Friday Favorites: Mid Century Modern Lighting From Amazon

The best stylish and affordable mid century modern lighting from Amazon! With the start of our kitchen renovation less than two weeks away,  I've been spending a lot of time researching and making decisions on hardware, paint colors, counter stools , lighting and everything in between.   Some aspects of the process have been easy (like choosing cabinets and hardware) and other aspects have been a bit more challenging.   Lighting, in particular, has me a little stumped as I work to pick pendant lights, sconce lights and a dining room light that all coordinate.  I'm totally splurging on the sconce lights for over the kitchen window, which means the rest of the lighting has to be both stylish and affordable.  I really wanted to go a bit more modern in the dining room, so I headed to Amazon where I found plenty of great affordable modern lighting options.  ...

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The Best Way to Paint Over Dark Stained Furniture

Learn how to paint over dark stained wood furniture to avoid tannin stains and blotchy bleed through.   It's been a while since I've shared a DIY project, so how about a pretty furniture makeover?   Have you ever painted dark stained furniture and had splotchy stains appear through the paint?  There's nothing more frustrating than going through the hard work of sanding, cleaning and painting a piece of furniture only to have tannins bleed through the paint. The good news is, you can avoid bleed through and correct a splotchy paint job with a few simple steps.   ...

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The Best Vertical Gardens to DIY Now

A small space or blank wall is all you need to grow beautiful plants and herbs with these DIY vertical garden ideas! The days are longer, the weather is warmer and spring is right around the corner.  Whether you like to grow fresh herbs and vegetables,  plant beautiful flower gardens, or simply want to add a pop of fresh greenery to your home, these DIY vertical garden ideas provide perfect space-saving growing opportunities.    You only need a blank wall or outdoor area to create beautiful herb, flower, and succulent gardens.           Between budget-friendly outdoor projects , awesome DIY backyard games , and space-saving vertical gardens, it's easy to create beautiful outdoor spaces and gardens for less. The best part about these DIY vertical gardens is that they're great for beginners, with most only requiring potting soil, a drill, hammer, hooks, and screws.  WHAT IS A VERTICAL GARDEN?   A vertical garden is simply growing plants, herbs, vegetables, and flowe...

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The Best Stylish Counter Height Stools

The best counter height stools for a beautiful and stylish kitchen!  Ever since deciding to move forward with our kitchen renovation I've been spending my days meeting with our contractor and kitchen designer, packing, researching and making lots of design and decor decisions.  It's quickly made me realize I have champagne taste on a beer budget.  Well, I've always known I had expensive taste, but planning and picking materials, products and decor for a new kitchen have REALLY made me realize just how expensive my taste is.  Every time I found something I knew would be perfect for our home it was either out of our budget or more than this frugal girl wanted to spend.  Of course, there's the option to just buy what I want and stretch our budget, but I'm all about saving money and searching for something less expensive.  The thrill of the hunt is my favorite part of the design process, so searching for budget-friendly alternatives is something I actually...

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Our Next Big Project

Exciting changes are coming to our basic ranch style home! If you follow me on Instagram then you may already know that big changes are coming to our small ranch home!  Changes that I envisioned, planned and dreamed of doing since the moment we moved into our home.  Changes that I never thought would take thirteen years to complete, but life has a funny way of not always going as planned. In 2014, I shared our phase one renovation plans that involved tearing down our carport and building a kitchen/mudroom addition and oversized two car garage.  It was a major project to tackle, especially for my husband who did all the excavating, digging, rebar, footer, concrete and leveling work.  We were thrilled when the addition was done, but we definitely weren't ready to jump into another huge project anytime soon. ...

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How to Make No Bake Sharpie Art Bowls

How to make inexpensive no bake Sharpie art bowls using dishwasher safe Mod Podge, Sharpie markers and Dollar Tree bowls!  It's a new month, which means it's time for a new Dollar Store DIY !  About a month ago, I went on a Dollar Tree run and ended up taking pictures and putting together a list of my 50 favorite Dollar Tree items to hack makeover and update .  While there, I picked up four plain white bowls that I knew would be perfect for adding Sharpie art.  Creating Sharpie art on mugs and bowls is nothing new, but I wanted to share how easy it is to make no bake Sharpie art bowls that are also dishwasher safe. ...

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