When you think of a Shiplap, Sharpie is probably not the first thing to come to mind! However, this faux Sharpie Shiplap wall is seriously my new obsession. Budget options I wanted to do something visually interesting to my wall, but it had to meet two criteria: be simple and be very inexpensive. This ultimately ruled out a shiplap wall, however my heart was still intent on it, so I started brainstorming. A follower of mine on Instagram messaged me a few weeks ago asking me if i’ve heard of Sharpie wall designs. Apparently it’s a new thing and stenciling with a permanent marker is in..I was unamused. Until I realized I could do this with shiplap. A quick Pinterest search showed me that other home DIY’er had done this! There were a few tutorials out there, but nothing real simple, so I just winged it. Now I have a SUPER simple tutorial for you! Instructions for DIY faux Sharpie Shiplap wall: Items needed:– Oil Pen Black Sharpie in medium tip– Level– Straight edge (ruler or yardstick work)– Tape measure– Pencil I started by measuring from the top of the wall down, marking with pencil every 7 inches. I did this every 12″ horizontally across the wall. (however if you have a long level or yard stick you can do every 24″ across) I then started at the top again and lined up my ruler and level with the measurement marks. I lightly traced a line across the wall. I […]
How to decorate your patio on a budget
As an interior designer, you’d think that designing outdoor spaces would be easy for me. hint hint it’s not! Decorating patios, decks, outdoor living spaces..it’s a whole new ballgame and it’s not the simplest. One of the main reasons my deck sat vacant for 8 months after I moved it was because I had no idea what to do with it and even more than that, I couldn’t afford to make it look nice. That’s what I thought at least! Outdoor furniture is so expensive…am I the only one who is always stick shocked by how much an outdoor sofa is? However this year, I decided to do what I can with what I have and stretch my dollar far to make my deck useable and cute! I learned a lot while I was piecing it together and ended up transforming my deck for under $50. Now I want to share some thrifty ways I did this with you! Don’t break the bank! : Prioritize money If you have a budget, no matter how small, prioritize the bulk of the cash towards furniture. Furniture is the base of the space (obviously) and even if all you can afford this season is a new set of chairs, you can still bank on that and thrift for the accessories. I use 75% of my funds for furniture and then 25% for decor. : Lighting Maybe your house is like mine – there is one dingey outdoor light from 1985 that gives off […]
How I doubled my email list doing one simple thing
Okay, so doubling an email list doesn’t sound fun, nor does it sound simple. A few months ago, my email list was growing steadily, but very slowly. I was gaining only a few new subscribers a week, and really thought this is the best it could be for a small blog like mine. WRONG. Why is an email list even important? If you don’t know why an email list is important, or you don’t care about yours, you probably wouldn’t have clicked on the link to read this blog post. But hey, I’ll fill you in real quick on why it’s sooo important to have an email list. Regardless if you have a blog just for fun, or you are running a business, email is the only true and safe way to contact or market to your potential customers/readers. You (and everyone else) don’t own their social media accounts. Instagram could be gone tomorrow, you could get shadow-banned for a week, hacked and have to start over, or all of your customers could leave the app – you literally can’t control it. Then what? You can’t rely on something you have no control over. If I stopped using Facebook and Instagram, I’d still be able to connect to many of my followers because so many of them signed up for my email list. Make sense? How I doubled it. First off, I will not sit here and type out a lie. I did not have a huge email list to […]
The only list you need to follow for life in your twenties.
If you didn’t know me better, what you’re about to read may seem like a rant. That is not the case. In fact, I wrote this as a liberation for all my fellow 20-somethings out there to stop putting rules on their life. Let me explain. It seemed that as soon as I hit my 20’s I was inundated by articles popping up everywhere that were titled What you should be doing by 25, What I wish I had done in my 20’s, If you don’t do this in your 20’s you’re going to regret x,y,z.. and so on and so forth. I use to read them and soak them all in. I mean I was in my early 20’s and reading them felt like I was getting some much needed direction in my directionless world, right? Wrong. You could argue that if I just had direction and knew what I was doing, or even simply stopped reading these articles that this issue wouldn’t even be an issue. The thing is, it’s deeper than that. It’s not the fact that I couldn’t stop reading them or that Chrome knew I read them so they kept flooding my browser with more daily..it’s bigger than that. Most 20 something’s don’t know what they are doing. They don’t have a clear direction, and for some reason the world acts like this is a crisis, when it’s just human nature. At 18 you are forced to make a decision about what you want to […]
50 ways you can be more eco-friendly right now.
With today being Earth Day, I can’t think of a better time to spear head an eco-friendly lifestyle change. I understand fully how overwhelming it can be to want to be green, reduce your environmental impact and not know where to start. Honestly a few years ago the only thing I knew I could do was recycle…but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I made this list of 50 things you can start today, tomorrow, & this week that will help. At first it may seem like you have to remind yourself of these things often, but after just a little bit of routine practice, it will become second nature. Reduce your environmental impact right now with these changes. Before you finish reading this..would you do me a favor? Share this. Email it to a friend, share it on Instagram, Facebook, Linked-in…or Pin it on Pinterest so others can reference it later. That’s how was make change, by spreading the word! Be a conscious consumer support companies that are eco-friendly (here are 7 you may not know about!) If you buy new, buy products that will last for a very long time. Think glass bottles, not plastic, and clothing made from sustainable resources Simple buy less – before you buy something, ask yourself if it’s truly a need, and if it’s not, think about the impact of that product. Buy used – everything from used cars, furniture and clothing. This even means adopting a rescue dog, not shopping from […]
