*This post may contain sponsored content and affiliate links. Please see full affiliate disclosure here. If you didn't leave this page after that cheesy title, I truly appreciate your loyalty, and congratulations- you're about to get a tutorial for an incredibly simple DIY that makes a HUGE impact! That's kind of the name of the game around here. Achievable DIYs that make a big difference in the design of the space are my favorite! With our back porch, I really wanted to elevate the design of the space, but I didn't want to spend a ton of money or time on this one. It all started with me getting some new planters for our back porch, because once I got the new planters, I wanted to replace the light, and once I got the new light, I realized how dingy our ceiling was looking. On a total side note, the plants that I have in the planters are totally faux as well. They're cute though, and they were a steal for the both of them. You can find them here! Ok, I digress, back to the ceiling at hand. I LOVE a wood ceiling, but again- didn’t want to spend the time or money. I realized that I could try to create the look of a wood ceiling with gel stain, but it was risky. On one hand, if it turned out, that would save me a ton of money and time, but on the other hand… if it looked cheap, I knew I’d hate it and end up redoing the whole thing. Even more time, even more money. You be the judge, but I think I successfully saved myself a few Benjamins. I have used gel stain before, and I really love the product because it doesn’t require a ton of prep, it doesn’t need a top coat, and, if done correctly, gives a beautiful finish. For this particular project, I used two different colors of stain- the lighter stain was called Cherry Wood by Minwax, and the darker of the two was a Varathane gel stain in Mahogany. I liked both brands equally, and the colors together worked out beautifully. To prep my surface, I made sure that the ceiling was clean, and then I scuffed it up with an 80 grit sanding block in order to give the stain a little something extra to adhere to. I applied the lighter stain first, and ended up using two coats. Once that was fully try, I went over again with the darker stain. This time around, I applied using a foam roller first, and then went over that with a coarse chip paint brush, using light strokes in order to form lines that mimicked wood grain. The nice part about this “technique” is that there isn’t really a right or wrong way to do it. Think about the grain on pieces of wood. It is perfectly imperfect, so don’t stress if your lines aren’t perfectly straight. On the contrary, I’d recommend you embrace the imperfections. Once the darker stain was applied, I removed my painters tape while the stain was still wet, and let it dry. The result is a warm, beautiful ceiling that really elevates our porch and takes it from “old” to updated! This project could truly be done on any surface, and I look forward to the spring time because the front porch is most definitely getting the same treatment... who knows, maybe a garage door makeover is on our future! Stay tuned to find out!

*This post may contain sponsored content and affiliate links. Please see full affiliate disclosure here. I've gotta say- I'm proud of this one!! Click HERE to shop my gift guide and make your life so much easier this holiday season! xoxo, Liz

*This post may contain sponsored content and affiliate links. Please see full affiliate disclosure here. Right from one door to the next, apparently (if you missed it, I'm talking about this guy), but this time we wanted to give our interior doors a little makeover, and though we have done this project before, this time we felt like we really had it down. This is SUCH a great way to update a dated home, or even bring a new feel to an already updated home. If you are looking for a beginner project that packs a big punch- this is it. Apparently the internet thinks so too, so check out the reel for some super satisfying before and after shots if you want! For this project, there are a couple of items that really are vital to creating the best version of your finished product. First off, you will need some Zinnser BIN primer. "Do you have to sand them" is a question that is commonly asked, and with this particular primer, you don't! Its pretty awesome, to be honest. It will also last you forever, so don't think that you are going to have to purchase more every time you have a new project. I've had the same can for well over a year (just make sure you stir it up really well- no shaking with this one- stirring only!). The other item that I would recommend is a foam roller. Any time that I am painting any kind of surface that I want really smooth- like furniture or cabinet doors as opposed to walls - I always use a foam roller. I will often use a brush for the initial application and then then lightly roll over the strokes, and the strokes virtually disappear. The other supplies that you'll use are up to you, but don't worry- I will share my favorites with you! Ok, now that we have all the housekeeping items out of the way, let's get on to the actual project work! After doing a couple of rounds of this, my preference is to prime the door, then add the trim, then do your finish work, and finally paint. I have painted the door first before and then add the paint to the trim after its applied, but I like this new method better. It just turns out nicer, if you ask me. For the trim, I really do think it is your choice for