Author: Monica

  • How I Use Notion for Everyday

    How I Use Notion for Everyday

    Whether you’re a Notion novice or expert, I believe that we can all learn something new from each other to use Notion to improve our lives! If you’re unfamiliar with Notion, but interested in learning more, it’s important get a rundown on what Notion does! According to an AI overview I pulled:

    Notion is a productivity and collaboration tool that allows users to: 

    • Create notes, tasks, and databases
    • Manage files, save documents, set reminders, and keep agendas
    • Organize work and to-do lists
    • Turn it into a project management tool
    • Use Notion AI as a writing partner
    • Comment on ongoing projects and participate in discussions
    • Receive feedback
    • Screenshot content from webpages
    • Write and paste equations in block or inline form

    But this is all a really fancy way of saying that Notion can do SO MUCH!

    Practical Everyday Uses for Notion

    In my personal experience, I love Notion to manage my life! I know it can be used by organizations as a task and project manager. And it’s a great tool for small businesses to stay organized and manage content schedules. I use Notion in the following ways:

    • Planning
    • Tracking
    • Scheduling

    I have downloaded and even purchased many Notion templates over my time on the platform (only 2 years!). But I finally have a dash that has the exact pages I use and need. And it’s all rolled up into a beautiful “Life Hub” main dashboard! So I’m going to share what those pages are and how I use them! I’m considering turning my dash into a template for sale, let me know if that’s something you’d like to see!

    My Notion Life Hub

    Like I mentioned, I have all of my resources rolled up into a main “Life Hub” dashboard. I keep links to pages at the top grouped by category. These are all of my pages, but I don’t use all of them daily.

    For anything I use daily or like to keep tabs on, I have a dedicated view in the Life Hub dash. I love this set up because it allows me to easily update my habit tracker, see my vision board, remind myself to read my books daily, etc. So let’s get into it!

    Top Links

    As mentioned, I link all of my pages at the top of my Life Hub dash. This makes them easy to access when I do need them! And I like to always know what pages I have live. This makes it easy to audit my dash every year or so and refresh less used pages to be more useful for me. My linked pages are as follows based on category:

    Envision:

    • 2025 Goals – this is where I brain dump all of my goals, choose my focus areas for the year and plan out actionable steps for the year.
    • Journal – I journal daily and I love my Notion journal! I list out what I’m grateful for, my affirmations and then brain dump about the day. I prefer a digital journal because it takes up less space!
      • And I have a vision that someday I’m going to compile all of my affirmations and turn them into a word cloud. You know, kind of like the below:
    • Finances – this is the page with a huge template my husband and I fill out every month around finances! I originally heard about finance syncs from Jules Acree and I love them! I created the template we use based on different resources I found online.
      • The sync allows us to get on the same page around what we spent, what we made (we each budget weekly), what our goals are and what we need to do to get there!

    Track:

    • Recipe Book – neither my husband nor I am great at following an exact recipe. However, when we do, and we love what we ate, I track it in here!
    • Bookshelf – I am a huge reader and this is where I track all of the books I’ve read since 2021. I give each book a rating, review and write the synopsis to help lock it in my brain.
      • In this view, I also have rollup formulas to tell me how many books and pages I’ve read each year! This way I can easily track and set reading goals each year.
    • Gift Ideas – this is something I put together every Christmas in a note on my phone. But I realized that Christmas isn’t the only time of the year when we give gifts! So I moved it into a Notion page.

    Plan:

    • Travel Planner – I love hanging out in this dash! I use this to plan our weekend for visitors and any trips we take. I used it most recently during our roadtrip, following along our routes, stops and end points for the days!
    • Impulse Purchases – I love this new page! Any time I get the desire to buy something or think I “need” something, I put it in here! After it’s been in there for a week and I still want it, I allow myself to buy it. But to add another layer, I only let myself purchase one item every Friday. It’s interesting how after just a few weeks, I don’t want the item at all anymore! haha.
    • Projects – As you can probably guess from literally all of my other posts, I do a lot of house projects haha. I plan them all out in Notion! This is helpful for budgeting, planning out the steps to complete each project and the timeline to help plan around other projects!

    Create:

    This list of pages is actually all just drop downs! This makes it easy to access right from the Life Hub dash for quick reference.

    • To Do: Not surprisingly, this is a to-do list haha. I love the check boxes in Notion for this kind of list as well. I type out anything random that I need to work through. Anything that needs done ASAP (grocery list, order a birthday gift, plan date night, etc.), I put that in the reminders app in my iPhone.
    • Cleaning Schedule: This is honestly something I could remove and replace with something more useful. I have a weekly cleaning schedule that I have followed for so long that I know it like the back of my hand! But it was helpful in the beginning as a reminder.
    • Hobbies: I haven’t looked at this drop down in a while, so same thoughts as the above! I created this list last year when I was sick and tired of watching TV and doom-scrolling everyday after work from 5-11. So I came up with a list of hobbies to reference if I needed something more productive to do.
      • I actually don’t watch much TV at all now! I’ve got my hobbies and I plan activities for myself everyday after work (can be as simple as “read” or “try a new yoga routine” and as involved as joining a new club). Life has been much better with less phone and TV!

    Page Blocks

    As I mentioned and you likely noticed, below my page links, I also have interactive views below. These are my most frequented and quickly adjusted pages. Plus things I like to see as a daily reminder.

    Habits

    I LOVE my habit tracker! I started this practice two years ago when I first started new year goal planning seriously for the first time. I’m one of those “type A, checking a box is enough motivation” people, so this habit tracker really works for me! To make sure I really stay on goal, I put all of my habits (daily or otherwise) in my reminders app in my iPhone.

    The view in my Life Hub dash is just a quick view of the last seven days of habits. This helps me gauge how I’m tracking for the week and sometimes I’ll do something special if I have a particularly strong week. This view also allows me to add a new line for today and update it easily throughout the day.

    The rest of this view is in the 2025 Goals page I mentioned earlier. I like to look at my habit trends broken down by day of week, month, and quarter of the year! This helps me to track my progress and find trends in my habits.

    Currently Reading

    I like to keep a running log of what I’m actively reading in the front and center of my life hub dash. I started getting back into reading a couple years ago and I read the most books in one year of my life last year! This year, reading daily is one of my habit goals and I like to be reminded of what I’m currently reading every time I use my Notion.

    This is a breakout view of the larger “bookshelf” page. That page is extensive! Similarly to the habit tracker, I like to track the pages and books I’ve read each year. And I keep track of my ratings and synopses of each book. This has been helpful when I discuss books with friends, share recommendations, or when I’m looking for a good re-read!

    Travel Planning

    The travel planning view I have broken out in my life hub dash is also just meant to keep things top of mind. I love all of the trips we go on and this is a reminder that fun times are coming! I use the card view with the cover page for this breakout so I can see an image of our destination. Right now, we’ve planned a trip to Scotland and I love seeing the image of the Quiraing!

    The travel planning page is a large view with all of our past traveled, planning and future trips in one view. Each card is then broken down by highlights, itinerary, links, to-do lists to prep, packing list, weather and more! As I mentioned earlier, I use this view to also plan for visitors. I will create this whole view with the itinerary for their trip. This helps cut out the “what do you want to do today?” And the “Here are your options, pick one,” but no one ever wants to pick!

    You can publish any Notion page live to the web. So I’m able to share the itinerary and trip plan with my guests who are joining for that specific visit! I love when people get excited to see what we have planned! And it’s helpful to know in advance what the weather is going to be like and what the planned activities are so they know how to pack.

    Vision Board

    I work hard every December to plan out my goals for the year. This process includes creating a vision board. However, I prefer soft backgrounds for my devices and a vision board is too busy for me. However, the point of a vision board is to SEE it! So I like to save a big chunk of space in my life hub for this year’s vision board so I see it daily.

    Projects

    As I mentioned earlier, I like to plan out my house projects. House projects are my favorite hobby and one of those value categories I like to spend my money on (for my Her First $100K girlies, ifykyk haha). I have so many ideas always and that’s great, but it gets expensive and overwhelming. By project tracking, I know when I’ll be completing each project and what step I need to be on. It also helps me to save money by slowing down and completing projects methodically.

    The view I have broken out in my life hub is just my current project, whether it’s in planning or in progress mode. It’s a good daily reminder to keep moving on projects when I’m low on motivation. It’s also nice to see what’s coming up so I can start ideating in advance!

    Outstanding Goal Tasks

    I feel like I’ve brought this up ten times, so you know by now I’m huge on goals and goal planning for the year! And you’ve probably heard that goals are most sustainable and likely to be achieved when they’re SMART. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. So when I come up with a goal like “have healthier hair” by the end of my brain dumping and goal planning process, it’s way too ambiguous!

    So I break my goals down into steps with deadlines. And I flood them with research to make sure I’m doing exactly what needs done in order to reach the goal. The goal is just to equip myself with all the information I need to be successful! I’ll likely create a new blog post about this process, so for now will just cover what is live in my life hub dash!

    Once I have all of my tasks for the year planned out, I loaded the description with to-dos and research and I set a timeline, I’m ready to roll! These tasks are what live in my life hub dash. It’s good to have the daily reminder of what is due to complete within the next six weeks. This keeps me on track to complete my goals every year!

    Impulse Purchases

    This is a fun one! They’re all fun for me, actually haha. But this is a small broken out view of the larger Impulse Purchase page. This view is just what has become available for me to purchase now and is no longer an impulse buy. I like to see this list on my dash because 1. it’s fun and 2. I’ve mentioned that I allow myself one buy per week on Fridays and this helps to remind me what’s on the list.

    Thanks For Reading, More To Come!

    Whew! That was a lot! I love Notion and consider myself an amateur expert – there’s so much I don’t know, but I use it daily and know how to make it work for me and my needs! I plan to continue this series because this was so fun to write about! If there’s anything specific you’d like to see – let me know!

  • Creating the Guest Room of My Dreams in 3 Simple Steps

    Creating the Guest Room of My Dreams in 3 Simple Steps

    So you’ve planned out a room renovation with visions of two tone paint, box trim and chair rail – now what? Continue reading for my simple 3 step plan to bring your vision to life!

