This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. For full disclosures and practices, please visit my policy page.

Table of Contents

• Demo and Plumbing
• New Base for the Shower Walls
• Waterproofing the Walls
• Using Musselbound
• How to Tile a Shower

Demolition and Plumbing

To begin this project I demolish the walls down to the studs. Once the walls are completely demolished I call my plumber. He came and extended my plumbing that went to my tub. He brought the plumbing up the wall to create a shower system as well. The next step in my demolition was to remove and replace the old insulation and the old window.

New Base for the Shower Walls

After the insulation and window have been replaced I am putting up new drywall. When my drywall is all in place it is time to caulk the seams. I am choosing to do this instead of drywall mud because I need it to be not water permeable. Using caulk does require some precision. My drywall seams have to be within an eighth of an inch apart for the caulking method to work.

Waterproofing the Walls

The caulk was the first step in waterproofing the base of the shower walls. The next step in waterproofing is RedGard. This is a waterproofing membrane that you roll onto the drywall. To apply this you must use thin layers. I am doing three layers to make sure I have a built-up and continuous membrane across all of the drywall. I start by using a brush to apply the RedGard to the corners and any edges like the ceiling. Then, I used a roller to do the rest of the wall. I am also going to roll this onto the wall beyond where the tile will be because this will protect an area where water can also be sprayed on.

How to Tile a Shower Using Musselbound

For this project, I am not using cement board to tile the shower, instead, I am using an innovative new product called Musslebound. This is essentially a waterproof sticker that is highly adhesive and you stick your tiles directly to it. Before applying Musslebound to the wall it has to be completely dry and completely flat.

To apply this to the wall, stick the adhesive to the top of the shower wall, then begin rolling downwards. You have to push the adhesive to the wall as you are unrolling it, I am using a weighted roller, you have to push hard to make sure it sticks well. You can pull it up before completely sticking it down to adjust the mat and make sure it is flat. To cut the Musslebound around the shower lines, I cut an X and then popped it over. When I get to my window opening I am cutting and wrapping the Musslebound around that as well.

How to Tile a Shower

I have never tiled before, so that means I had to buy myself a wet saw to cut the tile! Before I do anything I do a lot of pre-planning as to how I am going to lay my tiles. This is important because the margin for error is very small when using Musslebound. I am cutting all of my tiles very carefully and lining them up with my laser level to make sure that they will all be straight. I do all of this without removing the liner from the Musslebound so I can mark and measure without permanently placing the tiles.

To make sure that the tiles adhere to the Musslebound I dried them off with a towel and put them out in the sun. When I remove the liner from the Musslebound, I apply seam tape up all of the seams so everything is continuously sticky. My tiles are being laid in a vertical staggered short-side pattern. I begin to lay my tiles by simply sticking them to the Musslebound with tile spacers in between every edge of the tile, the spacer I am using is 332. When I am placing the tiles I hold them for a few seconds to press them against the Musslebound to make sure they adhere. When all my tiles are laid, I go in and grout normally!

Now that my shower is tiled, I can continue the rest of my bathroom renovations. If you would like to see how the entire bathroom turned out click here!

The post How to Tile a Shower the Easy Way appeared first on .

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. For full disclosures and practices, please visit my policy page.

Table of Contents

• Demolition
• Scraping Popcorn Ceilings
• Cleanup Post Demo
• Painting
• Baseboard and Trim Work
• Prepping the Ceiling
• Fretwork Ceiling Design Installation
• Installing Crown Molding
• Putting in New Carpet
• Replacing the Baseboards
• Decor and a Look at the Finished Room

Demolition to Begin the Office Transformation

To start demolition for the office transformation I am removing the old finishes. This includes ripping up the stained and smelly carpeting. I also am taking out the underlayment and all the staples. Then, I hammered underneath all of the tack strips and pulled them up. These tack strips were not easy to get up, they used some big nails to nail them down. I removed the baseboards as well because it will be easier to paint this room without them. Next, I am removing the old drapery and the bar along the top of the windowsill. Unfortunately, the bar is drilled into the window casing. I am going to have to patch and restain the wood window casing later. The ceiling fan in this room also needs to be removed, it is outdated and I have bigger plans for the light fixture!

