My great-grandmother lived to be 93. And she loved to crochet. She made me dozens of doilies, collars, and hankies over the years. The doilies are so beautiful that I hated to see them packed away in a box in my closet. But I wasn’t about to scatter them over my furniture either. I decided to frame some, but the trick was finding square frames. I found these four mismatched frames at a thrift store that were the perfect sizes. A little paint, and voilà—a matching set. Read more »

This is the easiest project I’ve attempted yet. It all started with an Ikea plant glide and furniture nails (which come in myriad colors and sizes). This clock is full of possibility. You could also glue on wood pieces, apply chalkboard paint, affix buttons, or just leave it au natural. (Oh, and I made the china cabinet that you see in the picture too.) Read more »

What do you do with an ever-expanding tool supply in a small apartment already packed to the gills? Answer: toolbox side tables. I found two of these locking file cabinets on Craigslist and loaded them up with all my tools and paint.

For the smaller tools, I divided the drawers with Ikea’s Antonius basket insert. It’s amazing how much you can fit in these little file cabinets. And they look kind of industrial modern too, n’est-ce pas?

Everyone knows necessity is the mother of invention. But, I’m here to say that mistakes can also be the mother of invention. My first spice rack attempt did not go so well. I used an old sketch and didn’t double-check the measurements. Consequently, the rack was too small to hold all my tins. So, what to do with this little shelf? As it happens, it’s the perfect size to hold baby food jars. Gathering 28 identical baby food jars was quite an undertaking. But two months later, thanks to Cathryn and Suzanne from FreeCycle, I finally had 28 matching jars. After removing all the labels, I spray painted the lids with primer and paint, then filled the jars with buttons, beads, etc. Click here for the spice rack how-to »

My old spice rack just wasn’t cutting it. I barely cook, but even I have accumulated more spices than what fit in those 12 small tins. I couldn’t find the right spice rack, so I created my own. And made room for expansion. Check out my odds & ends rack for a variation on this idea. Read more »

For those of you who know me, you know it has taken nothing short of a miracle to start this blog. Many thanks to all my supporters! I’m excited to get blogging. Please be patient while I work out all the kinks. If you don’t know me, check out my about page or click here to see some of my past work. And please come back every week!