Recycled Organization: Paintbrushes

Who says you need to go buy fancy supplies to get yourself organized? Check out this simple upcycled paintbrush organizer!

Supplies:

- empty Kleenex box

- toilet paper rolls

- scissors

1. Cut off the top of the Kleenex box

 

2. Insert toilet paper rolls (quantity will vary depending on the size of your box)

3. Organize your paintbrushes (or any other supplies)

If you have a less than pretty Kleenex box to work with, just cover it with some attractive scrapbook or wrapping paper.

Project Cost: $0

Recycled Organization: Envelopes

Meet my envelope collection.

I have no idea what kinds of envelopes I have on hand! Do you have this problem as well? I decided to whip this shelf in to organized shape using these supplies that I had at home:

- a box (I used a 12 x 7 inch shoebox)
- file folders
- pencil
- ruler
- scissors

First I lined the shoebox up with the file folder. I wanted the tab part to stick up above the top of the box. Then I marked where the bottom of the box met the file folder.

I used a ruler to connect the marks, and cut along the line I had just made. I used the first file folder as a template for the other folders.

I wrote all the categories I wanted on the file folder tabs - pre-stamped, plain, adhesive, security, and miscellaneous.

And finally, I put the envelopes and dividers in the box! They fit perfectly!

 

So simple, yet so needed! I like this better than the boxes the envelopes came in because now I can see if I am running low on a certain type. It looks like I may need some plain envelopes in the near future.

Project Cost: $0!

Master Suite: Switching Electrical

When we decided to move our closet door, there were two electrical issues we needed to tend to. First was that the light switch would not be easily accessible from the new door, so it needed to be moved. Second, there was an outlet where the new door would be installed, so it needed to be moved over.

Neither my husband or I have any experience with electrical work, and we figured this would not be a good project to do on our own, so we called up my father, a retired electrical engineer, for assistance. He and my husband bought a huge spade drill bit, electrical boxes, electrical box covers, and some wire. After they turned off the power (very important step!), they tackled the outlet. (I wasn't there, so this is my best interpretation of what my husband says they did). They took it off of the stud it was connected to, added some wire because it was going a further distance, installed a junction box, and attached it to another stud along the wall. Next up, they drilled a series of holes in different studs to create a path for the wire to the new light switch. They created a very sophisticated tool using a wire hanger and some string to weave the wire from the original location to the new location. The thing about electrical is that you never really know if all your work was correct until you turn the power back on. This project was a success!

Project Cost: $25.16


On a related and unrelated note, I know I have mentioned before how some of the things in this house make me laugh. Add the electrical outlets to that list. Most of the outlets and switches in our house are white with white plates. However, the master bedroom had a mixture of ivory and white...like this:

Lovely, isn't it? There were some that had white plates and white switches, and there were some ivory plates with ivory switches. Basically it was a mixture of everything. I thought it looked terrible, and I wanted it to match the rest of the house (white on white).

First, I had to count how many white outlets, switches, and plates that we had, and how many we needed. Since my husband dabbled with electrical with my father, he was nominated to be the one to switch all of the outlets. It didn't take him much time at all. Basically, you look at the old outlet and match up the wires to the same places on the new outlet.

We did run in to a few snags. First, the outlet that was connected to a light switch was working, but not in connection with the light switch. We called up my dad and he said to check the little tab on the side of the outlet. On the old one, it had been taken off, and we needed to do the same to the new one. I guess it had something to do with the connection. Second, two of the outlets in the bathroom that he replaced were not working. One was one of those heavy duty ones that have a reset button. My husband took them back out and wiggled some wires around and got them all working. He is proud of himself to figuring all of the electrical out and I am happy to have matching outlets and plates!

Project Cost $66.79

Master Suite: DIY Linen Closet

One thing our new house was lacking was a linen closet. There is a small closet in the other upstairs  bathroom, but I wanted one by our master bathroom. When we remodeled the shower space in our master bathroom, we had to decide what to do with the empty space left behind were the old shower stall was.

Old Shower Stall

We decided it would be a good idea to put a linen closet with open shelving in that space. We knew it would be one of the last projects we tackled on the bathroom, so we had the contractors put up the drywall, but said we would do the rest.

Then I painted the walls with Olympic Paint's Sterling Silver and Blue Fjord in a semi-gloss. I also painted the ceiling with some white ceiling paint.

Then my hubby installed 3 shelves. We spaced them 18 inches from the top of the space. We really wanted to maximize the depth the space offered, so we bought 1 x 2 x 4 ft melamine shelves and cut them down to fit. I used an iron-on white melamine edge on the part of the shelves that would be facing out. It was really easy to put on. Next up, my husband installed brackets using drywall anchors and screws and made sure they were level all the way across. Finally, he put the shelves in and screwed them in to the brackets. These shelves are very sturdy! I plan to get some baskets for storage and eventually, my husband wants to build a laundry basket cabinet that slides under the bottom shelf. We love the storage space this has added to our bathroom!