how big of a "box" you'd like to have on your door. I personally like the space between the sides of the door to be a bit smaller than the space on the top, and then I prefer the space on the bottom to be at least twice as large as the space at the top. Again, this is just personal preference, but I do think this is the most aesthetically pleasing. You can also use whatever type of trim you'd like, but I prefer a flexible trim, so we went with this polystyrene trim that we got from Home Depot. Once you get your trim all situated, you definitely need to fill nail holes and caulk the seams. When I posted this on Instagram, I got a lot of questions about if you could do this on hollow doors, and I am happy to report that you can in fact do this to hollow doors. In fact, our doors are hollow! When using a nail gun to nail into a surface that doesn't have a stud behind it (or in this case, that's hollow), you will want to carefully shoot the nails in at a slight angle, twice, from opposite angles. That will help prevent the nail from just being pulled straight out, and will keep your piece secure. If you aren't comfortable doing that, you can definitely use and adhesive to do the job as well. Once all that is done, you are ready for paint, and I highly recommend using a nice trim paint. I prefer Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel paint. I promise it is worth every penny. It will give you a beautiful finish, and once it cures, it will put up with a lot of wear and tear. As I said when I was doing this project, every cute outfit needs some accessories, and we dressed these doors up with these gorgeous knobs. I've bought cheap doorknobs many times before. I am telling you these are stunning and worth every dang penny. I do have to admit- we didn't replace all the hardware on these doors. As an easy little DIY hack, instead of replacing the hinges, I just hit them with a little bit of oil based sharpie. Yep, I said it. Sharpie. Don't knock it til you try it, guys. And there you have it- you now have some beautifully updated doors at a fraction of the price of purchasing new doors- definitely a DIY win!

I partnered with Zabitat for this project, and I couldn't be happier that I did! There are many projects in this house that I knew immediately upon entry were going to make a huge difference in the feel of the home, and updating our exterior doors was at the top of that list. I could not WAIT to swap out our old oak door for something more my style, and though we would all love to have unlimited budgets to go and buy allll the doors, it just isn't in the cards all the time. Besides, who would I even be if I didn't give a DIY on our door a shot, right?! I came across a company called Zabitat that creates glass inserts for existing doors and knew that this would be the perfect fit (literally) for my door project. So I got to work and the wonderful humans over at Zabitat walked me through how to ensure that I selected the perfect insert for our particular door. I went with a glass insert with a grid on it because I wanted to let as much light into the mudroom as possible, and I thought that the grid was just stunning. Once I had placed my order, Zabitat took care of packing up my little glass baby and sending it my way, and it arrived quicker than I thought, but most importantly- it was alive and well! Now- to get to work! The first thing we did was remove the existing door and take it on out to the garage where we very carefully removed the existing oval glass insert. We were pretty nervous about this, but having two set of hands was a huge help so that we could remove the glass carefully without it crashing to the ground. Once the glass was removed and safely stored, we hopped on to the Zabitat website to find instructions that walked us through making the new cutout for the new, gorgeous glass. This part was even more nerve wracking than removing the original glass, because if we messed this up, we would have no choice but to buy a new door. After measuring once, twice, and a third time, we used our jigsaw to cut out a rectangle that was the perfect size for the new glass insert. After a little trial and error, we realized that we really wanted the inside of the grids to be black so that anything you could see through the glass wouldn't contrast with the door, which we planned on painting black. So, we removed those and threw some spray paint on them- easy peasy. What we learned in this process was that we should have primed the front of the grids FIRST and then sprayed the back. I learned the hard way that painting the grids while on the door will ultimately result in white primer seeping on to the black grids, which will THEN result in you having to remove the grids AGAIN so that you can spray paint them AGAIN. You live you learn - that's the name of this DIY game. Once the drama of Gridgate had subsided, I was ready to finish up this DIY so I primed the door with a stain and tannin blocking primer (shellac based) and then added three coats of an exterior paint to both sides of the door. Keep a paint scraper on hand if you're like me and you don't want to bother with painters tape. I let that baby dry and put our door handle and lock back on and I honestly can not believe this is the same door! It truly looks like a gorgeous, modern new door, and for a fraction of the price and a little elbow grease, I couldn't be happier! Take a look at these Before and Afters- can you even believe that its the same door?!