Scraping Popcorn Ceilings

Once the demolition is complete, I begin working on the popcorn ceiling. I am scraping the ceiling texture to make the ceiling flat. To start, I am laying plastic over the entire floor to make cleanup easier. To make this ceiling flat I spray the texture with a water and dish soap mixture. Let that soak in for a few minutes. I then get into my gear to keep myself safe and spray it again. After the second spray I begin to scrape, I have done this in a lot of the rooms in this lake house. This is not as scary of a task as you may think, if you want a more in-depth tutorial on how to scrape popcorn ceilings click here.

Cleaning Up After Demolition

Scraping the popcorn texture off of the ceilings is an extremely messy job. When I finish this task I have to wipe everything down to get rid of the dust. When the walls are clean I can patch the holes that have been created from the many nails that were all over the place. After the holes are patched I am finally ready to start painting and begin the office transformation.

Office Transformation Painting

I am starting my painting with crisp white paint. I am rolling this by hand on all of the walls. Hand rolling the paint is easier than spraying because this is such a small room. I also decided that I am going to paint the ceiling to vamp up this office transformation. The color for the ceiling is anything but boring, I chose Village Green by Behr. This color is kind of a sage green. Everything got two coats of paint, when the colors were opaque I was ready to start working on the baseboards.

Baseboard and Trim Work

I have already removed the baseboards, so they are ready to be sanded down all the way. In addition, I am going to fill in all of the nail holes as well. I want to refinish them to hopefully make them look brand new. While I sand the baseboards I am also sanding the whole front face of the window trim to blend in where I filled the blemishes. I am going to stain the window trim at the same time. This is all going to match the existing trim work. Because all of the trim in this house is a couple of decades old and is faded, I could not find an exact stain match in the stores. I decided to mix two colors of stain, American Walnut and Chestnut by Varathane, to get my desired color. I only put one coat of the stain on and then wiped it off. To finish the trim off I reseal it.

Ceiling Transformation Prep Work

The most stand-out portion of this office transformation is the accent ceiling. I am creating an amazing three-dimensional design on the ceiling. To do this I have to figure out how to paint my fretwork panels, I got mine from architecturaldepot.com. The idea I came up with to paint these is using a lazy Susan and my paint sprayer. I taped cardboard onto the lazy Susan to protect it from getting spray all over. Next, I put two 2×4 scraps on top to elevate the fretwork panel. Now I have a homemade spraying station. I can now paint my fretwork panels without getting dips from trying to roll or brush these.

Office Transformation Fretwork Ceiling Installation

To install my fretwork panels for the office transformation I lined up my laser level centered with the light fixture. Then, I placed my first panel centered on that. I am going to build everything on the design off of this. After I had my first one nailed into place it was very easy to keep building off. These fretwork panels are perfectly square, so it all worked out without having to continue using the laser level.

To nail the fretwork panels in I am using my cordless  brad nailer and a one and three eighth inch nail. I did not want a nail that is too long because it might hit wires in the ceiling or duct work. I picked something just long enough to go through the half inch fretwork panel, the drywall, and not much more.

Around the edges of the wall where I had to cut the fretwork panels I taped three together, then used a jigsaw to cit it to width. This does not give me the smoothest cut possible, but the edges of this accent ceiling are going to have crown molding anyway. My cut did not have to be perfectly straight or clean.  The cut panels finish out the ceiling perfectly. To finish off the ceiling I am adding a new chandelier.

Crown Molding Installation

Now it is time to move on to crown molding, for this office transformation I wanted crown molding to extend the height of the walls up. To do this I painted the molding the same color as white on the walls. Painting the molding white did exactly what I hoped it would, it made the room look taller and bigger. I install the crown using corner pieces which made it so easy, I stuck the 90 degree corner in, nailed it in place, and built from there. This eliminates the need for compound miter cuts that make crown so difficult and confusing. When the installation is complete I fill in all of my nail holes on the white pieces of molding with wood filler and caulked all of the seams. Then, I give the molding another coat of paint to make it blend seamlessly.

