Refinished Cabinet

If you spend a lot of time on Pinterest, you’ve probably seen pictures of mid-century dressers with a white painted structure and stained drawers. I love the look of these.

I’ve been on the hunt for a cabinet to update with this style. And while you can always find dressers in need of a facelift, it’s tricky to find ones with a thick separation between the drawers. Having the contrasting color on the front of the dresser between the stained drawers makes a big difference.

One glorious Saturday at my local Salvation Army all their furniture was 50% off.

I snagged this “beauty” for $25!

 

The polyurethane was peeling off. Some of the corners were banged up, and the brass drawer pulls were dulled.

Look at those cute drawer pulls!

(I forgot to take a before picture before I started sanding. The cabinet did come with all drawers included).

 

Color choices:

While most of the cabinets you see as part of the mid-century style are white trim with dark wood stained drawers. I wanted to try something a little different. I recently purchased this new bedspread for our guest room ($15!). I took the bedspread with me to Lowe’s and spent way too long color matching it to the paint colors available.  I decided to go with Green Sea color over the Almond Puff because Green Sea will be more transferable to a future room design. Also, I was planning to stain the drawers Minwax Red Chestnut and I thought that Green Sea  would complimented that color well.

Pro Tip: I chose high gloss paint because is the most durable. When starting a project, think about how often the piece will be touched, bumped, or moved and choose your paint type accordingly.

 

So let’s get the work started!

The first step in any refinishing projects are almost always: remove all hardware and sand. My orbital sander has become one of my best friends this year.

I sanded the drawers until all the previous stain was removed. If you’re changing stain colors, you have to remove all traces of the former stain, unless you’re trying to start a new trend of leopard furniture. Here is one perfectly sanded drawer with only six more to go!

The cabinet only needed to be sanded until all the polyurethane was removed and all dings were sanded out. Here are all the pieces after they had been sanded and cleaned. Make sure to always remove all sawdust prior to staining or painting.

I did two coats of Green Sea on the cabinet and one coat of Chestnut Red on the drawers. I also did one thin coat of polyurethane on the drawers. Since this cabinet will be in a bedroom, I’m not concerned about moisture. If your project will live kitchen or bathroom, you will need at least two coats of polyurethane (sanding between each coat).

Also, I soaked the drawer pulls in vinegar for 6 hours and then scrubbed with baking soda and toothbrush. It made such a difference! I forgot to take a comparison photo. Just trust me on this one.

The Finished Product

Look at the beautiful grain in the drawers!  And the complimentary colors with the slight red tone of the red stain against the green paint.

 

I also found a pillow in Almond Puff to dress the bed. What a well-coordinated guest room.

On to the next project!

Large Homemade Sign

Has this ever happened to you? You’re walking through Hobby Lobby and you see a Bible verse or quote that just speaks to you. And you think to yourself, “Self, what an inspirational message to have in my home. Too bad it’s not my style.”

This happens to me far too often.

I really wanted to hang Acts 2:46 in our dining room as a reminder of how the first century Christians lived in fellowship and how we should be using our home to foster those types of relationships. I searched high and low across stores and the internet and couldn’t find the perfect version of this verse for our dining room.

So while I was in my most favorite place in the world (Lowe’s), I saw a 2 x 3 foot satin grade board for $16.97! For less than $20 I make a a custom sign for our dining room. This satin grade board comes in a bunch of sizes, so you don’t have to start with something so larger.

This is how it turned out. I love it!

How to DIY your own large sign.

1. Stain the wood. Two coats. I always use Minwax Dark Walnut for any staining project. This helps for my home to coordinate.  If you’re new to staining, apply the stain with a foam brush, following the grain of the wood. Wait 15 minutes and then gently wipe off the stain with a dry foam brush. Do not use a rag to wipe off the stain, it will take off too much.
2. Pick a font.  There are tons of free ones on the internet. I advise picking a font that’s forgiving of mistakes, i.e. not too uniform. I used Magnolia Sky for this project. While this font may not always be in style, “the word of the Lord remains forever.” I printed out all the words of the verse and arranged them on the board, held down with masking tape.

