May 10, 2024 | ablankenship0191

Toddler Girl Room Inspiration

Are you stuck when deciding how to decorate your daughter’s room? Do you feel like there are too many options out there and not sure where to start? What colors should you use? What should you put on the walls? I felt the same way when I started decorating my first daughter’s bedroom. 

When starting, you want to have mostly neutral colors of furniture throughout the room, so that you can add pops of color where you want when you start decorating. If you have too much colorful furniture to begin with, it will be difficult to add colors when decorating and might feel too cluttered or overstimulating for your child. We started with a traditional white bed and dresser that we found on Wayfair. 

The dark hardwood floors made the room seem cold and darker. So, to make the room cozier, we added a very large, neutral-colored area rug that we found on Amazon – nuLOOM. I would recommend a larger area rug on hardwood floors in bedrooms to make the room cozier, especially for kids. 

We wanted to add a smaller play area for her, so we included a teepee tent that we found on Amazon with a small pink shag rug. We added fairy lights to the teepee tent and she loves the way her room lights up at night. We also put a glider that you would typically find in a baby’s nursery in her room since she loves pink. We found the one pictured here at Walmart.com. My husband may not agree that it is the most comfortable chair, but I am 5’1” and think it is very comfortable. 

For the wall décor, we put artwork of her handprints in IKEAframes. I mentioned these in my Powder Room Upgrade post. I like to use these mat frames because they are lightweight, plastic, and not too pricey. Above the bed, I always get scared that something hanging could fall so I opt for decals or something that is very lightweight by the beds in all of our bedrooms. Etsy has endless options of wall decals, but I picked one with my daughter that has her name on it, in her favorite color, pink. These can be tricky to get on the wall, especially larger ones like the one we put in her room. Because they come rolled up, I recommend unrolling it flat and stacking books or another heavy object on it so that it does not curl up when you apply it to the wall. Once it is flattened, you will want to carefully remove the backing and adhere to the wall by using something like a credit card to firmly press the decal onto the wall. Anytime I have purchaseda decal, the seller typically includes a sample decal to help you test applying it to your wall so you can feel comfortable applying a bigger decal. 

If your toddler is scared of the dark, like mine, I would recommend a few different night light products. First, we have a lantern Bluetooth speaker that changes colors: Amazon Lantern Speaker. We also have a star show: Amazon Star Show. Most recently for Christmas, she also was gifted a rainbow night light: Amazon Rainbow Projector. I would recommend any of these products for adding light to your child’s room. 

Decorating your child’s room can seem to always be an ongoing process, especially since they are constantly growing and changing. Hopefully, sharing some of my tips and ideas can help you get started.

April 18, 2024 | ablankenship0191

Step by Step Guide: How to Paint Cabinets

When we bought our house, we knew the kitchen was something that we would need to remodel. One of the biggest eyesores in the kitchen was the brown wooden cabinets (a popular 90’s trend). With 3 little ones in the house and constantly using the kitchen, we opted to renovate our kitchen ourselves so that it would remain functional while we upgraded the kitchen. This type of project might seem overwhelming, but I found thatworking on smaller sections at a time worked the best for us.When you work through the smaller sections, you can see the completed portions of the cabinets, so it motivates you to finish the other sections too. We worked on this for about an hour or two nightly once the kids were asleep for 3 weeks. 

Because we were already moved in and had things stored throughout the cabinets, we chose to paint the exterior of the cabinets and the cabinet doors. If you are able to store the items in your cabinets in another location while you are painting, I recommend fully painting the inside of the cabinets and shelves too. 

The first step is to decide whether you would prefer to leave the cabinet doors on the hinges during the painting process or remove them. If you choose to leave the cabinet doors on, then I recommend using painters tape to cover the hinges as much as possible. We chose to remove the cabinets doors and it also gave us a chance to clean the hinges. We put the hinges in a bucketwith water and dish soap for a few hours. Once we took the hinges out of the water, we scrubbed them with a brush(something with bristles like a toothbrush will work) and it helped remove the rust and decay that had built up over time.You will also want to wash your cabinets before your being this project with a water and vinegar mixture to remove any dirt or grease that has built up over time. We noticed that some of the old bumper dots on the cabinets were stuck on the cabinet doors so we had to use a Stainless Steel Scraper to remove them from the cabinets. This tool can be useful for other needs in your home, so I recommend purchasing for your toolbox if you don’t already have one. 

