Design & Decor, Lifestyle

Gallery Wall Tutorial

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Gallery Wall Tutorial

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Hey friends! I’ve been wanting to share this with you for a long time so I’m really excited to finally have it put together for you! WHOOP! You guys! Let me start by giving my guy a shout out for putting up with all my little projects around the house! He measured out and hung 8 pics only for me to decide I wanted 12 so 99 holes in the wall later and our gallery is hung 👏🏻! Basically professionals now so we’re good to go for next time 😏riiiiiiight?!!

We used:

12 IKEA Ribba 50x70 frames
12 16x20 prints from Fujifilm Printlife
1   IKEA FIXA hanging kit

Our Process:

  1. FIND THE CENTRE : Measure your wall (both vertically and horizontally) to find your centre point.
  2. FIND YOUR HOOK HEIGHT : Measure from the top of the frame to the hook (ours measured 11cm)
  3. SPACE BETWEEN FRAMES : Decide how much space you want between your pictures! I’ve heard 2” is “perfect spacing” but we went with 3cm (1.18” to be exact)
  4. BREATHING ROOM : Now the math! 🙃 Wall height minus picture frames minus space between each pic = top and bottom size (space above and below your gallery wall) Take that number and divide by two.
    Ex. Wall height 256cm
 Picture Frames 70cm x 3 = 210cm
 Spacing between rows 3cm x 2 = 6cm     >>256cm - 201cm - 6cm = 40cm divided by 2 = 20cm on top & 20cm on bottom <<
  5. FIRST ROW : Take that number and add your number from step 2.
    Ex. 20cm + 11cm = 31cm
    This gives you your measurements for your first row. Add the size of the frame + your desired space between each frame for your second row of hooks and repeat again for your third row.
    Ex. Second row: 31cm + 70cm + 3cm = 104cm
    Ex. Third row: 104cm + 70 + 3cm = 177cm or just add 73cm between each row of hooks after the first row!
    I know it looks confusing AF you guys but I’m a perfectionist and in the end it’s honestly SO WORTH IT!!!
  6. Work outwards from your centre point. Our frames are 50cm across and we used a 3cm spacing. From our centre line to the right and left we measured 1.5cm + 25cm to place our first hooks. 26.5 to the left and right of the center line.
  7. Add your full frame size plus your spacing for your outside hooks!
    Ex. 50cm Frame + 3cm spacing = 53cm from your inside hooks to your outside hooks!
    Check your work with a level!
    ** we hung all the frames with wall anchors and screws **
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Once this step is done it’s safe for your spouse to return to the room 🙈🤪 in this case me! 😂 it’s all good we’re still married!

Choose which order you want your pictures in and hang them up! It’s okay to rearrange them until you’re happy! At this point it’s a minor detail!

**Pro tips!**
Use Command Pic Strips along the bottom to secure your pics from tipping especially if you’ve got wild children like us! 🙈
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Flip the matting that comes with the IKEA RIBBA frames for a brighter white look!

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TA-DA!  Would love to see what you come up with in your own spaces! Send me your pics! Thanks so much for following along and I promise I have some more exciting home projects in the works so stay tuned!

xoxo

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Design & Decor

From Drab To Fab With Lowe’s Canada

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Living Room Makeover For Less

  • Before
  • After

I think a lot of us see beautiful homes on Instagram, Pinterest, and TV and feel like we can’t have a beautiful home that we love because there isn’t enough money. Of course having an endless budget to spend on decorating your home would make things easier and faster, but unfortunately, last time I checked money doesn’t grow on trees. That doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of money to create a fabulous space for you and your family. Here’s how we made a BIG impact for less with Lowe’s Canada.

READ MORE…

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Design & Decor

Living Room Makeover

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For a long time, I have wanted to change up the colour of our living room and make a few other changes to brighten up our main living space. By a long time, I mean 7+ years so to say I was excited when the opportunity to parter with Benjamin Moore presented itself is an understatement.

I’d like to think I’m handy and can do it all but the truth is hubs is the handy to my creative. I get all these ideas and he is the one that really puts everything together. One thing I’ve always disliked about our house are the random brown feature walls all over the place. That was the first thing to go when planning our living room makeover. I started on painting the wall grey while Mike framed and created the top part of our built ins to extend to the ceiling. For full details on our renovation project you can check out this post here.