*This post may contain sponsored content and affiliate links. Please see full affiliate disclosure here. It's a bold statement, but I think that feature walls might just be my favorite DIY project that exists. They are the project that made me fall in love with DIY, and they are OH SO doable. Whether you are a novice or a pro when it comes to home improvement projects, feature walls are a project that anyone can do, and they will definitely leave you with some amazing before and afters. I recently tackled the calendar wall in our house that is right off the kitchen, and in doing so, I realized that there are really 5 Essentials for creating an awesome feature wall, and I thought it would only be right to share them with all of you! LEVEL. Get yourself a good level. I really intend to explain all of these to you, but this one is pretty darn self explanatory. I love this level because its magnetic so it sticks to the tool box and garage fridge so that I always know where it is, but I also highly recommend having a little fella like this guy on hand for when the big kahuna doesn't fit. STUD FINDER. Cue the dad jokes, but seriously. I find that marking the studs with a pencil prior to placing your trim on the wall. That way, everything is all marked out and you are trying to put up a piece of trim or a board and find the studs at the same time. Depending on how old your home is, you are going to want to have a nice stud finder, because though industry standards tell you how far studs should be spaced, homes are not all equal, and some walls (particularly old ones) do not abide by those standards. In our old home, we have tried a BUNCH of stud finders, only to end up with more holes in our wall than we have stud finders, and frustration levels to the max. Our walls are plaster, on top of mesh, on top of drywall, and finding the studs has literally only been possible with this. Find what works for you and your home, but don't forget to locate those studs! BRAD NAILER. Can you put up a feature wall without one? Yep. Do you want to? I would argue that if you try it with a brad nailer like this one just one time, you will never do it any other way again. They can be intimidating at first, but my brad nailer has become by far my favorite tool to use. SPACKLING. Totally a necessary evil, but emphasis on the necessary. Once you have all of your pieces up, you'll want to fill all of those holes. Depending on whether you are planning on painting the wall or not (I've never not painted one), you will want to use spackling or wood filler to fill all the seams and nail holes so that everything looks seamless in the end! CAULK. See above. Seriously though, its another completely necessary evil, but the difference between caulking and not caulking is completely night and day! It is tedious, but it means that you are that much closer to your finished masterpiece, so hang in there! I'm sure some of you might be thinking that I'm overlooking the MOST important piece of the puzzle, which is the trim itself. I purposefully didn't mention it, because there are just SO MANY different options as far as design of feature walls. From shiplap to geometric patterns to board and batten to picture frame moulding... the options are truly endless. However, in my latest feature wall project, I used a few different types of trim to create this look. I wanted the design to make a big impact, but I loved the idea of using understated pieces of trim to accomplish that. I did the double boxes in order to achieve that impactful outcome, and I think the way it frames the calendar is just perfect for the space. For the record, I used this trim , this pole wrap, and one final piece of trim that I have searched the entire internet to find, but to no avail) to create this wall. I really just recommend checking out your local store and finding a couple of pieces that you love, and that fit in with your space and each other. I know it can seem overwhelming, but you've gotta start somewhere- so just go for it! The last piece of the puzzle on this wall was the picture frame light that I added, and I think it's perfect! I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but I had no idea how much this wall would change this space- I seriously love it so much, and I know if you give a feature wall a whirl, you will too- so just go for it!

