• Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
  • Shop
  • Projects
    • Cleaning
    • Clothing
    • Colonial Farmhouse
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY Projects
    • Holidays
  • Adventure
    • Moving to Ireland
    • Living in Ireland
    • Visiting Ireland
    • Travel
    • Family and Parenting
    • Humor
    • Learning
  • Privacy Policy
A Pretty Happy Home

Life, DIY and Random Things That Make Me Smile

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
  • Shop
  • Projects
    • Cleaning
    • Clothing
    • Colonial Farmhouse
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY Projects
    • Holidays
  • Adventure
    • Moving to Ireland
    • Living in Ireland
    • Visiting Ireland
    • Travel
    • Family and Parenting
    • Humor
    • Learning
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
  • Shop
  • Projects
    • Cleaning
    • Clothing
    • Colonial Farmhouse
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY Projects
    • Holidays
  • Adventure
    • Moving to Ireland
    • Living in Ireland
    • Visiting Ireland
    • Travel
    • Family and Parenting
    • Humor
    • Learning
  • Privacy Policy

No Widgets found in the Sidebar Alt!

  • flagstones directly on the ground flagstone path metal awning painted with brush on hammered copper paint
    Crafts,  DIY

    4 Places To Use Brush-On Hammered Copper Paint

    July 12, 2023 /

    You’ve probably seen hammered paint of all colors in a spray can but have you seen brush-on hammered copper paint made by Rust-Oleum? It’s the paint you didn’t know you needed until now. Prepare for your mind to be blown intrigued. The hammered paint does come in a spray can version, but I prefer the brush-on version. Here are 4 places where I’ve used brush-on hammered copper paint. On drip edge metal flashing: You might have a small shed like ours that has drip edge flashing right below the roof. Our flashing was looking a little worse for wear and I painted it with the hammered copper paint. The paint…

    read more
    annisa 2 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Tie-Dye Cleaning Rags

    June 19, 2015
    Use for old hubcaps magnetic Bulletin Board

    Use for Old Hubcaps: Magnetic Bulletin Board

    April 8, 2019

    Personalized Wood Hangers

    February 21, 2018
  • how to add trim to a metal door using PVC trim
    DIY

    $6 Update! How To Add Trim To A Metal Door

    June 21, 2023 /

    Do you have a boring, plain metal door that you’d like to jazz up? You can do that with trim and it’s easier than you think. No power tools are required. Let’s talk about how to add trim to a metal door. Here’s our door in need of a facelift. It’s not the plainest door since it does have a window but it’s not the most exciting door you’ve ever opened. It also had some peeling paint that needed to be fixed. Not to worry! Some elbow grease, leftover paint, and about $6 of trim will transform this door. Supplies Needed To Add Trim To A Metal Door: PVC Trim…

    read more
    annisa 0 Comments

    You May Also Like

    ladder going up to the roof line of a white house. There's a missing gable return on this greek revival style house that has to be rebuilt.

    Repaired Gable Return on a Greek Revival

    May 11, 2026
    carriage house gym expansion demo a fieldstone wall to prepare for repointing removing concrete from a stone foundation with a chisel attachment on a hammer drill

    Stone Carriage House Gym: Part 2, Demo

    April 28, 2025
    DIY fieldstone stairs building fieldstone stairs outdoors

    Building Fieldstone Stairs: Part 3, The Reveal

    July 28, 2025
  • 10 tips for building an outdoor ping pong table using cement board for the top
    DIY

    10 Tips For Building An Outdoor Ping Pong Table Using Cement Board

    June 12, 2023 /

    If you’re thinking about building an outdoor ping pong table using cement board for the top to keep it weather resistant then I have some tips for you! We recently built an outdoor ping pong table and learned a thing or ten along the way that, so far, the collective genius of the internet has not addressed. We hope that our experience building an outdoor ping pong table using cement board will help your build go a little bit easier so that you can get to the fun part – playing ping pong – a little bit faster! By the way, if you’re wondering if the ball bounces well on…

    read more
    annisa 0 Comments

    You May Also Like

    diy copper accent exterior lighting how to add a copper accent to exterior lights

