DIY: Mobile

Hello again! :)

This next project (like many over the last few months) are in preparation for our baby boy! It was a fun, easy, and inexpensive project. Depending on a theme you have chosen for your nursery you can do this too! I created a mobile for the nursery that went with the theme (nautical) using sailboats and twine/rope. I have some steps and tips to create your own.

Step 1: Gather Supplies...
This project was good for the budget because I could use a lot of inexpensive material. Since the objects (sailboats) are small I used scrap fabric. Whenever I go to the craft stores I check the remnants section for good pieces that I can use for small projects. I got all this material for about $8! That's really stinkin good considering I have leftover material too! :) You'll see random appearances in later projects I'm sure.

So in total my materials list was:
Fabric - $8 (JoAnns)
1 wooden dowel - $.25 (Wal-Mart)
Twine/rope - $2 (JoAnns)
I had batting from random pillow projects already so that was a money saver for sure!
Buttons (to add some fun details... clearance and some I had already) - $4.50
Glue which I had on hand too but I think it's just $2-3 for a small tube of this heavy duty stuff.
Wood beads to add some detail... I wasn't happy about only finding this big container but I'll hold on to them for other projects - $3.50 (Wal-Mart)

So check out what 3-4 hours and about $20 gets you.....

Step 2: Sewing!!
Before I cut the sailboats I made a mini template out of some cardboard so that they were all about the same size. Cut all four sailboats and the star in the middle (two of each item). I hand stitched these because it creates a different look than with a sewing machine so anyone can definitely do this at home!

One thing I kept forgetting was to sew in the twine/rope... I would have pull out my stitches which was a pain so don't forget that you have to hang them somehow and it's better to incorporate the rope and/or string into the item instead of trying to attach it later! (Looks better and is easier). When I got to the end of each item I stuffed them with batting and then finished out the stitch.

Also, I quickly attached the buttons to each boat after they were all sewn together to add a little something extra.  (see picture below?!)

Step 3: Attach to dowel
I had help from my husband with this part. He cut the dowel in half with his saw (to make sure it was even and pretty) but you can cut these with bolt cutters too. He also notched groves in the middle of each so they would cross each other nicely. I use glue to adhere them and wrapped the with the twine/rope from the star to make sure they stayed put. After that dried I attached each boat to the ends of the dowels using the twine/rope that I sewed into them and used glue to make sure they stayed in place. The rope was long enough that after I wrapped it around the dowel and tied it in a knot I pulled it up to the center where I tied all the pieces together. If you want the mobile to sit level you have to make sure the strings from the dowel to the center point are the same length otherwise it will hang lopsided!

Step 4: Hang!
I used a hook to hang it from the ceiling and that worked perfect (it didn't weigh much so there are lots of other options to hang it too but just in case it gets yanked a few times). My husband installed the hook to make sure it wasn't coming out (following the directions :)) and then we tied the mobile to the hook.

And that's it!! It was really an easy project and I think it adds something nice to the room. :) We hung it above the changing table to keep our boy distracted while we change him but you can also hang it above the crib though it's more likely to get yanked there so make sure it's sturdy/durable!

Anyone interested in trying something similar? Let me know! I love to hear about different projects. :)

-> Kassy <-

DIY: Gutter Bookshelves

I saw the most amazing idea on Raising Olives Blog and wanted to do the same thing in our baby's room. I think books, reading, learning and all things education related start at the beginning so I've made sure this is already a focus for our little boy. For my showers I asked that in lieu of a card the guests bring a book and to make it special they should write something to our baby inside the cover. :) It was a great success and I'm so thankful for the wonderful collection we have to share with our boy! Since we have a little library, storage for these books is key. I want them to be accessible for me when I'm rocking him to sleep in the first years and then accessible for him when he wants to read himself. Soooo... these gutter bookshelves are perfect! Plus I love DIYs. :D

The plan for the shelves was to hang them inside the existing wood trim boxes on the wall next to the rocker. There are three boxes and they are a little over 2' wide by 3.5' tall. This means we can fit three 2' shelves in each box... that's nine shelves (I get an A+ in math for today :)).

Here's the supply list:

- Vinyl gutters which generally come in 10' pieces (only get aluminum if you have a cut wheel and/or a saw with a carbide teeth blade and even then safety is a big factor so be sure to have all the right protective gear)

- End caps which come in right and left

- Outdoor adhesive

- Caulk - Clear drying caulk

- Screws with anchors OR you can use brackets (purchased at the hardware store as well)

And that's it!

We picked up materials at a chain hardware store. We grabbed two pieces of 10' gutters which will give us five shelves each so we'll have one extra in case we need it. I let my husband cut the gutters on his table saw (or maybe he wouldn't let me cut them... he always thinks I will lose a finger or something haha) and I cleaned them up.

