Board and Batten, Board and Batten, Board and Batten... Everyone Is Crazy About Board and Batten!

/
Board and Batten, Board and Batten, Board and Batten... Everyone Is Crazy About Board and Batten!

Wow. The board and batten trend has taken over the DIY world! Everyday I'm floored by the number of people who have arrived at my new little blog looking for DIY board and batten projects (especially those of you who want to put board and batten along the stairs/stairway in your homes). I posted a few articles about my own DIY board and batten projects (you can check them out here, here,here and here) but I didn't do a step-by-step tutorial in any of them. I'm so new to the DIY blogging world that by the time I started working on my own DIY board and batten project there were literally thousands of tutorials floating around for the best way to do a DIY board and batten project yourself. So, to help all of you DIY gods and goddesses out there looking to DIY your way to beautiful board and batten in your dining room, entry way or anywhere else you feel moved, I have listed my favorite DIY board and batten projects from around the web.

Read More

A Better First Impression

/
A Better First Impression

've always heard that you only have one chance to make a good first impression. When our realtor showed us our house three years ago my first impression was "wow... this needs work." And to be honest with you, I wanted to turn around and run. But I didn't. I headed up the stairs (which were covered in blue outdoor carpet) and into the living room. There was tile as far as the eye could see. I knew what a pain it was to pull tile so that was strike two for the house. But then something magical happened - our realtor (the beautiful Cara Keenan from Realty Austin) took us out onto the back deck. Instantly everything bad about the house disappeared. You see, growing up in Texas I had been surrounded by flat land my whole life. I had always loved trees, rolling hills, lakes. Yet living in the Dallas area, there was little of that to be found. But I wasn't in Dallas any longer - I was in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. And boy did this house make you well aware of that. We walked out on the deck to find this:

Read More