*This post may contain sponsored content and affiliate links. Please see full affiliate disclosure here. When we first moved into this house, we knew immediately that we wanted to completely update the kitchen, and that it would be a BIG project, but it was one of those rare big projects that I was oddly excited to tackle, because I knew that it would be so worth it in the end. This particular post highlights a project that was the last part of a very long list of items in our kitchen renovation, and we were so excited to get this bad boy wrapped up. Long story short, when we first moved into this house, the previous owners left their refrigerator, which worked great for us for a while... until it didn't anymore. As life happens, the existing fridge had served us well, but was getting pretty old and was nearing the end of its life with us, so it was time to upgrade. So upgrade we did, and we are VERY happy with our decision to get a Forte Refrigerator. Ours has double french doors, which I have learned is forever on a must for me in regards to fridges, and we've just been really happy with the overall function of it. It's pretty on the outside, and maybe I'm a dork, but I think my favorite feature might be the water spout on the inside- keeps the outside clean and sleek, just the way I like it! Sorry, I went off on a fridge tangent there, but I just really love it. Annnnyways, back to the project at hand, which I promise DOES in fact involve the fridge! So, like I mentioned we got a new refrigerator, but it happened to be a different size from the previous fridge, so like so many of you out there, we were left with a weird space above said fridge that we had to fill. We didn't want to fill it with a standard cabinet, because, as I have mentioned before, our kitchen is a bit tight- we live in an OLD farmhouse, and one of the lovely features of old farmhouses happens to apparently be a small kitchen, so, for now, we have to work with what we've got around here. I decided that an open cabinet would be the best way to go, because it would allow for me to have another area to style, AND we would be able to put a can light above it, and any way that I can add light is a route I want to go! I created an open box with plywood that I had on hand, and I attached to the existing supports that were encasing the fridge with screws and glue. Kenny cut a hole in the top and installed that can light, and we were almost to the finish line with this one. We did have one small snag that I had to work around, and that was that there was an outlet for our fridge up high, behind where the cabinet would be, and so I had to make sure that it would be accessible. After wracking my brain for a bit for how to create a shelf with a removable back, I realized that I had some pole wrap leftover from a previous project- PERFECT! If you have used pole wrap before, you know that the best part of it is right there in its name- it is designed to wrap around things, and is therefore quite bendable. By securing the top of the pole wrap to a support piece that I installed across the back of the box, I was able to ensure that the pole wrap would stay in place, but it could easily be rolled up and lifted up to access that outlet if need be. Once we had finished the design and application of this one, it was time to paint and make it pretty, and you all KNOW that this is my favorite part. It's the part when the ideas really come to life and show their true beauty. I'll link my favorite kitchen styling accessories for you here if you're interested! I have to say- though this wasn't one of the most complex builds I've ever tackled, I was SO proud of it! It always feels good to use what I have on hand, and when I come up with an idea that I haven't seen before, it always puts a little extra pep in my step, which makes me excited for the next project! I'd love to know in the comments below what you think of this one!

*This post may contain sponsored content and affiliate links. Please see full affiliate disclosure here. Okkkkkk who’s excited? I KNOW lots of you have been waiting for this one, and I am so so SO excited to say that I finally have this hood vent completed and I’m gonna tell you all about it! First off, in order to have a hood vent cover, you need a hood, and I’ve been getting some questions about our gorgeous new range that we got from Forte Appliances. We ended up switching from electric to gas (have a professional make that switch, guys), and we couldn’t be happier. The brass details make my heart go pitter patter, and we are so happy to have a gas stovetop again (speaking of details, for those of you already eyeing up the cute kitchen accessories, I've totally got your back, I love where your head is at, and I have rounded them all up for you here). Ok, back to our stove- like I mentioned, we love ours, but Forte has a ton of options, so if you're in the market for some affordable appliances, you’ll definitely be able to find something that works for you and your house. Ok, cover time, and for the record, the fan that we ended up using and covering can be found here. Sometimes I do really well planned out DIYs. Sometimes I don’t. This time was the latter. We were pretty much winging this project from the start, but I’m happy to say that it turned out even better than I had hoped. I knew I wanted something similar to all of the plaster hoods that I saw online, but you guys know me- I have this thing about using what I have on hand, but more on that later. For the actual structure of the hood cover, we started by building a frame out of 2x6s and left over 1x4 common board. We fit the base of the frame to our fan, and so those measurements will be custom to whatever you have in your own space. Once we attached the base to studs in the wall, the vertical 1x4s were attached to the base with pocket holes. These gave us something to drill the drywall into, and once the drywall was attached, we added corner bead so that everything would be nice and smooth. Now for the fun part! I mentioned how I wanted to give this hood a plaster look, but to be honest, I have never worked with plaster before, and I also wanted to use what I had on hand. I decided to try my hand at mixing some paint with joint compound, which was a method that I had seen used a couple of times in the past. Full disclosure: I was really unsure about how this would turn out, but I’m beyond thrilled with the results. I think that a main component to this process (at least for this project) was to use a trim paint as the mix. I think that this will help with the durability of the finish. The entire process took a total of about 6 hours, and it really requires very little skill at all. So, whatcha think- would you give this one a go?