Primer

The entire surface required a light sand before we could begin priming the wall unit for paint. We used INSL-X STIX Primer to set the stage for the paint. STIX is the highest quality, waterborne, acrylic urethane primer/sealer. STIX can be used on almost any surface including PVC, plastic, fiberglass, metals, siding, tile, vinyl, glass, wood, plaster and drywall.

You know I like to keep it real with you guys… this stuff lives up to it’s name because it actually STICKS! We made the mistake of using a sprayer for this step. It was literally sticking inside the sprayer and ended up shooting out in chunks! * que the tears * and dust everywhere from having to sand the mess after. Probably should have read the part about it having an extremely hard film once cured. OOPS!

Would it really be a DIY home reno project if there wasn’t some kind of story that came from it tho?! Now that it’s all done and really does look better than either of us ever imagined we can have a good laugh at our little hiccup.

Paint

Now on to the paint! This is where I started happy dancing! We knew right away we wanted the unit to be white to carry over from our white kitchen. To make things easy in the future we went with Benjamin Moore ADVANCE Interior Paint Pearl in “Simply White”. There are SO many shades of white. After trying to match a few to our kitchen we just decided to go with one of their staple shades of white. You can check out their range of colours here.

Benjamin Moore ADVANCE Interior Paint was recommended by the helpful staff at their Langley Design Centre location. I took one of our kitchen drawers with me to match the finish on our living room built ins. Right away she assured me the Pearl sheen was what we wanted. She also offered a custom colour match like it was no big deal but we went ahead with the Simply White shade instead of always having a custom mix needed for touch ups or future projects. ( Yes hubs, there will be many more to come xoxo)

I really don’t know much about the specifics of paint but you can find all the features and info about their Advance line on their website here.

My jaw literally dropped when the painting was all done. I still can’t believe how much this has changed the whole feel of the space!

Thank you

Every step of the makeover has been SO exciting! Even the smallest changes have made me giddy because let’s be honest – progress is progress! The finished product is such a good reflection of what we both wanted. You guys, I can’t even. I’m literally ob-sessed with our new living room! A lot of our time at home is spent in the kitchen/living room. I can’t wait to create more memories here with our boys.

If you’re working on a project of your own you can find your local Benjamin Moore Retailer here. Thank you for following our makeover and hope you even found some inspiration of your own.

xoxo

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Baby, Design & Decor

Toy Storage DIY

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How We Created Our Toy Storage With These Six Things From Ikea

Toy storage is NO joke in this house. I know I'm not the only mom that struggles with where to put all the things these kids accumulate but seriously where does it all come from?!

I always get asked about our toy storage  so I thought I'd put together a quick post linking the exact items we used to keep things organized in at least one area of the house! (No, this is not sponsored or affiliated and neither are the links!)

I love a good ikea hack as much as the next person and well I also just love ikea! Is there even a better place to get storage for your kids and home?

What you'll need:

2 Ikea Trofast Frames (here)

Storage Boxes : (we used)

  • 6 Small Ikea Trofast Boxes (here)
  • 6 Medium Ikea Trofast Boxes (here)
  • 2 Large Ikea Trofast Boxes (here)

14 Trofast Lids (here)

1 Ikea Hemmahos Bench Pad (here)

1 Ikea Lappljung Ruta Cushion Cover (here)

I Ikea Inner Cushion (here)

Contact Paper or Peel and Stick Wall Paper (optional)

The rest basically does itself, get husband/bf/anyone but you to build the Trofast units because us moms have enough stuff to do without building ikea furniture. Line them up with the shortest ends together and insert your bins in whatever order you want them. You can use this picture as reference or can make your own configuration with whatever size bins suit your personal toy storage needs. Place the bench pad on the lowest level with the cushion and create a little reading nooky nook for your littles!

If you want to add a little customization like the marble detail on ours just use contact paper or I'm sure peel and stick wall paper would work the same.

I had left over from our play kitchen so that's what I used and I just ordered it off Amazon.

Thats it, that's all! Enjoy your new storage solution and send me a pic or tag me with your end result! I love seeing how everyone else's come together and how you've made it your own!

