Before and After

DIY – Rattan Side table Upcycle

| The Bee Life

Embarrassingly enough, this upcycle has been 11 months in the making — eeek! Part of it was sheer shelf doubt and being intimidated about using and installing rattan for the first time. On top of that, I did not find too many other DIYs for installing rattan in the way I was going to use it, another stumper, so there was a lot of thinking and planning. Did I mention, I was intimated about installing rattan? Luckily, I finally got over that because, ultimately, I love how this piece came out!

This upcycle was pretty low budget, as I utilized 90% of materials I already owned from previous projects (like my Sideboard Glow Up) — but I’ve linked everything below if you’re a first timer a furniture flip.

Makeover Supplies:
– Rattan (17″ x 3.3′)
– Wood Filler
– Hand Sander
– Liquid Nails
– Wallpaper
– Magnolia Chalk Paint & Wax Sealer
– Round Felt Furniture Pads

My Total Cost: $46 (liquid nails + rattan)

For an 11-month project, this was fairly simple as it was just a paint job and switching out the side panels. One added touch to get rid of some of the gaudy was filling in the detail on the bottom front with wood filler which instantly elevated the piece. I had left over chalk paint and had already worked through the kinks of using Chalk Paint, so I knew what to expect when it came to painting with it — although I still did not LOVE working with chalk paint, I at least knew what to expect. The wax seal definitely helps protect any surfaces that are going to be high-traffic.

Let’s talk about the rattan. Removing the original metal was pretty easy, I just cut it out with wire cutters. The rattan I purchased does recommend soaking prior to use, so I did soak the roll before cutting and installing into the sides of my table. Disclaimer, I don’t think this was the easiest furniture piece to install rattan on and my method definitely wasn’t perfect, but it worked. This table had a framed alcove for the rattan to fit into, so my goal was to utilize some liquid nails to glue into the framed alcove. This was messy and not ideal. I ended up utilizing some dowels with painters tape to keep the rattan in place while everything dried — that definitely helped! Again, this wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t have another way to keep in place, nailing wouldn’t have worked, so I also made sure to try to get as much of the rattan stuffed into the framed alcove as possible for added support.

The final finishing touch was adding in the wallpaper — I had some scraps from the Sideboard makeover that I had planned to use, but then my mother-in-law gave me some wallpaper scraps, which fit this piece so well, so it was a no-brainer to utilize those! I added this to the inside back and then a few pieces on the inside top, just for an added touch. 🤩

This is the perfect little plant stand/side table with space for a little accent decor (thrifted books & a vintage picture of my great-uncle) while still showing off the pop of wallpaper and the classic rattan sides. And I love how it ties into the sideboard and can be used in different spaces around our home as we change things over the seasons. Would you want this piece in your home?

See More of Bee’s Before & Afters: Sideboard Glow Up, Moody Side Entry, & Glam Front Entry

Before & After: Moody Side Entry

| The Bee Life

One of our first spaces we made over in our home was our side entry. Ironically we didn’t use the space much besides going downstairs and rarely used it as a point of entry… until our kitchen renovation. By using it more, our needs for this space changed and it just felt like it was time for a refresh — we wanted to do something a little more bold compared to the rest of the house, we were especially inspired after our glam front entry makeover.

To get this project started and start making decisions, we started curating inspiration and creating a mood board for the space which included a mix of function and design. For shoes, we utilized an 11″ cube storage solution, which also became sort of a dumping ground within each of the bins. Also the shelf and hooks were crammed and small — it all made the space feel tight for an already smaller entry. We weighed the pro’s and con’s and had to lower the wishlist that would be a bit friendlier on the wallet and timeline.