   

3. Cover the backside of the paper with pencil (at least where the letters are) for the stencil transfer and tape the pieces back into place.

   

4. Trace the words with a pen so a mark is left on the wood. Ideally if you use a color other than black it’s easier to tell where you’ve already traced. I used red.

   
   

5. Next, trace the stencil with a paint pen, then use acrylic paint to fill in the shape. You could use a paint pen or acrylic to do the whole thing, but it’s easier to trace with a paint pen and get a more solid fill with a brush. This picture is with the paint pen only, you can clearly see the pen lines. I went back over the letters with white acrylic paint, which gave a much cleaner look.

   

6. Add brackets to the back for hanging.
7. Optional: do two thin coats of polyurethane. It helps to protect your design and makes it easier to clean.

Here’s how it turned out.

On to the next project!

Ceramic Tile Top Coffee Table

I love a good thrift store find. I love it even more when a thrift store finds becomes a quick project!

I found this beauty at a local thrift store.

The table is made of particle board and covered in a brown wood laminate. Since the table isn’t exactly level (it slopes 1/8″ to the middle), they sold it to me for $20. The main reason I chose to still buy it was because each of the corners are screwed (not glued) together. In my experience, this is a mark of a more solid piece, even if it’s particle board.  Also, it’s a big coffee table, measuring 50″ x 30″ x 19″.

I figured it was worth the $20 chance to see if I could make a beautiful custom piece for our home.

Parts of the laminate had bubbled up, so I sanded those out so the final look will be smooth. I spray painted the table with Valspar^® Color Radiance flat spray paint in Rivera Dune.

I considered putting glass in the open spaces so the cool bottom shelf design would show through, but ceramic tile is much sturdier for a high use furniture piece. Also, Lowe’s will cut ceramic tile pieces for free! I purchased four 18″ x 24″ tiles for $3.85 each – way cheaper than glass. Lowe’s cut them to 11″ x 21″ to fit the open spaces.

The final hurdle, that I did not anticipate, was that the tiles were to thick and set above the wood frame. I had to cut down the wood shelf 1 centimeter, using a utility knife and a stainless steel putty knife.

I should have double checked that the tiles fit before I painted. After I cut out the wood so the shelves would fit, I had to re-spray paint to touch up the parts that were banged up.

I put the tiles into place and tapped them down using a rubber mallet with a towel on top of the tile to keep it from cracking. During the tamping process some of the corners were a little banged up, which required some touch up spray paint.

Masking tape is my friend.

Final cost:

$20 table
$3.85 x 4 ceramic tiles
$4.98 x 3 cans of spray paint
= $50.34 for a custom coffee table!

Results!

On to the next find!

5 Tips to Work-From-Home Success

This article was originally posted on my LinkedIn on 1/11/2017. You can view it here.

Last February, TrueSense Marketing out of Pittsburgh acquired the company I worked for in Virginia. With this change (and we all know there is a lot of change in an acquisition), my colleagues and I packed up our cubicles and set up shop on our dining room tables, in spare bedrooms, and even in local coffee shops. Overnight we became part of the millions of work-from-home Americans.

This growing trend is evident by the large number of business articles touting the flexibility as a major selling point for recruitment, providing productivity analysis of work-from-home vs. traditional 9-5ers, and anticipating trends for the future of telecommuting and what this means for businesses, families, and career paths.

Much to the surprise of my friends and family, I was not excited about the change to a work from home position. As an off the charts extrovert who believes that iron sharpens iron, working from home seemed as appealing as taking a vow of silence, or babysitting a group of sick toddlers, or repeating the 2016 election cycle.

However, over the past year I have come to appreciate the benefits. Here are 5 tips to work-from-home success:

1.   Stand up! When you work from home it is so easy to sit all day. During the first few months I found myself puttering the few short steps of my apartment from my bed to desk to kitchen table to couch. When you work from home you must be more intentional to keep your body active. Get a stand-up desk, or adopt a dog that you can walk during lunch, or join a virtual gym like Daily Burn. Don’t let yourself become a desk potato.

