A simple, breezy backdrop –

An eclectic boho centerpiece -

And table settings along with some easy menu ideas -

It was fun for me to throw together this colorful & romantic look. Head on over to my Celebrations.com profile to check them all out!

Almost 2 years go by…and I finally got around to painting that door! I hopped on the black door trend & painted it a dark, glossy shade.

Ooooo, dramatic. I’m bringing in a lot more black accents throughout the room, so it will make more sense when you see it all together.

While I had the brushes out, I decided to tackle the boring white door to the laundry closet in the kitchen.

Better, don’t you think?

It originally had a painted wood knob, but I replaced it with two ceramic knobs for a more symmetrical look.

They were actually two plain white knobs, leftover from the great cabinet transformation. I used sharpies to fill the surface with little circles. It was completely inspired by these Easter eggs at Design*Sponge. I love how they turned out to have a speckled look!

The new look makes a simple laundry closet a little fancier!

What do you think? Do you have any black doors in your house?

Two years ago, Phil was commissioned into the Air Force with a scholarship to get his master’s degree in Public Health.

His graduation is coming up in May, and in July, will start a 3-year commitment as a 1st Lieutenant!

All of the unanswered questions about the future have been teaching me to relax & be patient. But now I can indulge my need to PLAN. Phil finally got his first orders for Montgomery, Alabama. It will be difficult to leave our close friends here in North Carolina, but we’re looking forward to new opportunities with this next part of our adventure.

So all this means we’re getting ready now to pack up & start a Southern life! Our first home is officially for sale. It’s such a weird feeling!

Now I need to play blog catch-up for all of the projects I tackled to get it ready to put on the market

Side note: The comment feature has mysteriously disappeared & I have no idea why, or how to get it back. In the mean time…I’ll just pretend that you all commented to wish us good luck!

I started with two empty yellow/mustard colored frames that I stole from the living room gallery wall (yep, I changed that up again!). Our bedroom is neutral with pops of purples and mustard, so the frames work better in this room now.

I was inspired by Jen of i Heart Organizing when she used a decorative radiator grill within a frame for hanging earrings.

I was too lazy (& cheap) to drive out to pick up one of those, but I did think that I could use one of our disposable metal grilling sheets instead. They’re just a couple dollars for a pack of 3, so they’re very inexpensive, and I liked the simple polka dot pattern. THANKS Grill-O-Sheet! [insert cheesy grin & a thumbs-up]

The nice thing about these sheets is that they’re very sturdy but very thin, and made to be cut with scissors, so you can easily trim it to fit inside your frame.

I spray painted one side gold, then used hot glue to secure it in place.

For my other frame, I wanted to use a different material that would be suitable for earrings with posts. I had some gold mesh ribbon that fit the bill, so I glued strands of that material in random criss-crosses over the frame.

Next, I needed something for necklaces. I cut down two scrap pieces of pine boards to be about the width of the frames.

I wanted it to look like old, rustic wood, so I used different items like a hammer, nails, and screws, to distress the boards.

I stained them with Minwax’s Provincial. It’s my new favorite stain – I think it’s the perfect not-too-dark/light/orange/saturated hue, especially when you’re staining pine, which can be tricky. I wish all the hardwoods in our house were this color!

For hanging the necklaces, I decided to use some white eye-hook screws that I had lying around. I spray painted them gold first, of course!

I love how the gold pops against the rustic wood.

With the boards and the frames hung, it’s ready for jewelry. Don’t the frames look kind of nice on their own?

But alas, these guys are here to serve a cause. The jewels! And by jewels, I mean my cheapo costume jewelry that I love

The mesh ribbon ended up working really well for earrings with posts, like studs, because the backs can clasp on the back without falling through.

The holes in the grill grate are perfect for earrings with hooks to dangle from.

Now that all my necklaces have their own hook, I don’t have to worry about them tangling anymore.

Two feet to the left, I store my bracelets and rings in little bowls on our dresser.

