When you see them, it's too late. They can pass through walls unseen, entering and leaving a space that has cracks only as wide as a credit card. They are many, and they will travel far to find what they've come here for: food. They are termites. Termites don't care how hard you've worked to make Continue Reading
July 12, 2019
Clinton New House Tour
This is our "new" house in Clinton, TN! The house definitely needs some work. Lots of work. Though it was built in the 90's, it looks like a 70's Ranch. But the facade and finishes are not what I'm talking about when I say it needs work. It's full of oddities that make you wonder what the builder Continue Reading
July 7, 2019
Maryville House Tour – Master Bathroom
This is the project I saved for last. I didn't want to do a complete renovation but the master bathroom is the one room in the house that was completely dated. I hadn't done a single thing to this room and frankly, I didn't want to do that much work-- just to sell it. But the master bathroom is one Continue Reading
July 6, 2019
Maryville House Tour – Master Bedroom and Walk-in Closet
I designed and built the walk-in closet years ago and it's been an amazingly functional and enjoyable room ever since. The master bedroom is another story. We lived in this house for 8 years without doing anything to the master bedroom (except for moving the door over and stealing space for the Continue Reading
July 5, 2019
Maryville House Tour – Basement
When we first moved in, the 10' ceilings and spaciousness in the basement is one of the things we really liked. Originally, we had planned on having a home theater section, an extensive bar and maybe even kitchen area, in addition to room for our ping-pong and air hockey tables (both of which we Continue Reading
July 3, 2019
Maryville House Tour – Loft
When we bought the Maryville house, the loft was one big open space. The powder room existed as did the small closet that houses the heat pump (air handler thingy) on the other end of the room. The stairway walls were half walls and the room was carpeted with the same basic builder carpet that has Continue Reading
July 2, 2019
Maryville House Tour – Laundry Room, Home Office, Hallways
In today's tour, we're going to enter through the kitchen entry and explore all the rooms and spaces on the "Master Wing" side of the house -- except the Master Suite rooms. LOL There are a lot of rooms and spaces on this side of the house and we don't refer to it as the Master wing other than in Continue Reading
July 1, 2019
Maryville House Tour – Guest Wing
The hallway next to the built in bookshelf/dog-crate leads to the "guest wing", or "kids' rooms", depending on the situation of the home owner. In our case it was Madison's room, a guest bedroom and the jack and jill bathroom. There are three doors in this hallway. The door on the right leads Continue Reading
June 30, 2019
House Tour – Dining Room and Kitchen
Even though most of Richwood wasn't finished until we were ready to move, we've been able to enjoy our kitchen area for a couple years. It's been mostly done and functional for a long, long time. Madison and Wes gave me a little crap about it because it took me about five years to put on the doors Continue Reading
June 27, 2019
Maryville House Tour – Living Room
The living room was once a long, narrow, dark and segmented space. Now it feels open and inviting. Opening it up required some demolition which is always hard work but it had a big impact on the room. Living Room "Before" Living Room Tour Removing the giant coat closet and moving the Continue Reading
June 25, 2019
Maryville House Tour – Entry and Library
Let's get this house tour started! Enter through the front door and you're in the "Entry". It's a little hallway that opens up into the living room at the end. To the right is the library. Entry When we bought this house, the library was more closed off from the entry hallway. There was Continue Reading
June 16, 2019
Maryville House is Complete – and we survived!
It's been an 8 year journey, and now, finally, my Maryville house is finished, staged and on the market! And we're still alive!! Our goal was to get the house on the market by June. Julie and I worked feverishly for weeks on end to make it. We did push back the "video/photo shoot" -- twice. But, by Continue Reading
May 7, 2019
Wrapping Paper Storage Cabinet Plans
This wrapping paper storage cabinet is a simple build but it holds a lot of importance. It's a support for the craft island. It stores wrapping paper and it houses power outlets on both sides. Building a Wrapping Paper Cabinet I built my wrapping paper cabinet and attached it to a Continue Reading
May 6, 2019
The Ultimate Craft Room
My amazing craft room (that I will never use) is complete! This room has TONS of functional space with four designated work stations and more storage than a person will probably ever utilize. Craft Island The main section of the craft room has a large island the comfortably seats Continue Reading
April 8, 2019
Basement Bathroom Reveal
Another room is finished and I LOOOOVE it! And because I'm so excited to get moved out to our new property, I don't even care that it's another space that we never used after it became pretty. After finishing the renovation, we went shopping for a few essentials to stage the room. Now, instead of a Continue Reading
April 3, 2019
Basement Bedroom and Closet Tour
We're finishing rooms in this house and as we complete the renovation work, we're staging them for sale. The basement bedroom and closet are complete. Basement Bedroom If you don't remember, this bedroom and closet are what I had to tear apart because of the crappy plumbing in the main Continue Reading
March 20, 2019
Removing Tile and Thinset from Concrete
We decided the basement floors were something we had to update before we can sell this house. Which meant removing tile and thinset from the concrete foundation. This was difficult and dusty, but it was definitely a DIY'able task. Thank goodness for my good friend, Chelsey, who loves doing demo and Continue Reading
March 18, 2019
Grout Paint-it really works!
