Some friends sent us a piece of artwork that I treasure. I wanted to display it in a special way, so I put together a DIY cork board that works perfectly.

Making the cork board was ridiculously easy. I already had a thrifted frame that I turned into a chalkboard for my Good Enough Mudroom. I removed the chalkboard from the frame and flipped it over to add the cork on the other side.

All you need is a roll of cork (that you can find in any craft store), a frame with a back and some hot glue. LOVE a simple project.

Cut 2 pieces of cork in the same size as your frame back. I decided to use 2 layers of cork so that the push pins will sink all the way into the cork. If you have a thicker cork, you can get away with 1 layer.

Hot glue the cork to backing of your frame and then add the second layer on top of the 1st.

And that’s it! A quick and easy DIY cork board.

I love how it shows off my new piece of art. And I can easily change it out whenever I want.

Want to know the story behind the artwork?

This sweet little painting was sent to us by friends who are preparing to be missionaries in Columbia by attending language school in Costa Rico. The artist, Marvin, works as a night guard at their school. He used to be a prison guard before he was shot in the chest and spent 8 months in the hospital without pay. He took his current job at the language school and came to know the Lord there. Now, he supplements his income by selling his paintings in a local park.

I love his story and that I can have a small reminder of him in our home.

Displaying Art on a DIY Cork Board is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Oh girls. Please keep your fingers crossed with me today. My ding-dong dumb’puter caught a ding-dong dumb virus and I’m waiting on a prognosis. Apparently, I caught the same bug that infected Centsational Girla few weeks ago. Unfortunately, my DIY debugging efforts were not successful and now Old Faithful is off at Dr. Dumb’puter. We’re hoping for the best.

Luckily, I took Kate’s wise advice and started a Carbonite subscription just last week. So even if my computer can’t be revived, I’ll be able to restore every. single. picture. file. document. and. song. Hallelu.

In the meantime, I’m working on a borrowed dumb’puter (maybe I should stop the name-calling?), without any of my pictures or programs. I feel so lost.

Luckily, my camera contained a complete set of pictures from a quick project that I did over the weekend. I made my own dishwasher soap! Like a lot of you, I’m looking for ways to pinch a few pennies these days and it always drove me nuts to spend so much money on dishwasher soap. I mean…it’s just soap, right? Why so expensive?

There are lots of homemade dishwasher detergent recipes out there, but I decided to try this one that I found on Being Creative.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 box of Borax (4 lbs)
• 1 box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (55 oz.)
• 3 cups of Epsom Salts
• 24 packets of unsweetened lemonade powder (This may stain your soap dispenser.If that bothers you, use citric acid instead.)

The young’uns helped me dump it all into a giant roasting pan and mix it up.

I’m storing the bulk of it in a big pitcher from Wal-Mart. Thanks to Being Creative for that recommendation too!

And I’m keeping a more reasonable amount in an airtight container in the kitchen. You only need to use 1 tablespoon of the mix for each load of dishes and I’ve filled my rinse agent dispenser with white vinegar to help with spots. That seems to be working pretty well.

Clearly, this makes a huge batch that you could easily cut in half. The total recipe cost less than $13 and I estimate it will last me for at least 9 months. Love those pinched pennies!!!

Do you make any of your own cleaning products? Is it worth the effort? The cost savings?

Make Your Own Dishwasher Soap and Keeping My Fingers Crossed is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

We’re all about transparency here at ASPTL. So when a project fails, I’m gonna tell you.

My easy cork wall stayed securely attached to the wall for 2 whole weeks. I used double-sided foam tape and it seemed to be holding just fine.

Then we went on vacation for a week and came home to this.

Sigh.

Apparently, the foam tape sticks just fine to the wall. Not so much to the cork.

Soooo, if you were planning to cover a wall with cork squares, don’t use the foam tape.

I’ve reattached the fallen squares with glue dots (aka booger dots). I’ll keep you posted on the stick-factor.

Anyone have other ideas?

Project Fail: Don’t Do What I Did is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Several months ago, I shared the Kid’s Artwork Gallery Wall that I put together in my hallway. Over the summer, we’ve created lots of new masterpieces, so I’ve been changing out the artwork pretty regularly. The only downside to my display is that taking down the frames and changing out the artwork is a bit of a pain.

So when I stumbled across this fab idea on Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss, I declared it genius!

She hung the empty frames directly on the wall and nailed up those little pinch clips that make it easy to change out the artwork.

See? Brilliant! And did I mention the gorgeous turquoise color? Love.

Thanks to Julie from Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss for sharing your fabulous gallery wall! You made my day!

Displaying Kid’s Artwork: Love This! is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Over the last few weeks, I’ve received some emails asking, “Kimba! Whatever happened to your laundry room redo? You were in the process of reworking the room, but we haven’t heard anything lately.”

**Chirp***Chirp**

To be honest with you, with the end of the school year and a ridiculously busy June (WHEN will youth baseball season END???), we just didn’t have the time to finish up the projects we had in process. But last week, we finally took a huge step forward in our quest to have a functional laundry room.

From the very beginning, my goal was to finally have a laundry room that functions well. If it’s pretty, that’s great. But function is my first priority. The first step was to install the stackable washer/dryer combo. Then we painted the room a fabulous aqua color. Then we added the laundry tub that wouldn’t have fit unless the washer and dryer were stacked.

