One Room at a Time :: DIY Hanging Pot Rack

Hello!

Today I am so excited to finally show off my hands-down favorite project that we did in our mini-kitchen makeover for my one room @ a time series. This idea came about while I was organizing the kitchen cabinets and trying to figure out what to do with all our pots and pans. I was starting to feel discourage about the entire project (yes, only two days into it, ha!) since I didn't feel much was changing aesthetically (organizing, yes! But the pretty just wasn't there yet). 

Jason has been really into the idea of a hanging pot rack above our peninsula, but I was worried that would close in the area a bit, and I love how open it feels. 

A few weeks ago, I had found this pin and saved it:

{found on this site}

I loved how the pots & pans were hung in such a way that it didn't take up much visual space. Apparently I really liked it, because it turns out I also pinned this image a year ago as well :) 

I had an idea on how to recreate it in our kitchen, but since the only wall it would be able to go on was occupied by our huge mixer, there was no way to do it. I didn't want to move the mixer because if it's not on the counter, I find we barely use it. 

Then one day, our only-a-year-old microwave turned off and never turned back on again. This thing was a beast that took up an entire small counter. Here's a reminder:

{it's the giant piece to the right of the oven} You can also see the red mixer in the left corner. 

Having it kick the bucket gave us the excuse to by a new, smaller one that we could tuck away in our kitchen cart (out of sight!). We don't use it too often, and honestly I love the idea of having it be a tad inconvenient so that we don't use it all the time. This cleared up an entire counter that I then was able to move the mixer and spice rack to.

 I feel like our microwave breaking was a sign {perhaps a gift??} from the universe! 

It allowed me to then do this:

To do this, I simply used a thin curtain rod we had in our family room that was left there by previous tenants.  I have plans to replace it with a curtain rod that we already own that has been sitting on our bedroom floor since we moved in....a year ago. The length was perfect, and I actually don't even mind the finish. I had Jason screw it in flush with the bottom of our upper cabinets:

The "hooks" are actually shower curtain hooks turned backwards. I had an entire, new package of them that I have been holding onto for a year now, waiting to use them with another project. 

So, that made this entire, amazing project FREE. 

I am over the moon with how this project turned out. I think Jason and I both knew the second it went up that we were smitten. It's functional (I get kind of giddy every time I reach for a pot and realize it's right up there!) and really opens up the space.  It also adds a casual feel to the room which is something I am looking to do to the entire home. I should note, that because of the height of our cabinets, only the smaller pots/pans fit up there. The larger ones are still tucked below. 

This project also renewed my excitement about the entire series. If all the rooms turn out half as great as our kitchen has, I will be thrilled :)

xo,

Rachel

Linking Up...

iHeart Organizing

Happy Monday & a Feature

Hi! How was your weekend? Ours was basically spent rearranging our entire house, because that's what normal people do, right?! I have been so busy figuring out the details to our little princess's party, that it didn't really dawn on me that we just invited 20 people into our house....looking like this...eek!

Project One Room @ a Time is in full swing, and I can't wait to share with you tomorrow my favorite project that we did in this space! Aside from a few small details, I would say the kitchen is done and the family room is well under way. I showed off a sneak peek on my Instagram {@nestling_designs} this week:

This is actually great timing, since this space was just featured on Inspire Me Heather in a great roundup of family rooms. This room is pretty special to me, so it was an honor to be up there with some other amazing spaces! You can go check out the entire post here.

Happy Monday!

xo,

Rachel

Simple DIY Envelope Liners

After everything that happened last week, I am admittedly behind on our little girl's party. Although the invitations are printed, they haven't actually been handed out yet :) In my own defense, she only goes to school 3x a week, and since yesterday was a holiday it has be delayed even more. 

I wanted to share with you a little detail that I added to the envelopes that I think makes them that much more special. It was really easy and inexpensive, and since I am obsessed with little details, it makes me quite happy. 

I chose scrapbook paper as my liner, but I think wrapping paper would be a really good alternative because of its price (I used some of the snowflake wrapping paper I had on a few & it worked wonderfully because of its thinness). The envelopes were purchased from Staples and the glue is just craft glue I typically have on hand. 

The first step was to create a template for the liner. 

First, I traced around my envelope onto cardstock (my kids are always using our printer paper as their drawing paper, so I just found one that had already been drawn on - that would be a page of Braden's B's that he has been writing all over the place!)

Next, I cut my tracing out.

I then folded it in half width wise and trimmed about 1/2" around the edges, so that you would still see some of the pink of the envelope. 

Finally, I tested out the template to make sure it fit. 

After that, I simply traced my template onto the backs of the scrapbook papers I picked out & cut. 

I found it was easier to insert the liner first, fold it over with the crease of the envelope, and then glue the back of it on. 

Since I want her party to have a bit of a vintage-y eclectic feel, I love that all the liners coordinate but don't match. 

Easy-Peasy :)

Happy Hump Day! 

I will be enjoying the first childless morning I have had in forever, since Boo gets to go back to school today. *yay*

xo,

Rachel

One Room at a Time :: DIY Projects

Hello! 