Once you have decided on removing the cabinet doors or not, there are a few very important steps that follow: sanding and priming. 

Sanding: Take your time to sand the cabinets and cabinet doors. Doing this will ensure the primer and paint will adhere to the wood much better. Also, it will ensure there is a flat surface for painting. I recommend using a sanding tool to make the sanding easier on the flat surfaces of the cabinets. We used this handSanding Tool that allows you to cut pieces of sandpaper and replace as needed. The loose pieces of sandpaper can be used if there are grooves or any other areas that need to be sanded on the cabinets. Once the sanding is done, I recommend using painter’s tape to tape around any areas that are close to the cabinets that you may not want to get paint on. 

Priming: While this step might not seem important, it is almost the most critical part of the process. I recommend using a high-quality primer to help get the result that you want. For this step, you will want to do at least one coat of primer, but doing two coats is more ideal. If you use a high-quality primer, the second coat may not be as necessary. When applying the primer to the cabinets, be sure to fully coat the wood anywhere that you willpaint. Doing this will help the paint adhere to the wood. I recommend waiting at least 12 hours after each coat of primer, sanding after each coat to ensure you have a flat surface. This will also help reduce the brush strokes in the final result. 

Next, you will do the actual painting of the cabinets. We worked in small sections and removed the cabinet doors so that we could paint the cabinet doors in our garage. We wanted a light and bright look in our kitchen, so we chose BEHR PREMIUM White Semi-Gloss Enamel Interior/Exterior Cabinet, Door & Trim Paint. This paint can also be used on other doors or trim in your home. We chose to keep things uniform and use it for all ofour doors and trim throughout our house. I suggest doing 3 coats of painting, with sanding after each coat is dry. The extra coats and sanding will make the paint last longer and help eliminate any brushstrokes. I found it easier to use a paint brush for painting our cabinets because of they have the grooves and are not as flat as other cabinets. But to paint your cabinets, you can either use a paint brush, a roller or combination of both. 

At this point, we initially thought the cabinets looked the way we wanted them to, but after a few weeks noticed that we probably needed to add a clear coat sealer because we are constantly using the cabinets and have small kids that may create scratches in the paint. In order to seal the paint and make the cabinets look even more finished, I recommend using a polyurethane semi-gloss top coat. We used this Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane, Semi-Gloss. For this coat, I used a different type of brush that is intended for this type of sealer. This type of Polyurethane Brush also helps eliminate brush strokes. Adding the top coat will also give the cabinets a semi-gloss finish. I recommend doing 2 coats of this, again with sanding in between coats. 

If you removed the cabinet doors, you will have to reinstall them with the hinges. This is also a good time to make sure all your hinges are working properly and replace, if necessary. Once the final coat is completed, you can apply Cabinet Bumper Pads to help protect the paint, as well as lessen the noise when closing the cabinets. You can also dress up your cabinets by adding hardware, like pulls or knobs. 

Painting your cabinets yourself is very manageable, even when you have small kids. I actually asked our oldest daughter, who is 4, to help us sand the cabinets. She had a blast doing this and felt like she was part of the process. As anyone with small kids is well aware, they LOVE to help and there are parts of this project that they can definitely help with.


April 17, 2024 | ablankenship0191

How to Upgrade Your Powder Room

My husband and I knew that our powder room needed a facelift to add value to our home. Since the powder room is our only bathroom we have in the downstairs area, we use this bathroom frequently, as well as most guests in our home. Without doing a full remodel of the powder room, we were able to dramatically upgrade it with a few minor changes.  

