Y’all! The powder room walls are done and I couldn’t be more thrilled. This little space has been on a bit of a journey over the last few months, but we’re finally on the right track and it feels oh so good. Are you ready to see the big reveal?!

I mean…can you even handle it?!

Let’s take a step back and recap the process so far. This little powder room is under our staircase, right off the living room – many of you didn’t even know it existed for the first few years we lived here, because I never showed it. It was the last remaining room in our house that hadn’t been touched at all, and there wasn’t much to show.

Here’s a little reminder of the before:

Back in December, I painted the powder room walls. Almost immediately upon painting it, I knew I had chosen the wrong color. It was too dark for the space, it wasn’t the vibe I wanted, and it was much too close to the color of our entryway.

So, I repainted. Sometimes you just get it wrong and you’ve gotta start over!

Last week, I installed a shiplap ceiling in the powder room, and then adding this picture molding was the final touch for the walls. I’m head over heels in love with how it turned out, and I’m so excited to be able to call it done.

Planning + Prep Work

Deciding what kind of trim to do on the walls in our powder room was not a short process. I originally wanted to shiplap the entire room, including the walls. While I stand by the fact that it would have been gorgeous, it also would have been pretty expensive. I ran through a few other options mentally before I landed on picture frame molding.

This is the same type of trim that we have in our bedroom, and I love how it ties in together. Repeating trim elements throughout your home is a great way to create a cohesive look. Plus, when you know what you like it’s just easy to do it again!

Side note: Doesn’t this make you think about how good a shiplap ceiling would look in MY room?!

The first thing you need to do when you’re planning out picture frame molding is decide on the sizing of your boxes. Work one wall at a time and decide how many boxes you want per wall. It can be really helpful to use painter’s tape to tape off your design before you start installing!

I ended up going with just one large box on the top and bottom of each wall. There are a few reasons for that:

• It uses less wood, so it’s cheaper!
• In a small space, it’s less visually busy.
• It frees up space for me to hang more art!

Installing Trim in the Powder Room

I’m not going to go into detail on the step by step process of installing picture frame molding in the powder room because I’ve already got a super detailed picture frame molding tutorial!

Below, I’m linking several posts from the archives that will be useful to you if you’re embarking on a project like this!

In those posts, you’ll find has details on everything from installing picture frame molding to using the tools you’ll need. If you have a question about anything in this process, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll find the answer there!

This time around, I used a spacer block rather than measuring the spacing for each box. Why I didn’t do this before, I couldn’t tell you. It made things go SO MUCH FASTER and I 100% recommend it.

One unique thing I got to deal with in here that I didn’t come across when I was working in my room is the angles. It adds a little layer of difficulty when your boxes need to be angled, but if you use an angle finder, move slowly, and make a few practice cuts, you can do it.

What Trim Did You Use?

I went with PVC trim for this space – it’s so easy to work with and so much more affordable than wood!

I used this PVC trim for the chair rail, and I used base cap molding for the boxes!

How Much Did it Cost?

I know this is the question on everyone’s minds. How much does it cost to install picture frame molding?!

Here’s a rundown of the costs:

A Reminder of the Grand Plan

You might remember that when I shared a mood board for this space, I told you it wasn’t going to be an “all at once” makeover. I think we so often expect to see places completely flipped inside of a weekend, thanks to HGTV (and, let’s be honest, Instagram!), but this is real life!

That being said, I feel like I have to point out that this is still coming together shockingly fast! I was able to get the shiplap and the wall trim done within about two weeks, working on and off. I have one more large project on my agenda before I take a little break from working on it, and I’m really excited to share that with you next week.

You can click here to be taken to the post with the mood board for the powder room. Most of it is not set in stone, because I’m taking this one step at a time. But, it’ll give you an idea of the direction I’m headed in!

Expect one more powder room update this month, and then we’ll probably take a bit of time off to focus on other things. But, that doesn’t mean it’s done – far from it! I still have big plans for this room, but not everything comes together all at once. Sometimes you’ve just gotta make changes one Tiny Tweak at a time (wink wink, nudge nudge).

The post Adding Trim to the Powder Room Walls appeared first on Love & Renovations.

Looking for tips on how to declutter your home? You’ve come to the right place.

Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that I’m a little bit obsessed with decluttering my home. I don’t like mess, I don’t like chaos, and I’m not particularly sentimental. My husband often jokes that if he leave something unattended for too long, I’m likely to get rid of it.

It’s who I am as a person. I’m not even sorry about it.

In my obsession with keeping things from getting too cluttered, I’ve become the master at decluttering. I’ve read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying up multiple times. I’ve read the follow up book. Heck, I’ve written blog posts, issued challenges, and even written an eBook on the whole thing.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Why Should I Declutter?

Did you know that studies have shown that clutter in our homes actually can increase our stress levels? I don’t know about you, but when my home feels cluttered, my stress and anxiety levels are way higher. I feel overwhelmed by small things, and I’m a much crankier mom and wife. Keeping my home clutter-free (or, you know, closer to it), makes a huge difference for my mental health!

When you have extra clutter in your home, it’s hard to find the things you need, it’s harder to get your home clean, and it’s just generally a giant energy suck!

What Sorts of Things Should I Declutter?

I believe you should get rid of anything in your home that doesn’t serve you. That means…

• If you don’t use it…
• And you don’t love looking at it…
• And it doesn’t add any value to your life or home…

You should let it go!

When I’m decluttering in my home, I like to break it into both categories and rooms. For example, I declutter all of the clothes in our home at once, or all of the books at once. But, once I’ve done some of the more general categories, I start working by room.

Let’s run down some examples of things you might declutter throughout your house.

In the Kitchen

• Old serving dishes you don’t use anymore
• Mismatched silverware or utensils
• Baby/kid cups you don’t need
• Table linens you never pull out
• Expired food in the pantry and refrigerator (!!)
• Cleaning supplies you don’t use
• Tupperware lids without a container
• Just about everything in the junk drawer
• Old pots and pans that never get used anymore

The Bathroom

• Old or worn towels
• Expired medications
• Other random things in the medicine cabinet
• Makeup and toiletries you aren’t using
• All those random things that gather in the cupboards

In the Bedrooms

• All of those clothes you’ve been saving for a special occasion (but you’ll never actually wear)
• Kid toys
• Extra blankets and sheets that never get used
• Socks that don’t have a partner

You can also declutter in the attic, the laundry room, the living room, the basement, closets, and other storage spaces. You can tackle things like trash, old mail, clearing your counters, paper clutter, cleaning off the coffee table, the kitchen counter, the small appliances that clutter up your kitchen counters… you get the idea.

We’ve all got a lot of clutter in our homes, and we don’t need a professional organizer to help. We can do this!

Where Do I Even Get Started?

If you’ve never begun the decluttering process, you might be wondering how you’ll ever achieve the kind of clutter-free home that Marie Kondo would be proud of.

First of all, let’s let go of that expectation. We aren’t seeking perfection here. We’re simply looking to reduce the clutter in our homes in an effort to have a little less stress.

Even a little bit of decluttering is better than no decluttering!

Decluttering Tips and Tricks

Here are a few simple tips to get you started.

• Create a checklist. A decluttering checklist is a really simple and easy way to approach this. And spoiler alert – I’ve got an entire step-by-step eBook with a checklist and a schedule. Read on to the bottom of the post to learn more and get it for yourself!
• Let go of obligation and expectations. One of the hardest things about decluttering is getting over the fact that you probably spent money on these items in the first place. It feels awful to toss or donate something that you spent your hard-earned money on. But, if it’s not serving you anymore, it’s not doing you any good!
• Focus on one thing at a time. Remember that decluttering, deep cleaning, and organizing are three separate things. I recommend only tackling one at a time…and decluttering is definitely the best first step!
• When in doubt, start simple. If you’re really struggling to get started, try to begin by making piles of the obvious things to get rid of. Things like unusable items, actual trash, or things your family just absolutely doesn’t need anymore. Create a pile for donation, one for the trash (or recycling bin), and one for a potential garage sale, if that’s in your plans. Get some wins with the easy stuff, and work your way up to the harder stuff!
• Set a schedule. I also talk about this a bit in my eBook, but I’m a big believer in giving yourself a timeline and setting expectations. For example, commit to 15 minutes a day. Set a timer and stick to it – no more and no less!
• Take before photos. There’s something incredibly motivating about a before and after photo, even if you’re the only one who’ll see it!
• Start with the worst spot. And finally, start with the category or room that is the absolute worst in your home. It’ll feel the best to get it clean, and you’ll be more likely to be thorough with the space that drives you the most nutty.

How Quickly Can I Declutter My Home?

That’s a great question. We love getting things done fast and you might be thinking you can knock this out in a day, or over the weekend.

I don’t recommend it.

If you want results that last, I recommend taking your time. I find that at least 30 days is the minimum amount of time you need to thoroughly declutter your home. This allows you to work slowly, but gives continuous results to keep you motivated!

Okay, I’m In. What’s Next?

Here’s where things get fun. At least, if you ask me. My idea of fun might be a little skewed. I am an Enneagram type 1, after all.

If you’re ready to really get your home decluttered and under control, I suggest you give my book, 30 Days to a Tidy{er} Home a shot. What is it? It is part workbook part checklist part guide. It walks you step-by-step through the process of decluttering every inch of your home over the course of 30 days.

This book works. I’ve had hundreds upon hundreds of people go through this process, and I’ve heard over and over again about how helpful it is. It takes what can be an incredibly overwhelming process and breaks it down into manageable chunks. It makes it – dare I say? – fun!

As a bonus, if you purchase the eBook you’ll get access to the private Instagram account I created the first time I went through this process in our current home. There’s a highlight saved for every single day of the month showing you how I decluttered in my own home that day, so it’s basically like I’m doing it with you.

See? Fun!

Ready to Dive in?

Click the button below to grab 30 Days to a Tidy{er} Home for just $20. It’s time to take control of the clutter in your home!

get the book

I’ve Decluttered My Home… What’s Next?

After you finish decluttering, you might feel a little lost as to where to go next. And, how in the world do you keep it that way?

I personally found that once I got my home decluttered the first time around, it was pretty easy to keep it that way. I enjoyed the reduced clutter so much, I never wanted to bring it back in!

Of course, that doesn’t mean things stayed perfect. I find that once a year or so, I still need to do a light decluttering in my home. It usually happens around this time of year, and I just go around and refresh every room in our house by removing things we aren’t using anymore.

Organizing

After decluttering, doing a good organizing of your home is hugely helpful. Baskets with labels, new storage solutions, and storage containers that are meant for specific spaces can make a huge difference. Here are a few posts that might help you once you reach that part of the process.

And that’s that. The full guide to decluttering your home, one step at a time. I hope it provides some help for you, and I can’t wait to hear all about your decluttering journey!

The post How to Declutter Your Home appeared first on Love & Renovations.

If you have a small backyard, or one that’s already got a lot of trees, or even super rocky dirt (hello, Texas Hill Country!), creating a garden can be tricky. That’s why I love using raised garden beds. It makes it so much easier to find the room to garden, and it’s easier on your back, which is always a win. I’ve built a couple of different DIY raised garden beds in the past, so today I’m showing you how!

In both 2020 and in 2021, I built elevated garden beds for our backyard. If I’m being fully honest, we never used them to their full potential. As much as I love houseplants, I’m not much of a garden girl. But, I’m still a big believer in the raised garden bed, and I think we’ll give it another go sometime!

Let’s get to the raised garden bed plans, shall we?

Choosing a Design

There are dozens of different ways to make a raised garden bed. Some people build them directly on the ground, some do them a little more elevated.

Personally, I like a raised garden bed that stands up on legs. This helps avoid any weeds getting through, and it’s easier to tend when it sits up a little higher. That being said, it’s much harder to add a drip irrigation system or anything like that when it’s off the ground!

Take the time to consider your specific backyard and your needs for a vegetable garden before you dive in. There’s no right or wrong way to add garden bed planters to your yard. You can use bricks, concrete blocks, or cinder blocks to create your raised bed garden if you prefer. I’ve also seen gorgeous beds made from pallets! Get creative and have fun with it…and if you want to just copy my design, read on for the details!

Video Tutorial

If you prefer to watch things come together via video, I put together this little video with footage from my Instagram stories. It’s a great way to get a better visual of how things come together. But, be sure to read on for the tweaks I would make to my garden bed plans if I were doing it again today!

