Tips for installing cabinets {see all of the added storage in our mud room!}

Hey there! The mud/laundry room storage makeover is underway! I didn’t expect to get started right away, but we lucked out when the contractors we use were available sooner than I planned. 
I can install base cabinets no problem, (I use them for built ins all the time) but I leave making sure the uppers are supported correctly to the professionals. 
If you remember, I have big plans to make this part of the room work much better for us: 

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I’ve wanted to add cabinets under the folding table since we moved in. All along I planned to purchase the same cabinets our builder used so they would match the uppers in here. I didn’t even consider looking into the big box stores to see what they have. 
Well…the other day I
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Categories: Home Contractor, Home Decor, Home Experience, Home Exterior, Home for rent, Home Improvement, Home Improvement Ideas, Home interior, Home security

Easy garage organization tips to get things OFF the floor

The epic garage decluttering and organization continues…I’m so close to done! Just waiting on a few more items and I’ll be finished. This process of purging and figuring out organization is fun to me. I’m sure many of you would rather poke your eyes out, but this stuff makes me HAPPY. 
Figuring out a solution for a storage problem is like a puzzle to me — I enjoy researching and figuring out what will work best for us. We have one corner in our garage that wasn’t working at all. It was stuffed full of items that had no home, as well as poor storage for the items that did belong there.
I SO wish I had a before photo of this spot! I’m kicking myself because the after is SO beautiful. 😂 As beautiful as garage organization can get anyway. Let’s go through some of the items I
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Categories: Home Contractor, Home Decor, Home Experience, Home Exterior, Home for rent, Home Improvement, Home Improvement Ideas, Home interior, Home security

My mud/laundry room changes that will add tons of storage

Hello there! I’m still working on the garage purging and organization and I’m excited to show you the projects I’ve been working on in there! I have a lot left to do, but it’s already SO MUCH better. 
I wanted to share what I have planned in our mud/laundry space after the garage is finished — I’m super excited about this too! If you’ve read the blog for awhile, you know I get my energy in the cooler months and in the summer I turn into a sloth. I think I’m opposite of most — the cold temps invigorate me and the warm weather makes me want to take a nap. 😂
We have a joint laundry and mud room and we LOVE it. I designed the space (as far as placement of everything) while we were building. This side of the room looks really good!: 
As you can see,
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Categories: Home Contractor, Home Decor, Home Experience, Home Exterior, Home for rent, Home Improvement, Home Improvement Ideas, Home interior, Home security

The best small storage containers for all that tiny stuff!

Have you been purging and organizing in the new year? I recently decided to really tackle the garage for the first time since we moved in. I’ve gone through a few things here and there, but not really gotten down and dirty with the decluttering in there. 
It seems my tolerance for extra stuff in our house has decreased every year — so when I look through all of the items that I packed up and moved to this house 3 1/2 years ago, I’m surprised (and annoyed?) at how much I kept. It gets easier and easier to let go of things, that’s for sure! 
Getting rid of stuff and organizing what’s left makes me giddy. (Especially the getting rid part.) I still have at least a week of work ahead of me, but I hope to share everything I’ve done soon! 
Till then, I had to share these
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Categories: Home Contractor, Home Decor, Home Experience, Home Exterior, Home for rent, Home Improvement, Home Improvement Ideas, Home interior, Home security

Make a DIY faux olive tree for less

The faux plant trend is continuing this week (see some of my favorite spring florals here!) with a tutorial even I didn’t think would turn out that great! 😂 I have wanted a tallish plant for the basement for sometime — we do get a good amount of daylight down there, but not enough that I could keep something alive. 
I have real fiddle leaf figs all over our house (see my tips for taking care of fiddles here) so I wanted something different. I started searching fake olive trees instead, but found they are pretty expensive. The best version (with good reviews) I found was $115. 
As I was searching online, I came across tutorials for a fake, do-it-yourself olive tree. Huh. I never even considered it, but it got my mind going. I figured I would take one for the team and try it out —
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Categories: Home Contractor, Home Decor, Home Experience, Home Exterior, Home for rent, Home Improvement, Home Improvement Ideas, Home interior, Home security

