A DIY Blog Empowering You to Complete Your Own Project
We made some serious progress this past week. Not only did we make a big dent in the “to do” list in the kitchen, but we also finished painting and installing the trim in the mudroom. It’s really nice walking past this little paper flower spring wreath and into a finished room!
Our mudroom is looking so nice that I decided to invite you over for a little tour. [Continue reading...]
It’s time to replace your roof. Where do you start? This is the exact predicament I found myself in after the tree fell on our house a few weeks ago. Choosing shingles and roofing material in less than 48 hours had me in a panic. Don’t they know that I need time to thoroughly research shingles, colors, warranties, etc.? Lucky for us, our insurance company turned our claim over to the restoration company who has a roofer they use. So, I was able to fast forward past the process of hiring a roofer.
Hiring a roofer:
If you need to hire a roofer, do your research. Ask for referrals. Check on Angie’s List. Check with the Better Business Bureau. Do your homework on this one! Investing in a new roof is no small expense and quality installation is key to preventing problems down the road. Also, MAKE SURE THE ROOFER IS LICENSED AND INSURED! Don’t just take “yes” as an answer to this question. Ask to see the policy or get the insurance company name, number and their policy number so you can call and verify. I can’t overstress how important this is because I know someone whose roofer fell of their roof. Luckily he lived and luckily she wasn’t sued. But, this always makes me think twice. [Continue reading...]
Yes you can make those wood bar stools fit your counter. Here’s an easy DIY fix to make bar stools into counter stools (and a quick makeover too!).
Bar stools typically sit at 30″ high, this is fine and dandy if you have a proper bar where the countertop is elevated higher than the working countertop space. Kitchen designs are trending now away from the proper bar towards one even countertop surface. No worries, you can still use those bar stools for your counter by easily cutting off the bottom 4″ to reduce the stools to a counter height of 26″:
(The white stools above are counter height and in the picture for comparison purposes.)
In addition to fixing the height of your stools give them a fresh look with a quick paint job and a new design: [Continue reading...]
Creating a meaningful home isn’t an overnight process. I think many people are discouraged with their dwelling if it isn’t the home of their dreams. I look at creating a meaningful home in three stages. Each stage is important to loving the home that you have now, even with its faults or shortcomings. Read how [...]
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I love finding unused space for storage. Nothing bothers me more than a wall that obviously hides a large void behind it. Or a built-in bench that could have been perfect for extra storage. While on the hunt for creative ways to store more, I found 20 brilliant ways to add built-in beauty AND storage [...]
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Mother’s Day is this weekend! Have you decided how to show her your appreciation and love?! I did! My mother is a professional artist. She creates amazing paintings that inspire others and brighten their homes. For Mother’s Day I wanted to brighten her studio with these art utensil holders. I call them “Creative Blocks.” (Or [...]
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Last month Matt showed you all how to build a decorative shelf with crown molding for our half bath. The shelf is perfect for the space and I love it. Unfortunately something felt like it was missing from the shelf. After some thought I decided that our shelf needed picture frames! Beadboard picture frames to be exact. [...]
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Have you ever fallen in love with two different cabinet hardware? But, you worried that your friends and family might have you arrested by the non-coordinating home accent police? No? Okay, so maybe it was just me. I fell in love with these glass knobs.
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Happy Friday! I hope you had a great week, but better yet I hope you have a fabulous weekend! I have a fun little multi-purpose project for you today. I’m going to show you how to make this adorable little picket fence planter basket. You can use it as a planter. You can use it [...]
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You may have noticed that pretty little seedy glass pendant light over our sink from my video the other day. It was a breeze to install, so I want to share with you the tutorial. BUT…before we get down to the step-by-step, I have some awesome news for you. GoldenageUSA.com has offered to give one [...]
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Hello, Pretty Handy Girl readers! It’s Cristina from Remodelando la Casa once again happy to share an easy and fun project where kids are more than welcome to give a helping “thumb” Envelope pillows are the easiest pillow covers I’ve sewn and let me tell you, my sewing skills are not that good. A fabric [...]
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I am so thankful for all the comments and well wishes you have given me over the past six months. Many of those comments have lifted my spirits during the long kitchen renovation process. Your belief in me has truly allowed me to take on projects I would have probably shied away from. After 6.5 [...]
