The Cobbler’s Children Have No Shoes

Too often I hear of furniture artists who have been putting off refinishing or redesigning their own furniture…so focused on the business of painting other people’s pieces, they neglect their own home. I determined a long time ago to not be the one who personifies the saying, “The cobbler’s children have no shoes.” I want to walk from room to room smiling as I see my own works of art. This video is a walk through of our home where you can see several of my own pieces of furniture art. I don’t have every piece the way I want them, for I got very tired of the wood look everywhere, but I’m making great headway. I still have two end tables, a highboy to paint and dresser to finish for my home, along with a new set of nesting tables I’ve not decided whether I’ll keep or sell. I … Read more

A Tour of My Workspace and Showroom

I get a lot of requests to see my workshop, see top private office, and other parts of my business set up. This is where the magic happens. I have a second kitchen area for my workshop with cabinets that hold all the handy things I need to prep and paint, a studio where I stage for listings, and a showroom to display my finished pieces. I even have a craft room where I work on crafts and store all my crafty types of my materials currently a spot in that room where I am for the time being, growing seedlings for my garden. I am blessed. I’d love to hear from you where you work and how you manage your supplies and such. It’s a lot of work to get a functional workspace, especially once we start accumulating all the stuff we need for our furniture flipping ventures. I … Read more

Create an Inviting Office Space

Since I spend 99% of my time in my home, I LIVE in my home. It’s what I see when I wake up, work, play, relax, cook, eat – you get the idea. It’s my sanctuary. It’s my castle. It’s where I AM all the time. It was especially true this past year. Don’t get me started… We have transformed nearly every room in our 4-level home, implementing significant upgrades with the assistance of a reliable service such as gresham heating and cooling. Beyond interior renovations, we’ve also dedicated efforts to enhance the exterior. This property and its surroundings were initially a chaotic mess, presenting us with the challenge of truly making it our own. Our top level has two master bedroom suites, and an office (have a peek at this web-site to find the best office spaces around your locality). It was originally 4 bedrooms, but you know, I … Read more

Barn Door Hardware Transforms an UGLY Hallway

#sponsored OUTDATED Doesn’t Begin to Describe It Yes. I admit it. My hallway was boring, ugly, dark, uninviting – you get the picture. Before we bought the house, the one wall across from the closet had a type of salt wash that made it very rough. I sanded it down and painted before we moved in, but never liked the hallway partly because it was dark and partly due to the bifold doors. Or should I say “bifold door.” The one was off and the other had a doggie door in it. I have no idea why other than I know they had lots of animals, so the animal “stuff” must have been in the closet.     For the past 5 years I’ve waited to update that hallway and get new doors, but I’ve been holding out, wanting the barn door look. Every day I just ignored that area … Read more

Guest Master Bedroom – Before and After

Have you ever seen before and afters that seemed too expensive to duplicate? I have. Too often we look at what others do and decide we could never do it ourselves and hire contractors like www.skilledhomerenovations.ca. It only took 3 1/2 years, but we finally did it.   And we did it within our budget, in our own time, in our own way. You can too. What room do you want to flip? Our green carpeted gold sponge painted master bedroom is finally a hotel quality guest room. This was the original master bedroom, but we decided to keep it for guests. We took the other side of the top level and plan to renovate it into a master suite – some day.   We kept the green carpet for quite a while because of the expense of new, but we did at least paint the walls before we moved … Read more

Hoarder's Renovated Home {Love My DIY Home}

Before and After House Flip – A Look at the Hoarding Disorder

A House Flip You Never Know What is on the Inside Looking at a home from the outside can be very deceiving – just like the outside of a person often doesn’t reveal what is inside of their heart. The flaws will remain anonymous. Join me for a look at a hoarder disorder as seen through the eyes of their family. Definition of Hoarding from Mayo Clinic: “Hoarding disorder is a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them. A person with hoarding disorder experiences distress at the thought of getting rid of the items. Excessive accumulation of items, regardless of actual value, occurs.   Hoarding often creates such cramped living conditions that homes may be filled to capacity, with only narrow pathways winding through stacks of clutter. Some people also collect animals, keeping dozens or hundreds of pets in unsanitary conditions because … Read more

Hoarding - a flipped house {Love My DIY Home}

Less is More – When Frugality Hurts

Are you a collector? …a thrifter, garage saler, picker, or might you be a hoarder? How do you know if you have a problem? How do you know if you are out of control? Balance is key. Sometimes good can turn bad quickly when we lose our balance. If a person overindulgess using frugality as their excuse, then “frugality” hurts. Ask yourself: Can I afford it? Do I need it? Do I have a place for it? Do I have a specific plan to use it, give it away or am I just buying it because it’s a good deal? I’ve known many people who buy things just for the fun of it and stuff piles up everywhere… in the spare bedroom… and then into the hallway… and then in every nook and cranny of the house. Some claim it is prepping (though what I’m talking about is NOT prepping). … Read more

Living Room Reveal {Love My DIY Home}

Keeping Up With the Joneses – Living Room Reveal

The day is finally here. The Joneses living room reveal has been a long time in coming. If you remember, they bought a foreclosure and rehabilitated the poor thing. It was a mess and they brought it from an unlivable beast to a beautiful charming home for a family of 5 – oh wait. Home for a family of 6! We are so long in bringing this reveal to you because a little baby doll, Maddie Moo made her appearance (April found out she was expecting) and everything changed. She sort of took over their world and slowed down their progress on the house. They moved in without having finished, hence no “reveal.” It’s OK. A home is a home because of who we share it with, not because the trim is finished or the drywall is up in the basement, right? Let me take you back through time for … Read more

No Christmas Home Tour Here

  This Christmas season is different for our family this year. We are a family in crisis. There will be no chestnuts roasting on our open fire this year. Normally I would be writing a post about our Christmas Home Tour complete with staged pictures of my home in the middle of Christmas celebration. (Last year’s Christmas Home Tour) It’s what we do as DIY bloggers. We decorate and then share it. I had it all planned. I did manage to get my tree up and most of our gifts wrapped.   Then crisis walked through our front door and wouldn’t leave. (The Ultimate DIY – Saying Goodbye to Your Mom) There will be no last minute holly jolly Christmas shopping running around town in the midst of all the hustle bustle that I love so much. I did manage to hang a little Christmas tree ornament my DH brought … Read more

Keeping Up With the Joneses | Love My DIY Home

Keeping Up With the Joneses – Kitchen Demolition

To start, the Joneses, and other family members including moi, started ripping down and tearing up. Oh, how I enjoy kitchen demolition! Even the kids got their share of demo, which BTW, shows you and I that if a 6 and 8 year old can do it… You can do it too. But for large-scale demolition projects, it is advised to hire professional Heavy Equipment Demolition services. I’m gonna preach it till the cows come home. Too often we say, “I could never do that.” How about, “I could totally do that!” April took off the scalloped hoop-de-do above the kitchen sink. Now, hoop-de-doos aren’t necessarily bad, I recently painted a shelf with a couple of them for my mason jars and it turned out very nicely. It turned from boring to fab, but here it would only look old and outdated. So off it came and amazingly enough, made … Read more

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