Beautiful ways to decorate those little corners around our homes.
Love finding the easiest ways to update things around the home, especially when they look great and save money? These cheap and easy but cool remodeling hacks should be at the top of your list, then. From DIY bathroom ideas to kitchen projects to walls and countertops, we found some of the best home remodeling
Here's how you can make your own Reeded Wall Moulding Feature wall in your home! Fluted wall paneling is trending and this tutorial will show you how to get the look!
I think a lot of us feel like we can't have a beautiful home that we love because there just isn't enough money. I know I have definitely felt that way plenty of times. And
Hey guys!!! So, I haven't blogged in nearly 4 months. It's crazy. I barely even know where to begin! There's so much to say and so much to share, so let's just jump right in and pick up where we left off. Our little Ava is now 5 months old and doing really great. We survived 4 months of colic/milk allergy/reflux and between that and a pretty difficult pregnancy, I felt like the wind had been knocked out of my sails. But, little by little, things are getting so much better and I'm slowly starting to feel like my old self again. Thank you guys so much for being patient with me and understanding that I needed some time off to focus on Ava. I'm so grateful for this precious girl, and I'm sure one day I'll look back and laugh about the past year. But, like, not yet. Ava on Halloween...finally giving us all sorts of sweet smiles. So, let's get down to business. In the final few months before I had Ava, I was able to share with you guys the finished basement renovation, our upstairs flooring redo, and the nursery. But I kinda ran out of time (duty called) before I could share the finished living room. So, a quick 5 months after I finished it, today I can finally show it to you. Many of you guys have been following my blog for awhile now and have already seen the before pictures of the upstairs living area, but I'll share them again, as it's always a nice reminder of how outdated our house was when we first moved in. So, here are the before pics. This is the living room in May of 2010 when we first moved in...wall to wall carpet, outdated light fixtures, dark wood trim, and windows so old that you could feel the wind in your hair when you stood next to them. This was what the entryway looked like. Outdated light fixture, parquet flooring and carpeted stairs, rickety old stair rail, and dark wood trim and door. This was what the dining room looked like. There was a wall between the kitchen and dining room that made the room almost too tiny to use. There was an old glass sliding door that barely opened, dark wood trim and wainscotting, outdated light fixtures, and a tile/carpet combo. This is what it looked standing in the dining room and looking into the living room. This house sat on the market for a really long time before we bought it, as it was obviously totally outdated. I was a little scared, as it was our first house and I had never renovated anything in my life. But, ultimately I decided to just go for it and I'm so glad I did. Renovating it took me almost 5 years to complete. Sometimes it was totally stressful, sometimes I wanted to quit, but ultimately it's one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. And I learned a lot. Which is great because we won't live here forever, and the next time I renovate a house, I'll be much better equipped. So, that being said, here are the pics of what this upstairs area looks like today. Let's start with a little recap of the dining room and entryway and then we'll move into the living room. One of the things that made the biggest difference was knocking down the wall between the dining room and kitchen. We also built a new stair rail, painted all of the trim and wainscoting white, added new light fixtures, and installed white washed hardwood flooring. I painted our kitchen cabinets and updated the hardware when we first moved in the house, and although in an ideal world I would have been able to fully renovate the kitchen, I decided that I could really stretch our budget by just painting the cabinetry and working with what we already had. In the dining room, I added a bold rug that I found for $60 (I know it's not for everyone, and that's okay.). I found the dining room table at a salvage shop, and the white leather chairs with metallic legs I found on Overstock. The original post about the dining room with sources can be found here. Also, we've talked about my orchid sabotage many times, so...that's a fake orchid. I've got a child to raise. Here's a quick view from the landing at the top of the stairs. You can see where we also knocked down the wall and widened the old doorway into the hallway. Here's a look around the corner. You can see how we painted the old outdated wainscoting white. We also replaced the old sliding glass door in the dining room with nice french doors. In the entryway, we replaced the light fixture, and installed double doors on the coat closet. We replaced the carpet on the stairs with hardwood treads and painted white risers, and we also built a new stairrail. I painted the existing front door Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze (favorite!), and added a little silver coat hook from HomeGoods. One of the deer heads broke off after I brought it home. And now this little coat hook reminds me of Jesse tinkering in the garage for an hour, determined to fix it for me. I think there was some ametuer welding going on in the garage, but I was too pregnant to waddle out there and watch. And now, let's move on to the finished living room. I don't expect this room to blow anyone's mind. But, it's come such a long way, and it's where we spend most of our time, so it definitely deserves at least a little time on the blog. We replaced the light fixtures, added some inexpensive tufted couches and a giant comfy ottoman, the rug is from awhile back, and then I thrifted the TV console. Here's a pic of the TV console I found at the thrift store. It's obviously nothing special, but it was the right size and $20, so...sold! I painted it (using the only furniture paint I ever use anymore) and changed out the hardware. It has a super glossy lacquer finish and looks really great up close. I'll eventually mount the TV on the wall, too. Here's a closeup of the hardware. Some little polished nickel pulls from Home Depot. I haven't decided on what kinda curtains I want to hang yet, so for now the windows are just bare. It took us 5 years to finally replace those old windows, so I don't mind looking at the new ones in the meantime. I added some Etsy pillows to the sofas. Here's a view of the living room looking back into the dining room, one of my favorite views. We built the mantel and made the stacked log insert for the fireplace (both were done awhile ago) and then I freshened up the mantle with some things I had around the house. The little framed floral art is a print I found on Etsy. And then, I made some art of my own...some black and white abstract art for above the sofa. I had Jesse build me a basic wooden frame. And I spray painted it with this Krylon Foil Metallic silver spray paint (affiliate link). It's good, ya'll. I think I'll be using it as my go-to silver spray paint from now on. It made my little frame look like actual metal or like it was silver leafed. Either way, good stuff. For the painting itself, I just used some Sherwin Williams Simply White paint (the same color that's on the walls), mixed it with a little gray, and then sketched out a doodle and filled it in with some Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze (the same black paint I used on the front door). It's probably not gonna end up at a museum, but it took me an hour and only cost me a few bucks, so homemade art for the win. And that, you guys, is the finished upstairs living area! I'm sure it will continue to evolve and change, but it feels great to at least have it furnished and not under construction. We lived in the basement throughout most of my pregnancy, so it's nice to no longer be a cave dweller. And I'll leave you with this picture of how the living room looks in real life, filled with baby stuff. Because it would be ridiculous to pretend like my house always looks like the above pictures....it took me at least twenty minutes to clean out all the baby apparatus before I could take some blog pics. Let's be honest. :) As for the blog, a lot of you have asked what my plans are. I plan to slowly get back into the swing of things, as time allows, and as quickly as my brain starts functioning like normal again. Thank you guys for all of your sweet comments and messages. I appreciate it so much. I know I'll eventually find my groove again, but right now I'm still doing a lot of this. And I wouldn't have it any other way. 'Til next time! Follow my blog with Subscribe to LiveLoveDIY with email! Enter your email address:
Updates: Watch a time lapse tutorial of the process here and see the full room reveal here! Have any plain, flat doors in your house? This tutorial is for you! Here’s what you’ll need for this project (per one standard door): Materials 4×8″ sheet of plywood 1″ Finish nails Wood filler Caulk Paint Tools Miter saw […]
The only difference between these before-and-after shots is the decorating.