Here’s what it looked like when we started. I’m so embarrassed.

Side-by-side washer and dryer. Single shelf with a hanging bar. No organization. No practical storage.

And here’s what it looks like now now with some functional storage that we built ourselves!

This is my favorite part. Storage and hanging space!

We built the shelving tower out of MDF. It was super easy, but we didn’t take good pictures of the process. If you’re interested in building something similar, check out Ana White’s plans for a Cubby Bench. That’s basically what we did without the wheels and the extra trim on the front. Super easy.

Our tower is actually in 2 sections because the top couldn’t go all the way against the back wall since we have plumbing and electrical outlets back there.

The hanging rod (from Lowes) is just enough space to hang 1 (maybe 2) loads of laundry. And that’s enough. It forces me to actually put the laundry away rather than leaving it in the laundry room.

The little shelf above the rod is also from Lowes. The shelf was pre-finished. You just cut it to length and used L-brackets to hang it.

The baskets came from Wal-Mart and they hide all my extra laundry supplies. The bottom one is exclusively for orphaned socks. I’m not so naive to think that I’m going to carefully put away my everyday supplies, so they their own shelf. I am so excited to finally have some proper storage and a functional laundry room.

This was a pretty thrifty project. I think we spent somewhere around $90 for everything, including the baskets.

Next up? Some kind of surface for folding clothes. I’m picturing a fold-away table, but I’m not sure yet.

This post is part of a series sponsored by Electrolux as part of Homebuzz. I received an Electrolux washer and dryer in exchange for my participation. The opinions stated in this post are my own. The fiant piles of laundry are also my own.

Making It Function: The Laundry Room Redo Continues is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Alternate title: The post that’s been 2 years in the making.

Even after I made my own personalized doormat, my front stoop was still looking a little sad. So I decided it was time to spruce it up a little more with some pots and some greenery.

I still miss the beautiful front porch at our old house. It was big and beautiful and I loved to spruce it up with plants and furniture. Now I have a stoop. Sigh. But I’m not going to let that stop me from upping the curb appeal of our house in whatever way I can.

I’ve had a bunch of these black pots hanging around for 2 years now. But they didn’t start out black. In fact, they’re cheap, grey, plastic pots that I bought at Wal-Mart 2 summers ago. Wal-Mart still carries them. I checked.

I have 6 of them in 3 different sizes because I had grand plans to create a beautiful tiered pot display with cascading flowers. Doesn’t that sound pretty? Good plan, but it never happened.

When I bought them in 2009, I spray painted them with Krylon Fusion in black. I really love Krylon Fusion for painting plastic. It sticks like the dickins. Not sure what a “dickins” is, but it must be pretty sticky.

These pots have been moved, dropped, banged, shaken and stirred. And there’s not a scratch or ding on them.

So, I brought the biggest ones out to the front stoop. Do you ever notice how if you say a word over and over, it starts to lose it’s meaning? That’s where I am with stoop now. Stoop. Stoop. Stoop. Totally meaningless.

Here’s my favorite potting trick. Fill the bottom of a big pot with something really heavy and bulky. Like bricks. They’ll make sure your pot doesn’t blow away and they’ll take up some of the volume so you can use less potting soil.

I’m really happy with how the new pots freshened up the stoop (there it is again!). The ferns are called Kimberly Queen and I like how they’re a little more upright than regular Boston Ferns. Technically, they’re an indoor plant, but they should be ok out there since the front porch gets morning light.

And those are Wave Petunias tucked around the bottom of the ferns. In a few weeks, they should be cascading nicely down over the sides of the pots.

If you like a little more color on your porch, check out The Nester’s beautiful, blue urns with ferns. Urns with ferns. Urns with ferns.

If you want to see how I made the doormat, click here.

Sprucing Up the Front Porch with Pots, Plants and Spray Paint is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

My latest thrifting adventure started with a Facebook message from my friend Ruth Ann. Her message went like this…”Have you been to the new Thrift King store? It’s supposed to be largest thrift store in the county!”

My response went like this…”WHAT??? How on EARTH did I miss this??? This rock I live under gets soooo heavy. That store is 10 minutes from my house!!!”

So, first thing Friday morning, I packed myself and my youngest son in the van and made a trip to check out Thrift King. And it definitely lived up to it’s title. The aisles are wide and clean…not a bit of that musty thrift store smell.

If you live anywhere in Southwestern PA and haven’t made a trip to downtown Jeannette, you are missing out on some serious thrifting. In addition to the new Thrift King, there are at least 3 large antique/fleatique stores and a handful of great smaller shops all within a few block area. Maybe we need to plan a trip for the locals sometime?

Everything is beautifully organized including the clothing. It’s impeccably clean and the prices seemed very reasonable.

Of course, daily sales make the prices even more tempting. I snapped up a few pairs of nearly-new Gap shorts for my boys for $1.20 each.

The furniture area is HUGE. There is no doubt that I’ll be browsing regularly for pieces to makeover. I think I could decorate an entire room around this funky chair. It’s shape is beautiful, but the fabric was, sadly, too worn on the arms. If I knew anything about re-upholstery, I would have snapped it up in an instant. It was only $10!!!!

I was seriously tempted by this pair of glass lamps. Spray paint those brassy bases and add some modern shades. Beautiful!

