The biggest news of all has got to be the conversion of our man cave into a nursery for my 1-year-old son!

Much to my husband’s dismay, of course … he did love that man cave, but sacrifices have to be made when you have kids! You can see my nursery reveal here.

Related: Find more DIY home decor projects here.

As you can see, the room is quite small (in the UK, the third bedroom is usually quite small and we often jokingly refer to it as a “box room”), which meant there wasn’t much space for the bigger essentials like a wardrobe.

Not that I minded—I find wardrobes to be like bulky oversized boxes. So, I decided to create a DIY hanging rail from the ceiling!

It looks so light and minimal but still holds plenty of clothes. And, of course, baby clothes are *the* cutest, so this DIY rail ended up looking aesthetically pleasing, too!

Supplies Needed:
–branch/driftwood or dowel rod
–strong cord/rope
–ceiling hooks
-scissors
-drill
-sandpaper (optional)

Tutorial:

Decide how long you want your clothing rack to be and cut your branch/dowel rod down to this size. I cut mine to the length of the drawers so that the rail would be suspended above and line up nicely.

Drill a hole into both the ends of the branch that’s big enough for your rope/cord to fit through. Sand around the holes if needed to smooth things out and make it easier to pass the rope/cord to go through.

Now, fix your ceiling hooks in using wall plugs (wall anchors). Remember to mark precisely where the holes are in your branch/dowel rod and space the ceiling hooks at exactly the same distance.

Again, I used the dresser as my marker for spacing! But I also used some masking/Frog Tape to mark where the holes would need to be drilled in. It’s a simple but useful way of ensuring precision.

Please note if you’re in a rental where you aren’t allow to draw holes, this branch could be hung with heavy duty self adhesive hooks.

However, It would greatly limit how much you could hang on the rail and would be more for aesthetic purposes rather than function.

Next, cut two pieces of rope to the desired length. Make sure you have a little extra rope to make room for any errors. The extra can always be trimmed later!

Thread your rope through one end of the the branch and make a knot. Do the same with the other side.

At the top of the rope, make a loop knot.

Hang it up on one of the ceiling hooks and trim any excess rope.

Now, hang the other end of the branch on the other hook and tie a loop knot at the end of the rope. This can be a little tricky, as you need to make sure the branch itself hangs level.

And you’re done! I’ve put mine up high enough so that there’s room to hold my son’s longer clothing, like his bedtime onesies. And although I haven’t got many clothes hanging up in the pictures, it can actually hold 2-3 times more!

What do you think? Is this something you think you’ll try? xo, Medina

You can follow me on my blog, Instagram, and TikTok!

P.S. Love this post? Check out Hanging Copper Pipe Clothing Rack DIY.

Print

DIY Hanging Clothes Rail

How to make a DIY hanging rail from the ceiling!

Author Medina Grillo

Equipment

• -scissors
• drill

Ingredients

• branch/driftwood or dowel rod
• strong cord/rope
• ceiling hooks
• sandpaper optional

Instructions

• Decide how long you want your clothing rack to be and cut your branch/dowel rod down to this size. I cut mine to the length of the drawers so that the rail would be suspended above and line up nicely.
• Drill a hole into both the ends of the branch that’s big enough for your rope/cord to fit through. Sand around the holes if needed to smooth things out and make it easier to pass the rope/cord to go through.
• Now, fix your ceiling hooks in using wall plugs (wall anchors). Remember to mark precisely where the holes are in your branch/dowel rod and space the ceiling hooks at exactly the same distance.
• Again, I used the dresser as my marker for spacing! But I also used some masking/Frog Tape to mark where the holes would need to be drilled in. It’s a simple but useful way of ensuring precision.
• Next, cut two pieces of rope to the desired length. Make sure you have a little extra rope to make room for any errors. The extra can always be trimmed later!
• Thread your rope through one end of the the branch and make a knot. Do the same with the other side.
• At the top of the rope, make a loop knot.
• Hang it up on one of the ceiling hooks and trim any excess rope.
• Now, hang the other end of the branch on the other hook and tie a loop knot at the end of the rope. This can be a little tricky, as you need to make sure the branch itself hangs level.

