DIY

Mushroom paint colors are a popular choice for those looking for a neutral color palette that adds warmth and depth to their home decor. From light beige to dark taupe, mushroom hues offer a versatile and sophisticated look that can complement any style. Check out my picks for the best mushroom paint colors for your home.

Whenever I stop to admire a beautifully designed image, 9 times out of 10 it is one of these popular Farrow and Ball colors. The Farrow and Ball paint brand is a favorite among interior designers for its rich hues and over 132 dreamy paint colors to choose from. Along with these paint colors being some of my favorites, they are also the most highly rated and reviewed on the Farrow and Ball site.

Painting the exposed basement ceiling may have been the most physically taxing DIY I have ever done. Don’t get me wrong, it was totally worth it for the look and the money saved, but it was exhausting!

This green upholstered headboard may be my favorite DIY project yet. I created this simple DIY tufted headboard for our guest bedroom and it completely transformed the look of our old platform bed. The beautiful green looks fantastic against the pale blue/gray walls and is really the focal point of the entire space. I have created a step-by-step tutorial for you to follow and create your own headboard for less than $200.

Paint is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to transform a space. These days, you can paint just about anything you can think of including walls, floors, furniture, and kitchen cabinets! This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to easily paint kitchen cabinets, even for those beginner DIY’ers!

This DIY kitchen makeover is one of my favorite projects yet! My brother and sister-in-law, Jon and Shannon, live in a beautiful 1930s home with their three adorable boys, but their small kitchen was not as functional (and pretty) as they would have liked. Because a full renovation is not in the cards right now, we came up with a very affordable plan to increase the function for their family and give this small kitchen a glow-up!

Looking for a fun way to spruce up your home without spending a fortune? A peg rail can be the perfect project for any budget and is a super easy DIY. Shaker peg rails are not only a classic and timeless design, but they are also incredibly functional too! For just $20, I installed a cute peg rail in my brother’s kitchen that fits the style and age of the home and is great for organization.

One of my favorite paint colors to add to a room is a shade of blue-gray A lighter blue gray creates a fresh and breezy atmosphere, while darker blueish gray colors add warmth and coziness to a room. If you are itching to add a little color to your home but are afraid you will choose the wrong color, a blue gray paint color is the perfect place to start!

Bathroom renovations can be costly, so I was very excited to save some money by framing our bathroom mirror with this easy DIY! This is a quick and easy project …

Welcome back to week 5 of the One Room Challenge! This week I have continued to work on DIY paint projects. Paint is my favorite budget-friendly DIY trick to change the look of furniture or a design item. I gave a fresh new look to an old bookshelf and decorative tray through the magic of paint.

We painted the dated, stone fireplace in our kids’ playroom! Our third home had a great garden-level space that we used for the kid’s playroom, but the giant rock wall made the room feel dark.

If you enjoy DIY projects, chances are you have used Rub ‘n Buff a time or two! This tiny little tube has the ability to turn a tacky-looking object into something that looks antique or even real brass. Do you remember the line in Meet the Fockers, “you can milk anything with nipples”? Well, you can add rub n buff to any object with a surface! Don’t ask me why that scene pops into my head when I use this product, it just does. This wax buffs smoothly onto wood, glass, porcelain, metal and many more surfaces.

I love a quick and easy DIY and this cute seashell dish definitely qualifies as one. I updated our guest bedroom a few months ago and decided to add a small dish to the nightstand for our visitors to place jewelry or other trinkets. This DIY project took about 10 minutes and I used items that we already owned – now that is a win!

I gotta be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to finish this week 4 of the One Room Challenge! In the final minutes, I finished my Ikea Billy Bookcase hack and I am so proud of how it came out.

The 2023 paint color trends have been announced and fiery and dramatic reds seem to be a popular choice. The last few years have been about resetting with a new decade and grounding ourselves with the craziness of the pandemic, so focusing on energizing colors in 2023 is not surprising. Let’s check out the color trends to expect in the new year!

Planning a home project and want your paint color to be on-trend? This is the perfect post for you! I love following the paint and decor trends expected for the new year because it helps steer some of my design decisions for the year.

