First, I want to thank you for all of the great feedback on the sweet and simple nightstand drawer before | after post. I am excited that those smaller projects are just as fun for you as they are for me! I have a few more small scale organizing projects up my sleeves that I can't wait to tackle and share.
Today, I wanted to give you an update on our laundry room!
In my last laundry room update a few years ago, I excitedly shared a peel-and-stick wallpaper that I had just installed. Shortly after that, a funny thing happened. I was so in love with it when I found it, but then I became stuck. I attempted to source finishing touches for the room and it all seemed to compete with the paper. Just because I loved the colors and design of the wallpaper, doesn't mean it was right.
Why is it that the middle of any room update is always the hardest? Maybe it is just me, but that is where I slow down and things seem to really lull. Maybe that is also why most of the rooms in our home are incomplete.
I always start out strong with big ambitions and ideas and then I get to the blank slate part and become a deer in headlights. You can see more of the blank slate photos of our son's room in this post here. It can be frustrating at times, but it is probably better that I allow myself to take these rooms at a snail's pace. I have never been one to pull off a room that I love with longevity if I race to the finish line.
In our son's room, I got stuck on such an odd detail, and that was the shelf to install over his new desk. I tried three options before I landed on the right one so I felt a lot of thankfulness for nice return policies! (In case you are curious about the shelves I checked out for the space, they were this one, this one, and this one.) After holding each one up and also asking my son to offer up his opinion, we decided that maybe we would be better off finding one that matched the stain in the nearby DIY wall map, which tends to be the main focus in the room.
Why was a shelf important? Well, my goal is to give my son a workspace that is easy to keep wide open and clear of clutter. He tends to be more productive and efficient when he is free of distractions and has simple organization. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!
So, a shelf not only would add a nice decorative touch to the space, it would also function as a place to toss some of those extra office supplies that tend to land on a desk. When the other shelves didn't feel right, I found these and used them as our inspiration to DIY something. We needed something that was a good depth for holding books and boxes, but not too deep that it felt heavy and out of place.
We already had a pair of the 7 1/2" EKBY shelf brackets from IKEA, so I thought it would be quick and easy to just head to the hardware store and grab a piece of standard lumbar to stain. I took the brackets with me only to realize that the common boards are generally a 3/4" thickness, and the brackets really needed something closer to an inch thick. I searched the store for something that would be a better fit, and then I remembered that I had used a stair tread with these types of brackets in the past. YES! Not what you might typically think of or go to, but it makes the perfect shelf option. Not only are they the correct thickness, they are also strong and sturdy and shouldn't bow easily.
The obvious solution may have been to pair and IKEA EKBY shelf with these EKBY brackets, but they didn't offer a finish that we were trying to achieve.
My favorite projects are ones that I can do quickly and easily with little to no help or money, and this one checked all of those boxes!
I began with the following supplies, many which I already had on hand from previous DIY projects.
The first step was to measure and cut the stair tread down to size. I opted to remove the rounded edge of the tread to square off the shelf completely and leave it the full 48" width.
After preconditioning the wood (I use this), I gave the board two coats of a dark walnut toned stain.
I also gave the shelf brackets a nice coat of flat black spray paint (this kind is my favorite).
The tread shelf is a nice and tight fit into the bracket, in fact, I ended up sanding it down just a smidge and using a rubber mallet to really secure the two together. Then it was as simple as using some drywall anchors and long black screws to install it on the wall.
As you can see, I also added some additional wall organization. He generally has some work-in-progress papers and reminders that I wanted to store in a wall pocket, so I dug out our old daily system pieces and spray painted them gray and black to better suit his room (I originally purchased them here years ago in the ivory finish, the two pieces used are this one and this one). The pockets hold his papers and Chromebook, while the adjoining piece coralls a few of his desk accessories and supplies.
On the shelf, I added an inexpensive box (which is a really great size for most shelves above a desk) with an adhesive label holder. Inside are all of his random homework supplies that he may need to reach for from time to time.
I know Letterboards are the new trendy chalkboard, but you guys, my teenage boy totally digs it! He loves looking up quotes and using it to express his current mood, and I love seeing how it changes and reflects his personality. I found his here for a great price and used a small tin to hold all of the extra letters.
He selected a soft swivel chair from our local Marshalls (similar), and the combination of it all has been many thumbs up by all of us.