2.   Master phone and video conferencing. Most of my meetings are on conference calls, and very few are video conferences. Recently I was hosting a video conference and accidentally turned on my computer camera instead of sharing my screen. Unfortunately, I was still in my pajamas– not the professional image I want to portray. If you’re going to work from home, it is vital that you master these platforms.

3.   Pick a time zone, any time zone. I live in a different time zone than the bulk of my colleagues. Because of this, I begin my work day at 7:30 local time to keep the same hours they do. At first it was difficult to stop working around 4 p.m. because it seemed too early to log off. Also, I often found myself returning to my desk in the evening to check off some more tasks while the inbox is quiet. Just because your office is in your home shouldn’t mean that you are always at work! Set time boundaries and stick to them.

4.   Write friendly internal emails. Miscommunications can happen anytime and are even more likely when using a medium like email. Because the majority of my interactions with co-workers are through email, I blur the lines of professional communication a bit to err on the side of too friendly. I sprinkle in smiley faces and exclamation points to add context to the copy. Also, I write as clearly and concisely as possible. My goal is successful communication, not impressing people with my vocabulary or correct use of a semi-colon.

5.   Be grateful for the benefits. Working from home is an adjustment, but the flexibility cannot be matched. The plumber says he’ll be by sometime on Thursday? No problem! Dentist only has an opening at 10 am? See you there! Car in the shop for a week? Not an issue. If done correctly, working from home can facilitate both an efficient work environment and the healthiest work-life balance. 

What are your thoughts on working from home? Do you have other tips? Drawbacks? Please share in the comments below!

Save

You Are Not June Cleaver, Don’t Act Like It With Your Finances

My paternal grandparents married in 1955. My grandfather worked in a factory and my grandmother stayed home to raise their eight children. When my grandfather died in 2006, my grandmother literally had no idea how much money they were worth. Providing for the family, and consequently family money management, was the husband’s responsibility and there was no need for my grandmother to be in the know.

Ladies, this is not the 1950’s and you are not June Cleaver. Don’t act like it with your  finances. Your relationship with money needs to modernize. In case you didn’t know, it’s 2016.

There are more working moms and stay-at-home dads each day. You can do almost every financial interaction entirely online. There are apps for budgeting and investing. There is unlimited (and probably too much) information about money on the internet to help you make wise financial choices.

The way we manage, save, and spend our money is changing. So too must the way a money works in a marriage change.

I am always surprised when my smart, female friends shirk off the responsibility of money in their marriage to the husband, deferring to his financial goals and budgeting preferences.

Wives need to become an equal partner in building their family’s wealth. This is not to say that salaries need to be the same or a parent shouldn’t stay home with little children. Just like a business partnership, the two parties bring different strengths and weaknesses to the relationship, but the vision for where the business should end up is decided together.

I think many husbands would prefer to have their wives as a partner to make money decisions. They have been carrying a huge responsibility alone for far too long! Women, do you like when it is assumed that the responsibility of all grocery shopping and cooking falls squarely on your shoulders? In the same manner, husbands deserve help managing your family’s money and wives deserve a seat at the money-decision-making table.

You can do more together than alone. That’s the best part of marriage – someone permanent to hold on to in plenty or want.

13 Questions to Ask Your Partner About Money Today

Talking about money can be awkward. In the U.S., it is considered taboo to talk about income, savings, and debt. But you’re married so no topic should be off limits, especially because the money history and habits of your partner (good or bad) greatly influences your financial status.

In order to build wealth, you need to have a realistic understanding of your spouse’s finances, and they, yours.  Gird up against the awkwardness and plan a date night to talk money in your marriage.

