Category: Create

  • Creating the Guest Room of My Dreams in 3 Simple Steps

    Creating the Guest Room of My Dreams in 3 Simple Steps

    So you’ve planned out a room renovation with visions of two tone paint, box trim and chair rail – now what? Continue reading for my simple 3 step plan to bring your vision to life!

    In my last blog post, I discussed planning this renovation. From ideation to ordering materials. So once everything has come in, it’s time to start! Let’s get into it!

    Prep & Paint

    The first step is to prep your room. This would involve the following:

    1. Take down any art or anything hanging on the walls
    2. Remove outlet covers/switch plates as needed
    3. Patch nail holes and any other imperfections on the walls
    4. Remove any small furniture or decor
    5. Roll up the rug, fold it or cover it
    6. Lay a plastic drop cloth over the floor and any large furniture

    If You Plan To Paint a Two Tone Room:

    Now your room and belongings are ready and safe from mistakes! The next step is for those of you who are painting a two tone room. In my last blog, I discussed my plan to hang a chair rail 41 inches from the floor of my guest room. If you have a similar plan, now is the time to simply draw the line on your wall. If you have a laser level, that works great here. If not, it totally works to just measure and draw the line on the wall every few feet. This is because the line doesn’t need to be straight! The chair railing will cover the line itself. However, if you’re not planning to hang a chair rail or trim to cover this line, you’ll want to measure it precisely, tape, and paint carefully!

    Painting

    The room is now entirely prepped – yay, go you! Now it’s time to start painting! Typically, it’s recommended to start with a hand brush in detailed areas. So this means you’ll be painting the following areas by hand:

    1. Any corners or crannies where your roller can’t get in
    2. An outline around anywhere you’re not painting
      • This would be the inside of the door jam, along the ceiling (if you’re not color drenching), along the floor, around windows, the line splitting your two tone room, etc.
    3. Around fixtures in the room
      • If you’re color drenching, this’ll be your ceiling fan/light
      • Either way, this will be around the light switches and outlets

    For me, this step always requires two coats, so factor that in. But I recommend painting the detailed areas, painting the room and then returning for a second coat of both.

    Now that your room has all of the details and the little spaces painted, it’s time to roll the rest of the room! I’ve shared my process in other posts, but I use an 18 inch roller. I like it because it allows me to get more coverage with each roll. However, the liners and covers are more expensive to replace. I’ll also say that it’s so long that it’s difficult to efficiently roll the paint at the end of the frame. So whatever roller you like is perfect!

    Trim

    Now that you’ve prepped and painted, it’s time for step 2 – trim! Let’s start at the very beginning and assume your trim just came in. That’s right, “came in.” I am a huge proponent of ordering from the hardware store (I’m a Home Depot girlie). It’s so much easier and less hassle than trying to navigate the numerous aisles and long pieces of wood that don’t fit in the car.

    Cutting Trim

    I’ve discussed this in other posts, but cutting trim takes a little thought and then it becomes second nature! Assuming you followed my last post and/or you have the measurements of the boxes you’ll be hanging, the cutting itself is easy. You can use any saw, really, but I love this saw! We got it for cutting floor planks when we replaced our flooring, but I’ve used it in almost every project since.

    Once you’ve cut the trim to length, you now need to cut both sides at an angle to fit together like a picture frame. Personally, I find cutting quarter round really difficult mentally. However, cutting trim is really easy! I use a homemade angle, which is just a piece of wood I cut at a 45 degree angle on both sides.

    Repeat the process for the chair rail and you’re done!

    Trim Hanging Prep

    Now that your trim is all cut, it’s time to hang! I know that using liquid nails is a thing – but I don’t recommend it. Liquid nails is great, but it makes the project permanent. If you decide you don’t like the spacing between the boxes, you make a mistake or if you/the next homeowner want to do something different in the room, you’re screwed. Using a good old fashion nail gun will secure these in place. And some caulk along the edges will give it the flush-to-the-wall look that liquid nails does.

    Now, if you don’t have a nail gun or have never used one – I have some thoughts! I bought this one because it’s on the economic side. However, that means I had to buy an air compressor to get it to work. The air compressor was expensive and it’s so heavy. It’s also really really loud and it makes working with the nail gun so tedious. And the nail gun feels like a tool that is so versatile and needed in most projects. So it’s a bummer! If you don’t already have a nail gun, I seriously recommend saving up and buying an electric one. This is the one I have my eye on.

    So either you have brad nails and a nailer or you’ve ordered one. In terms of nails, they can be short. It really doesn’t take much to hold trim in place! Once you’re ready to get to hanging, you’ll need a couple things to make it successful:

    • Tape Measure
    • Level
    • Brad Nailer
    • Brad Nails

    Hanging Trim

    It’s important to start with the lower piece of trim in each box. This will ensure they’re all the same height. I did 4 inches above the top of my baseboard. This also means I hung the chair rail 4 inches above the top of my boxes ~balance~.

    1. For the first of the four pieces, you’ll want to use a short level. Set the level on top of the trim and in the middle. Once you see it’s level, put a nail every 6-8 inches or so. I can’t express how light these pieces of wood are, so minimal support is needed. However, it’s good to ensure they’re as flat to the wall as possible.
    2. For the second piece, it can be either side piece! Line the piece up to the lower piece you just hung, making it as square as possible. Then pull out the level and make sure it’s straight. Nail in place!
    3. Repeat this process for the third piece. The third piece should be the opposite side piece (not the top)!
    4. Lay the top piece on top of the 3/4 box you just hung. It should fit nicely into the space! Use the level to make sure it’s straight and nail in place.
      • Small note – it’s okay if it’s not 100% perfect. The putty you’ll use to fill the nail holes and inside seams will fix any small gaps/issues.

    As a note – I tried taping the pieces up first to make sure I was doing it right and it did not work. It created such a headache! Nailing and just pulling the trim out if needed is much much easier.

    Repeat the process for the chair rail!