*This post may contain sponsored content and affiliate links. Please see full affiliate disclosure here. I always say that doing DIY projects is kind of like having a baby. Once you reach the finish line, it is amazing how quickly you feel like that space has always been a part of your life. You forget how long you lived without it. In this case, it's our kitchen, and particularly our kitchen cabinets. This has been a project that I have wanted to tackle since the very first day that I stepped foot in this house. It was also a really large project, so it wasn't one that we could tackle right off the bat, but TACKLE IT WE DID, and I could not be happier with the result. If you been around for a minute, you know that my main goal is to make things look really nice, but for cheap. I don't want to have to spend a lot of money on things, but I do want things to look like I spent a lot of money on them. So, for our kitchen reno, we did our best to save money, and the main way we did that was by DIYing our cabinets. Kitchen cabinets are EXPENSIVE, but for good reason. Having beautiful cabinets in your kitchen can make a huge difference in your home. So, we wanted ours updated. WHAT WE DID AND WHY We had a couple of end goals before beginning this project. First and foremost, I wanted to brighten up the space while also bringing in a more updated style, and secondly, I wanted the ceilings to appear taller. We landed on keeping our existing cabinet boxes, and making them taller. But first, we had to address those soffits. The removal of the soffits was vital to this project, because we needed to use the space above the existing boxes in order to extend our cabinets to the ceiling. We removed the soffits as much as we could, but in our case, we did have a huge plumbing line that went above the sink, so that soffit had to stay. We were, however, able to make it a lot smaller and trim it out so that it fits in much better with the new look. For the other soffits, removing them was as easy (and dusty) as pulling out the drywall and taking down the frame. Ok fine, this isn't easy. It takes some muscle, and you will be sore when you're done (at least we were), but it isn't complicated. Just go piece by piece until they are no longer. The cabinet boxes will be attached to studs in the wall, so don't worry about your cabinets falling down once the soffits are gone. Once removed, we used plywood to build boxes that were the same footprint as the existing boxes, and the height of the distance between the existing boxes and the ceiling. We then used 1x2s to make cabinet frames and attached those to the new boxes. All of that got attached to the top of the existing boxes with cabinet screws, and once we filled the seams with Bondo and sanded, it really appeared seamless. Now for the STAR of the show, and the piece of the puzzle that made the biggest difference in our kitchen- our CABINET DOORS (they deserve to be in caps because they are just that beautiful). Since we have used Cabinet Joint a couple of times in the past, we decided to go with them again, and once again, they didn't disappoint. The great thing about Cabinet Joint is that because their cabinets are RTA (ready to assemble), you can completely customize your order, and in our case, that meant just ordering the cabinet doors. This is a huge money saver and an awesome way to make a really big impact on your space without breaking the bank. If you follow me on Instagram, then you have heard me rant and rave about their customer service, and the lovely staff at Cabinet Joint spent over an hour on the phone with me, walking me through measuring my boxes to make sure the doors that I ordered would be perfect. Now, since I kept the cabinet boxes, I needed the color of the cabinets to match perfectly, so if you go this route, I highly suggest taking an actual cabinet door to Sherwin Williams to have them color match. That's what I did and the color is spot on. As for the painting, don't fret- you don't have to sand all of your cabinet boxes completely down. I do recommend scuffing them up a bit and also ensuring that they are clean and not at all greasy, but once that is done, you can hit them with a great primer like Zinsser Bin or Zinsser Bullseye. Follow the instructions on there before you paint your boxes with a nice cabinet and trim paint. As much as I like to save money, this is one area that I won't skimp on. Sherwin Williams has a great trim paint in their Emerald line, and I swear by it. Once all the cabinets were painted and