Carpet Installation to Soften the Office Makeover

Now that the ceiling is complete I can turn my attention to the floors. Although I removed the carpet I still want a warm, cozy, feeling in this office transformation. I also wanted to dampen a lot of sound in the room. Because of this, I have decided to reinstall carpet. The carpet I am using is carpet tiles. These hold in place with special technology on the back that utilizes the physics behind molecular gravity to suction to any hard floor. The tiles do not move around unless you pick them up and break the suction. Placing them next to each other and staggering the seams, these carpet tiles allow the whole room to be carpeted beautifully. The seams are slightly visible when I am done, so I am adding a rug to cover some of them up. Carpet tiles are especially DIY friendly because you can cut them with a utility knife, you just score it and then cut all the way through. This makes it so easy, even to cut and lay carpet around complicated things. 

Replacing the Baseboards

Once the carpet is fully installed I am replacing the baseboards. I am using my brad nailer again, this time with slightly longer nails. My nails are lined up with where the studs are going to be. I am using a magnetic stud finder to find exactly where to put my nails. This makes the molding sick really tightly to the wall.  The refreshed baseboards really bring the office transformation together.

Office Transformation Decor

For decoration in this office transformation I am going to repurpose a large frame I got at a thrift store. I am going to turn it into a beautiful canvas painting. To do this I evenly spread out mod podge and wrap the glass with a bed sheet. When the sheet has set on the glass I can begin to paint. I am painting a field with golds and greens. I am using some colors from the house renovation so everything blends and matches. The wood frame I am spray painting gold, if you want to see a more in depth tutorial on how to spray paint in the winter click here. When the frame is dry, I reassemble the painting back together and hang it on the wall. To accentuate my new painting I a hanging some accessory lighting on either side. These sconces are not hardwired, I simply am using magic LED lightbulbs. These recharge in a regular lamp socket and turn on and off with a remote. Last to add to this room is more tapestry, I am adding thick blackout velvet curtains in the color champagne. I of course also assembled and added the office furniture.

This office transformation was very extreme, from bland, outdated, blue bedroom to a comfortable, interesting working space. It has created a space that I can complete a lot of work in, I hope you enjoy this office transformation! If you loved this room transformation and want to see more, start on my bedroom makeover!

The post Office Transformation appeared first on .

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. For full disclosures and practices, please visit my policy page.

Table of Contents

• Removing the Current Flooring
• Prepping the Floor
• Priming
• Prepping the Concrete
• How to Lay Self-Leveling Concrete
• The After!

Getting Rid of the Current Flooring

My initial plan was to lay overtop of the current tile, but a lot of it is damaged. The plumber came to do some work for me and he damaged more of it. So, I am starting by removing the floor tile and starting to build back. After all of the tile is removed I use my Oscillating Multi-Tool and Grinder to scrape the dried mortar off of the subfloor.  The mortar bed needs to come off the subfloor because I need the floor flat. No matter what new floor option I do a flat subfloor is super important.

Prep Process Before Laying Self-Leveling Concrete

When the mortar was ground off, I saw that the subfloor was in super bad shape with gauges and holes from the plumbing I had moved. To fill the holes, I am taking blocks of wood and hammering them in. Then I put Bondo over the top. I am also filling the seam between the sheets of subfloor with the Bondo. I also need to build up a curb around other areas like the toilet flange, around a pipe that comes in, and around the edge of the wall. To do this I am using window & door Great Stuff because it does not expand a lot, so it is going to give me the right amount of curb. I am also adding some screws to get rid of the squeaking of the floor. 

Priming the Floor

Now the floor needs a good vacuum and wipe down before I go in with primer. I am using LevelQuick primer. This primer is going to help my self-leveling concrete stick to the plywood subfloor. I think of my exit strategy while I prime so I do not have to step on the primer after it has been laid down. After an hour I am going to put on a second coat just to make sure, especially because my floor has these gauges in it. I really want to make sure that the primer adheres. Once the primer has dried, I am adding some silicone caulking along the Great Stuff foam. I do this as insurance to make sure none of the self-leveling concrete gets under those areas.

Preparing the Self-Leveling Concrete

When using self-leveling concrete you have to follow the instructions on the bag very closely. I am using Rapid Set self-leveling concrete. If you do not follow the specific measurements the concrete will not flow or self-level properly. I mixed mine in a large clean bucket with my drill and a mixing paddle attachment.