    Finishing Touches

    Congrats, you’re on the last step! Now that your trim is hung, it’s time to make them look professional!

    1. Fill the nail holes – I do this with spackling (don’t come at me), but really any kind of putty or wood filler would work here.
    2. Fill the inner seams – I use spackling to fill the seams on the inside corners of the boxes. I choose spackling over caulk because it’s much cleaner to fill up and brush away excess than caulk
    3. Caulk the outside and inside edges of the boxes – remember to run your finger along the edges to smooth the caulk and wipe away excess. I recommend cutting the tip of the caulk bottle as small as possible. The less caulk, the easier it is to add more than it is to deal with a ton of gooping over-flowing caulk!

    Repeat these processes for the chair rail!

    Paint Touch Ups

    Now that the box trim and chair rail look beautiful and seamless and professional, it’s time to paint! A note on painting the chair rail if you’ve gone with a two tone room – tape the flat wall that is against the top of the chair rail! It’s important to caulk with the tape because it creates a crisp line. Once the caulk is a little dry (like 20 minutes), paint with the color of the chair rail. Then you can peel the tape immediately after. Doing this will ensure the caulk doesn’t fully dry. This creates a crisp line and prevents the caulk from peeling up with the tape if it had fully dried. Repeat as needed if your paint bleeds onto the wall.

    Decor

    Okay, let’s review! You’ve painted the walls, hung box trim and chair railing and touched everything up. Now is a good time to put the outlet covers and switch plates back on. You’ll need to clean up after the spackling, because it gets brushed off the wall and it falls to the ground. You can wrap up the drop cloth for reuse later or throw it out. Put the furniture back and un-roll the rug. Now what?

    If you’re type A like me, you may have already created a vision board for the decor in the room.

    However, if not, fret not! If this is also your guest room, you’ll need the following items:

    1. Side tables
    2. Lamps
    3. Bed, bedding, pillows
    4. Curtain rod and curtains

    For bonus and flare:

    1. Rug
    2. Art
    3. Mirror
    4. Throw blanket and pillows
    5. A luggage rack
    6. Coasters
    7. Extension cords for charging devices
    8. Welcome basket

    Sourcing Decor

    I recommend finding inspiration on Pinterest. Just type in a a keyword or two on the vibe you want. For me, I started out searching “guest room” and then Pinterest recommended to use “English country” because apparently that’s an overarching style in my entire Pinterest board collection haha. I saw soft and warm green rooms and I loved them! I also noticed notes of red, pink and orange in some of the rooms I liked. I specifically saw a floral pillow I LOVED.

    So I took this info to Amazon to find some options. I found a floral pillow set that I based the rest of my decor on. A “red brick” bedding and plain sheets (idea from Pinterest) plus these floral pillows and an oatmeal throw really completed the bed!

    I used the rug, side tables, lamps and curtains I already had. They’re all very neutral, so they easily worked with the bedding I bought.

    I also already owned all of the art and the mirror I hung! My favorite thing to thrift is old art. I don’t claim to have excellent taste, but I know an amazing painting (to me) when I see it! I pulled out my favorite pieces, tried different sizes and prioritized my favorite prints in places that I would be able to see from the hallway – dopamine boost!

    Congrats – you’re done! You’ve painted, added an interesting, professional and eye catching detail to the walls, you decorated it to your vision and put it all together!

    Pop some bubbly, take lots of pictures, heck, you could even sleep in there now! Enjoy it and know your guests will too!

  • How to Install Renter Friendly Peel and Stick Tile

    How to Install Renter Friendly Peel and Stick Tile

    Feeling blue about your flooring? Not to fear, peel and stick tiles have become a beautiful, budget friendly and easy way to update your space. I personally have peel and stick tiled all of the small rooms on our second story like bathrooms and our laundry room. It’s a very simple and easy project and I’m here to guide you! So let’s get started!

    Picking Your Tile

    Thanks to the modern world, there are a ton of options at your fingertips. I personally chose this beautiful charcoal hexagon tile for our bathrooms and these reborn-modern black and white marble tiles for our laundry room.

    A key note here is the shape of the tiles and the stickiness of them. We’ve had these tiles in these high traffic areas in our home for almost a year now and have had 0 issues with them lifting. So while some blogs may encourage you to spray adhesive on the floor first, it’s really not needed. These tiles are thick and that’s part of the reason, the paper thin tile covers are more likely to peel up. Also – the hexagonal shape is obviously more difficult than the square shape! Keep this in mind as you prep. I laid these two types of tiles as a first timer, so it is totally doable, but the square tiles were much much easier to lay haha.

    If neither of these tiles interest you, I recommend perusing Pinterest and Amazon! There are so many options and so many people have tried them all – you’re bound to find something you like or an inspiration photo to guide you! Once you know the tile you want to use based on the shape, the material, texture, thickness, color and cost, you’re ready to start buying – no waiting here!

    Materials

    You know the tile you need, but do you know how much you need? Considering this is a blog for beginner DIYers, I’ll cover on it, but feel free to skip if you know! Getting the measurement and estimates for a room are actually so easy and to make it even easier, you could use a tool like this that auto-calculates for you! However, the math is simple. Measure the length and width of your room in feet and multiply them! This is the square footage of the room. Most tiles will tell you how many total square feet comes in a package, but if not, the math is the same! Find the square footage of one tile (length (ft) x width (ft)) and multiply by the number of tiles in the box! Now that you know how much you need, you can purchase your tile!

    For this project, you will also need a box cutter to strike, cut, and/or snap the tiles. Once the tiles are all laid, you’ll need caulk in a caulk gun. Both of these items are pretty standard to most DIY projects, so you likely already have them. But if you don’t, fear not, these will not go to waste, you’ll get many more uses out of them! Make sure to get the color of caulk you need (whether that’s to match other details in your space or to match the tiles themselves). For the black and white tiles, I used white and for the charcoal tiles, I used black because these colors best hide the little mistakes I made!

