• My Crappy Advice: Add Curb Appeal Without Remodeling

    Season 1 | Episode 4

    What Color Should I Paint My House?

    Welcome to another episode of My Crappy Advice, where I solve your crappy design dilemmas for free. (Seriously. Who even does anything for free anymore? I’m a wonder.) This week, I’m helping a reader virtually transform the exterior of her home. Sure, I’ll be changing the color, but I won’t be stopping there. Keep reading for advice on how you can add curb appeal without remodeling your home. This transformation is going to shock you! (OK, maybe not shock you, but this is the internet! Where we exaggerate stuff to keep viewers interested!) It’s actually a really cool, unusual home. Check it out:

    Unusual pink house front without curb appeal

  • Paint it Gold, Whatever It Is

    Feature image close up of skeleton figurine

    The Midas Touch

    Are you sick of hearing about wedding stuff? (Because I am.) This is another one of those projects that, yes, technically was for my wedding day, but can also be for any day. (Like… Tuesday, for example…) You can use this painting technique to elevate the look of figurines or frames or other decorative things. To do this mysterious project yourself, the first thing you’re going to want to do is paint it gold, whatever “it” is.

    Here’s my “thing”…

    1920s full color skeleton figurine

  • An Easy Way to Add Gold Accents to Furniture

    Feature image of little table to be refinished

    A few weeks back, I showed you a bunch of projects I was working on for my upcoming wedding (in three freaking days, people! What am I even doing here??) and one of them was this cute, little table I found at my local ReStore. I kind of really hate refinishing furniture (even though I’m amazing at it), but I guess I didn’t think 73 wedding projects was enough, so… 74 it is. Keep reading to see how it turned out, and for an easy way to add gold accents to furniture (if you’re into that sort of thing)…

    Little table before refinishing

  • Shop Your Own House

    There’s No Place Like Home

    I dreamed of an end table that was smart and courageous with a lot of heart. (Which is a weird list of requirements for an end table, but just go with it.) I searched high and low. Near and far. Had there been a Wizard, I… well, I probably wouldn’t have wasted my one ‘Wizard ask’ on a silly end table, but in the end, it didn’t matter. It was right there with me all along! If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own crappy house. What do you have in your inventory? Shop your own house and see…

  • Ants and Termites and Bed Bugs, Oh My!

    Feature termites up close

    You know what really bugs me? BUGS. I hate them. Yeah, I guess they’re necessary, or whatever, for a balanced ecosystem, or something. I don’t care. They need to stay out of my house (and my face) or suffer the deadly consequences. For I am a murderer of bugs. An annihilator of insects. This post is about my buggy experiences and my serial bug killer ways. Ants, termites and bed bugs need to GTFO, or die.

    ant termite bed bug icons

  • My Creative Process is Procrastination

    Feature image wedding flowers

    I’ve heard that being a creative person and procrastination go hand in hand. Supposedly, procrastination can help fuel creativity. I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that my creative process looks something like this:

    My creative process timeline graphic

    It doesn’t matter how much time I have to do a project. I will always wait until the last possible nanosecond to get started on it. I have spent countless hours freaking out over finishing creative projects. I’m sure it’s not good for my health. In fact, the number of hours I’ve spent having these meltdowns will probably be deducted from my overall lifespan…

    Guys, I just realized. I may not have much time left…

  • My Blanket Hog Solution Works!

    Blanket hog feature

    A Thief in the Night

    Raise your hand if this has happened to you: You’re peacefully sleeping, dreaming of sheep, and maybe Ryan Gosling, when you are startled awake by a rush of wind on your body and sudden drop in temperature. WTF just happened?! No, that wasn’t a ghost, it was just your partner twirling away from you, like a freaking Tasmanian devil, thoughtlessly yanking your (shared!) blanket off of your (formerly!) peacefully sleeping body. Like a jerk in the night. A stupid jerk face blanket hog in the night.

    He stole my blanket

  • Choosing Pendant Lights for My Kitchen

    Because The World Needs More Pendant Posts

    ‘Twas a year ago (almost to the day) that I asked you if the world needed another post about choosing pendant lights. Not surprisingly at all, you told me that, Yes! It absolutely does!, so I’m finally getting around to it. My goal with this post is to let you know that’s it’s perfectly OK to have your heart set on a certain pendant light, but then to choose a different one. And then another different one. And then, another different one, after that other one.

    In other words, it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind— as many times as she freaking wants to. (Sorry, men. You have to stick with your first choice. Changing your mind shows weakness. You also have to throw away the installation instructions. Hey, I don’t make the fake rules. You’ll have to take it up with corporate…)

    Anyway… Behold! My Kitchen.

    Gray kitchen with white counter island and pendant lights

    So, obviously, you know how the kitchen pendant light story ends, but it was a long road getting here. Let’s go back to the beginning, shall we?

  • My Brilliant Idea

    Crocheted drawstring wedding purse

    I’m Getting Crafty

    I don’t often talk about my crafty side (because this is a DIY blog and the world doesn’t need yet another freaking craft blog…), but I am a woman of many talents. In addition to all of the badass DIY stuff I do, I can also sew, knit, crochet, and I even needlepoint on occasion. Check out this purse I made for my wedding (which is less than two months away!!!)…

    Crocheted drawstring wedding purse