Hey hey!! Just wanted to pop in and let you know that I have the cutest tutorial over on SheKnows today! It is a DIY Toothbrush Holder and I am not joking when I say that I’ve made 4 for a myriad of treasures around the house.
Its super super easy, if you have at least 1 thumb you can pull it off!
Also just a heads up, we are launching the long awaited site redesign over the next 2 days so if things are looking a little wonky (or blank) don’t worry, it will be back before you know it! Thanks for being patient! xo
Hey guys!! How was you weekend? We went up to SLC for a little farewell party for some friends and it was an absolute blast. I took a 3+ hour trip to IKEA (and met so many of you!! Hi new real life friends!!) and spent some much needed time with my wonderful parents.
There is an all new episode of Fearless DIY on The Design Network today! A macrame hammock chair (!!!) I’ve been itching to do this for such a long time. You can pop over and check it out here!!
In the spirit of full disclosure, after we shot this video I went back and added 6 more cords to the design to widen the seat. It was just a little too narrow before and when you’d sit on it it would shrink up. We were on a mega tight shooting schedule (real life!) but if you recreate it I’d absolutely widen it. Its for sure the favorite chair to eat popsicles in the backyard in. Any other Otter Pop addicts out there? Its the official treat of summer at the Gubler’s.
Alert Alert! Fun post ahead!! I’ve teamed up with Rent.com to help all of you cute renters with your apartment decorating needs!
Lets get right to it shall we?
Hack #1 | Create a statement wall with 100% removable fabric. All you need is liquid starch and some gorgeous fabric (tutorial here!)
Hack #2 | Get yourself some plants. Plants are critical to making a house a home, they bring in life and color and help clean the air! If you haven’t yet developed a green thumb try Snake Grass (aka Mother In Law’s Tongue) pictured below. Its almost impossible to kill! See my favorite DIY planters here!
Hack #3 | Shop the right stores. We all know and love IKEA for their renter friendly sizing but did you know that there are other stores that cater to smaller living situations? Places like CB2 and Urban Outfitters have scaled down furniture that wont feel like putting an oversized inflated elephant in the room when all you wanted was a couch.
Hack #4 | Large art that covers lots o’ space. I am a MASSIVE fan of large scale art and it takes the guess work out of what to do with that giant blank wall.
Hack #5 | BYOL. Bring your own lighting. So what if you are stuck with the dreaded boob lights? Bringing in your own lighting can create the illusion that they dont exist! This obviously depends on the landlord and their rules on holes, but it is much easier to mask a hole in a highly textured ceiling that will never be at eye level.
Hack #6 | Brighten up your front door add a wreath and a cute rug and you are good to go! (Tutorial here)
Hack #7 | Command Strips are your real life actual best friend.
Hack #8 | Actually Monkey Hooks might be your real life best friend. If you are allowed to put a few small holes in the walls then this is your saving grace. You can hang huge and heavy things and only create a a small hole in the wall. They are genius and hold up to 50 LBS! Dude. That’s like my 6 year old.
Hack #9 | Use Rent.com and their AMAZING 3D floor plans to scout out your next pad. I LOVE that they offer a furnished and unfurnished option (its wonderful for all of us visual people.) Their site is massively easy to navigate too.
Hack #10 | Just because you dont own it, doesn’t mean that you have to live in an uninspiring beige box for your whole life. I feel like the serenity prayer TOTALLY applies to apartment living. Accept the things that you cant change, and have the courage to change the things you can. There are just so many non permanent ways to bring life and personality into your space. Just embrace it!!
HUGE thank you to Rent.com for teaming up with me on this post!
This week I’m tackling a project that maybe doesn’t seem so fearless…painting a rug. But sometimes its not so much about the type of projects as it is just running at it with wreckless abandon.
Fun fact, we filmed this episode on my birthday and the mystery head helping me hold the rug up at the end is my sister Amy! She drove up and surprised me, it was the best birthday present ever (along with the 5 lb. bag of cinnamon bears that she brought with her.)
Update!! You guys I am such a space case. I forgot to link to the rug!! Its from IKEA (you can find it here!) its called Nipprig (I bet you’ll never forget that name…)
I can’t even begin to tell you how many emails I get from people that are renters, trying to figure out how to make their not permanent home their own (while still being able to get their security deposit back!) Renting is reality for everyone at one point or another. For me it involved no decor and a saggy slip covered hand me down denim couch. #reallife. So I teamed up with my friends at Rent.com for a fun (and renter friendly!) tutorial.