    Something else to note – some people like to fill the gaps between their tiles with grout. I don’t think this is necessary (at least for the tiles I purchased). Many times, you’ll be laying your tiles so closely together for aesthetic purposes, you likely won’t even need the grout. Some people like to lay tiles in the same pattern as their current tile flooring. If this is the case, you may have a gap between tiles if you do now with the told tiles. If so, you may want to consider laying grout to fill the gaps. The hexagon tiles I shared actually come with little white colored edges to give illusion of their own grout, it’s very cool and looks like I did a lot more professional work than I really did haha.

    Installing

    Like I said, this is a pretty easy project, so we’re flying through this and you’re doing great! Once all of your materials and supplies come in, you can start installing!

    As with any project, you should thoroughly clean the space. This is extra important for this project because 1. the clean floor helps the tiles stick and 2. any debris is going to show as a small bubble or create a hump in the tile. I first swept and then used Lime Away to “de-grease” the tiles and almost strip them of anything that wouldn’t be cohesive to getting the tile to stick. I did not sand the tiles. Many people suggest you do, but if you’re laying tile on tile and degreased the tiles, you’ve done enough haha. If you were painting the tiles – yes you should absolutely sand! But for peel and stick? You’re fine to skip if you want.

    Once everything is clean and prepped, think about how you want to lay the tile. For me, I laid them in the direction of the room. My guest bathroom has angled door so I laid the tile right down starting in the door frame and ended up looking slanted in the bathroom when I was done. It still looks great, but it’s just something I notice. I chose to lay the marble tile in our laundry room in a harlequin pattern. So this required I lay the tiles in a diamond shape instead of a checkerboard/square shape.

    Now you’re good to start! I started by laying the full tiles first. Go the length of the room and as far out as possible to create a great foundation that your cut tiles will butt up against. Once it’s time to start cutting, this is where things get a little more technical.

    Some DIYers like the technique of tracing the angle/cut you need on a piece of paper. While I agree this is clever, I tried it and just could not figure it out! The piece of paper trick is much easier if your paper is the dimensions of the tile itself. I personally chose to measure from the edge of the last tile to the edge of where I needed to cut. This helped me get close to what I needed and then I could make finer cuts with the tile essentially in place.

    Now, when it came to spots like around the toilet, this was tricky and I lost a few tiles to terrible cuts. Using a tool like this or mastering the paper outline trick is your best bet. Something important to keep in mind is that the caulk is going to be your best friend when the tile laying is over!

    Finishing Touches

    If you don’t have quarter round or base boards, this is a great time to do that! The base board and quarter round will both cover the edges of your tile and give a super elevated, professional and complete look.

    As I’ve teased, you will need to caulk over the edges of the tile. This is another reason why I don’t feel it’s necessary to lay more adhesive before laying the tile. The caulk is both aesthetic to clean up your edges, but also helps to seal the open edges, helping to keep moisture out and maintain the longevity of the tile! I recommend cutting a small tip off the tube to make the amount that comes out more manageable. I recommend wearing gloves and taping off the walls before applying.

    Was anything confusing or not well enough explained? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to support you!!

    And now… You’re done! CELEBRATE! Enjoy the fruits of your labor, show it off, drink some champagne on your new floor – congrats, you did it!

  • How To Install Your Own Hardwood Flooring in 4 Simple Steps

    How To Install Your Own Hardwood Flooring in 4 Simple Steps

    Installing flooring seems like a huge undertaking, I totally get it! But with a little bit of time planning, a helpful blog (check!), some tools and a can-do attitude, you can absolutely install your own hardwood floor! This blog post is going to be broken down into 4 simple steps: Planning, Materials, Installation and Finishing Touches. Bonus steps included: Navigating tricky circumstances and as always, CELEBRATE! So let’s get into it!

    Planning

    As you know if you’ve been following along, I am a huge proponent of the planning phase! This phase should be deliberate, intentional and take as much time as it needs! I am the first to admit I am not a patient person. I like things to be done quickly. But that often leads to getting stuck easily, unnecessary mistakes (because some mistakes are good to learn from!) and doubling back once trends have changed. So, let’s talk planning! There are a few steps to this for installing flooring:

    1. Figuring out what kind of flooring to purchase:
      • Where will you be replacing flooring?
        • If you’re replacing the flooring in one room, make sure to take into account the flooring in the adjoining rooms and know that you will need to install a transition. Do you want the floors to be cohesive in color, texture, or width? Are the adjoining rooms’ floors carpet, hardwood, engineered hardwood, tile, etc.? The answers to these questions will help you decide what color, type and style of flooring to choose
      • What does your budget look like?
        • Do you have the funds to choose a slim engineered floor and raise the sub-floor? Or do you need to purchase thicker boards? Can you afford to hire this out (haha, just kidding, it’s doable ourselves!)? Can you afford that beautiful special type of wood or do you need to go with something more basic?
      • Once you have a general idea of what you want and what you can afford, check out the places near you to purchase wood from! We sampled wood from Home Depot and from Floor and Decor and decided on Floor and Decor for the price and the style. Don’t worry about how to install at this phase, because it can be figured out and you only need a few tools!
    2. Figuring out how much to purchase:
      • Since you know your budget, you’ll know if you can replace one room, one floor or the entire house at a time! With this information, measure the rooms to know the total square footage. To replace the floor in our 3 small bedrooms and two walk-in closets, it took us 26 boxes of wood.
      • The websites will often try to get you to purchase 10% extra as a buffer. As I’ve talked about in previous posts, I’m not a fan of this method. I’d rather the project take a little longer to order more than to have leftover (that often can’t be returned or is a huge hassle to return). The way I squeak by on most projects is that I always round up. If a room is 110 inches long, I round up to 10 feet. And if I need 25.4 boxes of wood to meet my needs, I round up to 26!
    3. Figuring out what else you need:
      • This is where a ton of research is going to come in handy. This blog post is specific to my experience installing 3/4 inch thick tongue and groove hardwood in rooms that did not need a sub-floor to raise them up because the floors in the hallway were also 3/4 inch thick.
        • We looked into buying engineered hardwood since it’s 1. easier to install and 2. cheaper, but the cost of the subfloor to raise the boards to meet our 3/4 inch thick boards in the hallway would eat all of the savings and then some!
      • So, for this circumstance (or if you’re replacing the floor across an entire floor or the entire home), you will need a water barrier, a brad nailer with nails, a floor saw, and a floor nailer with nails. It’s also advised to have something on hand to ensure your boards are straight (in case your walls aren’t) like a framing square or a laser level, something to give you a gap between boards and the wall and something to knock end pieces into place.

