Before and Afters – Love My DIY Home

[VIDEO] A Cat Condo for Two – Part 4

A Cat Condo for Two – Part 4 Welcome back! This is my fourth video tutorial for my project, A Cat Condo for Two. This was a big project with many different designs and techniques, so I split it up into four videos. If you’ve not seen them yet, go to the first one and make your way through. Here are the links to the first three tutorial videos: A Cat Condo for Two – Part 1 A Cat Condo for Two – Part 2 A Cat Condo for Two – Part 3 This video is a quick look at how I decorated the other side of this Cat Condo for Two. Since it’ll be in my office for the time being, I won’t see this side. It’s next to the wall, but that’s OK since I tend to move things around in my house. I took the opportunity to … Read more

[VIDEO] Part 3 – A Cat Condo for Two

A Cat Condo for Two – Part 3 Welcome to the Third “A Cat Condo for 2” Video Series! To see the first two videos in this series, A Cat Condo for 2 – Part 1 and a Cat Condo for 2 – Part 2, where I show you the first two stages of this redesign, and the changes I made when I didn’t like my first attempt. Come along with me as this dresser turns into my Mia and Max’s beautiful Cat Condo for 2. Here’s the BEFORE: In this video, I show you how I redesigned the right side of the piece: creating a decorative background, embellishing the raised stenciling with metallics, plus color blending techniques on the top and bottom drawer. The two sides of the Cat Condo are different…just for fun. When you create for yourself, it’s easier to experiment and do things differently because in … Read more

[VIDEO] A Cat Condo for 2 – Part 1

A Cat Condo for Two – Part 1 Originally I had a little kitty tower that I created for my cat, MIA that sat next to me in my office where she would be with me during the day and hopefully curtail her walking on my keyboard as I worked. For the most part it was a great fix, and we both enjoyed being together most of the day, though she often asserted herself when she felt it was time to feed her by walking back and forth in front of me as I typed. I’m a totally obsessed cat lady, so when we got a second cat, MAX, from the shelter, I had to do something different for my office. More on that in the video… MIA was one of three sisters dumped at our vet’s. I’d not had a cat in YEARS, so it was a real treat … Read more

Antique Accent Table Redesign – Start to Finish in 7 Minutes

I’ve found video to be the best tool in sharing projects. We see everywhere pretty pictures, both before and afters, but seldom see HOW it was done. Today I’m a project that I video’d all the way through to the staging. We found this accent table at a local estate sale and it was labeled “antique.” I paid a little more for it since it is so unique. A “unique antique”. 🙂 I used all products from my online store, featuring Retique It products at FurnitureFlippingMarket.com. Go have a look at all the great products – quality products you can trust. I will list all the materials and link them below the video. Materials List: Oil-based Primer Ultratique all-in-One Paint – Robin’s Egg Ultratique all-in-One Paint – Alabaster Stain & Glaze (old oak or dark oak will work to give an antique look) Wonder Brush (there are three sizes!) Polyacrylic … Read more

Upcycled China Cabinet – Unwanted to Amazing!

I’ve got a good one to show you today! We’re always thinking of ways to turn cast offs into something desirable, aren’t we? Garage sale finds, Goodwill castoffs, hand-me-downs, Aunt Clara’s dusty old china cabinet… A while ago we bought this china cabinet at an estate sale. We paid $97. It’s an Ethan Allen, so I knew it had good bones and it reminded me of my mother. LOL For some reason I acquaint Ethan Allen with my mom. No idea why. Maybe because it’s from her era. Here is DH strapping everything down we go that day. It was the last day of the estate sale, so I got this china cabinet CHEAP. I got a couple of other things too. I felt like I had won the jackpot. This thing was sitting in the living room of the house of someone who had gone on, and the kids … Read more

Fab Fall Projects & Blog Hop 2015

A Fall Front Yard & Deck Project You Too Can Do! NOTE: This post is from 2015. It is now 2022 and looking back, I am so thankful I decided to learn about landscaping and curb appeal. I hope this will encourage you to do the same. We bought our house a few years ago and it was in a shambles. The yard looked like it was a backwoods farm that hadn’t been touched in years. Here are before pictures of our house just before we bought it. It was pretty sad looking. The front was nondescript with overgrown greenery and stones full of dirt and dried up greenery. After a year of not addressing the stones in front, tons of weeds took root and made it look even shabbier. I did manage to put up the heart my son, Andrew, bought for me years ago. … Read more

Fixing a Sloppy Paint Job

Here’s a little tip to save you some time and effort. I bought a dresser from Marketplace and the drawers had some messy painting going on. Drips, over painting, scratches, bristles embedded, etc. The worst part were the drawer sides. My options for fixing them were: painting them, stenciling over the mess, or sanding it off. I didn’t like any of those options. I thought on it a while and came up with a better option. It was easier than any of the three choices I originally thought I had and it worked. Here is the finished project – you can click the pic to go right to the post about this project: This is an example of the super short videos I create for my Blueprint members. I’ll be sharing some of them with those who wish to see the nicky picky details that most experienced furniture flippers have … Read more

[VIDEO] Creating Appliques Using Paper Clay

SAVE $$ It can be pretty pricey to buy ready made appliques, so this is a good solution for anyone wishing to add a little pizazz to decor or furniture. It’s easy and actually a fun thing to do once you get a handle on the particulars. This video shows you how to use paper clay to make appliques fairly inexpensively. PAPER CLAY It certainly doesn’t hurt that this product and process is pretty easy too. I like easy. At the time I made this video I only used (afflink) paper clay, but since then I’ve learned about and also use hot glue and another medium similar to paper clay, Form Flex. These two are flexible after they dry unlike Paper Clay which is not. I share the other methods in the Blueprint – be sure to subscribe to the DROPCLOTH so you’ll be notified when it opens to … Read more

New Pop-Up ESCAPE ROOM on Facebook – DIY DECOR

COME LEARN SOME STUFF Since I mentor furniture flippers, accumulating staging props to use in photos for listings can be a big issue. So I like to help with every area of the flipping process to help members save money and increase profits. We can make our own decor and save $ – our bottom line isn’t only affected by the profit we make on a piece of furniture, but also on our expenses. So, the more staging decor we acquire easily and cheaply, the better. NEW POP-UP GROUP ON FACEBOOK THE ESCAPE ROOM – DIY Staging Decor is open and ready for you. You can click the name and it will take you there so you can sign up and reserve your spot. It’s going to be fun! I’m busily working on projects to share with you. It starts September 28, but you can join in on the … Read more

My Double Flipped Dresser

Occasionally I will buy a piece that another furniture artist has listed that they couldn’t sell. They will put it up for sale super cheap. 90% of the time there is something wrong with it like water damage or messed up drawers that they didn’t address in their redesign. Those things will discourage buyers and then they get stuck with a piece that they put effort into that doesn’t sell. Most hate keeping pieces around and will give up and get rid of it to cut their losses. I watch for that scenario and if the piece is solid, just not up to par, I’ll grab it. This happened with this piece. I bought it for $40 on Marketplace. There were some details that hurt its saleability, but it had good hardware and was a brand that said, “quality”. The BEFORE: Looks good, right? So why was it for … Read more