Spreading some joy

Leaving a "love that sticks" note on someone's car today was surprisingly exhilarating, lol. Part of the homework we gave our youth Bible study group this week... More posts on that soon! ;)

Hope you are all having a blessed week!

Kitchen remodel on the cheap!

I'm finally posting my kitchen reno!! It's been done for awhile, but we haven't gotten around to grouting our backsplash yet... Since that's not on the top of my "house to-do list" right now, I figured I'd go ahead and share the pictures with y'all. Enjoy!

Getting a farmhouse sink was a deal breaker for me... So Nick searched online  for quite awhile before he found this affordable one from Lowes. (Bonus: it has a double basin!!!!!) 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

We needed to keep our costs low, but desperately needed new countertops... So we decided to do these DIY butcher block ones which I ABSOLUTELY love!!!

We basically bought the cheap wood from Home Depot (a 2x12, 2-2x6's and a 2x2) for the length of our countertops. After attaching new sub countertops, we screwed in our wood from underneath, filled the gaps with wood filler, sanded, stained, and applied 7 coats of poly.

These countertops cost less than $150!!

Some good news for those trying to design on a dime is: those cheap subway tiles are totally in!! I love the retro vibe. Bringing your backsplash all the way up to your cabinets makes a big difference in the look of your kitchen!

We kept the original custom cabinets, giving them a fresh coat of paint and new hardware. We spray painted the hinges oil rubbed bronze to match the new door handles and light fixtures.

Coffee bar!!! This was an old (and extremely ugly) desk that my grandmother didn't want. I painted it with some leftover cabinet paint and sanded it a bit for an antique look. I also removed the keyboard shelf and built a couple of storage shelves for that bottom left corner to make it look less like a desk. My grandma has a vast antique drip coffee pot collection. The top of my coffee bar was the perfect display spot!

This is probably my favorite project I did personally in the kitchen... The trash can drawer! There wasn't a good spot for a trash can and having it out and visible drove me nuts! I converted these regular drawers into a pull out trash bin by knocking out the bottom section of the top drawer and removing the tracks. I then connected the 2 drawers with scrap wood on the sides and back and... Voila! Besides buying the trash can to fit inside, this project was FREE! (My favorite kind!)

Other side of the kitchen.... This fridge was left here for us and is very old, but still works fine all except the ice dispenser. Eventually we are going to purchase a stainless counter depth model. (Check out my vintage glass door knob on my pantry!! :)

I just love sentimental details! This arrangement is from my bridesmaid bouquet at my sisters wedding... ❤️

I made these "little kid" benches for either side of the coffee bar with a basket under them for each kid. This is near our entry, so it's a great place for them to take off their shoes and stick them out of sight. :) (Baskets from Walmart, Wooden letters from Hobby Lobby)

Well, that's about it! Posting new rooms very soon... Hope you enjoyed!

Life Update Vlog

http://youtu.be/AxXOveJq9PQ

Please click on the link above to view my new vlog!

Master bathroom update

I finished my master bathroom just in time for Thanksgiving. We had the whole fam over our new place for turkey day and it was just the push I needed to get some things accomplished- with a little time to spare before baby #4 makes her arrival. :)

Enjoy!

BEfORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Dining Room re-vamp

Okay, so the dining room was the easiest room in the house, because not much needed to be done in there. (You may remember that my Mamaw asked me to re-do this one room for her 4 years ago when she lived here- I posted about it here: http://thelyricalsoul.blogspot.com/2011/12/mawmaws-dining-room-makeover.html

All it needed was a little tweaking to fit my personal style a little more. Here is the BEFORE :

I really should have closed those blinds (sorry!) but if you view my post from 4 years ago- you will see what the table looked like a little better. 

She left this in the house for us when they moved since it wouldn't fit in her new place and we had gotten rid of ours. The color of the wood was just not me- a little "orangey" is how I described it. So I did the Pinterest thing and stuck some wood on the top toake my own DIY farmhouse table:

The bottom of the table and chairs got painted white. We realized this table was badly bowed after we started using it, so that was another benefit of this project: I was able to give it a level surface by adding the wood on top. (It was so bowed that I had to cut some mdf for the center to support the wood. It all got attached with liquid nails and screws.)

This table project cost me about $80 total. Certainly cheaper than buying a new table!

