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Wow! I can’t thank you all enough for all the positive feedback from all our recent home post! It’s so nice to hear after all our hard work. One specific area that we’ve heard the most about is the board and batten in our dining room (and kitchen). So we figured why not share with you just how we transformed the space. I swear this board and batten was the best decision we’ve made when it comes to a room transformation. And I think it was pretty easy to do. But let’s be honest guys I didn’t do any of it. So let me turn it over the the man that makes all the makeover magic happen and all my crazy creative dreams come true.

Hey hey! I hope you’re not getting bored with me and my italicized font because I’m having a ball writing to you all. 

So let’s talk about board and batten. In a previous post (which you can read here) I talked about how I added board and batten to our kitchen – but my favorite project of all is our dining room. Here I created what I call a “double decker” – a 4ft vertical board and batten with a 8in crown. It’s more traditional, yet chic with its vibrant bright white color and striking appearance that not only takes over the dining room, but the adjacent living room. It truly takes your breath away…if you’re into this sorta thing. 

I’m sure you’re wondering how I created it, and lucky for you, I’m sharing a little bit about that. First I began taking inventory of the millwork (wood) I would need for the entire space. I already had the new baseboards installed so there was only a need for the vertical boards and horizontal chair rail and top cap. I took the height of our base board (5.5in) and and height of the chair rail board (3.5in) and subtracted that from 48in (4ft) to get 39in, the approximate height needed for the vertical boards. I then measured each wall in feet and divided divided by 2 – the math here is this: take the total footage and divide by two to calculate how many boards you will need if you’re installing every 2ft. If you want a wider board and batten, divide footage by 3 to space out every 3 ft. PLEASE NOTE: for a finished look add an additional 2 vertical pieces for the corner of each wall (you’ll see why in the pics).

Given the height I went with 8ft boards, which gave me 2 vertical slats and enough left over material to complete my vertical slats on the crown. 

Once I was back from Home Depot (the only place I shop for home supplies), I began measuring each wall from the floor to 4ft and marking every 2ft or so. Taking my large level I struck a line across the wall – this would be the line where the top of my chair rail would align. I then made a few marks every 2ft for my vertical slats to be place – may want to get another set of hands for this step as measuring tapes can be flimsy when measuring a large wall. 

Once everything was marked, I took my chair rail board and cut to size for each wall. NOTE: I like to cut the ends at 90 degrees for a tight fit, and when complete, caulk for a finished look. Taking my brad nailer (I have both cordless and air powered) I installed my chair rail piece by piece across the entire room. 

Now came the time to measure and install the vertical slats. Our home is a 1950 bungalow, which means NOTHING is level unless I’ve made it that way. Being as particular as I am I made sure that even 1/16 of an inch was accounted for in each piece for a very tight fit. I measured each board individually, cut, installed and repeated throughout the room. 

Repeat the process for adding a crown. 

Caulk each seam whether it be wood or wall, and fill each nail hole with wood puddy. This will create a polished final product. Sand the puddy after it’s dry (usually an hour or so), vacuum up all of the debris and it’s time to paint!

And that’ pretty much does it. I could go at great lengths about these topics, but it gets boring to read. So if you have questions please reach out! Always happy to help.

enjoy

much love-

danielle (and michael)

xoxo

Here we are in week two of our Tuesday Transformations. This week you get a two for one as we are sharing the two rooms that our boys occupy the most: their shared bedroom and playroom. The boys room went from the previous owner’s double girls shared space to their own and our playroom started as an office space that we quickly transformed into a creative getaway for our boys. In both rooms we added some simple touches to give them additional character and uniqueness to the space.

PAINT – As you might have guessed we started this adventure with paint to add calmer vibes to each room. In the boys bedroom we went with a gray that has a slight shade of blue, whereas in the playroom we stuck with a gray that is slightly brighter.

