We’re the Franks. We’re fearless DIY-ers, determined to transform our home and yours! Stay a while and check out some of our guides.
Alright ya’ll, this is about as easy as it gets. This super simple DIY stair runner was the perfect finishing touch for our foyer. This space has come so far since we moved in. When we bought our home, our entrance was certainly plain looking.
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It’s finally here! Our faux beam’s are complete, and I could not be more obsessed with how they turned out. I love this project because it creates a much more “custom kitchen” feeling our in space. I’ve written about our poorly laid out, not-so-custom kitchen problems in the past. As much as I would love to have cabinets that went all the way to the ceiling, I don’t. However, our new faux beams slot in right above our cabinets; the entire space feels so much more custom, inviting, and intentional.
Let’s take a quick look back at what our kitchen looked like when we moved in.
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I have this problem. My most recently completed project is always my favorite. But this time, these faux slate floors really are my favorite.
In all seriousness, I cannot believe the difference a little paint can make. Yes, my back is still aching. Yes, my hamstrings are sore. Yes, I realize this means I should be eagerly awaiting the reopening of our gym. None of that matters! This project transformed our standard beige, builder’s grade tile to faux stone in one weekend. Does it get any better than that?
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We have quite a few different accent wall styles in our home. We have shiplap (obviously), we have wainscoting, we had beadboard. With all that said, I finally caved to the board & batten. This accent wall style was so easy and inexpensive; I cannot believe it’s taken me this long to try it.
As some of you may have heard, I’ve promised straight-forward and easy to follow steps. So, I’m going to keep this guide simple and to the point. Let’s get to it!
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I have to say, I’m so pleased with how this transformation turned out! We painted our tile floors, and they turned out great.
We have that boring, beige, builder’s tile in a few rooms of our house. I feel like I’ve seen this tile everywhere. However, this update was inexpensive, easy, and delivered great results. I’m definitely going to be trying this out throughout our house.
This process would easily work with linoleum, vinyl, or even wood (if you dare). Here is what our tile looked like before:
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I read this week that home and garden sales are at an all time high. Incidentally, the Franks’ family farm was established in 2020.
Apparently, we weren’t the only ones with this idea. It certainly makes sense that many people have found many fresh, new hobbies. It seems like everyone I know is baking bread, tie-dying, or gardening. You have to choose at least one. We chose gardening. I’m sure the bread baking and tie-dying will happen for us in due time.
We’ve never had a green thumb. Actually, I probably would have called myself a plant assassin up until this point. Which is a shame, because I actually come from a line of farmers! My grandmother still has large farms where she grows and harvests corn. So, I’m relying on the small hope that there’s some farmer in my blood. My goal is to make one salad. I’d like one beautiful salad fresh from our garden. But before we can start sharing vinaigrette recipes, we had to start from the ground up. So this week, we built raised beds for our vegetable garden.
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Towards the very back of our house, off the kitchen, we have a …“nook.” Essentially, it’s a small room with cabinetry and a sink. I believe many would refer to this space as a “butler’s pantry.” Unfortunately for us, our butler’s pantry wasn’t so functional.
The butler’s pantry looks like a nice place to store an expensive crystal collection, fine china, or other such fancy items. We did utilize this space to store some of our nicer kitchen wares, but honestly, I probably didn’t open a cabinet in the butler’s pantry for the entire first year in the house. We ultimately decided we needed a more functional space that worked with our lifestyle.
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Favorite/least favorite thing about our home — the quirks. Sometimes when a home has been around for years and years, it ends up as a hodgepodge of every previous owner’s taste and different iterations of change. Due to this, we have some strange layouts and oddities.
Take our bedroom for example, we get incredible light in our bedroom. Most of our bedroom walls are lined with windows. Said windows came with (beautiful) plantation shutters already installed. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the plantation shutters. However, it leaves us with only one wall in which our bed can be placed.
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It’s been a rough week for everyone. I, for one, really needed some cheer in my life and home. Chicago spring has certainly sprung with temperatures in the 70s this week — which means fresh daffodils around every corner.
I figured it was time to bring out the vases and bring some positive energy into our home this week. Even if you’ve limited your time outside your home, you can still bring the florals indoors! Flowers for Dreams is currently offering virtual floral workshops. I love this idea to maintain social distancing, but still honor a bride or mother to be. A virtual flower workshop could also be a great, socially distanced, mother’s day activity.
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I’ve spent the last few weeks focused more on self-care than I have in the past. I think the term “self-care” can sound a bit trite, eliciting an eye roll, at times . However, in light of recent events, I think we all deserve to focus a bit more on the ways in which we take care of ourselves.
With that in mind, I’m loving this extremely easy DIY tub tray which functionally brings together all my favorite ways to unwind - hot bath, cold wine, good book, and scented candles.
If you are lucky enough to have hardwood floors in your home, then you know how beautiful they can be. Hardwood flooring instantly warm up a space, adds character, and is extremely versatile design-wise.
When we purchased our house, I was so excited to have hardwoods throughout. The original, 100+ year old oak floors are a true gem. That being said, when hardwood floors hang around a home for a hundred years, they tend develop quite a “patina.” At least thats what my mother lovingly calls it — she’s a very nice person.
I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news. First, the good news - Our closet is finally organized! Cue the fireworks, brass band, and baton twirlers. It’s been a long time coming, and I certainly had my doubts; but here we stand, victorious.
Barrett and I experience what we like to refer to as “a laundry crisis” at least once a month. A “laundry crisis” is an extremely dire situation that results from the unfortunate combination of:
1) at least one fully grown adult who likes to dump their clothes on the floor at the end of the day and
2) the scarcity of drawer space that results from being exclusively attracted to mid-century modern credenzas instead of dressers/armoires.
The resulting outcome is clothing all over the floor of your closet, laundry hampers utilized as storage containers, and a complete inability to ever find a matching pair of socks again. It’s really not ideal.
So, here’s the deal. We don’t have an open concept kitchen, farmhouse sink, quartz countertops, or custom cabinets. I know, I know, your sympathies are much appreciated. What we do have, a small kitchen stuck way at the back of our house, is actually pretty typical of an older home. Today, we see the kitchen as the heart of the home. Not so much back in the day. Kitchens used to be tucked away and not to be seen by guests. Oftentimes in older homes, the formal dining room took center stage.
I can hardly believe we’re approaching two whole years in our house! We’ve come a long way since we moved in. We’ve done a dozen or more projects on this old, 1901 farmhouse, and we’re only just starting to writing them down. Hindsight is 20/20 (Happy New Year, ya’ll).
Our first major project of the new year was a DIY fireplace makeover. If you can believe it, this entire project only cost us about $200. And, with the help of some thoughtfully-gifted Home Depot gift cards (thanks Mom and Dad), we were able to only spend about $150 out of pocket.