This shapely dresser is BEGGING for a makeover. I actually don’t mind the wood color, but it was pretty dinged up so it would need to be sanded and either re-stained or painted. Either way it would make a perfect dining room sideboard.

And when I saw this traditional little dresser, I immediately thought of Kate’s two-toned dresser. I really wanted to bring it home and take off the batwing hardware like I did in my bedroom. It’s really screaming for some crystal knobs and a coat of fresh white (or gray…or blue…or turquoise) paint.

You’re going to have to trust me on this one, but I almost brought this round wicker coffee table home. I may go back for it this week.

You can’t tell from the pictures, but it’s HUGE…like 45″ across. It’s the perfect size for our basement. I know it looks all tacky-sunroom-Boca Raton-condo, but I love it’s shape and it’s incredibly sturdy.

But I’m thinking some new stain and maybe a paint wash could make it look like this gorgeous baby.

The weather is FINALLY breaking here. I’m dying to get my brushes and sprayer into action. Have you had any good thrift store finds lately?

Thrifting with The King is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Did you catch my disguised light switch last week? Well, now I’m working on another project that has me dealing with more poorly placed switches and outlets. Le sigh. So I’ve been searching around for some more ideas for creatively working around them.

Here are a few of my favorites…

The Nester hid one behind a piece of artwork. I like how she attached it to a nail so that boy and man-hands won’t knock it down when they use the switch.

Kristen is some sort of genius and hid her garage door opener with a picture frame, some scrap wood and a crystal knob. I’m thinking there’s some way to modify this for little used switches.

There are a million versions of painted and decoupaged switch plates, but I love this one featured on Design Sponge because it’s funky and orange.

Here’s the space that I’m wrestling with right now. It’s a big empty wall in my foyer. I’m trying to figure out how to hang some hooks and things, so that our guests have a place to hang their coats. A few pieces of artwork would be cool too.

I can’t mess with the box waaaaay up by the ceiling since it’s a part of the security system and shoots out laser light beams that protect me from psycho-killers. The 4-bay switch isn’t so much poorly placed as it is annoying. I don’t even know what one of the switches does! Hubby thinks it launches the space shuttle. That other box above the switches is the communication link with the security system people. It’s how they talk to me in a mildly annoyed voice when we accidentally set off the alarm each week. It can be covered up.

Who has some good ideas? What would you do?

More Ideas for Dealing with Inconveniently Placed Switches is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Yes, my friends. We’re still working on the basement. Sometimes I think it’s the project that will never end. Recently, the stairs have come onto my radar screen. More specifically, what the ding-dong-dilly are we going to do with the stairs?

There’s absolutely nothing special about these basement stairs. They’re just your standard builder-grade straight staircase. Pine treads…no turns to make it interesting…not even a railing. Yet.

I know that I want to paint or stain them for a couple of reasons. First, there won’t be any other carpet down there (except maybe an area rug), so carpeted stairs don’t make sense. And, of course, painting or staining will be much easier on the budget than regular carpet or even a carpet runner.

If I wasn’t already sold on the idea, then this gorgeous staircase from Take the Side Street would have done it! LOVE that yellow color and the black accent stripe makes them extra fab. Anna wrote a fantastic tutorial too.

House Beautiful

With boys and tennis shoes, I’m a little concerned about scuff marks, so I’m leaning toward a dark color. I’m not sure about black, but these beautiful black steps may convince me. Would it make me crazy that they will show all the dust? Perhaps. Maybe I should just paint the stairs dirt-colored?

Martha Stewart

I’ve thought about doing something fun and trendy like these aqua stairs. But I’d hate to have to paint them again in a few years when I’m over turquoise and yellow. Does anyone ever get over those colors?

My hubby leans a little more toward staining the stairs. What would he think of these painted and stained crate stairs from Funky Junk Interiors? If you haven’t already checked out Donna’s incredible staircase, you need to click over. Even if you would never to anything that adventurous, you’ll be inspired by the idea. It’s truly incredible.

Since our basement is going to be a playroom, basketball, football, baseball-watching area, maybe I could stencil our favorite team logos? Holy cow! My boys would go nuts for that!

I’m sure that painted stairs will become naturally worn and distressed over time. That’s part of the charm, right? Maybe that’s why I adore these deliberately rustic and worn steps from That’s My Letter.

Talk to be about painted stairs! Have them? Want them? Love them? Hate them? Do you have any tips for painting stairs or keeping them clean?

Painting the Stairs: Basement Inspiration is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Are you ready for the step-by-step breakdown of how I painted my new foyer cabinet? Click here for more before/after pictures of this makeover. This post might get a little long, but I’m so happy with how it turned out that I don’t want to skip anything!

The first step was to ditch those crazy grills on the front.

I was really lucky because they came off without damaging the doors or drawers. If it had been embedded in the finish, it would have been a much bigger project to get them smooth for painting.






Then I needed to fill in the extra holes that the old hardware left behind.

The trick to filling in hardware holds with wood filler is to take your time. Put a little in the hole, then let it dry before putting in another layer. The wood filler shrinks a little as it dries, so take your time and keep filling the hole. Sand the top when you’re done to make sure it’s smooth.

The existing finish was really slick, so I decided to give the cabinet a good sanding. First with 220 grit sandpaper and my power hand sander. Then with a sanding sponge to get all of the rounded trim.

If you can find a cute little boy to help clean the cabinet, you’re golden.