I am excited to share a couple of the simple DIY projects I did for my One Room @ a Time series. {catch all the details about the series here and see how I organized the space here}. Since the name of the game over here is to make things look pretty without costing much, I knew I would have to get crafty with a few objects we already had. 

First up was a cute, little tray I picked up from Target awhile back. {Okay, I may have picked up a few ;)}

I love the simple lines and the smaller size. The blue, however was not working form me. 

This project was simple & FREE. I used paint and fabric leftover from our dining room project. I really liked incorporating these colors in a small area in the kitchen because I felt like it helped the two rooms tie in together.

The fabric I used was {literally!} scraps. But I just love it so much, I wanted to make it work :). You can see the line down the center where the two swatches meet up, and I would normally never do this, but since I knew it was going to be covered up by items anyway, I went ahead a did it. 

Much better, right?!

The other project I did was much smaller, and easier. We have had these three glass storage containers for years. I love the storage, LOVE that they are glass & not plastic, but haaaaate the ugly, old wooden tops. We picked them up from a thrift store for a song, so I can't really complain. 

As you can see, I added labels using this tutorial on how to make my own chalkboard labels. The next step was  a light sanding and paint. Luckily, I still had some gray enamel paint leftover from the desks in our family room, so I was able to use that for the tops. 

Then for a little added fun, I used a stencil on the top. I purposefully have each one a little different because I like the eclectic vibe it gives. 

Oddly, my favorite, is the one I messed up on - my foam brush still had too much water in it when I used it, so it caused a lot of the paint to bleed through the stencil: 

It's a small detail, but I think they look a ton better. 

Happy Tuesday!

xo,

Rachel

Our Week

We have had quite the week since we talked last!

If you follow me on Instagram (@Nestling_Designs) you saw me post this picture with our little Boo just looking absolutely miserable last week:

And for good reason....while I was getting the kid's valentine's stuff put together, Jason took him up to the ER where he was diagnosed & admitted for pneumonia in both of his lugs! Poor little guy can't catch a break :(

Although we were short one member, here's a look at how our Valentines was spent:

Poor Braden had to get his basket and balloons at the hospital (the first smile we saw in days was when he saw the chocolate!):

For the next few days we spent a lot of time snuggling, watching movies, & painting. 

It was really difficult because the hospital currently has a no kid's policy for visitors due to this year's bad flu, so we had to constantly find friends to help watch our older two while Jason and I basically tagged each other in and out of the hospital. Finally, on Saturday they let him go with a book of discharge papers and a small pharmacy of meds.

We have spent the past two days catching up on stuff around the house. I finally bought myself a new planner. (yes, I am aware that it is halfway through February!)

I also tried some of the pink popcorn we bought from Target during Valentines. I had been thinking about making some pink popcorn for Cayden's birthday and when I saw this (and didn't have to make it!!) I stocked up. 

Of course, the cat's schedules weren't interrupted at all :)

(why yes, that is my new Coach purse he is sleeping on, ha!)

Remnants of the holiday are still around, like the balloons still floating up high in our living room:

(okay, and let's be honest - all our decorations are still up and I have no plans to change that soon!)

One major perk was coming home to a bunch of happy mail! The week before Braden was admitted into the hospital, he was just so miserably sick that he laid around all day, watching tv and demanding that I sit with him. Of course I did....and I snuck in plenty of online shopping as well :)

Here's a sneak peak at some of the goodies I got for Cayden's party:

I even picked up a few fun things for myself: 

(yes, that's a calendar. yes, I do know it's mid February LOL)

And then, to cap off our lovely weekend, Jason whipped up some goodies to make up for our lousy V-Day:

So, that's where I've been :)

 But, I am back, and so excited to show you some of the greatness that has come from our cheap-o makeover with our kitchen this week!!

xo,

Rachel

Valentine Entry & A 'Wild' Valentine DIY

I have a bit of confession to make. 

I didn't even get our Valentine decorations up until this past weekend. I honestly think I would have just skipped the entire thing if we didn't have kids to call us out on it!

So, I compromised by just doing a small vignette in our entry. 

The heart was a craft I did a few years back using a wooden heart I found at Goodwill. I just used scrap paper and embellishments I already had. 

I'm sorta in love with this arrow print and want to have it stay forever :) So don't be surprised if you see it somewhere else in this house in a different color scheme!

The arrows were made from our chopsticks, scrapbook paper, and tape.

I also wanted to share with you the valentines I made for our little guys' class party. I don't think I mentioned it here on the blog, but shortly after our little Boo's hospital stay, he started preschool! It's a program our state does through the school system for children with delays- in our case it's a speech delay. Although it broke my heart to send him off in a bus, he absolutely adores his new school and we are thrilled with the entire experience so far. His class is a new one and only has three children in it at the moment, so I thought it would be nice to do something really cute. 

I always love the little boxes of animal crackers and since I already have a jungle themed party collection in my shop, I simply took those and turned them into valentines. 

I love how they still look boy-ish. Perfect for our little man :)

You can download your own tags HERE and make your own. 

Happy Wednesday!

xo,

Rachel