    How To Add Copper Accent To Exterior Lighting

    September 11, 2024
    converting a 250-year-old carriage house into a gym repointing stone walls old house repointing

    Plan To Convert A 250-Year-Old Carriage House Into A Gym

    August 14, 2024
    carriage house interior makeover

    Carriage House Interior Makeover Madness

    July 27, 2022
  • diy pool equipment tool holder wood rack for holding leaf skimmer and telescoping poles near pool
    DIY

    DIY Pool Maintenance Tool Holder For Leaf Skimmers and Poles

    June 7, 2023 /

    Today, I’m sharing the DIY pool maintenance tool holder we made to store our leaf skimmers and telescoping poles during pool season. Pools are awesome but they also come with a lot of stuff to maintain them. All of those pool maintenance tools need a place to go that’s out of the way but also easily accessible. There are storage options you can buy to hold your leaf skimmer and other telescoping poles, but when you have a problem to solve and loads of scrap wood in your garage, a DIY solution is definitely happening. We made a rack out of wood that attaches to the pool fence that can…

    read more
    annisa 0 Comments

    You May Also Like

    black sunporch bench new bench for the sunporch navy blue sunporch

    New Bench For The Sunporch

    January 11, 2023
    diy wood stool with brass leg tips

    DIY Wood Stool With Brass Leg Tips

    March 10, 2021
    faux copper metal awning

    Faux Copper Metal Awning

    October 14, 2020
  • red flowers with black and white striped towels on a concrete pool deck
    DIY,  gardening and landscape

    Adding To Our Concrete Pool Deck Ourselves

    June 5, 2023 /

    Patience is not one of my virtues but I did wait almost 4 years for us to add a 5-ft x7-ft section to our concrete pool deck. Yes, we poured that concrete ourselves. I should rename this blog “Gluttons For Punishment.” Another suitable blog name would be “We Like To Save A Buck But Dang That Concrete Is Heavy.” Thankfully, Handy Husband has experience pouring concrete and I’m a decent assistant as long as I’m not required to lift more than a handful of 80-lb. bags of concrete. After that, it is possible that whining occurs. It’s ironic that Handy Husband ran a concrete line pump when we first got…

    read more
    annisa 0 Comments

    You May Also Like

    how to hang a clothesline on a deck railing outdoor clothesline on a deck

    How To Hang A Clothesline On A Deck Railing

    August 9, 2023

    When Would You Paint A Counter?

    November 23, 2015

    Racing Trophy Display Door

    June 8, 2014
  • sunroom door hardware after removing paint from door hardware with a slow cooker
    DIY

    Old House Essential: Slower Cooker For Paint Removal

    May 1, 2023 /

    There are house essentials and then there are old house essentials. The essentials might look the same on each list but their purpose can differ vastly. On my list of old house essentials is a slow cooker – not for cooking but for removing paint from door hardware. If you own an old house or any home where someone became overzealous with a paintbrush then a slow cooker will be the MVP when it comes to restoring your door hardware back to its original shine. To make this very clear, I own two slow cookers and I do not confuse the two. One is for making tasty dinners and the…

    read more
    annisa 0 Comments

    You May Also Like

    building in a fridge to make it look custom and panel ready fridge with wood handles

    Building In Our Fridge: The Prep Work Is What Gets You

    January 13, 2025
    painted metal pool coping using marine grade rustoleum paint

    How Our Painted Metal Pool Coping Is Holding Up

    July 17, 2023

    Curved Fieldstone Wall: Part 6, Demo Section 2

    September 8, 2025
  • when to use a brown paint wash to mimic the look of stain
    DIY

