Fearless |

Fearless! Guest Post from Jessica at Four Generations One Roof

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Christy

Welcome to the second installment of our new series, Fearless! We’re excited to have Jessica, from Four Generations One Roof as our guest blogger. Her sofa project truly epitomizes what the Fearless! series is all about. Jessica, take it away!

**********************

Hello 11 Magnolia Lane readers! I am Jessica and I blog over at Four Generations One Roof. We are a crew of four generations that all live together under one roof and I happen to be the ring leader of our blog .

I was honored when the girls at 11 Magnolia Lane asked if I would like to be a part of their “Fearless” DIY series. I have to admit, I am kinda fearless. I don’t know why I am, I just am. I figure, how bad can a project turn out? My thought is if it’s that bad, I’ll just toss it and move on. One of my latest projects is probably the craziest thing I have ever done in my 39 years of existence. I cut my couch in half with a sawzall!

I needed a couch for a small space and this one was just about 2 feet too big. I really wanted to buy a new one but a new couch was not in the budget. One afternoon, I said to my dad and husband, “I’m going to cut that couch in half with a sawzall”. They literally laughed and told me I was crazy. That was all I needed, the challenge was on!

This was the end result:

My theory, just go for it! If it doesn’t work out, at least you tried Once I had the couch put back together, I reupholstered it with old curtains that I had. So what do you think? Would you cut your couch in half with a sawzall?

If you have a chance, hop over to Four Generations One Roof and check out the full tutorial post on how I cut this baby in half, as well as meet the rest of my family. It just occurred to me, living with four generations under one roof is also kind of fearless? HA! Would you do it? We are going on four years now!

Thanks so much to the 11 Magnolia Lane girls for inviting me to their home and including me in this fabulous series!

Not so fearless,

Jessica

*****************************

Jessica, thanks again for guest posting. Who would have thought to cut a sofa in half? But it looks amazing–I love that little porch area now.

Want more? Check out previous Fearless! posts HERE and HERE. Thanks for stopping by!

Posted in DIY, Fearless Series, Home Inspiration | Tagged diy, fearless, guest post, project, saw, sofa | 4 Comments

Fearless! Guest Post by Cristina at Remodelando la Casa

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Amy

Today we kick of our series of guest posts for our “Fearless” series that Christy wrote about HERE. As she said, we constantly hear from friends (and I know even I feel this way at times) that they are “afraid” to take on a home project because they don’t know how… or they might mess up… or that its just too overwhelming.

Well, probably the first guest that came to our minds for this series was Cristina from Remodelando la Casa.

Cristina

We are in awe of her fabulous home projects, and definitely think she embodies the “Fearless” DIY’er. She is here today sharing about her projects–and being a girl using power tools!

*****************************

Hi Magnolia Lane! Most of the time the mere words “power tools” makes us think of big, burlier guys doing heavy jobs with them– or at least of something that is mostly used by men.

I used to rely on my husband to do most of the repairs around the house, like changing light fixtures or repairing leaky faucets. But when I asked him about building a simple shelf, installing crown molding or wall frames there was no answer and he didn’t do it!

I wasn’t raised watching power tools in action. I never used them until I noticed my home was looking outdated (like about three years ago), it was then that I decided to take the task of home improvement into my own hands, beginning by giving those somewhat intimidating tools a try.

I began using his tools and to my amazement I began buying more myself. With them, I finished many small projects around the house, and I loved the feeling of empowerment that it gave me! I didn’t have to wait! I didn’t need help! I could do it myself … and it was so much fun!

My biggest project so far has been my kitchen.

With the kitchen, I was afraid I was going to take a bigger bite than I could possibly chew. That is where all those little projects I’ve done helped me realize that yes, it was something I could accomplish.

Like the first task in the kitchen: Building and attaching a shelf to the island, but with the proper tool it was quite easy.

I was ready to continue and I was not afraid to go on building a fridge enclosure or my own range hood.

I had never installed a backsplash or set tiles before but again, with the right tools that job was not that hard to complete.

Now I know that I can do most of the things I want to if you give me the right power tools!

I have continued updating my home, taking my time to learn, trying to get a new tool with each project, because I treat them like investment pieces that get paid for through doing the job. I also recently updated my Laundry room, where I had to put many of my tools at good use.

My latest “investment” has been buying a router, a tool I needed to complete a small bathroom makeover project. Here I am trying it out! As with any new tool, the excitement is enormous! Reading the instructions, being safe, and just putting it into action are the sure ways to go.

