My 2 essential life hacks to begin the year

I can’t believe it. I’m writing the last post of 2016. In a few days, a new year comes upon us. I’ve always liked new years. It brings with it the feeling that anything’s possible.

I’m not really a resolutions person but I do have a few new year habits.

One of the first things I do at the beginning of the year is to take a week to “fast” from the distractions of life (Facebook, Pinterest, Netflix — I’m talking about you!) In the 7 days, I quiet down, pray, meditate, take long walks and let my spirit hear what God has to say about my year ahead. Some years He whispers a passage, many years it’s only a word. I keep that word deep within me and throughout the year, I return to it for strength. And always, that word is sufficient. Why not try it for yourself as you ease into 2017? No matter what your beliefs are, taking time to clarify what’s truly important to you is always a good thing. And a good beginning to all things.

Second thing I do is get a new planner. I just love cracking open a new planner at the start of the year. Reams of empty pages, all waiting to be filled with goals, projects and possibilities. And the smell of new paper … aaaaah. Don’t you just love it?

I’m a bit of a productivity nerd and have been searching for years for the tool to fit my way of working. Finally, I think I’ve landed on the one that does it for me. I work from home, so I need to hold myself accountable for my time, which means spending time on productive work and not busy work. There is a difference. In 2015, I stumbled on the SELF Journal (affiliate link) when they launched their Kickstarter campaign. I liked what I saw and supported the campaign. What caught my attention was their Zero-based calendar of leaving no unaccounted for time.

I’ve used it the whole of 2016 and what can I say, I literally know where I spent every minute of last year! It was strange at first writing down “brush teeth” or “water plants” on my planner but I got the hang of it. It made me give my day forethought — so I can live more purposefully on a daily basis. Another thing I liked was the concept of 13-week goals (versus annual goals). It was so much easier to stay on track when I can almost glimpse the end.

Using it has helped me accomplish a big project through daily, focused steps towards my goal. You know what they say about eating an elephant? Yes, one bite at a time.

If you’re frugal like me, download the free pdf, print and test it out first to see whether it works for you. I hope you like it as much as I do. I would be using it again for 2017. Definitely.

That’s my two unwarranted life hacks for 2017? What about you? How do you start your year?

And before I wrap up, here’s wishing you a fabulous 2017. I look forward to seeing all your great hacks in this coming year.

xoxo,
Jules

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LILLÅSEN Bamboo desk redo

We didn’t want to block the heater in my daughter’s room so we attached the desk to the wall and added decorative iron legs. Bought some fence pieces at Home Depot, cut them down to attach to the bottom of the desk. Put caps on the bottom to hide the cut end.

Lillasen desk is what we used.

~ by Kaylee Marcotte

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Hackers Help: Stain color for Hemnes?

Photo: IKEA.com

So I’ve got a black-brown HEMNES bed and a coffee table.

On the table I’ve noticed a nick, and on the end of the HEMNES bed, there are a few very light scratches. On one of the scratches its almost as if the lacquer has just been nicked because it still looks dark underneath.

I’m just wondering what stain to use. I’m not sure how they achieve the colour.  There was a suggestion on one site online that the wood itself is stained a chocolate brown and then a black lacquer applied. Not sure how true this is. I’m based in the UK so if there are any stains and lacquers anyone could recommend  I would be grateful. Thanks

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2016 Rewind: Our Favorite Makeovers & Projects Of The Year

2016 was an interesting year, to say the least. Between starting a podcast, buying a beach house, creating a coloring book, and taking on various projects around here and beyond, well, there were lots of firsts. So we thought we’d end 2016 with a quick recap of the year’s highlights.

Topping the list as our most memorable room makeover was this speedy space-themed bedroom update that we did for a local family whose young son Mason passed away suddenly (the bedroom that he shared with his older brother Hudson needed a refresh so that Hudson could work towards sleeping in there again). We’ve stayed connected to the family via Facebook, so they’ve been on our minds frequently throughout the year, and we are so grateful that we got to meet them.

