Little Coffee Nook

Hey friends! I am so excited to share all the details of my little coffee nook with you. It all started a couple of months ago when we saw this beautiful cabinet at Homegoods. We both loved it and thought it would look great in our dining room but didn’t really want to spend $200 on it. The cabinet had some damage at the bottom so we asked the manager if they could mark it down. The manager said he would give us $20 off and wouldn’t go any lower. We ended up not buying it and honestly forgot about it. While I was at Homegoods last week I was in the clearance area and what do you know? There sat my cabinet marked way down to $130! Long story short my husband went back and bought it for me and was able to get them to take another $15 off!

It ended up fitting perfectly in the awkward nook in our dining room that we never quite knew how to style. We wanted to brighten it up by adding some shiplap behind it, you can find a tutorial here. All the sweet details were found at either Homegoods or Hobby Lobby!


I knew all along I wanted to hang the mugs so that I could save some space on the cabinet. I found this great little pipe towel rod at Hobby Lobby. The hooks are from Home Depot, we spray painted them black.

This wire basket is perfect for holding my travel mug and a sugar bowl as well as other little knick knacks. I found it at Homegoods for $10 but you can find a similar one here.

The signs and the mugs were also a hobby lobby find.

And lastly, I found the tiered serving tray at Marshalls for $15. All the other ones I looked at were either too expensive or too big for my space! This one was just right.

I hope this post inspires you! Have a lovely day❤

DIY Chalk Paint Speckled Eggs For Spring And Easter

Hi friends! It’s officially March so I feel like I can finally start decorating for spring and Easter! I don’t know about you, but it can get SO expensive decorating for all the seasons and holidays. I wanted to think of a fun little project I could do for spring under $10 and this is what I came up with. I love how these sweet little chalk painted eggs turned out! Can you believe that these were cheap plastic easter eggs? I got a bag of 48 eggs for only $1.98 at Walmart and also got the chalk paints there for $1.67 a piece. This whole project cost me less than $10 and I am so happy with the result!

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Here is what you need to make them:

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Plastic Easter eggs (in a light color)

Waverly Chalk Paint (I used colors: Crystal, Celery and Cashew)20170201232350_IMG_1213

Brown Acrylic paint (got this at walmart for 50 cents)

Long bristled paint brushes (make sure these are long and very soft. They cannot be stiff in any way or the paint won’t go on correctly.)

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Stiff paint brush (for speckles)

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Cardboard or styrofoam paper plates

Tooth picks

 

1. Begin by inserting a tooth pick into one of the tiny holes at the bottom of your egg, this will allow you to paint the entire egg without touching it.

2. After completing the first step you can apply the first coat of chalk paint. Start at the top of the egg and work your way down in one smooth motion. Make sure you apply THICK coats. I know this may go against what you are used to but it helps get the best coverage. Once you complete the first coat insert the tooth pick with into your carboard or upside-down paper plate to dry.

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3. After the first coat is almost dry you can apply the second coat. Don’t be afraid to really load the eggs with paint for a nice thick coverage.

4. Once your second coat is dry you can start speckling your eggs! Water down your brown acrylic paint with about 1 TSP of water to about 1 TBS of paint. You want a runny consistency.

5. After you have covered up any surfaces you do not want speckles on you can begin! Take your stiff brush and dip it into your brown paint, wipe of some of the excess. Using four of your fingers to hold the brush, use your thumb to pull back the wet bristles towards yourself and let go in the direction of your egg (egg should still be on the tooth pick) you should be seeing little speckles begin to show up on your egg, repeat until you reach your desired look. Place your egg back into your cardboard or plate to completely dry.

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6. Repeat step 5 on all of your eggs, wait for them to dry and have fun placing these little cuties around your house! 20170201235359_IMG_1228-01

$15 Shiplap Fireplace Refresh

Hello lovelies,

My husband was off work for a few days so we took advantage and did this fun little project! I can’t take credit though, it was actually Nate’s idea! He’s the best😉 I don’t know why we waited so long to add shiplap because it makes our living space feel so much brighter. The fireplace is the first thing you see when you open our front door, so its one of my favorite statements in our home.