sufficiently dry, we were able to attach our new cabinet doors with some soft close hinges that we also got from Cabinet Joint. When you work through your order with them, they will also determine which type of hinge you need, depending on the type of cabinet overlay that you'd prefer. In our case, we went with an "extra full" overlay, which means that there is just 1/8 of an inch of the cabinet boxes that is showing when the doors are closed. Cabinet Joint was really great about walking me through the options of overlays and inset doors. The before and afters of this space really speak for themselves, and I could honestly sit in this kitchen all day. I'd love to hear what you think- would you try this one? I promise you can do it. Brightening up the kitchen really brightens up the whole house- it is wild! Stay tuned for the next piece of the puzzle... the hood vent cover!

*This post may contain sponsored content and affiliate links. Please see full affiliate disclosure here. It has been well established publicly by now that I am have been fully putting off finishing my kitchen by jumping into other, though full-filling, unnecessary projects. One of these said projects was the kitchen mantel project that I embarked on one weekend. In my defense, it really started with me just hanging some art above the mantel on the fireplace, but one thing led to another, and before I knew it I was shopping for accessories to style my newly upgraded mantel. To begin with, I didn't even realize that items could be placed on my mantel at first. Our mantel has always been flush with the brick, so it wasn't really possible to put anything on top of it. In my process of procrastination, I discovered that I could in fact pull the mantel out a bit, and with some added 2x4s to the back in order to ensure that it wouldn't fall out, I now had a mantel that I could style. Any space to style is a win in my book! The finish of the mantel, which was original to our 1950's farmhouse (even before all the additions that had been put on it over the years) was already beautiful. However, it wasn't quite my style, and I wanted it to be a little more earthy than it was. We removed it and moved it outside so that I could sand it down, which I did. And then I continued sanding, and then sanded some more. There was a lot of sanding involved. Once it was finally all sanded down, I decided to use a method that I had used in the past to get rid of some of the red tint to the wood. I used a 2:1 bleach/water mixture and wiped it on the wood. In this case, I did two coats, and I waited a couple of hours (or until the wood is sufficiently dry) between coats. Bleaching wood really gives a beautiful finish and is such a great way to be able to lighten up a piece or to take some red or pink tones out. Once that giant beam was all bleached, we put it back in its final resting spot, and I honestly could have left it bare. I ended up opting for a stain, though, because, as I mentioned, I I really wanted to bring some earthy tones in to this space. I went with what I had on hand in the garage, and to be totally honest, I wasn't entirely sure how the wood would take the stain after the bleach bath, but like most of my projects... I just went for it. I started with a coat of Early American, which is beautiful and rich brown, but whenever I look at it, it still seems a touch orangey to me, so I usually like to apply another color over top. I've experimented with a few, but in this case I went with Sunbleached. A generous coat followed by some generous wiping in order to blend the two, and I was left with a beautiful, muted chocolate brown. You all know that I didn't even wait for the stain to dry before I started styling, and I ended up leaning tow pieces of art against the brick. The larger piece was actually a landscape that I painted myself (I'll show you how I framed that in the next blog post), and the smaller piece was a beautiful wildflower view from the new Studio McGee line at Target. This piece can be hard to find in stock but I love it so much that I actually have two in my house, so if it's available, you know I say SNAG IT! I flanked the art pieces with a couple of cute vases, also from Target and some of my favorite candlesticks. Listen, procrastination or not, I am beyond happy that I didn't just leave this mantel well enough alone. I think it brings the perfect amount of warmth and style to this room! If you need me, I'll just be over here looking for more wood items to bleach because I'm a little obsessed...