Notes

• I put mine up high enough so that there’s room to hold my son’s longer clothing, like his bedtime onesies. And although I haven’t got many clothes hanging up in the pictures, it can actually hold 2-3 times more!

So, sometimes family life can feel a little cramped—especially if you aren’t utilizing every ounce of space in every room the right way. And of course storage is always an ongoing conversation in British households.

Us Brits are forever on the hunt for more ways to get the most out of our humble-sized homes. “You can never have too much storage” is definitely something we can all agree on. For some, good functional storage systems can mean the difference between a cluttered and a tidy home.

Thankfully, there are a ton of ways you can make limited spaces work for you. Today, I want to focus on bedrooms and share a few storage tips that will help you get the most out of your living space.

These are personal tips I’ve used throughout my own bedroom (which is the biggest bedroom in the house square feet wise), which is not that big at all compared to others I’ve seen.

1. STATEMENT BED

Chances are, if your bedroom is small, you’ll want to reduce the amount of furniture you put in it to save on floor space!

Of course, as it’s a bedroom, the bed frame is kind of the main act and needs to be there to ensure a good night’s sleep. Spending a little extra on a bed frame that is both functional and looks amazing is a great way to introduce a sense of style and presence to your room without having to do much decor wise.

Think stunning headboards that can be used as a feature!

Photo credit: Medina Grillo @grillodesigns

It’s also important to note that the size of the bed does matter. We initially started with a king size (queen size) bed in our small bedroom (see picture below for previous bed frame), but then downsized to a smaller bed (much to my husband’s disappointment) just so we had a little more leg room around the bed. It’s made such a huge difference to the room.

Photo credit: Medina Grillo @grillodesigns

2. STORAGE UNDER BED

When deciding on a bed for a tiny space, it’s a good idea to choose one that has the potential for storage. That can be either choosing a bed with legs that allows you to slide in boxes underneath (I made my own here) or a bed that already has custom built-in drawers.

I can’t tell you the amount of things I store under my bed, or how helpful it’s been to have a place to put seasonal items in my home. A lot of rugs, shoes, clothes in vacuum bags and cushion (pillow) covers live under here.

Photo credit: Medina Grillo @grillodesigns

3. VERTICAL WALL SHELVING AND WALL MOUNTED FURNITURE

If your room is lacking in floor space, take storage up to the wall! Install shelving around the room either to display or store Items. You can also hang hooks on the wall for clothes and bag storage.

Can some of your furniture (like side tables) be mounted on the wall or hung from the ceiling? Here’s a photo of a side table in my son’s bedroom:

Photo credit: Medina Grillo @grillodesigns

I actually have a shelf above my bed that I use as a feature basket wall (granted this might not work in countries that have earthquakes, but being from the UK, that’s not something we worry about here).

It’s basically just a slab of wood attached in place with white brackets, and yet, it’s such an interchangeable feature. I’ve used it more for decorative purposes but you can use it for whatever you like. What’s that saying? “The world is your oyster.”

Photo credit: Medina Grillo @grillodesigns

4. MULTI-FUNCTIONAL FURNITURE

It’s important to have multi-functional furniture in a small bedroom that is adapted to your lifestyle. One of the biggest benefits is that it hugely maximizes your space, i.e, rather than using a basic table or shelf as a bedside table, why not use a table with drawers, or a chest of drawers instead?

Photo credit: Medina Grillo @grillodesigns

Can a rolling table over the bed also be used as a desk or a console table when not in use? FYI, I built my own one a few years ago. 

Photo credit: Medina Grillo @grillodesigns

5. UTILIZE AWKWARD CORNERS AND DEAD SPACE

I mentioned spaces like under or over the bed earlier on, but dead space also includes areas like windowsills, the space above or behind doors, above radiators, or even tight alcoves. You can use hooks to hang shoes or clothes behind doors. Books and jewelry can be stored on windowsills (or a windowsill could become desk or dressing table) . And a simple shelf can be installed above a radiator to store even more bedroom accessories.

I turned my alcove into a reading nook out of my love for reading.

Photo credit: Medina Grillo @grillodesigns

And before that, it used to be a desk space!