The sliding closet door is our last big project for this room and we have been trying to come up with the best wood selection based on the larger size, but I think we have a pretty good plan and can't wait to get it done.
I am glad that we found our goldilocks of shelves, the small details in a room are what make it all come together in the end. And I always get discouraged when it takes me multiple tries to source something, especially basic items, but I really wanted to share because I know a lot of you have mentioned feeling the same way in the past. Decorating definitely comes easier to some than others, but keep at it and don't settle until your gut tells you it's right.
Oh! And this room has made me want to paint 100 more ceilings.
You know I love a good chit chat, so tell me, what is something that took you at least three times of trying before you found "the one".
We are finally here! The day I have been waiting for over a month worth of sanding, patching, painting, painting some more, assembling closet components, swapping outlets and switches, adding hardware, and installing base, casing and crown mouldings. The room was completely reconstructed and we are now left with an absolutely wonderful blank canvas for our growing boy.
Above you see a glimpse of our son's bedding. He picked it out last summer when we started talking about this room update, and it has been the foundation for all of the color selections in the room thus far. It is a combination of bold plaid on one side and a small scale gingham on the other, I absolutely love how the two patterns compliment. We have always wanted to do a darker ceiling and thought this would be the perfect time to play. But with a louder ceiling choice I wanted the walls to sort of fade away, so the final two colors ended up being Benjamin Moore Blue Dusk for the ceiling and Sherwin Williams Nebulous Cloud on the walls.
This point in the game my mind starts racing! This room could still go in a bazillion directions and my ideas are spilling out of me like I have been hopped up on a 30-day straight caffeine binge. These blank spaces hold so much potential, but can quickly downward spiral (been there, done that), so I am moving our son back in and taking a few days to nail down some of the bigger decisions. We have picked out a few things, but as we all know, those can change too! It always seems like one thing leads to another, eh?
As you can see a couple images back, the map we DIY'd years ago is still there. Not because I was so attached to it that I couldn't let it go, but just because I don't really have a solution for anything that is any better. We like the overall grand statement that it makes, but really aren't partial to it staying or changing.
He also has the same bed and headboard, also because it is still functioning fine and the color of the fabric still works. I am considering spraying the frame black though, just to give it some new life and a little more substance.
We are going to play with some patterns through layering bedding, which I always love to mix and match. Just like any designer will tell you not to purchase all of your furniture from a single showroom, I feel the same way about bed linens! Something from here, something else from there. Large patterns with small patterns. To get started I tossed some mossy green throw pillows on the bed and really liked the color combo and the warmth it added to all of the grays and blues.
Speaking of warmth, I am definitely planning on bringing in some wood tones, both in the closet rods and baskets, and also through some sort of shelving or over-the-desk organizer. The desk is awesome (we have this one), and it is a really great size for our son to spread out and work on all of his projects and homework. He is also using a stand-in chair from another room until we can get him something comfortable and special. I am keeping my eye on Craigslist for a chair I can reupholster to give him a little cush for his tush.
Now that everything is trimmed out, we are 100% sold on adding a decorative sliding door to conceal the closet opening and strange trim solution. We must have gone back and forth on the trim for the closet opening about a hundred times and I am still not sure about the solution. Is it weird that a piece of trim just ends into a wall like that? I didn't think it would bug me, but it sort of does. But I have also been looking at it for far too long now. We will be adding a long black track and building a door with a pattern (here is the inspiration door), which should then conceal the trim when closed.
Everything was purchased from IKEA and I am super stoked about how much storage was added! The drawers and pull out tray are really good sizes! The soft-close function is always a much-appreciated bonus feature!
So far I added some of this paper to the back of the entire tower, and I might just have enough to also do the wall behind his hanging area. We still have to add a top shelf and the double hanging rods, and then I will decide for sure. The pattern is absolutely perfect for making the most out of every inch of the paper.
You may also have noticed the new drawer hardware! I had been eying up these pulls originally but came across some with a similar shape for half of the price (I purchased mine from Wayfair for about $3.70 each, but they have since gone up in price. I also found them reasonably on Amazon here). The only problem was the finish was much shinier than the inspiration pulls, so I also grabbed a can of flat black spray paint and now they look really sharp on the new drawers!
Another really great find was the light fixture! It's about a 12" diameter, and with a higher-wattage bulb puts out plenty of overhead light! We are also toying with the idea of adding some wall sconces above or on each side of the large map.