Here are 13 questions that you should ask you partner about money today:

1. What causes are important to you and how do you want to support them financially?
2. If you were given $10,000 today, what do you think we should use that money for?
3. Who do you think is a good example of money management?
4. What is your monthly income?
5. What’s something I spend money on that you think is wasteful?
6. Have you started saving money for retirement?
7. If we have kids, do you plan for one of us to be a stay-at-home parent?
8. How many credit cards do you have? Do you carry a balance?
9. What money habits did you observe from your parents or others that you think we should adopt? What habits don’t you want to emulate?
10. If one of us inherits money, who decides how it is allotted?
11. What debt do you have? How much and for what?
12. If you had $50 extra each money, how would you use it?
13. What is your biggest fear about money?

You may have talked through some of these questions already – great! Your marriage and money status are that much closer to building the wealth you want. Some of these questions are practical about income, spending, and debt. Others uncover how your partner views money and marriage. And some cut straight to the core – what is your relationship with money and how do you want to use it.

Seek to understand your spouse and use this initial conversation as the cornerstone to build wealth together. Good money management requires an ongoing conversation.

3 Times You Shouldn’t Buy Your Spouse a Holiday Present

You heard me right. There are three times you shouldn’t exchange Christmas gifts with your spouse. And no, this isn’t a trap for husbands to fall into.

The holidays can  be a wonderful time of year, but it can also be a time of stress, particularly financially. As you work through your budget and the gifts you are giving to your family and friends, it often feels like you should spend the most on your spouse. They are the most important person in your life, after all!

However there are three times you shouldn’t buy your spouse a Christmas present.

1. When you’ve both agreed to forego gifts. No matter what the reasoning, this mutual agreement is imperative. Nothing worse than a disappointed spouse with unmet expectations.
2. When you can’t afford it. This is a reality for many people, especially those who are newly married. If you’re in debt, living month to month, or spending all your holiday budget on others, I encourage you not to exchange gifts with your spouse!
3. When you don’t need it. Sure, the anticipation of gifts is great. And there’s nothing better than surprising someone you love with something they really wanted. But there may come a time when there’s nothing you really need and you would rather put that money towards a down payment on a new car, or vacation, or home renovation.

Unfortunately, there is a bad stigma surrounding not exchanging holiday gifts with your spouse. Gifts, for more holidays than just Christmas, have become an obligation. What a shame!  Don’t let external pressures dictate how you will manage money in your marriage.

This year we decided to not exchange Christmas presents with each other because we really wanted a grill. And that’s what budgeting is all about! Choosing how to use your money in the way that promotes your family’s financial stability as you build wealth together.

It’s the Most Expensive, I Mean Wonderful, Time of the Year

The holidays are upon us. Just 14 sleeps till Santa comes down the chimney to distribute gifts to boys and girls (and let’s be honest, his generosity is regardless of whether they’ve been bad or good).

According to ABC News, “The average American will spend $700 on holiday gifts and goodies this year, totaling more than $465 billion.” It’s no surprise that December is a huge surge for retailers. When I used to work at Bath & Body works, we did 10% of our annual sales on Black Friday.

Hopefully you and your spouse have been budgeting throughout the year. Back when our finances were tighter, we used to set aside $50 each month so we would have $600 saved for holiday gifts.

The trickier part of holiday giving is determining how much to spend on each recipient. If we purchase of $75 gift for my mom do we also need to spend $75 on my dad? And on Jonathan’s parents too? What about siblings? Can you give your favorite co-worker a larger present than you give someone else on your team something smaller? Does your mailman really need a gift?

Like most successful budgeting endeavors, the best plan is to make a plan ahead of time. Decide your total budget and how that will be allocated. When you’re out shopping, it’s easy to think about how much you really love these people and that your mom does deserve that new Coach purse. Don’t walk into TJ Maxx or click onto Amazon without a specific budget amount for each person on your list.

Note: do give yourself a small deviation for each gift cost. I recommend 5%. For a $50 present, that means you would aim to spend between $47.50 and $52.50 on the gift. This wiggle room helps to make present shopping a little easier while sticking to the budget.

Treasure Hunting

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
– Matthew 6:21

No matter what your religious beliefs, it is clear that the way you choose to spend your money indicates your priorities. According to Giving USA, Americans gave over $358 billion to charity in 2014. That is a lot of cash money.