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My plane had no sooner touched down at Raleigh/Durham airport than I started sneezing my head off. We were back in the pollen bomb (what I call the abundance of pollen accumulation this time of year.) My oldest son has severe pollen allergies. This time of year is usually miserable for the poor guy. Over [...]
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Garden gnomes are the cute little guardian angels that watch over our homes. And sometimes they get a bit neglected. In our case the poor fella was beaten up a bit by string trimming and the sun. So today I’m going to share how you can fix any small holes or cracks and repaint your gnome [...]
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Grateful Bracelet from Vintage Fern You know when you have experiences in your life that make you extremely grateful to have what you do have. The moments when you realize that seconds or inches make the difference between life and death. And moments when you suddenly realize how blessed you are. We had one of [...]
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One of the best decisions I made in our kitchen renovation was adding cork tile flooring. I was exuberant when Globus Cork agreed to work with me on my kitchen renovation! Now that they are installed, I am in total love with the cork flooring. It is warm, water resistant, cushy under foot, attractive, and best [...]
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This week is Teacher and Staff appreciation week at my sons’ school. Monday was bus driver appreciation. Our bus driver is a really great guy. He’s young, but man is he on top of things! He is always polite and learned the kids’ names the first week. I wasn’t sure what to get him. I [...]
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Do your kids want to build and paint just like you? This project a great beginner build for young ones who want to get in there and make something to call their own. And once they’re done building they can paint it too! Or give the build as a unique personalized gift for that artsy friend [...]
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I’m currently cruising at the over 10,000 feet altitude (gotta LOVE in flight wi-fi!) and headed to Salt Lake City to attend SNAP later this week. Say a prayer that I don’t catch the stomach bug that claimed another family member this morning. Currently Buddy and I are the last ones standing (where is there [...]
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One of the biggest decisions I had to make on our kitchen renovation was what flooring to install. We have always had linoleum flooring and I was happy with it. But, when I was shopping for new linoleum I couldn’t find a pattern or flooring that I really loved. One of the things I was [...]
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I’m headed to Utah this week to attend the SNAP conference. Preparing for blog conferences usually means it’s time for me to put away my paint spattered holey jeans and find some cute clothes to wear. It’s not easy for me to get dressy, but I’ve finally learned the value of “dressing up” some basics [...]
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Teacher’s Appreciation Week is next week at my sons’ elementary school. I needed a gift that would be special and would make the teachers’ smile. And, I needed a gift that would require very little time to create. As I strode by the recycling bin, I grabbed some jars and had a wild idea. Materials: Recycled [...]
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Jacque, my wife, and the other half of The DIY Village has been kindly reminding me that I promised to make her a decorative shelf for our downstairs half bathroom. She only had a few requests. She asked that I incorporate crown molding into the shelf, along with some hardware to hang hand towels. As [...]
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Have you ever wished you had a chalkboard wall in your home? But, you didn’t think you could create one because you have textured walls or damaged drywall? I feel your pain! We have a little wall between the kitchen and the dining room that was the perfect spot for a chalkboard wall. But the [...]
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~This post is sponsored by HERSHEY’S~ Do you know how much I love chocolate? (If you love it too, be sure to scroll down to learn how you can win some HERSHEY’S KISSES Brand Chocolates and a treat case like the one above!) I love chocolate so much that I joke that there needs to [...]
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Finishing drywall seams has been compared to frosting a cake. But, as anyone knows, the first time you frost a cake, it doesn’t usually come out Cake Boss worthy. I figured it would be helpful if I gave you a few tips and tricks to get you on the fast track to learning how to [...]
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Hi everyone, I’m Cristina from Remodelando la Casa, and I’m beyond excited to join the team of Pretty Handy gals and guys! I’m still pinching myself at such a wonderful opportunity. Today I’m going to show you a fairly easy way to transform your builder grade windows from plain and boring to beautiful with loads of character [...]
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When Lowe’s challenged me to give an outdoor spot a mini-makeover, I knew exactly where to turn my attention. Our small paver patio is where we sit on warm spring days to eat lunch, take a break or sip wine after dark. The winter months wreak havoc on the furniture and the pillows I neglected [...]
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Being a Lowe’s Creative Ideas blogger is one of my favorite jobs as a DIY blogger. I love walking the aisles of Lowe’s, with my provided gift card in hand, dreaming of finding mundane objects to transform into amazingly beautiful objects. For example, what do you get when you cross an ice bucket with a [...]
