Living Room and Dining Room Hardwood Floor Refinishing

Having refinished the floors in our first house ourselves, Mike and I immediately saw the golden oak flooring in the living and dining rooms as a future project when we bought our current house.  That particular floor (and banister) color just isn't our preference.  We envisioned darker wood and looked forward to bringing that look to life.

Organize Kids' Closets for Easy Mornings

Before the kids begin kindergarten in the fall, I wanted to make their closets and dressers more functional so they can get their own clothes ready for the next day as I have always done for or with them since they were babies.

Both of their closets were equipped with the standard high bar with a shelf on top, and we kept those.  We simply added Ikea Billy bookcases (that were previously in our hallway) and attached a lower bar between the bookcase and the wall.

 

Projects We Left to the Professionals

This summer we have made the following improvements to our home:

-Had a stamped concrete patio added out back.

Father's Day

Create Gift Mugs Using Sharpies and Dollar Store Cups

I promise I'll have some bigger home stuff to share again eventually, but in these first few weeks of summer the progress around here has not been terribly visual.  There has been a lot of talking, planning, shopping (but not yet buying), list making, and so on.  The more observable accomplishments have been a few little crafts that Pinterest helped me with. 

The kids and I made Sharpie mugs for Mike and the grandpas for Father's Day this year following the directions on I Heart Arts n Crafts.  We also made a soup bowl for Mike since that is what he often eats at work for lunch.  He now has a matching bowl and mug to keep there.

Mike's set in the sticker phase

Create Gift Tote Bags Using Hand and Foot Prints and Dollar Store Bags

To thank my mom for generously caring form my kids two days a week during the last five school years, the kids and I made her a little keepsake: a tote bag with a butterfly made from the kids' footprints and flowers from their hands.


 

Organize a Kitchen Pantry with Baskets

When our kitchen pantry started feeling out of hand, I made a plan, and organized each shelf with baskets.  It looks and functions so well now!

Create Book Storage with Floating Wall Crates

After consolidating all of the children's books onto bookshelves in our upstairs hallway, I recently settled on a solution to enable the kids to store a some books that they want nearby in their rooms.  My inspiration was a set of shelves made from crates that I saw on Hellobee.