This fireplace has gotten so much attention since buying our house. Here’s a few photos to show just how far it has come! The first picture is how it looked when we bought the house, the second is after we added the faux beam, and the third is now! I love a good transformation

All we needed for this project was one 4X8 sheet of plywood that cost us $15. Everything else we already had leftover from previous projects. Even if you need to buy all these things, it is still super budget friendly if you want shiplap for way less! Here are the materials and tools we used;

4X8 Plywood

Nail gun and nails

Chop saw

A couple nickels (to space the planks)

Primer

Paint

High density foam rollers (makes paint go on much smoother)

Conveniently, Home depot stripped down the plywood for us into 6″ strips (they charge 25 cents per piece, but for us it was worth it.) All we had to do was cut the strips to the exact length of our fireplace and give them a light sanding before using a nail gun to secure them to the wall. Since we were covering such a small space, we chose not to stagger the boards. After sanding we made sure the plank was completely straight before nailing it on (we didn’t use a level because we have an old home so nothing is level, ha! We just went by eye).

Once you’ve secured the first plank, place the second one directly underneath and separate the two planks by using two nickels (or more if your strips are longer). It helps to have two people for this part, one to do the nailing and one to hold the plank tightly against the nickels.

After all the planks are secured, fill all the nail holes with wood filler. Allow them to dry and then sand everything down so its perfectly smooth. We also added some quarter round that we had from a previous project for a more finished look. Totally optional though!

I would suggest giving the shiplap at least one coat of primer before painting so that your wood doesn’t bleed through.

Once the primer is dry, apply the paint with the foam roller. I used a roller because I didn’t want any brush strokes on my shiplap, but its entirely up to you what you want to use.

After three coats, viola! Add some decor and your good to go!

I am SO pleased with this project. It only took about 45 minutes to do the cutting, sanding and hanging the planks. The painting took a bit longer but you can most certainly finish this project in a day!

I hope this post inspired you!

Happy shiplapping!

Free Watercolor Floral Download and Printable

Do you think if I keep painting flowers, spring will come a little sooner? Yea, probably not but a girl can dream! Hopefully these water color florals will brighten up your day at least! So until spring, these will have to do. Go ahead and use these however you please. They would look great as a phone or computer background or as a printable for party invitations! I left the center blank so you can fill it in with whatever makes your heart happy.  And let me know if you like having the free downloads, if so, I can paint more. The links are below each photo, go ahead and click on it to download or print.IMG_20190125_0001  IMG_20190125_0003_NEW

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Happy Friday! and ENJOY!

Chalk Painted Piano

 

In Summer 2017 while at a yard-sale, someone asked if we could use a free piano. I was thrilled! These people had no idea that I played piano and that I had been wanting one since I got married two years before. The piano was in good condition so we took it home. I always wanted to paint it but was terrified of destroying a nice piano, especially since I wouldn’t get rid of it even if it came out terrible. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it up until now.

Let me tell you, I have no idea WHAT I was so worried about! It was honestly SO easy. I did the whole thing with just one paintbrush and there was no taping necessary, WIN! I knew I wanted to use chalk paint so that I wouldn’t have to sand first. I stumbled across this Behr Chalk Paint at Home Depot and did what any good DIYer would do, I googled reviews! But literally there were two…so I was a bit skeptical about experimenting on my beloved piano. The paint just came out in October so I decided to let the lack of reviews slide and give it a go. You guys, this paint is where its at. Seriously.

