Love My DIY Home

Twin End Tables & Wise Owl Chalk Synthesis Paint

Sponsored Post: I found a pair of end tables at a garage sale – outdated and in need of repair. You see it everywhere. Furniture that is chipped, stained, damaged with water rings, cracks, or maybe they are just plain outdated. Too often folks just go out and buy new when there is a better, cheaper, and easier fix. We can save money and save the the landfill by taking them home and flipping them… BEFORE In this case all they needed was a bit of glue (the center piece had come apart), a bit of patching, and a new finish. Karen at Wise Owl Paint offered to give me paint and glaze for a project to try out and review. The paint is free of harsh chemicals and solvents and is zero VOC – a great way to paint without compromising health or the environment. She also carries other … Read more

Direct Composting – Improving Garden Soil

No Bin No Way We considered buying a rotating compost bin for our garden to use scraps from the kitchen to improve our garden soil, but they were all pricey and I didn’t like the idea of having to dump our scraps into a stinky bin and having to turn it to keep it aerated. You may call it lazy, but I call it efficient. My schedule is so tight, I’m all about quick and easy with few steps in between. Plus, we have a lot of winter here in Wisconsin and I don’t like tromping through the snow! I did a search (naturally!) and came up with the term “direct composting,” or “trench composting.” Basically you just dig a trench in your garden and dump in your scraps and bury them. Easy peasey! We tried it last year and it WAS easy and this year when we dug the … Read more

Subsciber Furniture Flip {Love My DIY Home}

More Furniture Flips by LMDH Subscriber Sandra Amigo

Not long ago I showed you some Furniture Flips by Sandra Amigo and now I have a couple more for you… Sometimes you like the “before” but then you see the “after” and you’re like… “WHOA!” This is that time. Sandra is a FAB FLIPPER! Here is the before: Sandra told me, “I also made my own version of the various brands of waxes I’ve seen displayed on blogs: wood wax (the one used on floors) with my beloved walnut wood stain. I recently bought metallic wax patinas: gold, silver, and copper for finishing touches.” Here are the afters: “I have transferred images in quite a number of projects with the mod podge method and with the freezer paper method (I also used the shiny paper that’s left when you peel stickers) It’s so fun!” The embellishment on the top makes this piece extraordinary. There is painting furniture, and then … Read more

DIY Enhancing of a Side Table {Love My DIY Home}

DIY Enhancing of a Chippy Side Table

You can find the most amazing things in the least interesting places… Some guy had a cabinet from a storage auction advertised on Facebook – while my DH and I looking at it in his garage full of “junk” with my DD and SIL, I meandered around and started asking him, “How much for that…how much for that?” We left with 5 pieces of furniture. One was a beat up paint chipped, lonely, begging to be found and fixed, side table. At first we thought to paint and antique it, but after cleaning it up there was no doubt that it already had character. It just needed a little help expressing itself. Ya know…you could go out to Hobby Lobby (I heart Hobby Lobby) and just buy a chippy side table (for a ton of money). They have lots of shabby chic pieces available. But how cool would it be … Read more

Blanket Chest Flip using L'Essentiels Botanics {Love My DIY Home}

Cedar Chest Flip – L’Essentiel Botanics Furniture Paint

I was offered a chance to try out L’Essentiel Botanics furniture paint by Michelle at Serendipity House in New Hampshire. Since I’ve been doing a series on chalk paint products, I was anxious to give it a try in my cedar chest flip. If you are looking to remove the chemicals from your home, look into L’Essentiels Botanics. My family is working on it as well and I was pleasantly surprised to hear of L’Essentiel. I’m no vegan, but I am concerned about the chemicals in EVERYTHING we use and eat! Their furniture paint line is vegan (other than beeswax), all natural, and in biodegradable containers with no masking agents. The chalks, clays, minerals, pigments are made by a small company in Australia in small batches. The wax has no solvents (i.e. drying agents) and is smooth with great coverage. The clear wax, which has no solvents, can be used … Read more

A Family Dresser Rescue – April FFFC

Fab Flippin’ Furniture Contest “Pure Colors, Original Elegance” Preserving Family Memories is a Comfort to the Soul Back in 1978 we bought a set of dressers from my parents for $50 just after we were married. Years later my mom wanted them back so we traded for the set she had at the time. I’ve since given the upright dresser to my DD and kept the other for my walk in closet: Do you have reminders of your parents around the house? Have you considered the FACT that one day your loved ones will move on? Are you preparing to have a piece of them close by for memory sake? My dad passed away when I was 26 (30 years ago) and my mom a year ago. This is the piece I chose to paint using Pure & Original paint in April’s Fab Furniture Flippin’ Contest. Because … Read more

Newsletter Prize – A Mason Jar Planter

On April 1, I offered a prize in my Newsletter to the first person to email me with their fave project from my website with “I Love DIY” in the subject line. Pam said, “My favorite is the rod you put between your kitchen cabinets and hung the bird cage and sign.” She was referring to my OUR KITCHEN BEFORE AND AFTER project. She responded 1 hour and 26 minutes after I sent out my newsletter. Congratulations, Pam! You are the winner! I gave her a choice of colors for her prize: light blue, gray or teal, but didn’t tell her what her prize would be. The project, a painted mason jar planter, is done and I will be sending it out to her this week. A Simple DIY I started with a plain old Empire brand pint mason jar, sponge brush, and Annie Sloan’s Duck Egg Blue chalk paint. … Read more

It’s Not About the Stuff – My Philosophy Behind DIY

Years ago I thought it was my obligation to deny myself the things I needed and wanted. “Make do,” I said. “Don’t be materialistic,” I said. “Save money,” I said. I thought my only options were to buy what I wanted or do without – the world of DIY really hadn’t opened up to me yet. I don’t remember when I started reinventing and refurbishing furniture, decor and just about anything that didn’t move. I think I’d just had it with doing without and decided it was OK to make my home look and feel the way that I wanted. Do you long for your very own happy place? Back when the kids were small and we had a full house, I guess I didn’t think my desires mattered. Getting through the day, taking care of my kids, meeting others’ needs, being available for the ministry…well, those things were first … Read more

Keep Your Lettuce Sweet – It’s all in the timing

Keep It Sweet – Lettuce Last year’s lettuce was fabulous. My mom had told me a couple of years ago that I shouldn’t plant my own lettuce because it becomes bitter. Her experience left a bitter taste in her mouth (pun intended) So, as always, I wanted to find out why and did a little research and experimenting. This is what I discovered: If you are having problems with your lettuce tasting bitter, pick it in the morning, wash and dry it and put it in the fridge for a day. It should sweeten up. The hot sun of the day can dry it out and make it bitter. It usually recoups over night in the dew. Be sure to water the lettuce in the morning – the water helps the lettuce survive the hot sun later in the day that can strip it of its sweetness. We also added … Read more

Cheapo Side Table Flip – February Fab Furniture Flippin Contest

Do you plan to or did you get rid of all your old cheapo furniture and buy new? I don’t…I flip them. Today’s project is one of those put together side cabinets that typically you would give away to Good Will and buy something much better when you could afford it. But for me, it’s not about the money. It’s about achieving a one-of-a-kind piece of furniture art. This month’s challenge from the Fab Furniture Flippin Contest asked for a piece that goes from drab to fab by painting it with Deco Art Chalky Finish paint. The contest theme is “Make a Statement”. I’ve used Deco Art Chalky Paint before on other projects, so I knew the paint would be easy to use and would turn out great. After this boring, ugly piece, it’s not really hard to “make a statement” with paint – anything is better than how it … Read more