It’s so nice to have all my jewelry neatly organized and so easy to see & access. Living in a small house, I’ve been trying to do better about only keeping items that are used often, and donate anything that isn’t. I hope that this system can help me stay true to that, instead of hoarding old jewelry that never gets worn. What do you think? How do you store your jewelry?

It involves a metallic fish scale backdrop made from upcycled paper bags -

A DIY chalkboard speech bubble prop for guests to write their own messages -

And free printable photo booth props that you can color in yourself to customize -

Head on over to Celebrations.com to check out the instructions! Happy photo-boothing!

It has served us well as a spare bed for guests, but it’s not something that we want in the main living area. For a few weeks, I casually stalked craigslist for a replacement. Of course, without a truck or SUV, that eliminated a sofa or love seat, so I was set on a pair of armchairs. I was thrilled to find this pair of faux leather club chairs for just $40 for the pair!

The woman who was selling them had recently adopted 4 kittens that she found abandoned in a parking lot. (She told me that her little boy said, “I’ve always wanted FOUR cats!” Haha, aw!). Unfortunately though, they ruined her chairs with their claws. So she was selling them so cheaply because they would need to be reupholstered.

I’m pretty sure that a reupholstering job is way above my sewing skill level right now (I still can’t even sew a straight line), but I had other plans in mind for this chair. Instead of covering up the cat damage, I thought I would embrace the distressed look. If that didn’t turn out, I had 3 other backup plans And for $40, it wasn’t a big risk anyways.

I started by sanding all the surfaces with 100 grit sandpaper.

I sanded just enough to dull the surface, and to smooth out all the rips where the cats went to town.

I read somewhere that you could use rubbing alcohol to dull the shine on leather & vinyl surfaces, so I applied that with a cloth to remove the dust. I’m not sure if it did anything after the sanding, but I figured it couldn’t hurt either.

The sanding made a huge difference in bringing it down to a more rustic level.

My hope was that if the rest of the surface was dulled & distressed, the cat scratches wouldn’t be so out of place, and the whole piece would look more intentionally rugged. Kind of like buying new jeans because of the rips & the fading.

After I finished the second chair, I thought that the legs were looking too perfect. Cherry stain isn’t my favorite either, so I painted the legs black & distressed them a little as well.

The final detail these guys needed was some nail head trim. I started out using “real” furniture nail heads, but hammering them in place without bending or breaking was turning out to be such a headache. Plus, they came in little packages of 48, and I realized that I was going to have to spend more than I wanted to to get the look that I was going for (I ended up needing over 500). Then I thought that I could just use real nails. They’re industrial, rustic…they could go with the look, right? So I bought two 1-lb boxes of roofing nails for just $5 (& returned all the others).

To install them, I eyeballed the placement of 5 nails along the front of the arm & hammered them in. Then, I marked their spacing on a piece of painter’s tape.

As I moved down the arm, I used the tape as a guide to keep the spacing somewhat consistent. It was still nearly impossible to get the nails lined up perfectly straight or evenly spaced, but that’s something I had to learn to get over!

Installing the roofing nails was way easier than using the furniture nails, but let me tell you – it was still a workout. I spaced out this phase over 3 days. I don’t know what this chair was made out of, I really had to fight with it to get it to accept the nails. I must have smashed my pointer finger about 10 times (ask Phil, who heard me yelling from the other room!), but it was worth it.

I created a rectangle on the fronts of the arms, then added a line of nails along the bottom of the sides just to give it a little interest, without wanting to overwhelm the chair in nail heads.

I know this makeover won’t suit everyone’s style, but I love how they turned out!

I’m really happy with the outcome! The sanding made the surface much more matte & variegated, which I think helps the cat scratches look more like intentional distressing. The roofing nails are industrial to coordinate with the rugged look of the chair, but they dress it up at the same time.

What do you think?

The most exciting part was putting them in our living room! The chairs have a smaller footprint than the futon, so the small space feels much bigger now that the furniture has slightly more breathing room.

I like the masculinity that they bring to the room to balance out the feminine pieces (like all the floral pillows, and the curtains I have planned…).

