We wanted to completely tackle this project on the day we moved in, but we finally finished it, as we worked hard on fixing all of the problems that persisted in our basement.

For starters, we had to start with the mildew and moisture problem in the basement. Why were we having moisture in the basement? Prior to purchasing the house, the basement was a storage space for 60 years worth of THINGS…and lots of them. The basement had one solid walking path that you could walk through. All of the trash and years and years of accumulation piled up on the walls, hiding a lot of the big problems. We had to move all of the outside downspouts away from the house because the water run off was too close to the house, causing the water to seep into the basement. Once we fixed that, the walls dried!

After that, we contacted a local company, responsible for mold and mildew remediation, and they applied a specific cleaner (it was kid safe, bonus!!) to the mold and mildew. Once the product was applied, we waited several months, and watched the walls through the various seasons to make sure there was no moisture in the basement coming through the walls, so it took us awhile!

Next, the crawl spaces. Oh the crawl spaces. When we toured the inside of the house for the first time, we opened the front door and were knocked in the face with a delicious musty smell. It took ripping out the floor, tearing off wallpaper, ripping out walls, and giving everything a fresh coat of paint to help the smell. However, it wasn’t 100% gone. Why? The smell was originating in the basement crawl spaces and was infiltrating our whole house. This typically happens when the crawls are not sealed. So we kicked the squirrel and his walnuts out (seriously) and then we cleared up our crawls and sealed them with plastic, a special sealing tape, and a specific powder-actuated nail gun. ALL of the knowledge came specifically from Crawl Space Ninja. Their Youtube channel is what we tried to follow to a “T” and it was so incredibly helpful!

Also, we originally went to Home Depot and Menards to check out their powder-actuated guns and the one we needed was well over $260. Thanks to my dad, we found out that some local hardware/power tool stores sell used equipment and they just happened to have the gun we needed for 60% off. That saved us a whopping $190.

Then, we replaced our electric panel, which we were told was a major fire hazard upon the inspection of our home.

We also added 20 new lights in the basement, because three pull on light bulbs weren’t going to cut it for adequate lighting for a basement playroom + storage room.

After that, we purchased and replaced three basement windows, which we purchased all at Home Depot and Grant followed a Youtube video to install them, super easy!

We originally decided to paint everything white and then we decided to go out on a limb and paint everything Tony Taupe by Sherwin Williams. We scoured the internet for inspiration pictures of a basement painted head to toe in taupe, all to no avail. We wanted a cohesive, cozy look for our basement space and we truly would never go back now that the paint is on the floor, walls, and ceiling. It’s the coziest!

The next big part of the project took us forever. We had to prep the ceiling, floors, and walls for paint. We used a wire brush to go to town on all the walls, a sandpaper block, and a sandpaper pole to help with a lot of the prep. We also washed everything in a vinegar wash to make sure everything was clean and free of any dust from the sanding (see more details below).

We hired a painting company to come prime the walls and ceiling and then they painted the walls and ceiling as well. There is so many nooks and crannies in an unfinished basement ceiling that hiring out made it 100% worth it to us, and quite honestly, it saved our necks, as looking up for that amount of time can be really painful!! We painted and prepped the floors ourselves. We tried to chip away the paint, and in hindsight we would’ve definitely rented a professional sander from Home Depot, to take off the old paint, so that it would not take us so much time to prep.

Here’s the paint products we used for our basement:

PRIMER: Used for Walls, Ceiling after we prepped them.

Hands down the best primer on the market! It does have a strong odor, but it’s mighty.

WALL PAINT: Sherwin Williams Promar 200 in the color Tony Taupe

FLOOR PAINT: Sherwin Williams Heavy Shield tinted in the color Tony Taupe * SEE NOTE BELOW

Overall, she turned out so great! We love our basement space now, can you believe that transformation!? As for the other side, its used for wall to wall storage, and a workout room!

We truly can’t believe she is finally done and we have been LOVING this new play and storage space.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today, friends!

