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Dining Room Storage with Stock Cabinets

Who isn’t desperate for more storage these days? Well I am extra desperate considering my kitchen is lacking in it. So I went back and forth wondering if my dining room could handle THIS many cabinets. Never did I imagine the end result being sooooo good.

I used ALL upper cabinets so it only takes up 12 inches of space. First I ordered all my uppers straight off home depots website and I think they only charged around $55 to ship. All in my cabinets were $1,100 ish.

But first here is a before…

First things first…removing the baseboards. This was my first time ever doing this so it probably took me longer than it needed to. I ended up using a multipurpose tool to help get me started and then I was able to get to the corners. I used the multipurpose tool on the back piece because I wouldn’t need it but I did plan on putting the sides back in.

Next I built a base using 2×4’s so the cabinets would look better and be a little off the ground. I basically just built this as long as the wall and around 11 inches in depth so I could have room for toe kick.

See how the cabinet just barely hangs over…this is what you want. Next just make your studs and screw the base into the wall. Making progress yessss

Now it’s time for the cabinets (most exciting part). I laid everything out first and then started at one end and worked my way down. Make sure to secure them to the wall and to the cabinet beside it.

I used jigsaw for the outlet (not the best cutout work but close enough)
I had a few extra inches and in order to get the cabinets to go all the way across the wall with no gaps I added 2×1 pine to each side of the middle cabinet

Next I simply stacked the cabinets on top of one another. Made sure to secure to side wall, back wall and secure to each other.

Next up is making the side panels. You can also purchase these from Home Depot. I had extra plywood that would make everything flush so I just used my circular saw to cut it down and then used a quick glue with a caulk gun.

Add in some extra nails if you feel the need.

I ended up getting quarts for the countertop but was considering just building one with wood. I went to three different quartz places and just went with cheapest (around $900).

Toe kick fits perfect under this! You can dress it up and add any kind of trim you would want.

Once all the cabinets are up you can start adding trim and painting (I also waited until.top was on to avoid messing up the paint). If you do shiplap hold off on the trim.

I lightly sanded everything and then used all my goto products. Primer, Benjamin Moore Advance Paint (pure white) and make sure to use a cabinet foam roller. If you have never painted cabinets before check out my blog post on it.

I cut my trim at 45 degree angle where the sides meet and just nailed the bottom part of it. Caulk everything in the end for flawless finish.
I will be adding another blogpost on adding the shiplap so stay tuned. But how great is it all looking!
I ordered a temple to help with the knobs and pulls.

I wanted just a little more trim so I found this shelf edge trim that I love.

All that is left (for now) is to caulk everything!

Stay tuned for blog post on how to make floating shelves. Below is the finished product and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

DIY Tips for Perfect Shiplap Walls

if you were thinking of doing shiplap, just do it! It’s soooo easy and here are the steps I did.

I bought mine at Lowe’s here is the link

The part that took me the longest to figure out was how far to space them. I measured the wall and then measured the size of the ship lap plus how much space in between I wanted and went from there. Once you get this figured out it’s smooth sailing (obviously the closer you get to the edge you can fudge a little whether they need to be closer or further apart)

I then cut mine to my desired length

I decided to paint my boards before nailing them to the wall and highly recommend this.

I got lucky and was able to use a paint stick stirrer for my spacing. And then simply used my nail gun to secure them to the wall. I wouldn’t advise gluing because if you ever change your mind about the shiplap you would have to fix the drywall.

At this point you are going to be amazed how easy this is and be contemplating shiplapping your entire house!

Once I got to the end I realized I was going to have to cut the lip off. This ended up being super easy and I used a circular saw.

Once I got the shiplap up I decided I wanted a more finished look at the top (uneven ceilings ugh) and added this simple piece of trim.

And voilà, we are all finished!!

Here are finished pictures of the dining room.

Cabinets pure white by SW and shiplap is agreeable gray by SW

Click here to learn how to add the cabinets

Click here for my easy diy floating shelves

DIY floating shelf

By the time I got the building shelves for this project I wanted something easy and cheap .

All you need for this is some $2.99 ikea shelves and 3in pine (or however thick you want your shelves).