One thing I recommend, because I have pets that shed, is to rub the shelves with dryer sheets. I use dryer sheets on my baseboards too and it helps to keep the hair and dirt off of them! Once they are clean you can glue the end caps to each shelf. My husband glued and I caulked.
 

Once they were dry (we let them dry over night but it doesn't take long... a few hours) we hung them. Use a level... I never hang anything without a level and try to hit studs if you can just to ensure they won't fall when our little boy yanks on them to stand up :)

 
For less than $100 we created a "library" in our nursery! Note: this is really inexpensive if you have fewer longer shelves (we had to work around the trim so we had more shelves) because the end caps are the expensive part!

How do you display your books? Any other creative ideas out there? I want to hear about them!

-> Kassy <-

DIY: Baby Room Alphabet Wall Decor

Can I just say that this was such a fun DIY?! The nice thing is that you can use the idea in a variety of ways in your own home (monograms, "Welcome", last name, etc). I saw, on Pinterest (trouble as my husband calls it), some cute baby rooms with the full alphabet with letters in different fonts, colors, and sizes. It's so fun and educational! :) So I decided to have that as a focal point in the baby's room and use the nautical theme to decorate the letters.

Over a few months I kept an eye out for unique letters and deals. I found most of the letters at Michael's, Wal-Mart, JoAnn's, and Hobby Lobby. I had a few letters (S, K, and M since those are our initials) too. The best finds were the letters where I didn't have to do anything because they were already painted and/or decorated just right! I kept a note in my phone (task app) with all the letters I had so that when I was out and about I could easily remember what letters I still needed.

Once I had all the letters I made a plan... not sure I do anything without a plan so this was no exception. :) I laid out all the letters as I would hang them on the wall to determine colors and decoration so that I didn't have a bunch that were similar in the same area.

With a plan in place it was time to get creative! My favorite time. :) I (along with my lovely friend Kristen) painted most of the letters that needed work and used some mediums to enhance them... i.e. rope, trimmings. Some I painted with designs as well including stripes or to look like a lighthouse. A few weren't painted and just used rope, trimmings, and a couple letters had cork because it was a good color and neat texture and one letter was covered in a walnut stain. Once I knew what colors I needed for each letter (from my plan) it was easier to decide on a design. I can't stress the importance of a plan enough.. don't skip this important step!

I placed all the letters on the floor in the layout again so that we could come up with a plan (another... I know.. haha.. I can't help myself) to hang all the letters. We measured the top row and found out that the left edge of the "H" was the center.

We were able to use screws/nails for a lot of letters and those that didn't have spots to hang from screws/nails we used these Command strips that are removable and re-positionable. I was concerned about the potential of letters falling off the wall since they will be above the baby's crib so I used more strips than necessary but I have peace of mind so it was worth it.

Using the "H" we started hanging the letters from there since it was the center.   

We were able to keep it fairly centered still even though we didn't measure each letter's distance from the last. We used the same method for the second row of letters.

This production totaled about $120 for the letters, trimmings, and the mounting hardware/strips. Aside from the time I took shopping for the letters, it took about 3 hours to decorate the letters and an additional hour to hang. But that's not bad for the fun impact I think this Alphabet Wall Decor makes!

-> Kassy <-

Builder Grade to Beautiful: Wood Trim & Moulding

In case I didn't mention it before... My husband and I are expecting! We are looking forward to welcoming a baby boy in September 2012. It's very exciting since it's our first but it also means we have some work to do to prepare! More productions. :)

The "theme" for our boy's (he is nameless for now because it will be a surprise!) room is nautical. I don't want to get to carried away with hokey decorations but I like the style of nautical design. When I think of an east coast home and the interior design I think or detail and moulding. One thing we have wanted to experiment with for awhile is moulding. We have installed crown moulding once in our previous home and thought it would be a nice touch for our baby room AND I have always loved wainscoting or chair/picture rail. We knew we wanted a deep blue for the color (vibrant colors are best for a baby's room because it's stimulating vs light pastel colors that tend to all look the same) but didn't want the room to be weighed down so we decided on a higher rail like a picture rail with some trim accent to make it look like wainscoting.

Crown Moulding

Floor Baseboards

Window End Cap Moulding

Trim (Faux Wainscoting)

 Now that we know what we want we have to measure and design it. Sounds easy? Well... not quite. We wanted to make it somewhat easy to cut and install but that meant working around outlets, window, doors, and fitting them evenly on the walls (none that run into the corners of the walls). It was quite a task to figure out all the sizing and to be honest they aren't all the exact same and not spaced exact either. We cheated. :) BUT it worked! With the exception of the window we were able to avoid any additional cuts. It was worth it! We cut all the pieces at once because then we knew they all had the same angles (45 degree angles on the trim pieces to make the boxes but it's hard for it to actually be exact so cutting at the same time is best).