STORAGE – both spaces needed places to keep things (toys, books, stuffed animals…you get the idea). With the boys bedroom we went with fun baskets and built-ins inside their closet space. One set of baskets allowed for us to keep all their favorite stuffed animals that make it in and out of their beds and pretend play while another set of baskets we set up to store books that we constantly rotate. In the playroom we went with lots of built in storage. We used Ikea shelving and Land of Nod baskets to help keep all toys organized. You can read all about our playroom makeover here!

Another storage idea we implemented was our bookshelves. This is a super easy how-to that Michael whipped up for me when we first had Enzo. I’ll let him share with you how to get your very own gutter bookshelves too!

Ok, so it’s really simple (I can’t take credit for being a genius with this one). We purchased 8ft vinyl gutters and 3 sets of gutter end caps from Home Depot. Once we unloaded into the garage, I measured the wall in which these gutters would be installed – for us, the length we chose was 5ft to allow for curtains on the opposite wall and a piece of artwork next to the shelving. 

Note: You want to make anything you hang on walls feel as if they truly belong – and anything that belongs needs space to breathe. So always allow some room!

I then measured the first gutter and cut using my mitre saw. It made a bit of a mess, so be prepared to sweep up some vinyl shreds. And wear a mask! Repeat for each shelf.

Using a large level I marked my top lines for each shelf with a pencil.

Another note: you can erase these lines using a Mr. Clean magic eraser…it truly is magical.

Next step, I took my stud finder and marked all studs that fell within the width of the shelves. With the help of my assistant I pre-drilled holes on each end of the shelves and attached with 2.5in drywall screws and washers. Repeat that step to attach to each stud you’ve located…then repeat for each shelf. And once attached, place the end caps, vacuum/wipe down the inside and outside of each shelf and place books. 

WALL MURALS – ok I know the sound of this can feel daunting or even like a major commitment but I’ve found the perfect solution: Pixers! All their wall murals are self-adhesive! So if you change your mind about your space or want to redesign it talk about easy removal! Both spaces have fun murals to add character to the space – our personal favorite is this one from the boys bedroom!

ARTWORK – No room can ever feel complete without some kind of art! At least that’s how I feel. In the boys room we found a fun sign that talks about brotherhood and a ruler to measure their sizes throughout the years. And in the playroom we have artwork tied to story books and their zodiac signs!

LIGHTING – this is the last thing we added to the space to give one more layer. In the boys bedroom we decided on two table lamps. The slanted ceiling made it difficult to find over head lighting work the way I wanted to. The table lamps gave the room additional charm and we paired this with a Phillips Hue LED light strip that has been perfect for a night light and the fact that it changes colors makes it an overall win in our house. In the playroom we added a gold chandelier. I love how it provides chic feel to a completely toy filled space!

enjoy!

much love,

danielle (and michael;)

xoxo

So here we are at the end of August and it’s been a minute since I last posted on here. Needless to say life has lead us down some new paths these past few weeks, but all for the better. I’ll get into more of that later, but for now I want to talk to you all about our kitchen. As a foodie having a kitchen space I love was for sure high on my wishlist when hunting for a house. But as with every house hunt not every wish is granted. So you’ve got to make the best of what you’ve got. Today we are here to show you just how we did that.

Here’s a look at what our galley kitchen looked like on our walk-thru when we first decided to buy our home. My first thoughts were “this kitchen is closed-in and dark, who wants to cook in here?”

Well with just a few adjustments we’ve turned what felt like a boring galley kitchen into a bright open space! Let’s take a look at some before and afters shots and how we made the magic happen!

The first thing we did to help lighten the space was open up the entry wall and change the flooring. Yes, I am not going to lie this was a HUGE task. Michael can share some details with you on how he made that happen!

So…this wasn’t my first rodeo. As some of you may already know I used to build custom homes and have retained the skills and passion. The first thing I did was open the wall between the kitchen and dining area. This served two main purposes – allow for more light from windows on opposite walls, and make room for a large refrigerator doors to swing into the dining room when opened. Once the wall was opened and framed, I began tearing up the old floors…and it took what seemed like forever. There was a shotty layer of laminate tile, followed by 2 layers of sub flooring. And because we did not want to remove any of the cabinetry to rip up the floors I had to cut out around each cabinet and tear away from there. Fun times. 