You might have noticed my new rug, too! It was my Christmas gift from my parents Our previous rug was a 5′ x 8′, but I later realized that an 8′ x 10′ would ground the space much better. I love the versatility & the casual vibe of a neutral natural fiber rug!

I think it would look great with a smaller rug layered over top (& a bigger coffee table), but I don’t know if that will happen while we’re living in this house. Even so, this room is starting to come together!

There’s still plenty on my to-do list (it’s never-ending!), but replacing the futon with these chairs is major progress in my book, so I am a happy girl! And for a total of $45 for the pair…Phil’s happy too

Linking up with:
Liz Marie Blog

I started this website as an online art portfolio for a job that I was applying to, which is why I used my name for the web address. I never even got an interview, but I kept the domain & it later morphed into my house & DIY blog. This has been a really fun way to update my friends & family back home in PA, and a way to get connected in a online community of people who share similar interests. After all, not everyone loses sleep to dream up curtain ideas, or designs end tables in their heads while they’re on the elliptical I would love it if this hobby could turn into a source of income one day too. So I’m attempting to be more legit. I’ve been wanting to switch over to a more generic blog name that would be easier for branding (“Shauna what? Mallough? Mayo? Mailbox?”). The name Beautiful Matters means more to me than “I like pretty things.” We are influenced by our environment, so it’s about surrounding yourself in a lovely, inspiring, and uplifting space so that you can feel and act that way & share that with others. It’s a simple concept, but one that I believe in. You can read a little bit more about it on my About page.

I had a lot of fun designing the new look. It feels a lot more like me. You like? I now have a Beautiful Matters facebook page too – feel free to “like” it and stay connected there!

My house portrait portfolio was also long overdue for updating, so you can check out a bunch of new stuff over there too! Yay!

I won’t be using www.shaunamailloux.com for the foreseeable future, so make sure to update your readers to www.beautifulmatters.com. If you receive updates by email, you may need to reenter your email address again in the sidebar. I still have to sort through redirecting all the old links, but feel free to let me know if you notice any kinks on the new site. (For example – can you read the font? It looks different to me on different browsers.) I have to give a big shout out to my genius super talented friend Joy Laforme for walking me through the steps to make the name switch. I was so terribly lost without her

I have about 800 different projects going on around the house right now…can’t wait to share some updates soon!

The room was already looking worlds better, thanks to projects like the fresh white paint, wood floors, painting a bright red door, and raising the old header over the sink and adding a new pendant light & rugs. But I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the dated 50′s cabinetry.

I planned on removing the doors to the cabinet to the right to allow for semi-open shelving for an updated look and easy access to everyday dishes.

New hardware would be fun, but what we had was fine, so I planned to spray paint them all black so they would match each other and coordinate with the other black accents in the room.

Painting is the obvious answer for dated cabinets, but I was worried that the plain, flat-front doors might still look cheap & bland, even with a fresh coat of paint. I thought that adding simple trim to the fronts would really dress them up and make them look more expensive than they are.

Adding trim to cabinet doors has obviously been done before. One day I was waiting at the paint counter at Lowe’s, there was a bucket of yardsticks, and I was thinking that I should buy wood trim that size because it’s exactly the look I had in mind – flat, shaker style, and the width of the boards were still small enough for the tiny drawers.

Then it dawned on me that I should just use yardsticks! I came home with a cart full. At just $0.69 a piece, they were much cheaper than plain craft boards the exact same size. All it would take was a quick sanding down with an orbital sander to remove the numbers, right? (Spoiler: nnnnnoootttt.)

So, this is more of a tale of what not to do. But I’ll explain anyways. We started this project when my wonderfully giving family came down for a weekend to help us finish up some house projects. While my mom & grammy were inside priming away on the cabinet bases –

My sisters & I were outside tackling the cabinet doors. Alyssa sanded all the doors with an orbital sander, & Megan & I worked on adding the “trim” yardstick detail to the fronts. We figured out that you should cut multiples at once to save time & ensure perfectly even cuts. I didn’t bother with mitered corners because I knew you wouldn’t be able to tell after they were sanded, primed, and painted.