I don’t usually dis-assemble a piece of furniture when I paint it, but I did this time. I took off all the hinges and removed the doors to make the painting process easier. Here’s a hint: Keep all the hardware and screws together in plastic baggies and label each one with it’s location. You think you’ll remember what goes where. You won’t. Trust me.

From there it was time to prime, which left me with a dilemma. I knew that an oil-based primer would give me the most durable finish, but it also required a lot of drying time which I didn’t have. I needed to get this baby out of the garage ASAP so that humans could park there again. I also didn’t want to deal with the clean-up hassle of oil-based paints.

So I compromised and used Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3 primer. It’s a water-based primer so it dries quickly, but it’s made for glossy surfaces so it still sticks and creates a durable finish.

I also used Floetrol for the first time. I will never paint furniture without it again. It’s a paint conditioner that minimizes your brush strokes and makes for a MUCH smoother finish. You mix it with your paint and your primer and paint like normal. It kind of loosens up your paint without diluting it. LOVE!

Floetrol Lesson from Kimba’s School of Hard Knocks: If you’re trying out this (or any) new product, read the directions. If they say “shake well”, then shake it well! Otherwise your first coat of primer will be so full of bubbles that you’ll have to resand. You will curse me or anyone else who dares to say “Floetrol” in your presence. Then you’ll read the directions and realize that you need to be cursing yourself. End of lesson.

I used a good brush (Purdy XL Cub) and a foam roller to do all of my priming and painting. First I did all of the trim, edges and corners with the brush and went over the flat surfaces with the roller.

I used a fine (220 grit) sandpaper after every coat of primer and paint. I didn’t go over the whole piece with tremendous detail, I just used the sandpaper to smooth out any brush marks or imperfections in the finish. Then I cleaned off all the dust with a tack cloth.

I wanted a white (but not too white) color, so I chose Hushed White in Behr Premium Plus Satin. It gave me the perfect slightly soft white color I was looking for. It took 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint to get good coverage.

After I finished the body of the cabinet, I turned my attention to those interior drawers. I could have left them alone, because I’m the only one who will see them. But I wanted something a little fun inside.

I primed the drawer fronts only and painted them with a couple of coats of aqua paint that I found in the Oops section of Lowes. It’s similar to the aqua in my laundry room…just a little more gray.

I wanted a semi-subtle gray pattern on the drawers, so I used a craft store stencil and some grey craft paint mixed with pearlescent medium.

You mix 1 part paint to about 10 parts pearlescent medium to get a translucent, pearly paint. Love it!

I’m no stencil expert, so I just kept repositioning my stencil on the drawer fronts until I had them completely covered with the pattern. There was a little too much texture to the finish when I was done, I so I went over it with my 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out a bit.

After all the paint was completely dry, I gave the entire cabinet a coat of spray polycrylic to protect the finish and, hopefully, prevent chips and scratches.

This beautiful cabinet is now sitting in my foyer and I’m already filling it up with all sorts of things that we need to grab as we’re walking out the door. The storage is tremendous!

Did anyone read this whole thing? I talk too much.

How to Paint a Cabinet the Right Way is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

I’m so happy that I finally get to share this cabinet makeover with you. One of my house goals for this year is to makeover my foyer so that it’s more functional and a little easier on the eyes. Step 1 was to find a storage cabinet to contain hats, gloves, scarves and other articles of clothing.

I was patient in my hunt for the perfect cabinet and that patience paid off back in February when I found the perfect piece at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. It was only $25 and it was hideous. But I could see the potential behind the 1970′s veneer and metal-grill hardware. It was in perfect condition and was solid-as-a-rock. Perfect for a transformation, but it sat in the garage for 2 months before I had time to make it pretty.

Before:

And there are drawers behind the cabinet doors on the top. Perfect for organizing the kid’s gear and junk.

After:

Yes, my friends. It is the same piece. White paint and new hardware made it beautiful!

And inside? A fabulous little surprise!

Usually, I’m all about the quickie spray paint makeover, but in this case, I wanted the finish to hold up well to some abuse by my boys. So I decided to do this makeover the right way. I cobbled together my technique with tips and tricks from Centsational Girl and Miss Mustard Seed. They’re both furniture painting gurus and I knew I could trust their advice.

Click here for the step-by-step details on how I painted this cabinet.

Linking up to SAS Day.

Foyer Cabinet Makeover: The Reveal is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

My poor front stoop looked severely neglected after a long, hard winter. The doormat was literally torn in two. And the ick and gunk that had accumulated underneath it was too horrifying to mention.

Not very welcoming is it? It’s a little too soon (up here in the cold midwest) to put out my flower pots, but I figured I could at least spruce the place up with a personalized welcome mat.

This little DIY couldn’t have been easier. I am so in love with it that I think it will be my go-to housewarming gift. Here’s what I used:

• A plain doormat – Mine came from Lowes, but I’m sure you could fine one anywhere. IKEA has a coir mat that would be perfect for this project.
• Masking tape – I used 3″ and 1″ tapes
• Exterior spray paint – I used Krylon Outdoor Spaces in Earth
• A big letter – I used a wooden letter that I had laying around but I could have just as easily cut one out of cardstock.
• Diet Dr. Pepper – optional

I used masking tape to cover up the areas that I didn’t want painted. If you don’t have the right size masking tape on hand, you could easily use paper strips to create your borders. Just secure them in place with straight pins.

