How to Fill Gaps in Wood Floors with Oakum
For the small percentage of you living in really old houses (bless you!), let me share one of the more historically accurate ways to fill gaps in wood floors with oakum. This is the information I needed when we bought our Colonial Farmhouse and didn’t know what to do about the gaps between the original wood floorboards. I had to comb through the internet to find bits and pieces of information, so I’m combining what I learned all in one place with links out to the information that helped me. If the gaps in your wood floors don’t bother you, leave them. But if your kids can push things through…
A Snarky, but Helpful Wallpaper Removal Guide
Here’s a Snarky, but Helpful Wallpaper Removal Guide for when you are already over it and you haven’t even started. Don’t worry. This feeling is totally normal when it comes to wallpaper removal. For every beautifully wallpapered room I see online I know there is a poor schmuck that will someday have to remove that no longer beautiful wallpaper. Guess how often that poor schmuck has been me? Eight times in our current house alone. Our house really isn’t that big, but almost every vertical surface, including the stair risers, was covered in decades old wallpaper. Why did I want this house again? Removing wallpaper is like unwrapping a present…
Colonial Farmhouse Kitchen Mini Makeover One Year Later
Do you know what I enjoy more than a room makeover reveal? Learning how that makeover is holding up over time. Instead of the pretty spaces, give me all of the hard-working, well-loved spaces that shine. Last January, we did a Colonial Farmhouse Kitchen Mini Makeover that mainly involved staining the cabinets and changing the backsplash grout color in our kitchen. To get the full impact of this kitchen mini makeover, I need to take you on a quick trip down memory lane. The photo below is how the Colonial Farmhouse Kitchen looked when we purchased the place in June 2019. I know I say this every time I show…
DIY Wood Stool With Brass Leg Tips
I have the best furniture hack to share with you today on how to DIY a wood stool with brass leg tips. This is going to be a semi-handmade DIY project and those are some of my favorite type of projects because not everything needs to be created from scratch. Better yet, no power tools were used in this project! Shocking, I know! I started with a pair of unfinished 18-inch wood stools. This is my first time purchasing unfinished furniture and this is what arrived – a total blank slate. The wood stools received two coats of black stain with poly. I just happened to have a can of…
Glazed Terra-Cotta Pot Makeover
Have you ever done a glazed terra-cotta pot makeover? I haven’t either…until now. *insert dramatic music here* I found a glazed terra-cotta pot at a thrift store for $10. It is huge, almost 18 inches tall, and it was begging for a makeover. Begging. You can see the potential, right? This is not one of those situations where I’m going to slap mud on a vase to make it look like authentic earthenware. I already had authentic earthenware. It was just hiding under some painted on flowers and swirly things. My plan for this glazed terra-cotta pot makeover was simple. I was just going to paint it. Easy breezy. However,…
Vinyl Tile Pedestal Stand
I created a vinyl tile pedestal stand from leftover vinyl flooring to go next to my kitchen sink, and I’m thrilled to show it to you today! This was such a fun way to repurpose leftover vinyl floor tiles. I like to corral the dish soap and cleaning spray bottle on a tray next to the kitchen sink, but I do not like how soap and water inevitably drip all over that area. I needed a tray for my dish soap that would hold up well when my kids do dishes next to a wet area. We had a handful of leftover black hexagon vinyl tiles from a flooring project.…
DIY Rustic Wood Hearts
I’m titling this post “DIY Rustic Wood Hearts” because it’s really hard to DIY perfect wood hearts by hand. At least it is for this girl! Rustic sounds so much more purposeful than almost any other descriptive adjective I could use. I was in the mood to create something as a subtle nod to Valentine’s Day without throwing up red and pink glittered hearts all over my house. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I don’t do cutesy decor very well. I love looking at those playful, festive decor pictures online, but that style doesn’t translate well in real life for me. So how could I create something for…
Trying Out An Electronic Lock
Do you have an electronic lock on any of the doors in your home? If so, do you have strong feelings about it, either good or bad? We just got our first electronic lock, and I must admit, it’s kind of handy! The first thing anyone in the real estate field will tell you to do when you buy a new house is to change the locks! You don’t know how many keys for your house are floating around out there and who is in possession of them. Sound advice, don’t you think? Do we heed sound advice? Of course! Except in one peculiar instance. I shouldn’t even mention this…
Under the Stairs Closet Shelves
We now have under-the-stairs closet shelves, and I’m pretty darn happy about it. I’m also happy about “Clean Sheet Day,” a fresh jar of peanut butter, and no-show socks that don’t slip off my heel. I guess I’m an adult now. We have an under-the-stairs closet in our music room. When we moved into the Colonial Farmhouse, I found three fur coats hanging in this closet. So fancy…if moth hole chic is your sort of thing. That area looked like this when we moved in: Sorry. I forgot to warn you that picture was going to be a little harsh on the eyes. As a reminder, that wasn’t our stuff.…
How to Remove a Dog Door From a Wood Door and Repair the Damage
Do you want to know how to remove a dog door from a wood door and then repair the damage to that door? Oh, good! You’re in the right spot. I need to caution you. This is not a beginner woodworking project, but it is totally doable with patience and the right tools. We had a solid wood door that we deemed was worth the effort to remove the dog door and repair the hole that had been cut into the door to make way for the dog door. Here are the steps we took to return this door to its (almost) original glory. Step #1: Unscrew the dog door…
