Gift Guide for Makers

Today's collection of gifts are for the DIYer, crafter, tinkerer, and maker in your life!

I tend to go for practical gifts, so this is my collection of tools I genuinely like to use, and and a few art supplies that have a lot of versatility. All are great for all ages and interests! Well, supervise your creative toddler on the miter saw, please.

The Crafter's Box: Every month, the lovely folks at The Crafter's Box mail out a beautiful kit of supplies for creatives to make something inspired by some of our favorite makers/crafters/artists. Seriously, check out this incredible artist lineup! You can give a multi-month subscription, or just a single box.

Block Printing Kit: Printmaking is among my favorite art mediums! You can make stamps, greeting cards, or artwork. A kit like this one is the perfect introduction to the craft.

Good Clean Fun: You may know actor Nick Offerman from the show Parks and Recreation, but did you know he's also an accomplished woodworker? His book is filled with tutorials and tips for woodworks of varrying skill levels - and also chock full of comedy.

Compound Miter Saw: We used this saw when we installed the picture rail molding last spring and it made the job infinitely easier. Whether your friend is a crafter or renovator, this versatile saw will most definitely come in handy. It's nearly 50% off! 

Keychain Measuring Tape: I never leave the house without a tiny tape measure in my purse. It's so handy for measuring lumber, furniture, appliances, you name it! I particularly like it for measuring other people's houses to see how they laid out their kitchen. Hey - I'm planning my kitchen design and need inspiration!

Sander: Just like the miter saw, a sander comes in handy for the smallest or biggest projects.

Audible: When your maker is spending hours and hours and hours working on their craft, a good audiobook comes in handy! When I was painting the mural last year, I listened to several David Sedaris books that kept me über entertained!

Moleskin: Creators have so many ideas running through their heads. A pocket-sized moleskin notebook is a nice way for them to jot down ideas or sketch a plan.

Classic Frames Safety Glasses: I'm not sure who decided that safety glasses had to look so ugly, but luckily someone invented a much more attractive option for keeping eyeballs safe. These even come in a sunglasses version!

In the Company of Women: Everyone needs inspiration. This book is full of stories and experiences of female artists, makers, and entrepreneurs. Don't you dare go thinking this book is only for women - it isn't!

Apron: There's something about putting an apron on that makes you feel purposeful and committed to the project at hand. This one is a classic loose fit that works for folks of all genders and sizes.

Sculpey Polymer Clay: There are SO many uses for polymer clay. It's easily moldable, and when baked, it becomes a solid material that's long lasting. It's particularly great because it can easily be sculpted by hand, but becomes even more refined with traditional clay tools. I used this type of clay a lot in my art teaching days with a wire armature. Look at what my 10-year-old students made with Sculpey!

Kreg Jig: I'm not normally a fan of products that have only one very specific purpose but this one is amazing. New woodworkers or accomplished ones can benefit from this handy tool that helps join pieces of wood with pocket holes.

3D Pen: Full disclosure, I've never used this product. But $30 for a 3D printing pen?? It's the perfect stocking stuffer. 

Sugru: I don't know how to describe magic, but Sugru is it. It's a moldable glue that turns into a strong rubber when dried so you can fix and upgrade things around the house. Check out a bunch of examples of this magical product here.

Embroidery Kit: For the craftsy one in your life, an embroidery kit is a fun way to make something from start to finish without having to source each of the materials individually. Make it a custom gift by finding a pattern that aligns with your recipient's favorite things like, tea, witty sayings, dachshunds, anatomy, technology, houseplants, and home.

Keep coming back as I share more gift guides every day this week!

Check out all of my gift guides

Gift Guide for Anyone with a Coffee Table
Gift Guide for Makers
Gift Guide for Old House Lovers
Gift Guide for Those Going Zero Waste
Gift Guide of My Personal Wish List
Gift Guide for Organizers and Tidiers
Gift Guide for Cooks and Bakers
Gift guide for Homebodies
Gift Guide for Techies and Smart Homes

Gift Guide for Homebodies

I'm the ultimate homebody - so much so that there's worry among friends that I may become a recluse one day. But hey, I love being at home.

I own each and every one of these items and sing their praises frequently. Even if you're buying for someone that isn't a near-recluse, there's much to be enjoyed.

Old Home Love: Literally one of my favorite coffee table books!

