Headboard DIY

School is officially back in session and it is crazy to believe we are already into September! October is around the corner which means we should basically be planning for Christmas and New Years. With summer ending so do most of our DIY projects around here. But before summer officially closes I wanted to share our latest and in my opinion greatest DIY project to date.....

A HEADBOARD!

I have been telling Andrew I wanted a headboard since we updated from our queen to king bed but it always got put aside when we made larger purchases. I had come across a couple DIY's on Pinterest and had been actively pinning but never committing to building one until now. One day I had come across a DIY video on Facebook and thought it looked so easy I finally decided to commit.

In early August Andrew went on a vacation out to Virginia Beach to visit family and I stayed back. While he was gone I had two full weekends I had to fill and this became the project of choice. So off to Home Depot I went...

According to the video you will need the following:

-5 pine 1x8 cut to the width of the bed

-2 pine 1x4 cut to desired headboard height

-Plus two more for support

-Sand paper

-Stain

-1.5in/4cm wood screws

Since I was alone and we don't own very many power tools I went and picked out my wood and came with my measurements to have the wood pre-cut at Home Depot. In total the supplies ended up being approximately $60. 

After heading home I sanded the boards down and stained front and back unlike the video. I also decided I didn't need the lights on the headboard. As you can see in the last photo below we have bed side lamps that serve that purpose already. 

I did about two coats of stain and let them sit for over a week to ensure the smell of stain didn't come into the house. Plus, things picked up and I didn't have time to fully put the headboard together until the past weekend. Andrew obviously was no longer on vacation so he got to help put this beauty together! 

The photo above was pre-finishing. When the sheets were in the wash and we were seeing how secure our boards were. There is something about a headboard that makes a bedroom more homey to me! I haven't gone and taken a "final" photo because if we're being honest our bed is never neatly made and that would be the only difference in the two photos #honesty. 

Any suggestions for our next project?!

Farmhouse Kitchen Remodel

Friends! Guess what? Our kitchen project is {almost} complete and I am in LOVE! 😍

As I shared a couple weeks back I decided to take on painting our kitchen cabinets and boy has it been a project. See original post here. This project has been something we have talked about doing since moving into our house back in March of last year. After much procrastination I hit the ground running and it has been an endurance test ever since. 

For those that don't know my husband, he absolutely DREADS painting. He will essentially do any other home project except that and I have learned to not force it because I will have to redo what he did to appease my begging. So that means I took this project on my own with little help. Andrew did end up helping to take some hardware off and I even got him to paint some of the finer detailed areas.  Now, the reason I prefaced this post with being {almost} complete is because there are some touchups that need to be down but our kitchen is essentially back together!

From my initial post I was asked by a couple people the process we went through so I figured I'd share what we ended up doing to get to our finished project. When we began conversation about painting our cabinets we started researching best methods. There is a lot of debate on whether you need to sand your cabinets down or if you can prime right over them. After researching via blogs, conversations with friends who had taken on this scale of a project, etc. we ended up opting for the no sand method, however were diligent in our priming of the cabinets. 

Prior to priming we wiped down each cabinet to remove any excess dirt and grime with a warm washcloth. I realized a couple things when doing this:

1. Our cabinets were kind of dirty...whoops. 

2. Rather than wiping them all down to start, I learned as the process was going that I would need to continue wiping them down as I made my way through the entire kitchen to remove excess dog hair, dust, etc. 

3. Our dogs shed A LOT! I knew this going into the project and we vacuum fairly often to keep all the dog hair at bay, however throughout the project it didn't matter how much I wiped the cabinets down in between coats, I always seemed to come across dog hair somewhere! 

After our initial cleaning of the cabinets I began priming using Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 and a foam roller similar to this one. Now in our initial research there wasn't a specific primer we came across but talked with our Home Depot to see what they suggested after hearing different concerns about not sanding (i.e. yellow discoloration, etc.). To avoid this we opted for two full coats of primer. 

Once each portion of the kitchen was primed we moved onto painting. Similar to the primer we chatted with the individual at Home Depot and opted for Behr paint and primer in-one. Using the same type of foam roller... with a new roller head I began the painting. Unfortunately, this process was a little longer than the primer. Which is where my endurance was tested. One of the things I learned by painting our bathroom vanities first was how long paint needed to "cure" to the cabinets. To help speed up the process we laid all the cabinets out in our spare bedroom and left a fan on them to dry. Luckily, this past week I had a planned getaway to the lake with some friends from grad school. I was able to finish up painting last weekend so they were able to sit all week while I was gone and dry before putting our kitchen back together.

