I wanted to be able to seamlessly tie in the winter greenery without overwhelming the merchandise that needed to be displayed. So what did I do? Well...I took a quick trip into the woods to see what I could scrounge up of course! And I'm glad I did too!

This 6 foot long, green-stained, solid piece of wood weighed a ton and needed a lot of TLC but all I could see was the immense potential that it possessed (and did I mention I snagged it for $50?)!

Last week I wrote about picking out the perfect paint color, so I thought I'd share one room in my house (my little boy, Justus's room) where this decision process was rather difficult for me. When picking out paint colors for my kids rooms I wanted to keep them rather neutral for a couple reasons...

If you are painting say a bedroom and it's rather small the LAST thing you want to do is make it feel even smaller! That's what will happen if you choose darker colors (red, brown, navy, etc). And I would even be leery of those brighter colors too (pink, baby blue, green, etc). It's important to know that in smaller rooms, whites and neutral tones are a MUST! Subtle is better!

How to save your old kitchen cabinets with a little TLC and paint. Learn just how we transformed our kitchen here!

Spray paint gives you options to make something look the way you want it to look in a price range you can afford. It can also be a great temporary fix to hold you over until you can buy something that you really want.

The one thing ALL of us DIY-er's have in common is that we all had to start somewhere. Not all of us had "experience" going into their first project and some of us may not even have been that creative but we all had to start somewhere! Here are some tips for all you out there that consider yourself to be the "average joe" of crafts and projects and how you too can become a DIY master!

When we renovated our split level kitchen/living room we got multiple people asking how we stayed on budget and ways we kept costs low. For fun I put together a list of some of the ways we cut our costs and stayed within our budget, all the while creating a beautiful kitchen and living room that is entirely ours!

This process allowed us the flexibility to create what we wanted, when we wanted and we couldn't be happier with the results. Giani Granite has given me such a good experience that I wanted to share it with the rest of you because come on, let's face it, whose countertops could use a little extra love these days? And for only $80 you can accomplish just what I have with little time and effort. Here is my step-by-step process:

So when trying to figure out how we were going to save money on new countertops (one of the larger expenses when renovating your kitchen) I got to researching right away! I came across this really cool/REALLY affordable way to totally reinvent your countertops without having to buy completely new ones and I was sold!

It’s been exactly 2 months and 13 days since we signed on our new house; 2 months and 12 days since we “broke ground” on our house; and 1 month and 3 weeks since we moved in to our house. Let’s just say that life has been a WHIRLWIND!  While each day seems to fly by, I can’t believe that we began this huge endeavor only a little over 2 months ago. Somebody asked us the other day, “So you guys have been living here for about a year right?!” I laughed and replied, “It sure SEEMS like it!”

Check out more pics from our photoshoot at our first home! To view the whole story check out my previous blog post "We Bought A House: Our God Story."

If you don’t know Guy and I’s situation then you don’t know that when we first got married we lived in my mother-in-laws house for 7 months, and soon after that we moved into a 2 bed/2 bath condo where we have since resided. To say that we have been blessed is an understatement…God has continued to pour out His favor on us. Selfishly, I have desired to own my own home, a place that I can truly make ours and begin to raise our family in but to be honest the finances just haven’t been there. 

For a long time I have wanted to buy a couple of fern wreaths to brighten up my living room but I could never get myself to pay the price they are asking for in the stores. Like I’ve mentioned in my previous DIY blog, I am somewhat of a bargain shopper, so anything that looks like it can easily be made BUT has an overpriced tag attached to it gives me a bad taste in my mouth. I recently ran across a fellow DIY-er that blogged about how she made her own wreath and I thought….what the heck, I’m going to give it a try. And once I started I couldn’t stop! The process is so easy AND not to mention affordable, I had to share it with the rest of you!

I LOVE trying new things for my home...especially when it comes to redecorating or adding some color to my space! I recently saw a great way to add some green to your home and couldn't help but try it myself! I've had a couple people ask me how I made these fun succulent terrariums so I thought I'd share a mini "how-to" for the rest of you to enjoy as well! 

Well friends...I can finally say I have OFFICIALLY completed my first DIY kitchen reno! A very good family friend of ours has been wanting to redo their cabinets for some time now and when the time felt right I offered to take on the job. Although they laughed and looked at me when I chimed in, I assured them that I was totally, 100% serious and they complied with little to no hesitation. Now those are some GREAT friends if you ask me! 

The next day...with complete peace in my heart I wrote my letter to Chip and Joanna Gaines. It was the strangest and the most freeing thing I had ever done.  And the funny part... even though I knew I was supposed to write this letter, the enemy continued to attack my spirit and tell me this was the most foolish thing I had ever done. But I held the truth in my heart and continued to write...