Handmade Quilt: This Etsy seller custom-made our quilt that we use on our bed and could certainly design a cozy blanket for your special someone in their favorite colors.

Ceramic Feelings Art: Mitsy creates beautiful ceramic art objects as a part of the ‘99 feelings’  project. You can pick a feeling like pure, wise, love, sleepy, organized, and so many more. I have empty and it's one of my favorite little pieces in the house. View the whole collection here. Psst, she's going on hiatus on 12/1, so order today!

Planter: Homebody or not, houseplants are great for adding life and cleaning the air. A pretty handmade planter makes a great gift that you can even fill with soil and your favorite foliage. Or, use the pot in lieu of a gift bag and put smaller gifts inside.

Custom Framed Family Photo: Maybe you captured a sweet moment of your friend on your phone, but never shared the photo. Or, you got profesh photos taken of your family that you want to share with grandparents. Nothing dresses us a photo like a custom frame.

Sonos Play:1: We keep music and podcasts playing all day every day when we're home. Everyone loves tunes! When you gift multiples, the recipient gets surround sound throughout the house by putting one in each room.

Roomba: I can't imagine life without our Roomba, and I think many other homebodies would adore the cleaning ease. iRobot extended their holiday sales through the week, so you can get $100 off a robot vacuum!

Sheet Set: You can never have too many sheets. They are great for the gift recipient or the gift recipient's holiday guests. Tip: your local animal rescue center is always in need of sheets and towels, so there's never a reason not to get rid of worn bedding.

Block Print Pillow: This homebody likes comfort and style.

Soy Candle: This is among the best scents ever. I buy candles based on smell, but you could also gift one in a pretty vessel so the recipient can pot a plant inside when the candle is used up.

Electric Candle Lighter: No need for a bunch of matches, this candle lighter is rechargeable. Include it in the stocking of someone that got a box of candles from you.

French Press: Why leave the house for coffee when you can make it at home? This is my favorite press because it isn't plasticky, it's dishwasher safe, and it's the perfect size for single-serve pours.

Remodelista: The Organized Home: This book is hot off the press and most definitely on my holiday wish list.

Artwork: Homes are so much more personal when meaningful art adorns the walls. If you know the recipient super well, you could get them a print that has significance, or a gift card to Minted will let them pick what catches their eye! My favorite online art shops are all listed here.

Bath Tray: For the homebodies that like a nice bath, this bamboo tray is a simple and classy way to store bath needs.

Simplisafe Home Security: Homebodies do indeed leave the house, and when we do, it's nice to know that a security system is keeping an eye on things. This one is great for renters and owners alike because it doesn't get hardwired in. It's a win-win gift when it gives you peace of mind as the gift-giver. Learn more and check sales here.

Keep coming back as I share more gift guides every day this week!

Check out all of the gift guides

Gift Guide for Anyone with a Coffee Table
Gift Guide for Makers
Gift Guide for Old House Lovers
Gift Guide for Those Going Zero Waste
Gift Guide of My Personal Wish List
Gift Guide for Organizers and Tidiers
Gift Guide for Cooks and Bakers
Gift guide for Homebodies
Gift Guide for Techies and Smart Homes

Gift Guide for Techies and Smart Homes

This post comes to you, in part, from Ross, our home's Chief Technology Officer. He's been a tech nerd for nearly two decades and has helped me round up today's gift guide for those that like gadgets - but it's really for anyone living in the 21st century!

You also know I’m big on organizing our cables and techy gear, so this is also inspired by someone that loves form and function.

Ross likes his gadgets streamlined and not gimmicky, so if you're looking for a thumb drive in the shape of a human thumb, this isn't the gift guide for you. 

iPad Stand: I'm a sucker for wooden stands for our electronics. This sleek one is perfectly understated, yet a showstopper. Plus, it's handmade!

eero Home WiFi System: We've gone through several routers in the past couple of years. We did Apple's Airport Extreme as well as those hideous ones with the giant antennas. The eero has been the most reliable wifi, and it comes with boosters to sprinkle throughout the house, covering all of our rooms.

Sonos Playbase: We just ordered one of these for an early holiday gift to each other. This Sonos will amplify our TV for higher quality audio. Plus, when the TV isn't on, it pairs with our Sonos Play:1 speakers we have throughout the house so we can listen to music/podcasts in each room.

B&O Headphones: These are such dreamy headphones. They used to be Ross' but I took them earlier this year and now they are my go-tos. I wear them at work every day and I can't get on a plane without them.