What We Did:
– New paneling on lower half of stairs for a cohesive look – this included wood filler, sanding, caulking, priming & painting.
– We made a custom shelf that was wider with boarder trim that we raised much higher
– Electrical Update: The original light fixture had an exposed wire along the ceiling, so we worked with an electrician friend, cut open the ceiling and the wall to reroute the wiring & ended up installing a new fixture
– We did a lot of painting, which included priming, two different blue colors for our two-tone look, and even painted the ceiling
– New stair runners
– All new organization solutions for the space

BEFORE

Let’s talk budget

As I mentioned, we definitely scaled back some of the plans to try to be more budget friendly – but this project still added up quickly with the wood updates and all of the paint. We ended up priming everything, painting the darker blue and then the light blue, AND THEN the ceiling (which luckily we already had ceiling paint). Lot’s of painting and a lot of time with the wood. Electrical updates are expensive too especially when wire is involved, but this was a nonnegotiable for our project since we wanted to get rid of the wire running along the ceiling! When it comes to doing your own home projects, definitely weigh the pros and cons that make an impact for you and your space. Sometimes that is time and we are willing to spend more to outsource and get it done quicker, than if we were going to do it — and others it’s spending a little more to change something that has always bugged you.

Project Breakdown:
– Paint & Wood: $270
– Decor & Accessories: $250
– Electrical: $140
– 35+ hours of work

TOTAL: $660

My main goal for this space was to be more intentional with built-in finishes, like our custom shelf and wide border trim. I also really wanted to make this a statement like our front entry… wallpaper was honestly a pain for the front entry and super expensive, so that got crossed off the list — causing me to be a bit more creative with the impact. I’ve always loved rooms that are all one color, including the trim, accessories, etc. so I grabbed some paint samples and put some on the walls to see what B and I liked.


It’s amazing to me that by painting this small space a dark color and making a few other design tweaks, this space could feel even bigger than the white and grey space we had before! The custom shelf being raised with the hooks being spaces out is also another reason why this space feels big. Painting the door was another last minute decision that I’m so glad we did, because it really just creates and makes this space complete. I pulled in lighter wood and orange accents to really compliment the blues. We also painted the light switch cover, railing the wall color for a full take over.

Eliminating the cube for our shoes has also been really great, the basket holds my shoes and we switch out seasonal to our front hall closet to what we need here. The same goes for those wooden bins on the shelf, we switch out seasonal items to just what we need, so that we don’t have a catch all — it’s worked out so great and has been easy to maintain. We also have some extra hooks going down into the basement for additional storage and overflow as needed for seasonal/Moz’s items/hats or for guests!

We’ve been living in this space for awhile, I definitely want to hang up some more photos, I considered doing the frames the same color or doing all gold frames for a speak-easy type feel and mix in some vintage and images of things we love for an eclectic feel — still trying to figure out exactly what that might be.


Shop our finishes: brass hooks, wooden bins, shoe basket with lid, accent rug

House Tour: Basement Makeover 3.0

| The Bee Life

It’s been 8-years since we purchased our home, and last fall we finished the next stage of our basement makeover which has been in progress since 2018. I can’t believe I haven’t shared it, because this really just ties a bow on this ongoing project – it’s also a space that when we purchased our house I had 0 intentions for our basement and for it to merely serve as a basement for storage and other basement things. I hope this post also serves as a reminder that in a world of Before & Afters in mere seconds through an Instagram reel, that house projects can take time and also evolve… and that’s OK!

Here is a quick timeline of our basement projects;
– 2018: Waterproof & create initial living space + $60 shiplap wall
– 2019: Remodel basement bathroom
– 2021: Build drywall, add french doors, and built-in bar

The Compromise

I will totally admit, that this third phase of our basement makeover was initiated by B (in the midst of our kitchen being ripped apart no less!). He was itching to build an actual wall — I was having a tough time trying to invision the best configuration AND I felt how we had it worked out fine… well once I spent some time to give B the wall configuration and it started coming to life, I was instantly in love! Our compromise for the project (B wanting to do drywall, me not as into it) was if we could add a built in bar as well along the new wall. I showed B the vision, and we both had a game plan to work through phase 3.

In addition to building a wall to replace the make shift drop cloth wall, we also built around our furnace to consolidate our storage and other equipment from the main area in our basement and added a bi-fold door! This was part of my hold up, since I wanted it to be more than just a wall to seperate the rooms, but more encompassing of a few other things for our basement space.