How to Build a Raised Garden Bed

Materials & Tools

• (12) 8′ cedar 1×4 boards
• (4) 8′ cedar 2×4 boards
• 1 roll of 2′ wide chicken wire
• 1 roll of landscaping fabric
• Kreg Jig + pocket hole screws (Optional, see note at end of post)
• Drill
• Staple Gun + Staples
• Stain or paint

Note: The type of wood you use for a raised bed can be a hot topic. I went with cedar, as it’s a rot-resistant wood and doesn’t have added chemicals. Pressure-treated lumber is also an option, but can be a bit controversial. Prior to 2004, chromated copper asenate (CCA), was the most commonly used preservative. It was banned for consumer use by the EPA, so now it’s been replaced with alkaline copper quaternary (ACQ). It makes pressure-treated wood less toxic, but can still leech copper into the surrounding soil. Just something to keep in mind when you’re making your choices for your raised bed planter.

Wood Cuts

The interior of my garden bed is 2′ x 4′, and it’s 33″ tall. You can adjust any of the sizing to fit your space.

To make a raised garden bed with the same dimensions I did, you’ll need to start by cutting:

• (6) 1×4 cedar boards to 2′
• (6) 1×4 cedar boards to 4′
• (4) 2×4 cedar boards to 33″

Creating the Short Sides

I used my Kreg Jig to help ensure that all of the screws and holes on my garden bed are hidden. If you don’t have one, I’ll add a note towards the end of the post to demonstrate how you can accomplish this build without one!

Drill two pocket holes in each side of all of the 1×4 side slats. Then, attach them to the long edge of the 2×4 using wood glue and pocket hole screws. I laid a 1×4 board underneath my slats as I was attaching them so that they weren’t flush with the front of the legs.

NOTE: You can see I did four slats on each of the sides. If I was building this again, I would only do THREE. The depth of my planter ended up being problematic and the weight of the soil was too much. I think a slightly shallower planter would have worked much better.

Attach three slats, pushed so that they’re touching one another, between two of the leg boards to create one side for the planter. It should look like the picture above when you’re done.

Creating the Long Sides

Once you have the two shorter side pieces done, you’re ready to attach them together using the 4′ boards. Drill pocket holes into each side of the longer slats, then attach them to the side pieces using the same method as above.

It can get a little tricky to keep everything straight and square as you work. I just used some scrap wood to help prop everything up and assembled it on its side.

With all of the side slats done, it should be looking like a raised garden bed!

You know, just without any sort of base, supports, or way to plant anything.

Before moving on, you can also add a 2×4 piece along the top of each of the short sides to trim it out and add a nice detail – this is totally optional, but I think it looks nice!

Adding Supports

This is the most important thing we’ll talk about here, as a lack of proper support ended up being the demise of my planter boxes. This is vital, so don’t skip it!

• First, and most important, I recommend only three boards on each side, NOT four like I did. I think that was my biggest mistake, and I think my beds would have lasted much better if they were shallower.
• Start with supports on the sides. I recommend using scrap 2×4 pieces. Attach two or three to each of the long sides, and one to the short sides. Make sure to screw it into each slat on the planter for added stability.

• For the bottom, I ripped a 2×4 cedar board in half to create two 2×2 cedar boards. I cut them down to fit the long interior sides of the planter, and used wood glue and screws to attach them along the bottom side of the planter.

A quick note: you should always pre-drill your holes (especially with smaller boards like these 2×2 ones) to avoid having the wood split!

With two long support pieces along each of the long sides, you’re ready to add in the bottom slats. You’ll use the scrap 1×4 pieces to cut down slats that fit in the bottom of your garden bed, and nail or screw them into the 2×2 support pieces.

Leave some space between each slat to create drainage holes.

Add Bottom Shelf

This is an optional step, but one I highly recommend! It adds more stability, and it’s very functional.

I kept this shelf really simple – I used two pieces of 2×4 cedar, cut to fit between the two short sides. I attached them with wood glue and pocket holes from underneath.

Once those were attached, I cut 5 pieces of 1×4 cedar to fit the entire length of the planter, so they were flush with the ends of the support pieces I just added. Then, I placed them evenly spaced across the supports and nailed them into place!

Add a Trellis (Optional)

If you’d like, you can build a trellis out of 2×2 boards and chicken wire, to allow the taller plants to vine a bit! It’s really simple to add, and gives some much needed support to plants like tomatoes and jalapenos.

You can see my trellis in action below.

Stain or Paint

You can absolutely leave your planter raw cedar if you love the look – cedar is great for outdoor garden beds and being exposed to the elements, and it should hold up just fine without any special sealing!

I wanted to make mine a little prettier, so I stained all of the 2×4 pieces (and the slats for the bottom) with Ebony stain, and I used this Aged Wood Accelerator on the side slats.

I didn’t seal my planter at all, but if you want to seal yours I’d recommend you use Spar Urethane.

Lining the Garden Bed

I used 5/16″ staples to attach a layer of chicken wire along the bottom of the planter. Just place the chicken wire down and use the staple gun to attach.

Once the chicken wire is in place, you’ll use the staple gun again to line the entire interior of the garden bed with landscape fabric or hardware cloth.

Get Planting!

And finally, you’re ready to fill up your raised garden bed and add your plants! It took me about 8 bags of gardening soil to fill it up. If you make yours shallower, you’ll be able to drop a bag or two.

plants to try…

Garden beds are great for…

• Tomatoes
• Salad greens (lettuce, arugula, spinach)
• Cucumbers
• Jalapenos
• Herbs (including thyme, basil, and cilantro)
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Onions
• Beans
• Beets
• Peas

And so much more! Just remember to choose a high quality garden soil. You can also consider adding compost for added nutrients over time.

Can I Build This Without a Kreg Jig?

Yes!

If I were building a garden bed and I didn’t have a Kreg Jig, I would probably just start with the leg pieces and screw or nail the slats to the outside using deck screws.

Then, if you want to hide the corners, you can attach some 1×4 boards vertically to meet in the corner and hide the ends of the boards!

Other Gardening Projects + Ideas

• Our DIY vertical herb wall
• Turning a ladder into a garden stand
• DIY tomato cage plant stands
• Easy DIY cinderblock plant shelves
• Other DIY gardening & planter ideas

The post How to Build a Simple DIY Raised Garden Bed appeared first on Love & Renovations.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to install a shiplap ceiling somewhere in my home. I’ve always loved the look of shiplap, I’ve used it a ton of different places, but I’ve never put it on the ceiling before.

Until now…because I just got done installing a shiplap ceiling in my powder room and I could not possibly be more in love.

Today, I’m walking you through the step by step process of installing shiplap on your ceiling! This post will cover every detail from start to finish, so grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and come on this journey with me, won’t you?

Before You Begin…

Here are a few questions, notes, and other tutorials that might be helpful if you’d like to take on a project like this.

What is Shiplap?

Let’s start with the basics. Shiplap planking is a tongue and groove style board that is commonly used to add visual interest to a space. Historically, shiplap was used as exterior siding, but over the years it has become common for interior spaces as well.

Some people argue shiplap is trendy or will feel dated in a few years. I strongly disagree. I think shiplap has been used in one form or another for basically forever, and it will always be a classic look! Shiplap paneling is often associated with farmhouse style homes, since Joanna Gaines and Fixer Upper are basically solely responsible for making everyone obsessed with it lately. But, I’m also a firm believer that it can fit right in with any home design style.

Here are a few places we’ve used shiplap:

• On the fireplace in our first home.
• And on the fireplace in our second home.
• Okay, we also used it on the fireplace in this house!
• Upstairs in our bonus room, we installed it vertically.
• It’s also on the island in our kitchen.

You can make your own DIY shiplap using MDF boards or plywood. You simply rip it down into strips and use a nickel or something similar to create the gaps. I’ve never done this, and I personally prefer to just use the real thing. It’s easier, it looks more polished, and it’s worth the extra money!

How to Install a Shiplap Ceiling

Video Tutorial

Want to watch it come together in video form? Here’s a compilation I put together of video I took while I was working. This gives you a good idea of what the process actually looks like, and if you’re a visual learner it might be worth watching first!

Step 1: Find and Mark Ceiling Joists

A great first step to installing a shiplap ceiling is to take the time to locate and mark the ceiling joists.

What are ceiling joists? They’re basically the studs for your ceilings. They are what the drywall is attached to, and they’ll either run vertically or horizontally through your room.

If possible, it’s a great idea to install your shiplap running perpendicular to the ceiling joists. That allows you to ensure every board is nailed directly into a stud. If you’re running the shiplap parallel to the ceiling joists, you may want to use construction adhesive to ensure a tight and long-lasting fit.

You can create a chalk line to mark the ceiling joists, or just mark them on the ceiling using a pencil (this is what I did, because I am lazy).

A note: If you’re dealing with renovations in a home that’s older and may not have the best ceilings, or if you don’t want to use glue, there’s still hope! You can use furring strips, attached to the joists with screws, to give you a smooth and solid surface to attach your shiplap to.

Step 2: Plan Ahead!

Once you’ve got your ceiling joists marked and you know you’ll be hitting them when you nail, it’s time to start planning.

I recommend taking the measurement of the entire width of the room and dividing that number by the width of your shiplap boards. This will give you an idea of how many boards you need, and if you need to cut any prior to starting. It’s almost impossible that your room will perfectly fit the shiplap boards, so your final board will likely need to be ripped down a bit.

If you end up with a crazy tiny fraction after doing the math, that means you’ll have a small sliver of ceiling left over after you install all of your full boards. In that case, it’s a wise idea to go ahead and rip the first board in half before installing it. This will make that fraction at the end a little bigger and make your life easier in the long run.

Thankfully, mine worked out nicely from the beginning – I just needed to cut off a bit of the tongue on my last board in order for it to fit.

Step 3: Install Shiplap

Alright, you’ve planned ahead, you’ve found your ceiling joists – it’s time to install your shiplap!

Installing shiplap on the ceiling is really easy. Just measure the length of your ceiling, cut your shiplap to size using a miter saw, and nail it into place.

In a small room like this, I could easily do full runs with just one cut. I have some seams in mine (because I didn’t want to waste any material), but I could have easily done the entire thing with no seams.

If your room is larger, you’ll probably be able to install a full, un-cut shiplap board to start, then cut down the next piece to fill in the rest of the run. Plan ahead to stagger your seams a bit – this will make them less obvious!

How to Go Around Obstacles

As you come to obstacles in the ceiling, like light fixtures, vent covers, or smoke alarms, you’ll need to cut around them. Simply measure where the cut needs to be, mark it on the back of your board, and cut it out using a jigsaw.

I was lucky that I only had one obstacle and it was an easy one to get around!

Step 5: Adding Trim

After your shiplap is fully installed, you may need to add some finishing trim to make things look a little more polished.

Some people like to add crown molding – I like a cleaner look, so I just caulked around the edges. I did add some corner trim on the side of my angled wall. I created a butt joint with the shiplap when I was installing it, and the corner trim hides it perfectly! It gives it a nice square edge that looks finished and polished.

Step 6: Caulk + Patching

Your final step before painting is one of the most important ones – caulk and patching!

In all likelihood, your shiplap ceiling planks look a little wild at this point. There are nail holes all over the place, there are gaps here and there, and all sorts of visible seams. Not to worry, it’ll all be covered up soon.

Check out the tutorials liked at the beginning of this post for more information on each of these specific steps if you need help. You’ll be caulking the edges where the shiplap meets the wall, and you’ll be using wood filler on all of the nail holes and seams.

Once it’s dry, be sure to take the time to sand down the wood filler so it’s smooth and flush!

Step 7: Paint!

And finally, you’re ready for paint! Even if you want a white shiplap ceiling, you’re going to need to paint the shiplap boards. They’re only primed, so they need a coat of paint for longevity. Plus, they probably look like a giant mess between the caulk, the wood filler, and all of the scuffing up you did during installation.

It’s okay, it happens to all of us. Just give it a good coat of paint and you’ll be fine.

You can paint by hand if you’d like, but I used a paint sprayer. I’d highly recommend it, as it’ll save you buckets of time.

Cost of a Shiplap Ceiling

I know what you’re all wondering. How much does a shiplap ceiling cost?

Well, it depends. Obviously. On the size of your ceiling, what you have on hand, and if you need to do anything like renting scaffolding for tall ceilings.

My space is obviously very small, but I used 11 shiplap boards to cover the ceilings and all the angles.

Each 8 ft shiplap board is about $10. So, that’s right at $100 for the shiplap. The trim was an additional $11. I had everything else on hand, so I didn’t need to purchase any additional materials.

Shiplap ceilings definitely aren’t the most affordable option around, but the finished result is so incredibly gorgeous!

