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$20 diy painted drop cloth curtains

I’m still on the journey to finishing up my son’s room. He has really been on me lately to finish his room and I totally understand, because his sister’s has been done for sometime now and he is feeling some kind of way.

Now that the walls and stripes have been painted, drapes are up next. I shared my inspiration for dropcloth curtains awhile back while I was trying to decide on a curtain option that would go with the industrial chic look that he wants.

To make sure that I would like the look initially I purchased one dropcloth from Home Depot for $10 and used the leftover paint from his stripes. After I hung the first one, he liked it so I went back and got three more dropcloths.

Here is what you need to create these super easy no sew drop cloth curtains. This is what I used to create 4 panels

Supplies

4 6×9 Painters Dropcloth
Level
Painter’s Tape
2 pints of paint
Tape Measure
Small paint roller and pan (my set came from Dollar Tree)

Directions

First determine how large you want your stripe and measure using your tape.
Start painter’s tape at the height you desire. Use the level to make sure you keep the tape line straight as you work across the dropcloth
Once everything has been taped off, go back and smooth down the bottom of the tape where it meets the dropcloth to help minimize paint bleed into the areas you do not want painted
Now paint, give the roller a little pressure to ensure a good coat.
Right after you finish painting pull off the tape
PLEASE make sure you put something underneath as the paint will bleed through. We will be replacing the outdoor carpet in our sunroom so I didn’t care but please keep this in mind.

Once you get ready to hang you can alter the length by folding the top and securing with curtain rod ring clips. I still have to adjust the lengths of the panels and steam them so this is a very preliminary look at them. I have two more panels to hang and start hanging a few of his pictures. I’ll be back with that update hopefully before the month is out.

Here’s a peek from the hallway at the before and after.

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diy natural cleaners + free house cleaning printable

I would say a reasonable home goal would be to have your home in a state of daily tidiness that if someone were crazy enough to stop by without calling you wouldn’t have to leave them outside while you frantically threw items into closets and under the sofa.

I’ve finally gotten to a place where my house is well kept on a daily basis but it takes work. I found success when I created an actual cleaning schedule. After two weeks of following it, and forcing myself to complete each day’s task even when I didn’t feel like it , picking up daily has become so much easier. Feel free to download and print the cleaning shedule and see how it works for you. Don’t be afraid to tweak it to your needs but if you are like me and neatness missed you in the genetics department trust me, a schedule will do you some good.

Now that I am serious about my cleaning I’ve become more conscious of what chemicals are in our cleaning products. Not sure about you but I grew up in a home where Comet was about as American apple pie. As I got older I came across people who used diluted bleach to clean in the kitchen.

If you still use any of these in your kitchen no judgment passed but the more I learn about what chemicals are doing to our bodies and how they are affecting our health….for lack of better words, I just can’t.

For the past few months I’ve been using natural cleaners in my kitchen and while I was skeptical at first these cleaners have been doing a great job and I feel more comfortable using them on surfaces that come in contact with food.

The smell of vinegar when cleaning with natural products can be overwhelming. One of my line sisters told me about a lemon scented cleaning vinegar and it does a great job at masking the smell, another option would be to use regular white vinegar and add in essential oils instead.

When making these I highly suggest you pick up a funnel, it will make your life much easier. You can grab the spray bottles from Dollar Tree and funnels from IKEA.

If you would like to give these DIY natural cleaners a try here are the recipes for my favorite natural cleaners:

All Purpose Cleaner:

2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. dish soap

4 TBSP white vinegar

400 ml warm water

Add water first then the remaining ingredients into a spray bottle and shake. If you add the water last the vinegar and baking soda will fizz up and overflow so it is very important to put the water in first.

Granite Cleaner:

1/2 cup rubbing alcohol

8 drops of dish soap

2 cups of warm water

Combine all of the items in a spray bottle and shake well

Glass Cleaner

1/4 c rubbing alcohol

1/4 c white vinegar

1 TBSP cornstarch

2 c warm water

Combine all of the items in a spray bottle and shake well

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DIY

Organizing Mamas – Mud Room Closet Makeover | Update

So, today was the day I was to reveal my mud room closet that I showed you two weeks ago. Well the way my cold and non stop coughing the past week and a half was setup. In other words, I was sick and didn’t finish it.

I did however, manage to get it cleaned up before the cooties took me out. Now that I am trying to do better about making sure that I complete things that I start, I struggled through bagging everything up and taking it to the Goodwill that afternoon instead of wiping my hands of the mess, walking away and acting like the children when my husband would’ve asked who made this mess.

The struggle was so real once the kids got home, coming in and skipping down memory lane finding old things and trying to sneak them back into their rooms.

NOPE. I wasn’t having it.

After two hours I was done and I was proud of myself.

This week I plan to paint the inside and decide on another flooring option. I am also looking at boot trays and quietly weeping onto my keyboard when I see how much they cost but I’m pretty sure there will be one in there to collect wet shoes. Give me two more weeks and hopefully I’ll be back with a true reveal.

Now, head over and see what Tia has planned for her new bundle of joy’s nursery!

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Closet Makeover Reveal

My daughter’s closet had an extremely funky set up when we moved in. Instead of the bar running the length of the closet horizontally there were four small bars on the inside that ran horizontally if that makes sense. In the simplest of terms it was the absolute worst use of space, not to mention they left a raggedy built in drawer system that had to go.

This was the space looking straight into the closet. No bar, there were a few coat hooks there but I had already removed them before taking the photo….and sorry for the cell phone photos but I was in the mood to get it done so these were what I captured.

The inside walls were filthy and dinged up pretty bad. I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t give the inside a spackle and paint job. I had wall paint leftover so I used that. My husband didn’t understand because no one would see but I would know and that was enough for me to climb myself into that hot cramped space and paint. Thank goodness for low VOC paint.

After the paint dried I installed a metal tension rod designed for closet use that I picked up from Home Depot along with two closet rod brackets. I screwed the brackets into the studs and inserted the rod which I also screwed into the wall on each end to secure.

Years ago I purchased a $1 shelf from Ikea clearance that had just been laying around waiting to be put to good use. I affixed it to the top of the brackets and voila.

The baskets were gifted to me when Addison was born. They currently house hats, scarves and other accessories. The labels came from the dollar spot at Target.

I spray painted the hangers and the shoe rack gold. I purchased both from Walmart.

You can find tips on how to spray paint plastic hangers here.

I did leave one of the inside shelves intact to house hair bows and little knick knacks. The closet doesn’t currently have a light so I put this lamp in here that only I am allowed to turn on and off. I really only use it in the evening when picking out her clothes.

All of her hairbow/headband storage is from Dollar Tree. The headbands are just stuck into a mason jar. {I’ve since redone how I store her hair bows. See how I make use of Dollar Tree baskets to organizer her hair bows in one of her dresser drawers here }

To help her get herself ready in the mornings, I attached a command hook to the door where I put her clothes nightly and after breakfast she knows to go there to get her clothes for the day and put them on.

One project down, 3,098,193 to go…….

Have you done a closet makeover? Do you not love Dollar Tree for organizational supplies?

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