On my mat, I created one border using the 3″ masking tape and the 1″ tape to create a second border, leaving about one inch between the two. I used a ruler to make sure that my borders were even the whole way around the mat. Since there is some texture to my mat, the masking tape doesn’t stick perfectly. That’s ok.

I put the letter in the center of my mat and masked off two smaller areas that I thought I wanted to stay the original color. I changed my mind later, but it was an easy fix.

Next, I gave all the exposed areas a good coat of my spray paint. The trick to this step is to spray straight down as much as possible. If you spray at an angle, you risk getting paint under your tape.

Let the whole thing dry for about an hour.

Now comes the fun part! Hold your breath and start peeling back your tape. Did it work????

YES!!!!! After I pulled off all the tape, I decided that I didn’t like the little lines next to my “R”, so I used my drop cloth to cover up everything but those two little sections and covered them with paint. Easy peasy.

Since I used exterior paint, it should hold up, but I’ll keep you posted.

Expense for this little project? About $20. And that was all for the mat. Everything else I had on hand. I think I’m going to make another one with our house number on it.

Does your front porch need a little spruce up?

Linking up with SAS Day!

Spring Spruce-Up: DIY Doormat is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Oh happy day! I finally did it! I finally finished the children’s art gallery wall that has been inside my head for over a year. For the last 2 days, I’ve been shopping my house to get all the frames I need, picking out kid’s artwork (and commissioning a few new pieces) and spray painting some of those frames to get the cohesive look I was after.

Hello beautiful!

But this isn’t just any gallery wall, this is a gallery wall with a chalkboard wall on the bottom! It’s 2 projects in 1! It looked like this for exactly 24 hours…that’s the amount of time that the chalkboard paint must cure before you can write on it.

My boys were literally waiting with chalk in hand while the last 5 minutes clicked down. But who can blame them? How often does mom encourage you to write on the wall?

The “before” picture looks so sad now. It’s between my sons’ bedrooms at the end of the upstairs hallway. You can’t really do much with the space because any furniture blocks their bedroom doors. So the idea for this gallery wall was born.

And now, I’m totally smitten. Is it wrong to love a wall this much? The best part is that I didn’t spend one single dime on the whole project.

I have a rather sizable collection of frames that I’ve found at thrift stores and on clearance. Some of them were already white and I spray painted the rest with Rustoleum’s Blossom White. I had the chalkboard paint in my stash from a project last year and, of course, the artwork was free! I love all the colors and the little extras that I was able to work into this gallery wall. Everything on that wall means love to me.

In the next few days, I’ll share some “how-to’s” and tips for putting together a gallery wall like this one. But for now, I just want to look at this picture.

That made it all worth it for me.

Click here for some tips and tricks for creating a gallery wall.

Kid’s Art Gallery Wall ~ The Reveal is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Domestic Ease

Thanks for all your sweet compliments on the maps I used to fill the frames in my family room. I loved reading all your comments and emails yesterday about the creative projects that you’ve done with maps.

The Country Cottage Chick

So let’s see them! I thought it would be fun to see some the ways that you’ve gotten creative with maps. I’d love for you to link up your posts where you show your map projects. This is totally spur-of-the-moment, so don’t worry if they’re old posts. Just go get ‘em and link ‘em up here!

Creative Juices Decor

Go! Now! Then come back.

Decorating with Maps ~ A Link-Up is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Once upon a time, there was a sad little laundry room that just didn’t work. It did the laundry alright, but it just didn’t function well. There wasn’t proper storage. There wasn’t a sink for soaking stained clothes and there wasn’t a place to fold the clothes.

But that’s all a-changin’ since I’ve already made a little progress on the Laundry Room Remodel.

Before any of the structural changes, I needed to paint the room. As soon as I saw my Red Hot Red Electrolux washer and dryer, I knew I wanted to paint the room aqua. I love aqua and red together. But it’s not a color combo that I would normally use in my home. The colors in my house are fairly muted and calm, but I wanted do something bright and fun in the laundry room.

After trying out several shades of aqua and turquoise, I finally settled on Valspar’s Aqua Glow. It’s a true aqua and it’s bright. (It’s also nearly impossible to photograph in this room, so don’t trust your monitor.) I nearly had a cow when I first started putting it on the walls. But I had confidence prayed my head off that it would be beautiful and I kept on painting.

Some of the other colors that I considered were Lagoon by Martha Stewart…Melissa from The Inspired Room is using it in her kid’s bathroom and it’s gorg. I also tried Valspar’s Woodlawn Charm that Edie from Life in Grace used on her old kitchen cabinets. Also gorg, but it didn’t work in this tiny room with zero natural light.

Do you have that “gasp” moment when you open up a new can of paint? I did.

What are the plans for this room?

Function first. Then beauty. Hopefully both.

Do my drawing skills knock your socks off?

Our first step will be to add a laundry tub or sink of some sort. It makes me crazy having to soak clothes and clean paint brushes in either the kitchen sink or the bathtub. Now that the washer and dryer are stacked, we have room to put in the sink.

Then we’ll add some sort of storage tower in the space between the sink and the washer/dryer. I’m picturing open shelving to hold extra detergent and such. And some baskets for things like orphaned socks. I’m also hoping to get shelving the whole way across the top for even more storage.

