Half-Bath Pallet Renovation Reveal!

This project is one that I helped my dad visualize.  I didn't do much of the work.  Long story short...Mom and Dad decided to move. (kept the house we grew up in for a rental) The new house is bigger, AND...an extremely well-built full brick ranch with a walk-out basement.  Their dream home.  Actually-mine too!  It's perfect and we all love it!  It's still close to where we are, where my older brother and his family are, and the old house.  It's great for holiday gatherings, has an open floor plan, and the basement is my dad's dream.  The old house had a basement but it was not functional.  More like a cellar to store canned goods and hide in when a tornado came.  It was frightful to say the least.  So, like I said, My dad did most of the work.  I just got the project going.  They moved last summer.  After having lived in one house for 25 years, you begin to acquire a bunch of crap!  So, Dad kept telling all of us that he wanted absolutely NOTHING!  He was a little burnt out if you catch my drift.  So, since his "man-cave" half bath in the basement boasted a pink sink and toilet, I decided to get him a faucet and a galvanized bucket for the sink.  And, yes, I meant to type that.  I was inspired by this...

Source

PERFECT!!!  So, for the "rustic" look, I went with this faucet from Home Depot.  It's expensive but it was his Christmas gift.  For the sink....I got him a bucket similar to the picturebbelow..  And we went through two of them.  On the first one when we drilled the hole, we cracked the bottom.  No worries, it's now the trash can.  We were more careful on the second one. We got the bucket from Rural King.  Be sure if you're doing this to use silicon to seal the bottom to prevent any leaks.

I had some left over river rock tile that we used for the sink top and back splash.  So, I did that.  He came up with the ideas for everything else.  Here are some before pics.

And, here are some after pics... that's the same vanity that was there.  Dad just used more pallets to redesign over it.  And he ripped out the adhesive tiles and put in a new ceramic tile floor!  I did the back splash and "vanity top".  And we did replace the pink toilet with a white one. :)  Dad completed the toilet by adding a deer seat for the man cave.  The TP and towel holders are antlers dad had laying around...and yes, there are lots and lots more of them!

The layout of that area is different.  Here are my "best" sketches to show you what he did.  And yes, he even used pallets on the ceiling and added a motion activated (outdoor) light to the man-cave outhouse!  My dad is amazing!  Wait until I show you what he did in our new house!!!

He spent days breaking pallets up...if you're going to do this...or something like this, be patient!!!
We are waiting on the picture to go in the window behind the toilet, and I'm in the process of making the mirror.  But I couldn't want to share.

DIY Toddler Storage Beds

I made these beds because the kids were lacking toy storage space in their shared room at our old house.  I checked Anna White's blog for some inspiration.  Here's what I knew:

*Needed space to store toys in the bed while keeping them organized.
*Needed to use the toddler mattresses we had (also the same size of a crib mattress).
*Needed to be able to position them in a particular corner (we were getting ready to list).
*Needed to utilize the corner space for; doll highchair, doll stroller, stuffed animals, and other items    didn't want out during showings.
*Needed space for Christmas Tree (yes, I know).

First, I found some clear storage bins with lids from Walmart that I could use.  (Store toys and keep them organized...check!)  Then there were some toys that I needed to store that were oddly shaped and needed open bins.  So, for this, I went to ULINE and they have TONS of things like this that aren't super expensive.  Here are the tubs from Walmart...

Next, design beds that will fit the maximum number of toy bins that wouldn't hog too much room and could still utilize the mattresses we had...so that's what I did.  I'm sure the guys at Home Depot were going to kill me when I showed them what I was building and how many cuts they'd need to make for me.  At least they were super nice about wanting to kill me I suppose.  So, after work I returned to the Depot to collect my lumber yard. Once I unloaded all of this I was overwhelmed....but that's okay.  I feel like this a lot.  Especially when I am in the middle of a project that seems to have no end...and you will too.  Guarantee it...just keep swimming!  OR...have a glass or two of wine and go back at it...both work well. Here's what I mean...

So on to building these bad boys.  First I made "boxes".  Not all had tops to them...not all had bottoms to them.  I was making this up as I went along according to my "drawing and plans"...lol!

This was the "middle tic-tac-toe" thingamajig I made.  Yes, very technical I know.  After those were done, I "framed" them in with what was the top and bottom of the beds.  

I also used little bun feet on the bottoms, and made the left over sides a little book shelf.  With some help from Mr. A2B I flipped them up and made sure my tubs fit.  Thank goodness they did.

I used 1x2's to "trim out the fronts of the beds.  And with the help of about 20 million tubes of caulk, wood filler, and sand paper I was ready to paint!  Here's the final product...

I did add rails so the monsters wouldn't fall out.  I didn't build them.  I took apart an old shelf that held baskets that we weren't using anymore, and made them work. :)

This picture was taken while I was building the back corner part, and before I filled all of the holes on the rails. Remember, I needed a place to store all of the space-hogging toys so we could show the house.  That's why the beds needed to go in this corner.  To label the tubs, I used my "DIY chalk board labels".  The Monsters actually put their toys away-where they belong.  Never in my life did I think that would happen.

And, here she is...in her Christmas decorated Glory!!!!

And there you have it... DIY Toddler Storage Beds!  When I look back at the pictures from the old house, I miss it.  I miss it a lot.  I spent 6 years turning a bachelor pad into a home for our family.  I constantly need to remind myself that Rome wasn't built in a day and if our old house took me 6 years, our new house will take me 12.  So, with that in mind I hope you plan on sticking around!  :)

Maybe this weekend I'll fill you in on some of the details of selling our home.  Looking back on that journey makes me feel blessed.  And who knows, maybe if you're thinking of selling or moving you could use some of our tips.

Have a great weekend!!!

Return to Awesomeness?!?

A long, long, time ago there was a girl with a blog.  Then, life got in the way and she lost track of time.  Before she knew it, days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years.  She had finished a log of DIY projects, finished an entire condo actually; packed it up, and moved into a "not-so-much-her style" home...and she's back at it again... ONE. DIY. PROJECT. AT. A TIME.

Yep, that's right...after a LOT of thinking and taking lots of things into consideration, one month short of a 2 year hiatus of blogging, I've decided to start this baby up again. I'm not posting every day.  I'll be lucky to actually post more than one post during the week and one during the weekend.  Nonetheless, I'll be posting this week so stay tuned for that.  I've also decided to clear-up all of the advertising on my blog as well.  I'm not blogging as a secondary income, and I'm not doing it to make money.  In fact-at least for the time being, there won't be any sponsored posts...just me keepin' it real. One creation at a time...or toddler happening.  They're getting pretty good these days.  So, I just wanted to let all of you know that I'm back to show you how things go From A to Being once again!

See you soon!