It wasn't long after moving into our new house that I started to look for some dining room storage. We were using a refinished dresser from our home in Baltimore, but it wasn't very practical. I was open to a variety of options - everything from vintage china hutches to ornate cabinets. I even considered hiring someone to make cabinets to match our kitchen. But one lucky day I came upon a seemingly perfect mid-century buffet on Craiglist. I was smitten. It almost didn't happen, but after the first buyer fell through the sellers contacted us to see if we were still interested (uh...YEA!). They didn't … [Read more...] about Mid-Century Danish Buffet Restoration
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Cost Breakdown – DIY Modern Playhouse
How much does it cost to build a modern playhouse? Here's an estimate of what you might spend to build a DIY playhouse similar to ours. It's a question that comes up relatively often - "How much did it cost to build your playhouse?" I had the same exact question in mind as I viewed other playhouses online. Naively, I initially thought that I could build a modern playhouse, to my liking, for less than $500. But it wasn't long before I set a new budget of twice that amount. There are definitely some cheaper options for various materials, so it is possible to build a similar playhouse for less. The … [Read more...] about Cost Breakdown – DIY Modern Playhouse
DIY Textured Canvas Wall Art
With an old window curtain and some other existing materials, this DIY textured canvas wall art was made for less than $100! Its large scale has been the perfect solution to cover the large hole in our living room wall. Last fall I convinced Eric that we should put in a functioning fireplace. We had covered up the existing firebox when redoing our living room, so the first step in the process was cutting through our drywall. But...after a few quotes and some deliberating, we realized we weren't quite ready to move forward (we will someday though!). Unfortunately, the change of plans left us with a decent … [Read more...] about DIY Textured Canvas Wall Art
Refinishing our Modern DIY Patio Table
After a couple of winters and rainy seasons, our DIY modern patio table started to show some wear. We restored it to its original beauty and added some furniture wax to help it withstand the elements. A few years ago, during the first spring in our new home, I built a modern patio table for use under our pergola. I had planned on storing it in our garage over the winters, but for whatever reason, that never happened. And after a couple of years, it was showing some wear... With bleached spots, dark stains, and some warped boards, it was no longer the modern patio table I had once sought after. But I … [Read more...] about Refinishing our Modern DIY Patio Table
Painting our Exposed Floor Joist Basement Ceiling
In our shallow, century-old rowhome basement, painting the exposed floor joists was a great way to renovate the space without dropping the ceiling height. It's been a few years since we have moved from our Baltimore rowhome, but it seems that our basement renovation is continuing to inspire others (10k + repins on Pinterest and counting!). If you're not familiar with the project - we converted our 1904 rowhome's dark and dingy basement into a bright and welcoming living area + bathroom: There are many beloved features of our basement renovation, but one in particular (for me at least) is the … [Read more...] about Painting our Exposed Floor Joist Basement Ceiling
How I Personalized Our Wedding
Planning our wedding from over 2,500 miles away was tough. But I soon learned that there are plenty of ways to DIY and add personalized touches to a destination or distance wedding. Our wedding anniversary is right around the corner, so naturally, I've been reminiscing about that day and all the planning that led up to it. Our day turned out amazing, but one of the hardest things about wedding planning for me was doing so from the other side of the country. We were living on the east coast and our wedding was to take place in my hometown in Northern California. While I had an event coordinator, I didn't … [Read more...] about How I Personalized Our Wedding
Playhouse Made Modern: Pt. 6 – Interior Paint
Painting the interior of our modern playhouse provided the opportunity for some added character and color. I also used paint samples to create some retro (and budget-friendly) accent stripes. After the exterior siding was installed and painted, I moved on to painting the interior. If you recall from previous steps, I did a lot of "pre-priming" before things were assembled. This may seem tedious, but I really think it saved me a lot of time when painting the interior. In retrospect - I highly recommend that you prime as much as possible before the structure is fully built (within reason of … [Read more...] about Playhouse Made Modern: Pt. 6 – Interior Paint
Weekend Love – No. 4
Before I met Eric I didn't eat steak very often - maybe at a restaurant occasionally. But Eric, being the master griller he is, has turned me into a bit of a steak "snob." When we lived on the East Coast we had a few places where we could get dry-aged steak. If you like steak, but you've never had "dry-aged" steak - you are totally missing out. But since we've moved, we haven't found any place near us that sells it. Recently Eric has considered a DIY approach to dry aging. If you have any knowledge on the topic of DIY dry-aging - please (please!) comment below. Our DIY modern patio table is still holding up … [Read more...] about Weekend Love – No. 4
Playhouse Made Modern – Pt. 5: Siding & Exterior Paint
Installing and painting the siding on our DIY playhouse finally made it start to feel like a 'house.' The horizontal cedar fence boards were easy to install and should last for years to come. The process of building the roof and installing the siding overlapped for us. Mostly because I was inpatient after the framing went up and wanted to get a glimpse of what the siding would look like. But in the end, the siding was finished after the roof (because of the cutouts needed around the beams). To install the siding we used the following materials and equipment: 35 (approx.) - Cedar fencing boards (5.5" … [Read more...] about Playhouse Made Modern – Pt. 5: Siding & Exterior Paint