What We Did

In addition to building a real wall in place of our make shift drop cloth wall, we also worked to enclose the storage area and the furance and water heater. From there we started dreaming about how cool it would be have double french doors from the living room area to the rest of the basement, we had actually talked about that many years ago as big goals. And then we made it happen! Installing the french doors was definitely not fun, and probably should’ve been like 4-person job – but somehow we did it, with all the credit going to B.

For the built in basement bar, we wanted to keep this as affordable as possible – so we ended up getting the pre-fab cabinet bases from Lowe’s — one compromise for this was having 24″ depth, it took up a little bit more of our living space than I would’ve preferred, but getting custom or skinner ones was significantly more! We scored my champagne fridge on sale and then used nicer plywood, glued together and created our own counter top that we stained in our go-to Walnut and polyurethaned the top for extra protection, again an affordable route!

We were already blessed with a bright basement with big windows and lots of them, but painting the basement white with waterproofing and the overtop, definitely help brighten up and clean up this space from it’s dingy blue walls.

Our basement was a blank slate, that we’ve turned into something. We’ve added function, additional living space, a whole new bathroom, and storage! And now it’s just time to live in it and enjoy – although since the 2020 C-word, we haven’t hosted with overflow in the basement as I always envisioned, like the guys downstairs watching the game, with snacks on the bar and mixing their own drinks – maybe some day!

Cheers to constantly evolving and making these a bit more beautiful than the way we found them!

DIY – Sideboard Glow Up

| The Bee Life

I’ve been itching for a DIY project, and as much as I love the looks of our sideboard that transitions seamlessly from our living room to our dining room, our project skills and taste have improved since we first did this project back in 2016. The functionality and size of this piece are ideal, so there was no sense in trying to find and buy something new, we just needed a little glow up. After much brainstorming, I saw @hotpinkpineapples cabinet makeover and was instantly inspired to recreate this beaded look on our doors — the color was just throwing me.

To throw it back to 2016, we found a battered bookcase on the side of the road and added doors to it to create extra storage for glassware, entertaining, and games. The legs on the bookcase have always been questionable, so with this glow up, I also made sure to reinforce and take the time to fix some things overlooked with the first make over – like new legs, reinforcing the bottom, taking the extra time to sand the doors to remove some of the roughness and using wood filler to create a seamless look.

Makeover Supplies:
– 4″ Wooden Legs with Metal Leg Plates
– 25mm Wooden Craft Beads (I got 3 packs)
– 1-inch edging
– Gold Acrylic Pulls
– Wallpaper
– Magnolia Chalk Paint & Wax Sealer
– E6000 Glue
– Wood Filler
– Gold Spray Paint (for the old hinges)

This was my first DIY with Chalk Paint… and let me say, I was not impressed, actually super bummed. I did the chalk paint because it’s supposed to be easy, durable, and little prep. I ended up sanding the old piece for the wood, but never primed anything… and as I was in the finishing touches stage the paint easily chipped off, or was stripped entirely when I was applying the wallpaper all the way down to the original dark wood grain. I wasn’t happy! So I made sure to get the wax to give it that protective finish – I did a couple coats on the high-traffic areas but am not convinced it’ll hold up. I also put contact adhesive shelf liner down inside to help with the chippy chalk paint.

Another learning on this DIY was gluing all the beads on, super easy, but the glue had a lot of leftover cobwebs, which was annoying when it came to finishing/painting – so either be careful or super diligent when you are gluing to avoid unnecessary webs. I am really happy with the 25mm size of the beads with my larger doors, they definitely make a statement!

Since the front was getting a glow-up, the inside also needed a makeover too. I wanted it to be a fun party inside, especially since this holds games, additional glassware, and other entertaining supplies. I think the fun tropical leaf pattern in black, white, and grey is super chic and lots of fun. What do you think?

I’m low-key obsessed with this makeover, and have found a small place for some green in my home with accessories and supporting pieces! Working on this project definitely got my creative juices flowing, it’s amazing when you spend the time creating and making something how that stems into other ideas and thoughts in other aspects of your life. 🥂

Kitchen Reno Reveal

| The Bee Life

Our kitchen reno is finished! (well almost… but we won’t talk about that in this post)

It just took under a year from inception and planning to completion for our kitchen renovation. That timeline was not at all what we were expecting… honestly if someone would’ve told us it would’ve been 8-11 months and kitchenless over the holidays, I don’t think we would’ve tackled the project when we did – so it was a blessing in disguise. It’s surreal to have this giant, brand new kitchen… especially compared to what we had, we added an 6x8ft section, which didn’t seem like much in the planning, but it was huge in the end! All of the details and planning came together and she sure is pretty.