The basement bathroom floor looks SO MUCH BETTER after updating it with grout paint! It changed the whole look of the tile and now I don't hate the floors in that room. It was a pretty fast and inexpensive solution to changing some floors looked outdated and kind of ruined the vibe I was going for Continue Reading
March 13, 2019
Mobile Tool Storage Workbench
In the last few weeks, this mobile tool storage workbench has been a game changer (while I continue trying to finish renovating my house)! 'Cause I was about to lose it! I was constantly looking for the thing that I just set down for a second- while I grabbed something else! Now ALL my tools are Continue Reading
February 21, 2019
DIY Coat Rack of Reclaimed Wood and Recycled Chain
DIY coat rack made form scrap wood and found rusty chain. It can be hung vertically or horizontally and is so gorgeous it serves as functional art. DIY coat rack made with rustic wood and recycled chain. It is so pretty it becomes functional art. DIY Coat Rack Supply List: Scrap or Continue Reading
February 10, 2019
Exploring Wood finishings: Wood Dyes
Hello Sawdust Girl Readers! It's fellow SG Squad member, Timisha, from ToolBox Divas. Spring is almost here and I am starting to get that woodworking fever again. Can I be honest with you and tell you how hard it is to get things done when its 20 below outside. But that is quickly changing and I Continue Reading
February 4, 2019
Building the Dream – sooner than expected!
We did it! We purchased our DREAM Property! (And then some!!!) As I mentioned in my post, "Looking forward to the Future", we decided we need to move in order to "build our dream". We want land and I want a building instead of a garage, in which to grow my business. Obviously, I have to finish Continue Reading
January 30, 2019
How to Paint Plywood Edges
Previously I shared a post about how to paint MDF and get smooth edges. I wanted share a tutorial for painting plywood too. If you build with plywood with the intention of staining or clear-coating it, you would use edge banding. However, when painting plywood, edge banding is not necessary. You can Continue Reading
January 28, 2019
Kitchen Reveal
The kitchen is done! Five years and one back surgery later, I finally completed the kitchen renovation. You've seen a few sneak peeks as I've shared some kitchen cabinet tutorials. Today you get to see the whole room! I'll just say, it feels GOOD to be done!!! Real good. Kitchen Continue Reading
January 25, 2019
Sliding Cabinet Doors with Inset Track and Glides
When I built my coffee station hutch, I wanted sliding cabinet doors. It's surprisingly difficult to find hardware for that. Have you ever looked? In my workshop, I made sliding doors using bypass closet door hardware. Those wheels are exposed and not right for my kitchen. I needed something sleek. Continue Reading
January 23, 2019
Kitchen Island with Hidden Cabinet Doors
The kitchen is done but I have so many little detail "tutorials" that you're getting lots of snippets before the final reveal. Hope that's ok. Too bad if it's not. LOL Today I'm showing you how to have operable, inset cabinet doors, with no knobs or pulls. Just like the ones I have under my kitchen Continue Reading
January 21, 2019
Adding Decorative Legs to Cooktop Cabinet
I finished off my cooktop cabinet by adding decorative legs. This was always my intention and something I had to plan for when getting my granite pieces cut and installed five years ago. Back then, I had no idea what I would end up using as spacers, but I figured I'd find some kind of Continue Reading
January 17, 2019
Arthritis
Well guys, I am still working on my kitchen! It is taking a lot longer than I thought it would, or wanted it to. But, aside from chronic back pain, I have my health. All I can do is what I can do. After recently learning more about arthritis and how greatly it affects peoples' ability to do what Continue Reading