We bought our current house when we were teens! I'll tell you exactly what we did to buy a house with no credit or money down!
In 2021, I shared my home binder on TikTok and it went viral. When we moved into our home, I decided I wanted a way to keep track of all the information about our house including the information that we got from the builder when we bought the house, the warranty details, appliance information, etc.
We bought our house when the framework was barely going up. We didn't upgrade much because when we had our meeting with the builders, my husband was out of town…
In 2021, I shared my home binder on TikTok and it went viral. When we moved into our home, I decided I wanted a way to keep track of all the information about our house including the information that we got from the builder when we bought the house, the warranty details, appliance information, etc.
Our popular sliding closet DIY project with instructions.
Artex, Popcorn, Suretex, Wondertex are all names for that textured wall or ceiling look that is a bit like marmite – you either love it or hate it. I am definitely in the ‘hate it’ club so when we bought a house where the ceilings and half of the walls are covered with it, we […]
Kind of hard to believe this is the same house, right? When Kezia and Jonathan bought their home, they were seemingly stuck with a material they hated that couldn’t be removed. Instead of throwing up their hands in despair and settling, they got creative and gave the facade of their home some major curb appeal. From Kezia: We bought a cookie cutter house and redid the kitchen and facade ourselves – we call it the Kimono Project (because our house is on Kimono Ridge Drive).
Hey guys! I am so STINKING excited to show you this project! It’s been something we’ve been dying to do since we bought our house. Hey! We built those! Jake and I got our hands dirty a few weeks ago to whip these up, and I still find myself stopping in the middle of the road to stare. I’m even more excited to announce that building these shutters was part of the “Look for Less Challenge” I’m participating in with 6 other incredible bloggers! Ya’ll. I’m CHEAP. As in, spending more than I have to on just about anything won’t fly with me, so when I was asked to participate you bet your buttered biscuit I jumped in faster than Kim K jumped out of her second marriage. (PS…did you see that ROCK Kanye put on it? That’s a paperweight where I come from…let’s hope the 3rd times a charm) Okay, okay onto the tutorial I’m not going to lie, this project had hurdles we had to jump over, and it definitely wasn’t as easy as we expected but in the end it was SO worth it…let’s see: If we were to buy these pre-made we’d be spending a whopping $620.00 on WOOD. No thanks, Franks! I knew with a little elbow grease we could whip ‘em up ourselves…try this price breakdown on for size! You will need • Pine Boards (we used 8 10 foot 2x4’s…$6.00 each) $48.00 • Wood Glue (already owned) • Black Paint (already owned) • Big Daddy Nails $6.00 • Big Daddy Screws $6.00 • A deep drill bit $4.50 • Electric Drill w/ Hammer Function (Owned) • An electric sander (or sand paper if you don’t mind doing it by hand) A whopping $64.50 for FOUR shutters! I’ll take it! Start by picking up the above items at your local Lowes. (You’d think Lowes sponsors me based on how much I mention them…but nope…Lowes has no idea who little old me is) For the Pine Boards, you’re going to have to go back to your high school math days, and break out some measurements. Our windows are 66 inches long. I wanted them to be about a half inch larger on both sides, so I needed 67 inch boards. I did some calculations to figure the best board height to purchase, based on what was the most cost effective, and required the fewest cuts. (Poor Lowes man) Once you’ve figured what cuts you’ll need, take it to the big saw & bat your eyelashes in hopes the operator won’t hate you for asking him to cut 20 boards.Once home, we worked out a pretty handy, yet time consuming system to get our boards prepped and painted. Jacob sanded any serious knots, or rough patches, and I wiped em down and painted with our black weather proof paint. It took 2 coats to get the right amount of coverage. Yes, we used trash cans. Don't judge :)...& yes our garage lacks MAJOR organization To dry we stacked our little boards on leftover pieces of 2x4 & stacked the rest around the garage. This took most of Saturday. So naturally, we took a beer break. (This was the weekend of my Mom & Dads Chili & Brewfest) The next day we put our shutters together and glued the horizontal pieces on with wood glue. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT trust this stuff to keep your shutters together. It helps as a first step, but to keep this project fresh for the long-haul, you’re going to need some hardware. Flip your shutters over once the glue is dry (yes, I was lazy and only painted the front side) and nail your boards together in the places you see an arrow. We actually screwed in some of the boards, but we both agree that nailing is easier. Take note from our mistake :) This part really is crucial. (We didn’t try to get away with only glue just to have our project come crashing down or anything…) Once you’re done with this step, give yourself a big ol’ pat on the back because guess what, you made a shutter! Now comes the fun part. We get to hang them. This is where we ran into the most trouble. Hanging these puppies was not easy! To start, you’re going to need to put the giant drill bit on your drill, and hold up the shutter where you would like it on your house. Drill through the shutter, aiming for the mortar, and drill just enough that it makes a mark. Take your shutter down, and drill to the end of your bit into the mortar. Once this is done, add your Big Daddy screw and drill that puppy into the wall! Repeat on the bottom of the shutter, as well as on all the following shutters. Once this part is done, you’ll inevitably need a paint touch up or two, so quickly whip that out, then step back to admire your handy work! Yeah! You built AND hung a shutter! Go you! How about a little before & after action, eh? The shutters (& the green grass) make this look like a completely different house, and I am smitten! For some labor & a cost savings of over 500 buckaroos…I call this puppy a major win! If you’re cheap frugal like me, go check out my awesome bloggy friends below for some incredible DIY on a dime inspiration. Kayla made this incredible West Elm Inspired Mirror Check out the rest at her blog Home Coming Sarah blew me away with her gorgeous Wood Bead Chandelier Make your own by checking her out at Life on Virgina Street Rachael made this fun drink station inspired by Pottery Barn…I love! She shares the details over at Like a Saturday Andrea is in the Christmas Spirit! She DIY’ed her own CB2 knock-off peace wreath Start feeling festive by heading over to Life.Love.Larson I’m in love with this Pie Safe that Gracie DIY’ed! Get the gorgeous details over at Kitchen Table Art I just love these Anthropology inspired coasters that Shannon made! Her skills are amazing over at Sewing Barefoot I sure hope you’re inspired, friends! I sure couldn’t believe the incredible creativity my bloggy friends have! We certainly had fun making our shutters, and I hope you’ll attempt to bring some DIY Look for Less to your home soon. :) Until Next Time, Kylie Linking up to: Skip to my Lou/Keeping It Simple Crafts/DIY Showoff/Home Stories A to Z / Uncommon Designs /Sugar and Dots / The Winthrop Chronicles The Girl Creative / House of Hepworths / The Shabby Creek Cottage Liz Marie Blog / Tater Tots & Jello / Shabby Nest / Whipper Berry /Funky Junk Interiors / Serenity Now /Classy Clutter / Someday Crafts Reasons to Skip the Housework / Six Sisters Stuff / Be Different Act Normal/ Life with the Crust cut off/ The Turquoise Home / Ginger Snap Crafts Have Absolutely Arkansas delivered to your inbox for FREE! You'll never miss a post! Enter Email Here:
When we bought our house, it was listed as a three bedroom, four bathroom home. Well, the third bedroom it turned out was actually just the upstairs loft area. However, when you came up the stairs there was no door. We asked the builders if they could add a door, but they were adamantly against it b
"This boat is going to change our lives!" I exclaimed as we stepped on board the Tayana 48 that we would put an offer on less than 12 hours later. Scott looked at me with wide eyes, "Um, I think you're putting a lot of pressure on this boat..." he started tentatively. While, yes, I probably was putting an undue amount of weight on the effect of a boat on our life, but I truly stood by what I said and I repeated myself: "Scott, this boat is literally going to change. our. life." He shrugged and shook his head as we continued lifting up floorboards and digging through cupboards. But I knew it: this was the one. I'd been eyeing her on Yachtworld for about five months and looked at the listing no fewer than 200 times, memorizing the specs and committing to memory every square inch of her. She was absolutely beautiful, checked off just about every item on our "wish list" (more on this later) and, gosh darn it, she was going to change life as we knew it. I could feel it. *** The bottom line is this: while Asante was working for us, she wasn't really working for us. Because of our two cabin configuration, and the fact that Isla slept more or less in the main cabin (on a make shift bunk that is smaller than a toddler bed) meant that once bedtime hit at 7:30pm, our boat was in shut-down mode. At anchor this arrangement was better - as our cockpit became a veritable outdoor living room and extension of our home. However, at the dock the cockpit simply does not get utilized as much due to the fact that a) there is a remarkable lack of breeze at our marina and b) being so close to your neighbor doesn't have quite the same appeal as sitting on deck being surrounded by open water. "Something about being in a marina makes a boat feel smaller" my friend Carly wrote as we chatted about it. And I 100% agreed. It most certainly does make a boat feel smaller....And since we will be living aboard at a marina for the foreseeable future, something needed to change. Not being able to cook, converse or do pretty much anything other than whisper and go our separate ways was taking its toll on our life in more ways than one. Scott and I are what I like to call a "perfectly imperfect" pair. Okay, fine, we're downright volatile at times (I mentioned how I'd be honesty bombing you, right?) Don't get me wrong, we are an amazing team in both boating and parenting and we can accomplish a lot more together than alone, but our