How to Lay Self-Leveling Concrete

When I begin to lay self-leveling concrete I start by just pouring out small portions. I am not too worried about testing the level because the subfloor I am working with is already pretty level. I just need to agitate the product so it can move into all the spots that it needs to go. Once it gets to the places it needs to be it can flow and move, but if it is not agitated into a spot, it may not make it there. Because of this, it is super important to move the self-leveling concrete to all areas of the floor. I only have 20 minutes to work with this self-leveling concrete before it begins to harden, so working quickly is important. Once it is all laid, I am leaving it overnight to dry.

After Laying Self Leveling Concrete

I came back in the morning to see how the floor looks after I laid self-leveling concrete and it looks so good! Now I am using a utility knife to cut away the foam that I put around many parts of the bathroom. I lay down my flooring once the foam is cleaned up. This flooring is LVT, it is made to look like tile but it is made of vinyl and is waterproof. If you want to know more about how to lay flooring, I have a video on how to do it here!

If you want to see how the end result of this bathroom check out the DIY Small Bathroom Remodel!

The post How to Lay Self-Leveling Concrete DIY appeared first on .

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. For full disclosures and practices, please visit my policy page.

Table of Contents

• Removing the Hollow Doors
• Cutting the Doors
• Filling Blemishes and Sanding
• Cutting Grooves
• Fixing Ugly Cuts
• Preparing the Doors to Paint
• Painting the Doors
• Upgrading the Hardware and a Look at the Final Product

Hollow Door Removal

I start by removing the hollow core doors from their frames, I also remove the handles. I then mark the tops of each door. This allows me to know which doors go where because rectangular doors fit very specifically in their jambs. 

Cutting Hollow Core Doors

The bottom of these hollow core doors were cut very unevenly from when the carpeting was originally installed. Because of this the first thing to do is square off the bottom. I cross cut the bottom of the hollow doors. I do this by measuring from the top, clamping a straight edge, then running my circular saw against the straight edge to square up the base of the door. 

Filling Blemishes and Sanding

After I complete the cutting of the hollow core doors it is time to fill blemishes and sand. I begin by filling the blemishes with Two Part Putty Bondo. There are many dents and divots on these hollow doors that require filling. While the putty is drying I decide to try filling the grain on the hollow door panel with watered down Plaster of Paris. I actually didn’t do this on all of the doors because the extra work wasn’t worth it. I found that the grain was hardly visible after paint anyways. Once the putty is dry, I sand down the hollow core doors. I am using a 120 grit sandpaper and sand until it is smooth to the touch. 

Hollow Core Doors Groove Cutting

Now it is time to take the hollow doors over to my table saw. The blade is set extremely shallow, only 1/16th of an inch. I am creating grooves in the hollow door. The panel on the door is very thin, so I have to be careful not to cut through. I try to balance the bulky door through my table saw and this does not work well. My cut has some areas where the blade jarred side to side making a very ugly cut.  I try again, this time I set up my Workpro adjustable workbench completely level with my table saw. This creates an infeed that can support the door all the way in through the table saw blade. My outfeed then supports the hollow door on the way out. This allows me to get the straight, smooth cut I was looking for. 

Fixing Ugly Cuts in the Door

The way I am fixing the cuts that are messed up is by filling them with Bondo. When the cut is filled I sand it smooth and run it through my table saw again. Because I cut the hollow door panel vertically there are some splintery pieces, so it’s important to run sandpaper through the grooves. After doing this I am also doing a quick sand across the top. 

Prepping to Paint Hollow Core Doors

After sanding the doors smooth, I prime all six of the hollow core doors using a paint brush and a roller. I am painting the doors against my fence, so I have to set up a sheet of plastic to protect the fence from overspray. I am also nailing small scrap pieces of wood into the top of each door so when I lean them against the fence the painted surface will not touch the plastic.

Painting the Doors

It took me a long time to decide what paint color to use, but I decided to use the same color that is on the wall, French beige. (Check out the space I am matching the doors to here.) I am watering the color down so it can go through my paint sprayer. I also am adding semi-gloss white paint which is durable for doors. The addition of this really lightens the wall color which is going to compliment the space nicely. Before I actually paint I am going to do one last quick sand. To do this I like to use a sheet of sandpaper wrapped around a peanut sponge so there are no sharp edges. I am doing this as a light knockdown do of any texture that may have come up with priming.