Photo credit @kfiszerfoto

6. BUILT-IN FURNITURE

Is there an option to build in wardrobes to make better use of the floor space? If so, go for it! It might cost a little extra but it will be worth it in the long run, especially if you have a room with awkward corners or sloping ceilings. And don’t forget to turn your wardroom doors into feature that adds a little something extra to your room.

Thankfully, our wardrobes were already built in from previous owners, so all we had to do was paint and swap out the old doors for these OSB ones! I talk a little more about that here.

Photo credit: Medina Grillo @grillodesigns

7. MAXIMIZE SPACE IN YOUR CLOSET

Finally, this is an important tip to try if you’re the kind of person who loves to have an uncluttered wardrobe, but has lots of clothes!

-Take an inventory of your clothes. Pack away season’s clothes into vacuum containers and store them away (under the bed perhaps?).

-Switch to slimline metal hangers that are less bulky.

-Make use of the floor of your wardrobe by adding in cubbies, low shelving units or deep baskets.

-Make use of doors/hang magazine racks or hooks to store jewelry, scarves, etc.

Photo credit: Medina Grillo @grillodesigns

And that’s all the bedroom storage tips I have for you today! Would love to hear any ideas you might have as well.

Like I said, us Brits are obsessed with storage, haha! Let me know in the comments below. You can also check out my blog or Instagram for more easy rental decorating ideas! xo, Medina

P.S. Check out Everything You Need to Organize Your Home (By Room) for more ideas!

Elsie helped me pick out the colors. We were aiming for something a little more muted, and of the 13 stairs, we wanted to lean a little more into warm colors than cool. It feels like a fun little surprise when you open the door that leads upstairs—it’s whimsical!

Here are the stairs before I painted them rainbow. Another goal I had was to fill a lot of the old nail holes and small cracks/crevices before painting. Since we had the floors refinished a few years ago, the white really shows off how chewed up these old wood stairs actually were.

Supplies:
-paint samples (I used interior latex paint in an eggshell finish)
–nail hole filler
–sandpaper or sanding block (fine grit)
–paint brushes
–painter’s tape

Step One: Before I even bought the paint samples, I laid out the paint chips to make sure I was happy with the progression of colors. I’m a visual person and it always helps me to take little steps like this to see if I’ll be happy with the final result before spending too much time on a DIY project.

Step Two: After wiping down the stairs, I used the above nail hole filler. After it was completely dry, I sanded the surfaces smooth and then cleaned off the stairs again. This took longer than I thought and was WAY less fun than painting the colors. Ha. But I filled so many holes, it was insane.

Step Three: Tape off the areas you will paint. You may also want to use a small drop cloth as you work from top to bottom.

*I should also mention, if your stair risers aren’t already white (like mine) you may need to prime them first after taping off. I didn’t need to since they were already white.

Step Four: Starting from top to bottom, paint the risers. I only had four brushes so I had to clean them in between at times. I also needed two coats of paint, so I had to wait for the first coat to fully dry. I worked on this project over two days.

After the paint is dry, remove the tape. If needed, use a very small paint brush to fill in any small areas if the tape wasn’t sufficient.

Here are the BEHR paint colors I used, from the top to the bottom:

Best in Show N550-3

Big Surf M460-3

Summer Dragonfly M440-4

Pesto Paste S370-5

Chilled Wine M310-5

Honey Nougat S250-3

Trick or Treat M220-4

California Coral M190-4

Priceless Coral M180-4

Indian Summer M170-5

Tea Room S150-2

Bubble Shell S160-3

Red Clover S150-4

Thanks for letting me share my rainbow stairs DIY with you! xo. Emma

Print

Rainbow Stairs DIY

Author Emma Chapman

Ingredients

• paint samples
• nail hole filler
• sandpaper or sanding block, fine
• paint brushes
• painter's tape

Instructions

• Before I even bought the paint samples, I laid out the paint chips to make sure I was happy with the progression of colors. I’m a visual person, and it always helps me to take little steps like this to see if I’ll be happy with the final result before spending too much time on a DIY project.
• After wiping down the stairs, I used the above nail hole filler. After it was completely dry, I sanded the surfaces smooth and then cleaned off the stairs again.
• Tape off the areas you will paint. You may also want to use a small drop cloth as you work from top to bottom.
• Starting from top to bottom, paint the risers. I only had four brushes so I had to clean them in between at times. I also needed two coats of paint, so I had to wait for the first coat to fully dry. I worked on this project over two days. After the paint is dry, remove the tape. If needed, use a very small paint brush to fill in any small areas if the tape wasn’t sufficient.