If you have any questions shoot me a dm, email or comment below and I'll get back to ya asap!

xoxo

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Baby, Design & Decor, Lifestyle

Toddler Room Reveal

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Cruz’s Bedroom Makeover

Before actually starting on Cruz’s room we spent quite a bit of time coming up with the design and deciding what pieces and brands we wanted to support in this project. My mind changed about 100 times but once it clicked the pieces really started coming together.

When I was pregnant with Cruz we did a couple minor projects to change up the room but as the younger sibling he got all Joey’s old furniture and room. I want make this room special and just for him. I put together a little vision board with products I love, inspiration I found on Pinterest and pieces I thought would make the whole room come together.

Where To Begin…

We decided to start with a blank canvas so we took everything off the walls, filled the holes, sanded the stripes and painted everything a nice bright white and by we I mean Mike (Thanks for being such a champ babe xo).

While on the painting I wanted to update Joey’s old dresser and make it a little more Cruz’s style. I spent way too long looking at paint swatches and decided to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey after my bestie recommended it. She recently had her crib and dresser painted with it and the result was amazing!

If you don’t know much about chalk paint it is the most versatile paint on the market, fun to use and EASY! You can mix colours together, lighten, darken, thicken or thin. You can use it as a wash or a dye. No need to sand or prime *hallelujah*! For furniture you need to seal the chalk paint with Annie Sloan wax. We used the clear wax but I might put a coat of white clear on top to give it a cool white wash effect.

To finish off the dresser we grabbed some chrome handles from Home Depot to give it a fresh new and modern look.


Custom Toddler House Bed

We didn’t think it was necessary to put Cruz into a twin size bed right away and there really isn’t much out there for cute crib sized toddler beds. When you can’t find something you like, you go custom and lucky for us Mikes best friend happens to have his own custom woodworks business.

I showed him a picture of exactly what I had in mind for the bed, sent him the measurements for the mattress and he got to work on it! It turned out better than I ever imagined.

We left one end of the bed open to make an easy transition from crib to floor bed. Cruz liked to snuggle up in the corner of his crib so this way we could put the open side against the wall to mimic his crib or we could leave it open for him to get in and out easily.

I painted the bed with the same Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey as the dresser. I picked up the metal letters at Michaels and got hubs to paint them black.  Braided bumper from @malia_mu is obviously an eye catcher! They are handmade by a local boss babe mama in Richmond BC. They can be customized in any size you need and colour combo!

Cloudy Days Wall Mural

I knew I wanted something more than just plain white walls. We previously had white and grey stripes on the wall and I was not sad to see them go. My search for inspo brought me to Rocky Mountain Decals. RMD is a Canadian company based in Ontario but don’t worry they ship world wide.

Once I laid eyes on their cloudy days wall mural my mind was made up! I HAD to have it! I think it adds just enough texture to the room while being subtle enough that I won’t get sick of it too soon.

This mural was custom cut to the measurements of Cruz’ room. Measure your space and then measure again to avoid any issues! It comes broken down in easily numbered strips. You start at the left side with piece number one and work your way over from top to bottom. These peel and stick murals will not damage your walls unlike other wall papers!


Toddler Bedding
with Beddys (bed.ease)

Seriously hit the bedding jackpot when we found Beddys Beds! You know when you have those “Why didn’t I think of that” moments? Well that was me with this bedding. Smartest and most convenient bedding ever and its not just for kids!

Beddys Beds are all one piece that cover your entire mattress and zip/unzip along both sides making it easy as 1,2,3 for your littles to make their own beds and never look messy! Another thing I love about Beddys is your kiddos stay cozy and tucked in all night. We chose the Lil Dash print because monochrome – obvi!



Decor

Kept things pretty minimalistic and of course monochrome as far as decor goes. Most of what is pictured we already had and realistically I’ll be changing up as I find new stuff I like better for the space. Have any decor favs? Help a gf out and keep me in the loop!