And that’s a wrap on our powder room’s shiplap ceiling. Next up? Trim on the walls!

The post How to Install a Shiplap Ceiling appeared first on Love & Renovations.

Looking for the easiest way to spring clean your home in a weekend? Today, I’ve got a super simple spring cleaning schedule for you to keep you on track.

Raise your hand if you love to spring clean your home.

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

It’s that time of year where we all feel like we should be giving our homes a thorough cleaning but none of us really want to. It’s exhausting. So, I decided to make a little checklist to help keep us on track. Because I’m an Enneagram 1 and there’s nothing I love more than a good checklist.

This isn’t a spring cleaning checklist for the clean freak who wants to make sure every inch of the house is sparkling.

I mean, we’re not even gonna clean the windows.

(Unless they’re really dirty. Then clean them. But they’re probably fine.)

Easy Spring Cleaning Schedule

This is a spring cleaning checklist for those of us who want our home to be clean but just don’t have the time to get it all done. For the working mom who is desperate for a clean home but doesn’t even know where to begin on the 10-page list of essential spring cleaning to-dos that she saw on Pinterest. This is for the stay-at-home mom who always has a toddler or three clinging to her legs and can’t imagine having the time to dust her refrigerator coils (where even are those?).

This is the lazy girl’s guide to spring cleaning.

You can do it all in a weekend, and you’ll still have time to grab a margarita on the patio of your favorite restaurant. Or catch up on the latest episode of The Last of Us. Or both. We’re gonna focus on the items that will make an impact, ignore the ones that won’t, and high five each other for letting go of unrealistic expectations.

This is my kind of spring cleaning.

How to Spring Clean in a Weekend

Essential Cleaning Tools

Here are a few of my favorite cleaning tools. These are sure to make the job easier, and maybe a little more enjoyable, too!

This super simple schedule will walk you through giving your house a light spring cleaning over the course of one weekend. It’s created for a working parent, meaning the schedule starts Friday afternoon and goes into Sunday evening. You should plan on spending a large chunk of your time on Saturday and Sunday cleaning, but Friday is a bit lighter to account for being at work all day!

DAY ONE (Friday)

• Do a quick clutter sweep of your home, and get all of the dishes washed. It’s going to be a lot harder to get the deep cleaning done if you’re behind on the day-to-day tasks. Take a bit of time to put all the kid toys away, gather all the laundry, etc. I highly recommend recruiting your family to help with this part! While you’re working, toss a load of laundry in.
• Next, throw out any old leftovers in your fridge – this will make it much easier for you to clean the refrigerator later this weekend.
• Finally, do a quick run through the house with your vacuum and/or broom. Again – if you want the house to actually feel clean when the weekend is over, you need to make sure that the basics are taken care of. If you have the energy left to mop afterward, go for it.

DAY TWO (Saturday)

• Wash all of your sheets, duvet covers, and other bed linens. You should be doing this every week or so, but just in case it’s a good idea to tackle it while you’re already cleaning! Plus, after a long day of scrubbing and sweating, you’re really going to appreciate climbing into a nice clean bed!
• Time to clean your cabinets. I don’t know about you, but mine start to get really grimy looking after a while! I just like to use general cleaning spray and a microfiber cloth to give them a quick rub-down. Use a magic eraser for any particularly stubborn parts!
• Clean the fridge. This is one of my least favorite jobs in the world, but it’s so satisfying! I like to pull everything out onto the counters and thoroughly wipe it down. While you’re at it, go ahead and get everything nice and organized. I like to designate one shelf for leftovers, one for breakfast stuff, one for fruits and snacks, etc. The more organized you are, the easier it is to find things! Click here to see how I recently reorganized my fridge.
• Clean the stovetop. If you’ve got a gas stove, my tip is to toss all of the parts into a sink with nice hot soapy water and let it soak for 15 minutes or so. Then, I like to use this cleaner to clean the top of the stove.
• Toss a small bowl full of one part water and one part white vinegar into the microwave with a toothpick or wooden spoon in it (to prevent it from exploding all over the microwave and making your problem worse). Microwave on high for 5-10 minutes (the dirtier the microwave, the longer you cook it) and then wipe it clean. There will be almost no scrubbing required – it’s like magic, promise!
• Tackle the oven. Ugh. Cleaning the oven. It’s the worst, I know. But you’ll be glad you did – and I’m gonna make it easy on you. You don’t even have to do any scrubbing today – just make this the last thing you do before bed. Pull the racks out, mix up a paste with baking soda and a few tablespoons of water and spread it all over the oven. Next, take the oven racks, lay some towels down in the bathtub (so they don’t scratch it up), and fill it with some hot water and a fair amount of dish soap. Toss the racks in there to soak. Then? Go to bed! We’ll deal with the rest tomorrow.

DAY THREE (Sunday)

• First things first, let’s finish up the oven. Give the racks a good rubdown with a sponge and rinse them off. Use a damp cloth (or even a silicone spatula) to scrape out the baking soda paste from the oven. Use an old spray bottle to apply some white vinegar to any spots that didn’t come up easily and scrub. Repeat as needed until it’s nice and shiny! That wasn’t too painful, was it?
• Do a quick pass through the house and dust everything. Shelves, tabletops, nightstands – get it all done. Dusting is one of those jobs that feels monumental but only takes a few minutes, so blast some good music and dance, dance, dance your way through it.
• Now, the ceilings and fans. This is something I tend to ignore but it makes a huge difference. Grab a lint-free cloth, stand up on a chair or stepstool and go to down wiping down any dusty spots on your ceiling. I like to use a pillowcase to clean the fan blades off (put the blade into the pillowcase and use that to wipe any dust off without throwing it all around the room). I find that our ceilings get particularly dirty right next to the air vents, so this is the area I focus on!
• Dust the baseboards. If you’ve got a toddler, this is a great job to give them to help with. If not, just throw on a good podcast and go to town. I haven’t tried this, but I hear if you use a dryer sheet to dust them with, it helps prevent dust from gathering for a while afterward!
• Do a thorough cleaning of the bathrooms. I don’t know about you, but I feel like all of the bathrooms in our house are never clean at the same time. It feels like such a big, annoying job that I always put it off and then only end up with time to clean one. But in reality, it doesn’t take that long and your home will feel way cleaner if you get it all done at once.
• Run to the store (or, bonus points – send your partner!) and grab some fresh flowers. While you’re at it, grab a frozen pizza or something equally easy for dinner. And some cookies. You deserve it, dammit. When you get back home, light some candles, spread the flowers out, and bask in a job well done!

And that’s it! I made a simple little checklist to help keep you on track – you can print it out, or just pin it for later (you know, when you actually feel like tackling your spring cleaning). Just click here to access the PDF version!

What are your best spring cleaning tips?

The post How to Spring Clean in a Weekend appeared first on Love & Renovations.

One of the most common questions I get about our living room is, “where did you get that picture ledge?” Well… I made it! And it only took one afternoon and less than $50.

I built this little shelf because I needed something big and impactful to fill up the big wall behind our sofa, but I didn’t want to commit to something like a gallery wall. The beautiful thing about a picture ledge is that you can change up the art on it as often as you want. It’s an ever-changing, dynamic display.

Plus, it looks pretty great too.

We’ve had this little (giant?) guy hanging in our living room for about two years now and we are zero percent sick of it. It’s fun to swap the art out, and I love to change it up occasionally for the holidays. It adds to much to the home decor aesthetic in our entire house, and it’s a great way to display our favorite art and family photos.

This is one of the easiest projects around, so today I’m going to walk you through the step by step process!

How to Build a Picture Ledge

*Note: If you don’t have a Kreg Jig, check the end of the tutorial for a couple more tips on how you can assemble this using alternate methods!

Video Tutorial

Want to watch it all come together instead of reading about it? No problem. I’ve put together this compilation from my Instagram stories that shows you every step of the process.

Assembling the Picture Ledge

To start, you’ll need to determine how long you want your art ledge to be, and cut your boards to that size. I used my miter saw (click here to learn how to use one!), but you can also generally have the store cut the boards down for you. My art ledge is exactly 7′ long – I wanted it to fill most of the space above our couch, so we decided to go big! If you don’t have enough space for a large picture ledge, just adjust the size down for your room!

Once your boards are the correct length, go ahead and fully sand them. Once they’re all together, it’s harder to thoroughly sand! Start with a lower grit (like 120) and work your way all the way up to 400-grit sandpaper for a super smooth finish.

Below, you’ll find the step by step process I used to assemble my picture ledge shelf. But, there are multiple methods that are totally valid! If you want to see some other tips and tricks, just scroll to the bottom and find the one that works best for you.

Assembling with pocket holes

Unfamiliar with pocket holes? Click here to learn how to create them!

I started by drilling pocket holes in both sides of my 1×4 board. This is the board that will be the bottom of the picture ledge. When you place the frames in, they’ll rest on this board. I drilled a pocket hole approximately every 12 inches all down the 1×4 board in each direction. One set of pocket holes will drill into the back piece of the picture ledge (that sits against the wall) and the other set will go in the front ledge that holes all of the art in place.

Once my pocket holes were drilled, I added wood glue to the bottom of one side of the 1×3 board. This is the board that will act as a ledge for the art. I attached it to the 1×4 board using pocket hole screws. You can use clamps to make sure everything stayed in place while you are working.

Once the front piece is fully attached, it’s time to attach the 1×6 piece to the back of the art ledge. I had to use a right angle bit attachment for my drill to get these screwed in, since the front piece was already attached. We use this thing all the time and it’s such a helpful tool to have when you’ve got a project that has some tricky angles!

Once you’ve screwed in all of your pocket holes, it’s done! Remove the clamps, wipe off the excess glue, and you’re ready for stain!

Other assembly methods

While pocket holes were my method of choice for this project, it’s not the only way to do it! Here are two other ideas for how you can assemble your DIY art ledge:

• Use wood glue and brad nails. I use this method a lot and it honestly would have worked fine here as well, I was just impatient and didn’t want to be reliant on waiting for glue to cure before I could hang it! Wood glue is incredibly strong, and would work fine alone. Just apply wood glue along each seam, then clamp the boards together and use a nail gun to add nails to hold it all in place while it dries. No nail gun? Nails and a hammer work fine too, promise.
• Screw it together! Another really simple method would simply be to use your drill to screw the boards together! If you took this approach, I’d recommend screwing in the back board from the back (obviously), and for the front piece I would rest it on top of the bottom piece rather than in front of it – then you can screw it in from underneath. Be sure to pre-drill holes in your boards before assembly if this is the method you decide to use!

Stain or Paint

Once your picture ledge has been assembled, you can stain or paint it. Or, if you’re working with something like white Oak, you can leave it raw, too!

• Here are some tips for staining wood
• Here are the best black wood stains
• And here are my favorite white wood stains

How to Hang a Picture Ledge

To hang our picture ledge, we decided that the simplest approach was probably best. We located the studs on our wall, then we drilled holes in the back of the art ledge so that they’d line up with the studs. From there, we just used plain ol’ 3″ long screws to drill through the back of the art ledge and directly into the studs!

It’s not the most glamorous technique, but the screws will literally always be covered up with art, so who cares?!

Once the art ledge was hung, I filled it up with art and never looked back. It’s one of my favorite touches in our house, and it brings me so much joy! Plus, it gives me an excuse for all sorts of new art purchases. I mean, I’ve got a lot of space to fill!

Art Ledge Styling Tips

You don’t have to just include art on your picture ledge! You can also add small trinkets, even skinny vases with flowers! I’ve seen a lot of really creative uses for picture ledges, so be sure to think outside the box. You can add a lot of visual interest to your space by playing around with height and texture here. You could pick a color scheme and stick to that for a cohesive look, or you could go super eclectic. There’s no right or wrong answer here!

Shop Our Picture Ledge

Looking for links to something you see on our picture ledge? Snag it all below!

The post How to Build a Picture Ledge appeared first on Love & Renovations.

For me, each new season always brings a fresh desire to update and refresh my home. Do you experience this, too? Maybe I’m just susceptible to marketing, but every time I walk in a store and they’ve got a new seasonal display out with spring decor (or whatever season it is), I get a desperate urge to grab something to refresh my home.

Other than Christmas, spring is probably the season where I experience it the most. After a long and cold winter, I want things that feel light and fresh! I want greenery! And bunnies! And to be reminded that 80-degree days and dinners on the patio are coming!