Notes

I should also mention, if your stair risers aren’t already white (like mine) you may need to prime them first after taping off but before painting the colors. I didn’t need to since they were already white.

In this round holiday pillow project, I used my embroidery punch needle to spell out the word “joy.” It took much less time than I imagined it would and since I punched it out on a red linen backing, I didn’t have to fill the whole front of the pillow and got to catch up on laundry instead. Just kidding, I caught up on Grey’s Anatomy.

Supplies
–1/2″ yard scooter red linen fabric
–14″ wooden quilting hoop
–Boye 2.2 embroidery punch needle
–three skeins of 6 ply red cotton embroidery floss
–poly-fil stuffing
–JOY Pillow Template
–straight pins
-scissors
–sewing machine (optional but I’ve linked to the one I’ve had for years and love)
-sharpie
-iron/ironing board

Step One: After pre-washing and ironing your linen fabric, use your embroidery hoop as a guide for cutting out two 16″ circles. The embroidery hoop is only 12″ wide but you can measure out 4″ from the edge and eyeball a wider diameter. Or you can follow these instructions.

Place one of the two circles in your hoop, center it within your hoop, and tighten the screw at the top. Pull your linen fabric taut in opposite directions to keep it centered within your hoop.

Step Two: Print out the provided JOY.pdf and carefully trim along the edges of each word to create a stencil. Center it within your hoop and carefully trace inside of your stencil with a black sharpie. You can pin your paper to the fabric as a precaution if you wish. The sharpie needs to be visible from the back of the fabric.

Step Three: Cut a 4′ length of 6 strand embroidery floss and split it into two bundles of 3 strands each. Six strands is too many for this size needle and less than 3 won’t stay put. Thread your embroidery punch needle according to manufacturer’s instructions. DON’T lose your needle threader. You’ll need(le) it. Hehe … For this type of project, you’ll want to adjust the length of your needle so that it’s only sticking out about 1/2″ from the handle. Not all needles are adjustable but this can help your loop height be more consistent.

Also, flip your hoop over. You’ll be punching from the back so that your loops stick out the front.

Step Four: Deep breath! Start just outside the sharpie line on one of your letters and leave about a 2″ tail hanging out from the needle end. Stitch forward, with the tail side of the needle where the thread is trailing out, on the back side. If the tail side of the needle is facing forward, it can pull your loops out more easily.

Step Five: When you’re punching through the fabric, you want your needle to punch through until your handle almost touches the fabric. When you pull it back out, keep the needle close to the fabric and move forward just a smidge. How much is a smidge? About the width of your needle. Since we’re using linen and not monk’s cloth or something with more obvious rows, just make sure you are keeping your stitches close to each other. You’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly and you can always fill in the gaps with more rows.

Punch until you run out of floss. Then reload your next length. Trim your tail ends down as you go so they don’t get in the way.

Step Six: Work your way around the outside of the sharpie so that it is covered up with loops on the other side. You’ll be moving your hoop as you work your way around the curves of each letter. You always want the needle to be facing in the right direction, so it’s best to rotate your hoop instead of rotating your needle. This is what three full outlines of the first letter looks like. If you like the outlined look, I suggest three rows but not less. This gives a nice thickness to each letter. If you want to fill them in, continue on.

Step Seven: This is the back of three row completions. You want to make sure your rows are as close together as possible to give it a full look on the front. If you see blank spots, just start a new length of thread and fill them in using more rows to keep things uniform. With this type of design, using only one color, it’s OK if you are moving all over the place with your stitches to fill things in. But if you were using different colors or making shorter loops, your rows would be more obvious and you’d want to keep things more uniform.

Step Eight: Continue punching rows from the outside in until all of your letters are filled in and fluffy!