    Now that you know the wood you need, the amount you need, and the tools to complete the project, let’s get to getting those materials!

    Materials

    Since you did a majority of the leg work in figuring out what you need, the process is pretty simple!

    1. Buy samples of wood!
      • Find some options you like online and order the samples to see how they look against your interiors, the feel of the texture, the grain and the color in person. Most suppliers will give you a discount on your full purchase if you’ve purchased samples. So don’t be afraid to get liberal with samples!
    2. Buy tools.
      • I prefer to slowly order the materials over time and as early as possible. That way, while you’re figuring out what wood to purchase and as it comes in, you have the materials handy already! It’s also good to get acquainted with new tools early. This will allow you to get started once all of the materials are in!
      • An important note on the tools I linked above. I linked these very specific tools based on my own experience!
        • Water barrier: this is the cheapest one I could find with great reviews and has still held up in our home.
        • Brad nailer: I linked this specific one because it has the best reviews and isn’t the most expensive option. I personally bought a brad nailer that needs connected to an air compressor – it’s SUCH a nightmare! Splurge on the cordless battery operated nailer, whatever you do! I was trying to save a buck, but ended up having to make multiple trips to the hardware store in one day finding the right compressor and parts. And now, it’s a huge tool we have to lug up and down the stairs when we want to use it. I am positive projects would be easier and better with the battery operated nailer, although they are a little more expensive upfront.
        • Floor saw: the saw I used is actually not made anymore. But I linked the alternative from Ryobi. I really like this brand and all of our yard tools are from Ryobi, so it makes charging and swapping batteries easy! This saw, in addition to the brad nailer, is a STAPLE in my garage full of tools haha. I actually didn’t have to learn how to use a circular saw for a long time because this saw did everything I needed it to (and still does 95% of my projects), so worth the investment and very beginner-friendly!
        • Floor nailer: unfortunately, no way around having to but this very specific tool. However, this is also very user friendly with an air compressor and some muscle. But not to fear, this is a hot commodity in the world of DIYers, so we were actually able to sell this + our leftover wood for a couple hundred bucks to someone renovating their tiny home!
    3. Buy wood!
      • Now that you know everything you need materials-wise and you’ve sampled some different flooring options, go ahead and purchase the wood you want! If you have a flooring store nearby, you lucky duck. We had to have ours shipped, but the cost wasn’t too high and was worth saving the 2 hour drive to Atlanta and a uHaul rental!
      • Something very important to note – real hardwood is going to need time to acclimate! Most retailers recommend about three days. We brought our wood inside from the garage where it was delivered and let it sit in our living room. It was not the nicest setup, but it was temporary! We also moved some of the boxes up to our upstairs hallway in preparation for redoing the flooring upstairs.

    Now that you have all of the materials, tools, supplies wood you need, it’s time to get installing!

    Installation

    Installation is rather easy once you get started, so don’t let the starting discourage you!

    Getting Started

    There are a few things you need to do and ask yourself before you get started. The answers to these questions will help you determine where and how to start.

    1. What is the width of your room?
      • Typically, your flooring should follow the length of the room and/or match the direction of the adjoining wood floors. With this in mind, you know how the flooring will be laid. But it’s important to know the width of your room because it’ll help you figure out if you need to trim your first board. To do this, take the width of the room and divide it by the width of the floor boards. If your answer ends in something greater than .5, you’re okay to start with a full board. If it’s going to be anything less than .5, you should consider rip cutting your first board to split the decimal point between your first and last boards. A little confusing, I know, so here’s an example:
        • Your room is 124 inches wide and your boards are 3 inches wide. 124/3=41.33. So because this project will take you 41 and a third boards wide, that third is going to be harder to cut and may look a little silly at the end.
          • Quick note – I chose to rip cut our final boards at around a third and thought it looked totally fine and was easy to cut. I wanted to throw the above logic at you because it’s how many experts feel. But for me, I preferred the look of the starting board to be full, but that’s just me!
        • Back to the math, the last 1.3 board width needs to be split evenly between the first row and the last row (if this is the route you’re choosing to take). 1.3/2=.65 and if your boards are 3 inches wide, you’re going to rip cut your first and final rows to 1.95 inches. This logic ensures your last row isn’t teeny tiny and still meets the edge.
      • Is your starting wall straight?
        • I chose to start from the walls with the door and work my way back into the rooms. This way, the skinnier board would be all the way at the back of the rooms. That said, I recommend using a laser level or a framing square to determine if your wall is straight. If it’s not, you’ll need to create an askew gap along the wall where you install the flooring. Make sure the gap does not get any wider than your intended quarter round (usually about 11/16 in.).
          • A note on choosing quarter round – you can get either wood or PVC quarter round. The wood is nice because it looks real, but the PVC can take way more abuse without denting or showing a wood layer underneath.

    So now that you know where you’ll start, how you’ll start and what your boards look like, it’s time to start!

    The First Row

    Before getting started on the floor, you’ll need to lay the water barrier, this will help prevent damage to the wood and prevent moisture from rotting either end of the floor. It doesn’t have to be perfectly cut or laid, as long as your boards can lay flat on top of the sheet, you can cut the excess away from the walls after the floor is completely laid.