We simply lined them up & used wood glue to attach them to the doors.

We clamped the trim pieces down for 10 or so minutes before moving onto the next set.

Once the glue had set, Alyssa & Phil used electric sanders to buff off the numbers, which are just slightly indented into the wood.

We cleaned them up and caulked around the outside edges of the trim for a seamless transition. Then we got to work priming! We used Kilz primer, which is so rough that it needed to be sanded lightly afterwards, but it seemed to provide a really strong base coat. Look at my busy worker bees

The base cabinets were primed too, thanks to my mom & grammy!

I gave all the hinges, knobs, and hardware screws a light coat of spray primer before I spray painted them a satin black.

Then it was time to bust out the cabinet paint. The uppers are off-the-shelf Valspar semi-gloss “Ultra White” and the lowers are Valspar semi-gloss “Barnwood”.

We used leftover paint from the hallway to paint the interior of the semi-open cabinet a dark charcoal gray for some drama!

This was about as far as we got with my family, but we had made HUGE progress and I was ecstatic!

Before painting the doors, I pre-drilled holes for the hardware. Adding the trim to the doors covered up the old holes for the knobs, but I wanted to change their location anyways. I put them in the corners of each door because I thought it might be more streamlined to have them all lined at the tops/bottoms rather than partially inwards. Just a personal preference.

When it came to painting the doors, I used a small foam roller for everything.

This is where the story turned sour. As soon as I rolled the paint on the fronts of the doors, the numbers & dashes started to reappear.

What??? It doesn’t make any sense – before, the numbers were indented into the wood. We sanded them completely flat, primed them & sanded again, so these guys were perfectly smooth. But then immediately after I painted them, the numbers were not just visible, but raised. It was like a magic trick that I could watch happen as I was rolling on the paint. Whyyyyy??

I sanded them down, again, repainted, and watched the numbers bubble back up, again. I had to do this on every single door FOUR TIMES before they completely disappeared.

But the good news is, they did finally disappear. Phew.

Before installing, I brushed a coat of polycrylic over all of the inside lips of the doors to help with wear & tear.

I gave the shelves in the open cabinet two coats of polycrylic too to help protect from scratches from dishes & cups.

We reinstalled the number-free doors, and loved them!

The moral of this story, for anyone who is looking to update their flat-front cabinet doors: just buy the regular craft boards & save yourself the headache! You’ll still save a ton of money, compared to refacing your cabinets or replacing them entirely. And your result will be fantastic, if you ask me!

I really like how the matte black hardware pops.

Woo! We are so happy with how it turned out. Our cabinets now have some architectural interest, and combined with the paint, it feels bright & updated. Here they are all decked out –

The tan color for the bottom cabinets ended up being a bit lighter than I expected it to look, but I still love how it coordinates with the countertop.

I love having open shelving to show off our colorful dishes contrasted by the dark gray interior.

The header over the sink finally makes sense now that it is finished!

After seeing a bunch of chalkboard-painted refrigerators out in blogland, I’m decided that I’m going to do the same to ours. I wouldn’t do it if our fridge was newer, but since it’s not terribly precious, I’m going to go ahead with it. Phil’s on board, I think it’s a fun addition that will break up all the white.

I love how it’s all coming together, finally!

There’s still a little more left to do in this room, but all of the major projects are DONE!

COST:
Sanders & sandpaper: $0 (already owned)
Yardsticks (36): $25
Black spray paint: $5
Primer: $21
White paint: $30
Tan paint: $27
Polycrylic: $0 (already owned)
TOTAL: $108

Not bad for the difference that these updates made!

I thought about using the leftover subway tile from the shower surround to add a backsplash (which I would LOVE!). However, the current little backsplash is integrated into the laminate countertop, which means that it can’t be removed without removing the entire countertop, and it’s my personal pet peeve to have a backsplash that doesn’t go the whole way down to the countertop. (Do you know what I mean?) We’re not able to replace the countertop, so that means no backsplash either! That’s okay though, I still love our kitchen now! Here are the cabinet before & after’s -

Do you like how it turned out? I have to give a HUGE thanks to my family for all of their hard work that weekend – we made so much progress that would have taken us weeks to finish on our own!

