Keeping up with the Joneses | Love My DIY Home

Keeping Up With the Joneses – The Kitchen Before

Welcome to a new series: Keeping Up With the Joneses Join us as we follow the first time homebuyers Jones family as they take a foreclosed house and turn it into a warm and inviting home in just 30 days! Their goal is to have it not only livable for their family of five in just 30 days, but have a 5 year plan to bring it to perfection – to flip it and move on. Not only is this a huge job, but they have a very tight budget as well. The Kitchen Before I’ll let the pictures do the talking here – it’s pretty obvious they have their work cut out for them! Occasionally I’ll photo bomb since I’ll be out there helping from time to time. You can play the Where’s Val game (Where’s Waldo?) with me. We will show you step by step, and occasionally insert … Read more

Fifty cent tile table topper | Love My DIY Home

What Does One Do With a Fifty Cent Tile?

What does one do with a 50¢ 12X12 tile? Tile a floor (a VERY small floor) Use it as a cutting board Use it as a trivit (for a VERY big mug) Paint it with chalkboard paint and prop it against the counter top for a menu Put it beneath a plant to protect your floor Use it as a centerpiece for a bowl of fruit (8 year old Isaac’s suggestion) What did I do with a 50¢ 12X12 tile? I found this tile at Habitat for Humanity for 50 cents and I immediately thought about my antique nightstand that holds my Young Living oils diffuser. I was a little concerned the mist would damage my table top, so when I saw this tile on the cheap I snatched it up. Here it is – notice I did nothing to it before I took the picture. Real life. I am … Read more

Mason jar shelf redo | Love My DIY Home

Accidental Artist Strikes Again… DIY Mason Jar Shelf Redo

I’ve mentioned this before…sometimes my best ideas come from mistakes or accidents. This is the case of the redo. A couple of years ago our daughter, Jillian, said she wanted a shelving unit for her nail polishes – we’re talkin’ 100 bottles. Since one of my kids wanted something, of course I would spend the next few months looking for just the right shelving unit. While at an auction, the auctioneer grabbed a little wall shelf unit that from across the room looked perfect for her project. I only paid a buck! Imagine my surprise when I went to get my little nail polish shelf and it was 4X bigger what I thought it would be. Needless to say it went in the garage for two years, abandoned by this overzealous mother… Until one day the light bulb went on. I would paint it and use it to hold my … Read more

Messy porch after a long winter

Antique Chair – Better than a Hobby Lobby Hack

The front porch needed some serious help after our long winter, so the first step was to fix my antique chair, one of my first projects from last year. Welcome to my life… (no pretending to be perfect here) See it tucked in the corner behind all the big pots next to my grandson’s worm collection? We got this and two other chairs as part of an auction bundle, spray painted it and have had it on my front porch for a year. I wondered if it would survive the winter – yep, I was too lazy to take it in and just kept brushing the snow off as I passed by. The seat only had a few scratches on it, so that is easy enough to fix.  It’s hiding a couple of ugly electrical boxes. I thought to just go ahead and paint the chair again before putting together … Read more

The Thirteenth Colony Antique Store | Love My DIY Home

The 13th Colony Antiques of Minoqua

  We came across The 13th Colony on our way to Minoqua. WI. There are three reasons I stop to shops like this:   1. I like to support Mom & Pop shops.   2. I enjoy getting ideas for my own home, mostly on how to use what I already have in a new and different way.   3. It helps me establish what I do and don't like for my decor.   I rarely buy anything at places like this because I am a DIY'er and very cheap! But I did find their prices reasonable and the selection of never before seen products was intriguing. They were kind enough to let me photograph their store. I'll let the photo essay do the talking. I’m also planning to write a short essay for this one as I find this amusing. If you also like to create beautiful essays, then … Read more

DIY Arrangements | Love My DIY Home

Make Arrangements to DIY – Grab and Stuff!

Psst. Pssssst. There is something you need to know. You may have never been told this before, but believe me. I know what I'm talking about. OK, I'm going to say it..     You don't have to pay anyone to do it. You don't have to take a second job to afford it. And the best part is – you can do it in 5 minutes. What am I talking about? DIY arrangements – arrangements you can copy. Easily. This has to be one of the easiest DIY's I've shared. Grab and stuff baby.   GRAB . AND . STUFF .   Go to Hobby Lobby, Michaels, or anywhere that has a variety of flowers and accessories like leaves, twigs, branches, sprigs, whatever – you know, the foofy stuff. Decide what you like, buy it along with some sort of vase or basket – really anything you like that … Read more

Got Work to Do - Bulletin Board upcycle

Got Work To Do, Got Work To Do…

Years ago my DH and I watched a sit com about two writers. I have no idea who they were or what the show was called, but there was one funny scene that we never forgot. The guys (I think they were brothers) were trying to work and had writer’s block. One of the men tapped his head with his notebook and said, “Got work to do, got work to do.” From that moment on whenever we had a long list of stuff to accomplish, we’d say, “Got work to do, got work to do.” I know. Cheesy. But it’s our “inside” mantra…kinda like an inside joke, but not. So, when I wanted to redo our office and put up a bulletin board in front of his desk, I decided to “decorate” it. Not  girly decorating-ish, but MANLY! I rifled through my scrapbook stickers and found some stick on letters … Read more

Upcycle old photo frame into a French Photo Board DIY

DIY French Photo Frame Tutorial – Re-purpose Old Picture Frames Part 4

Here’s another frame project completed. In November 2013 I talked about upcycling old unused photo frames here. Let’s face it. We get tired of our old stuff and want need changes in our home. It’s who we are. No sense in fighting it. We can have change for pennies rather than spending money on something someone else did. Here is my inspiration photo: source I searched through my boxes and found an old oak framed sports collage and painted it with a light tan spray paint. To bet on sports events, sites like sip777 are always available. I didn’t sand it because I like the way the paint scatters somewhat and grain shows through just a bit. It will be hanging on the wall, so I’m not concerned about scratching or paint wearing off. Since I am in Wisconsin, I took it out in the garage, sprayed it with Satin … Read more

My Master Bath Before and After DIY Project

My daughter sent me some pictures of a candle stand she bought at Goodwill and had spray painted with Rust-Oleum Multi-Color Textured Spray, Autumn Brown. When she arrived for Christmas she asked me if I’d done a post on her project. I hadn’t, because she never sent me a picture of the candle stand in her living room, finished. The subject was dropped until she brought it in to me and said, “Merry Christmas.” It was so unique – I L.O.V.E. unique! It was the perfect piece to finish my master bath re-do. Here is the before picture of our master bath. Wait, it gets worse… The former owners of our house took the adventurous avenue and used the master bath as an experimental canvas. Not my style… We called it the Under-the-Sea bathroom. It was a fairly easy DIY project, but the wallpaper WAS a bugger to get off. … Read more

Bronze Angel stocking holder | Love My DIY Home

Christmas Home Tour 2013 – Welcome to my home!

    Hi. Welcome. Merry Christmas! I'm glad you came for a visit. I'd like to share my home with you for Christmas. Tell me about your day; grab a cup of coffee and sit with me a while. I don't know about you, but I'd like to put my feet up and just enjoy the holiday. Have you been crazy busy trying to get everything done for upcoming festivities? It can be such fun, but it can also be so exhausting! Shopping? Wrapping? Cleaning?   My Christmas time has come. My house is D.O.N.E. My kids have arrived and it's time to enjoy! Here's my little angel I got the day after Christmas last year. Yep. I do the day after Christmas sale every year – It's a family tradition. Most of my Christmas decor was 70 – 90 % off. I'll list some of them for you as … Read more

Love My DIY Home