Black Friday sales!) , so every time we got a delivery, I would empty the box of my new purchase and then repack it up with the above items.

It was really efficient for me to pack this way because with a baby that wasn’t sleeping that well, I didn’t have a lot of time other than a few minutes here and there.

Also, packing can seem like a lot of work, but it’s work you have to do anyway. So packing ahead of time gives you a jump start on the work you would have had after you sold your house.

Empty Closets

Next up was our closets, and they were maxed out. We definitely need to pack and organize them to get our house ready to sell. So, I packed most of the things and organized the rest.

For our clothes, I packed up things that were out of season. It was winter, so I packed all of my dresses and summer things.

Our walk-in closet still looked terrible, so I organized all of Ash’s and my clothes in rainbow order. It’s amazing how much neater and less chaotic this small change made our walk-in look. I love the way things look arranged in rainbow order, and it definitely put us on the path of organizing our chaos to sell our home quickly.

Baby Basics

As far as the baby things, they were everywhere. With our plan of wanting to sell quickly, we put as much away as we could. We didn’t use the pack n’ play very often, so we folded that up and put it away. Because our son was using his bouncer a lot, we found a place for it in the downstairs closet, where we could easily take it in and out without overstuffing the closet.

Basically, all of the baby things would be put away for showings, other than what was in the upstairs nursery.

Luckily, we had a huge attic and nearby parents to help with the storage. We also had a few places where we could still put things: we had two couches with storage underneath that held a lot of last minute things that were laying around. You could always rent a storage unit too – but packing up beforehand is a critical step in selling your home quickly.

With our house looking less lived in and 2/3 of our stuff packed up, we were definitely on the right path to selling our home quickly. Read on for more ways to sell your home in less than 5 days.

2. Make Easy, Manageable Updates

In the midst of packing up, we also made manageable aesthetic updates in order to sell our home quickly.

You don’t have to be a DIYer to make upgrades, but fixing little things here and there definitely will help you sell your home quickly.

These updates can be little things that you have been meaning to fix before selling your house. Or, they can be quick swaps that make a huge difference.

Replace Simple Items

In wanting to sell our home, we tried to replace simple things around our home that looked dated. For example, we replaced old rusty air vents that were very visible. We replaced beat up switch covers for shiny new ones.

We also purchased some items to make our home look more modern. We bought a few old light fixtures that were more modern and replaced these.

Additionally, we bought a kitchen table that worked with the space better than the clunky one we had before. We knew could take this with us when we moved.

We also repainted some areas. Our kitchen was blue overload, so we did a more gray shade.

These aren’t great pictures – but it shows the changed light fixture, new table, and lighter paint color in the kitchen nook – all small things which made a big difference.

Our realtor even commented how perfect that table was for the small space, without even knowing we had just bought it.

So, take a look around your home and see what simple changes you are comfortable making in order to sell your home quickly.

Freshen Paint

Prospective buyers have troubling imagining themselves living in a home that needs work, so we wanted to make it look as perfect as possible. If you have any crazy colors – like a bright red wall that stands out, it might be a good idea to paint it a neutral color.

In our house, I gave the rooms that needed it a fresh coat of paint. I also did a fresh coat on our front door and back door. Of course, I got a little carried away and repainted baseboard and chair rails in our downstairs too to make them brighter and fresher.

Easy Maintenance

I had taken so many pictures off the wall that there were an abundance of nail holes. Fixing these is not only a nice thing to do for the future home owners but it makes the walls look so much nicer. So, I filled all of the old nail holes and then painted.

Then, I filled the gaps between the old crown molding pieces that the previous owners had done. I caulked and painted these. We also fixed up old grout in the bathroom that wasn’t visually pleasing with a little recaulking.

These were all simple things to do – they didn’t cost anything, but it definitely made our home look really nice. All these things definitely helped to sell our home quickly.

Pantry Upgrade

Additionally, Ash put up the French door pantry in the kitchen, which was a quick weekend project. It previously had dingy curtains and looked awful.

I can’t believe we didn’t think of the French doors sooner. They turned a little nook of shelves into a modern-looking pantry.

You can make yourself go crazy doing all of these things.

Remember you can’t do everything, so be reasonable about the small upgrades that you can make without making yourself go nuts. Any small updates will definitely help.

