An Update on Our DIY Fridge Paint Job

You might remember when we DIY'ed our fridge paint job when we moved in almost a year ago. It only cost $16 and transformed our old almond color into a not so ugle black one. 2 months later, that fridge died and we were on the hunt for another one. Luckily, my parents had just bought a house to renovate and it came with an old almond Whirlpool Mark I, the same model that had died. We spent another $16 on paint and basically we got another fridge for $16. I grabbed the spray paint and gave it the same treatment as the original. Today I wanted to answer all your questions and give you an update on it 10 months later.

 

Kitchen Favorite: Dutch Oven (and a Siracha Chili Recipe)

Do you have that one piece in your kitchen that just makes cooking ten times easier? For me, it's our Martha Stewart for Macy's Cast Iron Dutch Oven. We actually got two of them for our wedding which weren't even on our registry, but oh am I so glad someone gifted them. It is incredibly durable, it can be used for so many different things, it is easy to clean, AND for only $50

A few weeks ago we had a chili cook-off at my work and I decided to participate even though I had never cooked chili a day in my life. While I was searching through Pinterest for recipes (obviously), I found that there were no spicy chili recipes! So I decided to take a normal chili recipe and throw our favorite hot sauce in it - Sriracha.

Low Cost Closet Storage Shelves

Storage and closet space is a premium in any house, especially in our 50's house. Even though there is a closet in every room, they only had one rod PER closet. It seemed like a waste of space so we did a quick fix when we moved in and put two rows of basic dowel rods with a board on top. Auston uses the closet in our bedroom and I use the guest room's closet since obviously we have no room to share one - and we don't have many guests since our families live in the same town. The two rods are great, but I had intentionally cut my bottom one short so that my dresses could have room to hang. The dresser in my room was filled with t-shirts, workout clothes, and pjs, but I still needed somewhere to store my sweaters and some shoes - enter my first mini construction project.

5-Step Modern Farmhouse Wall Hooks

Has anyone else gotten the cold/flu that's been going around? Well this girl, who never gets sick, did. And it is anything but blog writing conducive. But nevertheless, I am on the mend and wanted to share this quick 20 minute project that helped make our room more functional.

I love robes. They're easy to slip on in the mornings or after I take a shower. Since we moved in October (wow, has it really been 4 months already?!), I have been keeping our robes on thumbtacks I stick in the wall. Literal thumb. tacks. They worked great for a while, but I was getting tired of them being difficult to hang things on, oh yeah and they're super ugly. I've been keeping my eye open for pretty hooks, but kept could never make up my mind. I decided to run to the Home Depot to see if they had any, and who would have thunk it, they had the perfect ones. They're a little less modern and more farmhouse than I thought they would turn out, but they still make life better. The project took 20 minutes and only cost $15 - worth it.

DIY Amber Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body Wash Bottles

Do you hate all the different colored bottles in your shower? I mean let's be serious, who actually likes all those weird colors and logos lining your tub or shower? If you do, I'm glad you do! But if you're like me, all those bottles get on your nerves. It feels like the least pretty way to keep your shampoos and body wash. On a podcast a while ago, I heard that the first thing Nate Berkus does when he gets new shampoo or conditioner is tear off the labels. I thought - that could solve my problem! But with my luck, the bottles I buy have the labels printed right on to the plastic... Meaning there was no taking them off.

Then I came across this post by on of my favorite bloggers, Almost Makes Perfect. I was like YES! You answer all my minimalistic style needs Molly! So I got all the materials and did the shampoo bottle diy. So here's a quick tutorial on how I did it - it only took $10, 30 mins, and minimal effort. I did 3 bottles for me, and 3 bottles for Auston. The actual bottles are SUPER cheap, like ¢70 a piece! Quick note: make sure the letters you get are vinyl so that they're waterproof!