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Now I will say I have never tried Annie Sloan chalk paint, only Rustoleum and Waverly, but for the price and quality of this paint, I don’t know that I ever will. This is not to say that Annie Sloan isn’t great quality, but when I can get a professional finish on a $20 chalk paint that has tons of color options, why would I buy something double the price? Not to mention, there are no stores near me that sell Annie Sloan, so I would have to order it online. That definitely doesn’t work for me…When I decide I want to do a project, its getting done. That. Day. Please tell me I’m not alone!
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Before you start painting, you just need to wipe off any dust on your piano. Be sure to get behind the keys as well, I forgot to do this and it was a pain to get all the dust out of my paint brush. After you’ve dusted every nook and cranny you can begin painting! I suggest starting with the piano keys exposed. I didn’t do this and the paint created a seam that I had to sand out. You also risk having your piano get painted shut. Save yourself some time and start with it open. Make sure you do nice thin coats, you do NOT want anything goopy or pooling onto the keys or gumming up your piano.

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I found it was best to work in sections. Before I painted the top of my piano I propped it open so that it didn’t get painted shut as you can see in the photo.

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You can choose to tape off the keys and pedals if that’s how you feel most comfortable, I personally never like to use painters tape while painting but that’s just my preference. Do what you feel most comfortable with. If you don’t use tape, just push the keys down as you paint behind them and make sure you don’t have too much paint on your brush. After you finish the first coat you can sand down with a fine sandpaper, I used 320 grit. Go ahead and repeat the second coat just like the 1st.

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After the second coat is completely dry go ahead and sand it down again, don’t worry about the cloudy look that will likely cover your whole piano, that will disappear as soon as you apply the wax. Whether you choose to distress is entirely up to you, I chose to lightly distress along the edges and on the legs. If you prefer a more aged look Behr also has an antique wax and a white wax, both are beautiful I’m sure. If you use dark or white wax, you should still apply the clear wax at the end. Clear wax protects your furniture and gives it a beautiful professional looking satin sheen. I chose to apply the wax with cheesecloth which you can also purchase at Home Depot. Behr does offer a special brush just for wax, but its $30, I got fabulous results using $4 cheesecloth, so its totally up to you! But if you do apply with the brush, you will still need cheesecloth or some other lint free rag to buff with. I was so shocked at how good the wax made my piano look, you can’t even see brush strokes. After you apply the wax, wait about an hour or so and go back and buff it out, which gives it a lovely shine!

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The whole cost of this piano came out to $35.00 including EVERYTHING. However, it should of cost me more like $50.00. The cover somehow popped open on my paint while they were mixing it and it got paint on the outside of the can and I lost the tiniest bit. they gave it to me for TWO DOLLARS. So it must’ve been meant to be right? But really, Behr is my new favorite chalk paint and I highly recommend it! Hope you enjoyed todays post and as always, thanks for stopping by!

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Cozy Farmhouse Bedroom Neutrals

  Hi, Friends! Happy 2019 to all of you. This is my first post in almost a year, I apologize for that. My family went through many big life changes in 2018. Just to name a few, we welcomed our sweet baby boy, got a puppy (as if a toddler and a newborn weren’t enough work, ha!) and my husband started the DNP program at URI. Needless to say, we have our hands full! Anyways, lets get into todays post!  

  When we first purchased our home almost 3 years ago, there wasn’t a single room that didn’t need work. With the rest of the house requiring so much attention, we didn’t do much to our bedroom beyond a coat of paint. This year I was finally able to add more personal touches and really focus on the overall aesthetics of our room. I wanted it to be a neutral, cozy and inviting retreat. I wanted  a space that I would be happy to spend time in besides just a place to sleep.

   

We started by adding a Shiplap accent wall which my hubby and I did ourselves. Because our bedroom doesn’t get too much natural light and to keep the farmhouse feel, we chose very light color tones for the walls and bedding.

  We used the color Snow Fall by Behr on the shiplap. The rest of the room is Salt Cellar by Behr, it has the tiniest hint of mint to it and I love the way it contrasts with the white shiplap!

 

 We purchased the bed from Wayfair for a great price. It is still available and can be found here.

 

  For the bedding I wanted a simple light neutral that wasn’t completely white so I went for a soft Gray stripe that almost resembles the classic grainsack stripe. I found the bedding at Kohls and it’s actually on MAJOR sale right now! You can find the bedding here.