Gift giving is one thousand percent my love language. I absolutely love giving gifts, but even I can admit that sometimes it can be so overwhelming to come up with ideas! Don't worry- I've got you covered! I've pulled together all my favorite gift ideas and divided it into sections to make it super easy for you! Enjoy and happy shopping! *this post contains affiliate links For Her From jewelry to pretty kitchen must haves, every single item on this list is an item that I already love, or specific items that I'm putting on my own list this year. You can find all the clickable links to these items here! For Him This list is all Kenny! These are either items that we have given him in the past that he loved, or items that he said he'd love to get this year! You can find all the clickable links here! For The Kiddos We have most of these items, and it was important to put items on here that my kids have loved for years, and that they will continue to grow with and still enjoy! Find those clickable links here!

*This post may contain sponsored content and affiliate links. Please see full affiliate disclosure here. Since we moved into the new house, there has been more than an handful of new adventures that we have learned about, and one of our favorites is having a pool. Neither Kenny or I have ever had a pool before, but it is always something that I've wanted. We both knew that caring for a pool would be a bit of a learning curve, and I do have to say that the first summer was spent mostly "learning." Like any of our DIYs, we utilized any resources we could- gathering knowledge along the way in order to prepare ourselves for whatever obstacles we might encounter. One of the resources that we have discovered to be extremely useful lately has been a company called Doheny's. Living in the Midwest, we naturally try to get the most out of the pool worthy months that we are given, and so heating the pool in the later summer is a must. This year, we were able to get a solar cover from Doheny's, and we recently added it to our pool repertoire (as an added bonus for my readers, Doheny's has given a discount! Just click on the link and use code MISSLIZ at checkout for $10 off any orders of $100). Just having the solar cover on our pool alone increases the solar absorption into our pool by 25%, which means significantly warmer swims for us, and in turn, more pool days as well! Not only has Doheny's (which, I should note is a wonderful, family owned company) provided a product which we love, but they have also been an excellent resource for us in helping us learn more about taking care of our pool, giving us tips and tricks along the way. If you know me, you know that customer service is something that I put HUGE value on, and since our experience has been so wonderful with Doheny's, I wanted to also share it with all of you! Now you might be wondering... What does this have to do with DIY? Well, this actually was a DIY for us, and a completely achievable one (even for the novice like us) at that. With the guidance of Doheny's, we were able to easily assemble the crank and reel for the cover, and also cut the cover to size so that it would fit our specific pool absolutely perfectly. By using the solar cover, we are not only going to extend our pool season into early fall, but we are going to save ourselves some money on heating costs in the process, which means more fun for us- pool party anyone?! If you have a pool, despite where you live, the benefits of this solar cover are plenty, and we highly recommend Doheny's for it! They are available nationwide too, so if you're looking for a way to save some money and some days of summer, a solar cover is where its at!