    Okay, so this is where the row will go the slowest. If you bought spacers, or made them yourself, it’s important to set these up along the length of the wall, especially if your wall isn’t straight and you need a specific distance between different parts of the wall and the boards. As an FYI, most manufacturers recommend a quarter inch between your boards and the wall. This allows your boards to expand in the summer when it’s warm out without popping up in the middle due to lack of room to expand.

    If you have a straight wall you’re starting on (not angled, you don’t have to cut the boards at an angle at the end), your door frame is likely straight as well and there will be a sizeable gap between the first row you’re about to lay and the flooring on the other side of the frame. If this is the case for you, don’t fret! You can lay your first row and later cut small boards to fit in this gap (remembering to leave a small quarter inch gap). The tiny quarter inch gap that is left in the frame will be filled with transition strip or T-moulding.

    I mentioned setting up your spacers before, this is going to be key because tongue and groove wood requires you knock them together to get them in locked and in place. Your spacers will ensure your gap stays even when you’re knocking the wood into the wall essentially. I used the rubber mallet we got from our floor nailer to hammer the boards in place and it worked great! You definitely need something rubber to not damage the wood, but it doesn’t have to be a whole new tool! So let’s go over the steps!

    1. Set up spacers
    2. Lay the first row
      • The last board will need to be cut to fit the length of the space left between the last board + the wall + a quarter inch gap. This can be done so easily with the floor saw you bought!
    3. Recheck that the boards are straight using a framing square or laser level
    4. Lay the second and third rows
      • This is my personal professional top tip! By laying two more rows, this will ensure the boards in your first row are straight! Even if the line of them are straight as compared to the wall, it is possible that one of them isn’t quite fully knocked in place and will create a ripple effect through the room, making none of the rows completely straight. By laying the extra rows with mismatched seams, this ensures your first row is straight and the rest of your rows will be as well
        • This is something I learned the hard way after laying the first row TWICE, having to remove each individual nail! Take it from me and use subsequent rows as an extra gut check the first row is good to go
      • A note on seams – In order for the boards to have their best chance of survival, the seams where two boards come together, need to alternate between adjoining rows. No two seams should be any closer than 6 inches. As seen below:
    5. Now that you’ve got the first few rows laid, you may notice that the floor nailer is too long to be able to nail your board in place without running into the wall. So for the first three rows, you’ll need to use the brad nailer to nail them in place.
      • Pro-tip – if you set your brad nailer on a relatively high PSI (pressure), the nail will go past the surface of the board and make it really easy to fill with wood putty to cover up!
      • You can either nail the boards in place from the top or angled from the side the way the floor nailer would work. Either way works, but just make sure your nails are long enough to go through the board and catch onto the sub-floor AND that they go far enough into the board to either 1. be easy to fill as a nail hole or 2. allow the next row of grooves to be able to attach to the tongue (if your nails stick out, the boards won’t be able to get past it and hook onto the tongue).

    Finishing Installation

    1. Now comes the easy part! You can lay another row and use the floor nailer instead! Continue this process until you get to the last three rows where you’ll use the brad nailer again.
    1. Special note here – if you have a closet that the boards will run into long ways, you’ll need to make sure that first row going into the closet is straight and then you can work your way back and forward from there. To do this, repeat steps 2, 3 and 4! The first row that enters the closet from the main room should extend all the way to the end of the closet wall. Lay subsequent half rows before that until you hit the parallel wall. This will ensure the middle row you’re extending from the room into the closet is straight! Once that row is done, work your back into the closet and then forward to the opposite parallel wall.
    1. Another special note – don’t be scared of angled walls! I definitely was, but the floor saw makes it so easy! The floor saw should come with a piece that swivels to allow for angled cuts. In all of our rooms with angled walls, the angles were 45 degrees. So we just set the floor saw to a 45 degree angle and cut from there!

    Now that your floor is in (congrats!), it’s time for finishing touches!

    Finishing Touches

    As mentioned, and as you’ll likely guess, you need quarter round to cover the gaps between the walls and the floor. If you don’t have baseboards in yet, definitely add them along with quarter round. Baseboards are like the frosting on cake, they make your room look professional and complete! You’ll also need transition strips to cover the gap between the floor boards and the adjoining floor in the doorways. This gap allows your wood to expand in the summer without popping out, so it’s an important step to follow.

    The transition strip I chose was this beautiful and thin brass moulding. It’s called T-moulding because of its shape! The leg of the T goes down in the gap and the arms spread across the gap. You’ll need to cut these to length with tin sheers and then fill the gap with roofing glue before pressing the transition in place. This is all that needs done, it will not budge once it dries!

    The final finishing touch is to fill your nail holes (if applicable). This can be done with matching wood putty smeared across the hole. It’s amazing how easily these fill and become virtually invisible.

    CELEBRATE

    Congrats, your flooring is in and done! Stand, sit, and dance on your new floor! Put some rugs down, fill the room with furniture and items that bring you joy and appreciate your hard work. Because you did this yourself and you did so much research and followed so many guides, you did it correctly, you saved a ton of money and the wood will survive the seasons and years to come! GO YOU!

  • Easy Bead Board Kitchen Backsplash Install

    Easy Bead Board Kitchen Backsplash Install

    We bought our house in December of 2023 and when we toured, the outdated backsplash in the kitchen was one of the first things that caught my eye. On its own, it really wasn’t terrible, but the countertops are also a busy pattern and between backsplash and counters – I’d replace backsplash first any day of the week! Especially if it’s something as simple, easy, cost-effective and timeless in a Nancy Meyers kind of way as bead board!