It’s been hitting me particularly hard this year, and I’ve been doing a lot of online window shopping as a result! Places like Target and Crate & Barrel always have gorgeous options for spring decor, but we all know that. You can walk right in and see it. Amazon, however, can be a harder nut to crack. They have a ton of gorgeous decor options, but finding them among the sea of…not so gorgeous stuff…isn’t always easy.

Well, I’m here to help. I spent an ungodly amount of time browsing Amazon for the very best spring decor this year. And I’ve got it all right here for you! I’m just sharing some of my favorites in this post, because I honestly found too much to share all in one place. If you want to see all of my finds, check out my Spring Decor Finds section on my Amazon Storefront. It has everything I found and loved – more than 50 items!

Amazon Finds: The Best Spring Decor

1. Mini Vintage-Style Bluetooth Speaker
2. Blue Vase
3. Antique-Style Mirror
4. Fish Vase
5. Brass Bunny Set
6. 37″ Faux Olive Branches
7. Rattan Boxes
8. White Beads
9. Scalloped White Bowl
10. Yellow Throw Pillows
11. 6′ Faux Eucalyptus Tree
12. Glass Pitcher

Tips for Spring Decor

Need a few ideas for how to incorporate some fresh spring decor into your home? It doesn’t have to be hard! Here are a few ideas for how to refresh things without a ton of effort.

• Add some greenery. Real, faux, who cares?! Green means spring!
• Lighter textiles. Pack up the heavy knit throw pillows and thick blankets. For spring, shoot for lighter, airier fabrics.
• Buy a beautiful new vase or pitcher and fill it with fresh flowers. Or fake. These are my favorites!
• Grab a candle that smells incredible, light it, and then open up some windows. Your house will feel so refreshed, and it doesn’t cost anything!
• Just change something. Even if it isn’t spring-focused, just adding something new to your house goes a long way to making things feel refreshed!

Bottom line? The perfect way to usher in spring is with a few small changes that make things feel fresh and new. Personally, I find it always feels really special to grab one or two new things to celebrate the turn of the seasons. But, you don’t have to spend a dime. Simply redecorating a thing here and there will go a long way to making your home feel fresh and new!

A Few More Ideas…

• DIY Spring Wreath
• My Favorite Amazon Decor
• How I Use Pedestals in My Home
• Outdoor Projects to Tackle This Spring
• Spring Cleaning Tips + Tricks

The post The Best Spring Decor on Amazon appeared first on Love & Renovations.

Blue has always been one of my very favorite colors to use in my home. In the last few years I’ve trended towards more greens but if I look back at aaaaall of our houses and the spaces I’ve done, blue is by far the most used color! I’ve always leaned towards more saturated or dark blues, but a color I’m really really loving lately is a more subtle blue gray paint color.

I really wanted to do a dusty blue gray on the walls of our powder room when I painted it in December, but due to some negotiating with Corey we ended up with a darker blue. And we both agreed it was all wrong for the space almost immediately! So…I repainted in a beautiful light blueish gray and…well…it’s perfect.

For our powder room, I went with Motor City by Clare. They sent me the paint and some painting tools so I could transform the room, and I’m so grateful! They’re truly one of the best paint brands out there, and I’m finding myself using them more and more lately.

Let’s talk about this beautiful trending color a bit more and how you can use it in your home, shall we?

Blue Gray or Gray Blue…What’s the Difference?

Let’s start here – sometime’s you’ll see “blue gray” and sometimes you’ll see “gray blue”. Are they the same? What’s the difference?

Generally speaking, you should list the dominant color first. So, in the case of our powder room, it’s a gray blue paint color. Meaning, there’s more gray than there is blue.

Warm Grey vs. Cool Grey

One thing to consider when choosing a paint color is if you want it to lean more warm or more cool!

Generally speaking, warm colors have undertones that are yellow, orange, and red. Cool colors have undertones that are green, blue, and purple. That doesn’t necessarily mean all blue gray colors are cool, though! If the gray mixed in with the blue has enough yellow in it, it’ll warm the color right up.

The easiest way to tell a difference is to compare them. If you hold two blue-gray colors up next to each other, you should be able to tell which one leans warmer, and which leans cooler.

It’s important to know that light is a major factor, and can affect how the color feels in your space. Everythng from your light bulbs to whether or not you have a lot of natural light is a factor. If you want to know if a color feels warm or cool in your specific space, I recommend sampling it!

Where can you use them?

Blue gray paint colors genuinely can be used anywhere in your home. There are no rules! Here is some inspiration…

• It’s a great accent color! To add blue gray as accents in your home, try it on an island, an accent wall, or the ceiling!
• The laundry room – it’ll make it way more enjoyable to be in there!
• Blue gray is the perfect soothing color for a bathroom.
• Blue gray can be a gorgeous color for cabinets – especially if your countertops are a shade that will really pop against it!

Blue gray is really one of those chameleon colors that changes depending on the room, the time of day, and the lighting. It can be used in any space and will look good with any home decor.

The 20 Best Blue Gray Paint Colors

Here are a few of my favorite blue grays from the various paint brands. There are tons of options out there, but if you ask me, these are the best blue grey paint colors.

Benjamin Moore

Flower Box (CSP-53)

• This is a mid-tone color, so a bit darker than some. It may lean purple in some lights, as it’s a much more saturated color!

Manor Blue (1627)

• This is a great spa-like blue that is heavier on the gray tones. It’s a mid-tone that is more saturated than some of the others!

Mt. Ranier Gray (2129-60)

• This is an icy blue with gray undertones. It will feel a bit brighter and more “true” blue in some lighting. It may lean a bit pastel, too!

Water’s Edge (1635)

• Benjamin Moore Water’s Edge aaaalmost has some green undertones in it. It’s a gorgeous blue-gray color that will change in different lights.

Mineral Alloy (1622)

• This mid-tone shade is rich and saturated. It’s closer to a navy with less gray tones in it.

Comet (1628)

• This is a great grey paint color with plenty of blue undertones to it.

Other Benjamin Moore Colors…

Benjamin Moore is a really popular brand with a ton of beloved colors. Here are a few other popular blue gray paint colors to check out…

• Benjamin Moore Cloudy Sky
• Benjamin Moore Providence Blue
• Benjamin Moore Hale Navy
• Benjamin Moore Van Courtland Blue
• Benjamin Moore Smoke

Sherwin Williams

Krypton (SW 6247)

• Sherwin Williams Krypton has more of a slate gray feel. It’s a great mid-tone and has a cozy vibe.

Misty (SW 6232)

• This is a really soft gray with blue undertones. It brings a calmness to the space and would be a really beautiful choice for any room.

Rock Candy (SW 6231)

• This color leans towards a white with cool blue undertones. It’s a really light blue-grey color that will feel super neutral.

Upward (SW 6239)

• This is kind of a denim blue with gray undertones. May lean slightly purple in some lights!

Jubile (SW 6248)

• This mid-tone color leans more heavily towards gray, with a strong blue undertone.

Evening Shadow (SW 7662)

• This is a definite gray blue – the main color here is a warm gray, with subtle blue undertones.

Behr

Ozone (PPU13-14)

• Ozone is a really pretty blue with slight gray tones to it. Great for a space where you want it to lean more saturated!

Atmospheric (PPU12-15)

• I love Atmospheric and have seen it used in a lot of beautiful spaces! It has a slight green undertone to it as well, so keep that in mind if you choose it!

Norwegian Blue (N470-5)

• A darker, more saturated blue with gray undertones, this color would be great in a room where you want a bolder vibe.

Urban Mist (PPU12-13)

• This one has some green tones in it, but it’s a really pretty gray blue that will feel bright and airy in your space.

Intercoastal Gray (MQ5-23)

• A more saturated blue tone, this one gives off a definite coastal vibe to me!

Distant Star (MQ5-31)

• This is my favorite of all the Behr gray blue colors. It’s perfectly muted and, in my opinion, the perfect mix of blue and gray!

Clare Paint

Motor City

• This is the color I chose for our powder room! It reads like a really beautiful gray-blue and changes all throughout the day. My favorite kind of color.

Set in Stone

• This reads like a slate gray with some blue undertones. It’s a really gorgeous color that would be great for a bolder space.

Some Painting Tips & Tricks

Before you paint, I always recommend sampling your paint colors on the wall! It’s the best way to ensure you don’t end up with a color that doesn’t work in your space. You can have peel and stick paint samples from almost all paint brands from places like Samplize shipped right to your doorstep if you like, but personally I like to pop in the store and grab a few samples myself!

Once you have a sample, you can paint a swatch on these peel and stick papers, on foam boards, or paint some color swatches right on the wall itself!

My Favorite Painting Tools

The post The Best Blue Gray Paint Colors appeared first on Love & Renovations.

We love to play board games around here. Just about anytime we have friends over, it’s pretty much guaranteed that we’ll be pulling a game or two out after dinner! We always have friends that are surprised by the types of games we have, because they’re a little more unique than your typical Monopoly or Taboo! So, today, I’m sharing a few of our favorite games to play with friends.

We’ve had lots of friends who were originally resistant to playing board games with us, but by the end of the night they’re usually asking when we can do it again! It’s taken us some time to gather a good collection of games that work well with a crowd, but we’ve got a lot of favorites now! Here are a few we love to pull out again and again.

Board Games to Play With Friends 

1. LCR Wild (Unlimited players) – This is a really simple dice game perfect for a crowd. Simply roll the three dice and pass your chips to the right, left, or center of the play area depending on where you land. When you’re out of chips, you’re eliminated! It gets a lot more exciting if you have everyone bring three $1 bills to play with instead of the chips – last player standing keeps the entire pot!
2. Spyfall (Up to 8 players) – This game is perfect for a party. Everyone at the table has a card that they have to keep secret. Most of them have a location on them (the same location for every card) and one of them says “Spy”. Everyone asks one another questions, and the person who is the spy is trying to figure out where they’re at. At the same time, everyone else is trying to figure out who the imposter is! It’s silly and a ton of fun. We always end up in fits of laughter when we play this one. Best for a group who doesn’t mind being put on the spot.
3. Codenames (Technically up to 8 players, but can be played with as many as you want) – This game is played in teams. So, the game recommends up to 8 but we’ve played with way more! The set up is a bit like the old computer game, Minesweeper. On the grid, each time has specific words assigned to them that only the clue giver knows. The clue-giver on each team tries to get everyone else to guess the words assigned to that team. The catch? They can only give a one-word clue. We almost always play multiple rounds of this one!
4. Just One (Up to 7 players) – We love this game so much we bought a second copy for up to 14 players! It’s incredibly simple – everyone works together to get each other to guess words on a card. The only catch is, the clues can only be one word, and only one person can give each clue. So, if two people write the same clue they both have to erase it! People always want to play this game multiple times, and it’s never not been a huge hit for us.
5. Ultimate Werewolf (Up to 30 players) – I used to play this game with a plain ol’ deck of cards at every slumber party I went to as a kid. It is so much fun and it’s one of those games that just gets better the more people you have. This one is best played with a group who isn’t afraid to get a little silly! There’s also a shorter version (that’s maybe even more popular) called One Night Ultimate Werewolf.
6. Telestrations (Up to 8 players, up to 12 if you buy the Party version) – This game is a perfect mash-up of Pictionary and Telephone. And, it’s probably my personal favorite party game! Each person starts with a prompt and has to draw a picture. They pass it to the next person, who writes down what they think it is. Then they pass it to the next person, who has to draw what the previous person wrote down…etc, etc. It’s pretty fun and it’s great for when your group includes kids!
7. The Resistance (Up to 10 players) – This is another “secret identity” game. One team is playing a group of resistance fighters and the other group is playing the government trying to shut them down. The resistance has to infiltrate the government by succeeding at a series of missions without being found out by the other team. It always takes people a round or two to catch onto, but we almost always have friends requesting to play this again immediately after we finish!
8. Secret Hitler (Up to 10 players) – Everyone is always a little skeptical of the theme of this game, set in 1930’s Germany with a goal of taking down Hitler’s fascists, but it’s honestly a total blast. It helps that the illustrations are absolutely beautiful, too!
9. Wavelength (Up to 12 players) – This team party game is all about predicting what your teammates think. One person on the team is trying to get you to guess where a hidden target is on the game board. They do it by giving you a clue and having you guess where on the spectrum between two things that is. For example, it might be a spectrum of “Hot” to “Cold” and they give the clue “Coffee”. The categories change every time (things like Overrated/Underrated and Wet/Dry), and it’s always a really great time.
10. Pantone (Up to 20 players) – In this team game, you’re trying to get your teammates to guess clues by using Pantone color swatches! It sounds almost impossible when you first start, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how each (and fun) it is!
11. Hues & Cues (Up to 10 players) – Try to get the group to guess a very specific color swatch on a board full of tiny color swatches. You’ll give a clue for the color and they have to try and place their markers on the exact hue. It’s harder than you might think!
12. Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza (Up to 8 players) – This fast-thinking card game is like the classic game of War but with a twist. As you flip cards, you take turns saying the name of the game (the first players says “Taco”, the next player says “Cat”, and so on). If the card you flip matches the word you say, you try to slap the stack to take the cards! Jackson got this game for Christmas, but I think it’s the perfect adults-only party game too!

