When we purchased our home, one of the first things on my to-do list was to save money for a bathroom renovation. I felt like there was no way we could make the existing space work for our family, and that a renovation would take us from tiny dungeon bathroom to bright and organized oasis. One of the best pieces of advice I received when speaking with homeowners was to live in a space for a while and see how it functions for your family before deciding on any construction projects. I am so glad we listened to this! After living here for just a short time, I realized that our bathroom really only needed some small tweaks to make it a beautiful and functional space. Here, I will outline some of the things we did to maximize storage, and change the entire look of our room, without investing in a renovation.

1. Painting

First things first, we chose paint to transform the room. The gray on the walls was only making the tight space feel smaller and darker. A crisp white (Pure White by Sherwin Williams) instantly brightened the room and made the space feel fresh. See the images for a before and after of the space. Paint made a huge difference!

2. Remove Glass Shower Door

Removing the glass shower door made our bathroom feel twice the size! Having the etched glass blocking light from the only window kept the room dark, and stopped the eye before the room ended. Taking the door off also made showering more enjoyable- no more hitting elbows on the glass while shampooing, or bumping shins on the metal rails while getting in and out. We also swapped out the shower head for one with a filter (this makes your hair and skin feel great!) and a hose. Here is a before and after with the glass door taken off.

3. Closet Organizing

Deciding to get this closet organized has given us much more space, and less headache! Each basket is labeled so nothing is ever lost. We decided to organize by the following categories: self care, medicine, first aid, dental care, Grace, Nick, Peppermint, hair tools/ clippers, extra product, and then toilet paper and towels on the top shelf. Extra tip-stackable baskets with flat tops like the ones we found at Homegoods maximize storage capacity.

4. Add a Shelving Unit Next to The Sink

Have you ever gone to wash your hands and knocked the soap right off the sink just trying to turn the water on? Our little sink cabinet was a big culprit of this and one of the main reasons I believed we “needed” to renovate. Instead of spending a few hundred dollars on a new vanity, I decided that a shelf next to the sink could solve our soap problem and give us more storage. We purchased this piece from Amazon, I loved that the bamboo reminded me of a spa, and brought warmth into the room. On the top shelf we keep soap, a mirror, a plant, and when I am not photographing my bathroom for the internet, our toothbrushes. Below that is a shelf with extra towels, followed by a shelf with bath salts and on the bottom is extra toilet paper. Keeping our bath salts in an open jar makes them easily accessible and smells so good! Bonus- we also hung a hook for a hand towel next to the sink. No more drying your hands on whoever’s bath towel is closest!

Extra Changes we Made to Upgrade the Look and Function

-Swapping the vanity light bulbs for clear, round ones

-Adding plants- a lot of plants thrive being in the humidity of a bathroom

-New mirror over the sink

-Large scale artwork

-Extra towel hooks

-Painted vanity

Summer is by far my favorite season. Sunshine, fresh air, blooming flowers, and warm nights- I just love it all! One challenge with this time of year is creating a cozy home while keeping it fresh and bright, in tune with the season. Today I will share 5 easy tips to create a cozy and fresh living room for summer.

1. Change Your Curtain Panels

Curtains take up a lot of real estate on your walls. A heavy blackout curtain gives a completely different feel than a breezy linen. When the change in season comes, rotating curtain panels can instantly take the feel of your room from “let’s curl up and watch the snow fall” to “let’s cool off with some sweet tea”. Over the winter we had these great buffalo check curtain panels, and we loved them! I always pair buffalo check with winter in my mind. When summer arrived we swapped them for lighter, more neutral panels that were a warmer color and felt a bit more bright and open. An easy fix that altered the space.

2. Add a “Ready to Go” Entertaining Station

As a wedding gift, my awesome sister purchased this pink cooler for us. After assembling it, we put it in the living room until we could find a home for it, and found that it was perfect right there! With our small kitchen, having a cooler stocked with sodas and water in the living room helps keep traffic out of the cramped space. Having an ice bucket and drinking glasses ready to go, is great for those impromptu summer get togethers.

3. Simplify your Coffee Table and Add Fresh Flowers

When it comes to summer decorating, lightening up spaces with color is often recommended (and a great idea!), but what can sometimes be overlooked is the the concept of lightening a room spatially. I decided to lighten our living room by removing decorative items from our coffee table, like candles and a dish that really weren’t serving any purpose. Putting fresh cut flowers and some reading material in their place was an easy swap that brought nature in, and gave some room to breathe.

4. Rearrange Decor Pieces- Take Some out of Rotation

Last week while cleaning, as I spent time going room by room, I noticed our home was stuck in a bit of a decor rut. I wanted to bring things into summer, but wasn’t necessarily interested in investing any money on new items. I decided to play a game (with myself) called “Add, Change, or Take Away”. Each room I cleaned, I gave myself the task of adding a new summer item, changing something that wasn’t summery with something that was, or taking an item away that just didn’t need to be there. I found this to be a great way to breathe new life into each room just using the items I had!

5. Change Up Pillows and Blankets

Lastly, changing blankets and pillows is an easy and fun way to decorate for summer. I traded our fluffy blankets for muslin and knit ones and added some pops of color.

Thank you for reading! I hope you found these tips helpful, I would love to know your favorite thing about summer!

