Powder room planks

Well, we are moving right along on this mostly DIY powder room reno.

I last shared how we had tiled over the existing tile (you can read about that here).

Since then, the tile has been grouted and the bottom half of the walls have been planked.

We did this planking job a little bit differently than the one we did in our master bedroom (read about that here).

Since we only planked halfway up the walls in here, we needed to add a trim at the top.
We picked out a simple one because we felt like there is already a lot going on with the hexagon tile. A fancy elaborate trim would probably have been too much.

Also, since we tiled right up to the existing woodwork, we added quarter rounds to it so that it would have more of a finished look.

Unlike our bedroom which has perfectly spaced planks, I wanted to try a more rustic and less uniform look in here. Some planks are practically touching, some have a penny-sized gap. They are all a little different and I like it that way in here.
You can see the variation in the pictures below:

We also installed these planks a little differently than we did in our bedroom.

Because we live in the Northeast and there are temperature extremes (freezing cold in the winter and hot in the summer), we experienced some expanding and shrinking with our bedroom planks. That resulted in some cracks between planks and some bowing. To fix that, we had to re-caulk some spots and add extra nails here and there after the fact which was a little annoying.

This time, in addition to nails, we also glued the planks to the wall.
So, these babies hopefully aren't going anywhere!

All in all, it was a pretty quick DIY job.
Chris measured and cut the planks.
I glued, he nailed, I painted.
We both spackled the nail holes and caulked the corners and the edges.
Charlie cheered us on from his pack 'n play!
Bam, done in a couple of days.

Next up for this space is picking a paint for the top half of the wall. 

Will share more once it is done!

- Caitlin

Bringing the built-ins back to life

Lately, I've been refreshing the look of our living room built-ins. It started with a much needed fresh coat of white paint. Then, we added simple doors to conceal the TV. Now it's all about the accessories. 

Due to a clutter-free/less is more mood, I've been keeping it simple with a few photographs on each shelf and a couple accessories here and there.

Below you will find a look at some of the shelves that are feeling complete and a source list at the end of the post sharing where everything came from.

I like how this clock is big enough to fill up the space on the top shelf.

The price can't be beat either!

I've wanted to have more photos displayed around our home and the built-ins are the perfect place for them. I needed about 7 of these gray stained frames so it was a good thing that just like the clock, the frames were cheap cheap cheap.

Any Donovan Frankenreiter fans out there?

This wood crate holds some of our favorite records.

Paint is an amazing thing.

I was about to get rid of the large frame pictured below on the left because it was an odd blue color that didn't really fit in any part of our house. 

Instead of tossing it, I painted it white and now it fits in perfectly.

Source list:

galvanized clock: Target

large gray frames: Target

camera: garage sale

books: garage sale

galvanized tins: Michaels

crate on wheels: garage sale

topiary: garage sale

large white frame: Home Goods

gray wood and metal frame: Target

3 white photograph frame: garage sale but found here from Pottery Barn

large suitcase: garage sale

small suitcase: Home Goods

Thanks for stopping by!

- Caitlin

Recent bargain buys

Today I'm sharing a few recent purchases of mine that didn't break the bank:

clockwise from top right:

I've been making over my living room built-ins for what seems like forever now and needed some larger pieces for some of the shelves. So, I bought this clock to fill up one of the shelves and make a statement. I love the way it looks and will share pictures of it in the room soon.

I recently ordered this fabric to have some pillows made for our living room.
I know, more throw pillows?

These days, I definitely do more clothes shopping for baby Charlie than for myself (and I'm perfectly fine with that)! I picked up these t-shirts and this anorak for him for so cheap. Use coupon code 2963 for 20% off your order of $60 or more!

Apparently pineapples are in (just see this blog post). I love them because they make me think of summer! So, I bought this pineapple jar for my kitchen to hold cell phone and computer chargers.

Have a great weekend!
- Caitlin

My Daily Bubble: Copy-cat cocktail glasses

My latest post is live on My Daily Bubble!

Check out how I turned ordinary glasses into knock-off versions of these  J. Crew ones:

Have a great day!
- Caitlin

Family room follow-up & our DIY picture ledge

Oh...our family room.

This room has been slow to complete but it's getting there.

Recently, we were able to tackle above the couch.

Chris built this picture ledge using scrap wood he had in the garage.

I don't have a step-by-step tutorial but this post here gives more details on how to make one!

Once the ledge was assembled, I stained it and then we just screwed it into the wall.

The white frames are Ikea and the wood ones are Target that were previously hanging in our foyer.

I don't really plan on keeping the existing art and photographs but for the sake of not having empty frames, I just filled them with things I already had.

Here are a few prints I'm currently eyeing to fill the frames:

Etsy

Etsy

Etsy

- Caitlin

My Daily Bubble: easy Easter eggs

My latest post on My Daily Bubble is all about mess-free Easter egg decorating.

You can check it out here.

A quick thank you to Apartment Therapy for using my master bedroom fiddle leaf fig tree as one of 7 Ways to Add a Little Pizazz to a Plain Room!

- Caitlin