 

  To add some visual interest I added a pop of color with the toss pillow and some texture with a super soft throw blanket. It’s amazing how some pretty small projects can completely transform a space from dull to totally inviting! (at least I think so)

  I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I have and I look forward to being much more active on the blog and on Instagram in the coming year! If you enjoyed this post please feel free to leave a comment below!  

 

 

Grove Collaborative and Mrs Meyers Product Review

It’s a cold rainy morning here in Rhode Island and it is making me long for warmer weather! We hit over 60 degrees yesterday and now I’m dying for spring! One thing I love to do when we get a warm spring day is to open all the windows and clean everything in my house! Nothing beats the smell of fresh air and a clean home. Speaking of clean homes, I wanted to share with you my first experience buying from Grove Collaborative and give you an honest review! 

I saw a lot of ads about Grove Collaborative on Facebook and have been wanting to try more natural cleaning products in my home. I went on their website and they had a great deal for first time buyers to get lots of product for an excellent price, so I decided to give it a shot! Upon signing up I was able to get 5 FREE items as well as a free 60 day VIP membership trial which includes free shipping on every order. Free shipping is always a win in my book! I can never bring myself to pay for shipping. Now the offers and deals they have are always changing so you may not recieve the same free items I did. They also may advertise a differnt deal on their website but just try googling Grove Collaborative deals and they usually have others to choose from! That is how i found the best deal for me. I was able to recieve

•1 free Mrs Meyers Dishsoap

•1 free Mrs Meyers Multi-Surface Cleaner

•1 Free Mrs Meyers Hand Soap

•1 free Grove Collaborative Bamboo Prep Board

•1 free 3-pack of Walnut Scouring Pads

 

Above is a list of everything I ordered, I got all those items for $21.00, so that works out to $2.10 each! You can’t get a price that good anywhere else! I will say to be careful after you sign up with Grove for the 60 day VIP membership. After you make your first purchase it will automatically ship things to your home every month unless you cancel the monthly delivery. They will also pick random things to send you, not just a repeat of your previous order. Some people may like having a monthly delivery but I personally cancelled all automatic deliveries and will just order again when I am ready. Just do what works for you! If you want to keep automatic delivery you can add and subtract things from your order before they ship it out, you can also adjust the frequency of the auto-shipments.

 

After having all of my Mrs Meyers products for a few weeks now, I can tell you I LOVE THEM! It  was hard for me to choose the scents online because you never actually know what they will smell like in person. I purposely chose a variety of scents so that if, for some reason I didn’t like one, at least I’m not stuck with tons of that same scent. The scents I chose were:

•Basil

•Lavender

•Rosemary

•Radish

•Geranium

I will say there is one scent that I hate…Geranium. Which is a little disappointing because I ordered the handsoap AND lotion in that scent. My friend, I used to work in a greenhouse and spent so many hours planting, watering, and dead-heading hundreds of geraniums and let me just say, that scent does NOT smell like geraniums. It smells like overly potent bug spray…not the good kind either. Now if you like the smell of bug spray then you will absolutely love this scent, but if your like me…DON’T buy it.

 

Geranium was the only scent I disliked. It’s funny I was so afraid to try the Radish scent because, again, I used to work on a farm and I really didn’t think I wanted to smell like a radish after washing my hands. I only gave it a try because another blogger said it smelled wonderful, and boy was she right. It smells so gloriously fresh, that’s the only way I know how to describe it. I will definitely be purchasing Radish again and look forward to trying it in different Mrs Meyers products (I only have it in the handsoap).

The other scents Basil, Lavender and Rosemary are all wonderful too and I will definitely be purchasing those again as well. They all smell like what they are supposed to!

