5 Painting Tips You Haven't Heard Before + Foyer & Formal Living Room Makeover

Painting a room is theeee best way to transform an area.  Period.  Sure, you can shell out thousands of dollars for someone else to do the work for you, but where's the joy in that?  The sense of accomplishment you feel when you've made your house into a home is something that can't be matched.  Sometimes I feel like it's even more fulfilling than changing diapers and doing dishes all day.  Which is probably why I spend many of my nights with a paintbrush in hand once the kids are in bed.  I get it, painting a room can be intimidating, let alone painting an entire house.  But it can be done!  And it can be done extremely well and on the cheap with these 5 painting tips you haven't heard before!  These are my tried and true tips that I use every. single. time. I paint a room.  Read on, my friends!

Welcome + Free Kitchen Conversions Printable

I never know how to start these things, so let's just dive right in. We bought our fixer-upper dream house in May 2015 and I've devoted myself to beautifying her one DIY project at a time (sometimes two or three...who am I kidding). After much badgering from family and friends, I've finally started this blog to post all my updates with step-by-step tutorials and tried-and-true product recommendations. Hopefully you can gain some insight, encouragement, and inspiration from my successful (and not-so-successful) projects!

 I like to work with what I have, so most of my projects are face lifts rather than renovations. With that being said, face lifts are an excellent and inexpensive way to breathe new life into something. Other than painting, adding framed art to a room is probably the cheapest face lift with the most dramatic effect. I like to peruse the picture frames every time I go thrifting, and I've developed quite a collection of sizes and styles over the months. At $0.50-$10 each, used picture frames are something that I like to stockpile because they're easy to customize and I always have a use for them. And sometimes they even come with an amazing picture! Check out this picture I scored for just $2!  The frame was an orangey oak color and the mat was marbled blue, but I easily changed it all with a little spray paint.  And bonus, it came with this gorgeous print of the Salt Lake City Temple signed by the original artist!

Never underestimate the power of a free printable!  One of my favorite ways to find art for my home is to scour Pinterest for free printables.  Printables will work best as an 8x10 size or smaller since that's the maximum size most home printers can handle. You can also use a mat with an 8x10 opening and mount it in a larger frame for more impact.  If you're cheap and artsy like me, you can also create your own printables from your favorite quotes and sayings using design software like Adobe Illustrator.  If I find a print on Etsy that I really like, or a free print that doesn't quite suit my needs, I will try to recreate it for my personal use.  

I recently found a kitchen printable I wanted to use that didn't fit my decor, so I created my own.  And lucky you, I've made it available as a free 5x7 AND 8x10 download!  Simply print it out, stick it in a frame, and slap it on your kitchen counter for quick and easy conversions when you need to tweak recipes.   

Free Kitchen Conversions Printable

More free printables, tutorials, before & afters, and product recommendations coming soon!  

xo Amanda