union is far from perfect which may or may not surprise you. Part of this is due to conflicting personalities and stubborn natures, part of it is simply this "season of life"...The last two years have found us drifting farther and farther apart. With three kids, two of them being twins, and the purchase of a new business, we have both been up to our eyeballs in everything but each other. I tend to the kids and housework, Scott runs our business. For the most part, we pass like ships in the night and can go days without really speaking about anything other than work or kids. We have not had a "date night" in years. What is the point of me telling you all this? Well, we needed a change and we figured, why not buy another boat to fix our problems? Ha! Just kidding, that was not our thought process at all. BUT...we did have some serious discussions about our future, we both made a commitment to work on our marriage by carving out some together time and we both decided that, yes, a bigger boat *might just* give us the space to be a little more comfortable, provide the means for a little more quality time, and allow us more privacy together. Running a business and raising three very boisterous young daughters in a two-bedroom boat was getting tight at best, stressful at worst - and more breathing room was in order. *** "What do you think about flying to the east coast for a day to look at that boat I sent to you earlier?" I asked Scott over Whatsapp one day this summer while we were home at my mom's house. To my great surprise, he replied "Sure" (Scott is for sure the more pragmatic of our duo). And so it was; we had a 48 hour window between us coming home from Michigan and Scott heading back to Tortola to make it happen. It was rushed, it was nuts, but we did it and with Isla in tow (you have never seen a little kid more excited about getting her own "big girl room"!). We covered three states and saw four boats in less than 24 hours. The Tayana 48 - the one that I knew was 'it' and the one I was certain would shine above the others - was last to be seen. When stepped aboard s/v Legato on that gray, overcast day in Connecticut it just felt right. Excitement swelled up in my belly and I took a quick deep breath to keep it at bay. "Don't fall in love, don't fall in love, don't fall in love" I kept telling myself, "Asante could definitely work for one more season if this isn't the one...Do. Not. Fall. In. Love. With. This. Boat." But, as we all know, matters of the heart are simply not controlled with the head (oh, if only it were that easy!) We both knew it, though. I don't dare say she was "perfect" but she was pretty dang close. She felt instantly like 'home'. I found it no coincidence that a copy of one of my all-time favorite books, "Don't Stop the Carnival", happened to be laying on what would soon become my side of the bed. *** The next morning as we were rushing out of our hotel to catch our flight home, I got a call from our broker (and longtime friend), Allen Schiller (best. broker. ever), letting us know that if we wanted the boat, we needed to move fast. One offer had come in and been denied earlier in the week, and another couple had a second viewing right after we did and were most likely putting together an offer as well. My gut told me she was going to go, and she was going to go quickly. I wanted it to be us. After a quick talk with Scott and Isla at our sleepy terminal in Hartford, Connecticut, we agreed to go for it. "Let's do it," I texted Allen, "Let's put in an offer". By the time we landed in Chicago, we were under contract. And thank god for it! Mere hours after we had a deal, another offer came in for 5K more than ours. Hours later! Talk about lucky. Timing truly is everything. Thankfully the owner was a man of good character and continued to honor our deal, but it was pretty incredible to think we were so close to losing this boat that is now our beloved 'home sweet home'. Sometimes, you need to move fast. *** She arrived a week before Christmas (Plug for fantastic human: if you need a delivery captain, look no further than the incredible Andrew Burton! He is not only professional and accomplished, but an awesome person to boot. As if that's not enough, the boat was impeccable when we took her over, he and his crew deep-cleaned her head to toe!) and we began the crazy process of moving from one boat to another. It was... nuts. There's really no other way to describe it. Moving house (or boat, rather) while simultaneously trying to make Christmas "magical" for our three kids was exhausting and stressful. Scott was working all hours trying to finalize the new online booking system for our business (much easier said than done!) and I was doing Christmas crafts, buying presents, and doing all the other stuff necessary to keep our home(s) in order. We pushed on and persisted, and in the end felt very lucky that our situation was about as ideal as could be: our new boat was docked next to Asante, we had plenty of time to move our personal effects from A to B, we purged a LOT of accumulated junk, and so many friends and family came to our aid to help us with the move and with the girls. All in all, we had it pretty awesome. Despite these perks, moving is no fun. Moving with three little kids nipping at your heels? 