Let’s take a look at where we started:

  • Green photos = when we first moved in

Project Recap

As I mentioned in previous updates, we had “contractor” drama and cabinet delays for days – but once it came time to the finishing touches, we were pretty much in control. Our cabinets were delivered and installed relatively quickly, although, as we came to find out with our counter and backsplash install not everything was as even or level as we were told or had hoped – but I know it was done with a bit more care than if our “contractor” stuck around.

Our biggest learning from our biggest home project to date is that good, quality workers are hard to find – I would be curious if we paid more money (but trust me, the bill for our kitchen was not cheap!) for some of those things if the quality, craftsmanship and customer service would’ve been better – part of me thinks not (unless we were paying like triple?). Our countertop company, Granite Works, was the only company we worked with that we had nearly zero qualms about! But even with all the headaches, at the end of the day, we also reminder ourselves that we live in a 100+ year old home, and even with the “new” she’s still a little rough – and now we still have an amazingly beautiful kitchen.

The Big Reveal

The finishes all seemed to come together, and we’ve definitely been told by many people that our kitchen is “very white.” But we like everything light, clean, and classic. One of the trickier pieces was honestly getting the brass/gold finishes to match – but I’d say we did pretty good with 90% of them. The appliances (as much as I love them) are a bit more of a darker bronze. We went with easy and classic white shaker cabinets and a Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz counter that has this beautiful brown veining that runs through it and pulls the golds, flooring, and backsplash nicely together.

The breakfast nook is honestly my fave, from the garbage picked table upcycle to the DIY oversized settee we created – it just makes the space cozy. I’m sure there will be some additional decorating the walls, I’m looking forward to adding in more wood grain pops with the deeper walnut color from our table, it’s nice and warming to compliment the white and gold. We also have shelves that match the cabinets to go over the sink area, but haven’t installed them yet – maybe we will, maybe we won’t. I honestly, just don’t know what to do with so much counter space!

We already hosted our first event, an Easter brunch – the bloody and mimosas bar was perfectly placed (sadly, I forgot to take photos) and there was plenty of room for people to get around one another. I’ll share a post that links out all the actual finishes from the backsplash to the floors… but until then let the dance parties, endless plates of snacks and food, afternoons of Moz soaking up the sunshine and bottle popping commence!

Want to look back at our Kitchen Reno project?
📜 Kitchen Reno – The Plan
🛠️ Demo & Mood Board
🎨 Kitchen Progress Update

Kitchen Reno – An Update

| The Bee Life

My last kitchen reno update was from August with demo officially underway. Fast-forwarded to mid-September we confirmed our ‘contractor’ and got work started, as we finally got city permit approval – which was honestly such a pain in the butt and took way longer than anticipated. So to give an abbreviated update on a big project that has lasted over the last 3-4 months, I’m going to touch on a few of the roadblocks – but spare the gory deets – cause we are in such a better place.

OK, let’s get into it. One of the biggest outcomes of the permit process was the need to actually add and build a new foundation for the 2ft by 8ft area we were expanding as opposed to doing a cantilever. This added to the timeline and budget, but in the end, honestly a better solution. So this first part of the process was SLOW, waiting for the brick, cement, and all the layers to dry and settle.

Cabinet Drama & Delays. Another roadblock that we didn’t anticipate was our kitchen cabinets. We were confident and told that we would be able to get those measured and ordered (before our footprint was complete). WELL, that wasn’t the case. The original cabinet company we decided to go with seemed to have a lot of upfront misinformation and we had to wait over a month before we were even close to being able to order cabinets (aka half our timeline) – as they requested to have drywall up before measuring and working on any layouts. Needless to say, the deadline of making Thanksgiving… or even Christmas was shot especially as lead times increased on top of that. Long story short, we ended up finding another (local) cabinet company who worked with us a million times better, had great communication, great solutions for our space, and a fair price compared to the original company (and the cabinets have been ordered!)