Personalized Ergonomic Mousepad: I'm just getting settled into our new home office and wondering if I should get a mousepad. This pretty handmade one is a contender.

Velcro Cable Ties: These aren't the sexiest tech gadget, but they are life changers - and a great stocking stuffer. These velcro ties are the easiest and most streamlined way to keep cables organized. They work well for the cords behind the TV that you don't need to fuss with at all, and they are great for coiling the extension cord you get out of the garage every day/week.

Cable Management Grid: I installed one of these under our new desk (which isn't the intended use of it) and it works so swimmingly!

Camera Strap: This handmade strap is such an improvement from the stock straps that come with camera bodies. I actually prefer wrist straps over neck straps, so I have this one.

Apple TV Remote Holder: Losing the Apple TV remote is no good when all you want to do is sit down after dinner for some Stranger Things viewing. We have a holder that props the remote upright, but I actually like the lower profile of this one. Plus, it's handmade!

WD 1TB Portable External Hard Drive: Whether you're taking your digital files out of the house or not, a portable drive for backing up files is an absolute must for everyone - techie or not. 

Flash Drive: The perfect stocking stuffer. This is a nice portable flash drive that isn't plasticky or chunky.

Backblaze: For serious backup storage, we use Backblaze which ensures all of our photos, music, movies, files, etc. are safely stored in the event that our hard drives are damaged. Psst, that link gets you - I mean your gift recipient - a free trial!

Record Holder: Who said tech lovers need to adore only the new stuff? Get your vinyl record lover a sleek stand to keep their tunes. This pretty walnut holder is hand crafted.

Nest Dropcam Security Camera: This security camera provides piece of mind, and it's fun to check in on the house while you're away. 

Flat Plug Braided Extension Cord: We all have wires in our homes. I try my hardest to hide them (see my two other cable management gift ideas), but when you're going to see one, why not make it attractive?

ElevationDock 4: We were early adaptors and bought the first ElevationDock when it was on Kickstarter. It was the one and only charger at the time that stayed on the table when you picked up your phone. They've continued to refine it year after year, and this is their latest.

And there you have it! Do you have any techie items to recommend? I could use them, because Ross is so tough to gift shop for.

Check out all of my gift guides

Gift Guide for Anyone with a Coffee Table
Gift Guide for Makers
Gift Guide for Old House Lovers
Gift Guide for Those Going Zero Waste
Gift Guide of My Personal Wish List
Gift Guide for Organizers and Tidiers
Gift Guide for Cooks and Bakers
Gift guide for Homebodies
Gift Guide for Techies and Smart Homes

Holiday Sales - Black Friday Edition

It's the day after Thanksgiving, so you know what that means! Deals, deals, deals! I've taken my inbox full of email promotions for Black Friday and slimmed it all down into this convenient list of deals just for you!

Keep coming back as I'll continue to add more sales as I see them promoted throughout the weekend.

Target is offering up to 40% off home items. Also, we just spent the morning getting my mom a new iPhone 8 Plus which comes with a $250 Target gift card this weekend! The clock we installed in the office is on sale, too! 

Minted has killer discounts with code BF2017 such as 15% off sitewide, 20% off holiday cards, 20% off fine art, and more. This is where I got our bathroom art a few months ago!

Black frames are 20% off at Framebridge with code BLACK20 Friday through Monday. We used Framebridge to frame this print when I posed for a famous artist!

Select Etsy sellers are offering discounts on handmade and vintage items this weekend.

Artifact Uprising, my favorite place for custom photo books and prints has a buy more save more deal with code BEMERRY. Custom family photos make for great holiday gifts!

Mae Woven's beautiful vintage-textile pillows are 25% off with code COMEINCOZYUP.

Wayfair and Allmodern have some seriously major deals this weekend! The pendant you all love from my latest ORC is 42% off!

Select Blinds is selling everything at 50% off plus free shipping! If you recall, we have their solar shades and blackout roman shades in our new home office.

World Market has BOGO deals and lots of other offers this weekend.

Brittany is offering 30% off your entire purchase on her rugs and pillows at The Vintage Rug Shop with code YAYBLACKFRIDAY!

The Container Store is offering 30% off a single item in stores and online.

CB2 is giving away free shipping and taking 15% off full priced items through Monday.

Dyson is offering their vacuums for up to $200 off.