Are you someone who follows the anticipated paint color trends each year? I love when big paint brands choose a color of the year and find it fascinating the thought that is put into each decision. Last year there were mixed reviews with the Sherwin Williams choice of Cavern Clay but I feel like 2020 has all crowd-pleasers!

Sharing the paint color trends each year is one of my favorite blog posts and also my most popular! I am always so inspired when I pull together all of the paint color predictions and can’t help but start thinking of projects for the new year. The theme of the 2022 paint color trends is pretty clear – green is on everyone’s mind!

Green is definitely having a moment this year, and I have pulled together some of the more popular green paint colors for you to try in your home! If you keep track of the colors chosen by major paint brands that are named “Color of the Year,” almost all of the chosen colors for 2022 are some shade of green! Green is a popular choice because it is so often found in nature and symbolizes growth. It is said that the color green has the psychological effect of making people feel rested and secure.

Sherwin Williams Alabaster (SW 7008) is one of my favorite neutral white paint colors. Alabaster is the perfect off-white that feels bright and fresh while also having that warm and cozy element to the paint color. In fact, I have it painted all throughout my house! With so many rooms in our current home painted in Alabaster, I decided to do a full review on this popular paint color!

Our small guest bathroom lacked character and needed some extra oomph. Adding decorative trim to the wall for a traditional look was just what the room needed! Today I am going to share how to easily install box molding to a wall for this classic look.

Every year, the biggest paint brands choose a color of the year that they predict will be a popular hue that will dominate design in the new year. This muted hue is the perfect neutral paint color to try in your home. When applied to the walls of a room, this beautiful earth tone creates a cozy and inviting atmosphere.

A few years ago, my aunt found a 9-foot, pre-lit Christmas tree on FB marketplace for a great deal. She loved the shape and size of the tree, but she really wanted a heavily flocked look on the branches. There are lots of tutorials online for DIY flocked Christmas trees so we decided to give it a go!

This easy DIY lacquer tray dupe saved me hundreds of dollars while achieving the same high-end look I wanted! One of my favorite designers is Rita Konig and I have been drawn to the beautiful lacquer trays she designs and sells. I recently renovated my guest bedroom/office and her two-tone, blue and green, lacquer tray fit perfectly with the design concept. A medium-sized tray like below is listed at $275.

When it comes to Christmas lights, I prefer white lights outside and colorful lights on our Christmas tree. My favorite exterior holiday decor is the twinkling Christmas garland I hang around the top of our porch every year. Hanging the cedar garland and Christmas lights is really easy and I am breaking it all down for you in the tutorial below!

I still can’t get over how amazing my freshly painted, old linoleum floors look in the laundry room! For this project, I partnered with Rust-Oleum to try out their interior paint product, Rust-Oleum HOME Floor Coating.

How to add charm to your garden with discarded bricks. Install brick border edging for instant English garden charm! Easy DIY for beginners!

With rising popularity of English designs and cottagecore trends, mauve has become increasingly popular as an interior paint color. To avoid this color feeling dated (very popular in the 80s), I prefer more muted mauves that can easily be used as a neutral within a space.

I love decorating my home with unique and affordable artwork. My latest DIY is easy, cheap, and I was able to upcycle unused items in my home! This easy tutorial shows you how to make your own patterned photo mat using wallpaper samples.

I found this old cabinet at a garage sale and immediately felt the urge to bring her back to life. I decided to paint the cabinet the perfect green paint color that aligns perfectly with the modern designs in my living room and dining room.

I have always loved the cottagecore style, but back when I was in college, it was called Shabby Chic! While the shabby chic trend in the 2000s had more of a romantic feel with creamier colors and light pinks, cottagecore paint colors are with warmer, natural earth tones.

Welcome back to week 5 of the One Room Challenge! This week I have continued to upcycle second-hand furniture to fit within the design of my daughters’ vintage-inspired bedroom makeover. Last week I painted the vanity/desk from my MIL blue and it looks really beautiful against the warm pink walls. This week I recovered a bentwood chair found at an estate sale to fit within the bedroom design. I also tackled a quick paint project on the existing nightstand to balance the other side of the room.