    I did a ton of research and while I found many helpful blog posts about how to install bead board backsplash, I had trouble finding information on how to hand all of the DETAILS! It sounds easy enough, and it really is, but there are so many factors I had to consider like weird angles where my tall bar met the backsplash, the fact that my outlets were then too far back behind the bead board and that you have to cut the bead board precisely to match up the seams from one board to another! So, that’s why I’m here! I lack an ego in every sense of the word when it comes to projects. I know I will make a lot of mistakes and it may not always look like a team of professionals from HGTV came in, but I learn a ton and I’ve found a lot of knowledge gaps in this space – and I plan to share everything I’ve learned with you! So let’s get down to it! First step is, of course, planning!

    Planning

    It’s a bit of a puzzle with all of the steps here, but stick with me and you’ll be ready to go in no time!

    1. Break your backsplash into pieces
    2. Measure the main pieces’ lengths and heights (you can measure and cut for outlets, windows, etc. later)

    Now that the main pieces are measured, step 3. is to find the bead board you’d like to use for your project online. I like Home Depot and this is the bead board I bought. This particular board is tall and so I was able to get two strips for the longer sections of my backsplash out of one board. This is the kind of planning you’ll have to do in this step to ensure you’re buying the correct amount. At only $23 a board, it’s not a huge deal if you end up only using a small bit on an extra piece. Something crucial to keep in mind is that unlike a basic wood board, you cannot use bead board at any orientation. If you want to be precise, you can map out how you’ll cut the board to be the correct orientation on a photo of the board.

    Or, I chose to figure out the total square footage I would need and added a 10% buffer and just knew I could run back to the store if I truly miss measured (I did not, I actually had a whole board leftover haha so I think this is a safe process!). To do this, I multiplied the length X height of each piece to get the square footage of each piece and then added them up to get my total. The board I linked above is 32 sq. ft. so the math is easy from there! Step 4. of course is then to order the board or head to the hardware store to purchase it!

    Prepping

    Now that you know the amount of boards you’ll need, you’ll also need to purchase construction adhesive! I used this Loctite 3x strength glue and my bead board is in place FOR LIFE (I used two bottles across 3 pieces of bead board)! Noting that this type of adhesive will likely rip the board + backsplash off the dry wall if you try to remove. So ensure this is really what you want to do! I had tile backsplash to cover and I was not confident in my ability to remove it without hurting the dry wall so I opted to glue it in place. However, if you’re dealing with a simple drywall backsplash to your kitchen, you could totally nail it to the studs making it easily removable someday.

    You’ll also need caulk to seal the seams and fill any imperfections. I ended up going through so much caulk trying to figure out a process! I went through 5 bottles, and I use caulk for so many projects so I wouldn’t be afraid to buy a little more than you think you need! And of course, a caulk gun if you don’t have one already. I also sometimes like to wear gloves for big caulking projects like this, but that is up to you! I also recommend having some kind of painter’s tape to hold the boards in place while the glue is drying. And lastly, you’ll need outlet spacers (also called caterpillar spacers) which will allow you to bring your outlet forward to be flush with the new thickness of your backsplash.

    If you don’t have a way to cut the boards, you’ll need that as these are too thick to cut with something like a box cutter and will shred if you try to break them. I used a combination of a circular saw for the big cuts and a compact saw for the little pieces like the outlets. Once you have these items – we’re ready to move onto the fun part – DOING!

    Installing

    You’ll want to start by cutting your pieces. I recommend measuring and marking everything right there in your kitchen or project space and measuring a few times! While there is some wiggle room with the upper backsplash being less visible under your cabinets, caulk can only do so much to fill in those kinds of gaps!

    As for the outlets – you can use the toothpaste hack where you smear a little toothpaste on the edges of the outlet and put the board against the wall and use that as a guide for cutting, but I prefer to just measure how far in and up the outlet is from the outer edges of my board. It feels less clunky and more precise to me, but I recommend you try both to figure out what works best for you!

    Before we even get to the outlets, I like to cut the initial piece first, check to see if it fits in place and then worry about details like the outlets. Now, if you run into anomalies like I did – beyond outlets, this would be things like a magnetic knife holder we have on the wall, the kitchen bar juts out of the backsplash at the end of the wall, the window frames have a lip that go into the backsplash, etc. – fear not! It’s all work around-able haha. Simply follow the same technique you did for the outlet! This can be the toothpaste hack or measuring the anomaly in relation to the “piece” of wall you’re working on.

    Lastly, when it comes to the stove, I chose to install the backsplash directly behind the stove and did not go any lower. You can’t see it when you’re standing in the kitchen, but if you’re next to the stove and lean over, you can see the old backsplash. It honestly doesn’t bother me (shocking as someone so type A), so it’s really up to you!

    The cutting process is really simple from here once you’ve measure and marked your boards! This step is really dependent on how comfortable you are with your tools. I am not at all, still haha. So I would recommending test cutting some scrap wood to get the handle of it. Or if you’re impatient like me, just go for it and go back to the store for more board if you need to haha.

    Okie dokie, so your boards are all cut now, right? Great! It’s time to prep the space. This means removing the outlet covers, taking down curtains (trust me, I got construction adhesive on mine :’)), removing anything from the walls, clearing the counters, lightly cleaning your backsplash (you really don’t need to sand for this project, the adhesive is so strong), and having your tape and glue at the ready!

    This step is really simple – just draw pretty waves of glue on the back of your boards and stick them to their respective spots on the wall! Then tape them in place by securing the tape to your board and something stable like the cabinet above them. If your boards are a little bowed, like these things often are, I recommend pushing something heavy up against them. I used a cast iron pot full of water and a granite mortar and pestle my husband loves – be scrappy, save the money haha.

    Once it’s dry (give it 24 hours before trying to mess with it), you’re done with the hardest parts of the project – GO YOU! Do a dance, toast yourself, do anything to celebrate and allow yourself to feel super excited about the massive difference this has already made in the feel of your kitchen!

    Finishing Touches

    Now comes a different kind of technically tricky part! If you’re good with caulk, this’ll be a walk in the park! You’ll obviously want to remove the tape and the random objects you put on your counter to hold the boards in place! I recommend taping off where you want to put caulk. Important note – leave a buffer to “over-caulk” because if you under-caulk, it will show when the tape comes off and you’ll need to redo it. So for example, lay the tape more on your counter/bead board, a little further away from the seam itself. This will ensure the seam is fully covered vs. what I did and had to redo it :’).