I am using a cordless spray gun to apply the paint to the doors for a perfectly smooth finish. Because of the scrap pieces of wood I can paint one side of the door and then carefully flip the door and continue painting. When the doors are done with their paint application I am highlighting the grooves that I cut using a brown paint pen. The reason I am doing this is because I am not planning on painting any of the trim of the jamb around the hollow doors and I wanted to use some brown on this design to pull it together and make it match.

Hollow Doors Update Hardware

I am not going to replace the old hardware, rather I am going to shine up current hardware with Rub and Buff on the areas where the gold plating has worn away. Finally, I am putting the handles back on these hollow core doors and replacing them in their jambs. 

Hollow Core Doors Upgrade

At this point you may be wondering what style I am going for with these doors. The goal is to mimic a plank style door, this is a primitive way of putting together a door that’s been around for a long time. It has a kind of modern look because the vertical lines look like tongue and groove shiplap.  Plank style doors are also perfect for cottage style homes because it is such an old-fashioned way of putting together a door. This is a pretty minor change, but I think it adds more style and dimension to these hollow core doors. 

Thank you for reading about my hollow core doors upgrade! This DIY was pretty simple in nature but did take some time to do. I’m happy I had the tools and materials on hand and didn’t have to buy anything new to get doors I really like! What do you think of the change? If you liked this interior upgrade DIY and want to see more, my post on how to lay self leveling concrete is a great place to start!

The post Hollow Core Doors Upgrade DIY appeared first on .

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. For full disclosures and practices, please visit my policy page.

Table of Contents

• Preparations
• Scraping the Ceiling
• Texturing the Ceiling
• Before and Afters

Preparation for Scraping Popcorn Ceilings

The first thing to do is take a sample of your ceiling and mail it to a lab to get tested for asbestos. A lot of times popcorn ceilings have asbestos and it’s unsafe to remove them. Mine fortunately came back negative for asbestos but it also came back showing that my popcorn ceilings had been painted. Now this posed kind of a problem: it is much more difficult to remove popcorn ceilings with paint.

I started by removing any obstructions on the ceiling like the light fixture and any hooks that remained. I also removed upper cabinets because they were coming down later in the remodel anyways. There is substantial prepping involved before scraping popcorn ceilings. I used a large plastic sheet that I taped up and put on the wall. Ideally, you should cover all surfaces since it is such a messy job and will make it easier for clean up.

Popcorn ceilings are much easier to remove when wet. I used my garden sprayer filled with hot water and a bit of dish soap. This prevents the textured ceiling from turning into a crumbly dust. I first pressurized the garden sprayer, then proceeded to spray a small area, and let it sit for five minutes to allow the water to soak into the texture. When letting it soak, I prepared myself for the job. I recommend putting your hair back and wearing a face respirator to protect yourself from any particles. I also recommend putting a hood up and wearing safety glasses so nothing gets in your eyes or hair.

Scraping the Popcorn Ceilings

Once I was ready to go, I rewet the surface area and came in with a six-inch drywall knife. First, I started scraping the ceiling but only was getting the top part of the bumps off. I dowsed the popcorn ceilings with water multiple times, however it was very difficult to get down to the popcorn texture without damaging the drywall. I do not recommend trying it this way because through trial, error, and a massive arm workout, I did not get the result I was looking for.

After this idea failed, I decided to try a different method I found online. I grabbed my shop-vac and removed the fine particles filter so it would be able to suck up the larger clumps. Then, I taped the hose to my dry wall knife so it would suck up anything that would fall. Quickly, I saw the flaw to this method. I was scraping with one arm already tired with one hand. With the other, I was holding a thirty pound shop-vac since the clumps falling were so heavy.

Because of this, I went back to my first method and moved to the center of the room. Suddenly the popcorn started coming off with ease since this part of the ceiling was not painted. This area left a perfectly smooth patch with no texture unlike the other area. A new method that worked best in the areas with painted drywall I found, was pushing with two hands so I could have more control while scraping.