But the most important thing after safety I would say is …practice, practice, and more practice! Some power tools are surprisingly similar to things you use in the kitchen. That’s why I think any woman can handle them!

I am by far not an expert and I have a long road to keep on learning but in my opinion I like to leave you with the five most important power tools that every woman needs to do home improvements on her own.

Power Drill. You use it to install curtain hardware, to change door knobs, and in general the possibilities are endless– you must have at least one!
Power Sander. Us women like to finish furniture pieces and working with this power tool will shorten your work.
Compound Miter Saw. If you have follow me, you know I love moldings. Having a miter saw is just part of working with molding. It is also good for cutting narrow pieces of wood and very easy to handle.
Power Nailer. Talking about moldings, have you try to install them without having a power nailer? Just with simple nails and a hammer? I tried once and I couldn’t complete that task. A power nailer makes that job super easy.
Power Stapler. Again, we love decorating our homes and yes, we can see ourselves working on upholstery projects, right? This is the tool for that!

You can begin building your own set of tools, and at the same time you’ll begin building the confidence that you can tackle any home improvement because you have the right tool.

Not so fearless,

**********************

OK, we think she is pretty fearless. Thank you so much Cristina for stopping by Magnolia Lane today–and for all your inspiration. Make sure to visit her at Remodelando la Casa and see more of her amazing projects.

Posted in DIY, Home Inspiration | Tagged diy, fearless, guest post, power tools, project | 7 Comments

New “Fearless” Series at 11 Magnolia Lane!

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Christy

We’ve had such a great response from Terry’s healthy eating/meal planning In the Kitchen series (click on icon on the right sidebar for all the recipes), that we’ve decided to introduce a second series here at 11 Magnolia Lane. We’re going to call it, simply, “Fearless,” and it will showcase the absolutely-not-afraid projects of a variety of guest bloggers.

: One of my VERY fearless moments–taking a paintbrush to two dozen cherry cabinets!

Over time, one of the things that readers have mentioned to us repeatedly is that while they want to improve their home through do-it-yourself projects and decorating, they often get stuck because they’re scared. They’re afraid that they’ll hurt their home’s resale value, that they won’t be able to finish what they started, or that it won’t turn out like they envisioned it. I think we’ve all been there! Any DIY’er will tell you that in addition to her amazing, blog-worthy successes, there have been any number of epic fails. I still remember the time I spilled an entire gallon of bright-red paint all over the pristine white ceramic tile and grout in my powder room (this was years ago), or the time that I punched a hole in the drywall while attempting to pry off molding (only months ago). It even happens to the professionals, though.

I think the best advice I can give you is just to give it a try! Start with a smaller project, like painting a room. Worst case scenario, you hate the color and have to repaint it. I do that on a regular basis–paint is CHEAP! If you don’t know how to do something, call in an expert, watch how he or she does it, and then do it yourself the next time. That’s how I learned to rewire lighting fixtures and hang chandeliers. I wasn’t sure how painting my tile backsplash in my kitchen would work out–I couldn’t find a lot of information on whether the paint would stick or how it would hold up over time–but I realized that the backsplash had to go, either way, so I just decided to give it a try. Six months later, it’s holding up beautifully, and I’m so glad that I saved all that time, money, and effort that it would have taken to tear down the brown and put up white, just by pulling out my paintbrush and being fearless.

: Before–brown tile backsplash

: After–pristine white and perfect!

Go ahead, add a built-in! You CAN do it yourself, and what potential buyer will come to your house and say, “Oh, no, I can’t stand having all this extra storage!”?

: Make an Ikea bookcase look like custom, built-in storage shelves? Why not?!

So what if you put a pry bar through your drywall while you’re putting board and batten in your upstairs bathroom? You’ll learn to patch drywall (it’s not hard) and the end result will still be pretty, functional, and a definite improvement on where you started! Oh, and you’ll still have paid about a quarter of what a pro would charge you to do the same thing.

: This result was well worth a little suffering along the way!

We’re looking forward to showcasing the amazing efforts of some of the most fearless DIY’ers that blog-land has to offer, and hopefully they’ll inspire you that “you’ll never know until you try!”

{Do you have a project that you overcame your fear and tackled? Do you know of one that we should feature? Email us at 11Magnolialane@gmail.com and tell us about it and we may feature it!}

Thanks for stopping by!