    When To Use A Paint Wash To Mimic The Look Of Stain

    April 24, 2023 /

    Let’s talk about when to use a paint wash (aka diluted paint) instead of stain to finish wood. Under the right circumstances, a brown paint wash can mimic the look of stain. There comes a time in every DIY project when things are not going well and you begin to regret the choices that led you to this point. It’s in this moment of profound clarity when you’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time and money on something that does not look good that you realize you could have bought it on Amazon for a tenth of the price and zero of the headaches. Now you have to decide whether…

    read more
    annisa 0 Comments

    You May Also Like

    in praise of mansard roofs mansard roof

    In Praise of the Mansard Roof

    August 9, 2021
    repointing a stone wall with old pipes embedded in the wall

    Stone Carriage House Gym: Part 4, Pipes In Stone Walls

    May 14, 2025

    Basement Workshop Stone Repointing: Part 4, Floor Joists

    March 11, 2026
  • modern country laundry room in a colonial farmhouse with wainscoting stained glass horse art basket wall and inset wall shelves
    decorating,  DIY

    A Modern Country Laundry Room For Our Colonial Farmhouse

    March 29, 2023 /

    If a modern country laundry room can be a thing, that’s what we created for our Colonial Farmhouse. The transformation of this modern country laundry room only took us 3 months, 13 days, and, oh fine…a while. It took us a good long while to finish. Either this project was more tedious than we originally anticipated or we actually found a life and hobbies outside of working on this house. Yeah…you’re not going to believe we have actual hobbies, so this project was probably just tedious…as all good projects are. Almost four years ago our laundry room looked like this. Sexy, wasn’t it? That photo was taken on the day…

    read more
    annisa 1 Comment

    You May Also Like

    refinished wood mirror how to label diy furniture

    Refinished Wood Mirror With a Sentimental Twist

    May 2, 2022
    new art for our navy sunporch

    New Art For Our Navy Sunporch

    November 9, 2022

    Mason Jar Snow Globes

    December 2, 2015
  • stones in between studs of old house 3 reasons why old houses have stones in between the studs
    DIY

    3 Reasons Old Houses May Have Stones Between The Studs

    March 20, 2023 /

    If you own a really old house you might have discovered stones or bricks instead of insulation in between the studs in your walls. It begs the question why do old houses have stones between the studs? Someone went to an awful lot of trouble to install those stones or bricks there. They had to have had a decent reason to undertake that back-breaking work. There are 3 possible reasons that really old houses, particularly those built in the 1700s and 1800s, may have stones or bricks in between the studs in the walls. First, let me say that I am the owner of a home built in the eastern…

    read more
    annisa 2 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Vintage Milk Can Side Table

    Vintage Milk Can Side Table

    May 27, 2020
    newly repointed fieldstone foundation walls and step in a 1780s home

    Basement Workshop Repointing: Part 7, Stone Doorway

    April 15, 2026
    diy stone steps building fieldstone steps before

    Building Fieldstone Stairs: Part 1

    July 21, 2025
  • DIY wood cube cord holder charging cord holder
    Crafts,  DIY

    DIY Wood Cube Cord Holder

    February 27, 2023 /

    Today I’m going to show you my latest creation, a DIY Wood Cube Cord Holder, and how you can make one yourself. Cord management for all of our electronic devices seems like a universal problem we can all get behind. That’s a rarity in our world! I’ve been on a kick to contain, manage, and wrangle all the charging cords in our house. It’s a thankless job but someone has to do it. My laptop charging cord is particularly wily. If that cord wasn’t plugged into my laptop, it would slide right off the back of my desk. There are adhesive clips you can purchase to solve that problem but…

    read more
    annisa 0 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Useful Perler Bead Craft

    September 25, 2015

    Heart Plant Stakes

    January 15, 2016
    faux chocolate easter bunny made with wood bunny and gold leaf

    Faux Chocolate Bunny – With Wood Rabbit and Gold Leaf

    March 31, 2025
 Older Posts
Newer Posts 
Hi! I'm Annisa.

Recent Posts

  • Happy List: #446
  • How To: Fall-Themed Resin Tray With Wood Leaf Cutouts
  • Hold Your Horses: Bringing Back the Original “Parking Spot”
  • Happy List: #445
  • Out With the Sad Mailbox In With the New Mailbox

Categories

Subscribe to blog
Loading

$2018 © A Pretty Happy Home
Ashe Theme by WP Royal.