Guest Room/Closet Mood Board

We've already had our first guests stay in the guest room over the holidays! Although the room wasn't in perfect shape, it was cozy and sleepable. But now that we're less busy and have gotten through the Christmas budget (right?!), I can finally get around to decorating it. This room is sort of odd because it functions as the guest and my closet. The house so far is very neutral grey, black, and whites, so I wanted this room to have a bit of color in it. Earth tones immediately came into my mind and I knew this is somewhere I could incorporate a color palette I've been loving: forest green, warm browns, and dusty pink. I'm thinking cabin meets mid-century modern. 

Frosting the Bathroom Windows for $15

Have you ever hopped out of your shower just to stare straight right at another person outside of the window? Well, we haven't either, but with our bathroom sharing a window with the car port, it was only a matter of time. Something had to be done to give us some privacy. I knew I didn't want a shade or anything fabric in there since we like really hot steamy showers, and blinds look a little tacky in this bathroom.

I mean you can clearly see in the picture below how easy it would be to catch someone at the wrong time and make things awkward. Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful that there is a window because it brings some much needed light into this dark tiled bathroom, we just had to skew the visibility. Then I came across this post from YoungHouseLove, outlining how they used frosted window film to solve their same issue.

Jonesville Ultimate Gift Guide 2016

We're so excited to spend our first Christmas as a married couple and in our own house! Even though it's still messy, not everything's unpacked, and there won't be an overflow of presents, we are still looking forward to spending time with each other and with our families.

Need a last minute gift, or stocking stuffer? Well, we've got you covered. We've got presents for the girls, the guys, the kids, and every home lover. The day where you can order something online and get it before Christmas is quickly coming up, so make sure to grab some of these great gifts before then! To see some other great gift guides, visit some of my favorites: ChrisLovesJulia, Yellow Brick Home, Young House Love, Emily Henderson, and House of Jade.

The One Room Challenge: The Reveals and My Bracket

For those of you who don't know, the One Room Challenge is a home renovation challenge for all bloggers that happens twice a year. Every season, the girl who runs the operation asks 20 bloggers to completely renovate one room, in real time, in 6 weeks. You can also be a Guest Participant by linking your posts on social media. I found out about this because one of my favorite blogs, Chris Loves Julia, was asked to be a participant for the first time. On their Podcast 6 weeks ago, they talked about how they should make a bracket for the Challenge. Obviously, this Challenge is not focused on winning and losing, but rather on making beautiful spaces. But after the first posts came about the spaces the bloggers were going to do and their mood boards, I made a bracket - for fun of course.

This has been one of the most fun aspects of the home DIY world I've found yet. Everything is filled with encouragement and inspiration even though there is a wide range of design styles. Yesterday was the last day of the 6 weeks - time for all the reveal posts! So I rounded up my 5 favorites out of the 20 and some reasons why they spoke to me/inspire me. Not necessarily the "best" because that is subjective, but the ones that aligned with my design style the most.


Chris Loves Julia. These guys weren't my favorite simply because they are my design soul mates, but because they created a space that was totally for kids and yet still had a stylish design. They turned their guest room into a room for their two daughters with these built in bunk beds and a reading nook, complete with a pink, green, gold, and black color palette. This inspires me because it shows that you don't have to sacrifice form for function, there is a perfect way to marry them.

Favorite Finds for Early November

I can't believe it's already November and we've been in our house for a 3 weeks! It seems like every day I have something to do after work and every weekend we're out, so I haven't gotten as much unpacked as I would like, but all in good time I guess. Our kitchen reveal went great and we love living in it. Keeping the shelves styled really isn't so bad, but Emily Henderson did a great video in the kitchen she just remodeled about how to style those open shelves and keep them looking great. 