Choosing the right paint sheen for your project is almost as important as getting the right paint color – ALMOST. Choosing the right paint sheen for your project is almost as important as getting the right paint color – ALMOST. 🙂 Paint comes in a variety of sheens ranging from no shine at all to very shiny paint. As a general rule of thumb, you want your walls to blend into the design of your space. When you apply a sheen that is not appropriate for the space, it can be quite distracting to the eye. Today I am breaking down how to choose the appropriate paint sheen for your next paint project!

Whenever I begin a room makeover, I always start with paint. The wall color lays the foundation for the design and painting a room makes it feel fresh and new. Today I am going to take you through how to paint a carpeted room in 5 easy steps.

Welcome back to week 2 of the Fall One Room Challenge! This week I chose the paint color and focused on painting the walls the perfect shade of pink. Check out the design plans for my vintage-inspired girls’ bedroom in the Week 1 blog post. Here is a reminder of what my daughter’s bedroom looked like when we first moved into the home two years ago.

Welcome to week 3 of the Better Homes & Gardens One Room Challenge! This week, I added some personality into my boys’ bedroom by installing a wall mural on one wall, and LOVE how it turned out!

Have you ever painted latex over oil-based paint without properly prepping the walls? If you are one of the unlucky readers who answered yes, you know exactly how painful this mistake can be!

I have owned a pair of IKEA RIBBA picture ledges (similar) for a decade and continue to love their functionality. I actually don’t think IKEA even sells this particular style anymore. When I began planning my daughter’s vintage-inspired bedroom makeover, I

I am digging the rich, moody paint colors trend and am craving this design aesthetic even more as we head into Fall! I love how the perfect paint color can warm up a room and give it a cozy vibe.

Are you ready for this super simple tutorial for how to wallpaper your staircase?! I am excited to share this fun wallpaper project with you and the best part is that it took less than 3 hours to install!

Today I am excited to share how we painted our pool and saved thousands of dollars! Would you believe me if I told you we almost walked away from our house because there was a pool in the backyard? We have young kids and the idea of having a pool was really intimidating to me.

This IKEA hack transformation may be my favorite one yet! I decided to give our current IKEA Hemnes dresser an update when I was putting together the design plans for our master bedroom makeover.

Have you ever tried one of the popular IKEA hacks found on Pinterest? There are so many incredible DIY projects using IKEA furniture and I am always completely blown away by the transformations! I have tried out a few of my own and am so pleased with the results. I have pulled together some of the best IKEA furniture hacks to try at home.

With one dedicated weekend, we flexed our DIY skills and created a focal point and massive storage in our basement.

One way we added value to our first home was with landscaping improvements. This is especially valuable with smaller homes and locations where you spend a lot of time outside. Including the word “landscaping” to a home listing can add 2.7 percent more to the sale price. With a $300,000 home, that’s a gain of $8,100, according to Zillow.

The first project at our third flip house was to build a legal bedroom in the basement with an attached bathroom. I was pregnant with our second child and we made the decision to hire an au pair once our daughter arrived. Not only did the cultural aspect of this experience excite us, but it made more sense financially in terms of childcare in Denver. The basement was a blank canvas that was perfect for creating a guest suite for our au pair, Maria.

Creating a welcoming space that feels unique to my family is always on my mind when decorating a room. Our current home is pretty large, so I have to get creative when finding one-of-a-kind art that is also budget-friendly! I absolutely love when our guests ask about a piece of artwork hung on the walls. I

This year we built another raised garden box in our backyard using pressure-treated wood and corner brackets. I documented the entire process and am excited to share this easy tutorial with all of you!

Outdoor DIY projects seem to have a domino effect in our household. What started as a simple tree removal project quickly devolved into installing a brick paver border around our pool. We are always guilty of project creep and this time was no different!

Blueish green paint colors are a popular choice for the interior of homes. These two colors complement each other really well when combined. Green adds warmth to a space, while blue adds freshness to a room.

Earlier this year we began work on our backyard to prep for the English garden I planned to build. Today I am sharing a quick and easy DIY project that has helped to camouflage the ugly electrical meter on the back of the house.

I am constantly drawn to the beautiful and popular Farrow and Ball paint colors. Unfortunately, the accessibility and pricepoint are two reasons why I have yet to purchase this paint brand.
I know this is old school, but there is something about purchasing paint in a store that brings me comfort! Farrow and Ball paints are sold in limited stores so the purchase would be made online. While I am not opposed to purchasing online, the biggest detractor is the price point. I am usually scraping together my budget for DIY projects, so $115 for a gallon of paint is hard to justify.