Mesa Vintage has vintage rugs discounted this weekend with code TURKEY. Yay for supporting local artisans!

Sonos is offering $50 off their Play One speakers and $100 off their Playbar or Playbase. We exclusively use Sonos as a surround sound system for our house.

Artist ADAMJK discounted his whole shop with no coupon code needed!

Anthropologie has a 30% off everything on sale!

Society6 is where I've purchased several art prints and custom pillows. They have great gifts for the holidays - and all of it is 25% off plus free shipping with code BLACKFRIDAY!

Speaking of art prints, 20x200 is giving away a free tote with the purchase of $100+ of art prints. I have a few pieces of theirs including the Feral House print and I adore them.

If you want more art prints, Artfully Walls has marked everything down 30% with code BLACKFRIDAY2017.Get 20% off your star map with code THANKYOU at The Night Sky.

Both of the rugs I used in the spring and fall One Room Challenges are from eCarpetgallery. They have rugs on sale for up to 85% off!

With code GIVETHANKS you can get 20% off at McGee & Co.

Home Depot has oodles of deals!

iRobot is discounting their Roomba vacuums - some are $100 off! I can't imagine life without ours.

My friend, Erin is selling her Cotton & Flax fabrics, gifts, notebooks, and coasters for 30% off with code THANKFUL. I have this notebook and this pillow.

Everything at House of Antique Hardware is 25% off today with code BF1725! Remember when we installed their picture rail molding?

Parachute bedding is 20% off with code SALE17.

My brother-in-law's graphic design company has some architecture-based prints on sale this weekend at DKNG Studios.

The leather ottoman in our den is 25% off at Minda Living with code THANKFUL25.

Max Wanger is offering 20% off his art prints with code GIVETHANKS.

Article has select furniture pieces for up to 30% off! Unfortunately, my favorite chairs aren't on sale, but so many other gems are!

Amber Interiors is donating 20% of her shop proceeds this weekend to a toy drive. She has some beautiful home decor that's great for holiday gifts - and for a good cause!

West Elm is hosting their buy more save more deals, plus 50% off select furniture!

Artist Stella Maria Baer is offering her gorgeous prints at 25% off with code THANKFUL.

Crate & Barrel is also doing a buy more save more sale, plus 15% off with code SAVE15.

Interior Define rarely ever does sales, but this weekend you can take 15% off their most popular custom furniture designs.

Artist Marine Édith Crosta is selling her gorgeous paintings at 20% off with code BLACKFRIDAY.

Through midnight tonight, Loveseat has vintage furniture and collectibles for 15% off with code ITSBLACKFRIDAY.

Rejuvenation, one of my all time favorite furniture retailers, is doing a buy more save more promo!

Enjoy those deals!

Favorite One Room Challenge Reveals from Fall 2017

Wowza. This season of the One Room Challenge has some stunners! Over 200 bloggers transformed a space as guest participants and 20 were featured. I looked through all of them and compiled my favorites. Be sure to click over to their blogs to see the full spaces!

Just in case you forgot, I also participated this season! You can catch up on all of my room progress here.

Without further ado, here's a compilation of both guest and featured blogger spaces.

Nicole's guest room and home office combo is so dreamy. I can't decide which I like more - that velvety green wall or the cloud wallpaper.

The Gentry project is coming along so swimmingly! Jenny nailed it with this bedroom. Those DIY curtains and the IKEA dresser hack are such great examples of how furnishings don't need to be crazy expensive to be crazy beautiful.

Megan does it again! This cabin gives me all the feels.

My friend Cathy is restoring her own home in Washington State as well as one that she's dubbed the Porch House. This master bathroom is as gigantic as it is gorgeous. You have got to see the humungous shower that's outside of the frame from this pretty custom vanity.

We all know I'm a sucker for marble hex floors and subway tiles with dark grout. So, Erin is speaking my love language with this bathroom remodel.

Candis and Andy. Period. They really know what they're doing!

That black floor tile and black ceiling! I'd ogle this bathroom even if it weren't designed by my friend, Sarah!

I won't blame Natasha if she never leaves this room of her house.

There was no shortage of gorgeous wallpapers and wall paneling this season. Be sure to click over to each of those images to take a close look at those papers - one has a bird motif and another is covered in dinosaurs! Birds and dinosaurs, people!

While the half wainscoting and half wallpaper look is dreamy, Brittany's bathroom with floor-to-ceiling floral paper (even over the wall outlet) is to die for. She also transformed the rest of the bedroom that you MUST admire.