On to other fun things for this week! Here are a few cute products that I've come across through the week as I look at things for the house. I am really itching to have a neon sign. I would probably put it in the guest room where I put my clothes and things to get ready. This white "Seize the Day" one is way too expensive for me, but I'll keep looking for a cute and less expensive one. The Voluspa candles are always amazing smelling, but this Burbon Vanilla one just sounds magical. I was browsing through Target the other day and saw these beautiful over the knee boots. I've been looking for a good flat boot to wear with dresses (and other things) this winter. You guys probably don't find the Floppy Disk art as cool as I do, but the inner geek in me is trying to find somewhere to put it in my house.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! We're headed on trip to Asheville so my SnapChat (@jonesvilleblog) will be filled with fun things.

"Seize the Day" Neon Sign | Voluspa Candle | Dip Dyed Candle Holder | Cone Ring Holder | Boots | Necklace Stand | Marble Utensil Holder | State Glasses | Brass Candle Holder | Floppy Disk Art

An Unexpected Problem: 17,000 Gallons Worth

Over the weekend, we had a huge unexpected problem hit our house. When I came home on Friday, I sat down to talk to Auston like usual when he says, "Don't freak out, but when I opened the water bill today, we went through 17,000 gallons of water last month." My mind went wild with the amount of money we would have to pay for the bill and for fixing it, how much time it would take us - I mean, he said don't freak out, but obviously that wasn't gonna stop me. Thankfully, he told me right away the bill was only $250, but that's more than our normal $50 and more than we had planned for. As soon as he saw the bill he started to look for where the leak was, turning off every pipe separately and checking the water meter to isolate the problem.

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If you haven't noticed, there have been no posts this week. That is because we have been installing our new vinyl tile kitchen floor! And guess what, it is finished and it looks awesome. I can not wait to share it with you guys on Monday. If you follow me on SnapChat (@jonesvilleblog) you have seen a sneak peak of it yesterday and I am going to share another one at 7pm tonight! Since the floor is done, all that is left is to put the cabinet doors back on with the hardware. Our plan is to do that today and tomorrow and move in this weekend!

This Inside Out Bedroom has given me some inspiration for the poster bed that we are getting via hand-me-down.  It's not nearly as modern as this black square one. Ours is a dark wood, almost cherry like, with tapering posts on the corners. I'm pinning alot of idea for DIYing a bedframe and headboard but I think we need to get into the house before we start thinking about that. 

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Did you guys see the new counter tops we had installed last week? They look awesome and we're excited about progress. This weekend we are going to finish prepping the kitchen floor and install the vinyl tile we picked up in this post. The only thing I have to decide on is what pattern looks the best. Staggered, straight, with the grains going the same way, or just random, and I can not make up my mind!

Fall is here and it is still hot in Georgia, which is pretty typical. All the girls are getting their Pumpkin Spice lattes and getting out their boots. Everyone is putting out their pumpkins, acorns, and leaves. I like Chris Love's Julia's post because she transitions her home into Autumn through subtle and not tacky changes. In her living room below, she changes out some colors, puts out some branches and acorns, and replaces greens with fall foliage. Stuff that feels like fall but doesn't make it tacky. This Apartment Therapy article on Subtle & Sophisticated ways to decorate your front entry is anything but subtle (haha!).

Favorite Finds for September

Our flooring situation has changed. The quote for the sheet vinyl came back with an insane prep and installation fee, so we decided to look for other options. We ran to Home Depot to return some things and decided to look at the vinyl tile. To our surprise we found this Carrara Marble vinyl tile that I fell in love with. My original kitchen mood board had wood flooring that I thought we could match to our hardwoods. But after we refinished them, we just could not find one that matched the beautiful grain that came out. That's when we decided to go to a local store and have them install some of their sheet vinyl. Unfortunately, they only had a medium gray tile that I could settle for even though I was looking for a white one. So when we came across this vinyl tile at Home Depot that we could install ourselves for 1/4 of the sheet vinly price, we immediately made a decision. Yesterday we leveled the floor underneath and are going to install it this weekend. Yayy! Wednesday we'll share our updated vents and outlets that we DIYed. P.S. There is a 30-50% off Home Sale at Macy's for 48 hours!