With these supplies being all natural I was slightly concerned about their effectiveness but that was all for naught. The dish soap and multi-surface cleaner do a fantastic job of getting stuck on foods and grime off and they smell phenomenal too. The fragrance in Mrs Meyers items makes them so worth it, as well as being natural. I love that I can wipe down my daughter’s highchair tray with the multi-surface cleaner and not have to worry about putting her food on it right after, because I don’t have to worry about all the chemicals. It feels so good having a clean, good smelling home and knowing it’s safe for my family!

So all in all, I had a very good experience with Grove and they have SO many other products besides Mrs Meyers and I would definitely order from them again and can’t wait to try new things! I hope this information was helpful to you and that you will give them a try! Have a wonderful day.

 

DIY Farmhouse Chalkboard Calendar

Hello again, I am SO excited to finally be doing a DIY post! I have been needing a calendar for a while now, but I wanted something that I wouldn’t mind having on display in my home. I was also looking for something that went with the farmhouse style. I found this beauty for sale on Etsy, BUT with a $108 (regularly $180) price tag, I totally couldn’t justify buying it. Instead, Nate and I made one for $25! I am absolutely loving the results. We already had a couple things on hand so the price may vary but for around $20-$30 it is totally worth making your own! Before starting this project, please read through the list of tools and materials as well as all the directions!

 

MATERIALS:

•(1) 1X3X8ft Pine board
•(1) 1X8X6ft Pine board
•(1) 1/8” 2X4 tempered Hardboard

 

Screws
•#6X3/4”
•#6x 1 3/4″
•Picture hangers
•Black Chalkboard paint
•White acrylic paint
•White transfer Paper
•Wood stain

Sand paper 150 grit

Sanding disks for orbital sander (If you choose to use one)

 

TOOLS NEEDED:

Circular saw

Chop saw *Optional, my husband and I did not use one but it may have been easier if we had.

Drill and Drill bits

Kreg Jig *Optional. We didn’t use one and made our own pocket holes but this would have been much easier.

Measuring tape

Jig saw

Clamps

Hammer

Orbital sander *Again, this is optional. We used one and it made it go nice and quick but you could definitely sand everything by hand.

Foam paint brush (For chalkboard) like this one

Liner brushes like these (You can get these at Walmart or any craft store.)

Tape

Computer and printer

 

CUT LIST:

(2) 1×3 @ 29″  (sides)

(1) 1×3 @ 19″  (bottom)

(1) 1×8 @ 19″  (top arch)

(1) Tempered Hardboard 1/8″ thick @ 24×29″

 

Now that we have all that out of the way lets get started!

STEP 1:

After making all of your cuts, take the two 29″side pieces and the 19″ Bottom piece and fit them together making sure everything is square and nothing is crooked. Make two pocket holes on each side piece about 1″ apart. Be sure that your pockets holes are not too close to the edges. You can now screw each side piece into the bottom as shown. You could definitely make your arch first and then screw everything together afterwards but this is how we did it.

STEP 2:

Now that your sides are screwed into the bottom piece you can start working on the top arch. Unfortunately I do not have a pattern that you can follow for this. I happened to have a large enough bowl that i was able to use as a guide for my arch. No matter what you use, make sure that the thinnest part of the arch is 3″ which will match the width of your side pieces. We started by measuring down 3″ in the center of our 19″ top piece and placed the bowl on that mark and traced around the bowl.

STEP 3:

Once your arch is drawn it is time to start cutting. Find a secure work surface and clamp your wood so that the curved line (or at least some of it) is hanging over the edge. Make sure the piece is secure and won’t move around while you are cutting it. Begin cutting along the curved line, stopping to adjust the wood if needed.

STEP 4:

After you finish cutting your arch may be a little choppy or rough, that is okay. You will want to sand the inside of the arch by hand (we used 150 grit) until it is completely smooth. You can now move onto the rest of the piece.

STEP 5:

Now that your arch piece is sanded, make two pocket holes on the top of each side piece, like you did for the bottom.

Screw the sides into the arch piece. You may find that the bottom of the arch pieces slightly stick out or move. If this is the case, you will need to make one more pocket hole on each side like we did. Be very careful not to crack the wood. If you don’t want to add a third pocket hole, you could instead use wood glue and clamps for a safer option.