As I write this blog post I am sitting on my back porch enjoying one of the first warm days of Spring. I love when I am able to work on outdoor DIY projects that improve the look of our home while also enjoying the fresh air.

If you are just dipping your toe in the gardening pool, planning your first flower bed garden can be intimidating! I have a few close people in my life who are incredible gardeners and I always seek out their advice when I have questions about my flower garden beds.

This year, I really wanted to give the basement a more finished look and began planning a budget-friendly basement makeover. We built a utility room to hide the mechanicals, updated the overhead lighting, sprayed the exposed ceiling black, and painted the concrete floors.

Using materials that we already owned, I was determined to give our basement staircase a fresh and modern look. My goal was to complete this DIY project spending zero dollars!

I absolutely love the simple scalloped furniture detail that is having a moment right now. I recently gave my daughter’s bedroom a makeover with a Grandmillennial style and added the scalloped furniture detail with this easy IKEA hack. I am breaking down the entire process with this beginner’s level tutorial!

The most effective way to whiten your tile grout is with a simple homemade grout cleaner made of 4 ingredients. If your tile floors were installed with white grout, there is a good chance that it is stained with dirt. Using household products that are usually stocked in your kitchen, you can whiten your tile grout without any chemicals!

When you buy a fixer-upper, it is imperative that you prioritize and plan your home renovation projects! Renovating a home can be overwhelming and I have learned quite a bit living through renovations these last 10 years. Today I am sharing my tips for how Chris and I plan our home renovation projects and prioritize each one.

We purchased this old bed frame off of Craigslist almost 8 years ago for $100. When I bought it, I had every intention of painting it right away, but it never happened! When we moved into our new home 6 months ago, we planned to use this bed in our daughter’s bedroom.

I say this all the time, but paint is so transformative! On the blog today, I am sharing a step by step tutorial on how to paint a room like a pro.

My husband’s family has always had beautifully wrapped gifts with bows of ribbon adorning each package under the Christmas tree.  A festive ribbon wrapped around both sides of the present and a simple bow on top is my favorite look. With this type of gift bow, the recipient can easily unravel the ribbon with a tug of one tail. I asked my mother-in-law for a tutorial on how to make these gift bows and I have been making them ever since! 

The foyer in our house is very grand with vaulted ceilings and a winding staircase. It was one of my favorite features of our home when we first walked through it and I immediately envisioned it decked out for the holidays. Brand new garland from the store can cost a fortune, so this year I found creative ways to hang garland on the stairs for less than $20.

Dried orange slice garland is all the rage this holiday season and I am loving this trend! I happily hopped on this bandwagon and made some dried orange slices of my own to decorate our home.

Today I am sharing my step by step tutorial on how to install your kitchen backsplash. With this tutorial, you will get all of the tips and tricks I wish I had when I tackled my first tiling project!

For the last 8 years, I have used the Shutterfly program to create our family yearbooks. It is rare that I print photos out anymore and these yearbooks are a great way to compile all of our memories and favorite photos each year.

Welcome back to week 3 of the One Room Challenge! This week I spent time upcycling a thrifted peg rail and two IKEA Ribba photo ledges and I think it may be my favorite IKEA hack to date!

Welcome back to week 4 of the One Room Challenge! We are at the halfway mark of updating my daughter’s bedroom and I still have lots of fun projects to share. This week I tackled another fun IKEA hack in Evelyn’s

Today I am sharing tips for one of my most effective renovation strategies – how to remove wallpaper! My latest home project is giving our dated master bathroom a little refresh.

Today I am excited to share 5 easy ways to make your laundry room a little more green! These simple changes can save energy and reduce plastic while doing laundry every day.

Week 2 of the One Room Challenge was dominated by painting the bedroom. Six weeks can really fly by so when I didn’t have a paintbrush in my hand, I …

You may not have a charming English cottage in the countryside, but you can still create a beautiful English cottage garden in your backyard. English cottages are definitely having a moment and I am all in with the cottagecore and grand millennial trend!