Once we had these two big projects done it was time to add some open shelving. We went with open shelving on the opposite side of the cabinets (on the refrigerator wall) to make the space appear larger and more open. Plus the practicality to open shelving allowed us to house cook books (my favorite),fresh fruit and vegetables and a larger bottom shelf to house our microwave. Some personal touches include vintage storage containers from both of our grandmothers in green and we wanted to be able to showcase these!

To help lighten the space we decided to paint the room white. We went with a white paint from Behr called Frost that has slight gray undertone to help pull in our color palette with flooring and the dining room area.

Finally, we wrapped up the space with custom board and batten with a large vertical chalk board. I am going to turn this one over to Michael again to give you a little more detail regarding how he made the chalkboard appear built-in amongst the board and pattern.

Board and batten is a great way to draw the eye to a space and create a glamorous finish. I first measured the space (and per usual, added an additional 10% to account for error) to ensure I purchased enough product. For this space I used 2.5 inch pre-finished MDF board, a size typically used for window casing (yup, we used the same material on all of the windows throughout our home). The vertical MDF is a hair thinner than our 5.5 inch pre-finished base boards throughout the house, adding additional depth to the space. 

Before I installed the trim we went hunting for a chalk board. Actually, that is a lie. We stumbled upon it randomly at Home Goods and knew it was perfect for the space. When we brought it home I went to work on customizing it for a flush mount installation. There were 3 horizontal boards on the backside, serving as braces for the piece. I removed those, predrilled 6 holes for screws with a small bit and followed with a larger bit to allow for the screws to be counter-sunk. Danielle and I then leveled the chalk board and mounted on the wall.

Once the chalk board was installed I created a base line and began installing the horizontal board and batten on each wall. Taking a quick step back – I wanted to ensure the hight of the top board would allow the lowest of the open shelves to sit on the edge when installed. It’s just the added touch that we wanted. So, back to it. Once the horizontal board was installed I began measuring out the vertical boards and installed from there with my brad nailer. Filled the holes with white wood puddy, caulked every edge, sanded and painted with Behr Ultra Pure White paint. It turned out pretty rad and dramatically transformed the space!

So there you have it. That’s how we transformed our galley sized kitchen into a more spacious kitchen! Stay tuned for Tuesday next week as we share how we transformed another part of our house.

much love,

Danielle (and Michael)

xoxo

Today, I want to talk about a topic that has becomesensitive and heated all around the parenting community but one that I feel is truly important to talk about. Vaccinations. Yes, we vaccinate our kids and I want to tell you why. I’ve partnered with I Vaccinate to share my story with you today, so I urge you to hangout and read on because we each have stories to share and this one I feel is worth the read.

When we first found out we were going to become parents our emotions ran high! Wow, we were really going to be adding new life to this world. Life that we are fully responsible to raising, teaching, educating and showing the world to them. We were going to be the first to teach them wrong from right, protect them from harm and do everything in our power to make them into good human beings. What an incredible job. With this exciting news came all kinds of wild overwhelming emotions and feelings. How were we going to do this? Were we ready? Could we really be good parents? What are the best things out there for our little dude that we need?

Some of these things just fell into place. You learn along the way how to parent and what you can and cannot do during pregnancy. While other things involve a little more work. So like the good student I have always been I started to do my research on anything and everything baby and pregnancy related.

Here’s a little side note, one thing you should know about me is I am a little hypochondriac…like I might diagnose myself or others more often than and should ????. With that being said, my personal journey of adulthood has taught me that the internet is and can be a scary place, especially when it comes to researching touchy subjects. You can find out all kinds of information, yet how reliable is the information you’re finding? The internet has become a wonderful place for people to voice their opinion and share their alternative facts that they claim to be true. Through life I’ve learned that you’ve got to use reliable sources and sites that have ‘real facts’ and ‘real research’ not just research that gets the answer you want to hear. Just because it says it has been researched doesn’t mean that it is true. When it comes to looking up medical information I’ve learned you need to rely on credible sources and medical journals to form educated decisions; and opinions.