Texturing the Ceilings

I got the ceiling as flat as I could and decided the residual bumps from the painted popcorn next to the completely smooth area where the popcorn texture scraped off easily looked bad and I would have to retexture. Texture Effects by Modern Masters allowed me to get the whole ceiling one uniform texture with a skim coat. This product is superior to joint compound for this task because it resists shrinking and cracking. It adheres well without the need to prime, although I did prime my ceilings first just to be safe. Modern Masters Texture Effects also self-sealing and water resistant, so after it was up I did not have to prime or paint over it!

Initially, I tried to smear it straight out of the can but it ended up being too dry and thick. I added a bit of water to my trough and mixed it up well. This created a thinner consistency for adding a smooth skim coat.

The way I applied it left a troweled on look which resembled the look of plaster and I liked it a lot. However, if you are looking for more of a consistent smoothed look, you could use a damp sponge to flatten it after about 15-20 minutes of drying. Because Modern Masters Texture Effects is self-sealing, smearing it across the ceiling was all I had to do. If you wanted yours a color, you can also purchase it tinted so you can still skip the painting step. If you’d like to paint afterwards, the product does accept paint very well. After everything was done, I put up my light fixture and was ready for my next project in this kitchen!

Shop for all of Modern Masters specialty products here!

A Whole New Ceiling!

Scraping popcorn ceilings in my kitchen didn’t go as I planned because the paint made the texture difficult to come off. With the Modern Masters Texture Effects and a bit more work I was able to get a smooth ceiling I love! Now the room has an updated look to go with my updated color palette and I can’t wait to keep renovating!

If you liked this interior upgrade DIY and want to see more, my post on how to lay self leveling concrete is a great place to start!

The post Scraping Popcorn Ceilings That Were Painted appeared first on .

Table of Contents

• The Stairway Before
• Plans for Painting
• Prep for Painting the Stairs
• The Full Makeover
• What You Need to Paint the Stairs
• Before and Afters

A Look at the Stairway Before

This post contains affiliate links. Please read my full disclosures and policies here.

This is where we began. In all fairness, the red didn’t last more than a week. Before we even moved our stuff in, my family came and helped paint numerous rooms of the house. The red was covered with primer and two coats of a beautiful paint: Mindful Gray by Sherwin Williams.

Plans for Painting Stairway

When the red was gone, it looked like this:

And we lived with it like this for a year as we worked on adding a bathroom, renovating the whole main level, our exterior makeover, and everything else! The stairs still needed lots of TLC, but there were other things that needed it more.

In February, I finally got started on my modern painted staircase remodel. I did consider refinishing the wood, but there were several reasons I went with paint instead.

• The risers had TONS of holes in them from previously being carpeted
• The current stain was bubbling terribly from age in many places making a gel stain out of the question
• Sanding down these stairs to the original wood grain would’ve been beyond tedious.
• Stain is stinkier and more difficult to apply than paint
• All the rest of my trimwork in the entire house is painted white

So, let’s get to painting stairs!

Prep for Painting Staircase

Before painting, I spent a lot of time prepping the stairs. I had to sand down the bubbling stain with my orbital sander in multiple places. I also sanded each riser because they had old carpet underlayment stuck to it in places. Then I filled in holes EVERYWHERE with this latex wood putty. Next I taped down the edges of the carpet with my favorite green frog tape. Finally I could start priming!

When priming was done, I also used two full tubes of caulking on these stairs to make them look flawless before painting!

DIY Stair Makeover

It would’ve been easy to just paint everything white, but I was thinking that white risers would get dirty real quick with three little kiddos in the house! So I planned to paint accents of the stairwell black. With the help from my Instagram audience voting on my design, I ended up with black risers, a black railing, and everything else white.

Now the stairway goes perfectly with the rest of my house’s black and white design!

How to Paint Staircase

The tools I used will guide you towards the easiest way to paint a stairwell.

• 4″ mini roller set – this allows you to move fast and spread paint evenly without brush strokes
• Bullseye Primer – my go-to primer for covering varnished and stained surfaces because it adheres awesome with no bleed-through
• Behr Paint – I purchased a paint with self-leveling properties, strong adhesion and durability, and one that can be scrubbed clean.
• Wooster paint brush – at this point, I refuse to paint with anything else. The precise control you get from a wooster is unparalleled.
• Satin polycrylic – protect all your hard work with a couple of poly layers!

Before and After Stairway Remodel

I hope these before and afters impress you!! We did replace doors and install new trim throughout the upper level that add to the drastic transformation between these photos!