Step Nine: Take a close look at the front and trim any stray strands from tail ends or loops that somehow stand above the rest. If you’re doing a really long loop, you can trim all of them for a completely different, shag effect. For this project, your loops may not be long enough for that to be effective or necessary.

Carefully remove your fabric from your hoop.

Step Ten: Place your punched fabric on your work surface with the loops facing you. Then place the second piece of fabric on top so that outsides are flush with each other and pin the two pieces of fabric together using straight pins as shown. Leave an unpinned space a little wider than the width of your hand in order to turn your fabric right side out later on.

Step Eleven: Hand stitch or use a sewing machine to start stitching on one side of your hand width of space, all the way around the inside of the circle, and to the other side of your hand width of space. Make sure your stitches are even and about 1/4″ from the outside of your fabric. Remove your straight pins. Fold the flaps of your hand width opening back and iron in place.

Step Twelve: Cut small triangle shapes about 1″ apart all along your circle. Make sure the tops of your triangle don’t reach your seam, though! This will help the seam breathe a little when you turn it right side out. If you skip this step, your seam won’t be quite as smooth. Reach your hand through your opening and gently turn your pillow case right side out. Avoid pulling by the punch needle section. Flatten your case and iron along the seam.

Step Thirteen: Stuff your pillow thoroughly and evenly with poly-fil and then use a ladder stitch to close the opening.

Step Fourteen: Fluff your pillow into shape and find it a happy home.

Now that I’m looking at it, it is giving me an ornament vibe! Who is going to take this tutorial one step further and whip up a matching set of “JOY” punch needled ornaments now? Just saying, it’d be real cute! –Rachel

PS- looking for more homemade gift ideas? Here’s a roundup of some of our favorites!

Credits // Author and Photography: Rachel Denbow. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

We really didn’t update anything about the laundry room since we moved into our house over four years ago. I did swap out the cabinet pull knobs or the shiny bronze ones you see in the “before” photo, but that’s it! There was large, beige tile on the floor and a sink/vanity that felt very mismatched. I also found that I got in a habit of piling things up on the vanity top, making this space look even more cluttered. We also do projects from time to time and have had contractors work in our home, and the previous sink had just gotten a bit stained and roughed up.

I think it took us so long to finally do something with this space in part because it does feel like a laundry area should be lower priority than, say, a kitchen or master bedroom. But our laundry room is connected to our garage, so we walk through this space every single day, in addition to using it when doing laundry or when I clean out my paint brushes and things. Now that it’s done I wish we had made this a priority sooner!

The space is very simple—I wanted it to feel clean and functional but still have design elements that my husband and I both love and that also go with the overall design of the rest of our home. We have a bit of a black, white, and green theme going in our house, so that was part of the inspiration. We added a closet bar for hang drying clothes (something I didn’t have before but wished I did). And I really cannot say how much I LOVE our new Elkay Sturdibilt Stainless Steel Sink. It has been much more durable and functional for our needs (hello stainless steel), but I also love the look in this space. It has a full-length backsplash and a wide apron to help eliminate spillover or grime.

As I mentioned, there is also a small half bathroom connected to our laundry room. It also just felt very beige and hodge-podgy to me (I realize that’s not a word but you get it, right?). Here’s a before and after:

The space is very tight, so removing the old vanity (we never used any of the drawers or storage anyway) with this Elkay Stainless Steel Wall Hung Service Sink made this small room feel so much more open without losing any of the functionality we actually used it for (washing hands).

These rooms are both fairly small, so we tried to show you as many angles as possible. I am just so happy with how this makeover turned out! If you love a good laundry room makeover, check out Keely’s beautiful laundry area transformation! Thanks for letting me share. xo. Emma

Room Details: laundry sink and bathroom sink / Elkay, green penny tile, globe lights, vanity light, circle mirror, and the soaps on rope. Also, here is my star sweater in case you are curious.

It’s as easy as you’d imagine to put one together and there are just as many ways to customize your own according to your minimalist, maximalist, bohemian, or farmhouse needs.

I first got to work on a 12″ hoop before realizing my finished piece would fan out to a size no longer conducive to opening and closing a standard-sized front door. Ha!