3. Stage Your Home

As our updates were nearing completion, we started to stage our home in order to sell the house quickly. This is such an important step in the whole process of selling your home. You want the prospective home buyers to feel like they could live in your space. And, all of the packing you already did will help you stage because there will be so much less to stage.

Brightening Dim Spaces

In order to make our home shine, we wanted to let as much natural light in as possible. First, we took down the dark curtains from both our bay windows to let a lot of light in. We left the curtain rods up, but it definitely brightened up the whole downstairs. Natural light is the best.

We put some brighter bulbs in dark spaces, like in our laundry room and kitchen. We apparently had dim lighting in both areas and hadn’t realized. Our realtor pointed this out (keep reading for more on this), and it made a huge difference.

Arranging & Rearranging

Part of staging your home is arranging furniture. We rearranged our living room and our bedroom to allow easy flow of people. When selling your home, you don’t want prospective home buyers to feel cornered or stuck or trip on a piece of furniture. You want your living areas to feel open. We also added a few plants to windowsills. Beautiful greens definitely add a lot to a home.

In selling our home, we arranged all of the shelves neatly. Already having personal photos removed, there was less to work with. Therefore, in the nursery – for example, we got creative and printed some Pooh sketches from google and used color-coordinated children’s books to replace some of the personal photos that we took out.

Setting Up the Outdoors for Staging

Remember, in selling your home the outside is important to stage too. We put down fresh mulch in our backyard and cleaned up the flower gardens. Then, we set the chairs up on our deck to look inviting. We had the porch cleanly swept.

In the front yard, we put new solar garden lights for nighttime showings and cleaned up the flower beds too.

And, we put down a colorful carpet and brightly colored pillows in our dingy, old sunroom. New pillows are a great way to stage any room, as you can bring in new colors or accentuate the colors you have.

What about the dog?

We hid all evidence of our dog – the dog bed, toy bones, crate – everything! He’s a very clean dog that doesn’t shed, but we wanted to make a good first impression on prospective buyers.

We know this information would be disclosed, but we didn’t want anyone put off from our home during first impressions.

The Best Scent for Staging a Home

Prior to showing, we opened the windows and let the fresh air in. We didn’t bother with any candles or scents or cinnamon in the microwave – just some lemon cleaning products and fresh air.

4. Clean Until Your Home Shines

To sell your home quickly, make everything sparkle. In our home, we wiped down the windows, furniture, counters, the bathrooms, so that it all looked shiny and fresh.

I remember we went to see one house and there were bagel crumbs all over the counter from someone’s breakfast. Instead of noticing their kitchen cabinets or view from the window, I was fixated on those bagel crumbs. It just looked sloppy! Making everything neat and clean is the way to go.

Before the few showings we had, I would get everyone into the car – Ash, our son, and our dog. And, then I would run back in to do a quick look at how we left everything.

In the below picture, you can see the natural light coming in, the spacious areas to walk around, the few pictures on the wall, and the clean, shiny surfaces. (In hindsight, I would have painted that window trim white!)

5. Use a Great Realtor

Last, we found a great realtor, who most importantly helped us price our house right in order to sell our home quickly. We spent time with him looking at the competition and the prices they had or were looking for. We also went into a few open houses that were in our own neighborhood, seeing our competition.

Then, we came up with a price that we were comfortable with from the start. We didn’t overprice our home; if a house is overpriced (even with the intent to drop it later), it can deter buyers.

Additionally, before our house went on the market, our realtor suggested some things to make the house more appealing: the rug in our bedroom needed to be stretched, the roof needed a cleaning, and a few other smaller things – like the rusty vents and brighter lighting that I mentioned above. These feedback from the realtor helped us to decide what upgrades were needed prior to showing.

Make a Home Binder for Your Showings

When we moved we left all of the gallons of paint that went with the rooms in the house, labeling the cans with the room that it belonged in.

We also made a binder that had all of the work that we had done at the house with the company’s name. For example, we replaced our kitchen counters with quartz, so we left all of the paperwork (marking out our personal information). If the new owners wanted to add on to the kitchen, they would have the company that we got the quartz from.

We gave this to the new owners on closing, but in hindsight, I wished I had left a binder with all of this information (including paint chips) on the kitchen table for prospective home buyers. I think it shows that you really took care of your house well – which is something that every home buyer wants when they are buying a home.