A Few Other Ideas

These games all make very frequent appearances at our dining room table! We’ve tried our fair share of party games, but these are the ones we keep going back to over and over.

What kinds of games do you like to play with a big group?

Want more board game inspiration? Here are a few more posts:

• Favorite Board Games for Kids
• A Few Games We’re Loving Lately
• The Best Board Games
• Games for Two Players

The post The Best Party Games to Play With Friends appeared first on Love & Renovations.

The powder room is a project that has been on my to-do list for a long time. In fact, up until a couple of months ago, it was the last room in this house that hadn’t been updated at all! Back in December I painted it, but that was just step one of a muuuuuch bigger makeover.

And it starts NOW!

I think one of the reasons I’ve put this little powder room makeover off for so long is that I have high hopes for it. It’s such a cute, quirky little room with its angled ceiling and unique location under the stairs. I want it to be this happy little surprise when you open the door, and I’ve definitely spent some time overthinking it.

But, I have a plan. It’s fully formed and solid in my head and I’m really excited to get started. My goal is to put all of my upcoming project budget into giving this space a whole new look.

And I mean a whole new look, because I’m repainting it. Again.

Powder Room Mood Board + Plans

Let’s talk details, here. First of all, I’ll address the whole repainting thing. When I painted the room back in December, I had a color picked out in my head and Corey said he didn’t like it. So, we compromised and got this color…which we both immediately agreed wasn’t the right choice. Hah!

And sometimes that happens. Thankfully, paint is easy enough to fix! So, since we’re already working in this room we’re just going to go ahead and take care of it. We’re on the same page now and crossing our fingers we love the new color. Because painting this room twice feels fine, but three times is just overkill.

Let’s break down the mood board a bit. It’s worth noting that some of these items are decided on for sure, and some are just placeholders based on the general style I want. Plenty of decisions still need to be made, and you know I’ll keep you updated!

Powder Room Details

• I’ve had my eye on this 21″ wood vanity for a long time for this powder room. I really want something that feels super traditional, wood toned, and a little like an antique piece. This fits the bill perfectly, and it’s honestly the only purchase for his space that I’m 100% decided on. I need to save up a bit (our project budget is tight right now!) so this isn’t happening this month, but hopefully soon.
• The trio of photos next to the vanity are a breakdown of what’s happening on the walls and ceiling. I really want to emphasize the unique ceiling lines in here, so I’m going to be adding shiplap on the ceiling! I originally planned on shiplapping the entire room, but I decided to change it up. I want a more traditional feel in this space, so on the walls I’ll be doing picture molding. Just like in our bedroom! I love that we’ll be repeating a trim treatment we’ve used and love (makes for a cohesive house!), and I think it’ll look amazing. And, of course, the new paint color. I haven’t chosen one for sure but I’m eyeing something like this moody gray-blue called Motor City from Clare. This all IS going down in March, and I can’t wait to get started!
• Also on the walls, I’ve always pictured a giant gallery wall. Like, covering most of the walls in artwork. I was really inspired by this powder room I stumbled on one day when I was browsing for inspiration, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since!
• I am definitely going to be adding a small rug for some warmth. I already own this rug – it lives in our laundry room – and I’m thinking about just bringing it over!
• This vanity light is one I’ve had my eye on for a while. I haven’t decided if it’s the one but it might be! The light in our powder room is hung absurdly close to the ceiling, so I need something that hangs down a bit. I like that this one will hang down and have a nice traditional feel.
• And finally, this mirror is probably the one I’ll go with for the space because the dimensions are perfect! I want something that’s taller than it is wide to help hide the fact that the light is so high up. And, I love the arched shape because it’ll help offset all of the square molding in the room. I also think a more modern feeling mirror paired with the super traditional vanity will be a great combination.

And that’s where we’re at right now! There are still a few small decisions to be made here and there, but overall I am more than ready to dive in! It’s going to be a slow burn of a project, but I can’t wait to watch it all come together.

The goal is that in March, I’ll be repainting the room and then diving right into the trim work. It’s going to be a really fun month, and even just getting this part of the plan done will make it feel like a whole new space! Let’s goooooo!

The post The Powder Room Mood Board appeared first on Love & Renovations.

Every year when the end of February arrives, I find myself absolutely giddy with anticipation. Fall is my favorite season, but spring is definitely close behind. I love the slowly warming weather, watching all of the plants come back to life, and the general feeling of “YAY” in the air.

That’s totally a thing, right?!

We’ve had some really beautiful weather over the last couple of weeks and we’ve been getting outside every chance we get. There are only a couple of weeks left until spring break, and I’m finding myself really looking forward to it this year! But, that’s not what we’re talking about today. Nope. Today is all about February and sharing aaaall the joy it brought.

Let’s do it.

Moments + Memories

• We got a puppy! Granger’s chaotic little personality has been exactly what we needed as we mourned the loss of our Doberman, Hadley. Potter (our other dog) is absolutely thrilled to have him around, and they spend all day playing. He’s a troublemaker, but aren’t all puppies?
• I’ve grown to really love Valentine’s Day and the whole season that goes along with it. We eat too much candy, make some special treats, and get a little cheesy decorating the house. It’s a lot of fun, and I really look forward to it every year. This year was no exception!
• I had a great time working on my closet makeover. I’ve wanted to add some functionality to that space since we moved in, and it felt so, so good to finally get it done.
• Grant’s school had a Valentine’s Day Mom’s tea and it was the sweetest thing. They sang a song, gave us gifts, and we had some treats together. It was so fun to get to spend some special 1:1 time with him, and I always love seeing the kids in their school element.
• Our annual Super Bowl party was a blast, as always. Corey made way too much food, we spent the evening with some of our very favorite people, and I made the most epic dessert board of all time.

Books + Media

This month I read…

• The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – This YA series was really light and fun and compelling. This is the final book in the trilogy, and I enjoyed every second! I heard from a lot of people on Instagram who read the series with their preteens, and I could see this being a really good fit for that, too. I loved it.
• The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose – I absolutely flew through this one and can’t wait to add more books from her to my “to read” list. Full of twists and turns, and I was really proud to have predicted at least a few of them.
• The Guest List by Lucy Foley – This was actually a re-read for me. I read it (and loved it) last year, but it was my book club book this month and I needed a refresher on the details. I loved it just as much the second time around, and it was really fun to read it already knowing all the unexpected surprises coming!
• The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan – I read a lot of thrillers with big twists and turns, and every once in a while it’s so lovely to just read a straightforward good ol’ novel. This was a really great, heartwarming story and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

Corey and I watched very little television together this month…and you’ll see why in the next section! We started The Last of Us and are very into it, but we’re super behind. So, no spoilers please! On my own, I started season four of You, and so far I’m absolutely loving it. It has a really different feel than the previous three seasons, and I’m enjoying the change of pace.

Also, my two best friends and I have been re-watching an old season of America’s Next Top Model during our weekly hang out, and it’s been absolutely ridiculous and delightful.

Games

We’re trying really hard to play more games this year, and so far we’re doing a pretty good job! Corey and I haven’t been playing a ton of board games just us, but we’re having more family board game nights, and we did spend almost every evening this month playing a game…

• Hogwarts Legacy – Our entire family has been anticipating this game for months, and it does not disappoint. I don’t play a ton of video games, but this is exactly my kind of game. Corey and I have been playing every night as soon as we get the kids settled, and it’s been so much fun. There’s something about curling up in bed to play a video game together that feels a little more engaging and fun than just watching television, and I’ll be sad when we’re done!
• Five Alive – Jackson got this game for Christmas, and we all played it together this month. It’s a lot of fun, really simple to learn, and doesn’t take too long. My very favorite combo for family game night! Also, it’s great for some basic addition practice for kids!
• Rack-O – Our new addiction! We played this game several nights this month, both with and without Jackson, and one night with my parents. It’s one of the quickest games ever to learn, but you won’t ever want to stop playing. My parents enjoyed it so much they ordered it on their way home from our house!
• Hand to Hand Wombat – Jackson got this silly game for Christmas, too. It feels like madness when you’re playing, but we always end up in fits of giggles. We’ve found it works best with four players, and if you have a Tiny Destroyer I recommend you play when they aren’t around. Unless you just want the game to feel extra chaotic.

Products

And finally, let’s wrap things up with a few products that made my life easier or better or just generally inspired joy this month…

• This dog food puzzle. Our puppy, Granger, has a lot of energy. We bust this puzzle out every few days for one of his meals, and it keeps him busy and engaged for a nice long time!
• This hat rack is the best addition to our closet. My hats used to be a total mess, but now they’re organized, easy to see, and even look cute!
• Speaking of the closet, adding an ottoman might have been the most life-changing decision ever. No more sitting on the floor to put my shoes on! There’s something about a place to rest your bum while you’re getting dressed that just feels fancy.
• It’s been a long time since I splurged on my favorite countertop cleaner, and this month I set up a “Subscribe and Save” on Amazon. Because it’s worth spending $10 on a bottle of counter cleaner if it makes you smile every time you use it.
• This oversized sweatshirt was easily my most-worn clothing item this month. It looks put together, but it’s perfectly cozy and casual!

And that’s everything that brought me joy in February! What brought you joy this month?!

The post What Brought Me Joy in February appeared first on Love & Renovations.

You know how as a parent, you sometimes just…hide? Like, “doing laundry” for way longer than you need to so you can sneak a candy bar. Or, “washing your face” for an extra 15 minutes while you scroll your phone. Well, I have a new place to hide. And it’s kind of glorious.

I’ve been working on our closet renovation for a few weeks now, and I’m thrilled to say it’s finally fully complete. I shared all of the details on the new closet system last week, but I’ve been working on all of the finishing touches that make it feel extra special. And man, is it ever special!

It was honestly surprising how few details it really took to take the closet from “nice and organized” to “nice and organized AND fancy”. And, honestly? Anyone can have a fancy-feeling closet! I wanted to share a few closet ideas for you, because even if you aren’t in the market to fully renovate your closet, you can get a little bit of luxe in there without a ton of effort.

How I Made My Closet Feel Fancy

1. Add Specific Organizers

We’ve touched on this quite a bit already, but getting really specific with how things are organized in your closet makes a big difference. Things like drawer dividers, matching baskets, and a shoe shelf go a looooong way. You can see some of my favorite organizers to use around the house in this post, but here are a few favorites from my closet specifically.

Closet Organization Favorites

• Drawer Dividers
• Drawer Organizer Boxes
• Hat Rack
• Skirt Hanger
• Velvet Hangers
• Matching Baskets

2. Get a Nice Laundry Basket

For years, we just used whatever old laundry basket we had in college. It functioned perfectly fine but it was decidedly ugly. When I was working on this closet, I was determined to get one that made me smile. Because, I’m a big believer that making the functional things in your home look great makes a huge difference.

I found this pretty rattan laundry basket and I couldn’t love it more. It has a lid so there’s no overflowing, and if the lid won’t close I know it’s time to do laundry! There is a divider on the inside, so I can keep Corey’s shirts separate (he likes to line dry them). It has wheels, for easy transport to the laundry room.

And best of all? It’s cute!

More Cute Laundry Baskets

3. Put Down a Rug

Even before we got this closet organized, we had a rug in here for a while! I love the way it cozies up the space and makes it feel a little more intentional and thought-out. Plus, it just feels fancy to have a rug in the closet!

I grabbed this 3×5 rug for this space, and I love the look. It’s nice and soft underfoot when I’m choosing my clothes in the morning, and there’s something about walking into a closet with a beautiful rug in it that just feels luxurious. Try it, you might be surprised by how much you love it!

4. Add an Ottoman

Oh my goodness, I’m converted for life. I will never again not have an ottoman in my closet. Now that I’ve experienced it, it’s a must.

I debated if there was really room in our closet for an ottoman, but I decided to try it out with something small, and I’m so glad I did. I used to sit on the floor most mornings to put my shoes on, or walk out into the bedroom. It’s a small change, but being able to plop down on this ottoman to put my shoes on each morning feels so nice. I see Corey using it almost daily, too, so I know he’s a fan!