    In my last blog post, I discussed planning this renovation. From ideation to ordering materials. So once everything has come in, it’s time to start! Let’s get into it!

    Prep & Paint

    The first step is to prep your room. This would involve the following:

    1. Take down any art or anything hanging on the walls
    2. Remove outlet covers/switch plates as needed
    3. Patch nail holes and any other imperfections on the walls
    4. Remove any small furniture or decor
    5. Roll up the rug, fold it or cover it
    6. Lay a plastic drop cloth over the floor and any large furniture

    If You Plan To Paint a Two Tone Room:

    Now your room and belongings are ready and safe from mistakes! The next step is for those of you who are painting a two tone room. In my last blog, I discussed my plan to hang a chair rail 41 inches from the floor of my guest room. If you have a similar plan, now is the time to simply draw the line on your wall. If you have a laser level, that works great here. If not, it totally works to just measure and draw the line on the wall every few feet. This is because the line doesn’t need to be straight! The chair railing will cover the line itself. However, if you’re not planning to hang a chair rail or trim to cover this line, you’ll want to measure it precisely, tape, and paint carefully!

    Painting

    The room is now entirely prepped – yay, go you! Now it’s time to start painting! Typically, it’s recommended to start with a hand brush in detailed areas. So this means you’ll be painting the following areas by hand:

    1. Any corners or crannies where your roller can’t get in
    2. An outline around anywhere you’re not painting
      • This would be the inside of the door jam, along the ceiling (if you’re not color drenching), along the floor, around windows, the line splitting your two tone room, etc.
    3. Around fixtures in the room
      • If you’re color drenching, this’ll be your ceiling fan/light
      • Either way, this will be around the light switches and outlets

    For me, this step always requires two coats, so factor that in. But I recommend painting the detailed areas, painting the room and then returning for a second coat of both.

    Now that your room has all of the details and the little spaces painted, it’s time to roll the rest of the room! I’ve shared my process in other posts, but I use an 18 inch roller. I like it because it allows me to get more coverage with each roll. However, the liners and covers are more expensive to replace. I’ll also say that it’s so long that it’s difficult to efficiently roll the paint at the end of the frame. So whatever roller you like is perfect!

    Trim

    Now that you’ve prepped and painted, it’s time for step 2 – trim! Let’s start at the very beginning and assume your trim just came in. That’s right, “came in.” I am a huge proponent of ordering from the hardware store (I’m a Home Depot girlie). It’s so much easier and less hassle than trying to navigate the numerous aisles and long pieces of wood that don’t fit in the car.

    Cutting Trim

    I’ve discussed this in other posts, but cutting trim takes a little thought and then it becomes second nature! Assuming you followed my last post and/or you have the measurements of the boxes you’ll be hanging, the cutting itself is easy. You can use any saw, really, but I love this saw! We got it for cutting floor planks when we replaced our flooring, but I’ve used it in almost every project since.

    Once you’ve cut the trim to length, you now need to cut both sides at an angle to fit together like a picture frame. Personally, I find cutting quarter round really difficult mentally. However, cutting trim is really easy! I use a homemade angle, which is just a piece of wood I cut at a 45 degree angle on both sides.

    Repeat the process for the chair rail and you’re done!

    Trim Hanging Prep

    Now that your trim is all cut, it’s time to hang! I know that using liquid nails is a thing – but I don’t recommend it. Liquid nails is great, but it makes the project permanent. If you decide you don’t like the spacing between the boxes, you make a mistake or if you/the next homeowner want to do something different in the room, you’re screwed. Using a good old fashion nail gun will secure these in place. And some caulk along the edges will give it the flush-to-the-wall look that liquid nails does.

    Now, if you don’t have a nail gun or have never used one – I have some thoughts! I bought this one because it’s on the economic side. However, that means I had to buy an air compressor to get it to work. The air compressor was expensive and it’s so heavy. It’s also really really loud and it makes working with the nail gun so tedious. And the nail gun feels like a tool that is so versatile and needed in most projects. So it’s a bummer! If you don’t already have a nail gun, I seriously recommend saving up and buying an electric one. This is the one I have my eye on.

    So either you have brad nails and a nailer or you’ve ordered one. In terms of nails, they can be short. It really doesn’t take much to hold trim in place! Once you’re ready to get to hanging, you’ll need a couple things to make it successful:

    • Tape Measure
    • Level
    • Brad Nailer
    • Brad Nails

    Hanging Trim

    It’s important to start with the lower piece of trim in each box. This will ensure they’re all the same height. I did 4 inches above the top of my baseboard. This also means I hung the chair rail 4 inches above the top of my boxes ~balance~.

    1. For the first of the four pieces, you’ll want to use a short level. Set the level on top of the trim and in the middle. Once you see it’s level, put a nail every 6-8 inches or so. I can’t express how light these pieces of wood are, so minimal support is needed. However, it’s good to ensure they’re as flat to the wall as possible.
    2. For the second piece, it can be either side piece! Line the piece up to the lower piece you just hung, making it as square as possible. Then pull out the level and make sure it’s straight. Nail in place!
    3. Repeat this process for the third piece. The third piece should be the opposite side piece (not the top)!
    4. Lay the top piece on top of the 3/4 box you just hung. It should fit nicely into the space! Use the level to make sure it’s straight and nail in place.
      • Small note – it’s okay if it’s not 100% perfect. The putty you’ll use to fill the nail holes and inside seams will fix any small gaps/issues.

    As a note – I tried taping the pieces up first to make sure I was doing it right and it did not work. It created such a headache! Nailing and just pulling the trim out if needed is much much easier.

    Repeat the process for the chair rail!

    Finishing Touches

    Congrats, you’re on the last step! Now that your trim is hung, it’s time to make them look professional!

    1. Fill the nail holes – I do this with spackling (don’t come at me), but really any kind of putty or wood filler would work here.
    2. Fill the inner seams – I use spackling to fill the seams on the inside corners of the boxes. I choose spackling over caulk because it’s much cleaner to fill up and brush away excess than caulk
    3. Caulk the outside and inside edges of the boxes – remember to run your finger along the edges to smooth the caulk and wipe away excess. I recommend cutting the tip of the caulk bottle as small as possible. The less caulk, the easier it is to add more than it is to deal with a ton of gooping over-flowing caulk!

    Repeat these processes for the chair rail!

    Paint Touch Ups

    Now that the box trim and chair rail look beautiful and seamless and professional, it’s time to paint! A note on painting the chair rail if you’ve gone with a two tone room – tape the flat wall that is against the top of the chair rail! It’s important to caulk with the tape because it creates a crisp line. Once the caulk is a little dry (like 20 minutes), paint with the color of the chair rail. Then you can peel the tape immediately after. Doing this will ensure the caulk doesn’t fully dry. This creates a crisp line and prevents the caulk from peeling up with the tape if it had fully dried. Repeat as needed if your paint bleeds onto the wall.

    Decor

    Okay, let’s review! You’ve painted the walls, hung box trim and chair railing and touched everything up. Now is a good time to put the outlet covers and switch plates back on. You’ll need to clean up after the spackling, because it gets brushed off the wall and it falls to the ground. You can wrap up the drop cloth for reuse later or throw it out. Put the furniture back and un-roll the rug. Now what?

    If you’re type A like me, you may have already created a vision board for the decor in the room.

    However, if not, fret not! If this is also your guest room, you’ll need the following items:

    1. Side tables
    2. Lamps
    3. Bed, bedding, pillows
    4. Curtain rod and curtains

    For bonus and flare:

    1. Rug
    2. Art
    3. Mirror
    4. Throw blanket and pillows
    5. A luggage rack
    6. Coasters
    7. Extension cords for charging devices
    8. Welcome basket

    Sourcing Decor

    I recommend finding inspiration on Pinterest. Just type in a a keyword or two on the vibe you want. For me, I started out searching “guest room” and then Pinterest recommended to use “English country” because apparently that’s an overarching style in my entire Pinterest board collection haha. I saw soft and warm green rooms and I loved them! I also noticed notes of red, pink and orange in some of the rooms I liked. I specifically saw a floral pillow I LOVED.

    So I took this info to Amazon to find some options. I found a floral pillow set that I based the rest of my decor on. A “red brick” bedding and plain sheets (idea from Pinterest) plus these floral pillows and an oatmeal throw really completed the bed!

    I used the rug, side tables, lamps and curtains I already had. They’re all very neutral, so they easily worked with the bedding I bought.

    I also already owned all of the art and the mirror I hung! My favorite thing to thrift is old art. I don’t claim to have excellent taste, but I know an amazing painting (to me) when I see it! I pulled out my favorite pieces, tried different sizes and prioritized my favorite prints in places that I would be able to see from the hallway – dopamine boost!

    Congrats – you’re done! You’ve painted, added an interesting, professional and eye catching detail to the walls, you decorated it to your vision and put it all together!

    Pop some bubbly, take lots of pictures, heck, you could even sleep in there now! Enjoy it and know your guests will too!

  • Guest Bedroom Flip & Box Trim Planning

    Guest Bedroom Flip & Box Trim Planning

    So you want to flip a room in your home and you want to add box trim, but you’re not sure where to start? You’ve come to the right place! I recently flipped my guest bedroom from an all-white, plain wall, art overload space to an elevated, old money style retreat for guests in our home! Through good old fashioned paint, box trim, chair rail and some careful planning, we turned this space into the guest room of my dreams!

    Ideation

    As with any project, you’ll need to figure out exactly what you want! I love Pinterest for this kind of thing, but you can find ideas anywhere! Magazines, design books, the internet, TV, etc. are all great places to find inspiration. The specific inspiration for the vibe of our guest room came to me while watching Baby Mama (such a good movie, right?). Tina Fey’s bathroom is a two tone, layered designed space. The style is almost giving early 2000s in an expensive home. And “old money” mixed with “English country” is kind of my vibe, so I ran with it haha.

    Some things you’ll need to think about – how do you want to feel in the space? How much work do you want to do? What is the design vibe (colorful, minimal, traditional, etc.)? And then as you accumulate specific design ideas like box trim, paint colors and art, ask yourself if this element you like works with your answers to the above questions.