By the way – I will be changing the name of my website, so just a heads up that there will be a transition soon!
Also, my apologies for another massive post! I guess I can’t help myself

It’s [shamefully] been a YEAR since we started, so I think a refresher is necessary. Well, it didn’t really take us a whole year, but we did work on it in sporadic stages over the course of a year. This was our first major DIY undertaking, so I’m giving us a free pass on the timeline. Let’s take a walk down memory lane to summarize how we got here. I’m warning you now – this post is a BEAST! Feel free to skip to the pretty “afters” at the bottom if you want

Here is how it looked when Phil bought the house – back when it was a tropical “oasis” with palm tree wallpaper.

None of it was our style, and much of it was in less than ideal condition, but we thought we could update it ourselves. The old vanity was too deep for the tiny bathroom & sported a cracked and rusted vanity top.

The shower tiles were dated, the grout was stained, some tiles were loose and one even fell off the wall already. The finish on the tub was worn off, so it was permanently stained and rusted around the drain.

The linoleum floor had seen better days too.

For a temporary fix shortly after I moved in, we removed the wallpaper, painted the walls gray, and installed some towel bars & a toilet paper holder.

This helped so much until we were ready to tackle the big renovation. Our plan to renovate the bathroom was not just for our own enjoyment, but for resale value as well. The basic look we wanted was something fresh and updated but with some vintage touches. We could only afford to spend $1,000 to do it, but I was determined to make that money stretch as far as it could. That meant getting creative, searching for deals, putting in a TON of time and work, and making every aspect a DIY project.

The floor was the first project we tackled, and it was also the scariest. Demolition is the easy part…

…but then of course, it hits you that you just destroyed the only bathroom in the house. There’s no turning back now!

Our plan was to rip out all the layers of old flooring and install white ceramic octagon & dot tile. But then we discovered that lurking under 3 layers of linoleum, a million staples, plywood, tar paper, and glue, there was a hardwood subfloor!

We nixed our plan to tile and decided to refinish the hardwood instead. That meant removing a million staples and scraping every inch of tar paper off the floor by hand.

We also repainted the room white during this time for a fresh look that would provide a strong contrast against the other elements in the room.

Then I finished off the floor by sanding & staining it dark walnut, sealing it with spar varnish, and installing new trim. Not to mention, we got a functioning toilet back again after a week of driving to public restrooms!

We love the warmth & the natural element that the reclaimed wood brought to the room – imperfections & all.

Next, we tackled the vanity. My original vision was to convert an antique dresser into a vanity with a vessel sink top, but after weeks of searching, I couldn’t find one that fit the specific dimensions we needed for the small space. I ended up finding a metal cabinet at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore for just $7.50 that was the perfect size, so the design plan shifted to include the more industrial touch.

I paired it with a green glass vessel sink I got for a steal for just $30 at HomeGoods.

We installed new sturdier shelves in the cabinet, made adjustments for plumbing access, added casters to raise it up to a better height, and painted it deep blue with a lacquer finish. It was supposed to be a navy blue, but ended up looking more cobalt. I just went with it!

Then we installed the vanity in the space with a tall vintage-style faucet and added natural woven baskets for storage.

After the vanity was in place, the mirror and light fixture were looking pretty sad, so I gave them an inexpensive makeover next.

Instead of replacing the light fixture, we decided to save our pennies and just gave it a facelift instead.

I replaced the medicine cabinet with a $3.97 thrift store mirror. Mint green paint and some rope hid the imperfections and tied it into the vessel sink and the vanity storage baskets.

We were left with a hole in the wall after removing the medicine cabinet, but we couldn’t let that space go to waste in a tiny bathroom, so we finished it to allow for extra storage that’s accessible by lifting or swinging the mirror.

Then, I gave a quick upgrade to the window.