Like many other powder rooms, ours is a very small space. When smaller spaces have darker colors on the walls or fixtures, it makes the space seem smaller than it is. Typically, light and bright colors make smaller spaces feel bigger. 

The sink fixture in the powder room was originally a dark brown wooden cabinet. We knew this needed to be painted lighter. We kept things simple and chose to paint this fixture white. For more information on how to paint cabinets, please refer to my step by step guide on how to paint cabinets. 

The chair rail and baseboards in the powder room were more of a rustic style, which we knew needed some upgrading. Initially, we thought painting might work. We eventually discovered that removing and replacing both the chair rail and baseboards would be better for the overall look. If your chair rail and baseboards are in good shape, I recommend simply adding a few fresh coats of trim paint. The chair rail and baseboards were nailed into the wall and were very easy to pry off the walls with a Stainless Steel Scraper. We purchased a chair rail and baseboard to replace the old one, measured it, cut it, and secured it to the wall using nails and Gorilla Glue. Ensure your nails are flush or slightly indented into the wood board. I suggest indenting them so that you can put spackle over the nail area, then sand and paint. This method is suggested because it will make it easier to paint rather than painting over a nail. Once the boards are secured and the glue has dried (I recommend at least 24 hours), it is time to sand and paint the boards. We painted the boards a semi-gloss white, the same one we used for the sink fixture. 

The next thing we did to brighten up the powder room was paint the walls. We started with a mauve colored wall, which is on the darker side and made the space seem much smaller. We chose Behr – Dove paint color, which is a very faint beige-gray (greige). We wanted a very neutral color but did not want to have white walls. We chose to use this color in most rooms in our home. If you have never purchased paint before, like myself, it can be overwhelming. My husband and I went to Home Depotand selected a color on the paint wall in the paint section. We found several that we really like in the “neutrals” section on the wall. You will then ask the associate at the counter to mix the paint color for you. There are different options of the type of paint you can use (matte, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, etc). We asked the associate for a high-quality, low VOC paint base. We ended up using Behr Premium Plus interior paint. Before painting, I recommend sanding, applying spackle in any holes in the wall, then sanding again once the spackle has dried. If you have never painted before, also be sure to remove the light switch or outlet covers and replace with new ones if needed. This is as simple as unscrewing them from the walls with a screwdriver and screwed back in once completed. We had silver covers, so we purchased new solid white covers on Amazon. They are pretty standard so the basic ones you find on Amazon should work. We were able to complete the painting on the walls using 2 coats, plus a little touch up. Apply more coats of paint if needed. Depending on how dark the initial color was, it may require more coats for you or vice versa. 

Another important part of upgrading a bathroom is replacing the mirror if it is small or has too large of a frame. We found a mirror at Home Goods that fit perfectly into the space for a mirror. This minor change dramatically opened up the area and made it feel much bigger than before. 

The light fixtures and hardware on the sink were in pretty good shape, so we did not need to change these things. If you think the lights or hardware in the bathroom, like the faucet, seem a little dull, I recommend changing these out as well. Because this can involve plumbing or electricity, I recommend hiring a professional to make these changes for you. 

Finally, to decorate the bathroom a little more without overcrowding it, we adding a few finishing touches. We installed a towel rack above the toilet that was dual functional. The bottom portion is a towel rack and the top portion is a shelf. The towel rack required us to drill wall anchors into the walls, so be sure to use a level and stud finder when hanging larger things on the walls. This is important to avoid running into any electrical wires, plumbing, or air conditioning. On the other side of the wall, we decided to hang 2 frames with prints. We found very lightweight frames from IKEA. I like to use frames with a mat because it seems to highlight the print or picture much better than frames without a mat. I really like these frames because they are lightweight, plastic, and not too pricey. Because we have small kids, if one of these ever came down, it would probably not hurt them or break. We used Posterjack USA to get prints made from my phone. We found 2 images online that we really liked and were able to enlarge them, have them printed and shipped using Posterjack. It was not very pricey to get these prints done and you can customize the size you would like.