    Something equally as important is to consider how this space ties in with the rest of your house! Typical design rules say that you should have a theme that flows from room to room in your house in order to create a cohesive vibe throughout. This just basically means you need to pick 3-4 colors that you’ll use in some capacity and some shade in every room. For me, all of the rooms in our house have brown (floors), white, green and then a small touch of some shade of a neutral red. Once you have a few pieces and colors that you know you want to roll with, I recommend putting together a mood board. Below is the mood board I put together for this project

    Your mood board could be more simple than this with just some swatches, a pillow, art and maybe a piece of furniture or a rug. It could also just look like a few screenshots laid on top of one another. I use Goodnotes to plan my mood boards because it has a cool free-draw cropping feature so I can cut out just the very specific things I like from different photos.

    A great thing about putting together a mood board is that it tells you whether your ideas all flow together. I was able to swap in and out different comforters and pillows to figure out what I liked. And the rug in the photo is actually the rug we already had in the room, so I was able to know that some of our current pieces in the room worked well with the new design and I was able to save money!

    This phase also helps you solidify more specific aspects of the project. This mood board forced me to pick a general design of the box trim at the bottom of the wall and pick a specific color from Sherwin Williams. You get the point, this is the time to get specific to make the actual implementation so much easier and takes all of the guess work out of the equation farther down the line.

    Get Specific

    Although we picked some designs and a layout, we need to get even more specific here. You know you want to paint the room a soft white, but what exact paint color will you use? Do you have a favorite brand? Again, I recommend using Pinterest here for paint colors, because you can find photos of the paint being used in different lighting (website reviews are great for this too!). And maybe you know you want to put box trim or chair rail in, but what exactly do these measurements look like? Do you want several sequential narrow boxes? Or do you want 1-2 large boxes per wall with a small box below? Use your inspiration photos to guide you and then get into the room to figure out what will fit your vision.

    For example, the photos of the chair rail + box trim that I saw and loved all had the chair rail above the height of the headboard. So I had a guide for where I wanted the chair rail and then played around with painters tape till I found a height I liked. Once I did that, I played around with painter’s tape to figure out how tall and wide I wanted the boxes to be and the distance I wanted between them. You get the idea, do anything you need to do until the next step is to actually do it!

    Since apparently, this has turned into a “Box Trim 101” blog, I want to give some tips and recommendations so you avoid the mistakes I made! I’ve covered box trim cutting, nailing, nail hole filling and seam caulking in other posts, but this one is all about planning! We decided to put boxes that were narrow and all the same size along the bottom half of the wall. But the key here is to plan the distance between boxes using the main wall! Emphasis on the MAIN WALL. The main wall is where your eye goest first. These boxes should fit perfectly on the wall and then that way you can extend it to other walls. If the boxes don’t quite fit on the secondary and tertiary walls, it’s no big deal! You can leave the empty space or create a smaller or half box on the secondary walls. This is all to say because if your main wall doesn’t fit your boxes, you’ll wind up with a half box bleeding through the corner and onto another wall. This can look good, but it’s much less clean and a lot more complicated.

    Another example of this could be that you know you want a cozy nook in the room. Okay, awesome! What size chair would fit? Do you want it to be a sleeper sofa? Do you already own the art you want to hang or the lamp for the space? If not, get to looking (I recommend always perusing Facebook Marketplace first!).

    Once you know all of the specifics of this flip, I recommend recording it with another mood board, because it’s fun! But you can also get the same results just from creating a note in your phone with all of the measurements, paint specs, and links. Below is an example of how I did this for our guest room flip.

    Materials

    Purchasing materials I think can be categorized under “planning” and “creating,” so I ‘m going to include it in this post. I say this because in order to purchase materials, you need to have completed planning! You can finish planning the last bits as you purchase. Now that you know what you want to do and what exactly everything is going to look like, it’s time to purchase materials! But… how much do you order?

    If you’re going with box trim, you know how many boxes are going in the room and their dimensions. So you have all you need to know how much to order! To walk through the math as an example – our boxes were 27 in. X 11 in. So I knew each box would require 27(x2) + 11(x2) inches of trim. This means each box required 74 inches of wood. And for our Reno, we had 23 boxes, so 23 X 74 = 1,702 inches total. Each piece of trim we bought from Home Depot was 96 inches. So 1,702/96=17.7. So we bought 18 pieces of trim.

    The same kind of math works for painting. Each gallon from Sherwin Williams claims to paint 350-400 sq ft of wall space. So it only took us exactly 1 gallon of paint to complete two coats on the upper half of the walls and the ceiling. Same logic goes for the chair rail too! We measured the length of the walls and added them up to figure out how many feet we needed and then removed the width of the two doors and the window in the room.

    Some other materials to consider beyond the obvious components of your changes, are the supplies that will get you to the finish line. For this project, that meant a tarp to cover the bed, roller covers for our 18 inch paint roller frames, paint brushes for painting the trim, paint tray liners, caulk for the box seams, spackling for the nail holes, and painter’s tape for the chair rail and wall.

    And the more fun things to purchase include things like bedding, decor, art, lamps, etc. I love this part because while the paint and other materials come in, I like to scroll through Facebook Marketplace, shop online deals and go to my local thrift stores to source what I need for cheap, and hopefully, sustainably!

    And once you’ve ordered everything and/or have a plan for purchases, you’re done with the planning phase of this project! Congrats! I’ll be following up to this blog post with another for how I prepped and executed on this specific guest bedroom renovation, so stay tuned!

  • How to Install Renter Friendly Peel and Stick Tile

    How to Install Renter Friendly Peel and Stick Tile

    Feeling blue about your flooring? Not to fear, peel and stick tiles have become a beautiful, budget friendly and easy way to update your space. I personally have peel and stick tiled all of the small rooms on our second story like bathrooms and our laundry room. It’s a very simple and easy project and I’m here to guide you! So let’s get started!

    Picking Your Tile

    Thanks to the modern world, there are a ton of options at your fingertips. I personally chose this beautiful charcoal hexagon tile for our bathrooms and these reborn-modern black and white marble tiles for our laundry room.

    A key note here is the shape of the tiles and the stickiness of them. We’ve had these tiles in these high traffic areas in our home for almost a year now and have had 0 issues with them lifting. So while some blogs may encourage you to spray adhesive on the floor first, it’s really not needed. These tiles are thick and that’s part of the reason, the paper thin tile covers are more likely to peel up. Also – the hexagonal shape is obviously more difficult than the square shape! Keep this in mind as you prep. I laid these two types of tiles as a first timer, so it is totally doable, but the square tiles were much much easier to lay haha.

    If neither of these tiles interest you, I recommend perusing Pinterest and Amazon! There are so many options and so many people have tried them all – you’re bound to find something you like or an inspiration photo to guide you! Once you know the tile you want to use based on the shape, the material, texture, thickness, color and cost, you’re ready to start buying – no waiting here!

    Materials

    You know the tile you need, but do you know how much you need? Considering this is a blog for beginner DIYers, I’ll cover on it, but feel free to skip if you know! Getting the measurement and estimates for a room are actually so easy and to make it even easier, you could use a tool like this that auto-calculates for you! However, the math is simple. Measure the length and width of your room in feet and multiply them! This is the square footage of the room. Most tiles will tell you how many total square feet comes in a package, but if not, the math is the same! Find the square footage of one tile (length (ft) x width (ft)) and multiply by the number of tiles in the box! Now that you know how much you need, you can purchase your tile!

    For this project, you will also need a box cutter to strike, cut, and/or snap the tiles. Once the tiles are all laid, you’ll need caulk in a caulk gun. Both of these items are pretty standard to most DIY projects, so you likely already have them. But if you don’t, fear not, these will not go to waste, you’ll get many more uses out of them! Make sure to get the color of caulk you need (whether that’s to match other details in your space or to match the tiles themselves). For the black and white tiles, I used white and for the charcoal tiles, I used black because these colors best hide the little mistakes I made!

    Something else to note – some people like to fill the gaps between their tiles with grout. I don’t think this is necessary (at least for the tiles I purchased). Many times, you’ll be laying your tiles so closely together for aesthetic purposes, you likely won’t even need the grout. Some people like to lay tiles in the same pattern as their current tile flooring. If this is the case, you may have a gap between tiles if you do now with the told tiles. If so, you may want to consider laying grout to fill the gaps. The hexagon tiles I shared actually come with little white colored edges to give illusion of their own grout, it’s very cool and looks like I did a lot more professional work than I really did haha.

    Installing

    Like I said, this is a pretty easy project, so we’re flying through this and you’re doing great! Once all of your materials and supplies come in, you can start installing!

    As with any project, you should thoroughly clean the space. This is extra important for this project because 1. the clean floor helps the tiles stick and 2. any debris is going to show as a small bubble or create a hump in the tile. I first swept and then used Lime Away to “de-grease” the tiles and almost strip them of anything that wouldn’t be cohesive to getting the tile to stick. I did not sand the tiles. Many people suggest you do, but if you’re laying tile on tile and degreased the tiles, you’ve done enough haha. If you were painting the tiles – yes you should absolutely sand! But for peel and stick? You’re fine to skip if you want.

    Once everything is clean and prepped, think about how you want to lay the tile. For me, I laid them in the direction of the room. My guest bathroom has angled door so I laid the tile right down starting in the door frame and ended up looking slanted in the bathroom when I was done. It still looks great, but it’s just something I notice. I chose to lay the marble tile in our laundry room in a harlequin pattern. So this required I lay the tiles in a diamond shape instead of a checkerboard/square shape.

    Now you’re good to start! I started by laying the full tiles first. Go the length of the room and as far out as possible to create a great foundation that your cut tiles will butt up against. Once it’s time to start cutting, this is where things get a little more technical.

    Some DIYers like the technique of tracing the angle/cut you need on a piece of paper. While I agree this is clever, I tried it and just could not figure it out! The piece of paper trick is much easier if your paper is the dimensions of the tile itself. I personally chose to measure from the edge of the last tile to the edge of where I needed to cut. This helped me get close to what I needed and then I could make finer cuts with the tile essentially in place.