It’s AMAZING what paint can do! Our stairway now looks clean and modern instead of outdated and worn. If you are inspired to paint stairs, please thank me by pinning these images to Pinterest!

If you liked this interior upgrade DIY and want to see more, my post on how to lay self leveling concrete is a great place to start!

The post Modern Painted Staircase Remodel appeared first on .

This post may contain affiliate links or paid sponsorship. All thoughts and opinions are my own. To read my full disclosures and policies, click here.

DIY Faucet Install

Installing a new faucet is easier than you might think! I hate plumbing (and have little experience with it) and was still able to get this faucet installed in less than an hour!

Of course I made a video for you guys to follow along how you can change out your faucet with very little work. Plus I unbox my gorgeous Norwood faucet from Vigo in this video and gush about how fancy it works!

Suffolk Sink

You know, I talked about all the things I love about the faucet, but here are some highlights of the sink which I didn’t cover in the video:

• Two deep basins where I can put in large pots, bathe kids, and fit lots of dirty dishes.
• Constructed of stainless steel which is high quality and easy to clean!
• Under mount installation which looks so modern and crisp.
• Comes with grids and high quality strainers. It’s never been so easy to protect my drains from debris!
• The perfect size! It measures 32″ and looks exactly right in front of our kitchen window.

Installing this sink was easy with the use of my new Rockwell multi-oscilating tool. It allowed me to precisely cut the cabinet supports just where I needed to bring the undermount sink close to the edge! It’s seriously one of the most versatile tools I have!

I feel like the luckiest lady ever to receive these beautiful finishes for my remodel! Paired with our new range, I feel like I live with a really high-end kitchen.

That’s all for now! If you found the DIY faucet installation video helpful or you’re just loving the photos of my modern kitchen makeover, please pin this post! If you liked this interior upgrade DIY and want to see more, my post on how to lay self leveling concrete is a great place to start!

The post DIY Faucet Installation Video Tutorial appeared first on .

You can see that her spindles are 6 inches apart and so she used a plastic sheet behind the railing to prevent her kids and animals from going between them. This protection was not sturdy nor attractive! Many people have this issue with the stair railing in their home. Building code used to require a 6 inch space between spindles, but has since been reduced to a 4 inch requirement. This DIY stair railing safety redo will show you exactly how to remedy this problem.

The first step in the process is to remove the spindles and top rail from the newel posts. This railing was secured with screws drilled at 45 degree angles through the top rail into the newel posts. Savanna dissolved the wood filler that hid those screws using mineral spirits. Then I removed the screws with a drill and popped the spindles out of their holes.

[the_ad_group id=”8″]

Clearly I was happy with how easy it was to remove the railing!

Next, together we removed every other spindle by twisting and wiggling until it was loose. Each one had remnant wood glue and a finishing nail in it. Since we were changing 6 inch spaced spindles to 4 inch spaced spindles, we were able to keep every other spindle in tact. The measurement between them was 12 inches (of course) so we are just adding two spindles between each we kept.

We took the railing outside and flipped it upside down to drill holes for the new spindles. Savanna used a drill and spade bit to make the holes measuring every 4 inches apart. Since her spindles are tapered, the top hole needed a 5/8 inch spade bit and the bottom hole that went into the floor needed to be a 3/4 inch spade bit.

Here are the newly drilled holes! The one between the newly-drilled holes will get filled with wood putty.

Savanna was feeling pretty proud of herself at this point!

[the_ad_group id=”8″]

Now it was time to address the bottom of the railing…

I used the 3/4 inch spade bit to drill holes every 4 inches into the floor board just the same as the top rail. Then we started inserting our spindles!

The shorter stretch of the railing got all new spindles. Savanna found matching spindles at Home Depot and then stained them to match prior to assembly. The larger stretch of the railing has spaces where the initial spindles we left in tact would be inserted.

Before installing the top rail, I filled in holes with wood putty using a 5-in-1 tool.

[the_ad_placement id=”middle-of-post”]

The next step was to put in the top rail and pound it down into the holes with a rubber mallet. We did add wood glue to the holes at the top and bottom of the railing. In this picture, Savanna is holding the top rail in place as I drill the 45 degree angle screws back into newel posts.