Jenna

When I saw this chair on Facebook Marketplace, I knew the perfect space that it could reside, in our basement! Even though we were nowhere near starting our basement renovation. I bought this chair for $50 because I didn’t know if we would ever see one that cheap (and in that good of shape!) again. If you see the perfect piece, for a certain space in your home, buy it! I have never regretted hanging on to pieces until we decide to start the project. In fact, it makes it so much easier to decorate, instead of scrambling for a whole bunch of pieces, once the project is complete.

We had been looking for one of these vintage chairs, that was in decent condition and affordable. We almost paid $250 to get another one, but someone claimed it before me on Marketplace and looking back, I’m very happy that it didn’t work out.

So, when searching for a chair like this what keywords did I use? “Rattan chair,” “Hanging Chair,” “Vintage hanging chair,” “Wicker Vintage Chair,” “Wicker Chair” etc. You get the point. I searched everyday for a few months and then I heard an awesome tip, and I think it is what landed me this beaut of a chair! Every time you search for an item and you find the item that you’re looking for, (maybe you didn’t get that item because it sold too fast OR maybe you love it, but don’t want to pay that price), save the item! See picture below and press that save button. I kept at it and did this for a few months, and Facebook found this one for me and listed it in the “new listings.” The more you save items, the more it tells Facebook Marketplace what you are looking for! Try to be consistent.

There are many sisal ropes you can buy on Amazon for quadruple the price of what I found, but we highly suggest the rope that we found as it was SO inexpensive. I headed to Lowe’s to get the thickest sisal rope there was, and it was only 42 cents per foot. I purchased 12 feet, which cost me a whopping $5.04. We didn’t need that much, but I wanted to have enough, just in case.

So once we had the rope, we took it back home, and then started on the knot. The knot we did was a double fisherman’s knot, it gets tighter the more you pull on it…which is exactly what you want! Grant followed a Youtube video to perfect it. But here is an example of what a double fisherman’s knot looks like:

Here it is in the completed space. It will serve as a cozy little reading nook for the kids and their friends in the years to come. What do you think!? The kids have loved this space!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

Jenna

Several months ago, I was thrifting with a friend and we came across three vintage, adorable little buildings. My friend had a wonderful idea of using them in her daughter’s fairy garden and when she passed on the opportunity to buy them, I told her I would love them and scooped them up at a whopping $1 a piece.

That’s when my love of fairy gardens began. The thought of creating an imaginary fairy garden where Sadie’s creativity could run wild, just simply excited me. So, I kept my eyes peeled at every thrift store for more fairy garden goodies, all to no avail.

So one day, as I was surprisingly picking up a few birthday bags at the Dollar Tree, I came across the most adorable section of fairy garden goodies…and yes, they were all $1. I scooped up every house, every vegetable, and every fairy I saw on those shelves, and we decided to give the $35 worth of fairy garden goodies, to Sadie, for her birthday on March 3.

In the meantime, I came across an adorable giant mushroom at Hobby Lobby, and decided to add that to the pile.

Sadie was so excited to open these gifts, but it wasn’t until we headed outside on the nicest spring day to set up her fairy garden when all of the excitement really showed. We decided to set up the fairy garden right next to a whole bunch of milkweed that we planted for the caterpillars, in hopes that we have a few that we can take inside to watch its chrysalis form and turn into a pretty little butterfly.

Ever since setting up her garden, she has been eager to show every friend, family member, and person her unique little garden and I love that she is so proud of this little space of hers.

Fostering Sadie’s imagination, especially outdoors (and on a deep budget) is something that has brought me so much joy!

Thank you for stopping by the blog today!

Jenna

When we bought this house, almost every room and bathroom was covered in old, original wallpaper. So we tore down the paper, cleaned the walls, and got to painting. Now, after a lot of the rooms have slowly transformed, we realized that we have painted over TEN rooms in this house, with lots of help of course. We wouldn’t have been able to do any of it alone…we had SO many hands helping us when we first moved in.

Aside from all of the wall painting we have done around here, we have tackled an endless amount of side projects as well, such as painting Sadie’s dollhouse, Sadie’s outdoor mud kitchen, and all of our downstairs doors. So, by now, we have finally figured out all of our favorite painting products, and one of our absolute favorites, is Frogtape. We have tried several brands, but none of them had adhesion and consistency, like Frogtape.