Since I don't have any new renovation pictures to share, here is a few cute items for the upcoming fall season. You can follow my Pinterest Favorite Finds board to see all the past items I've posted about and some that I will link to in future posts! I'm seriously envying the duvet for our new king bed and am going to DIY that awesome chalkboard art. The Rewind Champagne candle is one of the best smelling candles I've ever some across. They make candles in all kinds of wine scents and they smell crazy good.

Hand art / Candle /  Turkish rug / Basket / Rug /  Duvet /Throw 

 White Soap Dish / Black Soap Dish / Waste bin (silver version) 

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Update on our progress: today the electrician and Internet guys are at the house doing their thing. Yay for internet! The electrician is putting in an outlet in the full bathroom because it didn't have one (I don't know why). Next the counter guy can come and then the floor guy! Now for the usual other stuff for today.

This bathroom picture from Kate La Vie' post is giving me a bunch of inspiration for our half bath off of the master. When I think of tiling, like most people, I think of a straight edge where it meets the wall. But this picture blew my mind. Laying the tile in a herringbone pattern and leaving it unfinished gives the space a texture and a pattern at the same time.

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In case you haven't seen, Target is having a huge 30% off home items. I snagged this adjustable floor lamp that I have been eyeing for the living room and this double lamp for the office. Lamps are perhaps the best thing to happen to homes since electricity. Registries are such a wonderful thing becuase you can use them even after whatever event you got it for. I keep all ours we did from the wedding up to date just in case someone needs a birthday, Christmas, or whatever occasion gift idea. I love giving presents and I think registries are a great tool because you know you're getting something the person really wants.

Speaking of gifts, do you ever want to send someone a small, cute, personalized and inexpensive gift for any occasion? Greetabl is here to rescue you. They make a small box that you pick the pattern of, fill it with whatever gift at whatever price point you want, and then put in a personalized message and pictures. The gift giver in me is just jumping for joy. They have the best taste in patterns and gifts they offer, and give you great advice if you don't know what to write in your message.

Currently, I am dreaming about a cozy bedroom like this one from Room&Board. I usually don't like canopy beds, but this modern wood looks amazing in the fresh white room.

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Did you guys see our refinished harwood floors? They look better than we were expecting them to. This week we are putting the top coat on the kitchen cabinets and it feels like it is taking forever and a day with so many coats. This weekend we'll put the quarter-round down and hopefully start moving stuff in next week!

It was a struggle to find a brass kitchen faucet that wasn't $150-$200. So we settled for this Pfister High Arc one  in the Stainless Steel. At first I was really disappointed becuase it didn't align with the vision I had, but after reading this how to mix metals article, I feel like we can make it work. I also didn't realize that it has three spout settings, kind of like a shower, where it can be a full stream, power spray and eco rinse, so I'm actually kind of excited. The high arc was a big factor because the current sink has a short one that only hangs a few inches over the bowl, making it hard to wash dishes (which you really need when you don't have a dish washer). Here's a great example of a kitchen with mixed finishes that encompasses our brass hardware and silver faucet situation.

DIY Siracha Salt

Wedding Favors; something that is losing its appeal to Millennials, especially those not in the South. I was telling one of my friends who lives in New York what we did for our favors and she looked at me with a confused face. She had no idea that wedding favors were a thing! Speaking of, if you're one of the up and coming generation, make sure to brush up on these 10 Wedding Etiquette Rules, they are SO important (especially #2 and #9 because both happened on our day and it was frustrating). Not surprisingly, making the favors was one of the things I was most excited about. It may be because I love to give gifts, but it may be because I have a weird affinity for tiny glass jars. Other cute favor ideas we had were honey, candy, candles, soap. Usability/make-ability was a huge factor in picking what we wanted to do.