Also? It’s a storage ottoman, which means it adds even more function to the space! I haven’t figured out what I want to put in there yet (my closet has so much storage space now that I don’t need it!), but I love having the option.

Ottoman Options for the Closet

5. Swap Out the Light

And finally, I think this is a must when you’re doing any space like this. Changing out the light is a quick, easy, and usually pretty affordable way to make a HUGE impact! Before, we just had the plain ol’ builder-grade light. It was inconspicuous, but didn’t add anything to the room.

Corey swapped it out for me with the light that we had up in our bonus room. He wanted something a little closer to the ceiling in there so he can play VR without hitting the light (hah!), so it made things really easy. The big scale feels so fancy in this closet, and it really brought things up a notch!

You don’t have to spend a ton of money on a new light – you can find great ones at your local hardware store or on Amazon for $50 or less! Just get something that makes you smile, and I guarantee it’ll make your closet feel a bit fancier.

And there you have it. Five simple closet ideas to make your space feel majorly updated without changing up the whole closet system.

Although, I’ve gotta admit, ripping it all out and starting fresh felt SO GOOD!

Other Closet Ideas

• DIY Built-In Entry Closet System
• Organizing a Closet on a Budget
• Linen Closet Organizing Ideas
• Art Closet Ideas
• DIY Master Closet Ideas

The post 5 Luxurious (But Affordable) Closet Ideas appeared first on Love & Renovations.

Welcome back to what I affectionately like to call, “how to clean things that clean other things.” Last month, I shared my regular routine for how I clean my front-load washing machine, and this month we’re talking about how to clean the dishwasher. This is one of those tasks that’s really easy to ignore, but vital do to.

When my dishwasher hasn’t been cleaned in a while, I notice a really drastic difference in the cleanliness of the dishes coming out of it. And, mildew and mold can grow in the nooks and crannies of your dishwasher and cause odors. No one wants that. Thankfully, deep cleaning your dishwasher is a really quick and easy process.

How to Deep Clean Your Dishwasher

I’m going to walk you through everything I do on a regular basis to clean my dishwasher. We’ll tackle cleaning the filters, cleaning the inside, and cleaning the outside. With these super simple tips, you’ll find that your dishwasher runs better and your dishes get cleaner!

Step One: Clean the Filters and Drain

My first step is always pulling out the dishwasher filter and deep cleaning it. You should also inspect the drain area and clear it of any food or debris, along with any other removable parts. This is the most important step, and the one that will make the biggest difference in how your dishwasher runs.

Most dishwashers have two basic filters that need to be cleaned. They sit in the bottom of the dishwasher. The first is a round filter that catches any food particles that are left on your dishes when you put them in. You simply twist it and pull it out to clean it. I clean it at the sink with hot water and dish soap.

Note: Some newer dishwasher models come with self-cleaning filters. Be sure to check your manual to see the recommendations for how to clean your specific dishwasher.

The second filter is a long mesh filter that sits in the bottom of the dishwasher. It just pops out of place and can similarly be cleaned in the sink!

Every dishwasher will look slightly different, but just know that there’s usually a screen to remove and clean, along with a secondary filter or drain.

Your dishwasher may have a piece with two long arms that spray. It sits on top of the screen at the bottom. This should be pulled up and cleaned. Make sure the holes where it sprays are clear and there isn’t any food residue on it.

Step Two: Clean the Dishwasher Interior

After cleaning the filters, you should move on to the rest of the dishwasher interior. This includes cleaning the racks, the seal, and all of the other pieces!

Thankfully, most of this can be accomplished by running a dishwasher cycle with some cleaner. But, some things need to be cleaned first, separately.

Start by removing the utensil holder and the racks so the dishwasher is completely empty. This allows you to access everything a little easier. Those can be cleaned separately in the bathtub, or you can just wipe them down with a clean cloth and some warm, soapy water.

The SEal

First, clean the area where the seal at the bottom of the door is. There can be a buildup of food and residue down there, and over time it gets gross!

I like to clean this with a 50/50 mix of water and white vinegar in a spray bottle. Simply open the dishwasher door, spray the area down, and allow it to sit for a few minutes. You can use a scrub brush (my personal preference) or a toothbrush to clean it, or just a microfiber cloth.

The Spray Arms

Next, you’ll want to clean any residue or soap buildup on the spray arms or anywhere else you notice it on the interior of the dishwasher. Again, every dishwasher will look slightly different, but you should be able to see an area where the water sprays from. Inspect the holes and make sure they’re clean.

You can use a small scrub brush or toothbrush to deep clean all of this and make sure it’s clear. If there are any really stubborn particles, use a toothpick to pull them out.

The Sides and Bottom

Finally, take a moment to look around and the sides and bottom of the dishwasher. Make sure there aren’t any food particles or glaring issues to deal with before you run the cleaning cycle!

If you feel like you might need to scrub the interior before running the wash cycles, you can! Mix up a paste with two cups of baking soda and three tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide. This will help break down the scum and you can clean the entire interior with this mixture prior to running the wash cycles.

Run a Wash Cycle With Vinegar

Now, it’s time for the easy part!

Fill a small dishwasher-safe bowl with white vinegar and place it in the bottom of your empty dishwasher. Set the dishwasher to run on the hottest setting possible, and run a cycle with nothing but the bowl of vinegar in there. Don’t add detergent!

This will break up any remaining bits of food, grease, grime, or soap residue. It will also help remove odors!

Run a Wash Cycle With Baking Soda

You’re almost done! Now, remove the bowl and sprinkle some baking soda in the bottom of the dishwasher. Run a short cycle on your dishwasher. This will remove stains, any remaining odors, and leave things looking sparkly clean!

A note on bleach: Some people recommend also running a cycle with a cup of bleach in your dishwasher. In theory, this is a great idea. But, it’s only okay if you don’t have stainless steel parts in your dishwasher interior. It can break down the stainless steel and cause issues over time. I recommend just sticking to baking soda and vinegar, unless you’re confident your dishwasher is free of any stainless steel parts!

Step Three: Clean the Exterior

Now that the interior is fully clean, you’re ready to clean the outside! I like to use this stainless steel appliance cleaner on mine. But, an all-purpose cleaner like Mrs. Meyers works great as well. If you like a more natural, homemade route, simply mix equal parts of water, dish soap, and white vinegar!

How Often Should I Deep Clean My Dishwasher?

Generally speaking, you should be fine to do this process just once every 4-6 months or so. It takes a long time for serious residue to build up on your dishwasher! But, it’s a good idea to do a more regular monthly cleaning, especially if you have hard water.

For monthly cleanings, I recommend using Affresh tablets. They’re great for a more regular cleaning and are so easy to use. Just set one in the normal detergent tray and run a normal cycle with the dishwasher free of dishes! They’ll help remove soap scum and mineral deposits from hard water, so it’s easier to deep clean when it’s time. You should also remove food from the food filter monthly!

Another monthly cleaning option is to use a cup of lemon juice. Place it on the top rack and run on a normal cycle.

Tips For Keeping Your Dishwasher Clean

Here are a few bonus tips and tricks for keeping your dishwasher cleaner on a day to day basis, and for making sure dishes get as clean as possible.

• Make sure the temperature settings are at at least 120-degrees Fahrenheit for optimal cleaning.
• Stick to using the top rack for cups, bowls, or large utensils. Use the bottom bottom rack for plates, pots, platters, and cutting boards.
• Dishwashers generally drain into the same pipe as your sink. If that pipe isn’t clear, your dishwasher won’t run as effectively! So, make sure to run the garbage disposal before you start the dishwasher to make sure it’s clear.
• You can also take a second to run the hot water on your sink for a bit before you start your dishwasher. If the cycle starts with the water already heated up, it will be more effective!
• Rinsing your dishes prior to putting them in the dishwasher is unnecessary, and actually can reduce the effectiveness! With less grime, your dishwasher won’t work as hard and your dishes might come out dirtier! The filter is there for a reason. Remove excess food prior to putting them in, but don’t over-rinse them. Just be sure to clean out the filter in the bottom regularly.

And that’s how to keep your dishwasher clean and running smoothly! Staying on top of cleaning your dishwasher not only keeps your dishes cleaner, it prevents the need for costly repairs. And thankfully, it’s a really quick process!

Have more deep cleaning to do? Here are a few posts that might help:

• How to deep clean a front load washing machine
• How to deep clean your kitchen
• Deep Cleaning Vinyl Plank Floors
• Tips for Cleaning Leather Furniture

The post How to Deep Clean Your Dishwasher appeared first on Love & Renovations.

It’s no secret I love shiplap. I’m a big believer that it can go with any home style, and it’s so easy to work with. It can totally transform a space, and it’s one of my favorite materials to work with! A shiplap fireplace is one of my favorite styles, so I thought in honor of reaching the two year anniversary with our own shiplap fireplace, I’d round up some more shiplap fireplace inspiration for you!

Let’s start with the basics… I’m not going to do a full shiplap fireplace tutorial (you can find that here), but I’ll give a quick overview of how it goes. Because I want to convince you that you can do it!

How to create a shiplap fireplace

Real shiplap planks are tongue and groove boards that fit together and automatically create a gap. No spacers needed! They’re honestly probably the easiest way to totally transform a fireplace, or any wall. Here’s how to do it:

• Before you install any boards, use a stud finder to locate all of the studs in your walls. Draw a line up the wall at each stud. You’ll use this to help make sure you get as many nails as possible into the studs.
• Start with your first board on the bottom of wherever you are working. Use a long level to make sure it’s straight. Attach to the wall using a nail gun.
• Place the next board on top and fit the tongue and groove together. When you reach a corner, be sure to miter them so that they fit together and create a point, rather than butting them up against each other.
• Continue working until the wall is covered.
• If you have any outlets, use a jigsaw to cut around them before installing the shiplap.
• You can use a corner trim board on any exposed corners – it helps hide imperfections and creates a really polished look.
• Fill all of the nail holes with wood filler, and use caulk to cover any caps between the shiplap boards and the wall.
• Be sure to wipe down the wall and use a vacuum to clean up any dust before you paint!
• You can screw your TV mount or shelf brackets right on top of the shiplap once it’s all done.

And that’s it!

Helpful posts

Here are a few blog posts from the archives that might be helpful to you if you’re attempting this particular DIY project.

• How to use a nail gun
• How to use caulk
• Everything you need to know about wood filler
• How to install shiplap

12 Shiplap fireplace ideas

Ready to see the ideas? Let’s do it. Click on any of the links below the photos to be taken to the source and learn more about the specific shiplap fireplace!

via 25thAndBrick

I love the stark contrast of the white walls and the black fireplace in this living room! I also am obsessed with the fact that the shiplap runs vertically here. It really elongates the room and creates a beautiful look! This modern shiplap fireplace is the focal point of the entire open concept living room, and I love how it makes the space feel. Black accents in any space are always a good idea!

via A Crafted Passion

This shiplap fireplace is created with peel and stick Stikwood panels! I love the reminder that a paneled fireplace doesn’t have to be with traditional shiplap. I also love the more rustic look the peel and stick panels give it. This is a really clean and beautiful option that feels cozy and vintage!

via The Coastal Oak

I am so in love with the shelving on either side of the fireplace, and I wish our living room was set up in a way where this made sense! It adds so much functional storage and display space, and really feels so intentional. It’s stunning, and the shiplap brings it all together really nicely.

Our DIY Electric Fireplace

Oh, this one looks familiar! Wink, wink. This is probably the project I’m the most proud of in this house. Maybe ever! I built this entire shiplap fireplace from scratch, and I am in love with every single detail. From the Roman clay on the bottom to the super functional drawers in the hearth, it’s exactly what I wanted.

via The Red Fern Home

Oh man, does this ever look cozy! I love that it’s a slightly whitewashed brick fireplace, I love the rustic mantel, and I love the picture light above the television! Every detail here is clearly very thought out, and the shiplap fits right in with the rest of the space. So beautiful!

via Wildfire Interiors

This little guy is a great example of adding a fireplace to a smaller area! It doesn’t take up much room at all, and this wall was totally blank before. I love how much warmth and coziness it brings to this bedroom. You’re also going to want to click through to see the rest of the room, the ceiling is to die for!

I, of course, love that this one is nice and tall like ours is! The white shiplap wall looks gorgeous next to the beige walls, and the stone tile surround on the bottom brings in a lot of warmth. The shelving that flanks the fireplace is also really gorgeous!