STEP 6:

After your entire frame is screwed together, give the whole thing a final sanding. Make sure it is free of dust and stain the frame with a color of your choice. We used Early American by Minwax. Apply as many coats as desired following the instructions of whatever stain you choose.

STEP 7:

While your frame is drying start painting the smooth side of your 24X29″ hardboard. In the video you may notice I was using a paint brush but I ended up switching to a foam brush. The paint brush left a lot of brush strokes and the foam did a much better job of smoothing the paint. I applied two coats, waiting an hour between each coat but be sure to follow the instructions on whichever chalkboard paint you choose.

STEP 8:

After everything was dry we placed the frame over top of our newly painted chalkboard and traced all the way around the inside frame. We did this because I wanted to be able to work on the chalkboard without the frame in the way but I wanted to make sure everything would be centered.

 

STEP 9:

For the actual calendar portion of this project I did a 12″X12″ and a 4″X12″ “notes” section. To evenly place these I did a 1″ space on all sides. (sides meaning the traced line where the frame will be) I used a ruler and measured 1″ in multiple places, marking each spot as I went. After you have a few dots you can place your ruler on the dots to draw a straight 12″ line. Repeat this for the other three sides of your square. After the 12X12 box is done, (don’t worry about the grids yet) measure 1″ away from the outside of your calendar box and make your 4X12 “note” box using the same technique.

STEP 10:

For the calendar grids you will want 7 boxes across. Using a ruler mark dots just under the 1.75″ mark.

STEP 11:

To paint on the lettering, I downloaded a free font I found online. You could use a font that is already on your computer but I personally didn’t like any of those options. Dafont.com has some beautiful script fonts! I have used this website many times and never had an issue with viruses. You can choose your own font if you like, but here is the one I used for our last name. Once you pick your font click download. After it is finished downloading open it up and click “unzip” you can then install it onto your computer.

I cannot remember what I used for the other font but you can repeat the same steps as with the first font.

 

STEP :12

After choosing your fonts, open up Microsoft Word or Wordpad on your computer. Your new fonts should be somewhere in the drop-down menu of “fonts”. If you can’t find them try typing the name of the font in the search bar of your font menu. For our name “The Farrelly Family” I used size 72. Depending on the length of your last name you may have to type it on separate lines. I used size 72 for “Month” and for everything else I used size 48. Print out your work and make sure you are happy with the size. If you have a short last name you may prefer to go larger.

STEP 13:

Cut out your newly printed words into neat, straight strips. Tape everything down with a small piece of tape at the top of each word. Make sure you can still lift your “words” to slide the transfer paper underneath. Make sure that everything is centered and straight before tracing on the letters. Working from top to bottom, slide your transfer paper under the first word and begin tracing each letter. Be careful not to shift your words while tracing. If you make a mistake or find that something looks crooked, just wipe it off with a damp cloth and try again. I had to do this a few times!

STEP 14:

After you have everything transferred onto your chalkboard to your liking you can begin painting. You won’t need very much paint so I suggest starting with about the size of a quarter. You need to add just a tiny bit of water, just enough so the paint flows smoothly in a nice thin, smooth line on your paint brush. Test out your paint consistency on a different surface before starting on your chalkboard. You don’t want it thick but you also don’t want it too runny. You should be able to easily paint thin lines and curves. Once your paint is the right consistency you can start painting over your traced on letters from top to bottom. You may want to experiment with what size liner brush you use. At first I went with a shorter bristled one, thinking it would be easier. I found the the ones with the long bristles were easier for me to work with. Continue carefully painting over each letter, every so often you will need to dip your brush in water and then paint to keep up the same consistency.

 

STEP 15:

Once you have finished all the letters you can either paint over your grid lines with the liner brush, or you may find it easier to use a paint pen. I just painted over the lines free hand, it was very difficult to keep nice straight lines so you may prefer the pen. You will probably have to do the calendar in blocks, letting them dry in between so you don’t accidentally smudge wet paint. Acrylic paint only takes about 5 minutes to dry, especially when it is watered down. When you finish the calendar portion, move on to the “notes” section.