    Now, when it came to spots like around the toilet, this was tricky and I lost a few tiles to terrible cuts. Using a tool like this or mastering the paper outline trick is your best bet. Something important to keep in mind is that the caulk is going to be your best friend when the tile laying is over!

    Finishing Touches

    If you don’t have quarter round or base boards, this is a great time to do that! The base board and quarter round will both cover the edges of your tile and give a super elevated, professional and complete look.

    As I’ve teased, you will need to caulk over the edges of the tile. This is another reason why I don’t feel it’s necessary to lay more adhesive before laying the tile. The caulk is both aesthetic to clean up your edges, but also helps to seal the open edges, helping to keep moisture out and maintain the longevity of the tile! I recommend cutting a small tip off the tube to make the amount that comes out more manageable. I recommend wearing gloves and taping off the walls before applying.

    Was anything confusing or not well enough explained? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to support you!!

    And now… You’re done! CELEBRATE! Enjoy the fruits of your labor, show it off, drink some champagne on your new floor – congrats, you did it!

  • How To Install Your Own Hardwood Flooring in 4 Simple Steps

    How To Install Your Own Hardwood Flooring in 4 Simple Steps

    Installing flooring seems like a huge undertaking, I totally get it! But with a little bit of time planning, a helpful blog (check!), some tools and a can-do attitude, you can absolutely install your own hardwood floor! This blog post is going to be broken down into 4 simple steps: Planning, Materials, Installation and Finishing Touches. Bonus steps included: Navigating tricky circumstances and as always, CELEBRATE! So let’s get into it!

    Planning

    As you know if you’ve been following along, I am a huge proponent of the planning phase! This phase should be deliberate, intentional and take as much time as it needs! I am the first to admit I am not a patient person. I like things to be done quickly. But that often leads to getting stuck easily, unnecessary mistakes (because some mistakes are good to learn from!) and doubling back once trends have changed. So, let’s talk planning! There are a few steps to this for installing flooring:

    1. Figuring out what kind of flooring to purchase:
      • Where will you be replacing flooring?
        • If you’re replacing the flooring in one room, make sure to take into account the flooring in the adjoining rooms and know that you will need to install a transition. Do you want the floors to be cohesive in color, texture, or width? Are the adjoining rooms’ floors carpet, hardwood, engineered hardwood, tile, etc.? The answers to these questions will help you decide what color, type and style of flooring to choose
      • What does your budget look like?
        • Do you have the funds to choose a slim engineered floor and raise the sub-floor? Or do you need to purchase thicker boards? Can you afford to hire this out (haha, just kidding, it’s doable ourselves!)? Can you afford that beautiful special type of wood or do you need to go with something more basic?
      • Once you have a general idea of what you want and what you can afford, check out the places near you to purchase wood from! We sampled wood from Home Depot and from Floor and Decor and decided on Floor and Decor for the price and the style. Don’t worry about how to install at this phase, because it can be figured out and you only need a few tools!
    2. Figuring out how much to purchase:
      • Since you know your budget, you’ll know if you can replace one room, one floor or the entire house at a time! With this information, measure the rooms to know the total square footage. To replace the floor in our 3 small bedrooms and two walk-in closets, it took us 26 boxes of wood.
      • The websites will often try to get you to purchase 10% extra as a buffer. As I’ve talked about in previous posts, I’m not a fan of this method. I’d rather the project take a little longer to order more than to have leftover (that often can’t be returned or is a huge hassle to return). The way I squeak by on most projects is that I always round up. If a room is 110 inches long, I round up to 10 feet. And if I need 25.4 boxes of wood to meet my needs, I round up to 26!
    3. Figuring out what else you need:
      • This is where a ton of research is going to come in handy. This blog post is specific to my experience installing 3/4 inch thick tongue and groove hardwood in rooms that did not need a sub-floor to raise them up because the floors in the hallway were also 3/4 inch thick.
        • We looked into buying engineered hardwood since it’s 1. easier to install and 2. cheaper, but the cost of the subfloor to raise the boards to meet our 3/4 inch thick boards in the hallway would eat all of the savings and then some!
      • So, for this circumstance (or if you’re replacing the floor across an entire floor or the entire home), you will need a water barrier, a brad nailer with nails, a floor saw, and a floor nailer with nails. It’s also advised to have something on hand to ensure your boards are straight (in case your walls aren’t) like a framing square or a laser level, something to give you a gap between boards and the wall and something to knock end pieces into place.

    Now that you know the wood you need, the amount you need, and the tools to complete the project, let’s get to getting those materials!

    Materials

    Since you did a majority of the leg work in figuring out what you need, the process is pretty simple!

    1. Buy samples of wood!
      • Find some options you like online and order the samples to see how they look against your interiors, the feel of the texture, the grain and the color in person. Most suppliers will give you a discount on your full purchase if you’ve purchased samples. So don’t be afraid to get liberal with samples!
    2. Buy tools.
      • I prefer to slowly order the materials over time and as early as possible. That way, while you’re figuring out what wood to purchase and as it comes in, you have the materials handy already! It’s also good to get acquainted with new tools early. This will allow you to get started once all of the materials are in!
      • An important note on the tools I linked above. I linked these very specific tools based on my own experience!
        • Water barrier: this is the cheapest one I could find with great reviews and has still held up in our home.
        • Brad nailer: I linked this specific one because it has the best reviews and isn’t the most expensive option. I personally bought a brad nailer that needs connected to an air compressor – it’s SUCH a nightmare! Splurge on the cordless battery operated nailer, whatever you do! I was trying to save a buck, but ended up having to make multiple trips to the hardware store in one day finding the right compressor and parts. And now, it’s a huge tool we have to lug up and down the stairs when we want to use it. I am positive projects would be easier and better with the battery operated nailer, although they are a little more expensive upfront.
        • Floor saw: the saw I used is actually not made anymore. But I linked the alternative from Ryobi. I really like this brand and all of our yard tools are from Ryobi, so it makes charging and swapping batteries easy! This saw, in addition to the brad nailer, is a STAPLE in my garage full of tools haha. I actually didn’t have to learn how to use a circular saw for a long time because this saw did everything I needed it to (and still does 95% of my projects), so worth the investment and very beginner-friendly!
        • Floor nailer: unfortunately, no way around having to but this very specific tool. However, this is also very user friendly with an air compressor and some muscle. But not to fear, this is a hot commodity in the world of DIYers, so we were actually able to sell this + our leftover wood for a couple hundred bucks to someone renovating their tiny home!
    3. Buy wood!
      • Now that you know everything you need materials-wise and you’ve sampled some different flooring options, go ahead and purchase the wood you want! If you have a flooring store nearby, you lucky duck. We had to have ours shipped, but the cost wasn’t too high and was worth saving the 2 hour drive to Atlanta and a uHaul rental!
      • Something very important to note – real hardwood is going to need time to acclimate! Most retailers recommend about three days. We brought our wood inside from the garage where it was delivered and let it sit in our living room. It was not the nicest setup, but it was temporary! We also moved some of the boxes up to our upstairs hallway in preparation for redoing the flooring upstairs.

    Now that you have all of the materials, tools, supplies wood you need, it’s time to get installing!

    Installation

    Installation is rather easy once you get started, so don’t let the starting discourage you!

    Getting Started

    There are a few things you need to do and ask yourself before you get started. The answers to these questions will help you determine where and how to start.

    1. What is the width of your room?
      • Typically, your flooring should follow the length of the room and/or match the direction of the adjoining wood floors. With this in mind, you know how the flooring will be laid. But it’s important to know the width of your room because it’ll help you figure out if you need to trim your first board. To do this, take the width of the room and divide it by the width of the floor boards. If your answer ends in something greater than .5, you’re okay to start with a full board. If it’s going to be anything less than .5, you should consider rip cutting your first board to split the decimal point between your first and last boards. A little confusing, I know, so here’s an example:
        • Your room is 124 inches wide and your boards are 3 inches wide. 124/3=41.33. So because this project will take you 41 and a third boards wide, that third is going to be harder to cut and may look a little silly at the end.
          • Quick note – I chose to rip cut our final boards at around a third and thought it looked totally fine and was easy to cut. I wanted to throw the above logic at you because it’s how many experts feel. But for me, I preferred the look of the starting board to be full, but that’s just me!
        • Back to the math, the last 1.3 board width needs to be split evenly between the first row and the last row (if this is the route you’re choosing to take). 1.3/2=.65 and if your boards are 3 inches wide, you’re going to rip cut your first and final rows to 1.95 inches. This logic ensures your last row isn’t teeny tiny and still meets the edge.
      • Is your starting wall straight?
        • I chose to start from the walls with the door and work my way back into the rooms. This way, the skinnier board would be all the way at the back of the rooms. That said, I recommend using a laser level or a framing square to determine if your wall is straight. If it’s not, you’ll need to create an askew gap along the wall where you install the flooring. Make sure the gap does not get any wider than your intended quarter round (usually about 11/16 in.).
          • A note on choosing quarter round – you can get either wood or PVC quarter round. The wood is nice because it looks real, but the PVC can take way more abuse without denting or showing a wood layer underneath.

    So now that you know where you’ll start, how you’ll start and what your boards look like, it’s time to start!

    The First Row

    Before getting started on the floor, you’ll need to lay the water barrier, this will help prevent damage to the wood and prevent moisture from rotting either end of the floor. It doesn’t have to be perfectly cut or laid, as long as your boards can lay flat on top of the sheet, you can cut the excess away from the walls after the floor is completely laid.

    Okay, so this is where the row will go the slowest. If you bought spacers, or made them yourself, it’s important to set these up along the length of the wall, especially if your wall isn’t straight and you need a specific distance between different parts of the wall and the boards. As an FYI, most manufacturers recommend a quarter inch between your boards and the wall. This allows your boards to expand in the summer when it’s warm out without popping up in the middle due to lack of room to expand.

    If you have a straight wall you’re starting on (not angled, you don’t have to cut the boards at an angle at the end), your door frame is likely straight as well and there will be a sizeable gap between the first row you’re about to lay and the flooring on the other side of the frame. If this is the case for you, don’t fret! You can lay your first row and later cut small boards to fit in this gap (remembering to leave a small quarter inch gap). The tiny quarter inch gap that is left in the frame will be filled with transition strip or T-moulding.