Oh- and I built this bench for the kids:

I'm super proud of this bench :) I'd never built something people could sit on before, lol. I viewed a lot of easy DIY bench tutorials online and kinda winged it from there using some leftover fencing materials we had from our rent house. Meaning: this project was FREE! That is probably what brings me the most satisfaction about it. ;) 

My dad had some cedar logs that he sliced up for us to use in my sister's wedding decor last year. (They actually came from my great grandparent's property in MS, which was very special.) We still have a bunch of this wood sitting around, so I decided to chop one in half to make little shelves for some plants. That cedar smells AMAZING when you walk by!! (Thanks to HGTV's Fixer Upper, I'm suddenly obsessed with hanging flowers and plants on the wall in unique ways...:)

Well that's about it for this room. I'll share pics of another space soon! 

Boy's Room Makeover

My boy's room is FINALLY *officially* finished! It's really been done for awhile (before we moved in I was working on it) but I had to save my pennies for the perfect light fixture to complete the space. (Which came from Lowes btw :)

Here are the BEFORE pictures:

Sort of typical 90's decor. Don't you love how I'm too lazy to get my kid out of the picture? 😜

...And there he is again. Must have been super satisfied playing with that blanket, and hey- why mess up a good thing, right?

Okay, so here is the BIG reveal!! Benjamin told me he wanted an "outer space" room. He is super into Star Wars right now (um, who isn't?) but this momma does not do "themey", and I wanted something that would also appeal to the boys for quite awhile as they get older. I am SO happy with the results!

AFTER pictures:

So I added a casing trim about 8" down from the ceiling which helped make that starry sky seem bigger and heightened our 8' ceilings. 

Choosing the right colors was key in not making the room too dark. I ended up with Behr's Pixel White on the walls (really more gray) and Cosmic Blue on the ceiling.

The bedding is from Target and I made the star pillows (copying something I saw on Etsy.) The exposed seams fitting right in with the style of the room made that a super easy and cheap project!

There's my Pinterest rain gutter bookshelves and DIY roman shades over mini blinds projects :)

I'm in love with this little rocking hair I bought on Craigslist and that is Nick's old toy chest in the window on left. It houses all the dress up stuff :) (My kids are costume fanatics!)

Another view...

I just had to use this scripture in the room- so perfect! (Frame: IKEA)

For a pop of color on the adjacent wall, I spray painted an old mirror I already had a Marigold yellow color. (Lamp: Ross)

Aaand... Yay for toy storage!

(Large gray tubs and outer space rug: Target, small blue tubs: Dollar Tree)

Well that about about wraps it up! My boys think their room is AWESOME, it has all the functions I was hoping, and I smile when I walk into it, so I think: mission accomplished! :)

Tip for Tuesday- Making your Mascara Last!

Happy November! 🍁🍂 I can't believe it's only a few weeks until Thanksgiving!! And 5 wks until baby arrives!! 😬 SO much to do! We have been in our new house about 3 wks now and have been cleaning, painting, and unpacking every day it seems. Its SO exciting to be in our own place again!!!

None of my room makeovers are quite ready for pictures, so I thought I would share a little helpful tip with you today that my mom passed on to me.

It's about your MASCARA!! (Don't you just love that stuff?!) My personal fav is Mary Kay's Ultimate Mascara. SO good...   I also love Younique's fiber lash stuff on top of the MK, but only if I'm wanting to glam it up a bit... But, I digress. :)

So, you know how you are supposed to switch out your mascara like, every 6 months? Something about bacteria and mites... (Um, EWWW!!!!) Well my mom shared a little tip with me to make sure your mascara is germ free and lasts longer instead of getting clumpy. 

It's... (drumroll please)... Lavender Oil!! 

Oils have SO many different uses, but this is one is actually one I'd never heard. So basically you just put 2-3 drops into your mascara and mix it by inserting and removing your wand a few times. Lavender has anti-bacterial properties that will kill germs, keep the bugs away, and keep it fresh for longer. (And it smells pretty nice too :) 

I tried this out on a 6+ month tube of mascara that was getting close to me chunking it, and it was like new mascara again! If you are like me and don't run out of product before the "icky" arrives, this tip can save you some moolah!

Hope you enjoyed- have a fabulous week! 💗