Blog - at home with Ashley

DIY Dress up Rack

Let me just come out and say it- the playroom is DONE!!!!! I’ve spent countless hours in the last few days caulking and painting and honestly, I’m exhausted. The playroom will be photographed tomorrow and I can’t wait to share it. Keep reading to the bottom for a small sneak peek of the space.

In between doing the finishing touches to the playroom, I squeezed in a fun project- a DIY dress up rack. I know that dressing up is usually associated as a girl activity, but my little guy loves to dress up too! He has a fireman, garbage man, chef, doctor, and a few other costumes. I think that anything that adds imaginative play, is a good thing!

With the playroom, I’m trying to gather all of his toys and activities to one space, so I thought a dress up clothes rack would be perfect. And it was crazy easy! Let’s get started! [Read more…]

How to Install a Shiplap Ceiling

One of my absolute favorite parts of my main bedroom renovation is the shiplap ceiling. It adds SO much interest to the space and was surprisingly easy to install.

So when it came time to redo the playroom, I knew I wanted to incorporate that same look in this room. I’m using real shiplap so if you’ve wanted to try it out or see how it works, this tutorial for how to install a shiplap ceiling is for you!

[Read more…]

How to Caulk

When I first starting fixing up my house, I had no clue what I was doing. All I knew is that I didn’t like how my house looked and all I could afford was to work on it myself. So I just figured it out as I went. Sure, I made mistakes, but that’s how I learned! And hopefully I can pass some tips and tricks on to your so you can avoid those mistakes.

I’ve been posting some really basic tutorials and my hope is that they will help someone- because I have been in those shoes.

The thing about caulk is that it can take a job from juvenile to professional. You can have big gaps and then caulk and no one will be the wiser! However, sometimes caulking can seem like such a pain after finishing up a big project. But don’t skip it! The best designs are in the details and caulking will really finish a job. [Read more…]

How to Install Baseboards

One of the things I love about my 1905 house is the beautiful, original details. In most of the rooms we have tall, gorgeous baseboards! They’ve been painted a million times and are a bit dinged up, but they tell the story of the house. The playroom though had different baseboards on each wall. And when we took out the chimney, that created even more problems.

So, what’s a girl to do? I decided to replace them all. Note, I will hold onto the old baseboards in case they match somewhere else in the house that’s full of millwork mysteries ;). I thought I’d share this project in case anyone is installing or replacing theirs too.

If you’ve missed any of the playroom posts, you can catch up here-

tiger wallpaper installation / how to create a mood board / how to paint walls super quick / how to lay laminate floors / how to make a Kraft paper roller

Here’s how the room looked pre-baseboards. With the underlayment on the walls, it was not looking pretty! [Read more…]

How to make a Kraft Paper Roller

There’s a fun trend of paper rollers that you hang on the wall and you can make your own art. When it came time to work on our playroom, I thought one would be so cute! I could use the paper for art time with my son. Plus, I could draw cute quotes between using the paper for crafts. Win, win!

BUT buying one is around $150!!! Way too expensive for something I could make one. So I decided- why not create my own?!

If you’ve missed any of the playroom posts, you can catch up here-

tiger wallpaper installation / how to create a mood board / how to paint walls super quick / how to lay laminate floors

[Read more…]

How to Lay Laminate Flooring

A big step in completing this room- installing the floors! The original floors in here were in rough shape- random holes throughout and needing to be stripped. Instead of doing a bunch of patching, we decided to cover them with laminate flooring. This room will get a lot of abuse so I needed something to hold up to that!

If you’ve missed any of the playroom posts, you can catch up here-

tiger wallpaper installation / how to create a mood board / how to paint walls super quick

[Read more…]

Follow-up to My House Testing Positive for Meth

The #1 blog post I get emailed about is buying a house that tested positive for meth. So, I wanted to do a follow-up post to tell you how our family has been doing after moving in last year. And I’ll also answer some of the common questions I’ve been getting. So let’s dive in!

[Read more…]

How to Paint a Wall super quick

I know that painting a wall sounds like a SUPER basic DIY project. And it is! But, like anything, as I’ve done this over and over again, I’ve learned how to get better and faster at it. So, I’m going to share my best tips! And my fails with painting walls (because, yes, I have learned some things the hard way too). [Read more…]

How to Make a Mood board

Well, its time to begin my next project- the playroom! This house is bigger than any other that we’ve ever lived in. Which means that we get to have space for an office and a playroom!!! I’m excited to have a dedicated place for all the toys that isn’t in my living room.

these are “before” images of the room from the listing for the house [Read more…]

DIY Peel and Stick Backsplash Tile

When we first looked at our house, I knew that the kitchen needed a full renovation and that I couldn’t afford to do it. But I also didn’t want to live with a kitchen I hated for a few years while I save up to rip everything out. So I’ve decided to do budget updates with no huge changes besides paint. Today’s update is a diy peel and stick backsplash tile! [Read more…]

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