Tim used the wallpaper that was the inspiration for my ORC room!

The artwork and those directors chairs. *thumbs up emoji, Erin!

I wonder if one day I'll live as minimally as Lisa's bedroom. Maybe some day!

I love Cara's pink tile and Lee's wood vanity in these bathrooms, but the artwork is what really got me. Yes, I'm a fan of paint-by-numbers but the others are gems, too.

While I'm afraid to do this much color in my house, I adore Ariel's style.

More bird wallpaper! And if that weren't enough, Nicole entirely redesigned her office to boot!

The fall ORC was a magnet for beautiful wall treatments. Gwen's molding for her daughters' room is rich!

And here we go with more wainscoting! Swoon.

This is just a small sampling of some of my favorites, so check out the full collection of featured and guest blogger room transformations!

One Room Challenge Week 7 - The Office and Mural Reveal!

Can you believe the One Room Challenge is over!? The day we've all been waiting for is here - the reveal! I've spent the last seven weeks completely transforming our home office and I'm thrilled to finally share it.

If you're anything like me and can't stand watching TV shows out of order, you can catch up on the progress at each of the below links. 
Week 1 - the before, the inspiration, and the plan
Week 2 - preparing for a bold wall mural
Week 3 - tricks for creating a perfect wall mural
Week 4 - painting the mural
Week 5 - walls, windows, and shades

If you're already caught up but want a refresher, take a look at the before photos.

And since side-by-sides are the best.

The room got an entirely new layout, lighting, storage, and window treatments, but most dramatically, an accent wall mural.

I think I put in about 100 hours painting this thing and I'm so tickled with how it turned out!

Come back next week when I release a video with a full time-lapse from start to finish!

As a reminder, I used an image I found on the Met's open source image archive, converted it into an image to project on the wall, then coated eight different colors (two layers each!) using beautiful paint from Farrow & Ball to get to where we are today.

We rearranged the layout to make better use of the room. The desk, which is actually a dining table, gives us more room to spread out and it's just so darn pretty with its black top and metal legs.

To make the table function more like a desk, we devised a cable management solution that lets us plug in our devices without cords dangling everywhere. We screwed the grid-it to the underside of the desk to keep our power supplies for our computers contained and also as flush as possible to the bottom of the desk. We also attached a cable clip to the corner and adhesive on the leg to run the extension cord along the leg to a nearby outlet. So many typical cord storage options are chunky and thus would be visible from nearly any angle. This configuration is invisible unless you're looking for it!

Speaking of storage, we put two IKEA cabinets side-by-side and customized the interior for all of our supplies. Be sure to check out last week's post detailing how we customized a ready-made piece.

Since Ross does most of his work on the road, his backpack is his portable office. The backpack used to get plopped on the floor in the corner whenever he was home. Now, it has its own spot in a basket.

Every office needs a graphic clock. One of the volunteers at the nonprofit I work at spotted this one for me and knew it was the perfect fit. Thanks, Nancy!

We moved the ceiling junction box a few feet over to provide task lighting for the desk. This brass beauty casts a lovely warm glow over the desk in the evenings.

This wall sconce that I customized from one of my favorite Etsy shops lights the corner when the sun isn't pouring in. That globe also lights up, too!

You'll notice that the trim got a couple of coats of paint. I shared all about prepping walls for paint here and I talked about the woodwork painting debate here. Spoiler: I'm still a wood purist, which, while it seems oxymoronic, is why this severely damaged trim needed a slathering of paint.

We're lucky to have sunlight flood into this south and west-facing room, but sometimes it's a bit much. We added roman and solar shades to give us a variety of sunlight adjustments.

I have the hardest time picking rugs. Why? I have no idea! Someone help me next time! For this room, I wanted something traditional but not too high-contrast. I like the muted palette of this one and it's seriously the softest rug in the whole house. The. Softest.

Because the mural is such a statement, I didn't want to go wild with graphic art, but I couldn't say no to the two pieces that live on the storage unit. Artist Mary Sinner is one of my favorites and she kindly sent me this original that I can't get over.

On our latest vacation, we picked up this print in Austin by Jon-Michael Frank. We knew it would be the perfect print for our office - even before the One Room Challenge was a twinkle in my eye. The print cracks me up every. single. time. I look at it. 