Contractor* Be Gone. At the beginning of November, we kindly said thanks for all your work to our ‘contractors’ and took over the rest from there. We quickly realized as more of the aesthetic work was being done that the attention to detail was missing severely and B and I are way too picky, spending a ton of money and have a vision and like things the way we like them. *grins* We ended up having to finish cleaning up the mudding, all the painting, flooring, finishing electric fixtures, adding all the trim work, and will end up doing the backsplash once we have cabinets and counters in place. This was a little extra sticky because it was a family friend who we went with, and have worked with before – but it just wasn’t going to work out for the full project like we’d hoped.

*I’m using the word “contractor” because it’s the easiest way to say our family friends who were doing the work for us.

REAL TALK: Dealing with the workers day in and day out, and living in the construction was EXHAUSTING. It NEVER ended – this heightened once the workers were actually in the house. And B and I were not in a good space as a team – we were stressed, arguing, upset, and frustrated with the work, progress, communication, lack of communication, games, and everything else in between and we were just over it. The unfortunate best thing for us was to get as much done from them, give a firm cut-off date and cut ties for our sanity. The sanity still took a bit to get back to… but I think we are finally in a better place (until we have to install the backsplash I am sure). 🙃

Now What? Basically, we are in the ‘wait for cabinets’ stage – which we’re hoping come sometime in January?! We have a big open room just waiting for it to truly become a kitchen. We are also waiting for our stove to be delivered again, so hopefully no more delays from that end. We were able to finish the floor install over Thanksgiving with a huge help to my parents – and again, thank goodness, because the attention to detail my dad has doesn’t even compare to our ‘workers’ and I know B and I would’ve been pissed… but I’m digressing!

We cannot wait to host in our kitchen, I honestly just cannot wait to have a sink on the main floor… and for my dining room and rest of the house to get back in order with everything misplaced. So, until then, we wait!

House Tour: Basement Bar DIY

| The Bee Life

Ready for a fun reveal? As we’ve been in influx awaiting the official go ahead for our kitchen, we of course found another project to keep busy with. So why not build a wall in the basement and create a built in bar?

A few years ago, we created a ‘finished/unfinished’ space in our basement for an additional living space with a TV, $60 DIY shiplap wall and some deep couches. To help section this off from a storage area, we created a wall with a large drop cloth and piping, which worked great for an easy, temporary solution – but the plan was always to create an actual wall… eventually. Well, B had been itching to build the wall, and I told him I really wanted to add a built in bar and shared some inspiration, so together we worked to figure out the spacing and how we could pull it together – but not without a few disagreements of course.

To keep it somewhat simple, we bought prefab base kitchen cabinets from Lowe’s — we originally wanted to find something a bit more swallow, but everything was super expensive, so upon searching we found a taller wine fridge and compromised for deeper cabinets. From there we needed to figure out a counter top, all your typical counter tops at Lowe’s were either super basic and blah or a bit more than we wanted to spend, so upon doing some research B found this nicer plywood that we could stack, glue, stain and polyurethane to create our own counter top. It actually came out way better than expected.

Once we had our base all figured out, it was time for the fun part – decorating! We were able to utilize some left over gold handles from a previous project for our cabinets, that give it a modern and sleek look, pulling in the gold accents. I went with a simpler approach to two parallel photos vs. a gallery wall like I was initially thinking – it definitely keeps it cleaner with the two stacked shelves on the right side. We got the brackets off Amazon and then bought the shelves, that were a little more expensive but a nice sleek look that we were also able to stain and polyurethane. We also got the wine glass holder from Amazon, which fits perfectly and has ample counter space still underneath it.

A few other fun touches include the artwork, that B and I ended up hand painting ourselves – I did the fun Notorious B.I.G. quote and B did the champagne bottle! We also had to get oversized snack jars for some sweet and savory treats, although I can’t say they’ve been staying full. Moz also has her own filled with her favorite treats. Lastly, we finally have a place for the cocktail books we’ve received over the years – and the Fancy AF book inspired me to also make this an unofficial Bravo Books library – more to come as my collection grows! Some greenery and other fun bubble trinkets also helped finish off the space.