    I mentioned setting up your spacers before, this is going to be key because tongue and groove wood requires you knock them together to get them in locked and in place. Your spacers will ensure your gap stays even when you’re knocking the wood into the wall essentially. I used the rubber mallet we got from our floor nailer to hammer the boards in place and it worked great! You definitely need something rubber to not damage the wood, but it doesn’t have to be a whole new tool! So let’s go over the steps!

    1. Set up spacers
    2. Lay the first row
      • The last board will need to be cut to fit the length of the space left between the last board + the wall + a quarter inch gap. This can be done so easily with the floor saw you bought!
    3. Recheck that the boards are straight using a framing square or laser level
    4. Lay the second and third rows
      • This is my personal professional top tip! By laying two more rows, this will ensure the boards in your first row are straight! Even if the line of them are straight as compared to the wall, it is possible that one of them isn’t quite fully knocked in place and will create a ripple effect through the room, making none of the rows completely straight. By laying the extra rows with mismatched seams, this ensures your first row is straight and the rest of your rows will be as well
        • This is something I learned the hard way after laying the first row TWICE, having to remove each individual nail! Take it from me and use subsequent rows as an extra gut check the first row is good to go
      • A note on seams – In order for the boards to have their best chance of survival, the seams where two boards come together, need to alternate between adjoining rows. No two seams should be any closer than 6 inches. As seen below:
    5. Now that you’ve got the first few rows laid, you may notice that the floor nailer is too long to be able to nail your board in place without running into the wall. So for the first three rows, you’ll need to use the brad nailer to nail them in place.
      • Pro-tip – if you set your brad nailer on a relatively high PSI (pressure), the nail will go past the surface of the board and make it really easy to fill with wood putty to cover up!
      • You can either nail the boards in place from the top or angled from the side the way the floor nailer would work. Either way works, but just make sure your nails are long enough to go through the board and catch onto the sub-floor AND that they go far enough into the board to either 1. be easy to fill as a nail hole or 2. allow the next row of grooves to be able to attach to the tongue (if your nails stick out, the boards won’t be able to get past it and hook onto the tongue).

    Finishing Installation

    1. Now comes the easy part! You can lay another row and use the floor nailer instead! Continue this process until you get to the last three rows where you’ll use the brad nailer again.
    1. Special note here – if you have a closet that the boards will run into long ways, you’ll need to make sure that first row going into the closet is straight and then you can work your way back and forward from there. To do this, repeat steps 2, 3 and 4! The first row that enters the closet from the main room should extend all the way to the end of the closet wall. Lay subsequent half rows before that until you hit the parallel wall. This will ensure the middle row you’re extending from the room into the closet is straight! Once that row is done, work your back into the closet and then forward to the opposite parallel wall.
    1. Another special note – don’t be scared of angled walls! I definitely was, but the floor saw makes it so easy! The floor saw should come with a piece that swivels to allow for angled cuts. In all of our rooms with angled walls, the angles were 45 degrees. So we just set the floor saw to a 45 degree angle and cut from there!

    Now that your floor is in (congrats!), it’s time for finishing touches!

    Finishing Touches

    As mentioned, and as you’ll likely guess, you need quarter round to cover the gaps between the walls and the floor. If you don’t have baseboards in yet, definitely add them along with quarter round. Baseboards are like the frosting on cake, they make your room look professional and complete! You’ll also need transition strips to cover the gap between the floor boards and the adjoining floor in the doorways. This gap allows your wood to expand in the summer without popping out, so it’s an important step to follow.

    The transition strip I chose was this beautiful and thin brass moulding. It’s called T-moulding because of its shape! The leg of the T goes down in the gap and the arms spread across the gap. You’ll need to cut these to length with tin sheers and then fill the gap with roofing glue before pressing the transition in place. This is all that needs done, it will not budge once it dries!

    The final finishing touch is to fill your nail holes (if applicable). This can be done with matching wood putty smeared across the hole. It’s amazing how easily these fill and become virtually invisible.

    CELEBRATE

    Congrats, your flooring is in and done! Stand, sit, and dance on your new floor! Put some rugs down, fill the room with furniture and items that bring you joy and appreciate your hard work. Because you did this yourself and you did so much research and followed so many guides, you did it correctly, you saved a ton of money and the wood will survive the seasons and years to come! GO YOU!

  • Easy Bead Board Kitchen Backsplash Install

    Easy Bead Board Kitchen Backsplash Install

    We bought our house in December of 2023 and when we toured, the outdated backsplash in the kitchen was one of the first things that caught my eye. On its own, it really wasn’t terrible, but the countertops are also a busy pattern and between backsplash and counters – I’d replace backsplash first any day of the week! Especially if it’s something as simple, easy, cost-effective and timeless in a Nancy Meyers kind of way as bead board!

    I did a ton of research and while I found many helpful blog posts about how to install bead board backsplash, I had trouble finding information on how to hand all of the DETAILS! It sounds easy enough, and it really is, but there are so many factors I had to consider like weird angles where my tall bar met the backsplash, the fact that my outlets were then too far back behind the bead board and that you have to cut the bead board precisely to match up the seams from one board to another! So, that’s why I’m here! I lack an ego in every sense of the word when it comes to projects. I know I will make a lot of mistakes and it may not always look like a team of professionals from HGTV came in, but I learn a ton and I’ve found a lot of knowledge gaps in this space – and I plan to share everything I’ve learned with you! So let’s get down to it! First step is, of course, planning!

    Planning

    It’s a bit of a puzzle with all of the steps here, but stick with me and you’ll be ready to go in no time!

    1. Break your backsplash into pieces
    2. Measure the main pieces’ lengths and heights (you can measure and cut for outlets, windows, etc. later)

    Now that the main pieces are measured, step 3. is to find the bead board you’d like to use for your project online. I like Home Depot and this is the bead board I bought. This particular board is tall and so I was able to get two strips for the longer sections of my backsplash out of one board. This is the kind of planning you’ll have to do in this step to ensure you’re buying the correct amount. At only $23 a board, it’s not a huge deal if you end up only using a small bit on an extra piece. Something crucial to keep in mind is that unlike a basic wood board, you cannot use bead board at any orientation. If you want to be precise, you can map out how you’ll cut the board to be the correct orientation on a photo of the board.

    Or, I chose to figure out the total square footage I would need and added a 10% buffer and just knew I could run back to the store if I truly miss measured (I did not, I actually had a whole board leftover haha so I think this is a safe process!). To do this, I multiplied the length X height of each piece to get the square footage of each piece and then added them up to get my total. The board I linked above is 32 sq. ft. so the math is easy from there! Step 4. of course is then to order the board or head to the hardware store to purchase it!

    Prepping

    Now that you know the amount of boards you’ll need, you’ll also need to purchase construction adhesive! I used this Loctite 3x strength glue and my bead board is in place FOR LIFE (I used two bottles across 3 pieces of bead board)! Noting that this type of adhesive will likely rip the board + backsplash off the dry wall if you try to remove. So ensure this is really what you want to do! I had tile backsplash to cover and I was not confident in my ability to remove it without hurting the dry wall so I opted to glue it in place. However, if you’re dealing with a simple drywall backsplash to your kitchen, you could totally nail it to the studs making it easily removable someday.

    You’ll also need caulk to seal the seams and fill any imperfections. I ended up going through so much caulk trying to figure out a process! I went through 5 bottles, and I use caulk for so many projects so I wouldn’t be afraid to buy a little more than you think you need! And of course, a caulk gun if you don’t have one already. I also sometimes like to wear gloves for big caulking projects like this, but that is up to you! I also recommend having some kind of painter’s tape to hold the boards in place while the glue is drying. And lastly, you’ll need outlet spacers (also called caterpillar spacers) which will allow you to bring your outlet forward to be flush with the new thickness of your backsplash.

    If you don’t have a way to cut the boards, you’ll need that as these are too thick to cut with something like a box cutter and will shred if you try to break them. I used a combination of a circular saw for the big cuts and a compact saw for the little pieces like the outlets. Once you have these items – we’re ready to move onto the fun part – DOING!

    Installing

    You’ll want to start by cutting your pieces. I recommend measuring and marking everything right there in your kitchen or project space and measuring a few times! While there is some wiggle room with the upper backsplash being less visible under your cabinets, caulk can only do so much to fill in those kinds of gaps!

    As for the outlets – you can use the toothpaste hack where you smear a little toothpaste on the edges of the outlet and put the board against the wall and use that as a guide for cutting, but I prefer to just measure how far in and up the outlet is from the outer edges of my board. It feels less clunky and more precise to me, but I recommend you try both to figure out what works best for you!

    Before we even get to the outlets, I like to cut the initial piece first, check to see if it fits in place and then worry about details like the outlets. Now, if you run into anomalies like I did – beyond outlets, this would be things like a magnetic knife holder we have on the wall, the kitchen bar juts out of the backsplash at the end of the wall, the window frames have a lip that go into the backsplash, etc. – fear not! It’s all work around-able haha. Simply follow the same technique you did for the outlet! This can be the toothpaste hack or measuring the anomaly in relation to the “piece” of wall you’re working on.

    Lastly, when it comes to the stove, I chose to install the backsplash directly behind the stove and did not go any lower. You can’t see it when you’re standing in the kitchen, but if you’re next to the stove and lean over, you can see the old backsplash. It honestly doesn’t bother me (shocking as someone so type A), so it’s really up to you!

    The cutting process is really simple from here once you’ve measure and marked your boards! This step is really dependent on how comfortable you are with your tools. I am not at all, still haha. So I would recommending test cutting some scrap wood to get the handle of it. Or if you’re impatient like me, just go for it and go back to the store for more board if you need to haha.

    Okie dokie, so your boards are all cut now, right? Great! It’s time to prep the space. This means removing the outlet covers, taking down curtains (trust me, I got construction adhesive on mine :’)), removing anything from the walls, clearing the counters, lightly cleaning your backsplash (you really don’t need to sand for this project, the adhesive is so strong), and having your tape and glue at the ready!

