built-in window seat Archives - Pretty Handy Girl

built-in window seat, Christmas Card Display, decor, Decorating, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, Home Tour, kitchen, Kitchen Renovation

Holiday Home Tour – Kitchen

One of my favorite rooms to decorate is our kitchen. There is something about the combination of aqua with green that makes me happy. Welcome to the next room on my Holiday Home Tour, the kitchen!

Updating the window seat with aqua and snowflake pillows is the first thing I do when Thanksgiving is over.

I love adding a little bling to the chandelier during the holiday season. Last year I hung a beaded garland from the chandelier, this year it’s white buds and gold painted eucalyptus leaves.

The open shelves get a new vignette. It’s such an easy swap that gives us something new to look at throughout the season. Read more

December 16, 2015/16 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

It’s January and you know what that means! Time to clean and purge the house of all the excess stuff. Last year I was too busy with projects to purge, so this year I’m taking advantage of some warmer days to clean out our home. I hope you’ll excuse me while I’m in clutter busting ~~HELL~~ mode. In the meantime you might enjoy these 12 DIY Storage Projects to help you organize your home (and hide clutter.)

mudroom_shoe_storage_bench
Make a Coat Rack from an Old Door and Make a Shoe Storage Bench with Kitchen Cabinets

Laundry Room Storage using Flow Wall Read more

January 5, 2015/4 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Before and After, Build It, built-in window seat, cabinet, demolition, desk, DIY, Do It Yourself, flooring, framing, habitat ReStore, hole filling, hole repair, Home Tour, kitchen, Kitchen Renovation

The Kitchen Renovation of 2013 – 1 Leak. 1 Year. 1 Woman.

2013 Could be called the year of the kitchen renovation in our house. Or the year that nearly killed me. Or the luckiest year of our lives. I’m still debating the title. What I do know is that, I decided to take on my biggest DIY project to date. I re-built my own kitchen from bare studs and subfloor.

It started one morning as I was confronted with a foul odor. It’s only describable as that odor that usually lives in the high school gym locker room. I thought my 9 year old son’s feet were starting to stink. Unfortunately a stinky pair of shoes wasn’t the culprit, it turned out to be a very minor leak that turned into a very big kitchen renovation. We persevered through 45 days without a washer and dryer and many months without a kitchen. But, it was like being a contestant in Survivor. I lasted the year of construction; the set backs and sore muscles; and in the end I was rewarded with a brand new kitchen!

Today, I walk into our beautiful kitchen and I know it was all worth it! It was worth all the sweat equity, the daily Advil doses, and the tree falling on the house. If you want to reminisce with me as I recap my kitchen renovation of 2013, here’s your ticket to all the tutorials and posts: Read more

January 17, 2014/38 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Build It, built-in window seat, cabinet, Decorating, DIY, framing, Home Decor, Home Tour, kitchen, Kitchen Renovation, Popular, storage, Tutorial, upholstering bench

Building a Window Seat with Storage in a Bay Window

Fall Decor in a Rustic Farmhouse Kitchen | Pretty Handy Girl

Building a Window Seat with Storage in a Bay Window

You know when you dream about the finished product on something that you’ve been planning for a long time? And then you finish and your dream becomes a reality? And you think to yourself, am I still dreaming? All those sentiments and more have been going through my head since I finished the building this built-in window seat with storage in our bay window. This window seat is divine! In fact, I’ve begun calling it the Queen’s seat in the hopes that it will deter any male folks from claiming it in our household.

Several of you have asked for the tutorial to build the window seat. I have that for you, but I want to mention that this is a slightly more advanced project. Halfway into writing this tutorial, I realized there was no way I could show you each and every cut, step, and trick without this being the world’s longest blog post/tutorial. If you have some basic carpentry skills (you know how to hammer, nail, use some power tools and you know how to attach a 2×4″ securely to a wall), you should be able to handle this. With that being said, I do want to offer any help if you should have any questions during the process of building this bench, please feel free to email me and I will do my best to help you.

I also want to mention that I did have to move the HVAC vent forward so it came out the front of the window seat. Here’s the tutorial to move a floor vent. I do want to caution you against building over a vent. We have a bookcase that was built over the register and the wood inside grew mold because there wasn’t enough force to blow the air and moisture out the front of the bookcase. Just a warning, don’t take the easy way out.

Basics for Building a Built-in Window Seat in a Bay Window: Read more

June 3, 2013/91 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

bookshelves facelift, Build It, built-in window seat, Home & Auto Maintenance, organizational tips, storage

20 Brilliant Built In Storage Ideas

Boy's Red, White & Blue Themed Room | Pretty Handy Girl

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 to your home. You can see some above, but there’s plenty more in this curated collection of storage ideas that I put together for you. Enjoy.

May 13, 2013/by Brittany Bailey