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The progression of how we transformed our old, crumbling back hall entry into a place we'll actually enjoy come home to through wainscot and paint.
Small living rooms can be a P.I.T.A. Especially long narrow ones. It often feels like you’re playing Tetris; trying to maneuver a beefy couch next to a an even beefier chair. You lug and push until you’re too exhausted to care and you just leave your furniture any old way to avoid more stress. After a couple of weeks of “living with it,” you look at it and you know there’s a better way to arrange it so, on you go again, lugging and pushing, micro-positioning and tweaking angles ever-so-slightly…
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The moment you’ve all been waiting for is here! And by all, I mean probably a handful of you, but I’d like to think everyone is on the edge of their seats waiting for my
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Hidden doors have a certain allure and mystique that captures the imagination. Whether for creating secret passages, adding an element of surprise to your home, or simply maximizing space, hidden door
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Okay folks, this makeover isn’t about pretty, it’s about function. You saw what our tiny master closet looked like: Help me, Rhonda. I really let it go because I knew I was EVENTUALLY going to get to it, so why bother? I had this rad plan when my husband was going to be out of town for 3 days to surprise him with a master bedroom makeover when he came home. I was going to be awesome and organize the closet, paint, makeover a dresser, make a headboard and create a beautiful retreat to welcome him home. Then, I got sick with a stomach bug the day he left. Then 3 of the 5 kids got it. Uggghhhh. Soooooo, I greeted him with a closet makeover and some Lysol instead. First, I took EVERYTHING out of the closet, removed that big long closet rod/shelf, and then sent 40% (thank you Katie Goldworthy in the comments for the 40%!) of the stuff to the Goodwill. Out went anything that hadn’t been worn the previous year. That eliminated a lot. The thing that bugged me most about this closet was the dead space on the sides that made it really hard to get to the clothes at the end of the rod. So, I tried to make the dead space work for me by placing two rods on each side and made the clothes face out to me. Supplies you'll need: * a drill * we used a wooden closet rod but with the price of wood these days you're probably going to want a metal adjustable one and some wall anchors if you won’t be drilling into a stud in the wall. I did the same thing on my side and that doubled our closet space right there! Our closet light needs to be replaced~it was smelling hot (yikes!) so I didn’t mess with it and the pics aren’t great, but you get the idea. Then, for the middle section I picked up two brackets with the rod holders and mounted another clothes rod and a shelf on top. You could use a scrap piece of wood sanded down as an option as well. I also got a cube organizerfor 39.99 plus a few bins to hold socks, paint clothes, swimsuits, etc. Then, I added a couple of pretty knobs and that was it. We were using part of my son’s closet across the hall for suits, skirts, ties, etc. but I was able to move everything into this closet and the 2 dressers we have in the room. Isn’t it amazing what throwing stuff out and making a closet functional can do for your mood?! I love our closet now :) Have you come up with any creative solutions for small closets? Don't miss anything new! Follow 320 Sycamore on Facebook * follow 320 Sycamore on Instagram * Get new posts from 320 Sycamore delivered to your inbox
Ready change the look and feel of your home, but you're on a tight budget? Here are 10 ways you can update your dated home without remodeling.
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I absolutely love our DIY roman blind. I love the colours because they will pretty much go with any season. The fact that they match the curtains really sets off the room and makes them unique. Making your own roman blind couldn't be easier. Come and check out our tutorial on how to make a modern DIY roman bllind.
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We recently moved into a new house and the fireplace was not our style. If you’re considering a brick fireplace makeover DIY, then you probably know what I’m talking about. A fireplace can be a beautiful focal point in a living room, but outdated brick fireplaces tend to be more of an eyesore. Modernizing an […]
If you are looking for living room ideas with a fireplace and tv, you've come to the right place! Here are 10 distinct designs you can incorporate into your home
Quick small bathroom makeovers on a budget project. If you are looking for cheap bathroom remodel ideas for small bathrooms then you'll love this bathroom update DIY project. #guestbathroom #makeover #budget #diy
This post shows you how to decorate around TV. Decorating the living room allows you a bit of freedom. The only rule of thumb is that it all needs to be cohesive or fit your