    Once the tape is up, cut a tiny little tip off your caulk and pop it into the gun. Trace the gun along the upper and lower edges, the sides and of course any seams! You’ll want to remove the tape relatively quickly after caulking. I’d say like 10-20 minutes after. If it dries, the tape could pull the caulk off, but if it’s too wet, the edges won’t look straight because the caulk hasn’t had enough time to set just a little. It’s a little annoying you’ll have to RE-tape to paint once everything is done, but it’s worth it!

    Me caulking in my work clothes because I have no patience to change

    If your cuts, caulk or tape gave you some rough edges of imperfections on your boards, you’ll want to lightly sand. Trust me, I missed a spot and it isn’t noticeable until you turn the under-cabinet lights on and it makes me cringe a little every time. I say “lightly sand” because this is a very porous board and if you over-sand, you can sand past the smooth layer on top and you’ll never have the smooth finish you want.

    Woo – that was a lot! But it’s almost over, I swear! Once the caulk has dried and everything looks up to your standards, it’s time to install the caterpillar spacers to bring the outlets forward. It’s actually a very simple process of removing the screws that are keeping the outlet in the wall and placing the spacers behind them before re-screwing the outlet back in the wall.

    Now that you’ve done everything that needs done that could possible mess up a paint job, it is safe to paint! I did not prime or prep the boards as you really don’t need to! I painted them the same color as our walls – Alabaster by Sherwin Williams to create a less busy look. After two coats, I put three coats of Polycrylic water-based protective matte sealant on the boards to protect them from the adventures of the kitchen. This isn’t anything special or specific to the kitchen, I use this sealant as my go-to for everything from sealing outdoor furniture to sealing home made ornaments!

    Once the sealant has dried, you can put your outlet covers back on and re-hang any art or knives you had on your backsplash previously!

    And, as always, CELEBRATE! Light a candle, make it vibey and just stand in your kitchen and stare at the amazing work you’ve done!

  • Easy DIY Home Office Renovation

    Easy DIY Home Office Renovation

    If you read my last blog post, I walked through how to plan and organize for an entire home project. The examples I used in the post were all geared towards a home office renovation because it’s my most recent and most favorite DIY home reno I’ve done to date!

    Ever since the pandemic, the work force has completely pivoted. Remote jobs used to be a pipe dream and few and far between. But now, a large portion of the American workforce works from home. For me, it’s an incredible opportunity and an environment I thrive in. Between calls I can run a load of laundry, I can take calls with my dog discreetly on my lap, I can make my lunch right in my own kitchen when I’m hungry. Beyond that, I love that I don’t have to commute. I’m such a homebody and introvert, that being able to get an extra hour or so to be at home without working is such a game changer. However, working from home can get tough when you work from your bedroom (like I did for 4 years), you have kids or dogs running around in the background of calls, or if you struggle to separate work from life when your work is so physically close to your life. For these reasons, I have found what a game changer a dedicated office space can be.

    We have moved 5 times over the past 5 years (we’re done, I swear haha) and lived in apartments as small as 600 sq ft. Even if it’s just a simple curtain to separate your bed from your desk, or moving a dog crate into the closet to make space in the living room, anyway you can create a dedicated and separated space is so key to setting a work-life balance foundation. All of this to say, if you’re fortunate enough to have a sectioned off area for your desk or even a whole room, you can totally revamp the space to meet your needs!

    Now, if you’re just perusing this post and you’re not here because you really want some ideas for your own renovation, you may be asking “why? Why do I need to change my space?” The short answer is really that you don’t need to! I think there’s a lot of power in being content with yourself and your space just as they are. However, I also think that your environment has a huge impact on your mood! It’s why I have very specifically curated thrifted art hung in our home, it’s why I’m constantly looking for things to purge from my home and make it easier to take care of and to look at. So, when I was working in my own office, the walls were beige with a jungle themed accent wall from the previous owner. The style really wasn’t me, so we painted everything white and replaced the carpet with hardwood floors (another DIY we learned how to do, let me know if this is something you’d like to see a blog post about!). Now that the space was calmer and a much cleaner and palatable vibe, I felt an itch to make the space feel more like me! I was using an old hand-me-down monitor that shocked me every time I plugged it in (I love to save a buck haha). My desk was so small that I couldn’t fit my water bottle on it and my walking pad was the center of the room! I tried out a patterned rug and velvet curtains and I hated it, it was so chaotic and harsh. So I knew my space was bumming me out, a space that I spend 8 hours in everyday, and the space my clients see in the background of calls. And I knew I wanted to do something about it, so I got really serious about planning out the office of my dreams!

    I scoured social media for hours and hours trying to find somebody’s office that was shaped just like mine (it’s really small with a slanted wall) with two desks (my husband also works from home full time). I couldn’t find a single thing so I came up with my own formula for project and reno planning. You can review the blog post where I deep dive into my process here, so I’m going to skip it in this post for now!

    So once I knew what I wanted to do, what my timeline looked like and what I wanted to spend on it, I got right to work! I’m going to break the rest of this post down into what I did and how I did it: Paint, Trim, Furniture, Details.

    Paint

    I fell in love with several photos of home offices painted sage green. So I scoured hundreds of review photos to settle on Green Onyx by Sherwin Williams. I bought 3 gallons for my small office and used about two and a half. Pro tip – Sherwin Williams is always running sales! So if you don’t see a sale live while you’re shopping, try to hold on for a couple weeks before purchasing to save yourself some cash! I also purchased an 18 inch paint roller cover and large plastic tarp from Home Depot because we already own an 18 inch roller and tray. Pro-tip, the 18 inch roller is nice because it covers more space, but the accessories are more expensive and harder to come by, so do your research and make the best decision for your needs! I also already own several paintbrushes and painter’s tape – these are my favorite brushes from Amazon, they’re so soft and clean up nicely.