Then there’s this funny spot in front of the washer and dryer. I’d like to build a simple cabinet that can hold a couple of laundry baskets. (Although 2 baskets will hardly contain Mt. Washmore.) The top of that cabinet will be a surface for folding laundry. Above the laundry station will be a hanging rod.

So that’s where we are today.

Some of you have asked what I think of the machines so far. One word. Love. I did 10 loads of laundry the day they arrived. For real. I washed every bit of fabric in this house. I never could have done that with my old machines that took nearly 80 minutes just to WASH!

This post is part of a series sponsored by Electrolux as part of Homebuzz. I received an Electrolux appliance in exchange for my participation. The opinions stated in this post are my own.

First It Scared Me, But Now I Love It. The Laundry Room Paint and Plans. is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

A couple of months ago, an email popped up in my inbox that made me squeal. Loudly. My kids thought I’d lost it.

I’ve calmed down a bit and I’m now a part of the Electrolux Test Drive Program. The amazing folks at HomeBuzz (a part of the FoodBuzz Community) gave me the invitation and I couldn’t say YES fast enough!

As a part of this program, they sent me a brand new Electrolux Washer and Dryer. Can you believe that? I know! Me neither.

If you follow me on Facebook, then you know that the machines are already here and that I nearly peed my pants when they arrived. Luckily, my Electrolux washer can wash a small load in only 15 minutes!

What does it say when the washer and dryer are the sexiest things in my house (besides my husband, of course)?

I’ve never shown you my laundry room before, but trust me when I say it’s a disaster. My washer and dryer were on their last legs and the room just doesn’t function.

We didn’t put in a laundry tub when we built this house. HUGE mistake. So there’s nowhere to soak stained clothes and wash out paint brushes. I’ve dreamt of having one, but it could only fit if we had a stackable washer/dryer. And now we do!

So over the next couple of months, I’m going to share the process of remodeling our laundry room into something functional and beautiful. More on that next week.

Tell me. How does your laundry room function?

This post is part of a series sponsored by Electrolux as part of Homebuzz. I received an Electrolux appliance in exchange for my participation. The opinions stated in this post are my own.

Laundry Room Redo: I Heart Electrolux! is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

If you have ever tried to hang a group of frames so that they’re all level and straight, you know what a challenge it can be. Even if you’re using a group of identical frames, there’s a good chance that the hardware on the back of each frame is positioned slightly differently on each frame. That means you can’t just make sure the nails are level in the wall. You have to compensate for the fact that the hangers are in different places on each frame.

Underneath all of my pretty picture displays lies a wall that looks like swiss cheese.

For me, hanging a group of frames always becomes an exercise in higher math. Calculate how far apart the frames should be…how far from the ceiling or floor…compensate for the fact that the hardware is off by 1/8″ on the last frame…divide by pi. It’s maddening.

When I brought home my IKEA Ribba Frames for the family room, I realized that, like all IKEA products, there was LOTS of assembly required. In this case, you have to attach the hanging hardware yourself. And it’s of the wire-across-the-back variety. That means death to getting those all those frames level in my book.

Before I got out my scientific calculator, I got online and starting googling things like…”How to hang IKEA Ribba Frames?” and “Are the Swedish just smarter than the rest of us?”

And in all my searching, I came across a recommendation for a something called the Hang & Level. After a little reading, I decided I couldn’t live for another day without one in my hot little hands. So I raced to my Target to see if they carried it. They did. SCORE!

I’m telling you. This nifty little tool has changed my picture hanging life. For real. It makes hanging groups of pictures so much easier. The short explanation is that it lets you easily mark where your nail holes should go for each picture without turning your walls into swiss cheese.

I took a bunch of pictures as I was using it and starting writing lots of words about how it works. Then I found this video on YouTube that explains it much better than I could.

I bought my Hang & Level at Target. The Hang & Level website says that you can also find them at Home Depot, but no promises. I also found them on Amazon with free shipping

Disclosure: I have NOT been compensated in any way for this post. I paid for this little gadget with my own hard-earned $14.99 and it was worth every penny.

How to Hang Picture Frames So They’re Level and Straight is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

via The Art of Doing Stuff

If you were lucky enough to receive a bouquet of roses (or other flowers) yesterday, then maybe you’re wondering what to do with them. I’ve always been kind of puzzled about how to arrange those cellophane wrapped bouquets. Karen from The Art of Doing Stuff showed me exactly what I should do.

I’ll be honest…I’m not much of a rose girl, particularly on Valentine’s Day. Mostly because it annoys me to no end that the price of roses doubles that week. But Karen’s ideas will work for other kinds of flowers too. I used them on a bouquet of tulips. Check out Karen’s post on How to Arrange a Dozen Roses for all the whats and hows of arranging roses.

PS…If you didn’t get a bouquet of flowers yesterday, then march yourself down to the store today and get one for yourself. They’re 1/2 the price that they were 24 hours ago.

What to Do With Those Roses is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

This is the hardware that, until yesterday, was on all of our bedroom furniture. I am well aware that they are solid brass Chippendale pulls. Call them what you want. They look like the Bat Signal to me.

We were incredibly lucky to receive a beautiful bedroom suite when we first married. It came from my husband’s aunt’s estate and it is of crazy-high quality. We never would have been able to afford a bedroom set like this. I’m convinced that if we didn’t receive it, our bed would still be on the floor and we’d be using cardboard boxes for nightstands.