We had faux wooden blinds which we always had to keep basically shut because our neighbors’ home is so close by. I replaced them with frosted window film on the bottom two panes.

That allowed for all of the light to come in without losing any privacy.

We couldn’t stall any more, so we had to start the shower tiling project. Neither of us had tiled before, so we were nervous and procrastinated as long as possible. But it had to be done, so we bit the bullet and demo-ed the old tile & installed the cement backer board.

Then we began tiling away with classic (& inexpensive!) white subway tile. Our sweet neighbors offered to lend us their tile saw, so we were able to save the costs of renting or buying one.

We choose a gray grout for a vintage look, and sealed it.

Taking the tile to the ceiling is a decision that we are so happy with. It makes the space feel much bigger without the visual interruption of where the tile ends. I love the new vintage-style knobs, too.

We took a long break after this point to start working on the kitchen, but finally I came back to finish up the last major project – refinishing the tub.

I used a DIY tub refinishing kit, and even though it got off to a pretty rocky start, I am very happy with the results.

All that was left at this point was the shower curtain. Instead of the old one we had hung at a standard height (which came with the house along with the palm tree hooks!) -

I made two extra tall panels for a double shower curtain that looks good opened or closed. I choose a mint green pattern to coordinate with the other mint accents in the room. I think it was the softness and color that the bathroom needed!

PHEW. Still with me? We LOVE how it all turned out. Ready for the “after” tour? Come on in…

The new vanity has a much smaller footprint, but it’s more efficient, and we’ve been able to keep twice as much in here now with the baskets, the storage on the toilet tank, and the space behind the mirror.

For some art to hang above the toilet, I made two simple abstract palette knife paintings with leftover paint from other projects. They’re no masterpieces, but they get the job done!

Plants in windowsills never cease to make me happy

The tub is still holding up great so far, for anyone who’s wondering!

It is awesome to get ready in a space that feels fresh, modern, and like us!

Here’s the total cost breakdown for how we were able to keep it under $1,000. You can click on the links for each aspect for more information on those individual projects.

COST:
Wall paint: $28
Reclaimed wood floor: $64
Vanity: $327
Mirror & light fixture: $23
Frosted window film: $10
Shower tile: $346
Refinished Tub: $51.50
Shower curtain: $83.50
Art & accessories: $0 (DIY or already owned)
GRAND TOTAL: $933

WOHOO! Under budget But technically, we spent even less. We tried to cut costs wherever possible, which meant using a gift card and applying credit card rewards to different items, which brought the cost down even more:
Total out of pocket: $809.50

And just for fun, I wanted to see what our total investment was. We will be moving this summer, and the shower curtain, storage baskets, and accessories will all be coming with us to our next place, so I subtracted those costs to see how much we actually put into the house.
Total investment: $678

We are so happy with that number! I don’t know much about the housing market in our area, but we hope to have added at least a couple thousand dollars of value to the home. When we sell it, hopefully we can see some of that sweat equity in our pockets!

How about some side-by-side comparisons to make this post even longer?

What do you think? I am proud of us for finishing our first serious renovation project – & end up still married! Haha, success all around

Projects included are homemade heart wall art, a DIY stamped hugs & kisses tablecloth, a repurposed book table runner, a Cupid’s arrows centerpiece, and a modern branch centerpiece that you can also adjust for different seasons & occasions . You’ll have to check them out & let me know what you think!

From now on, you’ll be able to find my Celebrations projects on my profile and at the bottom of the gallery page.

One thing I didn’t include in the articles was an idea for inexpensive DIY chargers. Chargers can totally make a table by giving your plates a dramatic contrast. But they can also be expensive depending on how many plates you’re setting, especially for an item that doesn’t really have a purpose. I liked the texture of non-slip mats (used for drawer liners & such), so I cut out large circles & simply spray painted them a metallic gold. So easy & cheap!

The great thing about this is that you can always spray paint them a different color down the road to match another table setting!

We already put the table setting to good use with some great friends

By the way, I also updated my about page if anyone’s interested!