For some reason, people tend to think that their smaller gifts don’t make a difference and that they should wait until they can make a large gift. While it is true that the vast majority of money donated each year is given by a small percentage of people, smaller gifts are very important for both the donor and the recipient.

These gifts help out today, not at some undetermined point in the future. And an actual gift is worth infinitely more than an intention. Intentions don’t help anyone or further the causes you are passionate about!  Also, when you become a donor to a great nonprofit organization, you should start receiving information about the impact of your gift. Through these small gifts you will learn more about how the nonprofit uses your money, which builds trust. This is vital for when you have a large sum to give in the future – because you’ll know what your money can do and trust the organization to do it!

You will never feel rich enough to make a transformational gift unless you already know the impact of your giving.

Giving money away has always been very important to me. And I don’t think there ever comes a time that it feels convenient to start giving. Have you ever gotten a promotion and then increased your cable subscription, or adopted a pet, or went on a shopping spree? It’s easy to think of ourselves first.

Giving will never be convenient, until it becomes a habit.

I started giving a portion of my paycheck away as soon as I graduated from college. By developing the habit in my young 20s, when I could only afford to give $10 or $20 away per month, it’s easier to prioritize giving now that we can give more.

Like all other money decisions in your marriage, talk with your spouse. Figure out how much you want to give away each month and what organizations are important to each of you. Also, consider how you like to give money. Perhaps your spouse prefers to give automatically each month via credit card and you prefer to support different organizations (or even specific people) depending on immediate need.

During our marriage, we have had several different methods for giving, but I like our current process best.  Let’s say Jonathan and I give away $100 each month. $60 goes to our church. With the remaining $40, Jonathan and I each individually choose where $20 goes. I divide my $20 between four different charities and automatically give to them each month via credit card. Jonathan decides each month where his $20 giving will go.

Since we organized our giving this way, we are each able to support causes that we’re passionate about and have flexibility to give as we are made aware of need.

I hope that part of the conversation about money in your marriage is how you will help others through your finances. Start developing the habit today by building giving into your budget and making charity a priority in your marriage.

41 Hostess Tips

There are many reasons why I love having people in my home.  I love trying new recipes, decorating decorating my home, eating yummy food, drinking wine, playing games (especially Catan), and most importantly being with loved ones.  During the past 5 years since I moved out of my parents house, I have hosted myriads of dinner parties, overnight guests, and party parties. Here are 41 tips I’ve learned along the way.

PREPARATION

1. Don’t use a scented candle in the room where you will be eating. Scents can distort the taste of food.

2. It is better for the temperature in your home to be a little too cool than a little too warm. No one likes to be sweaty.

3. Light a scented candle in the bathroom that guests will be using.

4. Make sure there is a readily-accessible second role of toilet paper. If you don’t want guests looking in your bathroom cupboards, don’t hide the TP!

5. Clean your bathroom.

6. Shortly  before guests arrive, sweep your kitchen floor to catch anything you dropped during meal preparation.

7. Be careful with music. It is a difficult skill to create a playlist of background music that isn’t distracting and is acceptable to all guests. I really struggle with this and usually rely on my good buddy Pandora, who had a playlist called Friendsgiving which I used at my most recent dinner party.

8. Set the table prior to the guest’s arrival.

9. Always have napkins on the table. I would recommend having one at each seat as well as a napkin holder readily accessible. It is awkward for a guest to have to ask for a napkin after they desperately need one.

10. Salt and pepper should always be on the table. If your table seats more than 10, have two sets.

MAKING YOUR GUEST FEEL WELCOMED

11. You and your partner (if applicable) should both greet the guest at the door.

12. Have a place ready to hang up coats.

13. Immediately offer a beverage.

14. Once it’s time for the meal, let guests know where you usually sit. Guests are hesitant to take the hostess’s chair. I keep my glass at my place setting as a nonverbal cue.

15. Don’t do anything your guest can’t do.  For instance, if you only have one can of Diet Coke left, don’t drink it in front of the guest.