I am grateful.

But for nearly 10 years, those Bat Signals have bothered me. They’re not my style. Never will be. If you love the Bat Signals, that’s great! They’re just not for me.

So, after nearly 10 years, I decided it was time to make a change. The only problem was that I didn’t want to spend a ton of money and I needed A LOT of drawer pulls. 41 pulls and 3 knobs to be exact. I didn’t want to spend more than $2.00 per pull.

The problem was compounded by the fact that I needed 2 different sizes of pulls. The long dresser needed the standard 3″ on-center pulls. Everything else needed a hard-to-find 2.5″ on-center pull.

I turned the internet inside-out trying to find a single piece of hardware that came in those two sizes. It doesn’t exist. Except, of course, the Bat Signal hardware.

So I compromised and chose two different styles of hardware from the same manufacturer (Amerock) in the same finish (satin nickel), so that I knew the color and finish would at least match. Of course, I would prefer if they all matched, but that would have required hand-forging my own hardware. This imperfection will have to do.

I ended up purchasing my hardware from CabinetParts.com. But some other sources that I considered were Ebay (some great deals to be found if you’re flexible), Amazon (is there anything they don’t sell?), Kitchen Cabinet Hardware (big selection with good prices), and Simply Knobs and Pulls (ditto). And, of course, Lowe’s, Home Depot and even Target are great sources for knobs and pulls.

I managed to stay well within my budget. The cup pulls were $1.37 each. The regular pulls were $1.16 and the knobs were $.97. Count me happy.

For about $60, I was able to transform my furniture from something that I was incredibly grateful to have into something that I love. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that the new hardware changed the whole feel of the room.

Do you have some little thing that continually bugs you? What could you do to change it?

Batman Called. He Wants His Hardware Back. is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Alternate Title: Sometimes You Just Have to Try It


A few weeks ago, I asked you if I should paint it or leave it alone. The majority of you said to paint it…for all sorts of reasons. And that was the direction I was leaning anyway. Not a shock, right?

So I did. And I’m not sure that I like it. I do like the white against the rich walls, but something isn’t working. Maybe it’s too contrast-y with the headboard? Maybe I should paint that? Maybe I should trash it all and start over? Maybe I should tell my husband that I’m totally kidding.

Maybe I should try it with my clearance Marshall’s lamps ($13!!!!)? I like that better, but I’m still not sure. I know not why the shades look gray. They’re white.

I’m still going to change out the Bat Signal hardware. Then maybe I’ll like it better?

So what is my point in sharing my indecisiveness? It’s to say that sometimes you just have to try it and see. I wasn’t wild about the bronzy “before” color. And now I’m not sure about the white either. But it’s not the end of the world. Mostly because the mirror was a thrift store find.  If it didn’t work out, I wasn’t going to lose my mind.

What did I lose? A little time? No biggy. Some spray paint? I guess. A bronze-y mirror? Not really. Because I like the white…just maybe not here. I’ll can always find another place to use it.

There’s nothing wrong with a little trial and error. If it doesn’t work, just move on. I guess I’ll try living with it for a few days and see how I feel.

Thoughts? Opinions?

But You Already Knew That, Right? is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

*Snort* I wish!

It was exactly 1 year ago that I told you we were starting the process of finishing our basement. And I’ve said barely a word about it since. This isn’t our first time at the basement-finishing rodeo, but it’s still shocking how long things can take when you’re doing every bit of the work yourself.

Note: I use the word “yourself” very liberally here. Because it’s been almost exclusively my hubby doing the work. I sometimes wander down and say helpful things like, “Could you move that light over there? Could you make that wall more welcoming?” Thank goodness he loves me.

And when you’re determined to pay cash for everything, sometimes the work comes to a screeching halt until you can save more pennies for the next step. It’s an exercise in patience.

Some of you have asked how it’s going. So even though the best word is “slowly”, I’ll give you a quick update. Please forgive me, but there’s nothing remotely interesting about:

Wall studs. *hehe*

Or insulation.

Or switches.

Or can lights. But they’re all critically important to having a usable basement, so there they are.

In other exciting news, we decided to save our pennies and pay someone to come in and do the drywall. And they’re starting today!!!! Now THAT is exciting news.

By this time next week, I’ll have real walls! Then it’s on to trim, doors, flooring, shelving and light fixtures. Sigh.

Have you ever taken on a BIG construction project?

A Basement Update is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

I always have a lot of luck thrifting (and junking) in January. I think it’s because so many of us feel the urge to purge (our homes) after the holidays that the thrift stores are usually packed with good stuff. Things like ugly lamps that could be beautiful with a coat of glossy spraypaint.

I was super tempted by those school chairs to use around a table in our basement. At $5 each, I may go back and see if they’re still at the Goodwill.

The Habitat for Humanity Re-Store was packed with dressers that need a coat of paint.

Wouldn’t this one be beautiful painted white with new hardware? It was only $25.

They also had TONS of lighting fixtures.

When I saw this 5-arm milk glass chandelier for only $10, I snapped it up. I’ve been wanting one for our family room forever, but I wasn’t willing to pay $50-$75 for one. I think I’m going to paint the fixture parts black, but that’s a project for another day.

Have you had any great thrift store finds lately?