We are using all of pieces throughout the room in non-traditional ways. Sometimes it's good to be creative with the moulding and how you can layer it... which is what we planned to do! We used baseboards (upside down) to further accentuate the crown moulding. In order to ensure the pieces were all the same distance from the ceiling we used a 1" x 1" and then nailed it with a nail gun (and a compressor... finally a good use for all the tools my husband buys :)) to the studs.

Then we used the same baseboards (upside down again) to make a bigger/fuller picture rail. Upside down baseboard, trim, then the end cap to give it a finished look AND a smooth edge.

Next came the painting... unfortunately for my husband it was better for me to leave that to him since I was 6 months pregnant but he did a great job. For the ceiling we used the new ceiling paint that goes on pink and dries white so you know what areas you have painted. :) It was fun and handy! It dried pretty fast so you can barely see it but I had to share anyway.

Before we painted we caulked all the nail holes and all joints so that it looks smooth and continuous when it's painted. The crown moulding, picture rail, and faux wainscoting were all painted white to match the doors and window trim. We painted two coats to make sure it was completely covered.

Then came the vibrant, deep blue to bring in some of the nautical feel. Again, two coats for full coverage.

Turned out great, right?! I know I love it and it's so rewarding when you complete a project like this.

All in all this production was about 12 hours (2 hours to plan - better to have it right, 1 hour to cut the moulding, 3 hours to nail the trim, 6 hours to paint - ceiling, trim, and blue.. two coats each). The total cost breakdown was: (keep in mind this is for a 12' x 13.5' room"
- $68 paint - white, blue, and ceiling
- $8 caulk - white, indoor
- $48 baseboards
- $50 crown moulding
- $80 trim moulding
- $80 end cap moulding (we had this from a previous project but that's about how much it costs)

Total: $334

This is probably a bit excessive for a baby's room but we're excited and we wanted to try it in a room that wasn't necessarily open to everyone :) But I think it was a success so maybe a variation of it in another production for our family room?! We'll see!

Hope you enjoyed this post as much as we have enjoyed the results of the work! :)

-> Kassy <-

Builder Grade to Beautiful: Cabinet Hardware

One of the easiest (I think) ways to finish a kitchen and/or bath is to install cabinet hardware. Not only is it easy but it's fairly inexpensive! Double good news! :)

The day after we closed on our new home we ordered cabinet hardware. We ordered it from Amazon.com because we found the style we wanted and a really unbelievable deal. My husband is really particular (and honestly I can be too) so he didn't want any thing but stainless steel bar pulls for the cabinets. We scoured the local hardware and big box stores and the prices we found were pretty outrageous. The prices in stores ranged from $4-12 EACH! Yikes! That's why I generally turn to the internet for shopping. The prices are much more competitive. The only problem is that sometimes you can't tell what you're getting. I have made purchases online without checking all the specifications (big no no) and/or the materials used. I wasn't sure if these pulls would come in and be flimsy or cheap looking but I'm not afraid to send things back so I usually go for it.

We purchased 2 packs of 10 of the 10" pulls and 2 packs of 10 of the 6" pulls. This would cover all our kitchen cabinets and bathroom cabinets as well. We ended up using the 10" pulls on the cabinet doors and the 6" pulls on the drawers. 10" pulls on everything would be great but we saved some money by going with the 6" pulls for half and it gives a little variation which is nice. I'm not sure how often or when these go on sale but we actually got them for about $5 less per pack so it was certainly a steal! It's still a great price because they are about $2.30-2.80 per pull (with shipping).

Now for the install... We found a template for installing any kind of knob or pull on any cabinet or drawer. It was a couple bucks and well worth it!

My husband used the template and pulls to find which holes to use and marked them with a sharpie. I highly recommend marking them because it's really easy to accidentally use the wrong hole... and then you have a real dilemma because it's hard to fill a whole on a cabinet door. He followed the directions on the template (though I'm sure he'll tell you he didn't need them :)) and the results were fantastic!

They turned out great and I think it "finishes" the cabinets... plus it keeps the corners of the cabinet door clean!

 

For less than $100 and about 2.5 hours we have a nice finished look to all the cabinets in our home!

If you are looking for a simple knob (and something even less expensive) then there is another option you can consider which are these 1 1/4" nickel knobs. If you have a Wal-Mart close to you then you might choose these or these (if you want the oil rubbed bronze look instead) which will save you a couple bucks because you can ship to the store and pick it up when you are in the area.

Ciao for now!

-> Kassy <-

Builder Grade to Beautiful: Window Coverings

One thing we hadn't considered when we were planning to build a house were the window coverings. I guess it's just something you take for granted sometimes. We chose faux wood white blinds with 2" slats. These are great because they do a decent job keeping out the sun (and heat for these Missouri summers over 100).