    This step is really simple – just draw pretty waves of glue on the back of your boards and stick them to their respective spots on the wall! Then tape them in place by securing the tape to your board and something stable like the cabinet above them. If your boards are a little bowed, like these things often are, I recommend pushing something heavy up against them. I used a cast iron pot full of water and a granite mortar and pestle my husband loves – be scrappy, save the money haha.

    Once it’s dry (give it 24 hours before trying to mess with it), you’re done with the hardest parts of the project – GO YOU! Do a dance, toast yourself, do anything to celebrate and allow yourself to feel super excited about the massive difference this has already made in the feel of your kitchen!

    Finishing Touches

    Now comes a different kind of technically tricky part! If you’re good with caulk, this’ll be a walk in the park! You’ll obviously want to remove the tape and the random objects you put on your counter to hold the boards in place! I recommend taping off where you want to put caulk. Important note – leave a buffer to “over-caulk” because if you under-caulk, it will show when the tape comes off and you’ll need to redo it. So for example, lay the tape more on your counter/bead board, a little further away from the seam itself. This will ensure the seam is fully covered vs. what I did and had to redo it :’).

    Once the tape is up, cut a tiny little tip off your caulk and pop it into the gun. Trace the gun along the upper and lower edges, the sides and of course any seams! You’ll want to remove the tape relatively quickly after caulking. I’d say like 10-20 minutes after. If it dries, the tape could pull the caulk off, but if it’s too wet, the edges won’t look straight because the caulk hasn’t had enough time to set just a little. It’s a little annoying you’ll have to RE-tape to paint once everything is done, but it’s worth it!

    Me caulking in my work clothes because I have no patience to change

    If your cuts, caulk or tape gave you some rough edges of imperfections on your boards, you’ll want to lightly sand. Trust me, I missed a spot and it isn’t noticeable until you turn the under-cabinet lights on and it makes me cringe a little every time. I say “lightly sand” because this is a very porous board and if you over-sand, you can sand past the smooth layer on top and you’ll never have the smooth finish you want.

    Woo – that was a lot! But it’s almost over, I swear! Once the caulk has dried and everything looks up to your standards, it’s time to install the caterpillar spacers to bring the outlets forward. It’s actually a very simple process of removing the screws that are keeping the outlet in the wall and placing the spacers behind them before re-screwing the outlet back in the wall.

    Now that you’ve done everything that needs done that could possible mess up a paint job, it is safe to paint! I did not prime or prep the boards as you really don’t need to! I painted them the same color as our walls – Alabaster by Sherwin Williams to create a less busy look. After two coats, I put three coats of Polycrylic water-based protective matte sealant on the boards to protect them from the adventures of the kitchen. This isn’t anything special or specific to the kitchen, I use this sealant as my go-to for everything from sealing outdoor furniture to sealing home made ornaments!

    Once the sealant has dried, you can put your outlet covers back on and re-hang any art or knives you had on your backsplash previously!

    And, as always, CELEBRATE! Light a candle, make it vibey and just stand in your kitchen and stare at the amazing work you’ve done!

  • My Home Office Routine & Desk Tour

    My Home Office Routine & Desk Tour

    If you’ve read my project planning and home office reno posts, then congrats, you’ve made it to the final phase of my home office series – putting it all into action! If you missed these other posts, I outline how I go about ideating, planning and implementing projects. And the specific project is my home office renovation. So now let’s get into the final phase of home projects: function! And happily ever after haha.

    Routine

    Getting Started

    First things first, you’ve gotta have your drinks! I always start with a scoop of collagen in my coffee and a big bottle of electrolyte water. I have used this collagen for about a year and I really like it! My skin feels more elastic and I like the research behind it. But I digress. I set everything down on my estate sale cork coasters. I never knew of cork coasters before this amazing estate sale we went to a few months ago, but I love them because they absorb the liquid and they don’t stick to the bottom of your cup like so many coasters do! Then of course I turn everything on. Besides my monitor and laptop, I turn on my lamps and my monitor light bar.

    Get Moving

    Now that everything is on and I’ve got my drinks, I’m ready to get started for the day! I push my chair back and raise my standing desk to the highest setting. I’ve linked this desk in my past posts, but I love it so much! It’s really pretty and works well, but I love that it’s deeper than a regular desk, so I can fit all of my drinks with room for a lamp and flowers and a notebook. Once my desk is up, I unfold my walking pad and set it up under my desk. This is actually the fourth walking pad I’ve owned! The other variations I’ve tried have been clunky, hard to use, really loud, etc. I had my eye on the foldable treadmill for a while, but couldn’t convince myself to spend the money. So once it was on sale, I sold my old treadmill and bought the foldable walking pad – I LOVE IT. I will never go back, especially as someone who hates visual clutter, I love that I can stow it away and bring it out so easily. I typically walk for 1-2 hours in the morning on a low setting like 1.5 mph so I can easily type and work on my computer without any issue.

    After walking for a couple hours, I crave a sit down in my comfy desk chair or I’m really hungry for an early lunch haha. Whenever my dogs hear the treadmill stop and the desk lower, they come running into the office for kisses, it’s so funny to me. But it’s also a really nice transition from go-mode during my peak productivity hours. Then like I mentioned, I love rolling my chair forward and sitting down to crank out another couple hours of work. I really wanted a Pipersong Meditation Chair, but I just cannot get behind the price tag. Plus, as much as I love to sit with my legs all over the place, I really love to get snuggled up to work sometimes. So I couldn’t fully foresee myself love the chair and for that price tag, I had to be sold. So, I looked for a comfier alternative and found this chair – my most favorite desk chair of all time! It’s cushioned and comfy, it has arms which I love, it can lean back as far as you need, but I really love that it has a foldout footrest! It’s perfect for when I want to sit criss-cross or stretch out my legs or even prop my feet up and snuggle in.

    After working hard during the morning hours, I usually take a lunch around 11:30 or 12. Then I shift back in to work mode and prep for my calls, which are usually in the afternoon. I like to turn on and use my monitor light bar to wake up my office space. I like this light bar because 1. it plugs into my monitor for ever-lasting power and I can hide the cord in my monitor arm, 2. it flips up and down for when I want my screen illuminated vs. my face during calls and 3. it has different brightness settings and can switch between warm and white light. So I’ll turn it on a high setting and face it down on my work space and then when my calls start, I’ll turn the brightness down and flip it up to sharpen the image of my face on client calls.

    Typically throughout the whole day, I like to listen to a podcast or a book. If you’re looking for recs or if you’re also into audio books and podcasts, leave a comment below because I love to chat about it! My favorite podcast is probably Morbid (think true crime, but the hosts are besties and make you feel like you are too) and I love to use Libby for my audio books, it’s a free app to borrow books and audiobooks from your local library (hello huge savings)! I love a fictional thriller/suspense so naturally I love Julie McFadden. When the dogs are running around playing or I can hear my husband’s music from the kitchen, I love to use these budget-friendly noise cancelling headphones. They hold a charge for a really long time and the noise cancelling is great!

    Then of course, I take my afternoon calls, which are a majority of my calls since I am on the east coast. After my calls and all of my work is done, I like to follow a wrap up routine. This usually starts around 5:15, but I really try to aim for 5:00, I swear! haha. First things first, gotta wrap up online. This usually starts once I’ve found a natural stopping point in whatever task I was finishing up last. Then I’ll review my inbox, by replying to any last minute emails, moving my non-to-do emails to a folder and putting any to-do emails on my list for the next day. I check off items on my to-do list (personal and professional) and review any remaining tasks for today in the task manager (we use Wrike, but I use Notion for my personal to-dos) and push them to tomorrow. I review my work messages (we use Slack and I have my own hex codes for a calm, green aesthetic, let me know if you’d like to see a post on it!) and make sure I have nothing outstanding and no one needs anything from me. And then I record my hours and where I spent my time for the day. Once this is all done, I like to play an energizing song and tell myself I’ll be away from my desk by the time the song is done. At this point, if no one has sent me an additional last minute message in the time I’ve been wrapping up, I should be good to mark myself “away” and put my work station to sleep. I love digital organization and have a ton of tricks, let me know if you’d like to see some of them!

    Once I’ve shut down digitally, I like to close out my workspace. I’ll step away from my desk, turn all of the lights off (two lamps and the light bar), push my chair in, and clean up my workspace and put everything back to where it was in the morning. Then I leave my office and I don’t consider coming back into it anytime soon haha. I truly the love space I work in and I’ve found a routine that works really well for me, as someone who works from home full time and loves to spend her free time at home too haha. Let me know if this resonated with you or if you’d like to chat routine, set up, or books/podcasts!

  • Easy DIY Home Office Renovation

    Easy DIY Home Office Renovation

    If you read my last blog post, I walked through how to plan and organize for an entire home project. The examples I used in the post were all geared towards a home office renovation because it’s my most recent and most favorite DIY home reno I’ve done to date!

    Ever since the pandemic, the work force has completely pivoted. Remote jobs used to be a pipe dream and few and far between. But now, a large portion of the American workforce works from home. For me, it’s an incredible opportunity and an environment I thrive in. Between calls I can run a load of laundry, I can take calls with my dog discreetly on my lap, I can make my lunch right in my own kitchen when I’m hungry. Beyond that, I love that I don’t have to commute. I’m such a homebody and introvert, that being able to get an extra hour or so to be at home without working is such a game changer. However, working from home can get tough when you work from your bedroom (like I did for 4 years), you have kids or dogs running around in the background of calls, or if you struggle to separate work from life when your work is so physically close to your life. For these reasons, I have found what a game changer a dedicated office space can be.

    We have moved 5 times over the past 5 years (we’re done, I swear haha) and lived in apartments as small as 600 sq ft. Even if it’s just a simple curtain to separate your bed from your desk, or moving a dog crate into the closet to make space in the living room, anyway you can create a dedicated and separated space is so key to setting a work-life balance foundation. All of this to say, if you’re fortunate enough to have a sectioned off area for your desk or even a whole room, you can totally revamp the space to meet your needs!

