What Ana Does

 So the builder left this big nook in-between two closets in the guest room. I suspect it was meant for a dresser but it's a dumb space that I've been struggling with since we moved in.  It's been a reading nook with bench, a desk, I've moved dressers and cabinets in there. Nothing looked right.  After the success of the towel nook in the bathroom, I knew that installing a base cabinet in this space would finally put an end to my torment of finding the right solution to this space. So that's exactly what I did.  I bought a cabinet from Home Depot for about $200. I went with a cabinet and not drawers because I wanted to store my sewing machine and other crafting tools. And I got a butcher block top for about $100 to go on top.  First, I had to pull out the rug, because installed cabinets need to be placed on solid floor. That was easy, other than those annoying tack strips.  Then, I pushed the cabinet into place and secured it to the wall. I got lucky with t...

When we last saw the back hallway (AKA boot room) it looked pretty good. Lots of hooks, new floor, fun gallery art. But the issues were many: I wanted a wood element to warm up the space. The new shelf was the wrong color ... but really it was the walls that were the wrong. They were just "off" the blue cabinet color.  So, obviously something had to be done. And with Leah off to college, I needed a 1-weekend doable DIY project that I could focus on.  Off to Lowes for $200 worth of shiplap and new pine boards for the hook rails.  Demo started! All the rails came down easily. The wall to the right of the garage door (on the left side of this photo) needed to go white, so I primed that a few times to cover over the erroneous blue.  Shiplap install time! Went up pretty quickly once I started chopping. I wish those half pieces/cuts were on the bottom of the wall, instead of the top, but I'll know better for next time!  I put three coats of the ("SW: Denim") blue pain...

 One of the DIY merit badges I've been excited to earn was as a tiler. Every show and contractor/construction guy I've talked to has been insistent it's an "EASY" DIY. "You can totally do it," they say. But I never had the opportunity to give it a go. A nice easy low-risk project.  Until the powder room!  I gathered up my courage, watched all the how-to videos, picked up all the supplies needed (about $250 with the tile) and took a deep breath ... and just GOT WENT FOR IT.  Everything is figuroutable, right!?  It was easy, though there were definitely lessons learned. And quick solutions I had to come up with. But I would very confidently tile another small wall.  First, here's a photo of the IN REAL LIFE mess of a room mid-project. It's important to be OK with creating a mess. Tiling is messy.  Here's the room after the tile is up (took about four hours) and the clean up. Hauling clean water in and out of the room was the worst part. I'l...

During our kitchen renovation, our walk-in pantry got outlets! (Nope, there were no outlets in there before -- crazy, right?!)  That was a huge addition to this wonderfully useful room that houses all our small appliances and servingware, like bowls and glass jars. We can now use those small appliances in the pantry, rather than carting them out to the kitchen counter.  It's on the list, at some point, to replace the Formica countertops, laminate floors and add a backsplash in here, but not at this time. So I painted the room this moody blue and came up with a FREE solution to the backsplash.  Chalk pen!  This was too easy. I got a level and a scrap board and made horizontal lines along the wall with a white chalk pen. Then, added horizontal lines to connect. Voila!  It was really just as easy as that.  The best part, it's all chalk, so if I decide I don't like it or want to try another design, I just wipe it off with a wet sponge.  There's nothing I a...

When last we discussed, the basement stairs needed some serious help. They were covered with a very old, dirty and smelly carpet.  Here's what it looked like. BLAH.  When we worked on the basement, renovating these stairs were on the original list but it got to be too expensive. And I knew I could do a passable job on a cheap DIY version that would get us through a few years.  So I pulled up the dirty carpet, repairing the risers and trim. And added more trim to cover any gaps. And then painted the stairs a glossy white and installed a carpet runner I've had my eye on for years.  I also painted the walls a deep navy to go with the runner color. The deep color looks especially good through the glass door leading to these stairs.  Just a few things left to do on this project, but I already feel better about walking down to the basement. No longer thinking about all the dirt or smell that came off this carpet. And, really, it's the last really offensive thing in th...

 I *just* saw this image on Pinterest and I'm in LOVE ....  Link to Pinterest Post Now, let's imagine this super-easy, though, yes, time-consuming, on this wall ...  in place of the white Crate&Barrel shelves. Stocked with my work products in the cabinets and jars of dried beans, flour/sugar, etc. on the shelves. DREAMY! (OMG ... I'll hide the microwave in there!)  OR  Even here, in place of the bench and hooks.  All we're looking at is store-bought upper cabinets, painted, with a butcher block top. Bead board backsplash and some simple hanging shelves with peg hooks below. And painted a deep, rich color. All really simple solutions you can buy at Home Depot. $500 budget?  Yes? Go for it? 