    While I waited for the paint and supplies to come in, I taped off the floor along the quarter round and around the door and window frames. I also removed all of the outlet and switch plate covers. Once the paint came in, I spent two days “cutting.” Which is a term some painters use to distinguish the prep technique of hand painting the areas where precision is needed and/or where the roller won’t fit. This would look like within corners, along the baseboards, around windows and doors, etc. Those areas needed to be painted twice to get an even coat. Noting that because I chose a color drench theme, I painted the quarter round and baseboards along the bottom of the walls, but I also had to cut along the seam between the wall and ceiling and around the fan and vents.

    Once I was done prepping the space, I covered the desks and rug and got to rolling the walls and ceiling! This is more physically intensive and less strategically difficult. At this point, I was seeing my vision come together and I was so so excited! Although I must admit I am a recovering “all the walls must be white” addict, so the green color drench was terrifying for me! But I trusted all of the other professionals whose photos I drew inspiration from!

    Trim

    As I discuss in my planning blog post, I chose a specific trim layout and trim design. So once the trim came in the mail (thank God for Home Depot’s free delivery), I got right to cutting! We had to buy a floor cutter when we installed our hardwood floors, so that’s what we used to cut the trim for this project. However, there are really simple tools you can use for these that do not require any power tools re: multi-angle miter sheers. Once all of the pieces were cut, we lined up the first piece on the wall, made sure it was level and nailed it into the wall. Couple notes here, I recommend getting a large level and/or a laser level for this. Also, we have an air compressor powered nail gun because it’s cheaper than the battery operated ones. However, the battery operated ones are totally worth the splurge in my opinion! Having to get the air compressor out for every nail gun related project is such a pain!

    Once all of the trim was up, we caulked the seams and filled the nail holes and the corners in with spackling. This is a game changer and makes the project look so professional! After the caulk dried, we hand painted the boxes the same color as the walls. Some people like to leave their trim white, but the color drench style feels so much more elevated in my opinion. Again, this took two coats. I usually like to do one coat per day to make sure I’m not painting over wet paint and creating more work, but the trim dried very quickly so I slapped a second coat on just a few hours later and they look great. After this, the bulk of the work was mostly done – and wasn’t that so easy!?

    Furniture

    Something else I discuss in the planning blog post I linked is how to budget for projects. Trim is relatively cheap (a little over $1 per foot) and I got the paint on a great discount ($100 total). However, like I mentioned earlier, my desk was too small, my chair was hard and rigid and my monitor would shock me haha. So in order to upgrade these pieces to create the office of my dreams, I needed to get serious and budget. Once I had my vision, I found the cheapest alternatives that looked great and had great reviews on Amazon. I picked out a beautiful and wide standing desk, the most cost effective ultra-wide monitor I could find (turns out, I love it!), a chair with a footrest because I’m a criss-cross applesauce girl and different accessories. I prioritized what I purchased based on the need (I use Notion for this, let me know if you’d like a walkthrough or if you’d like a desk tour!).

    So naturally, I bought the desk first and sold my old desk on Facebook Marketplace (let me know if you’d like to see a post with tips on navigating and selling on FBM!). Once I had the desk, I really wanted that new monitor and so that’s where I went next (a few weeks later). And then from there, I got my chair and was able to narrow down my list of desk decor “needs.” I thought there were so many things I “needed” based on the cute desk setups I had seen on Pinterest. But as I slowly settled into my new setup, I realized I didn’t need that desk riser or mood lights, it was only going to create clutter for something I didn’t need and ultimately waste money. I am a huge proponent of creating an impulse list and slowly buying as you have the funds if the desire still exists (let me know if you’d like a walkthrough on how I manage my impulse list!). And where some small desires came up, I waited till I found it on a thrift trip or on an estate sale tour. As a result, my desk is adorned with a vintage brass frame, the cutest little lamp with a shade that was hand-welded by the previous owner (gorgeous mother of pearly panels with gold welding), and a beautiful brass floral vase with my fake flowers because plants die with me haha.

    Something else I want to note is that I had a big plan for a new rug, new fake plants, new art, etc. But I realized that if I stood in my office as it was at this point and envisioned it was a post on Pinterest, I would be in love! So I decided to tactfully layout the art, put the plants in new thrifted pots and keep my rug – it’s all about balance, baby!

    Details

    As I mention in my planning blog post, there will often be new ideas that come out of any project. Always expect your simple idea to snowball into surrounding areas – but that’s part of the fun! So as the office has come together at this point, I noticed the outlet covers really stuck out. I could keep them as is, it’s really not a big deal, but it would be an easy thing to change. So I decided to paint the outlet covers the small color as the walls. I also sealed them with a matte sealant to protect from scratches when plugging things in. And I replaced the switch plate with a brass version I found at Home Depot and I love the style!

    Finally, I also decided I could make the office closet look awesome and upgrade it from the dinged up, one shelf, catch all that it had become. I basically restarted the process by finding inspiration, buying materials and implementing! I put up shelf supports (my first time, but actually so so easy) and then cut shelves down to fit in the closet. I used the floor saw for this and ordered shelf wood from Home Depot (who knew this existed!). Then based on the inspiration photo, I painted the side walls the same Green Onyx from SW and covered the back wall with a gorgeous marble contact paper. I hung a curtain rod below the hip-level shelf and installed cafe curtains to hide everything I was storing underneath (re: D&D books, important paperwork and our printer). Then I went to town decorating using all thrifted items! Let me know if you’d like to a step-by-step guide on how I did all of this!

    And now I have been living in my new setup and loving my new office for a couple months! Although I love to implement a new project quickly and get that dopamine hit faster, there really is something to be said about taking things methodically and slowly and learning to be content with what you currently have to shift your mindset much faster and much cheaper!