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Did you guess who my final contributing writer is? Let me give you a hint: “A” is for Awesome and Amazing! She’s none other than the awesome and amazing Jaime from That’s My Letter! You know why she’s amazing? Because this girl has some serious building, painting, crafting and sewing skills. She’s like the MacGyver [...]
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I’m so excited to introduce another handy writer to you today! She’s a wife, a mom, and a secret DIY Superwoman! She knows how to tame any ugly cabinet or window in her home by wrapping it in beautiful custom molding and trim. Please meet Cristina from Remodelando la Casa! Cristina started her blog over [...]
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Vanna, can you please reveal who’s behind square two and three? Why, look who it is! It’s Jacque and Matt from The DIY Village. Not to be confused or associated with the Village People. Although it would be fun to have all of us dress up like this (or maybe not.): I first met Matt [...]
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The first of the handy peeps I want to introduce you to is Jeff! Jeff writes a very informative home repair blog called Home Repair Tutor. He is a homeowner turned handyman after renovating and maintaining several rental properties (plus his home.) Jeff’s tutorials are straight forward and very helpful for saving you a buck [...]
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Have you ever wanted to clone yourself? You know, so you can get more done and be even more awesome? I’ve wished this for a long time. But, recently I’ve actively been searching for clones. Well, not exactly clones, but other handy people like myself. People who are equally awesome at delivering empowering tutorials. People [...]
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The winners of the D. Lawless Hardware giveaway are: Mary Glidden & Lora Wikle! Congratulations gals, I hope you have an easier time deciding on what you’ll purchase with your gift certificate. For the rest of you, Mr. Lawless himself has been kind enough to give y’all a discount code you can use to get 10% [...]
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For Christmas this year I bought the boys (the younger ones and Pretty Handsome Guy) a gift certificate to go indoor skydiving. After the zipline tours, I knew our kids were not afraid of heights. And when it comes to being “thrill seekers” — let’s just say they definitely take after their Mom and Dad. [...]
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Work is progressing in the kitchen and I finished painting the upper portion of the wall a very light greige (a cross between beige and gray.) Light Greige Our Kitchen Command Center – Sherwin Williams Aesthetic White With the abundance of light colors in the kitchen, I was craving a little dark paint for some [...]
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Can you tell what I’ve been doing in the kitchen lately? Yup, painting the ceiling! Painting your ceiling like a pro isn’t difficult, it’s just a pain in the neck, literally! But, these tips and tricks can help you get professional results for less money. This is definitely a DIY task, so let’s get this [...]
[Continue reading...]My goodness the competition is fierce. I’ve seen some scissors, plumbing parts and puffy paint being thrown around. I’ve witnessed dirty looks and name calling. This is the ultimate throw down all ya’ got competition. And it is nothing short of an online cat fight! Okay, not really, but seriously there are some amazing knockoff [...]
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Last week I replaced our kitchen window with a new casement window. It’s beautiful and I’m in love. But, I feel bad for the old window. The window is sitting neglected and abandoned beside our house. Whenever I walk by, it begs me for a transformation. I’m thinking I could make any one of these [...]
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Cabinet hardware is akin to the finishing touches on an outfit. It is the jewelry that really catches the eye in a kitchen. I’m not a big jewelry person. I only wear my wedding rings on a daily basis. And I have necklaces and bracelets for the days that I actually change out of my [...]
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I’d rather not say that I’m seeing the light at the end of this long renovation tunnel (for fear of jinxing myself.) But, I definitely have caught a glimpse of the finish line. Last week my kitchen designer emailed me to let me know that my cabinets will be arriving soon and could she schedule [...]
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Have you ever wanted to volunteer to work on a Habitat home? Yup, me too! A few weekends ago I got my 2nd chance (You can read about my first unique opportunity here.) It was a cold and rainy day, so we were delegated to some indoor tasks. We worked on a “recycled” Habitat home [...]
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Easter is just around the corner and I’m looking forward to crafting some egg-ceptional eggs with the boys. While browsing the crafting blogosphere I came across some really stunning eggs. Amazing Real Eggs Made Shabby Chic with a Dremel and 3D paint by Sylwia Serwin
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When the weather outside is frightful and your kids are less than delightful, lay a roll of painter’s tape on your floor and soon your kids will be having fun indoors. How about that for a quick little limerick? Well, this project is almost as quick. All you need is a roll of painter’s tape [...]
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