We had lots of holes to fill with wood putty! We did this over the span of a couple days because in order to fill a hole this deep, we had to add the wood putty in sections letting it completely dry between. When the holes were completely filled and dry, Savanna sanded by hand with 60 grit sandpaper.

Be careful to go with the grain of the wood so the sanding marks are not noticeable. The last step is to stain the wood putty so it blends in!

Together Savanna and I completely this project in one afternoon and a few spare hours on other days staining spindles and filling wood putty.

DIY Stair Railing Safety Redo

Here is the stair railing all complete!

The before and after is fun to see not because there is a dramatic change, but because I think we did a great job making it look like the stair railing was never modified. Now that there are added spindles to make the railing up to code and safe, Savanna can get rid of the plastic and rest easy!

This problem is so common! Be sure to pin and share with someone you know who could use this advice!

Thanks for reading my DIY stair railing safety redo! If you liked this interior upgrade DIY and want to see more, my post on how to lay self leveling concrete is a great place to start!
For your convenience, this post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosures and policies here.

The post DIY Stair Railing Safety Redo appeared first on .

This is the space amidst renovation. The doorway you see here leads to the utility room. Clearly we wanted this enclosed since there was a different utility room entrance my sister could use. We started by painting all the wainscoting and trim gloss white. We cleaned and primed it first, then applied two coats of paint.

When we were done with hours of painting, this is what the space looked like.

Installing Plywood

Next we cut our wood, starting with a large sheet of plywood to fit the back. We nailed this into the door casing from behind.

[the_ad_group id=”8″]

I had help from my sister’s friends that were already working on other construction projects in the store. They graciously cut all the wood for me so I didn’t even have to use my table saw!

To attach shelves inside the doorway, I was planning to drill pocket holes with my Kreg jig and make them floating. However, in cutting the shelves we discerned the doorway was not square nor parallel. This made it more feasible to create a shelving method that would allow for wiggle room. Enter slats.

Installing Slats As Shelf Supports

We cut 1 inch wide slats and screwed them into the wood door casing with two screws. Each shelf measured 16″ apart.

This method is actually how I installed shelves to organize closets in my home, too.

[the_ad_group id=”8″]

Next we set the shelves on top. We added little nails down through the shelf into the slats so that the shelf wouldn’t slide off or move. After touching up paint we were ready to style them!

Doorway to Bookshelf Transformation

The bookshelves look so great! I love this built-in look and how useful the storage space is now. As a whole the playroom rocks!

[the_ad_placement id=”middle-of-post”]

Don’t forget to pin this idea!

Be sure to check out my sister’s maternity store online where they sell clothes and products for moms. Thanks for reading my doorway to bookshelf transformation and I will be back soon to show you what I’m building for my house! If you liked this interior upgrade DIY and want to see more, my post on how to lay self leveling concrete is a great place to start!

For your convenience, this post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosures and policies here.

The post Doorway to Bookshelf Transformation appeared first on .

Isn’t that how it always goes? You improve something in your home that highlights the next thing to be done. It is never-ending. Anyways, after I moved to a monochromatic color scheme in my home design, I have felt my front door just doesn’t fit in anymore. It was time for a new paint color that matched the inside. As you know, my living room looks like this:

I used that same teal color I mixed up for the coffee table to paint the walls of my bathroom. This time I mixed it with a little gray to tone it down and completed a front door refresh!

To get started, I removed the hardware from the door, the handle and deadbolt.

My daughter was playing peekaboo through these holes for a solid half hour afterwards.

I didn’t take process pictures because it really was as simple as mixing up my color and rolling it on. I used a mini roller with a 3/8″ nap to get a heavy coat. After two coats of paint and a day of dry time, the front door refresh was done.

Bam! Totally different, right?

This color is so cheerful, I hung a flowering spring wreath up right away.

The difference still catches me off guard every time I come home. However, it certainly goes with the rest of the house now!

What do you think of the new color!? I asked my readers on Facebook what I should do beforehand; the winning choice was some sort of teal. Did I pick the kind of color you would go for on your house?

If you liked this interior upgrade DIY and want to see more, my post on how to lay self leveling concrete is great place to start!

The post Front Door Refresh: Paint It Turquoise! Entryway Makeover Part 1 appeared first on .