Last night Andrew and I slowly got everything back in order. Another thing we had read through our research was to make sure to mark the cabinet for where it belonged in the kitchen. For the most part our "marking" method (i.e. leaving all the hardware in the cabinet it belonged to, etc.) worked. However, there were a couple that wouldn't seem to line up perfect which is where some of those touchups will be needed. 

As the cabinets were getting painted I began losing patience but am so happy with how they turned out and am glad I persevered! See photos of the finished project below:

**please ignore the dishes in the sink... I told you I've been gone all week....

Another thing I learned as we went through this project was how unorganized our kitchen really is. Having to live with the cabinets off for multiple weeks made our kitchen look cluttered but has now encouraged me to work on some sort of method for keeping organized- so be on the lookout for what I end up doing! As I have already shared, I am extremely pleased with the way they turned out and am even more excited for when we finally get all the appliances replaced to stainless steel and get around to installing our backsplash.

It's funny. As I went through this project I kept telling Andrew I never wanted to see a paint brush again but now that it's complete I'm already looking forward to my next project.... they say the grass is always greener right?! After Pinteresting and Facebook videos... I'm thinking a new headboard?! 

Kitchen Project

Holy cow.... this past year has been a whirlwind! However, when summer comes around things tend to slow down and Andrew and I are able to revisit projects in the house. This time around we -more like me- have decided to take on painting all our cabinets.

When we first moved in we decided to start with a bathroom vanity to test the color, process, etc. before taking on such a large project. After completing the bathroom I decided I wanted to move forward with the kitchen but knew it would be a bigger time commitment so like anything else- I procrastinated... until today. 

I had slowly started to do our master bathroom and finally told Andrew I needed to finish it up so we can finally put everything back together. Especially since come August there will be essentially no time to do ANYTHING. 

Our plans for today initially included a bike ride, trip to the pool, and making ribs. But with the rain the first two were out of the picture and we suddenly had a day with nothing planned. Now for Andrew, this is his kind of day. Sit in front of the TV. Watch ESPN. A couple movies. He would be in his glory. For me, that would drive me up a wall. So I decided there is no better time than the present and the kitchen painting began. 

Now, I am nowhere near finished but actually remembered to take some before photos to share. My hope {fingers crossed} is to finish up priming this week/weekend and move on to painting next week/weekend. 

I've told Andrew after the cabinets are done we can work on doing some of the other projects (i.e. backsplash, counter tops, updating ALL appliances to stainless steel, WOOD FLOORING) but I know those are a little down the road. For those who have seen photos of our kitchen before you'll notice one of the appliances is not what it used to be... we FINALLY got a new dishwasher! 

I think I finish ever blog post saying I hope to continue but as things get crazier it's usually the first to go. I love that people follow enough to ask for a post... wink wink STEPHANIE!... so I'm hopeful I carve out time to keep up on sharing happenings in our life. Even if it is just what we had for dinner! 

Until next time! :) 

New Home Project

We returned from Mexico last week around midnight and decided to stay at my parents house and return home the following morning. For those who have been following along- that last time I was home we did DIY projects. This time was no different!

After telling my family all about our trip we decided to go over to the thrift store nearby and see what they had. I found a dresser for $20 that I thought would serve well as a new TV stand. I've been trying to convince Andrew to get rid of his since we moved but have had no luck. However, after I showed him plans for what I wanted to do he reluctantly agreed and we purchased the dresser.

Here is before we put in any work:

 

My dad thought the best way to go about relishing it would be to sand it down and strip it of the veneer finish. We decide to go that route but realized halfway through we probably could have stained it and just painted right over the top. But hey- if we're going to do a project, we're not going to half-ass it. 

After getting it home we decided to paint it a light blue/green color to compliment our other furniture.

After Andrew drilled holes in where the cords needed to go we positioned everything just right. The photo below was taken shortly after we painted it and wanted to make sure the paint was completely dry before setting it on the carpet. I haven't taken a chance to photograph it without the tin foil on the bottom! 

Our next step is to find baskets that fit on both sides and put the handles back on (they're currently sitting on our kitchen table) to complete the look. Unfortunately, we've had no luck! We went to Michaels and found a basket we thought would fit but they only had one and we haven't been able to find another. Stay tuned for the FINAL product when we finally find baskets!

DIY Weekend

Last weekend was full of excitement- it started with a bachelorette party getting kicked out of a winery because of a tornado, the marriage of my best friend Stephanie, and two DIY projects for our house!