One of the first things we looked into was vaccinations. The first question was clearly do we or don’t we vaccinate Enzo and why? I still remember thinking are we really going to stick needles into my very tiny baby as soon as he’s born. Is this the right decision? What are vaccine effects? Are vaccinations safe? My questions went on and on.

Here’s a little bit about the answers I uncovered to my questions. Are vaccinations safe? The answer to that question is yes, they are safe and yes there can be side effects as with any medication you are given. Although vaccinations go through years of clinical and research based studies before they are even come out for the public to use, all vaccinations contain antigens. Antigens tell the body to create antibodies in the immune system. Every single day we are exposed to thousands of antigens and a healthy human’s body fights off millions of antigens. So the thought of putting antigens into you little baby might seem crazy at first but in reality you’re truly helping them out. Let me just give you a small example: if your child is exposed to strep throat they have at least 25 to 50 antigens right there compared to their two month visit of vaccinations infants are exposed to 54 antigens helping to protect against 5 different illnesses, DTaP, IPV, HepB, Hib, and rotavirus vaccines.

Can you still get the disease once vaccinated? The answer to that question is yes your child could still get the disease. However, this is very uncommon.

Can you delay or spread out the vaccinations? Yes. While there is no evidence that delaying or spreading out any vaccinations make it safer than the CDC recommended schedule, you can do it.  But they do give you a time frame in which you can get vaccinations so if it’s just too much to have you’re little one poked that many times in one visit, you can spread it out. Although from my personal experience it’s just better to get everything out of the way at once. You only have to listen to one set of tears.

The next thing we looked into was links between SIDS and autism with Vaccinations. There is in fact a link between SIDS vaccines decreasing the risk of SIDS by 50%! Where there is absolutely no links whatsoever between vaccinations and autism. The amount of studies we read proving no links ever existed was beyond overwhelming. Take a look here.

We vaccinate both our boys because we have educated ourselves on everything! We rely on experts in the medical field to educate us with the research they’ve done and facts that they’ve discovered. I know this parenting gig isn’t the easiest. In fact it’s the hardest job I have ever taken on. But as a mom I wanted to share with you my overwhelming feelings towards keeping our community safe, and most importantly, keeping my crew safe. I can still remember bringing Enzo home from the hospital on a freezing cold January day in Chicago and feeling so incredibly grateful. Followed by all my worries and fears of life ahead.

I remember worrying about going back to work and being surrounded by hundreds of other children wanting to make sure I didn’t bring home what they had. I wanted to make sure I was protecting my little one the best I could. I know we all get to make this decision…we have the right to do that. I simply urge you to think about your community as a whole and how we can make life better for all. This is the best scenario I have read when it comes to vaccinations in a community.  Think about germs as rain and vaccinations as your raincoat. Even though you’ve got a raincoat on you can still get wet. But if you’ve got an umbrella too now you’re talking! We can stay dry. They are helping to keep everyone dry, or should I say safe. The people in our community that choose to not vaccinate, those are the people that when it rains, they want to rely on your umbrella to keep them dry. And that is simply not ok.

I will leave you with one last thing. Prior to writing this article I had a very strong and opinionated feeling about this topic. Since writing I feel stronger than ever before. Here are just a few more links to continue to educate yourself and others around you about your choice to vaccinate.

Are the ingredients in vaccinations safe?

Do doctors make money off vaccinations?

Are there still vaccinated diseases that spread today?

Do vaccinations cause my child to get the disease?

Isn’t breastfeeding enough to protect my child?

Why should I vaccinate…I had the chickenpox and I was ok?

Thank you I Vaccinate sponsoring this content.

There is something special about just getting your friends together at your own house and hanging. It’s an added bonus when all the kids play well together and your husbands actually likes each other! We feel pretty fortune to have found this friend group since moving to Michigan.