Beautiful fake spring florals {that look real}

Hello from the tundra! We’re supposed to get a ton of snow — maybe up to 13 inches in the next day or so. It sounds like a lot of us are in for some winter this week, so I thought I would share some beautiful faux spring florals. We can dream of warmer weather and blooming flowers together!  
I found these delicate white flowers on brown stems at Hobby Lobby and they instantly brightened up the room and my mood! Just SO pretty:  
Of course, I got them for half off! 
I love a full floral display. When you use faux florals, make sure to take advantage of the wire stems and spread them out as much as possible. 
The small white blooms look fantastic against our dark blue fireplace wall (Cyberspace):
small white flowers in large vase on mantel
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Categories: Home Contractor, Home Decor, Home Experience, Home Exterior, Home for rent, Home Improvement, Home Improvement Ideas, Home interior, Home security

How to make leather wrapped vases and candleholders

Goodness, I am overwhelmed with your wonderful response to the huge bookcase wall I shared earlier this week! I’m so glad you love it. I’m so proud of how it turned out!
I love how the decor on the shelves came together. As you know, it takes me awhile to get things how I like them. If you try building your own bookcase unit, think about what you want to put on the shelves before you build that part. 
Shorter shelves like in my office are a little easier to decorate: 
These are also better if you have a lot of books you’d like to display. 
I went with taller ones on the basement unit because I wanted a more open feel. Shorter shelves hold more but can feel busier. Since I had more height than usual, I needed to use bigger decor throughout:
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Categories: Home Contractor, Home Decor, Home Experience, Home Exterior, Home for rent, Home Improvement, Home Improvement Ideas, Home interior, Home security

DIY built in bookcase wall in the basement {The reveal!}

Hello there and welcome to the reveal of biggest bookcase build I’ve ever attempted! I shared a few weeks ago that I was going to start building a MASSIVE entertainment unit in our basement. I’ll get you caught up on the process first and then will share the after pics. 
This is the wall I tackled…I’ve had an idea in my head since we moved in for this spot: 
long wall in Westchester Gray paint
The wall is a whopping 19 feet — I was filling 18 of that. 
I always use kitchen cabinets for my built ins. It’s way easier, cheaper and faster than building from scratch. I started by building up my cabinets so they would look more built in: 
add bottom supports to cabinets for built ins

After I got them in place I installed them into the wall and into each other: 

building bookcases with kitchen cabinets
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I’m
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Categories: Home Contractor, Home Decor, Home Experience, Home Exterior, Home for rent, Home Improvement, Home Improvement Ideas, Home interior, Home security

Five simple tips for decorating bookcases

I’m DONE with the basement entertainment center build and I can’t wait to show you (next week)! Now it’s time to decorate the shelves — which is the most fun but also the hardest. Fun but difficult — is that a thing? Ha! I can build all day and I love it…but I sometimes struggle with the decor part.

It will take me a few hours to get it right, and once I do it will stay the same for years. The thought of rearranging things that already look good seriously stresses me out. 😆

I have a few tried and true tips for decorating bookcases and shelves that always help! They’re easy to follow and make for decor that is really pleasing to the eye. 

Tip #1: Decorate in odd numbers

It’s often said that things in threes are most appealing to our eyes. Actually, odd numbers in … Read the rest

Categories: Home Contractor, Home Decor, Home Experience, Home Exterior, Home for rent, Home Improvement, Home Improvement Ideas, Home interior, Home security

Make a sofa look new with these three easy fixes!

Hello there! I’m SO close to finishing up the huge built ins in the basement! I have a few more details to add, and then the really fun part — decorating it! I plan to share the whole thing with you next week. It looks SO great. 
I think sofas are the hardest piece of furniture to shop for…well, as least the hardest to pick RIGHT. After we paid off all of our debt years ago, I splurged on a beautiful, expensive sectional for our home, and years later I absolutely hated that thing. 
We had a number of problems with it — from the fabric to the cushions. I shared my review of our Arhaus sectional here. 

We later discovered this sofa from Macy’s that is my absolute favorite couch ever — you can see it in our old house here. (It was way cheaper.) We bought it
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Categories: Home Contractor, Home Decor, Home Experience, Home Exterior, Home for rent, Home Improvement, Home Improvement Ideas, Home interior, Home security