*This post may contain sponsored content and affiliate links. Please see full affiliate disclosure here. Were you here for the great debate of '22 where I went back and forth for what seemed like years deciding between lockers and cubbies for our mudroom? I am usually a really decisive person (AKA impulsive as heck), but I had seen a photo of some beautiful, refinished, vintage school lockers, and I could not get the idea out of my head. Spoiler alert: I didn't end up going with the lockers. In the end, I remembered that we originally took out a closet in our mudroom in order to open the space up more, and adding lockers with a closed off front would defeat the purpose of doing that in the first place. So, though hesitantly at first, I decided to go ahead and try my hand at building some mudroom cubbies. I am admittedly still a student when it comes to woodworking, so the idea of building cubbies from scratch... well, to be honest, it scared the crap out of me. For some reason, the idea of woodworking is incredibly intimidating to me. I think its because even though mistakes are FREQUENT around here, I really don't like making them, and large woodworking projects leave a lot of opportunity for mistakes to happen. BUT, I knew that I had the knowledge, and I just had to be brave enough to apply it. So, since I couldn't chicken out now (I'd already devised my plan to thousands of people on the internet), I got to work in planning the project. I decided that three cubbies was the route I wanted to take, and so I first figured out the spacing. This will obviously differ for everyone's different spaces, but I ended up settling on cubbies that were about 21" wide, give or take. I will note that our cubbies are plenty big enough, and I think that 18" would totally work too. I started with the boxes for the floor, and to make these, I used 3/4" plywood. I cut my side pieces to depth and height - 18" tall and 21" deep in my case, but that is personal preference. I joined them to each other with 1x4s in the back and pocket holes and screws to attach. You can watch the process here. The most important tip is to check and triple check your right angles (you'll definitely want a speed square and a right angle clamp). If you don't have 90 degree angles, your entire piece will end up lopsided (this is one of those mistakes that I was afraid to make). I was successful though, and also pretty dang proud of myself after I finished. Once I had those pieces together, I needed to connect top and a bottom pieces to them because they were still pretty flimsy. We chose 3/4" MDF for this, mostly because the price of wood is bananas. Attaching the side pieces to the MDF with pocket holes and wood glue was next, but BE CAREFUL when screwing the pocket screws into the MDF. If you go too fast, the screw will have trouble finding something to hang on to and you might go through. After the top and bottom were attached, I was left with my bench. That I had just built. My first build ENTIRELY ON MY OWN. Insert pat on the back. The boxes need a base to sit on top of to keep them secure, so I used 2x4s to frame out a base that was the exact same size as the bench I had just made. It is important to note that placing the base on your floors might require you to cut your floors. In our case, it did. The reasoning behind this is that floating floors can not withstand that much weight on top of them because it may encourage buckling. So, you have to cut them with a circular saw, or remove them entirely in order to give them room to expand if necessary. In this case, we decided to remove them entirely and have our base sit on our subfloor. We placed the 2x4 base in the area we had just cut and attached to studs on the back and side walls. MAKE SURE that your base is level when you attach. If your base isn't level, your entire build will also... not be level. Once we had the bench in, the rest of the project went pretty quickly. I decided that I wanted enclosed cabinets somewhere because I knew that there will inevitably be items in this area that I want to hide away, so I decided to use cabinetry up top. Due to the size of my space, I decided to actually use a couple of vertical, unfinished stock cabinets and hang them horizontally for the sake of symmetry. Hanging these is as easy as screwing them into studs. We also decided to use these hinges to ensure that the door would stay open if we wanted to access it. Next up came the dividers, and we chose 1/2" plywood for these. We spaced them evenly and attached to both the bottom bench and the top cabinets with pocket holes on the bottom and small cabinet screws on top (through the cabinet). This step is a "go slowly and carefully step," particularly because we went with the 1/2" plywood, and so if we weren't careful, the top screws could very easily be put in on an angle, and come through the wood. Pre-drilling is a must so the wood doesn't split. Now that the bones of the cubbies were finished, it was time to make them pretty, so I used 1x2s to trim out the front, and used a 1x4 and some smaller trim pieces on the top to give the appearance of crown moulding. I attached 1x2s to the top of the cabinet and the ceiling so that I would have something to attach my 1x4 to. AND... once trimmed out, it was time to fill and sand and fill and sand and then do it one more time to make sure it was smooth, and then prime and paint. I used Zinsser water based primer and my spray gun, and I chose to use Sherwin Williams' Emerald Urethane trim paint, because in my opinion, this paint is the best there is, and is worth every single penny. I landed on the color Greenblack. I definitely recommend using a high quality spray gun if you have one in order to get that flawless finish. I use this one, and though paint sprayers take some practice and maintenance, they finish they leave is STUNNING. I thought I was done after painting, but I decided to call a last minute audible and add some shelving to the top of the cubbies. It was wasted space without them, and they also added more storage and/or a place for a little decor. I went with a pre-finished MDF shelf that I cut to size and attached to my 1x6 hook support board and 1x2s that I added to the sides of the cubbies. I added some pretty gold hooks and some hardware to the cabinets and NOW I was finished. I am in LOVE.