One amazing thing is that technology changes things instantly. Instead of watching Trading Spaces and While You Were Out circa 2003 as the only source for inspiration, the internet is FULL of amazing ideas and blogs. And instead of newspaper classifieds (I’m looking at you Pioneer Shopper) there are sites like Rent.com that not only give you pictures and every bit of info you could possibly want, but now have 3D Floor Plans so you can see EXACTLY how the layout of the space is.
I mean, dont get me wrong any floor plan is wonderful but going from this:
To this:
Pretty amazing.
There is even an option to see it furnished.
Psst you can see the listing for this SLC apartment here!
Once you’ve actually found some place to call your own, the fun really begins! Its time to make this thing a home. Most living spaces have 1 intimidating thing in common…GIANT BLANK WALLS! (Blood curdling scream inserted here)
I am all about large scale art on a budget so as I was planning this tutorial I consulted my cute sisters (who both rent), they very emphatically said NO TOOLS.
Sooo dun dun dun dun! for this project you dont need tools! Just a 4×4 piece of wood, a little bit of paint, and a sharpie paint pen.
Start by nailing your piece of wood directly to the studs in the wall. I found the wood at Lowe’s (my local Home Depot only sells 2×4 sheets.)
Get the paint flowing out of your pen by depressing the tip onto a piece of paper until you have a little puddle.
Channel your inner preschooler and draw a handful of scribbly circles (now is a good time to let loose any pent up feelings).
I started with a Medium pen and the lines were too little.
I loved it a lot more after switching to an extra wide tip.
Ok now you do what I did and step back and wonder if you’ve really made something cool or if it looks a little amateur? Can I take a second to remind you that people do this type of art all the time and sell it for lots of money? Feel better? A little validation never hurts. 😉
Move your furniture in and see just how awesome it looks when its not lonely on the wall!
Massive thank you to Rent.com for inspiring this fun project! Hope you have an awesome weekend!!
This post is brought to you by Rent.com. All content, ideas, and words are my own. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that allow me to create new and special content like this for my blog! You guys are the best!
You know those things that you experienced as a child that are just so amazing you remember them forever? When I was 11 my family took a little day trip to Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park. For the last 21 years I’ve wanted to go back, and finally last weekend we did.
I was a little worried that I had built it up to Court and the girls (because we all have those childhood memories too) but it turned out to be even better than I remember.
It is super inexpensive ($10 for adults and $5 for kids) and the 1 1/2 hour tour is loaded with amazing information about the history of Lehman caves, the guy that discovered it, and the way people used them before the concept of conservation ever came into play. (Something about the rule “If you can break it, you can take it") The ranger was super knowledgeable about the caves (and super patient with Dylan’s millions of questions).
The picture below is in the Music Room, the wall on the left looks like its filled with organ pipes and they say that if you bang on the stalactites they all play different musical notes (which no one has heard for the last 70 years because its not good for the cave,,,)
My pictures aren’t the best because they have a no tripod rule, but I had to share with you guys. It was a great way to spend a weekend. If you visit the caves, take the drive up to Wheeler Point (its 13,000 feet above sea level!!)
I swear I start every summer with the best of family fun intentions, and every summer I’ve only crossed a few off the list when its time to go back to school. So here is the deal, if you’re looking for a fun little trip this is such a great one.
Do you have a favorite place to take your family? Don’t leave us in the dark!! xo
There are a few things that you are guaranteed to find at the thrift store. 1. Used candles. 2. Horrifying toys. 3. Bad art. Its just the way that it is. I mean, is a thrift store even a thrift store if there isn’t strange art involved?
This fun project will have you looking at thrift store art completely different.
I recently inherited a stack of art from my girls’ elementary (the perks of having a MIL that works at the school). It was part of the curriculum ages ago and they found it cleaning out one of the storage closets. There are some that I love as is (like the one I used on this shelf) and there are a lot that are not so much my taste. Those ones are the kind you’ll want for this project.
You can watch the full tutorial here (also it wasn’t until I watched the video again this morning that I noticed that I have a piece of painters tape stuck to my butt at the end. #reallife.)