We are finishing up painting some french doors that will open and close also into our new basement space – which will make it perfect for any guests who may end up staying in the future. The space has seen a complete transformation – and we also now have an enclosed nice big storage closet on the opposite side of the wall too.

We can’t wait to host some friends, catch a football game and eat some snacks – because that counter is also big enough for plenty of food and we’re stocked with plenty of beverages!

Shop Our Look: Oversized Snack Jars | Gold Hand Pulls | Gold Shelf Brackets | Gold Wine Glass Rack | 4.6ft Artificial Palm Tree | Frigidaire 34-Bottle Wine Cooler | Larger Base Cabinet | Smaller Base Cabinet

Before & After: A Glam Front Entry Makeover

| The Bee Life

For awhile now, I’ve been wanting to do a ‘drastic’ decor upgrade to the main floor – either in the living room or dining room. I really wanted to add an accent wall somewhere with some bold wallpaper, but both rooms just don’t have a simple enough wall to be a true statement wall. Then I thought – what if we wallpaper our front entryway? It’s a small space, closed off from the rest of the living room and an opportunity to do something a bit bold – especially compared to it’s pretty basic current decor. Oh, and it’ll be easy and affordable!

The before

There isn’t a whole lot to say about the before except that we had painted her a grey-ish color along with the rest of the rooms on the main floor, added a rug and I did a fun little DIY with some souvenirs from our house – which I love, they’re in the process of being relocated as I type! We have the same original light fixture and that is about it. Take a look for yourself:

the makeover

Super boring, right?

I had two wallpapers picked out; (1) would be a safe option, that would allow us to reuse the current decor and (2) something a bit more fun, glam and daring especially compared to most of my design choices. After consulting with B on both, we decided to go with Glam Option #2! This meant we would be adding in other finishing touches to really pull this space together. Once we had our pattern picked out, we estimated how many rolls of wallpaper we would need based on our small entryway space… welp! The wallpaper added up quickly in rolls and in price, but that was another reason I decided to pick Target, because the peel and stick paper is fairly affordable and decent enough quality compared to other options. We ended up needing four rolls of wallpaper, and used almost every inch.

Wallpapering this space was tough and definitely tested our patiences. We were quickly reminded that our 100-year old house walls are not straight, in addition to having a hell of a time doing the puzzle of making sure the patterns lined up perfectly, while also trying to get maximum coverage from each roll. We got as much of it to line up in long straight pieces as possible, but still had a lot of patching and matching to do. I would definitely suggest sticking to a straight wall for any first time wallpapering projects, especially if you aren’t good at puzzles or have a lot of patiences. We even accounted for starting a few inches from the ceiling in order to be able to get two sheets from one roll (ideally) — starting lower, we planned to add custom ($$) crown molding around the top, as she didn’t have any molding to begin with!

Let me just preference, this glammed up project quickly added up! The wallpaper alone was over $100 and then we probably put in over $100 with just the ceiling updates from the double layered molding to the ceiling medallion that we bought and then spray painted so it would have a pop of gold at the top! Finishing this molding and painting the ceiling, really makes the room look so much taller and bigger. B really did an amazing job repairing some cracks, patching them and then getting her looking like new again.

The side table was also another pain in the butt project, long story short – I was trying to not spend too much on legs for the wood top that we already had (thanks f&d) – and after failing with my “cheap” option, I ended up ordering these hairpin legs, which was the original more expensive option I was trying to avoid and then spray painted these beauties to go with the rest of the room. We also spray painted an old silver outlet cover, that again just pulls all the accents together and pops again this romantic wallpaper.

Now let’s talk finishing touches! The round gold mirror, definitely is the cherry on top — I really was resisting falling on the round mirror trend, but she just does this space so good. I shopped around and ended up finding mine at Home Sense it was the same brass/gold finish I was looking for, same 28″ shape, but $10 cheaper than Target! So if you’re looking for your own, shop around at those home stores for a little better deal. I also snagged that adorable ‘Hello’ gold table top sign at Home Sense, which IMO is just the perfect welcoming accessory to add to this awesome table. Finally, finding a rug that fit this space and warmed it up a bit was key – I ended up buying a few before ending up on this 4′ round woven rug. I’m sure I’ll be adding a few other details to cozy up the space.

