• Home Decor

    Brightening the Foyer

    It has been just a little over 3 months since we moved into our new home and I’m happy to report that we have finally finished unpacking almost everything. And that means that we can now park in our garage. Woohoo! This is a big deal people!

    Besides moving everything around, we are slowly, but steadily, getting things painted. (Check out our newly revamped breakfast nook here.) Since we have an active toddler, our painting has been somewhat limited to the areas that we can secure with baby gates and door knob covers. We’ve been jumping around from space to space and next on our list of workable areas was our entryway. You may not be able to tell from the photo below (since the front door is hanging wide open in the middle of the day,) but the space was almost cave like with its dark paint and faux wood accents.

    Revamping the Entryway 1 Revamping the Entryway 2

    With just a few coats of pure white paint on the trim/doors and some Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter on the walls, the area looks completely different and a lot brighter. I love how paint can completely transform a room without breaking the budget.

    Eventually, we would like to remove the doors on the closet to open everything up and add some hooks along the walls for all of our coats, purses and scarves. We would love to be able to incorporate our numbered wooden crates…

    Revamping the Entryway 3

    But they don’t all fit lined up along the floor. Maybe we will do something similar to what Emily did in her Entryway Remodel.

    Revamping the Entryway 4

    The hardware also needs to be updated, since it is looking pretty beat up.

    Revamping the Entryway 5

    And we will definitely be changing out the flooring. All in good time.

    Revamping the Entryway 6

    Other than that, we are really enjoying how much brighter the space is looking. Nothing says come on in and hang up your coat like a welcoming foyer.

  • Family, Kids, Pets,  Home Decor

    Ikea Apa Storage Makeover

    These cute Apa storage boxes from Ikea are so cute and at $14.99 they are the perfect price! I knew I had to have one for our playroom I’ve been working on. It’s the perfect thing to hold some of the larger toys.

    apa-storage-box__36573_PE127770_S4

    (Photo from Ikea.)

    One of my favorite things about Ikea furniture is how easy it is  to customize. Here is how I turned this plain box into a fun toy chest for my kids.

    Apa Makeover 5
    First, the pine wood edging was painted with a coat of primer and two coats of white paint.

    Apa Makeover 2
    Next, my husband assembled this storage rectangle. It went together pretty easily, but I am sometimes instructionally challenged, so I made sure to enlist some help.

    Apa Makeover 1
    Finally, I applied self-adhesive shelf liner to the white center panels. I chose aqua and white chevron to add a pop of color to the room.

    Apa Makeover 3
    Trofast Makeover 4
    Isn’t it adorable?

    Apa Makeover 6
     

    Have you ever customized Ikea furniture? If so, what pieces have you made your own?

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  • Home Decor

    Raise Your Bed If You’re Sure

    Last time you saw our bedroom was during a sneak peak revealed in this post. It still looks pretty much the same, except for one subtle difference in the form of a lift. See those pretty little dark feet hanging out at the bottom of the bed skirt? Yup, they are new.

    Deck Post Bed Risers 1

    Since we are hosting my office area in the corner of our bedroom, we wanted to add some extra storage space. The best place to achieve this was under the bed, since we didn’t want to add more furniture pieces. So, we researched some different ideas and after eliminating traditional, store bought bed risers (which we heard have a tendency to break in the middle of the night,) we decided to go the DIY route. No surprise there, right?

    I found this tutorial on Pinterest and thought it looked cool, but unfortunately, our bed frame is made differently than theirs, so we had to think of another way to do it. After a little brainstorming, my genius husband figured out how to make it work.

    We started out with 4 round, wooden, deck post finials which we bought for around $16 from our local hardware store.

    Deck Post Bed Risers 2

    After a quick sanding to smooth them out, we popped the screws into some floral foam so that they would be easier to spray paint. We chose to use Rustoleum Universal Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint with the hopes that they would semi-match our existing headboard. (I neglected to take a photo of them all together and painted though.)

    Deck Post Bed Risers 3

    Here is our old bed frame’s little wheels that held everything up. Kind of pathetic, right?

    Deck Post Bed Risers 4

    Well, the hubs figured out how to remove the entire wheel base and the plastic part that kept it tight inside of the leg. Then he pried the plastic piece off with a screw driver.

    Deck Post Bed Risers 5

    Lucky for us, the post screws fit perfectly inside of the original plastic frame pieces.

    Deck Post Bed Risers 6

    And with a few taps of the hammer, they were secured in place.

    Deck Post Bed Risers 7

    Finally, we just lifted the bed back up and positioned each post in place.

    Deck Post Bed Risers 8

    So far, the bed is holding up great and seems to be very secure. The kids even jumped on it a bit to double check the sturdiness. Plus, we gained several inches of storage space, which was exactly what we were looking for. Yay!

    Deck Post Bed Risers 9

    Here is my sweet little model showing off the new height of the bed and how it is perfectly toddler proof.

    Deck Post Bed Risers 10