So, use a 10″ hoop for a large wreath that will still work on a single door and a larger hoop if you’re wanting to use it on a wall and have a bit more space to fill.

I love the texture and simplicity of pampas grass and it’s perfect for the fall and harvest season home decor.

Looking for more wreath DIYs? Check out How to Make a Wreath (For Any Season)!

Supplies
-15 or more pampas grass stalk heads of similar size (similar to these)
–10″ metal hoop
-floral wire or 24″ gauge wire
-wire cutters
-scissors
-aerosol hair spray (to keep it from shedding)
-silk or cotton ribbon

Note: There are many varieties of pampas grass available for purchase online. Some are fluffier than others so keep that in mind when ordering. The pampas grass I used was about 3″-4″ wide at the widest point and about 14″ of plume each.

If you’re lucky enough to know someone that has a pampas grass bush growing on their property, see if they’ll let you prune it. Win-win!

Step One: Before getting started on your wreath, you’ll want to generously spray your pampas grass plumes with aerosol hair spray to keep them from shedding bits of seed all over your floors. Do so in a well ventilated place and let them dry before handling them.

Next, trim your pampas grass stem so that you have a 3″-4″ stalk. Cut 2′ or so of wire and wrap it around the first stalk several times close to the bottom of the plume. Then wrap it around both the stalk and the hoop several times to secure it.

Step Two: Cut the second stalk and lay it over the first stalk. If you tuck the bottom of the second stalk just under the hoop, it will stay in place much better than just laying it on the top of the hoop. Wrap your wire a few times around the stalk and hoop together.

Step Three: Continue placing your next stalk over the previous stalk so that the stalks are covered up by the plumes. Once you run out of wire, cut another 2′ length (for ease of use) and twist it together with the end of your previous wire before continuing on.

Step Four: Continue adding so that there is no gap left in the wreath. You may have to lift up the first plume to attach the last plume to the hoop.

Then, gently fluff the sprayed plumes on the areas around the inner part of the hoop to ensure they cover the stalks and wire. Attach a 4″ length of wire around the hoop and twist the ends together to make a loop. This will be your hanger.

You can announce it finished or you can add another layer of dried grasses, flowers, ribbons, etc., to add a little more flair or you can enjoy it in its simplicity.

I added a folded length of ochre colored cotton cord to mine. The perfect shade of golden yellow, I think!

It’s a perfectly delicious wreath for the kitchen, dining room, or front door. It satisfies my attraction to natural, organic materials, but will save well for next year, too.

Umm … did you know that pink pampas grass is a thing? I used to think it was all just spray painted or dyed somehow, but it grows that way! Soft pink and orange and white pumpkins would be really pretty together, wouldn’t they? Enjoy! -Rachel

P.S. Check out 15 Easy Fall Decor DIYs (Budget-Friendly) for more ideas!

Making this custom pair of mirrored side tables was a pretty quick and easy job! The hardest part was waiting on the mirrors I ordered from a local glass company.

The cost of high-quality custom mirrors for two pairs of tables ended up being pleasantly affordable without a beveled edge (about $70 per table), but when I decided to do a beveled edge, it raised the price by almost double.

So keep that in mind when choosing the mirrors for your table! If you have any old mirrors around your house from renovation projects or whatnot, you can bring those into a local glass company to have them cut into the sizes you need for your tables.

Related: Check out our home decor archives for more ideas!

Supplies for Two Tables:
-One sheet of 1/2″ plywood* (I used about 2/3 of the sheet)
-Mirror pieces (two 14″ x 14″ pieces and eight 14″ x 18″ pieces)
–Wood glue
-Four clamps (long enough to span 14″)
-Power drill with countersink bit
-Four dozen 1″ #6 screws
-Construction adhesive
-Hammer
–Furniture glides

*Plywood Finish Sizes:

I had my plywood cut into 14″ strips at the lumberyard, and then cut them down to smaller sizes at home. You could actually have each of your cuts made for you at the lumberyard if you prefer!

Precise cuts won’t be as much of an issue since you’re covering the plywood with mirrors. The pieces you need are as followed, though I had to add an X and Y in place of actual measurements, since the thickness of plywood varies. See notes below.