Shop My Pieces: Canary Floral Wallpaper from Target / Ivory Woven Rug from Target / 28″ Brass Mirror / 20″ Ceiling Medallion

Even with this project snowballing over budget (even though there wasn’t a budget) and taking a little longer to finish up with some roadblocks — the space is such a little treasure. We get to enjoy it especially now as the weather continues to shift, we ever catch glimpses of the fun wallpaper pop from the living room or even dining room. Now anyone that comes over, will need to come through the front door to soak in all her glam and glory.

Before & After: Accessory Closet Makeover

| The Bee Life

One really amazing thing about our master bedroom, is the fact that we have not one, but two walk-in closets — the even better part? I had full intentions of sharing these with B, but he said “Nope! They’re all yours.” 😍 Since these are in our attic, they both are a bit oddly shaped and my accessories closet is definitely the smaller of the two, but works out perfectly for all my fun and special pieces to be on full display.

To get this closet, which quickly became a catch all, organized I focused on three areas to get this looking better and straightened up. (1) Purge! I went through all my jewelry and consolidated, donated or stored away, this also included scarfs and handbags. (2) Invest in jewelry specific organization pieces, and (3) paint old TV console that I use for storage. These three things combined helped make it more functional while also looking even more gorg, if I do say so myself.

By purging and consolidating, I was able to even get rid of a few different cube solutions and really consolidate and streamline everything for a clean and useful space, while also limiting myself to what I can store, so that I have to keep up with replacing or purging when new items come in.

Ok, so I think the things that really pushed this makeover to the next level were the acrylic jewelry organizers I grabbed – and might I add am pretty obsessed with. The two-pack acrylic mounted jewelry stands were an impulse purchase, that I wasn’t sure exactly how I would use them — but they came in clutch and I love how they free up counter space while displaying my necklaces tangled-free and easy to see! I then found these clear jewelry boxes, one with four-drawers in white, and another with six-drawers in white. The six-drawer case is shorter, so it fits perfectly on top of my updated shoe console. I also grabbed this stackable accessory container on a whim, and again I love how it contains pieces, stacks tall, while still showing off the pretty things.

Finally, I ordered a 4-pack of clear shelves to utilize in the space. I wasn’t 100% sure the configuration or what I would want to put on them — I was initially thinking smaller hand bags or displayed jewelry — but ended up putting some pictures and keepsakes I already had in the space to have my favorite people close. I ended up using the other two in my larger closet, which is still getting organized with it’s own update!

Two final key pieces that really helped spice up this space and make it functional was the addition of a make-shift counter on top of the vertical cubed storage. Because it’s an old attic, there was a decent gap between that and the wall — but getting this Blue Hawk white laminate board, we were able to cut in half and utilize for both of my closet spaces which had this same problem. This created a space where I could put my larger jewelry box, while still having some space for added decor or storage pieces.

Finally, painting our old brown TV console to white to match the space was a necessity! I almost didn’t do it, but I’m so glad I spent the time and 10-million coats of white paint to give this babe a face lift. I had left over speckled dot peel and stick wallpaper from Target from a previous project that was just enough to add as a backer and give this a bit more glam and flair. And by consolidating all my of heels to this space it really gave a clean separation between bags and shoes. I just kept my wedding shoes as a focal point in the tall cubed piece!

With a few extra hooks and nails I was able to add storage for more bags, wide brim hats, some satin and lace. The last thing I plan to do is spray paint the hooks from silver to gold and also do the same for the wall sconce to spray paint the silver hardware gold for a cost effective update! As I mentioned, my larger clothing closet is also getting a bit of an update, while also getting organized and cleaned out — a mini reveal and a few of my hacks for that coming soon. This space was transformed within a weekend, and I find myself just opening the closet door to peak inside at the perfection and pretty!

Here’s to creating more beauty and organization in our lives! xox