Cut your edges at an angle so they match up nicely

Simply wood glue and nail the pine to the ikea shelf and you are almost done

My shelf will bump up to a cabinet so I left one side opened

For my bracket I actually took my floating shelf with me to Lowe’s to find a piece that fit perfect. This ended up being a 1×2 but definitely recommend taking your shelf with you. I staggered the other pieces of the bracket so some would support the top and others the bottom of the shelf

I also have this saved onto a highlight if you visit my instagram with more videos

DIY Paver Patio

I never thought we would use this more than we do our deck but we do. I think it is because you can see the kids better but my point is, DO IT! One of the best DIY’s I have ever done. This only took us about two days. I made sure to have everything delivered to make life easier.

Here is what we started with. It made no sense to have this back door open up to nothing and I wanted somewhere to sit and watch the kids while they played.

My space was pretty level and only slightly sloped, so this made things a little easier for me. I still dug it all out and made it level as possible with some extra dirt.

Shout out to my mom for helping 😀 my digging was looking a little like gopher holes.

I called a local nursery for sand delivery because it was MUCH cheaper than Home Depot and lowes.

We used a board and level and did our best!

Next it was time to lay the paver down. We used a sponge as a spacing helper 🙃 These were very heavy and I did have my husband help us lay these down. Once he laid them down we were able to move them around some/shove more sand under if needed.

Here are the pavers I used.

I also used smaller pavers as a boarder.

Now it’s time for the pebbles.

This was easy and I keep a bag handy for touch ups.

I added a cute little boarder to go around the landscaping.

It’s starting to look so good!

I had one problem with where the old step was so my solution was to add some deck tiles.

I added some dirt and sand to make it all level.

Added more pebbles and we are good to go!

Planted grass and am obsessed how it turned out.

I’ve changed some things around since then. Still one of my most favorite spots outside.

Make this project easy for yourself and have all your supplies delivered. This entire project was around $600 and we have more than gotten our moneys worth!

Puck Light Hack

This has to be one of the most loved DIY projects. I use this all over my house and it is sooo easy. I have done it for a wall sconce and a pendant light.

First things first:

Grab super glue and the plumbing piece and simply glue and attach the plumbing piece to the puck light. Seriously that easy.

Now you simply twist into your preferred light fixture like you would a regular light bulb and you have yourself a light!!

I hung mine up over a picture in a room with no light.

DONE!! I love this hack and plan on using it many many more times. Below is another way to use this hack.

DIY Coffee Bar

My kitchen is lacking in size and I hated that my coffee pot was taking up valuable counter top space. I had a small corner in my dining room that I knew would be a perfect coffee bar nook. I lucked out and found a dresser in the basement that was the exact size I needed.

BEFORE

Nothing fancy…just an old ikea dresser. I needed some height and really liked the idea of a shelf so I could store some coffee mugs etc.

So I went and bought 1 inch square wooden dowels and added them to the top. I went ahead and took the top of the dresser off to make it easier to screw in the wooden dowels.

Next I went and found a small piece of plywood and had it cut down the exact size of the top of the dresser. While I had the top off I quickly traced around it on my plywood but you can also have the hardware store cut your piece down at the store.

When I screwed my top into the dowels I made sure to countersink the screws then just covered the holes with wood filler and painted everything white to match the dresser. (I got really lucky with the white paint I had matching the dresser)

Now that the top was finished I knew I wanted something different for the pulls. So I used some bell pipe hangers and 1/2 in round wooden dowels to create my pulls.

Next I measured a few inches in from each end of the dresser and made my holes for the pulls.

Now I have a cute place specially designated to coffee.

Staining and Painting Stair Banisters

Our house was oak everything and most of that had to go. I spent far too long figuring out how to paint and stain our stair banisters. After looking at soooo many other blog posts it was clear I needed to use the below gel stain. This stain requires barely any sanding which was ideal on my shiny oak handrails.

Before

The first thing I did was lightly sand and tape everything up. I decided to stain first.

I did two coats of stain using foam bushes and an old t-shirt to wipe down any excess. After staining I realized the bottom needed to be painted. The amount of dust that accumulated in a few days was NOT okay and the white would hide it better. So again I taped everything up to get ready to paint the banisters. This is by far the worst part of the process because there are soooooo many banisters. But I did it just whenever I found time and it was well worth all the painting.

