My Top 5 favorite DIY Shortcuts & Hacks!

Hey guys! This week I'm so excited to share with you some of my favorite little upgrades we've done in our own home that will hopefully make a big difference and help you out as well! When it comes to anything we do, if we can do it ourselves, and do it for cheap, we are all for giving it a try. I will admit there's been some trial and error moments here and there, but that can sometimes be the best way to learn! I'm pretty proud of some of the things that we've come up with, so now I want to share with you my top 5 favorite DIY shortcuts and hacks that can bring some nice upgrades in the home on a budget!
           

1. Bed sheet curtains: yes, you heard me right. Bed sheets! I've actually been doing this for years now. I have never wanted to spend money to have curtains. They can be pretty pricey unless you buy cheap sheer curtains, and not everyone always wants that! But with two twin flat sheets you can have curtains for next to nothing! About $4 a sheet to be exact! The perfect thing is that they already have a nice seam where you can cut a hole on either end and slide a curtain rod right through without it being noticeable whatsoever! You can find all sorts of patterns and designs (I like to keep things neutral so I just have a nice cream color). 

2. Chalk Paint: Okay, for all you who know me, or have seen some of my projects, you may know by now how much I LOVE chalk paint. But for those of you who don't, I LOVE CHALK PAINT! So what is it? It's a type of decorative paint, that can be used indoors and outdoors. NOT to be confused with chalkboard paint, two completely different things! It has a slightly chalky appearance and can be really awesome for aged and distressed appearances. But the absolute best thing about it is that it requires ZERO prep. No sanding, priming or anything. It can also be applied to ANY surface without crackling or peeling. This is the BEST way to upgrade old furniture. Before you throw it out, re-vamp it! I've painted T.V. stands, benches, tables and even my kitchen light fixtures and part of the back splash with chalk paint! It's also really good at withstanding a lot of traffic and use. There are several brands out there, the original and most popular is by Annie Sloan, but I personally only use the brand Waverly from Walmart! $5 for a medium jar (main size I use) and a little goes a long way! One medium jar could do a whole large project or maybe two smaller ones! They do have other various jar sizes ranging from about $2-$10!

3. Painted back splash: This is pretty self explanatory. Just paint it on! All I did was tape it off and use a paint pen to draw my faux subway tile! I really like how the lines aren't crazy perfect. Gives the effect of real grout! If you're not that sure if you can get it straight, you can also use peel and stick tiling or even contact paper! Here's a little before and after! And also relating to tip number 3, I actually hand painted (tedious but worth it!) the blue and gray tiles with chalk paint!

4. Paint your hardware: simple trick and pretty cheap! Before we had plain silver cabinet and drawer pulls, but I really wanted a farmhouse clean-lined type feel. So I went out and got some spray paint, in a nice hammered finish black for some fun texture and just painted them. For this project, I simply removed ALL of the pulls, which was a pain if i'm honest! Then I laid them all out on a cardboard box and sprayed them down. Wait til they're dry and voila! A whole new set of handles! You can also do this on door knobs and things like that! It makes a huge difference!

5. Interior door upgrades: using trim (Home Depot), and some paint we easily upgraded the interior of our front door for very cheap. Before it was plain, flat and non-textured. Here's a little tip, there's a cutting station at Home Depot to cut all of your trim to size, but I wasn't confident in doing that part myself, so they were nice enough to do it for me. I just gave him my measurements and told him how many I wanted for each length! After this I did have to cut the edges myself at home to frame it in. We used a cheap miter box saw we found for $15! I then taped it to position it how I liked, nailed it on, and gave it a fresh coat (or 2) of black paint! To see more of this specific project, check out my IG account, @meglagrone. You can also paint any interior doors to bring some color and life!

So these have been some of my favorite things we have done to give some high end appearances in a very affordable way! Hope you enjoyed it! 

Until next time y'all!