Yesterday was the fifth anniversary of moving into our house and getting our dog back (best day ever!) This place has certainly come a long way in half a decade. We finished the basement, which has been a huge improvement. And the yard has gone from being a field of weeds to being a place… Continue Reading
Giving our boys the world
We’re not usually procrastinators when it comes to projects, but this one took a while. Back in January, I ordered a world map wall mural when it was on sale on Zulily (normally $100, I got it for $40). And then it just sat in its box for five months. We had never hung wallpaper… Continue Reading
Cosmetic home improvement – making a list and waiting a few years
Some friends of ours are remodeling their kitchen this spring, and I know that the end result is going to look amazing. I was flipping through the kitchen catalog with them when they were looking for ideas, and all of the kitchens are pretty great. I had to stop and remind myself that our kitchen… Continue Reading
Our New Washing Machine
Five years ago, when we bought our house, we got a great deal on a second hand washing machine. That machine served us well ever since, but it started to fritz out a couple months ago. It wasn’t spinning the clothes out, and would sometimes just stop in the middle of a cycle. We live… Continue Reading
$20 Window Well Makeover
When we moved into our house, the basement was completely unfinished, and that included the window wells. We spent a year and a half finishing the basement, but we never did anything about the window wells. For the past six months, “window wells” has been on our “to-figure-out” list, but we weren’t sure what we… Continue Reading
Towel Racks On A Budget
When we were putting the finishing touches on the new bathroom in our basement, I knew that we needed somewhere to hang towels that were currently in use, as well as a place to store additional towels, since that is now our guest bathroom. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted in that room, so… Continue Reading
A Kid-Size Coat Rack
Last summer I turned an empty wall in the hall between our kitchen and our garage into saucepan storage, and I still love that system. It’s easy to find exactly what we need, and the cupboard that we used to use for all of our pots and pans now only has my two big soup… Continue Reading
Window Coverings On A Shoestring
Last summer, we put a window in our dining room, for free. Last week, I put a curtain on it – a project that cost us a total of $10. We love how it all turned out, and I thought I’d share the details. Until we put in that window, our house only had two… Continue Reading
A Frugal Curtain
Last night I made a curtain to go between our downstairs bathroom and the under-stairs storage area behind it. The whole thing cost about three dollars, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. This is an old sheet (leftover from when I bought fabric to make diapers for our first son five years… Continue Reading
Simplifying For Fall – Taming Drawers
Are any of you following along with the Simplifying For Fall Challenge? I’ve been doing some of it, but mostly tackling areas that were particularly bad and in need of attention. I’m constantly de-cluttering kids’ toys and clothes, so those areas didn’t need much. This is our younger son’s closet for example, which I haven’t… Continue Reading