Get The Look:

If you're tuning in via the One Room Challenge and want to stay up to date on all of my home's transformations, subscribe to get future posts in your email! Also, follow along on Instagram for daily updates.

Big thanks to Farrow & Ball for supplying the paint to make the mural possible! For a full breakdown on each color and the painting process, click here!

Fall One Room Challenge progress:
Week 1 - the before, the inspiration, and the plan
Week 2 - preparing for a bold wall mural
Week 3 - tricks for creating a perfect wall mural
Week 4 - painting the mural
Week 5 - walls, windows, and shades
Week 6 - IKEA storage hack
Week 7 - the reveal!

Look back at the Spring One Room Challenge:

Week 1 - the before, the inspiration, and the plan
Week 2 - paint, paint, paint
Week 3 - how to install picture rail molding
Week 4 - sourcing the artwork
Week 5 - refreshing a chair
Week 6 - the reveal!

I'm not the only one that slaved away to transform a space over the past seven weeks. Check out the featured bloggers and guest participants!

One Room Challenge Week 6 - IKEA Hack for Custom Office Storage

It's week six of the One Room Challenge! Today would be the day that you'd see the full reveal. However! You have to wait another seven days since the design challenge has been extended by another week.

If you're jumping in now, I'm Ashley and I'm transforming my home office of our 1915 craftsman bungalow in San Diego. Take a look at the plans which include a new layout, storage, lighting, furniture, and most importantly, a dramatic mural! Catch up on the last five weeks of progress here.

I'm still actively working on the mural, but this week I'm sharing how we customized storage for our home office needs.

If you recall, the only storage we had in our previous office was a hutch.

It was a mid-century beauty but it wasn't designed for keeping files, electronics, or office necessities. So, I added a filing cabinet to the mix, but still had nowhere for camera gear or odds and ends. Everything we didn't use was on display and everything necessary for the office didn't have a home and was just strewn about on top of the desk or throughout the house.

Have you ever tried looking for attractive filing cabinets with combined storage and drawers? It's nearly impossible. I first started looking at office furniture but the options are pretty limited to exclusively filing cabinets without any other storage for odds and ends. So then I looked at credenzas and media cabinets. They were the best option, but if they had doors, I wanted drawers, and if they had drawers, I'd wish they were deep enough to fit hanging files. Gah!

Additionally, I wanted a low cabinet that wouldn't obstruct the view out the window, and something long enough to fill most of the wall. It just simply doesn't exist out there! Then, I came across this beauty that can be customized to the depth, height, and length as well as drawer and cabinet features. It was exactly what I wanted. I was in love. BUT because it was custom made, it wouldn't have arrived in time for the One Room Challenge. 

So I went back to square one and searched high and low for something premade that fit the bill. Then, decided an IKEA hack was the way to go. 

I started off with one of the BESTA units in the 47x15x29" size with four drawers. Then, got another of the same size, but with three drawers and one cabinet with doors. We also added a few legs and shelves to the mix along with some of the BESTA storage options. A full shopping list is at the bottom of this post.

IKEA has a bad rap, but I genuinely enjoy assembling their furniture. Call me up the next time you don't want to assemble your cabinet. I'll bring my "helpful" assistant along with me to support. 

We dressed up the plain white cabinets with the most beautiful handles.

It's no surprise that I went with a pretty brass finish. These are the 8" Blake Drawer Pulls from Rejuvenation and me oh my are they dreamy!

What's great about the IKEA drawer fronts is that you can install any kind of hardware in any spot on the cabinet because it doesn't have any pre-drilled holes. I could have done knobs, narrower handles, or installed them at any height. The unlimited design options are great, yet I was plagued with indecision when it came to placing the handles. 

The beauty of the customization is how it holds all my things. Shall we take a look at what's inside?

The most officey drawer is the one with the everyday office gear. It also houses everyday home improvement tools so I don't need to run to the garage whenever I need to hammer something. This collection of tools is veeeery minimal at the moment. I'm sure this will become a junk drawer in no time, but I'm going to try to resist putting the reciprocating saw in here. 

To corral everything, I used the BESTA box and these Amac boxes from the Container Store.

I'm prone to losing my shutter release remote for the camera, so I am sure glad to have a spot to keep the camera gear. Obviously not pictured is the camera and the tripod, both of which fit in the drawer.

The drawers aren't designed for file storage, but they are just the right size for a standalone hanging file unit which keeps paperwork nicely filed, and also some space for who knows what!