Our DIY Shiplap Fireplace

Another one from my archives! Turns out, the fireplaces in all three of our houses have been shiplap fireplaces. This little diagonal fireplace was a serious eyesore in our house before I got my hands on it. By adding a beautiful tile fireplace surround, a DIY mantel, and black shiplap all the way to the ceiling, it became a beautiful accent wall instead.

via The Inspired Workshop

I really, really love the framing of this fireplace wall. The angles are gorgeous and create such a focal wall in this room! The white fireplace stands out nicely against the gray walls, and the crown molding at the top finishes it all off really beautifully. That and the hearth at the bottom keep it feeling a little more traditional, which I love!

via chalovescafe

This cozy, farmhouse style living room looks really beautiful with the shiplap fireplace wall. I love that the shiplap continues onto the walls on either side. The shiplap accent wall creates a really beautiful continuous look and makes it feel really intentional. Like it’s always been there! I also love how the shiplap accents the peak of the ceiling!

via Charleston Crafted

I looooove that this one is blue! Most shiplap fireplaces seem to be either white or black, so it’s really refreshing to see something a little different. Again, the shiplap continues the entire width of the wall, which is a really beautiful feature. This one also has crown moulding, and the tile surround is a great finishing touch. Of course, I’m a little in love with the giant fiddle leaf fig, too.

Our First Home’s Fireplace

And finally, let’s finish it off with the first fireplace makeover I ever did – also my first time working with shiplap! This was by far my favorite project we completed in our first house. I wish we had done it sooner, because we moved shortly after I finished! Of course, the best part has to be the rustic wood beam mantel. Corey made it from a literal tree! Click here for the details on that project.

And

The post 12 Gorgeous DIY Shiplap Fireplace Ideas appeared first on Love & Renovations.

It’s a big day, my friends. I can confidently say that I’ve been waiting to be able to reveal a fully custom closet design here on the blog for over a decade now. My closets have always been a bit of a hot mess (okay, a lot of a hot mess), but all that changes today. Because today, I get to reveal our new custom closet with Modular Closets!

Can you believe it? That’s my closet!

Ready for all of the details you could ever want? Let’s dive right in.

Designing a Custom Closet with Modular Closets

Let’s start with how this all got set up. The lovely people at Modular Closets reached out a few months back asking if I’d like to work with them. I have been researching and debating closet systems for years now, and it felt like it was meant to be.

I jumped right into the design process with one of their amazing closet designers. Anyone can get a FREE design and quote from their pros, and I highly recommend it. She asked a few questions about our needs and what we wanted for the closet. Just a few days after I sent my answers, she came up with a layout I never would have thought of on my own. And, she was so receptive to my thoughts and adjustments.

We got a 3D rendering of our closet with the system in place, so it was really clear exactly what we were getting. Here’s a peek at what it looked like.

We were head over heels in love with it from the beginning. In fact, the only thing I changed from the original design sent over was that I wanted doors on the shelving system in the middle! Other than that, our designer nailed it on the first try.

With the design ironed out and finalized, the order was placed and it was less than two weeks before I had a (giant) stack of boxes in my garage.

The Installation Process

I was very nervous about the assembly and installation process. I mean, did you see that stack of boxes? It was massive, and incredibly intimidating. Thankfully, I was shocked at how easy it was.

There was a huge book with the packing slip that included assembly instructions for everything I had. It was easy to follow, and the quality of the pieces was so much better than I expected.

I took the installation process one wall at a time, and it went a lot faster than I anticipated. In fact, I was able to get all of the basic boxes assembled and installed in one day!

The hardest part of the process was hanging them in the closet. They’re heavy, so it definitely was a two-person job! For the lighter boxes, Corey just held them in place while I located studs and installed them. For the tall boxes, however, we busted out his car jack to help hold them up while we worked. It was probably the smartest thing we did in this entire process, and it made it so much easier.

Another favorite thing about Modular Closets is that the things that are normally a pain were a total breeze. For example, I always dread assembling and installing drawers. It’s a giant pain 100% of the time. And I had eight of them to do! But, I quickly discovered the drawers were very quick and easy to put together, and the drawer slides they came with were the best I’ve ever gotten from do-it-yourself furniture!

It is very apparent that Modular Closets place a priority on making the assembly and installation process as painless as possible. They’ve taken lots of steps to simplify assembly as much as possible. For example, wooden dowels are already inserted, the hinges were very easy to install, etc. I was highly impressed.

Overall, I am thrilled with our Modular Closet system so far! And, I can confidently say I’d use them again. In fact, I likely will use them again for Jackson’s closet someday.

What’s In Our Closet?

Let’s break down each wall of our closet and what we have in here, so you can see how it all works.

On the wall to your left when you walk in the door, you have my side of the closet.

On this side, we have:

• One Tall Hanging Module
• Two Double Hanging Modules

I was a little nervous about how I’d feel about the smaller, sectioned hanging areas. I’m so used to one big rod! But, I’m fully in love with this setup. It helped me get my clothes really organized and will make it so easy to rearrange things seasonally!

Next up, the back wall.

Obviously, my favorite part of the whole thing. Here, we have:

• A Double Hanging Module
• Two 4-Drawer Shelf Towers
• Another Double Hanging Module

I love that the drawer unit really clearly delineates between my side and Corey’s side! The drawers easily replaced all of the storage from my dresser, and the shelves on top hold all of the chaos that used to be just floating around the closet. It’s a total game-changer!

And finally, we’ve got the last wall.

Here, you’ll find:

• Two Double Hanging Modules
• One Tall Shoe Shelf Tower

If you’ve been here a while, you’ll know shoe storage has been a whole thing for us. This solves the issue entirely. It fits every single one of our shoes, with a little room to grow!

Our Official Thoughts On Modular Closets

I absolutely 100% am head over heels in love with our new closet system from Modular Closets. My closet used to be a real source of frustration for me on a daily basis. And, with Granger’s kennel in there, the door is almost always open. So, it is highly visible in our house!

I used to cringe every time I had to go in there. I like order and organization, and my closet raised my blood pressure. But now? I actually smile when I walk in my closet! I’m excited to use it, and I’m thrilled with how it looks.

Everything about the process of getting a custom closet from Modular Closets was lovely. The design was a breeze, it arrived quickly, and installation was surprisingly simple! I would absolutely choose them again and again.

Oh, and the best part? If you decide you want to try Modular Closets yourself, you can get 10% off your order with the code LOVERENOVATIONS.

What’s Left?

If you saw my post with the plans for our closet, you’ll know I’m not quite done yet!

Now that the functional storage is in place, it’s time to start making this closet pretty. You can refer back to this post to see some of the plans, but I’ve been ordering things like a rug, a hat rack, and a mirror for the back of the door. Soon, I’m going to want to leave this door open all the time so everyone can see my closet! Stay tuned to see it all come together.

The post Our Custom Closet With Modular Closets appeared first on Love & Renovations.

One of my favorite unique ways to add art to my home is by framing puzzles. I love doing puzzles in my free time, so it’s a fun way to display my hobby in a really beautiful way. I’ve framed a couple before but I’ve never done it properly until now. I recently finished a new puzzle that I wanted to frame, so I decided to do it right this time. I did some research on how to frame a puzzle, and I’m here to share with you what I’ve learned!

Let’s start with the details on the puzzle. I got this floral puzzle to add to our art ledge and replace the puzzle I’ve had there since Christmas. I wanted to set it up so that I could easily flip the mat around and have one puzzle on each side. Then, when Christmas rolls around I can just flip the mat and I’ll be good to go!

Here are all the details on how I did it.

how to frame a jigsaw puzzle

Materials needed

• Puzzle
• Puzzle frame
• Mod Podge Puzzle Saver

Step One: Complete Your Puzzle and Prep it

Your first step is (obviously) to do the puzzle!

Once it’s complete, make sure the surface of the puzzle is clean from any debris or dust. Then, use a rolling pin to gently flatten the surface of the puzzle out. You don’t want any puzzle pieces sticking up or not fully in place.

Step two: add glue

Now, you’re ready for the glue! There area a variety of puzzle glue options out there, but I went with the Mod Podge brand as it’s one I trust.

It’s really easy to apply – just pour the puzzle glue on the front of the completed puzzle, then use a putty knife or a flat piece of cardboard to spread it around. Anything with a firm, straight edge, like a credit card, will work. Don’t use a paintbrush, as it can leave brush strokes. Foam brushes are fine, though!

Make sure the glue gets into all of the cracks between the puzzle pieces. Be careful not to add too much glue – if you overdo it, the paper on the puzzle can peel up. Use a paper towel to wipe off excess glue on the surface of the puzzle.

Step Three: Let it dry

Now, you just need to let it dry! This stuff needs about 20 minutes to dry. You can do a second coat if you want, but I found that one good coat was enough.

Some people also recommend flipping the puzzle over and adding a coat of puzzle glue to the back as well. But, I didn’t find that to be necessary. I’ve had a puzzle framed in my living room for over a year without any glue on it, so I figure just doing it on the front is fine.

step four: mount the puzzle (Optional)

After the front of your puzzle dries, you have a few options for adding some extra durability.

• Add a foam backing
• Add a paper backing
• Glue the back of the puzzle

None of this is completely necessary – the puzzle will likely hold up just fine with just glue on the front. But, if you know you’ll be moving it a lot or if it’s in an area where it could get bumped, it’s not a bad idea!

I specifically wanted to do this since I know I’ll be flipping the puzzle around a couple of times a year!

The typical options for mounting the puzzle are wax paper, parchment paper, or foam board. Wax and parchment paper can sometimes have some non-stick elements to them that will affect adhesion, so if you struggle you can try using an acid-free paper. Foam board will give the most durability, but adds thickness, which could affect framing.

Simply cut your mounting material to the same size as your puzzle, add glue to the back of the puzzle, and then press it on top. You can use books or something else as a weight to help hold it in place while it dries.

Frame the puzzle

Once everything has dried, you’re ready to frame the puzzle. I liked the frame I used above, and I’ve been really happy with it. Just make sure to check ahead of time that the size of your puzzle frame works for the puzzle you’re framing. It should list the range of dimensions that will fit in the frame so it’s easy to pick the correct size.

Remember that a puzzle (especially with a backing) is going to be thicker than a normal photo. A regular frame won’t work as well as one specifically made for puzzles!

alternate option

If you don’t like the idea of gluing there’s another really simple option for a dry mount! This puzzle saver product is basically a big sticky sheet that you apply to the back of the puzzle to hold it all together. It looks like it would be really easy to use!

This is a really great and simple way to make your favorite puzzle look like a piece of art! The entire thing just took an hour or so (including dry time) and now I know that my glued puzzle will last for a long time.

The post How to Frame a Puzzle appeared first on Love & Renovations.

I LOVE getting my cabinets organized. There’s something that feels so satisfying about working through our kitchen cabinets one at a time and getting them hyper-organized. We’ve knocked out several cabinets so far, and this time, I’m turning my attention to the cookie sheets and cutting boards!

First up, let’s review what we’ve organized so far in our kitchen:

• The pots and pans
• The tupperware containers
• Random small appliances
• Silverware
• Spices
• The junk drawer

It’s a lot of progress! But, of course, we still have a ways to go. Despite the fact that all of the above-listed categories are fully organized in my home, this is what my cookie sheet cabinet looked like:

I was literally embarrassed to open it when we had guests because it was SO RIDICULOUS.

I’ve spent a long time debating how I wanted to organize the cookie sheet and cutting board cabinet. For a while, I had planned to build my own DIY pull-out drawer for the cookie sheets. But, I kept putting it off because building something feels like a lot of work, especially when it’s cold outside.

Hey, I’m just being honest.

I finally decided that done is better than perfect. So, instead of building my own cabinet organizer I decided to buy something. It worked out really well for my tupperware cabinet! Plus, it saves a lot of time.

Our new cutting board organizer

I ordered two of these slide-out bakeware organizers on Amazon. I splurged a little on the ones that pull out because having pull-out storage options makes the biggest difference. In fact, if I was redesigning my kitchen, we’d have almost all drawers on the lower cabinets. They’re so much easier to organize and access, and they just generally function a lot better.

But, I digress.

They sell really simple cookie sheet organizers that fit in your cabinet that don’t pull out. Those are a lot cheaper than these, and even easier to install. But for me, it was worth the extra to have them pull out!

Installation took just a few minutes. The kit comes with a template to tell you exactly where to drill the screws in, and it’s basically foolproof. I had to remove the shelf in the back of the cabinet, and that was the hardest part! After taking the dimensions, I realized I could fit two in my cabinets. So, there’s plenty of extra room for cookie sheet and cutting board storage. The slots are nice and large, so I can fit several things in each one.