Saw something you like? Need to have it? Everything is linked below ->

Round Mirror | Pendant Light | Wall Mural | Toddler Bedding | Braid Bumper | Knot Pillow | Washable Rug | Play Campfire | Book Shelves | Picture Ledges

Thats it for now babes! Hope you like Cruzies new toddler room as much as he does!

xo

 

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Design & Decor

Master Bedroom Makeover

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Master Bedroom
Reveal

Let me start by saying this has been a long time coming! Mike and I traded in his one bedroom man cave for our family home when I was pregnant with Joey. Between moving into way more space and preparing for baby one thing that fell to the bottom of our priority list was our bedroom. In my mind it was a place no one would be spending anytime in except us anyways so we moved his old brown suede headboard and matching furniture in, and that’s where it stayed until now.

Over the years it got harder and harder (for me) to look at. The desire to have something that we picked out together and was just ours grew. After a while Mike was on board and the inspo and shopping began! 

Bedroom Furniture
w/ Structube

I love the way an upholstered headboard makes such a pretty statement in a bedroom. Our bedroom is pretty big so finding a headboard big enough that the main wall in the room wouldn’t swallow up was not easy. Once I laid eyes on the Versailles Bed from Structube I knew it was the one!

Catalina 3 drawer chest was next on the list. Instead of having two small night stands and a dresser we decided on two dressers to use as oversized night stands. We ordered some chrome pulls to add a little detail to the dressers and tie in with the studded headboard. They have just been discontinued but the Madison 3 drawer chest is very similar.

Tip: make a template of the drawers so your handles all line up perfectly. We also put masking tape over the surface before drilling the holes to prevent any cracking.

Bedding w/ Brooklinen

I love the feel of fresh new sheets. With all the pretty new pieces falling into place in our room new bedding seemed like a must! The decision was not easy because Brooklinen has SO many swoon worthy options. We got the All Season Down Comforter with the Twill Duvet Cover in white. For sheets we decided on the Luxe Core Sheet Set in Steel.

You guys, it honestly feels like a dream. No more lumpy duvet that feels like a paper thin sheet. Nights are way cozier with Brooklinen in our bed. They just released a new collection for kids called Brooklittles. I love the Fog Stripe Duvet cover + Sheet Set. Totally want to get them for Joey.

Feature Wall w/ Walls Need Love

One of the things I never liked that our builder did was paint a few walls a taupe brown colour and then painted the rest of the house a nice grey. One of those walls happened to be the “feature” wall in our master bedroom. Once our pretty new bed was in the room that brown wall HAD to go! I got hubs to paint it white and what a difference that made alone. Brightened it up so much!

As nice as that white wall was, it didn’t stand a chance once I found the Clara Wall Mural from Walls Need Love. *cue all the heart eyes* (Sorry hubs). The mural comes in numbered strips (we got the 8 panel). You start in the middle of the room with strips 4+5 and work your way out to the corners from top to bottom. Each strip took around 15-20 mins but I am super picky and have ocd so it had to be perfect. We also have two small windows on that wall so working around those made it a little more difficult.

Woah. What a beauty she is now! I’m completely obsessed with how it turned out and love so much that I have something so girly in my house full of boys. The Clara wall mural literally made my bedroom dreams come true.

Mirror and Lighting w/ Urban Barn

Every girl needs a full length ootd mirror. Keeping with my girly little oasis I picked up the Presley Floor Mirror from Urban Barn. Hubs and I both like a little bling so when it came to lighting we both decided on a chandelier from Urban Barn that unfortunately is no longer available on their site.

I could decorate every single room of our house at Urban barn. We also grabbed a white leather serving tray, decorative pillows ( here + here ), candle holders (here + here), faux flowers, mini frames and jewelry box.

Decor w/ Bouclair

Found this faux leather bench at Bouclair and knew it was the perfect addition at the end of the bed. It comes in white and grey. Bouclair also has the cutest decor for every room in your home. I grabbed this hilarious bath mat, vase, and storage baskets as well.

Orian Rugs

Finally we finished off the space with this 9×13 Seaborn Natural area rug from Orian Rugs. They have so many beautiful looking rugs that add texture to any space. I love the way this rug ties into the space while still stands out enough to be noticed.
Thank you so much for stopping by to check out our bedroom makeover! Some of the pieces featured in this post are sponsored but all opinions are my own.

I’ve link the shops IG pages below incase you need some design and decor inspo!

Brooklinen | Structube | Orian Rugs | Walls Need Love | Urban Barn | Bouclair

xo

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