After wedding festivities Saturday we stayed with my parents in KC and spent Sunday and the holiday on Monday doing DIY projects I had on my radar. Since buying a home I've become a huge fan of Fixer Upper- who really isn't these days?- and one of the things I'd seen time and time again on the show were floating shelves. Typically they're in Joanna's kitchen design but Andrew was a no-go for those so we opted to put them in the bathroom to use for storage. Obviously, the way to go about doing any DIY project is to check Pinterest for inspiration and sure enough, there were even plans already made which made the project that much easier!

DIY Floating Bathroom Shelves 
-Since we are new homeowners we lack a tool collection aside from your average screw and screw driver so we opted for Home Depot to cut the wood to the length we wanted and used my dad's sander to smooth out the boards.
-The board we bought ended up being long enough to make three shelves with a small amount of excess wood.

And only after one stripped screw and a couple paint touch ups later the {a} shelf is hung (we have to finish painting the master bedroom before hanging the other two we made)!

The other project we DIY'd was a blanket ladder. For Christmas this past year my dad made us all wine racks and my mom a blanket ladder. Since then I've had my eye on them on Pinterest when the time came and I'd be able to make one. This one was a little more time consuming and needed more tools than we had so shout out to my dad for being handy and owning a saw! 

For this one we used Shanty Chic's plans. After sitting in our garage for a week so our house doesn't smell like stain here's the final product!

I made a comment to Andrew this morning that our house is finally starting to come together and I'll be so happy when we're done painting-only two more rooms to go! 

Our Humble Abode

Per my last post, Andrew and I are slowly getting settled into our new home. Throughout the entire process one thing we failed to do was take pictures. Anytime we told people we purchased a house they responded by asking if there were photos and we sadly had to say no. That is, until now!

Obviously, this is a work in progress. Both cosmetically- hence the two different paint colors on the living room wall and an unfinished painted bathroom- but also organizationally. There are still plenty of things to be unpacked and hung but we at least we can say we're out of our apartment and can now invest our free time into the house! Until then, here are a couple photos of the interior.

Our home is ranch style so directly when you walk in you have entered the living room. The living room has high ceilings which makes the room look "UUUUGEEEE" (in my best Donald Trump voice).

To the left is the kitchen/dining room area.

This leads out into a fairly decent sized yard which is one of the most exciting things about our home. We are ecstatic to be able to just let our dogs out to run! Saturday morning they spent a large chunk of the morning outside playing and by the end of the night you could tell they were worn out!

Off of the kitchen is what we are using for now as our laundry room/pantry. Eventually I think Andrew would like it to become only the laundry room and figure out something else for a pantry. But that will come with time. Across from this room is our second bathroom which has gotten it's first coat of paint!

Continuing down from the kitchen are our two spare bedrooms. Currently, one is serving as a guest room while the other will serve as an office and/or workout room when we get everything put together.

If you go across the house to the right when you first walk into the living room is our master bedroom. It is a decent size and has really great vaulted ceilings. There is a huge window that lets in some great light. Our plan is to get this room painted shortly after we get the living room complete. One of our favorite things about this house is the master bathroom. Not only is it huge with a walk-in closet but it also has an amazing jetted tub! 

Since moving in on Thursday we have loved being homeowners and were grateful for all the helped we received in the moving process from Andrew's brother Brian and all of my family! We would not be as far as we are now if it weren't for their hard work. I would also like to thank everyone for the well wishes throughout this process. It has been great seeing how loved the two of us are. 

Home Sweet Home

Part of my hiatus from the blog included Andrew and I searching to buy a house. The whole process happened so quickly and has been an amazing experience thanks to our wonderful realtor.

Back in January and after the kidney stone mishap, Andrew made a comment- completely joking- that he wanted to buy a house so we would have a hose to be able to wash the cars. However, this joke was a seed planted in both our minds and began to grow into something larger. A couple days later we received a note from our landlord asking about re-leasing our apartment and that rent would be increasing by $30. Yes, I know what you're thinking- $30 isn't a whole lot in the grand scheme of things but if you add it up over 12 months and then however many years we stay in Kansas we figured it might be worth looking into a mortgage.

The house buying process was completely new to me but Andrew had some experience from buying a house back in Belton a couple years ago. Lucky for us we got connected to our AWESOME realtor who worked with us around the clock to make sure the experience was a positive one. Within the first two days of deciding we wanted to look into buying she had set-up 6 showings for us that coming weekend.