Probably a close second for most memorable is the teacher’s lounge makeover we wrapped up right before school started. It presented some of the most unusual challenges of any project we’ve ever done (how do you design around a big blue Pepsi machine??), but we loved having the chance to make a space that looked and worked better for this local public elementary school.

Our other ongoing “outside the house” project this year has been helping Sherry’s best friend of 16 years & my cousin settle into their new place. Yes, they married each other many years ago after we introduced them, and they moved down the street from us this summer (more on that in Podcast Episode #3), and you may have caught this little update Sherry did in their son’s room by splitting one duvet cover into two.

And of course, there were lots of changes around our own house this year. Heck, even we almost forgot that we kicked off 2016 with the completion of our bonus room, including nailing in the hardwood floors ourselves, installing the cabinets & floating shelves, and creating a wire-free spot for the TV.

Around this time last year it was still an unfinished storage space, and it has become such a natural extension of our upstairs that it’s hard to remember a time we couldn’t just walk in there and kick back on the supersofa for movie night.

And the bonus room was quickly followed by another big renovation: our new kitchen!

The overhaul of this space and the countless improvements it has made to our day-to-day are NOT hard to forget. There are the obvious aesthetic updates…

…but it has also been a huge functional upgrade, thanks to a more hardworking layout and some serious cabinet organization, both of which streamline mealtimes (and getting-out-the-door-times, thanks to the hidden mudroom). We also shared five kitchen remodeling mistakes that we made (so you don’t have to) which will hopefully come in handy for anyone else who’s planning a big room overhaul.

Along with the kitchen reno, we also updated the living room with these DIY built-in bookcases that were the final icing on our long (and long-awaited) renovation.

Our home also saw some smaller updates this year – like embracing beige (never thought we’d write about that!) by repainting our bedroom and office in more neutral colors. Sure it’s less pinnable and probably looks less exciting on screen, but in person it feels just right to us.

Our daughter’s room got an update too, as she moved from a twin daybed to a full-sized one, prompting us to write about a bunch of the phases this room has gone through over the years. It’s oddly fun to look back on all the tweaks and changes in one time-lapse style post. Especially since there’s a chance another room in our house will be making that crib-to-bed transition in 2017.

As you can see from our latest Upstairs House Tour (below), this room continues to change.

If you’re having trouble viewing the video below, try clicking through to the post (they don’t always show up in a reader like Feedly/Bloglovin’) or you can watch it here on YouTube

We also had fun walking around the first floor with a camera in hand (the whole post with both videos can be found here):

One update not caught in the House Tour videos was a helpful new structure outside of our home: yep, we got a shed. Listeners of our podcast have heard lots of little updates about its progress (or lack thereof), but we promise some photos in 2017. Just don’t judge the size of my scrap wood pile.

But as exciting as that shed is in our lives (well, maybe mostly mine), it pales in comparison to our other new structure in 2016 – the beach house! 

It still feels weird to say “our beach house,” especially since it’s in such dire need of fixing up before it can actually function as one. For those who missed it the first time, here’s the state of the dining room when we bought it:

We’re working on a couple of update posts for you, since there’s been some visible – although somewhat terrifying – progress out there. But in the meantime, you can see the layout changes we considered (along with a video tour!) and even weigh in on what color you’d paint it it (we think we’ve made a decision… for now at least. Stay tuned).

Along with makeovers and renovations, another “project” was the podcast we started back in June. We weren’t really sure how it would go, but we’re nearly 30 episodes in and still having a blast, so it’s one of the things we’re most excited about continuing in 2017. We have more guests & special episodes lined up and it still feels really new & flexible – sort of how we felt when we started this blog. So we’re really grateful to have a place to experiment and be weird and have fun. Psst- Podcasts are free & can be enjoyed without using any data, so click here to learn how to listen (just takes a few seconds).

Also filed under “random but fun” was our adult coloring book that came out this fall. We’ve loved every part of this project – from working with an illustrator to reimagine rooms in two-dimensional line drawings to seeing all of you share your colored-in pages. It’s especially fun to see what colors you’d make certain things in our house (it’s like an awesome alternate reality game).

