Laundry Room Redo & Turning Our House Into a Library

Here are the photos of the latest Cirlot family projects.

We had a problem with our dryer last night that ended up being a laundry room remodel.  I thought you would enjoy seeing the progression of how our closet/laundry room has changed since we moved in a few years ago.

This is our master bedroom's closet before we moved in.  It was huge, but we needed a space for our washer and dryer.

With help from Bryan's dad and our friend JJ, Bryan made electrical and plumbing changes, tiled the floor, built a false wall, added closet doors, and built a wooden half-wall to enclose the utility cords, plumbing, and etc.

Here's our finished project after last night. Bryan had to redo the half-wall and redid it with beadboard.  We added shelving (love having scrap wood in our shop!), and we used leftover paint from another project to make the walls fun! 

Now, I am finally organized in here and all of our cleaning stuff is out of Abby's reach.

Here it is zoomed out, so you can see how our closet is now lined with bookcases for Bryan's library.  We used to have a double-sided closet, but about a month before Bryan resigned, the left side fell.  It turns out to be providence.  We both just got rid of half of our wardrobe and joined it together on the right side.  Who really wears that many outfits anyhow?

Abby and Aslan decided to model in this one.  You can see how all of the bookshelves are maxed out!

We moved a desk into the master bedroom, so it could be a quieter place to study.  We added a short bookshelf on this side too.  

More Bookshelves in the Living Room/Dining Room area.  I do like how colorful they are!

Abby's makeshift bookcase and reading area.  You can see her artwork displayed above with repurposed table mats.

So, that's it for now.  More projects are always being cooked up, so I'm sure you will see something new soon!

Cheap but Chic Kitchen Update

So, I really have been repurposing. I've just been too busy building websites the past 2 weeks to post much. Here's a few kitchen projects that I have done.

I saw this project on a diy blog for remodeling cheap. You spray paint stick on vinyl floor tiles in silver to make a cute and easily cleanable back splash. I hate trying to scrub splashes off of paint. Yuck!

Long Kitchen View Before:

Our Kitchen Hutch Area Before:



After:
After:

The best part is this little update only cost $4. Thank you Lowe's!

Here's a tray table that I have posted above our fridge for Abby's latest artwork.

Here's a rusty piece of metal that Bryan brilliantly framed for my recipes and etc. Love it!

More repurposing projects to come!

Shoe Redo

I love cute shoes. I must have inherited that from my mother (apparently Abby has the shoe gene too). I've been wanting a pair of metallic flats to go with jeans and skirts but did not want to flip the bill right now. I decided to take an old, well-loved pair of shoes and turn them into a new set. It was a ton of fun. I'm going to try to repurpose or "update" something every week this month. Last week was Bryan's old polo. This week we are starting off with these shoes. Next week? Stay tuned...

Before:


After:


Demonstrating with my favorite pair of worn jeans.


Yay! Mission finished.

Repurposing Fun

Bryan's favorite polo shirt was recently ruined by ink stains. Feeling crafty and inspired by a photo I had seen on a sewing blog, I decided to try to turn his old polo into a cute dress for Abby. I'm pretty pleased with the results. It's not master craftsmanship, but it works just fine for a flirty toddler outfit. It's my first project besides burp cloths to try by myself. I think I am hooked. I'll be sewing again soon. I had a ton of fun!

Check out the photos of Abby dancing with her Daddy in her new outfit.