So although we still have a lot to think about and decide, we have such a great base and some great pieces to hit the ground running. Here are a few more specifics:
2 // I saw this sliding door and promptly showed my son and he was all about it. Which was great news because so was I! Isn't it amazing? Everything down to the color is calling our names, so we hope to build something inspired by that design. We already purchased this hardware and the installation of it all is sure to be a bit of a learning curve!
3 // The original navy ikat style curtain panels are coming back (fabric source)!
5 // You saw the light already, but it is an awesome price and is pairing so well with the other metals selected in the room. Props to Home Depot for having such a huge lighting selection online!
6 // We have quite a few natural wood frames in our home and they are always one of those "for sure / no fail" accessory items. I was bummed when Target stopped selling my favorite ones, but I recently found some at TJ Maxx and I am collecting a few more! We had previously purchased some vintage bomber prints from this Etsy shop and they are coming back also.
7 // No one wants our son to air his dirty laundry so a lidded hamper is a must!
8 // I "borrowed" this lamp from our other son's room, and it just feels at home here. It is the right color and scale and style, so now they get to play the musical lamp game for a while. I am sure it is just as fun as musical chairs...
9 // We have this large metal desk which works hard for our hard worker; there is plenty of surface space and even room for some storage below. I love the idea of popping some casters on it to give it a bit of an industrial vibe.
10 // I have been eying these wood shelves for some time, but also think they could be DIY'd and customized a bit. This is just some idea chit chat for above the desk, but I am still exploring all of our options and wanting to pick what will help our son best.
11 // I wonder if our son even knows how to read this type of clock? I kid (sort of), but it would be a stylish time teller, that is for sure!
12 //This is the chair he is borrowing for now, until we can find his something a bit cozier.
13 // I haven't purchased his new sheets yet, but I am considering these for now. Definitely subject to change.
14 //This thin stripe pillow is off-the-charts versatile and plays nicely with the plaid and gingham patterns on the duvet.
15 // And for some texture and warmth, some mossy velvet pillows too (similar).
16 // Last but not least, the duvet cover that inspired it all!
Last week I hoped I wouldn't see a squirrel and get distracted, and although I have my hands in a few different projects right now (not all for me!), we definitely got a lot accomplished again. The trim alone was probably the biggest game changer with all of the projects so far, it just added that polished finish that the new paint jobs were needing. The lighting and hardware also brought some positive drama. And now that the ball is rolling full speed ahead, our son is over-the-moon happy about it all.
Time to finish installing the closet and get to organizing! Whoop whoop!
Hello, hello! How is your week going? I have a case of the blues today, but it has absolutely nothing to do with my mood and everything to do with the crazy moon and our son's closet plans!
Since it has been awhile, I am going to back up and catch you all up with a little backstory.
Our younger two boys shared a room for quite a few years and became the best of friends during that time. You can see their room here. When our youngest son took over our guest room a little over a year ago, we removed his bed and clothes and the rest of the room remained unchanged. We put some focus on making updates to the guest room so our youngest would feel more at home there and could begin to make it his own. We still have a few things to finish up there, but we have also promised our now second teenage boy (13!) that we would help transition his space into something a bit more sophisticated to compliment the wonderful young man he is growing to be.
The entire room needs love and the closet is just the beginning. In fact, it was a "quick" closet update that I originally wanted to do, that is suddenly springing on a couple of additional room upgrades as well.
We get asked for updates on our previous systems and closets quite frequently, and I am happy to report that the IKEA hack closet solution we created for our two growing boys was amazing. It held up really well and did the job for many years. In fact, we all voted for more real-life shots, so this is my son's closet straight from my cell phone a few weeks ago (below).
From a distance, not too bad. He is completely in charge of maintaining it himself, and although he fights hanging some of his laundry, he has done a pretty good job overall. A closer look, however, will show that the bins are falling apart after 5+ years of use because he has literally outgrown them.
He is my "stuffer" and prefers to put his clothes into the bins vs. hanging them. And as he has grown, so has the size of the clothes he wears. And that means less room inside of the bins for said clothes.
He is also a boy who needs a quiet and organized workspace of his own, completely free of outside distractions. He and I are very similar in that respect, and we both just work better when we can isolate ourselves and put on headphones and give our current work our full attention. He currently has a small desk in his room (placed where his brother's bed was previously located), but with that piece of furniture, there aren't many layout options that would also accommodate a dresser. And a dresser (or more room for folded clothes) is one of his top requests for the room.
