Diy Decor Ideas

DIY Square Board and Batten Wall Treatment -Hallway Before and After

You may have noticed in the past home tour that I've done something a little special to my entryway hallway. Before, this hallway lacked any character. Well, at least the wall did.
 I actually loved the staircase. But, the wall itself was so boring and builder beige. I tried to make it look cute with putting a bench there, but it never felt 'perfect'.



I had this wonderful idea in my head to do the same type of board and batten treatment I have on my bedroom wall, on this wall. So, I was happy to team up with Behr and their Designer Stories to help make this happen! The only problem was figuring out which color of white to use without having to paint all my existing molding and doors.

I think I found the perfect one! Go check out the Behr Designer Stories page to see what was my 'perfect' white, and to see the "how-to" on the square board and batten treatment. It's super tricky doing it working with the angles of stairs :) I've had this up for a few months now and wish I would have done this when we first moved in! It makes this entryway so much more grand. Plus, it's a great idea for any boring hallway :)
Pin for later :)


 Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Small Space Storage Solutions Especially For When You Don't Have Any Closets

 I wouldn't normally consider my house a small space, but when you look at the actual footprint, and it being only about 1900 square feet of livable space, it's not that big :) It feels larger than it is thanks to our tall ceilings. But, I could deal with living in 1900 square feet easily, it's the no closet space that kills me. We have the closets in our bedrooms and that's it. We have one small 1 foot wide teensy linen closet in our guest bathroom. But, besides that, we have nothing. No coat closet. No pantry. No storage closets of any sort. It's hard, but I've become a pro (or so I would like to think) at storage. I have had to find ways to make our house work best for us. So, here's the way I keep our house of 4, plus a dog, organized with storage solutions.

I decided that the best way to go through this is room by room. So, let's start with the living room.

LIVING ROOM STORAGE
1. The best way to maximize storage is to use dual purpose furniture, like storage ottomans. You can put pillows, blankets, magazines, toys, DVDs...whatever you wish in these things.
 2. Baskets are my saving grace. You'll see them all over my house. In this instance, this basket and blanket are hiding a small stash of toys.
 3. We had these alcoves in our house that were just a big waste of space if you ask me, but I decided to convert one side into some shelves. This was a great place to put pictures and books.
4. At the bottom of the shelves, I have these big boxes that store more pictures. I love these things. I got them at Ikea a few years ago for a steal :)
5. And since we are in the living room, let's talk about DVD storage. I have a few baskets that we store ours in, and then slide them into our TV stand. When they are in the stand, you can't even tell there are DVDs in there.
6. Another good use of furniture is using tables that have ample storage like this apothecary cabinet/card catalog. It is a great place for mail, craft supplies, pens, pencils, etc. This one I got from Hobby Lobby.
 7. I also have these wonderful storage foot stools that I use for book storage for my kids.

FRONT ROOM
8. This is pretty much a living room and can be considered as much when talking about storage :) Once again, my baskets are the best storage thing ever. This one just has a whole bunch of blankets.

9. And this storage cabinet from Target is one of the best storage solutions also. I have all my papers in the top and books in the bottom.

10. You can also see on this table that I use boxes for decor everywhere. These aren't just for looks, they have actually have stuff in them too :)

11. And to talk about dual function furniture, this couch is actually a bed and has a ton of storage in it too! Check out this post to see more about it :)
12.  I talked about toy storage in a past post, and this is still one of my favorite little places to stash toys away.

 This houses all the kitchen toys and food. This little piece of furniture works hard! ..and it's pretty :) I got this bench from Target.
13.  And in the very corner of this room is my "coat closet". I got this armoire for free and decided to retrofit it into my closet since I don't have one :)
 The top has some linens and pillows, and the bottom has a rack for coats and baskets for cold weather gear.
14. Next is toy storage, for any room. I love cube storage for this! I just created a window seat out of them behind my couch. When you don't have a designated toy room, this is what you can do instead :) Once again, you can see more of my toy storage solutions in this post here.
 DINING ROOM
My dining room is big. I'm so thankful for that! And since it is big, it has plenty of space to work hard in the storage area also.
15.  So, if you don't know, I hoard pillows and pillow covers. I actually use this bench to contain all the covers. Benches in dining rooms actually work great to hold linens too :) And they are comfy seating!

16.  I got rid of my old buffet that had absolutely no storage, and made this from a couple of Ikea dressers. They work hard too!
 They store my linens, paper towels, craft supplies, cups...a ton of stuff :)
17. Another little treasure in my dining room is this old record cabinet. I got it for free from a friends old cabin. I decided to clean it out really good and use it to hold files and magazines.
KITCHEN:
18. As I mentioned before, my kitchen has no pantry. Well, it has a single cabinet that isn't even a foot wide that acts as a 'pantry'. It's pathetic. So, I decided a few years ago to use this cute little cabinet and create a pseudo pantry. 

 ENTRY WAY
19. For our entry, I made sure to find a table that fit into our little nook. It's a great place for keys and the dog's leashes.
20. As for shoe storage? Sure we can put them in our closets, but when you only have closets in bedrooms, they are used for other things besides clothes too :) So, there's really no room. Instead, the kids shoes are in this little bench in the entryway.