Download our home improvement binder for free printables below.

Four Days Later…

With all of our hard work, we got great feedback on our house. We heard it was easy to show and that other realtors wished some of the homes they were selling were staged like this. Yet most importantly, we had an offer after only one weekend of showing! (And, if we waited one more day before accepting, we would have had another offer too.)

Anyway, as a final piece of advice when selling your home, you just have to believe that your hard work will pay off. There are so many houses on the market that are cluttered, in need of upgrades, and not easy to show.

By following these steps, you can easily set your home apart and know exactly how to sell your home quickly – just like we did!

How to Transform Thrift Store Chairs

April 1, 2016 by Eileen 67 Comments

Every time I go to a flea market, a thrift store, even Home Goods, I come home with chairs.

I just love chairs. They can dress a space up, accentuate certain colors, bring back a classic look – they just bring so much personality to a room.

And, I love how easily you can redo them. With a little spray paint and new fabric, you can easily bring a chair new life.

When we were planning to move out of our old house, we had accumulated so many things that Ash told me I wasn’t allowed to bring home any more chairs (or books but that’s a different story).

He was right, as we had enough seats in our house for a Sunday mass.

Before chairs were off limits, I cleaned up a few flea market finds that are now household favorites.

Here’s Ash and I at one of our favorite rummage sales, sitting on the two chairs I later fixed up.

Each of these chairs cost less than $10, which was a steal!

Below is a better picture of the two chairs. The one on the left is an ice cream chair with a wooden seat. Although white, the chipping paint revealed that it had previously been red.

My thinking was to bring back the red with a cranberry color. My grandma had ice cream chairs in that color, and I love little reminders of her.

The one on the right was a purple-ish tan with an old, dingy cushion.

My plan was to make this more modern looking, as I wanted to use this chair for my make-up vanity. I was thinking a dark bronze color.

Preparing for Painting

I decided on spray painting the chairs. It would be easy and spray paint comes in so many colors.

First, I took the seats out of the chairs pretty easily by unscrewing some bolts.

Then, I put the chairs back together without the seats, in order to spray the whole chair.

When painting, I threw down an old shower curtain.

Spray Painting Chairs

After preparing, I applied one thick coat of spray paint on each chair.

The vanity chair looks darker than actuality in these pictures. It’s more of a deep bronze than a black color.

While the paint was drying, I went to work on the seats. The ice cream chair seat was an ugly and uncomfortable wooden circular disk. Here’s a reminder of the what the “seat” looked like:

Choosing New Fabrics

For the ice cream chair, I chose two fabrics that I loved from Joann Fabric.

They were very different patterns because I wasn’t sure which would look better. (I’m very visual and need to see how things would look. It probably would be weird if I carried the chairs through the store holding fabrics up to it – so I just bought my two favorites.

So, I decided at home that the navy blue paisley pattern on an off-white background was the winner.

I loved how the cranberry color contrasted with the navy in the pattern on the finished product.

Here’s a close-up:

Replacing the Old Fabric

To attach the new fabric, I put the current seat on top of the fabric and cut a large square around it.

When cutting, I gave myself about three extra inches around the seat.

Then, I wrapped the seat loosely with the fabric and added stuffing – the white fluffy cushion material (pictured on the floor below).

Next, I pulled the fabric over the underside of the disk and used my staple gun to give it a tight wrap. After screwing the bolts back in, I had a brand new looking seat!

Here’s a before and after of the ice cream chair. I was so pleased with it! My grandma would have been too 🙂

As for the vanity chair, I chose a turquoise and ivory pattern that worked well with the dark bronze spray paint.

This chair already had a cushion, so that saved some time.

In putting this chair back together, I simply wrapped the fabric tightly around the existing seat, used the staple gun to secure the fabric, and then screwed the seat back in.

The chair was looking good – and it worked perfectly with my make-up vanity.

Here’s a before and after of the vanity chair.

Time and Cost of the Chair Makeover

The total cost of making over both chairs was less than $30, including the chairs, stuffing, and fabric.

The time spent working was less than two hours. The longest part was the dry time.

I love how both of the chairs turned out – especially the ice cream chair.

It’s a piece of furniture I will definitely chair-ish 🙂

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Eileen

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