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I am 100% a Joanna Gaines wanna-be. I writing this with her book "Homebody" in clear view. She has without a doubt been an inspiration for my projects. Mark and I recently moved into a "new to us" home. The arched doorways, old hardwood floors, crown molding, and colonial layout stole our hearts and we were very lucky to be able to buy this beauty. While it was clearly move in ready, I was eager to make updates to give this house a modern farmhouse feel.
Imagine this: I am standing in the kitchen on my phone, looking at pinterest, and I scroll through all the DIY projects and I think to myself... wait, I could totally do that. Now, when I bring it up to Mark, as if asking permission, the response I get is an eye roll and slight hesitation and total lack of confidence. In his defense, this is a fair reaction. History has shown us, there is a chance he could come from work with water in the basement from a leaky pipe as I'm tearfully telling him " I thought I could do it myself".
THIS IS DIFFERENT. These updates are fool proof and CHEAP. If I can do it, you can definitely complete these updates, and with lots of grace.
1) Spray Paint EVERYTHING!
The previous owners where generous enough to leave the curtains, curtain rods and fireplace tools. Let me tell you how expensive everything seems right after buying a house -- to consider buying 5 curtain rods a week after all my life savings was handed over, got my upset to my stomach. While it was nice to have these items at hand, they needed to be updated and fit my vision. I had found a style inspiration on Pinterest and I was determined to mimic it -- Light walls ( which we already had), White curtains, and bold back curtain rods. See Below.
Fast forward - I decided to SPRAY PRAINT the current curtain rods. IT WAS BETTER THEN PERFECT!
3) Replace the Door Knobs/Kitchen Hardware
The thought of replacing and updating the kitchen cabinet hardware seems obvious, but what isn't obvious is how big of a difference it made. The kitchen is the one room in the house which I feel needs the most work - probably because this is the most important room in the house. My initial plan was to get a professional to come and refinish/repaint the cabinets. My mind quickly changed once I got two different estimates that were over three thousand dollars. SEESH! I was determined to compromise. I was willing to live with the dark cherry cabinets, yet update the kitchen without feeling like I needed to take out a loan. I went to home depot and pick up new hardware and I could not be more pleased. I plan to replace the knobs as well, but I am still in search for the perfect ones.
Before -
After-
4) White Wash WOW
If you are someone who needs straight lines and perfect coverage. this may not be the project for you. While having a nice classic brick fireplace is charming, I needed to modernize it. I learned about white wash from my mother who had explained her friend has done this. When I saw the finished project, I was convinced there was no way I would be able to pull that off. History has taught me that a paint stroke may end up on your clothes or the paint water may splatter all over the walls.
After doing research on whitewashing, I became to realize that this project would NOT take an entire day, like painting a bedroom -- instead, whith proper supplies, it literally took me 10 minutes. I used the link below to guide me how to complete the project.
SHORT CUT: Home Depot has "LIMEWASH" Paint- which is what I used.
COMING UP IN THE FUTURE --
5) Yes, You can Paint Bathroom Tile