So, within the span of about 15 minutes, my cookie sheet cabinet went from looking like the picture above to looking like this.

So! Much! Better!

Now, I don’t have to feel any sort of shame to open this cabinet. And, nothing comes tumbling out at me when I pull out a cookie sheet or a cutting board. And I can actually see everything all at once. It feels like the storage space in here has basically doubled.

It’s maybe a little bit life-changing.

There’s nothing I love more than a really simple fix to a super annoying problem. If I can spend 30 minutes or less changing something that bothers me on the daily, it feels like the biggest win ever!

Cookie sheet organization tools

If you’re also struggling to keep your cookie sheets in check, I gathered up a few other options for you. There’s everything from racks to add to your cabinets to cutting board sets and more!

1. Gray cutting board stand with holder
2. Two-pack bakeware organizer
3. Expandable bakeware organizer
4. Adjustable cookie sheet organizer
5. Countertop cutting board rack
6. Over-the-door cutting board organizer
7. Stainless steel bakeware organizer
8. Pull-out cabinet organizer
9. Wood and plastic cutting board set with storage
10. Large cabinet divider

See even more cabinet organization tools right here!

I’m in love with how this turned out, and I can’t emphasize enough how big of a difference this sort of project makes. It feels small and manageable, but getting the cabinets organized frees up space on the kitchen counters, makes things easier to find, and just generally makes your life easier.

Now to choose the cabinet to take on next!

The post Our New Cookie Sheet & Cutting Board Organizer appeared first on Love & Renovations.

I’ve always (ALWAYS) wanted to have a super organized bedroom closet. Ever since our first house, I’ve dreamed of ripping everything out and adding a really beautiful and functional storage system to my closet. This is our third house, and while I’ve tackled a wide variety of DIY projects, a full and detailed closet makeover isn’t one of them.

Sure, in our first house we added a wire closet system and did our best to deal with things on a budget. In our second house I didn’t even try. And here? Well, I’ve been working really hard to make the best of what we have. But it’s just not working because my closet still looks like this on a daily basis.

You’re welcome for that little peek at real life.

I was really hopeful that adding a dresser to our closet and trying to get creative with the systems already in place would work for us. But, the bottom line is that the organization system that the builder put in place just does not work for us. And our closet is a mess 100% of the time. And I’m tired of it.

So, I’m doing something about it!

Because life is too short to live with a closet you hate, you know?

I’ve been planning this makeover for a while now and I’m really (really!) excited to share the process with you.

What’s the plan? Let’s dive into it…

the closet makeover plan

• We’re starting by ripping everything that’s currently there out. Everrrrrryyyyytthhiinnnnng! None of it works for us, so we’re starting fresh.
• Once I’ve ripped everything out, I’ll give the room a fresh coat of paint. To be fully transparent, I’m undecided on what color I want to go with. Should I bring in the blue from our room? Go with a bright white? Stick with a neutral like I have now? Something completely different? I keep changing my mind. But, I’m confident once I get the space empty, I’ll be able to make a decision.
• As you can see in the photo above, I have a whole new closet system sitting in the garage ready to go! More details on that to come, but I worked with a brand on a custom design and I think it’s going to be so much more functional than it is now.
• Once it’s all in place and things are organized, we’ll add some finishing touches! A new light, a full-length mirror, a rug, and mayyyybe even a little ottoman in the middle so I don’t have to sit on the floor to put my shoes on. And, of course, I’ll carve out a little space for Granger’s kennel (though, it might not be as fancy as the space we made for Potter’s!).

I’m not sure I even have the words to tell you how excited I am for this closet makeover! It’s going to feel so good to finally have a system that works for us in our closet. And, I think it’s gonna look pretty great, too. Which is lovely, considering no one seems to be able to remember to close our closet door and my closet is basically always on display.

Lovely.

what i’m considering for our closet makeover

Here are a few things I’m thinking about grabbing for our closet makeover. Nothing is set in stone yet, but I’m hoping to start ordering stuff later this week, so be sure to follow along on Instagram to watch it unfold!

• Laundry Hamper
• Rug
• Hat Rack
• Mirror
• Overhead light
• Baskets
• Ottoman

The post Our Closet Makeover Starts NOW! appeared first on Love & Renovations.

I used to believe that I could get my home organized with items I found around the house. You know, grab an old Amazon box and turn it into a basket and boom – your house is organized! But, I’ve learned it doesn’t work quite like that. Home organization is a tad more complicated and, for me at least, requires a purchase or two.

I haven’t ever had success at keeping the spaces in my home organized until I got intentional about finding and buying organizational tools intended specifically for the space I was working on. No more one-size-fits-all baskets or random bins scrounged from the house. It’s all about making intentional choices if you want it to last.

I’ve had a lot of success over the last couple years in getting and keeping several important areas of our house clean, so today I thought I’d share my absolute top must-haves. Some are things you’ll only need to buy once, and some will be products you go to over and over for various parts of your house. Or, at least, I know I do!

So, if you’re looking to organize anything from a closet to a fridge to your jewelry or anything in-between, today’s post is for you!

My organization must-haves

Fabric Cube Baskets

I have bought these multiple times for various parts of my house, and they’re always so useful! I store seasonal clothes in them, extra home decor, the kids’ Easter baskets…just about anything! My favorite place for these is the top shelf of a closet. I also love pairing them with these clip-on basket labels so I always know what’s inside.

Clear Plastic Bins (Medium).

These clear acrylic-style bins are 100% my most-used (and purchased) organization tool. I also love these divided ones, these small ones, and this 10-piece set. Basically, if it’s clear plastic and any shape, I’m in. I use them all over my house. They’re in the art closet, in my vanity, in the fridge, in the pantry, and in my linen closet. They’re so versatile and I can’t recommend them enough.

A few places I’ve used them:

• Art closet
• Pantry
• Linen closet

Jewelry Organizer

This is my newest organization purchase and it immediately became a favorite. I’ve always struggled to keep my jewelry organized. I don’t have a ton of it, but what I do have was just tossed in a large ring dish. I’d have to sift through every day to find what I need and it quickly became a disaster. This jewelry organizer easily holds all of my regularly-used jewelry and I don’t have to do any digging. It’s a life-saver!

Adjustable Drawer Dividers

I got some of these for the dresser where I keep all of my clothes and it’s been the number one tool that has helped me keep those drawers organized. An example of how I use them? In the drawer where my jeans are, I have dividers to separate jeans from leggings from shorts. Each gets their own section of the drawer and it all stays in place! See how my dresser is organized here!

Cloth Drawer Organizers

This is my other go-to organizational tool for drawers. I use them for socks, underwear, bras, and anything else that’s small and can be easily corralled. I’ve learned that having organization within your dresser drawers is a total game-changer, and it makes it so much easier to find what you need!

Switch Game Cartridge Organizer

This one is a little specific, but for our family it’s been so nice to have! My kids are terrible about remembering to put their Switch cartridges back into the boxes they belong in, and as a result they’d often get misplaced. We’d have to spend 10 minutes searching anytime they wanted to play a game! It’s much easier and simpler for them to put them back in here, and all of the games stay in one place. We haven’t misplaced a game since we got it!

Car Trash Can

A messy car makes me nuts. But, I live with three messy humans so sometimes it’s inevitable. Having a dedicated spot in the car for trash has really cut down on the issues, and makes everyone at least marginally less likely to toss their trash on the floorboards. I’ll take it.

Two-Tier Basket Organizer

Aside from the clear bins, this is my most-used organization tool. I have 5 or 6 of these now and I feel like I could use a few more! It’s such a simple organizer that’s perfect to put under the vanity (Corey and I each have one) or to organize things like medicine. We love these things so much, and I’m constantly finding new uses for them!

Click here to see how I organized our medicine with these.

Food Storage Lid Organizer

My tupperware container cabinet was always a mess until I got this and paired it with a pull-out drawer for our food storage containers. It was a total transformation and for the first time in my life that cabinet stays fully organized all the time! You can see our organized food storage container cabinet right here.

Lazy Susan

I think we all know the power of a Lazy Susan by now, right?! I have a couple in my linen closet (perfect for holding sunscreen!), a few in my pantry (great for vinegars and oils), and one in my fridge (for all of Corey’s hot sauces). They’re so handy and they’re the perfect way to organize things in tight spaces!

Cord Organizers

I don’t know about you, but all of the cords in my house used to be the bane of my existence. I feel like we have way more than we need but I still can’t manage to find what I need when I need it. Enter these guys. They’re super simple little velcro ties that you can use to wrap up cords. I use them for everything now and it makes it so much easier to keep cords organized! They’re no longer a tangled mess, and it’s easy to toss specific cords into bins so that they’re all grouped together.

Label Maker

Maybe the most important item on this list?! I’m a big believer in labeling everything when you’re trying to organize a space in your home. Why? Just because it makes sense to YOU that something goes in a specific spot, it doesn’t mean the rest of your family will keep up with it. Also, cuts down on your partner constantly asking you where certain things are. Win-win!

Lidded Plastic Bins

And finally, one more version of the plastic bins – this time with a lid! I have several of these in my linen closet with all of our medication and it’s so nice that they’re stackable and keep things contained. I use them for things we don’t reach for as often, and they’re the perfect size and shape for so many different things.

And that’s that! All of my favorite home organization tools, gathered up in one spot.

If you’re looking for some other organization ideas, I’ve got you covered. Here are a few of my favorite posts.

other posts you may love

• Junk drawer organization
• DIY wooden drawer organizer
• DIY pull-out pot and pan organizer
• Stuffed animal storage ideas
• The easiest DIY cabinet door organizer
• How’s it holding up? Organizing projects

The post My Home Organization Must-Haves appeared first on Love & Renovations.

I never used to be a Valentine’s Day person. But, last year I was really needing some happiness and celebration in my life – so I made it my mission to fully celebrate all of the holidays. We started off with Valentine’s Day and we did it up big. I made a dessert board, we decorated the living room, and I got the boys matching Valentine’s Day pajamas. We even planned a fancy tea party with some neighborhood friends!

It was so much fun that I’ve decided I’m just a holiday person in general now. Because it brings me joy to surprise my kids with some little gifts, eat too many sweets, and buy all the heart-shaped things during the first few weeks of February.

So, earlier this week we decorated the house. I gave the boys some matching Valentine’s sweaters. We ate heart-shaped ravioli. And we’re gonna keep seeking out all of the joy-filled Valentine’s activities we can!

I asked around on Instagram about what you do with your families to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and you had some great ideas. So, I’m combining some of those with what we do for a little list of Valentine’s Day traditions to start with your family!

Whether you’re a long-time fan of this silly little holiday or you’ve never celebrated it before, I challenge you to pick one new thing to try with your family. You might be surprised at how much joy in brings you!

10 simple Valentine’s day ideas for your family

1. Leave a note on the kids’ door each morning with something you love about them. I’ve also seen people use small mailboxes!
2. Bonus points? Do the same for your partner! I leave them on the shower door for Corey.
3. Make a heart-shaped breakfast for your family. Bacon and cinnamon rolls are two treats that are really easy to shape into hearts!
4. Have a “fancy” tea party.
5. Buy a chocolate fountain!
6. Pick them up a little early from school to take them out for a treat.
7. Decorate a sugar cookie house.
8. Go out to dinner at the same restaurant every year. It can be fancy, or it can be totally chill. We usually do pizza, and last year I went in sweatpants!
9. Get the kids matching pajamas or sweatshirts. (Here’s what we got this year)
10. On Valentine’s Day, leave a little treat bag on the breakfast table for them. I usually add a few pieces of candy and a small stuffed animal!

If you want more ideas, check out this blog post with a bunch of other inspiration!

valentine’s Day gifts + clothes

Need some inspiration for what to gift the kids? Here’s a few ideas!

• Paint Your Own Wood Heart Kit
• Strawberry Squishmallow
• We’re Not Really Strangers Game
• Valentine’s Day Pajamas (Click here to see more!)
• Heart-Shaped Initial Necklace
• Tic Tac Toe T-Shirt
• Love Monster Board Book (One of our favorites!)
• Create-Your-Own Frame Kit
• Stencil Sheets
• Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse!
• Heart Sweater
• LCD Doodle Tablet

Other Valentine’s Day Ideas + Inspiration

• Easy Ideas for a Romantic Valentine’s Day
• Valentine’s Day Activities + Crafts for Kids
• Valentine’s Day Breakfast Inspiration
• DIY Valentine Card Box Ideas

The post Valentine’s Day Ideas for the Family appeared first on Love & Renovations.