For our wedding favors I decided to make my own siracha salt and put it in little glass jars for everyone. I was back and forth on so many different options because I think favors are such a neat (and cute) way to say thank you to all of the people that have been supporting you. I wanted something that the guests could take with them but could also replicate. I went to a wedding a few years ago that had this amazing chocolate bark and I remember thinking, "This is awesome, but I want some more." We also wanted something guests wouldn't hate but also something that still reflected us as a couple. From what my family tells me, everyone loved them. So here is how I made the siracha salt; it is so simple that it is almost stupid. All ingredients I got from Walmart for under $6 and it makes a lot of salt. No matter what your cooking skills are, you can do this (as long as you don't forget to set a timer...).

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This week has been a slow but big week. We haven't been able to do any work on the house ourselves  (ergo, no progress posts) because the floor guys came to refinish our hardwoods! And you guys, they look so good already. After they stained it, they put the first top coat on the next day, and now are doing the second coat. I posted a sneak peak on my IstaStory the other day.

Just bought this sink for the kitchen on sale for $73 at Home Depot. We toyed with the idea of leaving the sink in that came with the house, but after putting some miles on it for a few weeks we decided just to go ahead and grab a new one. Sinks can get dang expensive if you're not careful, but we just couldn't do a stainless so we decided on an acrylic.

This bathroom is giving me all the inspiration (and impatience) for when we start renovating our full bathroom. It's hard to stick to one project when I have all these ideas and visions in my head, but I know I need to focus on one room at a time, for the room and our wallets sake. Or even just moving into the house would be a great step haha.

Some of my favorite home bloggers, Chris Loves Julia and Yellow Brick Home, started a series called "A Night In" where they share how their homes look at night time. They make a great point about how home bloggers always photograph their spaces in the light where everything looks perfect. But these guys are looking to shatter the notion that their lives are perfect by taking pictures without daylight, which I mean, they still look amazing without the light, but it's still a great series...

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Our kitchen has come to a standstill for a minute. We painted all of the cabinets with the colors and picked up the top coat at Home Depot a few days ago. It turns out that you don't want to finish white cabinets with Polyurathane because it will turn them yellow. Now we have to paint them again and then seal them again, hopefully with something clearer. The floor guy is coming next week to refinish the hardwoods and the kitchen vinyl guy will come whenever we finish repainting the cabinets. On a more exciting note, we got all of the hardware and the pendant light in! The hardware isn't as "brass-y" as I would like them to look, but they will do for a small budget. The pendant light looks like it's going to be awesome, we won't hang it until we're done painting. Enough about the house, let's get to some Fortune Cookie stuff.

When my interests shifted from fashion to more home decor/DIY, I started following different bloggers. Some blogs that I'm loving now: The Design Confidential, The Makerista, Hej Doll, Sarah Sherman Samuel, Becki Owens, H2 Design and Build, Happily Grey, and Wit and Delight. I tend to sway to the blogs/Instagrams that have a modern feel, but I also follow people who have really great DIY sites.

These black lamps that Mandi styled as wall lamps in this post are just everything. It's projects like these that give me hope that renovating a home can really be done on a budget while still getting the results that you want. It also helps me think out of the box when it comes to styling other pieces that you might only do one way. DIY giant macrame rope lights? Yes please. Mandi at Vintage Revivals has such a cute selection of DIY crafts, so make sure to take a look around.

This print. I just discovered Visual Pixie's Etsy store, and I want everything she has. The best part is that this print is only $8. It is actually a digital download, but you can take it to somewhere like Kinkos and have them blow it up for only a few dollars. Way better than spending $50-$100 on a piece of big art. Some other prints of hers I'm pining over are this one and this one. It is very important for us to not go to bed angry at each other, so having this on the wall would be a really great (and stylish) reminder. The personalized birthday would look perfect in a nursery. Word art is really making it's debut in homes because it give the room a voice that reinforces the mood. It also can just give you a little pick me up if you're having a bad day.