I am a believer in listening to my kids and trying to entertain what they want in their rooms, and I really encourage them to help me problem solve and design their personal slices of our home. I also try to design their rooms in ways that are easiest for them to maintain based on their personalities. Our oldest wanted to put his desk in his closet, and to this day, it is still his absolute favorite spot in his room. Our youngest had two closet cavities to work with; one is for a desk and the other is for his clothing. Again, worked out great for him and he is also a very happy camper. Our middle man wanted a dresser and a desk, but we agreed he would still need to hang some of his clothing. He wanted to keep his desk in the main area of his room, so I began troubleshooting how to get a dresser into his small closet.
With the wing walls on both sides of the closet taking up so much usable space, it made it nearly impossible to add decent sized drawers. My gut told me for months to just widen the opening to make the closet as a whole much more functional.
So I shopped closet solutions and weighed out quite a few options. After a few custom build ideas weren't panning out, I checked out Elfa, ClosetMaid, and IKEA. With both our son's needs and our budget in mind, we landed on the IKEA Pax System. We have personalized components from this system quite a few times for different types of storage projects, and have always been happy with the quality and options available. With the solution we designed for our boy (mocked up above), we would be able to add a pull-out shelf for shoes, five drawers, three shelves and still keep double hanging storage.
Same internal closet dimensions (58" wide x 24" deep), but so much more storage potential. Not only will he have five nicely sized drawers, it will also be so great to have shelves for his momentos, collections, linens, sports gear, etc...
In terms of this project, we had two primary goals; upgraded storage and an updated look. I will miss those labeled canvas bins, but they most definitely seem more appropriate for younger lads and have seen better days.
And here is where that lovely snowball effect comes into play.
We have begun with the project and widened the door opening. But that led to removing all of the trim. And because we are in the process of upgrading all of the trim in the upper level from the previously painted oak, now is the time to do that in this room. Then I was asked to paint over the stripes. Although I completely agree, I may have crumbled a bit just thinking about it. I have a ridiculous love for this room because of the memories made creating it with the boys, the idea of just painting over it all has been a hard pill to swallow. But the time has come for new memories and plans and giving our boy a space that is just for him. And every time I do a closet, I paint it, or find a way to make it special and tie it into the room. It is just how I roll, so now we are going to paint the walls too. And maybe the ceiling. Finally, no matter how great the closet system, I still want the option to conceal it. Because the boys are in charge of their own rooms and closets, sometimes it is just nice to pull a door shut. To accommodate the new wider opening, we are going to build and install a sliding door.
And patch the carpet. And the walls. And swap out all of the almond colored outlets, switches and plates.
Whew! Leave it to me to make a mountain out of a molehill.
Just widening the opening to the closet instantly made the room feel twice as big. So I am really excited to see how all of this comes together. And being that our son has been temporarily relocated to another room while we take over his space, we are going to kick things into high gear. The closet components and paint have been purchased, the wall is being patched and plastic is being laid out. In some ways, I can't wait to tear into all of those IKEA boxes, but at the same time... wine and hugs will be welcomed.
The entire room and our ideas may be a little confusing right now, but I plan to take more photos and continue to tell the story as the entire space evolves. It should be a fun week because paint alone is a very powerful thing!
Our son's bathroom project is falling into our typical snowball trap. I prefer to blame it on our climate and location... I mean, snowballs are inevitable up here in the Midwest, right?. The original plan was just to swap a few fixtures and maybe paint the walls to take the room from a feminine guest bath to tween boy bath. But one idea led to another and now we are making some bigger changes than we initially planned (which I totally love). The first being a fantastic planked ceiling!
Many of our rooms have textured walls and textured ceilings. Womp womp. I am over them. Our son's bathroom is basically an 8 ft x 8 ft box with a notch for plumbing and storage. It was the ideal candidate for a ceiling treatment that would make a wow factor, be easy on the budget, and wouldn't take up multiple days and weekends that we don't have.
Measure! We measured the ceiling lines and set off to our local home improvement store to source material.