-two 14″ x 14″ pieces
-four 14″ x 17.X”
-four 13.Y” x 17.X”

X= 1″ minus the actual thickness of your plywood.
Y= 1″ minus the actual thickness of your plywood, then multiplied by two.

Step One: Place a line of wood glue along the edges of the face of two 14″ wide plywood pieces, as shown above.

Step Two: Clamp the 14″ wide pieces of plywood to the slightly narrower plywood pieces as shown above. I use duct tape to help hold the pieces together as I’m arranging the clamps. Make sure the pieces are square and even as you tighten the clamps.

Step Three: As the clamps do their job, drill four pilot holes at the edges of your 14″ wide plywood pieces as shown above. Make sure you are drilling close enough to the edge that the screws will connect with the perpendicular 1/2″ plywood.

If your screws are too far from the edge, they’ll miss connecting with the plywood and that would just be a waste.

Be sure you’re using a bit slightly smaller than the #6 screws you plan to use. And before driving in the screws, make sure to use a countersink bit which will allow your screws to sit flush into the wood without sticking up.

Step Four: After the screws are in place, flip the box upside-down and hammer in furniture glides at each corner.

Step Five: With your box right-side-up again, apply construction adhesive to the top of the table. Use enough glue for a strong hold, but not so much that it pushes the mirror up off the box. You don’t want a gap between the plywood and mirror.

Step Six: Press the mirror down onto the plywood with firm, even pressure. Allow the glue to dry a bit before turning the table on its side and gluing each additional mirror.

If you do all sides at once, you risk the mirror slipping a bit as the glue dries. You can tape them into place, but it’s still a bit risky! I advise taking your time and waiting 10 minutes between gluing each mirror piece. Even then, I added masking tape to the mirrors because I was concerned about slippage.

Once the glue has cured according to the instructions on the label, you can remove the tape and put your tables in their place! This is the exciting part. I use a microfiber cloth to wipe prints off the tables, but glass cleaner would work as well.

I love the touch of sophistication these mirrored cube tables add to my rather rustic living room! They really add the perfect balance to the space. Would you ever use mirrored furniture in your home? –Mandi

All you need to know are three simple knots and you’ve got a layer of charm that works in any season. Once you’re familiar with the knots shared here, you can customize your own table runner to fit the length of your own table or completely change it up and create a macrame wall hanging!

Check out our How to Make Friendship Bracelets tutorial!

Supplies:
-12″ wooden dowel
–22 strands of 16′ cotton rope measuring 3mm
–over the door hooks
-2′ of cotton twine for dowel hanger
-scissors

Step One: Tie cotton twine to each end of your dowel and hang it from your over the door hooks. Fold your first 16′ strand of rope in half and create a lark’s head knot over your dowel. See this post for even more detailed steps.

Step Two: Continue adding each 16′ strand of rope using a lark’s head knot until you have 22 total. This will give you 44 strands to work with.

Step Three: Pull the outer right rope across the front of all the other ropes (to the left) and drape the end on your door hook. This is going to be the base for the next row of knots called a half-hitch that will create a horizontal row. Use the second rope from the right side to tie a single knot around the rope you just draped across so that it’s about 6″ below the dowel.

Step Four: Use the same strand to tie a second knot over the base strand. This is called a half-hitch knot.

Step Five: Make sure they are even and consistent.

Step Six: Repeat with the second, third, and fourth rope from the outside and tie another half-hitch knot so that it’s snug, etc. You’ll start to see the pattern. This is a horizontal half-hitch.

Step Seven: Continue tying consecutive ropes in a single knot all the way across. You don’t want this to be so tight that it pulls the width in at the edges.

Step Eight: Starting from the right again, use the outer four strands and create a square knot about 1.5″ below your horizontal line of knots. To get more details on a square knot, check out this macrame stocking post.

Skip the next four strands (five through eight) and tie another square knot using strands nine through 12. Continue skipping four, tying four until you get all the way across.

Step Nine: Starting on the right side again, use the four strands you skipped (five through eight) and tie a square knot about 3″ below the dowel.