21. And me and my husbands shoes, the ones that are used often, are found in this other little corner of our entry in cube storage. Top's mine, the bottom is his.
 BEDROOM:
22. Functional nightstands are a must when you have limited storage space in our house. I use our nightstand drawers for everything! This is also an Ikea dresser that I hacked into this apothecary style nightstand.
 23. As for bedroom linens, I use this bench at the end of our bed. It also currently houses diapers and more craft supplies :)
24. Besides the obvious dresser, I use this little skirted console table for additional storage. This is also for diapers, tissues, magazines, books....lots of stuff.
25. Talking about dressers for a minute, I've been folding our shirts like this for like 10 years now and it's the ultimate best way to keep your sanity! Especially when you have a husband that HAS to get the shirt at the bottom of the pile and messes everything else up lol. This also seems to take up less room so you can store more :)
 26. For bathroom storage, I, of course, love our storage under the sinks, but I also use little stands like these for towels.
OFFICE/GUEST ROOM
27. Before our nursery came around, it used to be my office and a guest room. I found the best way to store all my office supplies and craft items were to do it on shelves behind these curtains. I love this room back then! Plus, I made a window seat using a shelf and laying it on it's side. Those cubbies were used to store extra towels and what not for guests.
 LAUNDRY ROOM
28. My laundry room is just a pass through room into our garage, so it is very tight. To take up less space on the floor, I got these hanging baskets from Amazon and hung them up for dirty clothes.

 29. And of course, the other side of the laundry room has shelves that I use for household tools, laundry stuff, light bulbs, and other random stuff too. I put most of these in labeled boxes.
 Well, I'm sure there's a ton of other things I have missed! Like the obvious, hiding everything under beds and couches lol. That's a bonus one, #30! Seriously though, I have shoes and out of season clothes in little bins under our beds. And I do have a ton of random games under our couches :)

I hope something on this lists helps you if you have a need to maximize your storage space!


Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Neutral Girls Nursery Reveal

 I can't believe that I'm finally publishing this. This room has been in the works for over 7 months. Seriously. I've just been adding touches here and there as I would get time, and finally, finally...it's done! My sweet little babe, who is no longer really a baby and is over 1 year old, has her nursery finally done. I feel guilty about it, but hey, better late than never, right?

And just to warn you, there's a definite picture overload here. I've been blogging for 7 years now and although my picture taking skills have improved, they are far from perfect. So, that being said. I can't just pick like 5 pictures and be happy. I need a ton ;) I wanted to capture angles of her room for my own memories as well as give inspiration to you all. Trust me, these few pictures came from about 200. So, I did take out a lot! I hope you enjoy her room as much as I love being in there!
 My first decision after converting this room from the guest room into her nursery was to keep the headboard. And I knew I wanted to hang up this ornate frame I used as a photo prop for her newborn pictures. I just love how the white pops against the wood.

I was tempted to buy another crib, but quickly realized that the old crib would look amazing in here. I'm so glad that I gave it a chance, I just love it.
The tables were Ikea purchases, and these lamps. Oh these lamps! I just love them. They are from Target. I bought them to put in our bedroom, but hated them in there. In fact, I was about to return them when I decided to try them here just for fun. And they looked perfect!
 And a little secret. I love decorating with clocks, but none of them in my house really work :) haha. I think most of them are set to 9 o'clock. So, no, I don't actually do my pictures that early in the morning :)...or late at night for that fact.
 Along with the other flower wall art flanking the crib, I also found this from Hobby Lobby. This is my favorite saying for the girls...and boy is it true!
 As for the other side of the room....
 You may remember this flowering wall. Now you know why it's so pink! The rest of the room is all neutral and I wanted to give it a little pop and interest. It's a good thing I did it awhile ago though, because as I was photographing, I kept thinking to myself how I wished I had done cream and brown flowers instead :) See, neutral always usually wins in my book. lol
 This is a new chair I bought from Target for our master bedroom. I ended up only needing one, so I had an extra and it works great in here!
 The dresser was also a Target find...well, steal. Under $150 for a 6 drawer dresser is just amazing if you ask me! 
 As for the what's on the dresser, I have her mementos box, a box for diapers and of course a cute little flower cut from my favorite tree out back. 

 I like to give my kids a stuff animal for their first birthdays that I hope will last them until they are older. I still have mine and love thinking of all the memories it holds. So, hopefully this one does the same for her :)
 These mirrors! I got them for about $15 each at Michaels last year on clearance. I knew I wanted them in her nursery the moment I laid eyes on them. I thought they would mimic the wood on the opposite wall beautifully.

 As for the other wall, I should you some of it last week although it's changed a little. Not much :)
 I'm not one to do gallery walls with differing items, so this was new to me, but I love how it turned out. This is another one of my favorite quotes and of course, I had to put it next to some sparkles! I found these at Hobby Lobby also...along with those arrows.
 This vase has become my favorite buy for the past months. And trust me, I buy a lot of stuff! lol ;) I got it at one of my favorite stores when they were going out of business. I did find some awesome similar ones on Amazon that I'll be getting soon too!


As for this side of the wall, I decided to keep it the builder beige instead of painting it white. I just love how the molding and doors pop off the walls. I knew I would lose that look if I painted it white like the rest of the room. The white paint color is Pebble White by Glidden and the closest I have come for the beige is Water Chestnut.
 And there you have it!
You'd be surprised at how much this room cost to do :) Here's the estimated break down:
Crib: $0 (reused)
Wall: $0 (reused)
Rug: $0 (reused)
Tables: $0 (reused)
Lamps: $80 ($40 each with shade)
Shabby Side Table: $0 (from friend)
Mirrors: $45
Dresser: $150
Chair: $130
Other decor/wall decor: estimated $50
Baskets: $40

Total: $495

And spread that over 7 months...that's nothing :) lol  Here's some helpful links to some of the pieces I used in the room in case you are interest!

Scoop Back Chair
 Monterey 6 Drawer Dresser (I seriously don't know how I get this for $100 off. I thought it was on clearance but I guess not! )
 Threshold Washed Wood Box Lamp
 Wood Vase
 Safavieh Rug

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”