Oh, and remember when we casually launched an app? We’re still kinda miffed that it didn’t catch on. ;)

Perhaps the best thing about looking back at 2016 is that it reminds us that we’ve got lots of fun stuff in the pipeline for 2017. Beach house renovations, more podcasts, more projects around our house (we still have two bathrooms with seashell-shaped sinks!) and hopefully some more makeovers for others as well.

In the meantime, you can catch up on some other 2016 happenings – like writing a free e-course about blogging, decorating for the holidays, etc – by just scrolling down our blog page to see all the other things we’ve had fun with this year. We also made a few new blog pages, like our Shop Our House page and this We’re Digging page full of furnishings/accessories for anyone out there who’s planning an update of their own.

We hope you all had some big bright spots in 2016, and even more coming your way next year. See you on the flip side! And by flip side I mean January.

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Grand Bissa Storage Bed Head

This version is the same as Bissa Storage Bed Head, but elevated using the wooden planks to create drawers under the Bissa cabinets.
This allows access to the bottom compartment and for a “grander” (taller) bed head.

IKEA items used:

• 3x Bissa 2 compartment shoe cabinets
• Utrusta push open drawer hinges
• Wooden planks (or 2/3 table tennis table top)
• 8x L brackets
• Screws
• 1 long beam (150cm long)
• 6x 5mm nuts and bolts
• Ikea safety bracket (L shaped)
• Optional for extra shelf(ves):
• shelf pegs
• wooden shelf(ves) cut to size (~45.2cm x 23.9cm)
• screws

I used an old table tennis table cut into planks to make the drawers. I measured the height of the drawer to fit my bed base so that the Bissa bottom compartment could open when the mattress was pushed forward.

Creating the bottom drawers
Approximate dimensions of the planks:

Frame:
2x top: 25.5 x 152.5cm (width of the table tennis table)
2x sides: 22.2 x 152.5cm

2 x Drawers:
4x Sides: 22.5 x 76cm
2x bases: 22.5 x 76cm
2x outer front: 25.5 x 25.5cm
2x inside back: 19.5 x 21cm (I ran out of wood on 1 edge, so cut down a little on this one)

Frame:

• Make a long rectangular tube by screwing the top and bottom to the 2 sides. Use about 6-8 screws for the top, and 6-8 screws for the bottom, evenly spaced.

Drawers:

• Screw drawer sides to bottom using 6-8 screws.
• Screw inside back between the 2 sides. (Note: if you screw it beyond the 2 sides, the drawers won’t fit unless you cut the drawer depth shorter)
• Attach front panel to sides by using 4x L brackets per drawer. The front panel sits beyond the drawer, but check that when the drawer is in the frame that the front edge doesn’t get stuck on the floor (especially carpet)

Attach Utrusta drawer push opener to the middle of the frame ends – 1 for each side.

Stain/colour drawers to your liking. (I only did the top and the drawer fronts since you can’t see the rest).

See Bissa Storage Bed Head for instructions to install shelves.

Assembly:

• Pull out bed base (substantially)
• Place 3 assembled Bissa shoe cabinets onto drawer structure.
• Use Ikea safety safety bracket to attach each cabinet to the drawer unit (screw in the L bracket at the base of each unit and the other edge into the drawer unit). This is needed for safety as the cabinets are elevated and can topple over.
• Drill holes in the long beam such that the holes correspond to the pre-drilled holes in the back of top compartment of the Bissa cabinets (see picture).
• Note: I only had 5, so I drilled an extra hole in the middle cabinet (see picture)
• Use bolts and nuts to secure the beam to the back of the cabinets. This is for safety and so the cabinets don’t move independently.

Side cabinets have 2 bolts:

My middle cabinet has 1 bolt:

My middle cabinet has a “tissue box height” shelf, so a hole had to be drilled into the shelf to allow the nut to fit. It also secures the shelf around it so the shelf doesn’t move.

Finished product allows access to bottom compartment minimally even with mattress in place.

Full access to bottom compartments when the mattress is pulled out.

There you go: a grand bed head with lots of extra storage.

~ by Anna Y

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Olov Overbed table

Simple overbed table that extends the width of the bed.
Suitable for placing laptops to use in bed, breakfast in bed, or clothing stash.