Did you know that Frogtape carries three different types of tape? Multi Surface, Delicate Surface, and Professional grade in blue or orange (high humidity). Step one would be to choose the correct tape for the project. I would suggest reading through each of the options and decide which one sounds like it would be the best for your paint project.

So, how do we get those perfect clean lines on all of our project pieces? It’s solely Frogtape. Since they are the only painter’s tape on the market with PaintBlock technology, it’s easy to understand why “paint bleed,” doesn’t happen.

When choosing other brands of painters tape, we have taped off the room or project, paint the project, and then go to lift the painters tape off of the project or wall…and man alive is that defeating. What’s the point of painters tape if it doesn’t do its job? CHOOSE Frogtape, and I promise you will not be disappointed.

Do you have some old pictures laying around but don’t want to spend $50 on them to get them framed? 

Here’s a few tricks I used to frame the beautiful, old picture above, for under $27.

-Find old frames at estate sales, thrift stores or garage sales. I paid $2 for this frame at a local estate sale because the glass was broken and it was super dirty. I encourage you to look past the grime, because you can always clean it up!

-I headed over to Hobby Lobby and asked them how much it would be to buy a matte. They actually sell mattes on the shelves, if you have a smaller photo. I bought some for a few other frames I had and even had to I hand cut them down to fit the frame but it saved me SO much money, and I didn’t even buy them on sale. For this frame however, it was pretty big and I needed to purchase a custom matte for the specific picture I was using. 

So, I sorted through all of the matte colors, and yes there were a LOT to choose from. They are labeled B or C, and the C mattes are $23 and up, compared to the B-level mattes that are about $16. I went with the $16 option. There’s another benefit to buying a B level matte too-they can cut it right then and there. So I had a custom matte within a solid 10 minutes. So easy!

One thing I want to point out is that they can do a regular bevel, or a reverse bevel on the matte. ADD picture 
I chose to do a reverse bevel because I didn’t want the foam portion to show on all four interior sides of the matte. 
Another helpful thing to know is that the base of the matte can be either white or black, so if you don’t choose a reverse bevel and want the Interior sides to show, they can be either white or black. 

-Next, if I would have purchased new glass at Hobby Lobby it would have been $25, based on the size of the frame. I called my local hardware store (most of which cut glass) and they quoted me $7 for the same cut of glass, and sure enough I paid $7 for new glass! 

So with the frame ($2), the custom matte and glass ($16 & $7) and the vintage photo ($2) I paid $27 total. The best part? I was able to save two pieces of history and use them as decor for our family room space. I am going to use this photo as a statement piece, in a gallery wall that we are creating in our family room. Can’t wait to share that with you soon!

Thank you for stopping by the blog today!

Jenna

What’s step one of creating a fall porch, on a budget? Start a budget! Tuck away a small chunk of cash, a year prior to your porch project, and one year later, you will have a good chunk to spend on a front porch, if that is what you desire. Don’t know where to start for a specific budget? The porch decor above cost us about $120.

Step two? Shop around! I don’t just purchase pumpkins at the first place those pumpkins catch my eye. I typically go to pumpkin and mum stands that are out in the “country” on a countryside stand or in a small town. Don’t know where to go? Ask around! Ask on Facebook, ask your friends if they know of any countryside stands, or ask people who live in the country! Chances are, someone has come across a place with affordable mums and pumpkins.

Now onto step three. Do you see the terracotta pots, the boxes, and the crocks? They were all cheap, estate sale finds or thrift store finds. I store them away but I bring them out for the fall and winter season, and I will be using them, every year, moving forward! Keep your eyes peeled at local thrift stores, estate sales, and other local sales to see if you can find any pots or crates to use for your porch.

I always had envisioned that there would be a time that we could decorate this porch, and it was so rewarding to save, to think about where to spend our money, and to see the vision finally come to fruition.

Thank you for stopping by the blog today!

Jenna