I found a pretty good deal at Home Depot for these blinds which can be cut to the perfect size for your window AND I had a 10% off coupon from the post office for filing my change of address. :) I will warn that even with the coupon and the good deal the blinds for the whole home was a bit of sticker shock to me.... $600! YIKES!! I did not expect this but it's something I am happy with and honestly we need them. I wasn't interested in sharing our business with all the neighbors.

Luckily these blinds are a quick install - about 15-20 minutes depending on the size.

The other portion of the window coverings is in the curtains. As I have mentioned before (or at least I know I have thought it :)) my husband can be pretty particular... and curtains is one area he really has an opinion. Who knew?! His style is generally modern minimalist and mine is more of a rustic or homey minimalist so it's always interesting trying to blend the two styles. One thing I can push for is the right color to warm up a "modern" room. The other is how to hang the curtains. Awhile back I saw this illustration on Pinterest (from the Home Goods blog) about hanging curtains the traditional way and hanging them so that the room and window looks bigger.... What an impact! I decided we had to do this in our new home.

 
So my husband got the grommets on the curtains and I got the color, size, and hanging technique. :) Win (for both of us that is)!! Take a peek at our family room curtains. I love them and honestly it really makes the room look bigger and draws your eye up. I highly recommend using this same technique in your home!

-> Kassy <-

Builder Grade to Beautiful: Introduction

In May 2012 my husband and I bought a nice new home! It is so exciting and lots of work but maybe out experience will help others out there who are interested in doing the same thing or are already in the process.

Back to the beginning...

In January we found the perfect subdivision and the floor plan we wanted and the appeal of a new home was high for my husband who just spent five years rehabbing an older home. The process is long, hard but so rewarding and the reward for us was to buy brand new. One thing we wanted to keep in mind when starting this process is that we didn't want to overpay for upgrades and/or go overboard and grow more debt then we really need (because a house loan is enough)! My husband and I agreed that we would only choose upgrades that we couldn't/wouldn't do later. Here are a couple things we discussed (requested pricing) and below you will find the list of items we settled on.

What we selected as "upgrades":
Upgraded Insulation
9' Basement Pour
Low E Windows
Kitchen Cabinets to the Ceiling
Taller Vanity in the Master Bath
Window in the Stairway
Ceiling Fan in the Family Room (we chose to brace the bedrooms ourselves because my husband could gain access through the attic but the family room wouldn't be so easy)
Ceiling Lights in all the Bedrooms (easier to already have electric run to the switch)
Pocket Door to the Laundry Room
Extra Large Patio :)
Heavier Carpet Pad in the Bedrooms
Nickel Door Hardware (because brass comes standard... so silly!)
Removed Appliances (received a $1,000 credit)

What else we considered for oury "upgrades":
Hardwood Floors (it was really outrageous... an extra $5 per square foot for the cheapest stuff - stay tuned because this will definitely be a project later!)
Stainless Steel Appliances ($1,500 and we wouldn't get to pick them)
Ceiling Fan Braces in all the Bedrooms (this was truly outrageous... $350 each.. just for the brace!)
Egress Window (I think this is the one thing we regret... with 9' walls in the basement the standard basement windows look even smaller. The extra light would have been good.)
Garage Extension (soooo gosh darn expensive)
Extended Front Porch (was expensive and complicated because the roof came over the patio)
French Doors to the Patio

I think we made great choices because the items we settled on were things we couldn't/wouldn't do because of time, money, and/or effort to do it later. I think the one thing that could have waited was the door hardware but for 30ish doors it would have taken my poor husband forever to switch out the hardware! A couple things I am so glad glad we chose: the 9' basement pour, upgraded windows, and upgraded insulation. We would not be able to increase basement height later unless we dug it out (yuck!), we probably would NEVER upgrade the windows because that's a huge expense, and we definitely wouldn't open the walls to upgrade the insulation later. Feeling great about those decisions! One other thing that was tough but I'm glad we decided the way we did were the appliances. We didn't get much of a credit BUT we found great deals on our amazing appliances so it was worth the extra expense. I found a quiet dishwasher, a french door bottom freezer fridge, a lovely convection oven, and a microwave all for $3,000, That seems like a lot (or at least it did for us at first) but it's worth the expense! The quiet dishwasher was a must because we have an open floor plan, the french door fridge was a must because of the placement of the fridge and the pantry door, and the convection oven because I have managed with a stove that cooks so unevenly and it's maddening!

The main thing to remember is that if you are resourceful you can save a lot on your loan which means more in interest! People we talked to that went through the same process warned that they ended up adding about $30,000 to their loan with all the upgrades they wanted. You can manage these upgrades so be smart and pay with cash later! You don't have to be house poor if you have patience and dedication to work through projects (with my help of course :)).

Please don't hesitate to comment and/or ask questions about the process, our choices, etc. I would love to hear from YOU! :)

-> Kassy <-