STEP 16:

Almost there! Now that all the hard parts are out of the way you can screw the hardboard into the frame! Make sure you line everything up with your pre-traced line on the front of the board before screwing anything in place. When everything is lined up flip the board over, being careful not to shift anything. You will then need to pre-drill small holes for each screw. We did three screws on each side and just one on the top and bottom.

 

STEP 17:

After everything is screwed into place you can carefully nail on your picture hangers making sure that they are both level. Now your calendar is ready to hang!

STEP 18:

Admire your beautiful farmhouse calendar!

I hope you enjoyed this DIY as much as I did! If you have any questions, or if you tried this DIY please leave a comment/photo below! Don’t forget to follow me on social media and subscribe to my blog for upcoming posts!

How We Bought A House On A Low Income


Hello again! My husband Nate and I just put a video up on my  YouTube channel about how to buy a house at 18 years old. For the sake of it being our first video we wanted to keep the content fairly short. However for my blog post I would like to elaborate a little more on some of the key points.

 

As stated in the video, Nate and I met when I was 14 years old and got married just two days after my 18th birthday. Although we closed on our home a few days after my 19th birthday, I like to say we still bought a house when I was 18. We got approved for our mortgage in February (my birthday is in June) and we started the mortgage process by the beginning of April. Although all the technicalities happened just after age 19, we still got everything set into place at age 18.

 

So now that I have that out of the way, I am going to dive in and break everything down!

First and foremost, if you want to get a mortgage you need to:

  • Establish Credit

I got my first credit card about a month after we got married (Nate had a credit card for a couple years). I know many of my readers probably already have credit cards, if that’s you don’t skip this point because you may find some of the information helpful!  I was actually denied for the first card I applied for because I didn’t have previous credit! If this is you, don’t give up! The second time I applied I was approved.

While it is important to HAVE credit, you also don’t want to have LOTS of cards because the bank will look at that as potential debt. Higher credit limits are not your friend!

For myself, I used my credit card to buy groceries, gas and other necessities and made sure to always pay it off right away! You DO NOT need to take out a huge loan in order to prove to the bank that you have good credit. I would never advise getting a car loan or other form of debt to “establish credit”. Depending on your income, and whether or not you still owe on those loans, may even prevent you from getting a mortgage because the bank looks at your debt to income ratio.

  • Have A Steady Income

When applying for a mortgage the bank wants to see that you have kept the same job for at least two years. This was true for both Nate and I, but they still could not count Nate’s income. Since, Nate was in full time Nursing school, he could only work Per-Diem as a CNA.

The bank would not count his income, because technically his work was not guaranteed. They only considered my income when pre-approving us for a mortgage, and at the time I only made minimum wage.

  • Have A Savings 

This is extremely important if you don’t make a lot of money! When Nate told me that he set up a meeting with the Bank I thought he was crazy. I remember I was completely embarrassed going that day because I thought for sure they would laugh at us. I already knew they would not count Nate’s income because we had already done some research on what they want to see. I thought for sure we were wasting our time but I am so glad I just trusted my husband and went!

The reason the bank was okay with my minimum wage is because they saw that, while we made very little (even including Nate’s income) we also were able to save $20,000 in the 8 months we had been married. How we were able to do so is for a whole different post!

I would like to add, many people buying their home choose to go with a First Time Home Buyers program. Using this program you usually don’t have to put any down payment, and that may be what works best for you! For Nate and I, we chose not to do First Time Home Buyers but instead went with a traditional mortgage. The reason we chose to do traditional is because we had money we could put down and the interest rates for FTHB are much higher! We did have to pay PMI (private mortgage insurance) because we only wanted to put a 10% down payment. For us that was still a better option than paying the interest rates for FTHB, which were 2-3% higher for us vs. a traditional mortgage.