We recently cleaned out our electronics junk and narrowed it down to a few keepers. The IKEA drawer divider seems like it was perfectly designed for our Doxie scanner. The felt liner is so handy because it prevents everything from sliding around when we open and close drawers.

While six out of the eight cubbies are drawers, two of the cabinets have doors with shelves. This way, I can hide things that actually do better on a shelf - like the printer. One of those bins (which is actually a shoe box) stores art supplies so I can pull it out and take the whole lot to a table. The other easy-to-move around bin is filled with greeting cards so I can catch up on my correspondence.

Retrofitting the cabinet for the printer was as easy as cutting a hole in the back for the power supply. The back panels are a thick cardboard, so a sharp exacto is all that's needed to run cables through.

If you wanna get the scoop on how I hide all of my electronics and cables throughout the house, click here!

Two of the drawers are empty! I'm sure I'll find a use for them soon, but for now, it feels so refreshing to have empty space.

Can we take a moment to admire the original painting by Mary Sinner? Swoon.

Mabel appreciates the storage unit being the perfect height to survey her queendom.

Be sure to check out my blog post all about organizing cables, wires, and electronics throughout the entire house here!

If you're tuning in via the One Room Challenge and want to stay up to date on all of my home's transformations, subscribe to get future posts in your email! Also, follow along on Instagram for daily updates.

Get The Look

---

UPDATE

I’m getting a lot of questions about the exact configuration of this storage unit. I’m not an IKEA expert so I can’t give you any insight into the current IKEA offerings, so I do recommend you chat with an employee to help you. Based on comments I get the impression that they changed some products. However, keep in mind that I customized the Besta unit by mixing and matching doors and drawers. This isn’t an off the shelf item! Since folks are still asking for more guidance and I’m happy to provide, I’ve included the shopping list I have on file. Click the button below to take a look. You can see my doodles to give you an idea of what I picked up. Remember that things have likely changed in the past few years, so please don’t use my document as an exact model for you!

---

Fall One Room Challenge progress:
Week 1 - the before, the inspiration, and the plan
Week 2 - preparing for a bold wall mural
Week 3 - tricks for creating a perfect wall mural
Week 4 - painting the mural
Week 5 - walls, windows, and shades
Week 6 - IKEA storage hack
Week 7 - the reveal!

Look back at the Spring One Room Challenge:

Week 1 - the before, the inspiration, and the plan
Week 2 - paint, paint, paint
Week 3 - how to install picture rail molding
Week 4 - sourcing the artwork
Week 5 - refreshing a chair
Week 6 - the reveal!

Be sure to check out the featured designers here and guest participants here, too!

One Room Challenge Week 5 - Walls and Windows and Shades oh my!

Can you believe we're five weeks into the One Room Challenge?! Holy Moly it feels like it's been flying by and I can't keep up, yet at the same time it seems like I've been painting forever!

If you're just tuning in, I'm Ashley and I'm in the middle of transforming the home office of our 1915 craftsman bungalow in San Diego. Take a look at the plans which include a new layout, storage, lighting, furniture, and most importantly, a dramatic mural!

The mural is the star of the show, but this week I turned my attention to the other walls and the windows.

I coated all of the non-mural walls in Farrow & Ball's Ammonite, a pretty light grey. It provides just enough contrast for the trim (which is painted in Strong White) to pop, yet, not it's so dark that it would compete with the mural for attention.

I have been dreaming of black window sashes for ages. AGES. And I finally went for it. I love them so much. They got a couple of coats of Off-Black and have never looked better. Well, maybe they looked better 103 years ago before the neglect, but you know what I mean!

Each of these three colors are already in the mural so they are repeating throughout the space. Strong White is the whitest of the eight mural colors, Ammonite is the second lightest, and Off-Black is the deep moody base color. Hubba hubba.

You may notice some funky wobbly paint edges on the sashes next to the glass. Don't go thinking I painted with my eyes closed! The wobbly paint is because of the many coats of poorly painted exterior paint over the last century. These layers make it looks less crisp on the inside, but what I do like about them is you can see each of the colors this house has been over the ages. It used to be blue! A far cry from the green and red exterior it is now. One day, I'll scrape off the exterior paint to make a nicer edge. One day.

When you weren't looking at the funky paint edges, didja get a look at that sash pull? Didja? Wow, those guys cleaned up nicely.