Remember when I made those art ledges in the old dining room? Here's the post to jog your memory .  Of course I wanted them in my new dining room and I wanted them MUCH LONGER than the old house. 8 feet!  Now that I've made a few, they are super speedy to create. 30 minutes accumulative and $70ish at Home Depot -- I used cheaper Select Pine instead of the fancy Oak in the old house.  I LOVE the way it turned out -- though I need to spend a few days styling them out.  Just to take a trip down memory lane ... here's that wall when I started.  This suites are style much better.  I've got two more things planning for this dining room: a new chandelier and installing curtains (need the texture). But those are low on the budget, as I've got the basement and other projects to tackle.  It's never ending. In a good way. 

And for my first trick ... HOOKS!  Our back hallway connects the kitchen to the garage, bathroom and laundry room. There's also a few closets. It's a great space but it (obviously) needed hooks for organization. For bags, pool towels, hats and eventually coats and backpacks. It was a quick and easy first project. When we moved in, the back hallway looked like this ...  That's the garage door to the left, and coat closet at the end of the hall. And to the right is the bathroom, closet and laundry room. A great little hallway, but not practical. And you know I love practical.  We pulled the sliding doors off this closet and I painted it green/grey (Behr: Greenwich Village). We're using the same cubbies from our last house to organize bags, shoes, etc. It's not pretty, but it's organized!  Then, I made a really inexpensive hook rail with a piece of pine and some "farmhouse" hooks I found on Amazon Prime Days sale. They were $1 a piece! What a deal! YAY, i...

 It's been a few months since I updated you on the guestroom refresh project ... and with good reason. The shiplap I wanted to finish out the "feature wall" and be the solution to the bed's headboard was out of stock at my local Home Depot.  In fact, it was out of stock at most Home Depots near me except for the one in Wisconsin. And this Fall, the COVID virus was on a major spike in that state, so I was avoiding going there. Mostly because I had a few doctor appointments and the first thing they ask you is if you'd left the state and wasn't willing to forgo my mammogram just for building supplies. 2020, y'all!  Anyway, last week after waiting two month I just decide to make the drive, since Illinois was also spiking new cases and, well, I have no where to go for the next two weeks anyway.  Here's the progression. Starting with the blank wall and moving all the way up to the caulking/wood filler step:  It was late Sunday night when I push the room back...

My goal for the weekend was to finish the basement niche shelves construction and I did!  I'm so excited with how neat and tidy it turned out.  I got book storage at the top. Some game and craft storage in the middle, though that's not final. And blankets at the bottom, which was the greatest need.  Everything got painted and caulked, so it truly looks like a built-in storage space that has always been there.  If you remember how it was before, with an old bookcase tossed in there with no organization. So much unused space and wasted potential.   Constructing those built-in shelves are still not one of my strengths. The pantry and laundry room closet were my last two projects and they didn't turn out completely perfect ... but I learned a bit more in each try.  This project allowed me a bit more practice AND made the basement look more put together.  I'm still sorting through the tons of leftover furniture and toys, among other things, that are st...

I don't like wasted space. If you're not new around here, that doesn't surprise you. When I think of areas of my house that are not living up to its true potential, it's a blaring red alarm in my brain. FIX ME FIX ME FIX ME This weekend I started fixing the niche in my basement, which was one of those spots. Here's the BEFORE of that corner of the basement.  It's our "media center" space, so you'll see the edge of our soft, comfy sofa. It's also the corner that has all the toy storage and toys the girls just couldn't part with. (Ugh) The actual niche is holding one of my mom's book cases, but, as you can see, there's so much unused space in there.  My grand plan was to install a cabinet with built-in shelves above, but once I started to think about what I needed storage for, going with open shelves made more sense. As you can see, we need blanket and pillow storage, as well as some place to put away toys and books.  Supplies for fou...

Here's a quick tip for painting a TON of spindles.  1. Cover your hand with a plastic bag.  2. Cover that with a cotton sock. Preferably one that's lost its mate and has been sitting at the bottom of the laundry basket for several months (ok, probably years).  3. Dip your hand in the paint and run your hands up and down the spindle. In your other hand, have a little brush to catch any drips and misses.  It looks a little crazy, but with the stairway project, I had so many spindles with detail work, it would have take me days to brush each. This took me a few minutes with each coat of primer and finish paint.  You're welcome! 

Big news! I built my own picture ledges and it really wasn't that hard!  Here they are all built and holding art and family photos in my dining room. Aren't they so FUN! And, the best part, building them myself saved me sooo much money. If you were buying them from a store, a sold wood picture ledge 6 ft long is about $80-100. Sometimes more! I spent about $40 for the finished oak at Mendard's for each ledge. Ok. So I've been seeing these picture ledges all over Instagram and Pinterest. And they're so attractive and allow for flexibility when arranging the art. I can pull some off and add new ones. Or add seasonal additions, too. But they are expensive. Here's my inspiration photo. I liked the light wood and the mix of frames and images. And I love the light fixtures above them -- but that's another story. OK. So armed with some DIY instructions and a firm idea of what I want it to look like, I headed to the trim aisles at Mendard's. Afte...