January is For Thrifting is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

I’ve been wanting to make one of these incredible wreaths for ages now. I’ve even bought the coffee filters several times, but I ended up using them to make coffee. Priorities, people.

I just couldn’t muster up the motivation until I saw The Nester’s glorious creation last week. I totally copied her (and everyone else). But in my defense, mine is brown (not white) and thereby worthy of it’s own post. Because I said so.

I love how it came out with the brown filters. The Hubster says it looks like a giant sea creature…maybe a sponge or an anemone (totally had to google that). But I love it anyway.

I won’t reinvent the wheel and do a big tutorial. The Nester did a fine job explaining the process. Fold your filters. Glue your filters. Repeat and repeat. I used around 300 filters but could have gotten away with 200. Tutorial done.

But I will give you a couple of tips that I think might be helpful if you want to do this project.

1. Leave your wreath form flat on the table while you’re gluing on the filters. Otherwise, you may go too far around the back of the form and use way more filters than you need.
2. If you want to err on the side of using too few or too many filters, go with too few. You can always add more later.
3. Don’t attempt this project if you’re overly attached to your fingertips. You WILL scald them.
4. If you have a low-melt glue gun, use it. You’ll still scald your fingertips, but the glue sets faster and when you’re gluing hundreds of filters that makes a difference.
5. If you have little people hanging around wanting to help, put them to work. Their little, sticky fingers are perfect for separating the filters. That’s the most maddening part of the project.

My last of advice…Once you start, you MUST push through to the end. About 1/3 of the way through, you’ll hate it and think it looks ridiculous. I almost threw the whole mess away several times. But keep going. It all comes together in the end.

I can definitely leave this wreath out year-round. But I’m thinking for Christmas that I’ll jam some little ornaments in there.

Natural Coffee Filter Wreath is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Waaaaay back in 2008 (have I really been blogging that long?), I did the most ridiculously time-consuming DIY project ever. It was fussy and tedious but I still love it. And with Thanksgiving coming, I thought I would share it with you again…complete with crummy pictures and all.

Last week, I flipped my lid over this tablecloth from BHG.

I did a half-hearted search knowing full-well that I wasn’t going to spend a bunch of money on a tablecloth that I could only use for a couple of days. Besides, I wanted to take a shot at making my own version.

Do you remember the painter’s drop cloths that I used to make outdoor curtains on my back porch? They were around $6 each and the fabric is perfect for a rustic tablecloth. I cut one down to the right size for my table and frayed the edges.

Tip: If you want to keep the raw edge of a piece of fabric from fraying, you can dab it with a product like Aleene’s Fray Stop. It’s flexible and washable. I did that with this project because I want to be able to put the tablecloth in the wash without ending up with a pile of string.

For the words, I found a font that I liked and typed my text into Microsoft Word in a really large size (this was like 350 pts). Then I printed out the text and trimmed and taped the multiple pages together into one long sheet.

Here’s where it gets a little goofy…I taped the long sheet to my sliding glass door since my fabric was too thick to see the text through unless it was back lit.

I secured my fabric on top of that so that I could see the text through the fabric. If your fabric is a little more sheer, you can skip this step. Then I traced the outline of the text onto my fabric with a marker.

You know that your husband has given up when he sees you taping a piece of fabric to your sliding glass door and he doesn’t even ask what you’re doing. Poor man.

Tip: When you’re tracing your text, take special care to make sure you’re always writing on the same side of the fabric. It would be a major bummer if you traced an entire phrase on the wrong side of the fabric TWICE! Not that I did that or anything.

Last step…Paint over the traced lettering with fabric paint. I used a brown fabric paint with a little bit of shine to it.

Once I finished the tablecloth, I started staging my kitchen table so that it would look all pretty like the one from BHG. I was going to set it with my pretty white dishes and the good napkins. And then I thought…

Oh, come on. We all know that it’s going to look like this in a matter of minutes. Just being real.

I’m really thankful for the people who keep me real.

Thanksgiving Tablecloth is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

I have been having a ball playing around with my new Silhouette! Seriously. This little machine is incredible and I’m amazed by all the things that you can do with it. Like any new tool, it takes some time to figure out everything that it can do and I always prefer to just jump in and start doing.

I showed you the very first project that I made earlier in the week. This birthday artwork took about 15 minutes from start to finish. Love it! Don’t forget to click over to my giveaway post so that you can enter to win a Silhouette of your own!

Last week, I showed you a multitude of undone projects and my new Silhouette was the motivation that I needed to finally do something with the old transom window that’s been hanging out in my garage.

I’ve been wanting to hang the window in my laundry room and when I found this adorable laundry line artwork in the Silhouette Online Store, I was smitten! You can download artwork from their site for only 99 cents (less with a subscription!).

Once you get your artwork sized for your project, the Silhouette machine does the rest. You feed through a piece of vinyl and the machine does all the cutting.

Then you just peel away the excess parts. And you have your vinyl decal.

You can use transfer paper to make it super easy to put your decal exactly where you want it.

Once the decal is positioned correctly, you use a straight edge of some kind to adhere it to your surface.

Then peel back the transfer paper. Any little bubbles can be easily removed by just smooshing them out with a straight edge.

And that’s it! I still have to hang this in my laundry room, but I couldn’t wait to show you how it came out!

Don’t forget to check out my giveaway post so that you can enter to win a Silhouette of your own!

Project Finished! is a post from: A Soft Place to Land