The bottom one has a lot of patina that can absolutely be left as is, but the details were hidden in the old paint. I scrubbed and scrubbed until the paint came off and then I ended up with a shiny little number that looks so happy against the deep color of the sashes. I'm curious to see how it patinas over the years.

If you recall from my ORC intro post, one of the biggest challenges was the lighting in the office. Our desk previously looked out the window straight onto the surface of the blinding sun. I realize complaining about too much light sounds ridiculous, but it truly got really bright and really hot.

I'm happy to say that the issue has been remedied! Each window has a combo of two different shades. First are the solar shades that are installed on the inside of the frame and roll down with a chain. These beauties are on all of the windows throughout our home and we've had them for several years and love them.

Solar shades come in varying levels of opacity which allow you to select how much sunlight you want to block. More opacity means more protection, but more transparency means you can see out of them better.

Because our old windows don't have any UV protection, blocking the rays from bleaching our furniture and hardwoods was a big motivator for the solar shades. Since we want protection all the time, we keep these shades pulled pretty much 24/7. Their clean look is perfect for admiring the shape of the window frame as well as seeing outdoors. For reference, these are 3% opacity, but other shades in the house are 10%.

Even though the solar shades work wonders for us throughout most of the day, when 4pm rolls around and the sun starts to set, it shines directly into the room and we simply want less of its bright glare. So, we put classic roman shades with blackout liners on top of the solar shades. Now, we get so much variety with light options. I can black out the whole room to paint a mural, or diffuse the light, or let the sun shine in!

I could have ordered wider roman blackout shades, but I preferred seeing as much woodwork as possible, so I made a lighting sacrifice by getting narrower ones that don't block as much light as what might be necessary in say, a nursery.

This animation is the perfect example of how the shades can affect the light in the room.

The solar shades are inside mounted into the frame of the window, and the roman shades attach to the surface of the trim with a clip.

Both the solar and roman shades are from Select Blinds. Their prices are great - especially for custom sized window treatments! All four of these windows came in under $600, and one of them is a beefy 50" wide! For your reference, our solar shades are 3% in white, and the blackout roman shades are in the pretty Stone Textured fabric in the classic folded pleat.

While I like the easy-to-use cord on the solar shades, we tried out the cordless option for the romans and it's great! I'm always wary that products with spring mechanisms won't do as you ask them to do, but so far these ones follow directions nicely!

I've been working on coating the second layer of paint on the mural, rather than adding new colors, so it doesn't look too different. Stay tuned!!

Come back over the next few weeks for more updates on the progress and set a reminder to return the morning of November 16th to see the final reveal!

Big shout out to Farrow & Ball for supplying all of the paints and the ones i'm using for the mural! Select Blinds kindly extended a discount on their roman shades. However, opinions are all my own and I stand by these products.

If you're tuning in via the One Room Challenge and want to stay up to date on all of my home's transformations, subscribe to get future posts in your email! Also, follow along on Instagram for daily updates. You're seeing only a sneak preview of the mural, so be sure to come back for more progress updates!

Be sure to check out the featured designers here and guest participants here, too!

Fall One Room Challenge progress:
Week 1 - the before, the inspiration, and the plan
Week 2 - preparing for a bold wall mural
Week 3 - tricks for creating a perfect wall mural
Week 4 - painting the mural
Week 5 - walls, windows, and shades
Week 6 - IKEA storage hack
Week 7 - the reveal!

Look back at the Spring One Room Challenge:

Week 1 - the before, the inspiration, and the plan
Week 2 - paint, paint, paint
Week 3 - how to install picture rail molding
Week 4 - sourcing the artwork
Week 5 - refreshing a chair
Week 6 - the reveal!

Get your Own Etching or Paint-By-Numbers Landscape - An Etsy Roundup

Thank you all so much for the love of my One Room Challenge mural! Many of you are reaching out asking for updates, but I think I'm going to keep you in suspense until the reveal on November 16!

As you probably already know, to achieve the mural, I took a vintage etching and converted it into a paint-by-numbers-style image. So, I searched all over Etsy for vintage prints and paintings that you may enjoy in your home - on a smaller non-mural scale!

Click on your favorite image to add it to your personal collection!

Etchings

If you're less into the grayscale etching look and you're after the colorful paint-by-numbers style, I give you these.

Paint-By-Numbers

Come back on Thursday for more One Room Challenge updates!