Hi, I’m Rachel!

Inspiration is my morning coffee. It makes me alert, focused and feeling ready to tackle anything. This is my sanctuary to share my creations that come from those inspirations. You will find tips, techniques, and, hopefully, some inspiration to tackle your own projects. Thank you for stopping by and I am so honored to have you here.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME

I have had a vivid imagination since I was a small child. My mom could tell some great stories about creating my own toys with nothing but a vacuum cleaner hose, hair ties, and sticks from the yard. I was mildly obsessed with MacGyver to tell the truth. 

We live about an hour from DC. I share a busy home with my husband and son, whom I refer to as our lovable Tasmanian devil. He only stops to hug and cuddle with mommy and then he’s off like a tornado again. Welcome to my wonderful world!

ABOUT THE WEBSITE

CRAFTS

Being a creative type, I am an avid crafter. In fact, I love to window shop where I take pictures of things I know I can do myself. You will find knock-off decor, holiday crafts, DIY furniture makeovers, printables, and lots of tutorials. I make my tutorials as clear and obvious as possible so you can recreate anything you find on this site.

Here are some examples (click on photo to go to tutorial):

HOME DIY

In April 2014, we purchased a foreclosure that needed a lot of fixing. Like a ton. There was no running water when we purchased and every floor in the house has to be replaced. The walls had major holes and the bathrooms need gutting. Here is our kitchen when we purchased it:

And here it is after we gave it the DIY treatment! {and still in progress}

With Each DIY Project, we get closer to making it truly our haven. My husband and I are not professionals, but we are very capable and experienced DIYers. Quality, and not band-aid repairs, are important to us. Trust me, if we can do it, you can too! I am the creativity and hubby is the practicality but we both share a passion for DIY that brings us together as a family. We are a lot like the average couple – we bicker, we have different visions, and we get the job done.

I hope that you will join us as we chronicle the transformation including our DIY renovations, home decorating projects, storage and organization, and the general mayhem of DIY, one project at a time! My taste is generally transitional meaning that I strike a balance between modern and traditional design. I like clean lines, graphic prints, and with soft, natural touches. My desire is to create a home the showcases elegance, encourages curiosity, but more importantly, where you just want to dive into the couch and put your feet up.

You can browse our home projects and posts here or take a tour of our progress so far. There is a lot more coming and if you would like to keep up with our adventure, consider subscribing to the newsletter. You can choose daily or an overview of new projects no more than once per week.

RECIPES

I love to work with my hands and this also means I love to cook and create tasty recipes for my family. Although I don’t create recipes for the blog specifically, I share the time-tested recipes and methods I have used since I was a kid. You can find categories including soups, family favorites, and desserts on the navigation bar. I am a cook, bread maker, and beginner at home-canning. My husband is a former chef and I try to get him back in the kitchen as often as possible. Coming soon, I will be doing a series where I post recipes from in season fruits and vegetables in my garden. I am hoping that this experiment will lead to a decreased food budget, better diet, and eating 100% real food all year-long. Well, hubby will always have his american cheese slices so 98% is good too.

Here are some of our Best Rated Recipes by Readers:

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you find some inspiration and a little how-to in these pages! Be sure to sign up for the newsletter to keep up with all the action.