Boob lights. Once you know what they are, you'll notice them everywhere. We've had one in our living room since we bought our house two years ago, and I've been meaning to do something about it for months now. And I finally did. Click through to check out the glamorous solution.
Earlier this week we told you all about our new Curbly House makeover. A house we're so excited to take on, get to know, make beautiful, and then put on the market again (furnished and polished and perfect).
Success! We managed to turn our 1,200 square foot home into a place for a family of four to live, work, and thrive. What the photos don’t show is our newborn making this room his temporary home (complete with a bassinet and sound machine). It's an adjustment, but we're making it work! What's really put my mama-heart at ease has been the transformation of our forgotten sunroom. Turning it into a cozy, welcoming space for our newborn has allowed for an easier transition to our new life, and for our toddler to accept the fact that he is not an only child anymore. All this is thanks to a bit of paint from Sherwin-Williams.
When Al and I found out we were expecting baby number two, the walls of our quaint little 2/1 started to cave in all around us. We danced with the idea of moving to the ‘burbs, but after some serious soul searching and a few disappointing open houses, we thought better of it. Our dream has always been to raise our family in the city and we just didn't want to give that up so quickly. We were determined to make it work. After we came back down...
I love a good before-and-after, don't you? There's so much satisfaction in taking a sad roadside find or cheap garage sale rescue and totally transforming it into something new and different. We've rounded up some of our favorite furniture makeovers to inspire you to either start that upholstery project, get out the spray paint, or hit up this weekend's local yard sale scene. From dressers to dining tables, here are some of our favorite furniture makeovers.
I've wanted to upgrade my nightstands for a long time. I love the raised pattern on the drawer fronts, but the pale blue doesn't work well with the existing colors in the room. So I decided to give them a couple of coats of white chalk paint and add some leather pulls to lend a more sophisticated vibe. Click through to check out the final look, as well as a tutorial.
When it comes to thrift store finds, painting can be a fantastic way to totally transform something old into something new. That being said, too much paint can be a bad thing. Sometimes the most refreshing way to refinish a solid piece of wood furniture is to totally strip it naked and start fresh. That's how I felt about this chair (and its amazing technicolored dream-coats of old paint). Thankfully, it wasn't a ton of work to remove paint from the entire thing. Here's how:
This little kitchen was the remaining evidence of an attempted house flip gone bad. The old home had great bones, but a few serious structural issues, discovered once the previous owner/flipper opened up all the old walls. The kitchen became too much for them to handle, and that's when we stepped in.
When we found the house, we knew most of the renovation budget would go behind the walls (plumbing, electrical, structural repairs), so the kitchen finishes would have to happen on a serious budget. As you can see, this space would need everything, from the floors up. We planned on renting this home, but I always believe in making things as homey and cute as possible. We stuck to our budget by going with stock cabinets, stock countertops, vinyl floors while keeping things bright and functional. And, if I may say so myself, I think it turned out great! Read on to see how we did it.
I'm getting married in July (to the good sport pictured in the photo above) and I desperately wanted to have a photo booth at our wedding. But the price of photo booth rentals was prohibitive, so of course I started brainstorming ways to DIY one instead. Click through to check out my simple solution.
The carpet is down. The furniture is in. The original Curbly House is officially on the market! We spent the last few weeks putting in long hours to get the living room (and the rest of the house) ready for showings, and we're excited to share the reveal with you today! Read on to see how we designed a cozy living space that will (hopefully) help us sell the house quickly to a lucky new family who will enjoy it for years!
Yesterday we told you about our plans to make over our old house before we put it on the market, and today I'm back to walk you through our design process. As far as I'm concerned, the design process is the stuff dreams are made of - you get to go wild with dreams and possibility. In fact, you have an obligation to do so.
While I always have to scale back (hello, budget), and redefine my dreams, I think examining the process is worthwhile. Have a look at the ideas we considered in bringing this room into all its glory.
I have some pretty huge professional goals this year, and one of them is about redirecting the Curbly ship into new waters. Specifically, our whole team is committed to pouring all we have into creating original content (projects, roundups, and tutorials) and taking on more room makeovers. I believe in the power of transformation, so I'm committing myself to it.
We're beginning this theme of transformation by revealing a little secret: for the past few weeks, we've preparing to sell our old house! You guys: I'm so excited about this! This house was our first home (the original Curbly House, which we'd been using as a vacation rental); it's the home where we brought our newborn children, and interestingly, it's the one we never talked much about. Today I want to give a little background of the house, as well as our efforts to get it in tip-top shape for whomever lives there next.
We all love a good furniture makeover, and these don't disappoint! Get prepared to swoon over these 19 furniture pieces that have been painted in totally unexpected ways. Each piece is inspiring because they're extremely unique. If are you're looking for ways to make over your latest thrifted find, these painted beauties will inspire you!
This kitchen didn't have much going for it, except for its size. So you can imagine that the makeover was pretty dramatic. Click through to check out the transformation, along with a few helpful tips on how to introduce color into your kitchen.
As the warm weather continues to emerge, I'm looking forward to spending more time outdoors and enjoying our front porch. Last summer, we purchased inexpensive metal chairs, but since metal is not very comfortable to sit on, I finally got around to making a set of leave printed chair cushions. The best part is you can sew outdoor chair cushions in 30 minutes or less with a few specific materials and this envelope style pillow case.