S T E P T W O
Consider your options. There are quite a few options when it comes to ceiling plank treatments. You can do individual tongue and groove boards, standard wood boards, or a sheet of material that you cut down on your own. We opted for the final option because of cost. We looked at individual boards in a variety of sizes and the cost was about 3-4 times as much, and the boards were also quite thick. Cutting our own brought the cost down, and also offered us the flexibility of determining the plank width. The one downside to cutting your own boards is ensuring that your lines are nice and straight over a long distance. We purchased two sheets of 4 ft x 8 ft x 1/4 in smooth plywood.
S T E P T H R E E
Source wall moulding. I knew that capping our edges around the room would be that final touch to the project to really take it up a notch.
Gather materials. We found the following tools to be helpful with this project:
Tape Measure
Saw Horses
Straight Edge
Clamps
Circular Saw
Sanding Blocks
Mini Rollers
Primer and Paint
Chalk Line
Caulk Gun for Construction Adhesive and White Paintable Caulk
Miter Saw
Brad Nailer
S T E P F I V E
Cut the planks!
Once again, we used a thin, sanded plywood which cuts nicely and is easy to prime and paint. Last time we experienced a small amount of chipping, but this time we were working with a newer saw blade which we figured would help clean up the cuts. We decided we wanted our planks 6" wide which was a total of 16 planks across the ceiling. Instead of attempting to cut 16 boards exactly the same and perfectly straight, we clamped together four boards and ran the saw less.
This worked out beautifully! We clamped our straight edge on each end of the boards and ran our circular saw down the entire 8 ft length with ease. The good blade ensured very little fraying occurred.
S T E P S I X
Sand!
We used a sanding block to sand down all of the board tops and edges prior to painting.
S T E P S E V E N
Prime and paint.
Last time we installed the boards first and painted second. It wasn't ideal and working to keep paint out of all of the grooves was also pretty time-consuming. This time I wanted to try painting everything first and installing the boards second. We waited until there was zero rain in the forecast, and spread out all sixteen boards on saw horses and our outdoor tables. We rolled on a coat of primer, and then two coats of white paint and primer semi-gloss bathroom paint. A quality microfiber roller will help with achieving good, smooth coverage. We used a brush on all of the edges for the primer to be sure everything was nice and sealed and then were able to speed up the process by using a roller on the edges for both coats of the paint.
S T E P E I G H T
Locate and mark ceiling joists.
We wanted the planks to be as secure as possible so we determined the location of the ceiling joists and marked them accordingly by snapping a chalk line.
S T E P N I N E
Measure and cut!
We measured for each board just in case our walls weren't perfectly square. Then cut them to length with our miter saw.
S T E P T E N
Glue and Nail
To be sure there was no sagging, we added a few rows of construction adhesive to the backside of the board prior to affixing it to the ceiling.
We used tile spacers along the edge of the board, knocked it into place and nailed along the chalk line, as well as a few areas between.
Repeat all the way across the ceiling.
S T E P E L E V E N
Measure, cut and install trim pieces.
For this project, I selected a very clean trim board vs. a typical crown moulding. We did basic 45-degree miters around the entire perimeter of the room.
S T E P T W E L V E
Caulk and touch up paint.
With all of the nailing and installation, the boards became dinged up in a few spots and of course, we had fresh nail holes that needed to be caulked. Once the caulk dried, I used a brush to touch up paint the boards.
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That's it! The wood cost us $54 dollars and the paint and primer quarts were another $30. We had everything else on hand to complete the project, so for under $85 we created quite the statement in this itty bitty space.
This room still has a long way to go. We decided we would like to remove the fiberglass shower and install floor to ceiling tile and replace the shower fixtures. The walls have been painted Sherwin William's Nimbus and I absolutely love the warm greige color and how it pairs with the cool navy already in the space. The shower curtain is amazing and it is from here.
We have also removed the old built-in cabinets on the opposite wall from the sink and have to sheetrock that in and add some floating shelves.
Another small upgrade we made was swapping out his previous bathroom fan with a Bluetooth version. I found a 90 CFM option at Home Depot for under $100. Our son thought the new planked ceiling was great, but this?! A fan that allows him to play his favorite music while he showers? Why didn't we do this ages ago? He loves to sing and this made showering and brushing teeth and all of those other daily "chores" so much more fun for him!
We are really excited to see how the rest of this project pulls together (especially with art and accessories). As a reader mentioned in the last update, it will be hard to top our favorite, mega-sweet guest bathroom. But we will certainly try!