I did one coat of primer on everything and then used a white trim paint from SW.

The gel stain ended up being perfect as it is dark but still shows some of the wood grain.

Some more painting of banisters and then you are finally complete. Definitely an easy project but more time consuming than one would hope.

Since these pictures the floors have been changed out and match the banisters much better…now time to pick out some pretty carpet for the stairs.

DIY Burlap Barn Door

My closet doors made NO sense because they opened inside the closet leaving half my clothes blocked and this drove me nuts. The area was a tighter space so I couldn’t just order a barn door…no I had to make one. Not just one but TWO. In the end it was a fairly easy DIY and the outcome is totally worth it!

BEFORE

I wanted to do something other than all wood. I LOVE the look of rattan but after pricing it out I decided that just didn’t seem like money well spent…soooo I opted for burlap. I got mine at hobby lobby and they have a few different colors of burlap.

Burlap has a strong smell to it at first so I read laying it outside and sprinkling baking soda helps and sure enough, it did!

Next it was time to figure out how wide and what type of wood to use for the frame. I ended up using pine boards that were 1 x 4 inches thick and wide. I measured how wide the door needed to be and took into consideration the wall it would slide open on.

I made my cuts accordingly and next went to decide how many window panes I wanted that I will later attach burlap to. I made all the cuts and attached everything by making pocket holes (lots and lots of pocket holes).

Once the frame was secured it was time to prime and paint. I ALWAYS use a foam roller for these types of projects along with BM Advance paint.

Now it is time to add the burlap. Since some of the burlap was snagged I decided cut each burlap frame out separately. I just stapled the burlap to the door and used a rubber mallet to hammer any staples that weren’t flush.


Don’t pull the burlap too tight but just enough so it isn’t sagging.

I ended up caulking a little where some of the wood boards meet to give it a more finished look.

Now it is time for the rail. I got the barn door sliding track from amazon for only $39.99 which is definitely an amazing price. I searched high and low for one just the right size but never came across it. So I ended up cutting it down. I also wanted a brass finish and not black so I simply spray painted it.

I used my reciprocating saw to cut down the metal rail. This was actually way easier than I expected considering I have never cut on anything metal. I used painters tape where I needed to cut.

Once I made the cut I then spray painted everything.

Now it was time for the scary part which meant measuring over and over where to hang everything. This will vary based on how tall you make your door and how high you hang the rail.

I simply followed the directions for hanging the rail which was relatively easy as the holes are spaced for studs. Once I had the railing up it was time to hang the door.

DIY Hood Vent

An easy DIY hood vent. When I started browsing diy hood vents a lot of them had complicated angles and that wasn’t going to work for my skill set..not yet at least. So below is a simple and minimal measuring way to build your own hood vent

I always use BM advance paint for these types of projects due to its long dry time (no streaks) I then just caulked everything and was done!!

Five Year Later Review On Painted Kitchen Cabinets

I first painted my cabinets FIVE years ago (where does time go?!). I used Ben Moore Advance paint, which I still swear by and use for all my cabinet and furniture projects. It has a slow dry time which helps with streaks and it DOESNT require clear coat. Doesn’t really get any better than that. But back to the update…Yes it holds up AMAZING. We even had tenants in our house while overseas and they still held up.

I recently did a some upgrades to the kitchen which included hiding the hinges and making them soft close (which is life changing! and here is the link on how to do that) and while I was at it I added a fresh coat to the cabinets. Everything is painted in Benjamin Moore Advance Satin in Bright White. Down the road I might change the paint color to something more creamy but for now I love it.

HERE is the link to how I painted my cabinets

All my cabinets are the original except for the island which I built out of stock cabinets (click here for that link)

I still can’t believe the transformation my kitchen has made over the last few years. If possible keep your original cabinets! It saves sooooo much!

Below is the before picture of the kitchen for when we first moved in. I hated everything about it!!

My workspace:

My kitchen’s first makeover:

The most recent kitchen makeover which involved new floors, lighting, countertops, and backsplash:

So yes my painted cabinets have held up amazingly over the years. I ALWAYS recommend Benjamin Moore Advance paint to anyone who asks. If you are worried about painting your cabinets don’t be! They will turn out awesome!