Your bedroom is such an important part of your home. More than any other space, this room should reflect YOU, and give you feelings of peace. At the end of a long day there is nothing like entering your bedroom, shutting the door, crawling into your sheets and unwinding. Here are five tips to make sure your bedroom is your own oasis, no matter what your style is. Scroll to the bottom for a before and after of this space!

1. Comfy Bedding

We all have different preferences when it comes to bedding. Some people love the weight of a heavy down blanket, while others prefer just using a flat sheet to cover themselves at night. By layering your bed with different blankets, you have the option to adjust how much or little warmth you need. A quilt, a comforter or duvet, and an extra blanket gives you the perfect amount of options (and makes for a pretty bed!). Finally, a soft pair of sheets and silk pillowcases are two more “must haves” for maximum comfort. We spend 1/3 of our lives in bed…we might as well make it a great place to be!

2. Keep a Clean Room

This is not the most exciting tip on the list but it may be the most important! A clean room is crucial to creating a relaxing space. When surrounded by clutter and mess our brains have a hard time slowing down. The “touch it once” rule is a great reminder to help us stay on top of a clean room. As soon as you are done with an item of clothing it should be put away or directly in a hamper. This goes for anything we might accumulate in our bedrooms, such as cups for water, shoes, purses, you name it! Regularly washing sheets, dusting, and vacuuming will all make a big difference. Coming into your space and not seeing anything that might be on your “to do” list will give your mind permission to unwind.

3. A Live Plant

Live plants offer so many benefits to a space. Keeping a plant in your bedroom is an inexpensive way to change the atmosphere entirely. They are great for air quality and most importantly bring nature inside.

4. Functional Decor

A rule of thumb I try to follow in our home is that most decor items should have a function. Sure, there are some items I love to display just because I like them, but usually, I don’t purchase or display something unless it is purposeful. For example, candles, flowers, diffusers, etc. are all items that are beautiful and serve a purpose. In our bedroom the items taking up space on our surfaces have reason for being there. Coasters, a plant, a diffuser and lamps are all we have on our end tables, while the dresser has a plant and a salt lamp. Keeping the surfaces clear of anything that we don’t use helps to give the room space to breathe, and keeps it light. It also encourages us to curate the items we are displaying to things we absolutely love.

The hats on our wall we wore on our honeymoon! I love the texture they add to the walls and the fact that they hold a special memory.

5. Mood lighting

In any room using lamps before turning overhead lighting on is great for creating a cozy atmosphere, this is especially true in bedrooms. Unless I am cleaning or looking for something at night, I almost never turn the overhead light on. We have three lamps in our room with warm bulbs which we use 90% of the time.

Additionally having a mood lighting option is great for a bedroom. We have a salt lamp on our dresser that casts a warm glow. I love using this when I am winding down, or want a night light. The glow from the salt lamp is so relaxing!

A Before and After of This Room:

Thank you for reading! I would love to know what you love about your bedroom. Do you have any “must haves” for a relaxing space?

Doors and hardware can make such a huge difference in your home! After moving in, Nick and I realized our doors were in need of a major overhaul. We decided to look into the cost of replacing them and soon realized that new doors were out of our budget. I took to the internet and started searching “ways to update interior doors”, and found there were so many helpful tutorials! Feeling confident with the knowledge I gained from these tutorials, I decided that upgrading the doors was a project I wanted to take on myself. I am so glad I did! Below is an image of our hallway with the new (updated) doors and an image below with the old ones. See the difference?

Here Is a (light) Rundown on how we Achieved this Look:

1. Remove the doors from their hinges and take off all hardware, including the door knob
2. Sand down the entire door
3. Measure and mark 4.5″ in from all sides of the door and draw lines to connect these marks (I used a large T Square). This will create a rectangle drawing the shape of the door but smaller. At the center of the knob, measure and mark 2.25″ up and 2.25″ down (total 4.5″) for the distance between the top and bottom panel. Draw straight lines from the marks to create two separate (upper and lower panel) rectangles.
4. Cut trim wood the length of the marks. We purchased our trim pieces from Lowes, they have so many options so you can customize the look you would like. We used a handheld miter cutter, to make 45 degree angles, that we found at Lowes. It was SO helpful and inexpensive!
5. Use wood glue to adhere the trim pieces to the door
6. Use painters tape to keep the glued pieces from shifting
7. Put a flat surface on the glued pieces and weigh it down- make sure there is even pressure
8. Caulk where the trim pieces meet the door
9. Prime door
10. Apply three coats of paint (paint works best in thin coats that are built upon one another)
11. Install doors on hinges
12. Install knobs
13. Enjoy your beautiful doors!

Some helpful Tips!

• Work room by room when updating doors. I liked to complete a set of doors, then move on to the next room. This prevents multiple rooms from having a door, at one time.
• A light sanding between each coat of paint can help for a smooth finish
• It is important to let each coat dry before applying the next – follow the instructions on the paint
• Use a foam roller

For paint we used Benjamin Moore Advance in Chantilly Lace. I find the Advance line to be the best paint for doors, cabinets, and furniture.

Part of upgrading the doors was installing new hardware. We chose these beautiful matte black knobs from Lowes that unlike our previous knobs, actually have locks for the bedrooms.

I hope you found this article helpful! Let me know what project you would like to take on at your home.