After looking at the 6 homes we fell in love with a house that was a little out of our price range but we decided to try and put an offer in anyways and test our luck. Unfortunately, someone else put in a more appealing bid and we didn't get the house. However, right after we looked at the 6, Andrew and I had stumbled across a house we wanted to check out if the offer wasn't accepted. The next evening Stephanie scheduled a showing and we decided to jump right in. The house was in our price range and had practically everything we were looking for. That evening we submitted an offer and were off to the races!

The whole house buying process was very anti-climatic. You put in an offer... wait... hear about your offer... wait.... start the loan process... wait... BUT our wait is finally over and we are now homeowners in the city of Eudora, KS as of 10:30 this morning.

Of course, with recently attending the Home and Garden Show and Andrews obsession with HGTV we have a list of projects we hope to complete and are excited about the potential the house has. It's a great starter home and we can't wait to begin making memories in a place we can finally call our own.

**note: we took this photo during our final walk through last week. It was per Kansas weather with strong winds and some rain sprinkles.

Home and Garden Show

This past weekend Kansas City was hosting the Home and Garden show downtown. The headline speakers for the event were Chip and Joanna Gaines from the show Fixer Upper.

Before marrying Andrew, I had never watched a show on HGTV. It just wasn't something I was into. Honestly, I didn't watch much TV unless it's my girls Shonda Rhime's TGIT. Anyways, soon after we got married I quickly was introduced to the Property Brothers, Flip or Flop, and House Hunters and I've grown to really enjoy watching these shows. Unfortunately, I've never had a place to really do the things we've seen on these shows but the prospect of having somewhere soon allows me to start gathering ideas.

My mom had mentioned the show Fixer Upper and I decided to give it a shot and have fallen in love. I enjoy the show not just from the design perspective but also the dynamic of Chip and Joanna. Some of my favorite parts of the shows are when they are being interviewed and being completely genuine and authentic with one another and often times it reminds me of Andrew and I's relationship. There has never been a time Andrew and I haven't been able to sit in a room with absolutely nothing to do and not have a good time. We both act goofy, are 100% comfortable with one another, and have shared laughs over some of the stupidest things.

When my mom shared on my Facebook that the Home and Garden Show was in town and that they'd be headlining we decided to get tickets and -try- to see them speak. We got to the show when doors opened at 10 and got seats for the talk at noon and it was well worth the wait!

Chip made sure to add humor to their story while Joanna shared the passion of their journey on Fixer Upper.

Seeing Chip and Joanna was truly an enjoyable experience. There were many laughs had and it was a great Sunday spent with my mom.

Sunday Project

Can't believe we are already into December and are fully into the Christmas season! This will be the first year I have a place that is "mine." I've always shared an apartment with roommates and had the liberty to do what I wanted but this year I've been responsible with making it my "home" and I've come to realize I enjoy cooking, crafting, and decorating more than I thought before.

In other apartments where I knew I'd be for a short year before I went home for the summer I never put more effort than to hang a poster on the wall and call it good. However, now our plan is to stay in one place for awhile. To be completely honest, that was one of the main things I was looking forward to after graduating grad school- have a place to live for more than 2 years. I was tired of moving. In our new apartment I have been able to really make it ours and have started to think more "domesticated" (I used to always call my best friend Stephanie this because she always was thinking in a Susie Homemaker way when I would just shrug these things off). 

One project I've been waiting to tackle is cleaning and re-doing my Kitchen Aid mixer. When Andrew, my sister, and I rented a house out in Warrensburg I got the opportunity to go through Andrew's grandma's old things and take what we needed. When I was in the process of doing this I came across her old KitchenAid mixer. The mixer was a dingy yellow color that needed a little TLC. When I took it, I didn't care what it looked like- it was functional and that's all that mattered to me. Now that the kitchen is mine and Andrew could careless what it looks like, I've started to make it look "pretty." My mom had told me about some blogs she had read awhile back about taking them apart and cleaning them and hand sent me one that seemed fairly easy to tackle and with the holidays approaching, I bust out the KitchenAid mixer and started baking. 

There were a couple of different recipe's I wanted to try so I  spent the majority of yesterday making

• Butterscotch shortbread
• Puppy chow
• Crockpot Chex Mix
• Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

After my baking purge I finally decided to take the time and deep clean- and I mean DEEP CLEAN- this KitchenAid mixer and repaint it. We decided to go with a Hunter Green color that would cover the spots that didn't seem to come off and WALA!

There are still a couple places I need to touch up but I'll save that for another Sunday! Next on my list of projects- Christmas gifts!