Last week we had our first summer get together of the season at our house. It was full of laughs, fun, food, drinks, a few tears (you know…kids) & we ended the night with an outdoor movie…more on that fun later!

But let’s focus on how to throw the perfect get together without stressing out or breaking the bank!

1. Options // you’ve got to have options for all your guests. We like to have food, drinks, and social options. This time we partnered with Ocean Spray® to give us the expertly crafted Mocktails to theme our party setting. It was so simple pairing all three of their great flavors with many food options. We even had a ‘Mock-Tales’ moment where we all talked about different tips to motherhood and words of encouragement we each received from our mamas…because we all know we can learn from each other! Look out for more on that soon.
2. Plan ahead // Planning for all your options is the key to success. We know weather can be unpredictable so know what you’re going to do if it rains. Plan what you’re having to eat and drink before the day of your get together. I like to layout all my trays and label them with post-it notes so I know exactly what is going to go on them. This is the easiest way to have anyone help you if you get in a last minute crunch! I do the same for cooking instructions. That way anyone can help out if we get in a jam.
3. Food // Clearly this is an important part to any get together we throw. I am a big fan of picking out what I want to make and letting each of our friends add to the fun. I also like all things that are simple and easy to make ahead of time. No one wants to be stuck in the kitchen all day before a get together. For this party we did a meat and cheese tray, veggies and hummus, local smoked fish dip & pizza. Each of our guests added something to our spread.
4. Drinks // You’ve got to pair food with drinks! Since we were dealing with parents & kids at the same time Ocean Spray® created the perfect choice. All three drink choices are made with real fruit & only 90 calories…in case you’re counting! Plus there are no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives making that a for sure win win!
5. Set the mood // Not every party has to have a theme but you want to set the mood for your get together right off the bat. For us we wanted to have a vibrant full of life event that felt special, yet something everyday at the same time. So to achieve that we simply held our get-together outside under the lights we’ve hung in the backyard. And I am really not kidding that having our three mocktails to choose from helped set the mood. Talk about the perfect kid-friendly lifestyle, while still having fun as adults!

A big thank you to Ocean Spray® for Sponsoring this post!

Enjoy!

Much love-

Danielle

Yes, I am well aware people do this all the time. But that doesn’t mean that we all don’t worry that we’re going to have the kid who throws a tantrum on the plane and everyone just stares at you. Your heart races as you attempt to stay calm yourself and try your best to console your little one. We have found it’s best to be prepared before any travel. Here’s a list of some neat tricks that have worked for us and our busy little men!

1. Stickers. Everyone loves them! Including the grumpy neighbor next to you 😉 or the other screaming toddler. Pack them in a zip-lock bag with lots of options for entertainment. Stick the stickers to paper, feet, hands, shirt or your faces! Zo & Zig love playing with the sticky part and copying our motions. Zig really gets a kick when he can pull off a sticker all by himself.
2. Tablet & Headphones. We use an iPad and Beats by Dr. Dre headphones for Zo. We actually had to purchase a new pair of SONY headphones for Zo because he stepped on the others and they broke…no biggie tho. These can be utilized for many things like movies, games, drawing, songs, and my favorite educational apps.
3. Toys. This time around we went with three basics: trucks, melissa & doug water coloring set and LEGO’s. Simple easy entertainment.
4. A lovey. Everyone needs something that will comfort them. Plus, we all know napping on the plane is the best!
5. Books. And lots of them. Or at least as many as you can fit in your bag. This is an easy go to, to help calm both boys down. Plus, it’s part of our daily routine.
6. Food. If all else fails turn to food. We like to pack a goodie bag full of special snacks just for the boys. Although Michael does sometimes get his hands on them too!
7. Once we have everything planned out, zip-lock bags is the next step. Putting everything into easy to reach bags makes life so much easier with a squirmy toddler on your lap.

We also have a small zippered clutch that we’ve turned into a diaper carrier.  This makes life super easy.  It allows for Michael or myself to change Zig without having to take a massive bag with.

Do you have favorite travel tips?  I’d love hear them. Just comment below!

much love-

d

xoxo