Project Cost: $72.03

Master Suite: Tiling Newbie

The next big to do item on our master bathroom reno was the floor. Check out this dated, ugly linoleum floor:

Doesn't it just make you want to cringe? Me too! After our contractor fiasco, my husband decided to tackle this project on his own. He had never tiled before, so he attended a tiling class, watched a ton of YouTube videos, and did plenty of research beforehand. He made a list of what he needed and we headed to the hardware store.

We bought:

- tile - tile spacers - wet tile saw - mortar - square notch floor trowel - grout float - buckets - grout sealer - sponges

- fibatape - cement board - cement board screws - floor trowel - chalk reel - circular saw blade - drill bits - carpet edge - grout sand

- baseboards and shoes - wood putty - baseboard nails - wood glue - miter box - cherry moulding - white caulk - sandpaper

Apparently you need a lot of stuff to tile a floor! I was totally hands off on this project (and I apologize for my lack of pictures during the process!) First my hubby pulled up all of the old linoleum to expose the sub floor. Then he measured and put down concrete board with concrete screws. He filled in all the gaps between the concrete board with mortar, fibatape, and more mortar, all while making sure it was all staying level.

After that was dry, he laid out the tiles to figure out the most sensible arrangement (thought about different cuts he would have to make as well as making it aesthetically pleasing). Once he knew what the layout was going to be, he made straight lines with the chalk reel. Next up was putting down mortar, spreading it out with a square notched trowel, laying the tile down, and putting in tile spacers.

Once the tile was set, he filled it all in with grout sand. Next, he formed the grout and the grout lines (that signature slight dip down isn't automatically made apparently). Finally he cleaned the floor and sealed it.

That's the quick and dirty explanation of what he did. In reality, that all took place over a few weeks. He says he could have gotten it done in a week, but he only worked in the evenings after work and on the weekends. Plus in between putting down the concrete board and laying the tile, we decided to move our closet door. More on that later. In the mean time, I painted the walls in Olympic's Sterling Silver. Love it!

Next on the flooring list was to install the baseboards. I am all about reusing things around the house, but the baseboards in the bathroom were looking pretty dingy and we would have had to paint them anyway, so we opted to buy new.

We found these nifty miter boxes by the baseboards at the hardware store (my hubby wanted a table saw, but the miter boxes were a couple hundred dollars less, so they won). He measured, cut, and installed all the baseboards and shoes using some nails, wood filler, wood glue, and white caulk. I think they look so fresh and clean against the tile and new wall color.

After all the baseboards were installed, he could finally put the toilet back! The only issue he ran in to was that the tile floor was higher up than the old floor, so he had to get some longer floor bolts.

 

 (see my beautifully spray painted toilet paper holder!)

And finally, we needed a transition between the carpet in our bedroom and the new tile in the bathroom. There used to be an ugly gold transition, but we thought a pewter one would look better: 

 We love how it turned out and now my husband can't wait to tile our other full bath.

Before

After

Project Cost $727.54

Master Suite: A Little Bit of Spray Paint

This house that we bought makes me laugh sometimes. A lot of it doesn't match. For instance, our master bathroom has a gold toilet paper holder, gold hand towel rod, gold light fixture, and then a silver bath towel rod. Some people, like my husband, wouldn't notice this. But the OCD in me couldn't stand it. Plus, I wanted to get towel rods and fixtures that matched the Oil Rubbed Bronze on our new shower. We had already dished out plenty of money on the shower, so I went looking at the towel rods in our other bathrooms. Our other full bath has all silver towel rods and light, but our half bath has oil rubbed bronze. Perfect! We will just take the rods from the half bath and put them in the master bath. So my husband took them all out and we were ready to switch them around.

When I brought the gold ones in to the half bath, I looked at the light fixture and realized the pattern on the oil rubbed bronze rods matches the light fixture, so we would be separating a set. I reminded my husband that he loves me and broke the news. Being the amazing guy that he is, he patched up the walls in the half bath and put the oil rubbed bronze towel rod and toilet paper holder back on the wall. Did I mention he is amazing?

Still refusing to pay for new towel rods in the master bathroom, I went pinteresting (is that a word?). I came across numerous pins where people used Rustoleum's Oil Rubbed Bronze Universal Metallic Spray Paint. Genius! One can only cost me $5.77. So much cheaper than new towel rods!

So I cleaned up the towel rod, toilet paper holder and light fixture and spray painted away! It took me about 1.5 cans to cover all three items. I am loving how they turned out!

 

 

 

Project Cost - $11.54