9th circle of Hell. PERIOD. I digress... So how are we doing in our new boat? In a word: Amazing. We love her. I think I say how much I love her to Scott every single day. She has, indeed, been life-changing, just as I imagined her to be. Her name has a musical connotation and means "in a smooth flowing manner, without breaks between notes." In Italian, Legato means: tied together. I think it's a pretty nice name for a family boat, and we have no plans to change it. Partly because the name is not terrible, mostly because we're lazy. Her perks are great: she is much more roomy than our last boat and the addition of the third cabin has been everything we imagined it would be. WE HAVE THREE BEDROOMS!!! Isla has her own room now and she is positively ecstatic about it. The twins share the bunk room (although, despite having two beds they opt to both sleep together on the top bunk - how adorable is that?) and everyone has their own little space now. The addition of not only one, but TWO stand-up separate showers has also been life-changing; prior to this boat the girls and I would shower off the back deck with a cold water hose, and Scott would have to walk to the marina showers (no where near as often as necessary, mind you!) Not that big of an issue, and at the time it certainly didn't seem like a deal breaker - but being able to take warm showers on our boat and not on-deck has been truly AMAZING. The list of features that we love (centerline queen aft berth, an aft cabin that is large and spacious, a nav station that doubles as a desk...etc.) goes on and on...we love this boat. Love her. *** So what were our other desires when boat shopping this time around? We wanted a monohull under 50 feet, largely for cost reasons but also because if we wanted a ton of space we'd get a condo. We like living "cozy" and we wanted to get the smallest boat that would give our family the space it needed to be comfortable. 48 feet worked out to be just right for us. Small enough to go anywhere and still be manageable, but big enough to give our growing family of five some individual space. We wanted three cabins, an in-boom roller furling main, great sailing performance (she is a dream to sail!) at least one separate stand up shower stall, two heads, an ample aft deck swim step, center cockpit configuration, cutter rig, and not a 'fixer upper'. While this boat has done the Caribbean 1500 a few times, it's not at all set up for long-term live-aboard cruising which actually suited us fine. We are staying local for the next few years and while we eventually plan to cast off again, that's a ways away for us. By the time we get ready to shove off, there will be gear that is even better suited for long-term cruising than there is today. Off-grid systems and electronics get better and more efficient every year, so when our time to go approaches - we'll start adding things like solar power, water maker, davits and whatever else we think we need. For now, we're perfectly set up to be weekend warriors here in the beautiful Virgin Islands. And now, for the picture tour. We will start aft and then work our way up! This is our aft cabin. It is a dream. We love the headroom, the extra storage, and the centerline queen bed. Quite possibly the biggest upgrade of all, the aft head with a separate stand up shower. It is heaven! Looking forward from our bedroom door (we have a door now!) Our saloon. We still need to add some personal touches like family photos and such, but it feels very comfortable and homey. One thing I LOVE about this boat? It's so bright! Natural light is a must for me in a home of any sort, and we love that we get lots of it here. Another big upgrade! A desk! I write here, Scott works here and the chair is extra space for a friend to sit when people come over. Looking aft to our bedroom from the saloon. Our walk-thru galley is a dream. The twins bunk room. Two beds and plenty of space to store their goodies, especially since they both sleep up top together. Scott and I designed the bedrail using L-brackets and starboard. Works like a charm! This is where the twins sleep, together. They sometimes sleep on opposite ends, sometimes snuggled up, but always together up here. Their choice! This is the forward head directly across from the twins' room. Also has a stand up shower. Love!!! Isla's room. This is her little sanctuary. She truly loves it and all three will play up here together in the morning. Books, books and more books! Looking aft from the front end. Our home sweet home!! We love her SO much! Here's the layout of our boat to help further the visual tour. Hope you enjoyed! OUR OLD BOAT, S/V ASANTE (BREWER 44) IS NOW FOR SALE. EMAIL US IF YOUR ARE INTERESTED WINDTRAVELER09 at GMAIL.COM STAY TUNED FOR A FULL LISTING WITH PRICE, PICTURES and SPECS.
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Renovating a home can come with a high price tag if you're not budgeting and deciding which updates bring the best return on investment. After selling our updated first home in just 4 years, we bought an even bigger house that needed a lot of updating. With these simple and affordable hacks, you can transform your home into a stylish sanctuary that feels expensive and inviting without spending a fortune. If you enjoy updating your home, want to increase your home value or just want your home to look better, here are 10 Cheap Home Hacks That'll Make Your House Look So Much Better.