  • Don’t Have Debt!

Now I know this kind of goes a long with what I said above in my first point, but I think I should add to it. Though it is very important if you want to get a mortgage, it is also just as important for daily life! Nate and I do not believe in credit cards. We did get them in order to build our credit in order to get a mortgage, but they were simply used as a tool. Now that we have our home we absolutely never use them. Never.

Remember that it is 100% okay not to have a new car or the newest technology! I think so many people forget that you can get amazing deals by buying second hand whether it’s a car, a phone, a computer, and even furniture! When we first got married it was tempting to just get everything new, but patience is so worth it. Even to this day my husband and I always check Craigslist or eBay before going out and purchasing something for full price. There have been times where it is a better deal to just buy new, but most of the time it’s not.

The bank will be very pleased to see that you don’t owe any monthly debts. I also want to remind you that they do not consider what your paying for rent as debt, as this expense goes away when you purchase your new home.

I don’t want to make this post too long so I will finish with this. So many people (like myself) don’t even try to get a mortgage because they think they won’t get approved. Had my husband listened to me, we never would have gone to the bank and we never would have had this home! So all I can say is TRY. For us it was only about $100 more to OWN something of our own (this includes mortgage, property tax, and insurance)! For many people, switching to a mortgage is less than their monthly rent payment. So even if you have doubts that you will get approved-just try. I would advise that you at least have something in your savings first though. Even if they deny you a loan, they can give you very helpful information on what you can do in order to qualify.

 

I hope this post wasn’t TOO long and I hope you find the information helpful! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask! Leave them in a comment below or contact me through email!

Fireplace Makeover

 

Happy Tuesday! I cannot believe it’s been a whole year since my husband and I totally updated our fireplace. I know it’s been a while, but we did not have a blog at the time and the transformation is too good not to share. Thankfully I have before, during and after pictures for you! To this day I am in LOVE with how it turned out.

 

When we first moved in I had no idea how we were going to make that hideous thing look good. It was a complete eyesore. The previous owners had painted it an awful black with an almond colored cement mantle, yuck! The fireplace is the first thing you see when you open our front door. Considering it is also the focal point of my living room, I wanted it to be beautiful!

 

I originally wanted to reface it with white washed brick and replace the mantle completely but that just wasn’t in our budget. After getting some inspiration from Pinterest I showed my husband what I liked.  I honestly had no idea how we could turn something I hated so much into something I would be happy to have as the center of my home.

He told me he had a plan but I have to address admit…I was pretty skeptical.

We decided to paint the brick white. I have to say that I was nervous it would come out bad but we had nothing to lose so I decided to go for it. After washing it down really well and about 5 coats of paint I was starting to see the diamond in the rough!

For the insert I chose a flat black high heat resistant spray paint by Rustoleum. Painting it proved to be quite a task! I could not remove the insert so I had to work around the newly painted fire place and the floors. I taped newspaper with painters tape onto any exposed brick, the glass inserts and the surrounding floors.

 

My only regret was doing this project in February when I could not open doors and windows for ventilation! Being 7 months pregnant at the time I did wear a respirator but had to leave the house for hours until the strong odor faded. Never again! I remember sitting in my car in the driveway having nowhere to go but not wanting to breathe in the fumes. Those are memories I do not miss!

Now onto my favorite part of the project, the mantle! Because our existing mantle was made of cement we had to figure out how to attach a faux wood beam to the fireplace. My husband started by getting 1 inch pine boards from Home Depot.

 

My poor husband I think I made him show me every single piece before choosing which ones I wanted. I wanted the ones with the best pattern and grain and I made sure I found them. I have such a patient husband! He was able to work his magic using some wood glue, clamps and finish nails. I was thrilled with the result! I felt like I had a Pinterest worthy fireplace in my very own living room!

If you enjoyed this post I encourage you to read my living room before and after post here. Thank you for reading and Keep checking back for more updates on The Little Bit of Laurel Blog!