Designing and building an English garden in my backyard | Building Bluebird #landscaping #gardening #greenthumb

This week of the One Room Challenge is all about budget-saving DIY projects for the living room. I have always been thrifty when it comes to decorating and this makeover is no different. The saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” definitely applies to me and I get such a rush out of creating something beautiful out of items that were discarded by others.

When it comes to painting projects in my home, I always choose to paint myself instead of hiring it out. The cost of labor adds up quickly and I prefer to use that money in other areas of our home. Today I am sharing the best paint supplies I prefer when painting interior spaces in our house.

With the walls finally painted, I spent week 3 of the One Room Challenge installing closet organization systems and assembling our new bed frame. Our master bedroom has three huge …

Building a compost station at your home is a great way to reduce waste and create nutrient-rich soil. My family has been composting for a few years now using a rolling bin and decided to take our composting one step further at our new home.

For the mudroom makeover, I was excited to hang a printed wallpaper above the newly installed plank wall. I chose the mudroom design to reflect an English cottage vibe and the Flora print was exactly what I was going for.

Our mudroom makeover is complete and I am excited to share how we installed the tongue and groove plank wall in this room. I chose this wall treatment because it worked well with the cottage architectural style of our home. This project is definitely doable for beginners and is affordable too.

Adding a bathroom in our basement was the first project on the list when we moved into our third flip house. The basement level of our home was huge with half of the space finished and the other half unfinished as a storage room.

Today I am excited to share a beautiful restoration of this classic, colonial style home. Who doesn’t like to see an old home be brought back to life? My brother and his wife spent two years restoring every piece of this home and the transformation is jaw-dropping.

One of the most common questions I get is how to choose the best paint colors for your home. Often it is from readers who are moving into a new home and don’t know where to start in terms of paint colors.

If you are looking to sell your home, one of the easiest ways to maximize its value is to create a blank slate with neutral paint colors on your walls.

Our second house had a tiny, closed off kitchen. By removing half a wall in the kitchen and installing a breakfast bar, we were able to achieve an open concept …

The dining room was in need of a buffet and week 4 of the One Room Challenge was all about finding the perfect piece. When I couldn’t find the perfect buffet online, I decided to go thrifting and refinish a piece myself. We blew past the halfway point of this 6 week challenge and I love putting this room back together!

The dollhouse makeover is complete! In the words of Pinkalicious (my daughter’s favorite show), “it’s pinkatastic!” This was such a fun project for me. I loved designing this house with …

Today I am sharing my favorite functional kitchen ideas to maximize efficiency and organization! When a kitchen is organized well, valuable time is given back to the homeowner. In the last 10 years, I have moved 8 times and have learned a thing or two about efficiently organizing my kitchen.

Last week I found an old iron arbor on the side of the road with “free” attached to the front. Aside from the arbor being my favorite price, the design …

Today I am excited to show you how to color block a piece of art for your home! This DIY is great for artwork that is usually passed over at …

Today I am sharing how to update a lamp with spray paint. I love the challenge of updating a space on a budget. Along with saving money, I enjoy finding …

Today I am sharing simple bathroom organization solutions for our cluttered master bath! After living in our master bathroom for a year, I identified a handful of areas that needed …

Week 4 of the One Room Challenge was spent customizing our current IKEA Hemnes dresser. In my week 2 update, I shared that I had purchased a pricey new dresser …

Looking for a unique gift idea for your loved ones this Christmas? Check out these easy and affordable DIY gift ideas for the holiday season!

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved a good DIY project, especially when I can upcycle an old item. I found an old lamp at a local …

My $300 laundry room makeover is complete! Today I am sharing a quick and easy contact paper countertop tutorial for you to try at home. I finished this project in a few short hours and for under $25. Let’s get started with this simple tutorial!

The DIY picture ledge in our dining room has been a huge hit! I have had so many positive responses to this piece, someone even asked if it was from …

Our laundry room was in MAJOR need of a makeover! Because guests are not hanging out in our laundry room, this was naturally the last place to be updated. As …

Week 1 has come and gone for this half bath challenge, and while it may not look like it, we have accomplished quite a bit!

Week 3 of the Half Bath Renovation Challenge and we are making some good progress! This week is all about half bath paint projects! I want to apologize for missing …

When we first moved into our third home/flip, the guest bathroom was way too big. We cut it down to 1/3 of its original size and used the rest for …