    Now, if you’re just perusing this post and you’re not here because you really want some ideas for your own renovation, you may be asking “why? Why do I need to change my space?” The short answer is really that you don’t need to! I think there’s a lot of power in being content with yourself and your space just as they are. However, I also think that your environment has a huge impact on your mood! It’s why I have very specifically curated thrifted art hung in our home, it’s why I’m constantly looking for things to purge from my home and make it easier to take care of and to look at. So, when I was working in my own office, the walls were beige with a jungle themed accent wall from the previous owner. The style really wasn’t me, so we painted everything white and replaced the carpet with hardwood floors (another DIY we learned how to do, let me know if this is something you’d like to see a blog post about!). Now that the space was calmer and a much cleaner and palatable vibe, I felt an itch to make the space feel more like me! I was using an old hand-me-down monitor that shocked me every time I plugged it in (I love to save a buck haha). My desk was so small that I couldn’t fit my water bottle on it and my walking pad was the center of the room! I tried out a patterned rug and velvet curtains and I hated it, it was so chaotic and harsh. So I knew my space was bumming me out, a space that I spend 8 hours in everyday, and the space my clients see in the background of calls. And I knew I wanted to do something about it, so I got really serious about planning out the office of my dreams!

    I scoured social media for hours and hours trying to find somebody’s office that was shaped just like mine (it’s really small with a slanted wall) with two desks (my husband also works from home full time). I couldn’t find a single thing so I came up with my own formula for project and reno planning. You can review the blog post where I deep dive into my process here, so I’m going to skip it in this post for now!

    So once I knew what I wanted to do, what my timeline looked like and what I wanted to spend on it, I got right to work! I’m going to break the rest of this post down into what I did and how I did it: Paint, Trim, Furniture, Details.

    Paint

    I fell in love with several photos of home offices painted sage green. So I scoured hundreds of review photos to settle on Green Onyx by Sherwin Williams. I bought 3 gallons for my small office and used about two and a half. Pro tip – Sherwin Williams is always running sales! So if you don’t see a sale live while you’re shopping, try to hold on for a couple weeks before purchasing to save yourself some cash! I also purchased an 18 inch paint roller cover and large plastic tarp from Home Depot because we already own an 18 inch roller and tray. Pro-tip, the 18 inch roller is nice because it covers more space, but the accessories are more expensive and harder to come by, so do your research and make the best decision for your needs! I also already own several paintbrushes and painter’s tape – these are my favorite brushes from Amazon, they’re so soft and clean up nicely.

    While I waited for the paint and supplies to come in, I taped off the floor along the quarter round and around the door and window frames. I also removed all of the outlet and switch plate covers. Once the paint came in, I spent two days “cutting.” Which is a term some painters use to distinguish the prep technique of hand painting the areas where precision is needed and/or where the roller won’t fit. This would look like within corners, along the baseboards, around windows and doors, etc. Those areas needed to be painted twice to get an even coat. Noting that because I chose a color drench theme, I painted the quarter round and baseboards along the bottom of the walls, but I also had to cut along the seam between the wall and ceiling and around the fan and vents.

    Once I was done prepping the space, I covered the desks and rug and got to rolling the walls and ceiling! This is more physically intensive and less strategically difficult. At this point, I was seeing my vision come together and I was so so excited! Although I must admit I am a recovering “all the walls must be white” addict, so the green color drench was terrifying for me! But I trusted all of the other professionals whose photos I drew inspiration from!

    Trim

    As I discuss in my planning blog post, I chose a specific trim layout and trim design. So once the trim came in the mail (thank God for Home Depot’s free delivery), I got right to cutting! We had to buy a floor cutter when we installed our hardwood floors, so that’s what we used to cut the trim for this project. However, there are really simple tools you can use for these that do not require any power tools re: multi-angle miter sheers. Once all of the pieces were cut, we lined up the first piece on the wall, made sure it was level and nailed it into the wall. Couple notes here, I recommend getting a large level and/or a laser level for this. Also, we have an air compressor powered nail gun because it’s cheaper than the battery operated ones. However, the battery operated ones are totally worth the splurge in my opinion! Having to get the air compressor out for every nail gun related project is such a pain!

    Once all of the trim was up, we caulked the seams and filled the nail holes and the corners in with spackling. This is a game changer and makes the project look so professional! After the caulk dried, we hand painted the boxes the same color as the walls. Some people like to leave their trim white, but the color drench style feels so much more elevated in my opinion. Again, this took two coats. I usually like to do one coat per day to make sure I’m not painting over wet paint and creating more work, but the trim dried very quickly so I slapped a second coat on just a few hours later and they look great. After this, the bulk of the work was mostly done – and wasn’t that so easy!?

    Furniture

    Something else I discuss in the planning blog post I linked is how to budget for projects. Trim is relatively cheap (a little over $1 per foot) and I got the paint on a great discount ($100 total). However, like I mentioned earlier, my desk was too small, my chair was hard and rigid and my monitor would shock me haha. So in order to upgrade these pieces to create the office of my dreams, I needed to get serious and budget. Once I had my vision, I found the cheapest alternatives that looked great and had great reviews on Amazon. I picked out a beautiful and wide standing desk, the most cost effective ultra-wide monitor I could find (turns out, I love it!), a chair with a footrest because I’m a criss-cross applesauce girl and different accessories. I prioritized what I purchased based on the need (I use Notion for this, let me know if you’d like a walkthrough or if you’d like a desk tour!).

    So naturally, I bought the desk first and sold my old desk on Facebook Marketplace (let me know if you’d like to see a post with tips on navigating and selling on FBM!). Once I had the desk, I really wanted that new monitor and so that’s where I went next (a few weeks later). And then from there, I got my chair and was able to narrow down my list of desk decor “needs.” I thought there were so many things I “needed” based on the cute desk setups I had seen on Pinterest. But as I slowly settled into my new setup, I realized I didn’t need that desk riser or mood lights, it was only going to create clutter for something I didn’t need and ultimately waste money. I am a huge proponent of creating an impulse list and slowly buying as you have the funds if the desire still exists (let me know if you’d like a walkthrough on how I manage my impulse list!). And where some small desires came up, I waited till I found it on a thrift trip or on an estate sale tour. As a result, my desk is adorned with a vintage brass frame, the cutest little lamp with a shade that was hand-welded by the previous owner (gorgeous mother of pearly panels with gold welding), and a beautiful brass floral vase with my fake flowers because plants die with me haha.

    Something else I want to note is that I had a big plan for a new rug, new fake plants, new art, etc. But I realized that if I stood in my office as it was at this point and envisioned it was a post on Pinterest, I would be in love! So I decided to tactfully layout the art, put the plants in new thrifted pots and keep my rug – it’s all about balance, baby!

    Details

    As I mention in my planning blog post, there will often be new ideas that come out of any project. Always expect your simple idea to snowball into surrounding areas – but that’s part of the fun! So as the office has come together at this point, I noticed the outlet covers really stuck out. I could keep them as is, it’s really not a big deal, but it would be an easy thing to change. So I decided to paint the outlet covers the small color as the walls. I also sealed them with a matte sealant to protect from scratches when plugging things in. And I replaced the switch plate with a brass version I found at Home Depot and I love the style!

    Finally, I also decided I could make the office closet look awesome and upgrade it from the dinged up, one shelf, catch all that it had become. I basically restarted the process by finding inspiration, buying materials and implementing! I put up shelf supports (my first time, but actually so so easy) and then cut shelves down to fit in the closet. I used the floor saw for this and ordered shelf wood from Home Depot (who knew this existed!). Then based on the inspiration photo, I painted the side walls the same Green Onyx from SW and covered the back wall with a gorgeous marble contact paper. I hung a curtain rod below the hip-level shelf and installed cafe curtains to hide everything I was storing underneath (re: D&D books, important paperwork and our printer). Then I went to town decorating using all thrifted items! Let me know if you’d like to a step-by-step guide on how I did all of this!

    And now I have been living in my new setup and loving my new office for a couple months! Although I love to implement a new project quickly and get that dopamine hit faster, there really is something to be said about taking things methodically and slowly and learning to be content with what you currently have to shift your mindset much faster and much cheaper!

  • Contact

    Contact

    Hi Friends!

    One of my favorite parts about blogging is connecting with readers. Get in touch below and let’s chat!

  • Privacy Policy

    Privacy Policy

    Effective as of November 19, 2024

    As the owner of this website (“Go Getter’s Guidebook”, Monica Pauly) we understand that your privacy is of critical importance.  This Privacy Policy describes what information we collect from you via the Site and how we use and disclose such information.

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  • About Me

    About Me

    Hi friends, I’m Monica! Since 2021, I’ve been sharing my DIY journey (from homemade gifts all the way to DIY installing hardwood floors in my home), DIY travel planning on a budget, planning my entirely DIY destination wedding, and so so much more! All of my DIY ventures are made possible through financial planning, thorough research and tools like Canva, Sheets, and Notion. Consider me that organized friend of yours whose learned and tried it all, here to share everything – we don’t gatekeep around here!

    I’ve lived across the east coast with my husband, Ross (yes, we’re all thinking it haha), and our two pitties. The four of us love to hike and thrifting decor is the cherry on top of all my projects. Here you can expect to be fully accepted just as you are, explore DIY projects, plan and save for your own trips, digitize and organize every desired aspect of your life, and be inspired by an incredible community. Don’t be a stranger, reach out to say, “hi!” — I’m so happy you’re here!

  • Project Planning 101

    Project Planning 101

    Planning is the first step in bringing any idea to life, it can be the most and least fun step at the same time too. I like to break planning down into three steps: Direction, Details, & Specifics. Plus a few bonus steps I’ll cover later in this post. So, let’s jump into direction!

    Direction

    To help explain each step of the planning process, I’m going to use a project example. Let’s say you go to sit down at your laptop, you look around at your desk and your room and you’re feeling “meh,” you’re feeling uninspired. So you think, “Let’s do something fun in here!” But where do you start? Before you begin thinking about finances, supplies, timelines, or anything else, you need direction! And I like to break direction down into three sub-steps; Theme, Ideas, Cooperation.