IKEA items used:

• 4x Olov extendable table legs
• 1x long plank (I got mine from Ikea offcuts clearance – a kitchen cabinet door) – needs to be wider than the width of your bed.
• support beams

Fill out any depth needed for screws to fully be screwed into the long plank.
Screw in support beams underneath the plank. (Blue in the picture, yet to be stained)
Attach 4 Olov legs to the plank.

Adjust the height to your liking.
Legs can detach and also be shortened for storage or as a shorter “shelf” at the end of the bed.

This is actually Olov Overbed table v2.

Olov Overbed table v1 uses the same concept, but only 2 Olov legs and the table is on castor wheels for easier maneuvering.
Support beams were added in v2 to stop the table sagging.
In v1, the Olov legs were screwed into a wooden plank, and hot glue gun glue applied around the base of Olov to attach to the wooden plank.

However, v1 is only durable and possible for someone with metal welding tools and capabilities. The internal plastic of the bottom of the Olov detached from the metal tube of the leg after a week (and the table fell over). The glue held tight to the bottom of the plastic, so it was the Olov itself that didn’t hold up.

Feel free to attempt this replacing superglue with actual metal welding, attaching the wooden base to the metal part of the tube (not the plastic bottom).

~ by Anna Y

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Bissa Storage Bed Head

IKEA items used:

• 3x Bissa 2-compartment shoe cabinets

Optional for extra shelf(ves):

• shelf pegs
• wooden shelf(ves) cut to size (~45.2cm x 23.9cm)
• screws (for tissue box height shelf)

Super easy version: Assemble 3 Bissa shoe cabinets. Pull out your bed base. Line up the 3 cabinets. Voila! Bed head complete with storage and ledge.

Note: You can attach the cabinets to the wall for safety, but I didn’t as there is a bed holding it in place.

Note, depending on the height of your bed base and mattress, you may only be able to access the top drawers.

Optional extra: Shelf inserts for extra ledge space
You can have as many shelves as you like – up to 6 (what I did), or 3 on the top layer etc.

I designed the middle cabinet to be able to hold tissue boxes (~12cm). The gap in the top of the cabinet drawer allows for tissues to be pulled out, without the whole box being pulled off the ledge!

Tissue box height shelf:

• Drill a hole on each inside face allowing for 12cm from the inside top edge of the cupboard (factor in your shelf height). These were about 11.5cm from the inside back edge of the cupboard (check the cabinet can still open). Standard shelf peg holes are 5mm, but check your shelf peg diameter.
• Drill a hole in the middle of the back cross panel of the cabinet (you can use 2, I used 1 to save on pegs)

• Shelf had to have special cuts (see picture) to allow the cupboard supports to move freely and still open.

• Install shelf
• Use 2 screws through the back of the cabinet to screw the shelf in place. This is needed because the shelf pegs are quite far back, causing the shelf to “pivot”. Otherwise, some heavy items (e.g. books) at the back of the shelf also kept it in place.

Standard shelves

• Drill a hole on each inside face level with the white insert of the cabinet towards the back of the cabinet. This gives a height of 11.5cm (I used 2 pegs to save on shelf pegs. You can also drill 4 holes for 4 pegs, and have a lower but variable shelf height).

• Install shelf

There you go – shelves for extra ledge space! Ideal for phone charging, clocks, watches, books and other items usually on your bedside table.

Stay tuned for the Grand Bissa Storage Bed Head – allowing usage of all 6 drawers + more storage.

~ Anna Y

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Tidings of comfort and joy

I was prepping for the festivities when I received news of my uncle’s passing, followed by yet another uncle a few days later. Two deaths within a week was hard to bear.

Though I know they are in a land that is fairer than day and that we shall meet again on that beautiful shore, but right now, I feel their loss. Celebrations will take a back seat.

Let not my mood dampen yours though. I wish you a joyous time with family and friends. If there’s anything this time of grief has taught me, it’s time is short and every moment we have together is a moment to cherish.

xoxo,
Jules

Photo credit: Brian Baker

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