FOOD AND DRINK

16. Serve your meals when you say you will.  Nothing is worse than hungry guests waiting for a meal that was promised an hour ago.

17. Prep as much as possible beforehand. I always do my chopping a day or two in advance. If I’m making something that will keep, I will make that ahead of time too.

18. If you have never entertained the guest before, ask about any allergies or food restrictions, especially if you are only making one thing. Once the guest is sitting at your dining room table, it’s too late to find out they are allergic to poultry and that’s your main course.

19. Don’t expect that your guest has the same preferences as you. For instance, I don’t drink coffee at all, but I always offer it to guests.

20. While you may want your in-laws weekend visit or colleagues dinner party to be the opportunity to wow them with your cooking skills, only make a maximum of one or two new recipes. Timing new recipes is more difficult than those you make more frequently. I repeat: you don’t want to serve a meal later than expected.

21. At minimum, serve a main dish and two others (sides, desserts, rolls, etc.).

22. Dessert isn’t a must. I have found that many people are very concerned about their health and calorie intake. This causes many good desserts to go to waste.

OVERNIGHT GUESTS

23. Have the bed made with clean sheets. This should be a no-brainer, but it isn’t.

24. Make sure there is space in the closet for the guest to hang clothes.  Bonus points if you have spare hangers readily available.

25. Place towels in an obvious location. If the guest bathroom has lots of clutter where you store towels, go ahead and place them on the guest’s bed. You would hate to have him or her reach over your maxi-pads and through hairspray to get to a fresh towel.

26. Let your guest know the WIFI password. If you want to take it to the next level, print out the password in a stylistic way, frame it, and place on the guest bedside table.

27. Before everyone goes to bed, have a plan for when breakfast will be the next morning. This rids ambiguity for what time you are planning to be awake. Generally, guests hide in their room until the hostess is heard in the main parts of the house. It is nice to provide a time frame.

28. If your guest shower is complicated. Explain how to use it.

29. Make a breakfast casserole ahead of time. Many breakfast casseroles can be refrigerated or frozen. The cost per serving is very low and your day-of prep time is almost none existent, so you are able to spend more time with your guest.

EVERY HOSTESS SHOULD HAVE A:

30. apron.  I wear mine as soon as I am dressed for the party. No need to spill flour on your new blouse.

31. wine and beer opener. Even if you don’t drink one or the other (or both) your guest may bring alcohol to pair with the meal.

32. butter dish and sugar bowl in neutral colors. These items are used all the time by guests and a neutral pallet ensures they will go with any table setting.

33. a place for extra drinks. I have a galvanized tub that I fill with ice for drinks or you can use a cooler. During parties refrigerators get full quickly of food and usually jello-shots in my case, so it is nice for people’s drinks to be able to remain cold.

34. good attitude. Something will go wrong.

OTHER ITEMS

35. If you guest offers to bring wine or dessert, use your best judgement based off of the nature of the relationship. I will always decline for a person’s first visit to my home.

36. Guests don’t do dishes. There are narrow exceptions for your mom or your best friend. My sister-in-law recognized that we had reached a new level when I let her help with dishes on a weekend stay.

37. Don’t do dishes while your guests are still visiting (exception is over-night guests). If you have a dinner guest, it is rude to spend 20 minutes of the short visit ignoring them in the kitchen.

38. Guests should not feel obligated to leave. Do not drop passive-aggressive hints that you have an early day tomorrow or that you love to watch a show that comes on in thirty minutes to entice an exit. An easy way to combat this tendency is to invite guests over on nights that are most convenient for your calendar.

39. Consider only owning one of each type of drinking glass (different colors, sizes, patterns, etc.). This makes it easy for guests to know which is theirs.  Glasses can be coordinated without being identical.

40. If you are complimented, say thank you. Arguing with a compliment seems like you are fishing for more compliments. Also, steer clear of humble brags.

41. Have a good time. These are your guests and ultimately they’re at your house for your company not your kitchen skills.