    So let’s talk theme – this is, in my opinion, one of the most fun steps! Your homework is essentially to spend time scrolling Pinterest, Instagram, flipping through magazines, watching interior design shows, really anything you can do to spark joy and inspiration. As you go through this process, you’ll start notice that you’re gravitating towards certain themes. The inspiration photos you’ve loved may all look completely different, but look for the underlying themes that connect the photos. It could be a color palette, a statement piece of furniture, accent walls, color drenching, traditional design, box trim on the walls, certain patterns, built-ins, functionality, hardwood floors, light fixtures, it could be anything! Pro-tip: let this process take as long as it needs to, you may find over a week or two that something you liked in one photo is not nearly as timeless to you as an alternative you found in other photos.

    Back to our office example – you’ve identified this room as your next project that you’re really excited about! You’ve taken a few weeks to put together some inspiration photos and you’re finding some commonalities in themes across the photos – let’s say most of the photos have box trim on the walls, they’re color drenched and all have dark, traditional art hung on the walls. You’ve given the themes and photos some time to simmer and you’re feeling set that this is the direction you want to head in – awesome! Now it’s time to compile some real ideas. The idea phase is a little easier, and in my opinion, also super fun! You know the themes and elements you want to incorporate into the room, but’s time to pick the actual design, colors and pieces you’ll use. You can look for more ideas on Pinterest if you’re not satisfied with the images you currently have, but the photos you’ve saved should have everything you need at this point. Find the exact style and design of box trim, the exact wall color, the exact rug, the art, etc. You’re essentially going to make final decisions on the elements of the room and leave a little wiggle room on anything you’re planning to thrift (like art, decor or furniture) which can change based on your thrift store.

    Now that you know the exact ideas you’ll be using, it’s time to find cooperation between them to create a seamless design. For example, you may have three photos you’re using – one has the wall color you like, another has the box trim design you want to use and another has the desk you like. But it’s hard to imagine these ideas all coming together to form one design without actually being able to see it, right? Enter design tools. There are lots of options out there to create your one of a kind inspiration photo like Procreate, Canva, Photoshop and more. However, I love the simple and free tool of Goodnotes! The reason I prefer to use Goodnotes (apart from it being free), is the ability to freehand crop images! This would allow you to crop just the desk, box trim, wallpaper, light fixture, rug, art, etc. that you want to incorporate into your design. Here’s an example of an inspiration photo I created in Goodnotes by combining all of my ideas for our office reno:

    Would you like me to put together a tutorial on how I do this? Let me know!

    Congrats, step one of finding your direction is now complete! It’s a great feeling because at different points of the theme and idea stages can be so agonizing when you love everything (like I do!). Now you get to focus on stage two – Details! The detail phase is a little easier, but involves more research.

    Details

    Continuing down the detail phase, it’s time to get really specific about what exactly you’ll be doing and buying. In our example, we decided on traditional art, color drenching, a desk and box trim. As you start your research, it may shock you to find out just how many paint colors and slight variations of greens or blues exist! Box trim seems simple enough, right? But there are hundreds of styles! In this phase, you should be perusing blog posts and company websites. Let’s start with Googling your ideas – “color drenching,” “traditional art,” “wall box trim,” “standing desk” and so on. A blog post with a cover photo of a color drenched room you think looks nice may inform you that the creator used matte paint on the walls and shine paint on the baseboards and box trim! Or you may read a blog post with a photo of a box trim wall that you love and you find the exact trim they used to create the look. You’ll also find out what tools you need to complete this project by researching each element. This is how you create a list of everything you need – don’t worry about exact amounts or prices right now, just focus on what you love and what speaks to you! Everything else comes in the final step of specifics.

    Specifics

    Okay, let’s get started on the final step of planning your project! The specifics phase consists of a budget, timeline, measurements, and purchases. So let’s start with budget! For me, I like to set an upfront limit (could be $100 if your project is small or up to $1,000 if your project is a large undertaking) and then incremental limits. So in the example of the office renovation we’ve been discussing, I would set an upfront limit of $300-$500. This allows you to purchase the paint, the trim and the tools you need to complete the bulk of the project. After this, I would allow myself another $50 per week to buy things like the desk, curtains, a new chair, and any decor, more slowly over time. I have found by limiting my purchases and/or setting a weekly budget that I can still move fairly quickly on projects, but my impulse purchases are nearly cut in half. For example, you may purchase a new desk for your office and you have a whole cart of desk additions waiting for purchase. But after using the desk, you find you don’t need that desk lamp or pencil drawer after all. And of course, as always, make sure to consult your budget and finances and discuss your proposed budget with anyone you share money or the space with. I have a personal finance workbook I’ve perfected over the past four years that keeps me on track, I plan to write a post about it, but let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like to see! Congrats, you now have a budget everyone is comfortable with! Now it’s time to figure out a timeline.

    As expected, your budget and timeline go hand in hand. In the office example, you may have uncovered that color drenching takes longer than regular painting. You know the space will need to be hand painted along the floor, in corners and around windows and the whole thing will likely need two coats. So it may take you two days (depending on the room size) to complete one coat, leaving you about four days to paint the whole room – don’t forget to factor in work and outside activities! You may have a base knowledge of cutting trim, so that process may take you a day, but if you’re learning how to cut trim for the first time, it could take you a few days. So we’re looking at 1 week total for the walls, but add a buffer of about another week. So all in all, the room changes will take you two weeks. I also recommend you plan out your purchases based on your budget and what you’re comfortable spending weekly and monthly. So if you want to buy art, a desk and a chair, this may take you a month, depending on the prices. So the total timeline is looking to be ~1.5 months. This fits within your schedule and budget – great job! Now that you know what you want to spend and how long you want to work to complete the project, it’s time to get some measurements!

    Measurements

    This one isn’t too hard, it’s not as creative as the other aspects of project planning. This looks like calculating the total square footage of your walls for paint or wallpaper (remember to subtract the doors and windows!), the amount and size of art you want, the size of desk that would work best for you, laying out the box trim pattern on your walls and measuring the total length of all the pieces, measuring your floor for a rug, measure your window for curtains, etc. You should now have a list or a cart(s) with exactly what you need (apart from what you want to salvage secondhand). Keep an eye out for sales going on as well – Sherwin Williams is always running BOGO and % off sales on paint, I’ve never paid full price for paint!

    This is a good time to reassess your specifics, timeline and/or budget as needed. If the box trim you chose turns out to be really expensive, look for an alternative within your budget, wait for Black Friday to buy that desk you really want, scour through Facebook Marketplace for cheaper alternatives to the lamps you found at West Elm, you could even extend your timeline to space out payments, etc. I always prefer to find alternatives, slow down or shift my plan to avoid over-spending. Now you’re onto your final step of planning – purchasing!

    Purchases

    This is another fun step, but can be a little stressful too! But because you set a really solid budget and timeline with which you’re comfortable, the stress should be minimal! Always start with the highest priority, foundational, biggest impact things first. This is anything to do with the walls or floors. So for our office example, this would mean you buy the paint, box trim and all necessary tools first. And as a pro tip, I like to purchase things with a 5% buffer. I have found that 10% is too high, but spot on is often just barely not enough. A 5% buffer ensures you’re not filling your garage with a bunch of half used lumber, but you’re also not making multiple trips to the hardware store. Then as these items come in and you work on implementing this phase of the project, your budget has a little time to recover and you can hit the ground running with your next purchase when you’re done. Pro tip: use the incremental purchases as a small celebration/reward for completing a phase – the dopamine is awesome, especially since you know it fits within your budget!

    Another pro tip for the purchasing phase: save anything you can find at the thrift store, garage sale, yard sale, estate sale or Facebook Marketplace for last. That way, you’re more likely to find the item through a cheaper (and more environmentally conscious) means before you buy it firsthand! For this reason, I always like to save decor for last and anything I’d be comfortable using after a wash. For example, I always like to thrift decor, lamps, art, frames, baskets, light fixtures, etc. versus bedding, some types of rugs, certain pillow fabrics, etc. that I’d prefer to buy new. Mini pro tip: I love estate sales for the pure fact that you can see first hand how everything was taken care of! If the home has a musty smell, I might be less likely to buy a blanket than I would be from a home where I can see the blankets were kept in a clean linen closet. Okay enough from me on that, I plan to dive into thrifting tips in another post – let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like to see!

    Congrats, project planning is done!! Now it’s time to implement everything you meticulously planned, you’ve got this! Below is how my office renovation turned out!

    But you know I don’t gatekeep so I figured I could share two more points to project planning that come up after the project is in full swing: Continuation and Celebration. As you’re working on your project, you may find that there are some ideas that pop into your head as you go! For example, you realize your ceiling fan doesn’t fit in with how you renovated a room, or now that you’ve painted, your outdated switch plates stick out like sore thumbs, or maybe you realize the closet in the room isn’t nearly as functional as you need. This stuff happens, and I honestly think it’s a great sign – you’re honing in on your skills, your design taste is developing and you’re finding areas of opportunity all around! In the continuation phase, I recommend you run through the whole process all over again, but on a smaller scale. Find some photos of the opportunity you found, take measurements, put together a shopping list and timeline and put it into action (or add to your overall timeline if you’re still working on the original project). Below you can see an example of when I thought I was done with my own office renovation, but decided to turn our closet into a tea bar with lower storage.

    Once you’re completely settled and love your space, it’s time to celebrate! I recommend taking photos and videos along the way to remind yourself of where you started and watch all of the incredible work you’ve done. You could post these photos and videos, compile them into a video for yourself, scrapbook them or share with friends and family! It’s always fun to reminisce on all you’ve accomplished. Once you’re done celebrating, TAKE A BREAK! I’m the first one to hate on boredom, but it can be such a nice contrast to the hustling you just did to complete your project. Let the boredom bring you inspiration through unexpected channels – dinner at an architecturally interesting restaurant, a neat idea for organization you saw at an estate sale, or a beautiful paint/wallpaper combo you saw on HGTV. While you’re taking a break (for yourself and your budget!), shift to small crafts and projects for a palette cleansing short term dopamine hit. For me, this looks like thrifting ornaments and slowly hand painting them while I watch TV, knitting while I listen to a true crime podcast, working on tricks with my dogs, planning and designing a small party at our home, etc.