Category: DIY

Woohoo! It’s the final week of the One Room Challenge! (With media partner Better Homes & Gardens.) It’s been a switch for me to stay focused on one room for a set period and to actually get it done. A good switch, that is! If you’re new here (and who isn’t? it’s a new blog)… Continue reading One Room Challenge Fall 2021 Reveal (Week 8)

I can’t believe it — we’re almost done with the One Room Challenge. Last week, I talked about tiling the zero-clearance wood-burning fireplace I built. This week, I’m going to do what most people typically do in Week One: talk about furnishing the room. Partly I waited so long to do this because the fireplace… Continue reading One Room Challenge Fall 2021: Week 7

As a guest participant in the One Room Challenge, I’m redoing our living room. And by redoing I mean starting completely from scratch decor-wise, adding some walls, and adding a fireplace. In last week’s post, I got the fireplace drywalled. So that means we’re ready for tiling!

Sometimes I think the most challenging part of the One Room Challenge is sticking to one room! But that’s exactly why I signed up as a guest participant. There are just SOOOO many things in our house that need a little something, and I am so easily sidetracked. So focusing on one room means we’ll… Continue reading One Room Challenge Fall 2021: Week 5

As part of the One Room Challenge, I’m adding a fireplace to our living room. And this week, we get to see the actual fireplace unit install! I did not do this myself either. Because I just…feel like a pro should handle installing something that’s going to have fire burning in it inside the house… Continue reading One Room Challenge Fall 2021: Week 4

It’s week 3 of the One Room Challenge, and things are taking shape! We have framed out walls and a fireplace surround! Building the Walls with Metal Studs To get to this point, I had to learn how to frame using metal studs. Why metal studs? Because even though it’s a zero-clearance wood-burning fireplace, the… Continue reading One Room Challenge Fall 2021: Week 3

It’s week 2 already, and our ORC project is underway! As a reminder, here’s where it started, after an electrician came by to do the electrical: Stubby little wall? Check. Return vents placed jutting out where you walk across the floor? Check. Time to say good riddance to those? Check! And that starts with everyone’s… Continue reading One Room Challenge Fall 2021: Week 2

It’s my first time doing the One Room Challenge. It’s also my first time decorating a nearly-empty room from scratch. Usually I have some kind of existing starting point! Not so this time, unless you count the 1960s card catalog that has to stay in the living room stairs-wise. (There’s no way we’re carting the… Continue reading One Room Challenge Fall 2021: Week 1

I’m on the hunt for fabric to use in upholstering a folding screen. Currently debating between the ones below (all from fabricguru.com) or creating my own design. These are all large scale patterns, which is important because I don’t want to be staring at 6 feet of a tiny pattern. The screen divides my studio… Continue reading On the Hunt for Fabric

We’ve wanted to build a Little Free Library for a while now, and are finally in a place where we have room to put one up. (If you aren’t familiar with the idea, you buy or build a container for books to share with the community. People can take books, leave them, or both.) Making… Continue reading Building a Little Free Library