Step Ten: Keep tying the skipped sets of four strands in square knots until you finish that row.

Step Eleven: Pull the outer two strands on the right side off to the side. Then use strands three through six to create another square knot about 11″ below the horizontal row of knots in step seven. Then use the next four strands to create another square knot about 1.5″ above the last square knot.

Step Twelve: Continue all the way across as shown.You won’t do anything with the last two strands.

Step Thirteen: Starting from the right side again, create another row of horizontal half-hitch knots by repeating steps three through seven.

Step Fourteen: Starting from the left side, use that same base strand of rope and create another horizontal half-hitch row of knots about 2.5″ below the last one. You’ll be working from the left to the right on this one.

Step Fifteen: Starting on the left side, create a row of square knots without skipping any strands that rests about 1″ below that horizontal line of knots. Then create a second row of square knots by skipping the first two strands on the left before tying another full row of square knots. This is called an alternating square knot. You don’t want much space in between these rows so you can pull them tightly together as you add each square knot.

Step Sixteen: Keep going until you have about 13 rows of alternating square knots total. This section is the center of your table runner so everything else from this point is going to mirror what you already wove above.

Step Seventeen: Add another horizontal half-hitch row of knots starting from the outer left side and working your way to the right.

Step Eighteen: Move down about 2.5″ and use the same base rope to create another horizontal half-hitch row of knots that move from the right to the left.

Step Nineteen: For this section, skip the outer two strands of rope on the right and then tie a square knot using strands three through six. Skip strands seven through 10 and use strands 11 through 14 to tie another square knot. Repeat so that you’re skipping every four strands. You’ll have six strands left on the left side.

Skip rows one and two on the left side and tie strands three through six into a square knot about 1.5″ below that last row of square knots. Then skip the next four strands and finish off the pattern for that second row of square knots. This will leave you with six extra strands on the right side.

Step Twenty: Measure down 11″ from the last row of horizontal knots and tie a square knot using the outer four strands on the right side. Then tie the next four into a square knot about 1.5″ above the last knot.

Step Twenty-One: Repeat all the way across.

Step Twenty-Two: Finally, tie one last row of horizontal half-hitch knots about 1.5″ below the row of alternating square knots. Trim up the ends to be as long as you’d like, making note of how long they are on the opposite end. Remove the cotton twine from your dowel and slip all of the lark’s head knots off gently. Then cut the center of the lark’s head knot loop and trim up the ends.

Now you’re ready to set a very charming table!

The center of your table runner is the ideal spot for a centerpiece, so layer on a trivet and find some fresh flowers to help anchor your eye. You can even use it as its own giant placemat on a breakfast bar to make sure your kitchen is looking its best! You can also use the three simple knots you learned, the lark’s head knot, the half-hitch knot, and the square knot to create a variety of textured wall hanging designs! – Rachel

Need something with a little more color? Try these beautiful 3mm and 5mm dyed ropes from Modern Macrame.

Love macrame? Check out our Simple Macrame Camera Strap Tutorial!

Credits//Author and Photography: Rachel Denbow. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

We have a cute little 60s ranch house that has a laundry closet which doesn’t fit modern sized washer/dryers so the laundry has apparently been done in the semi-attached garage for the last few decades.

It is definitely a bit of a pain to have to go out a door, down stairs,  through the carport, and in another locked door with all your laundry supplies every time we wash anything, but I just felt extra bad that the laundry is technically in Todd’s music studio and it was kind of killing the professional vibe in there.

I’ve always wanted to build a simple cabinet for the units to hide them when not in use, but it’s such a tight space and when I saw an oven door that opens and then slides into the oven out of the way, I knew that would be the perfect type of door installation for this project.

It took me a while to hunt down exactly the right hardware I would need for this size of a project, but I eventually found it and it works perfectly! Here’s what we did and I’ll show you a budget work-around option as well…

The first step is to measure your stacked washer/dryer so you can see how high/wide/deep your cabinet needs to be. We knew that when the 3/4″ thick cabinet door was slid inside the cabinet, the door and the sliding door hardware would take up 1 3/4″ of space on each side, so we had to add 3 1/2″ (1 3/4″ x  2 = 3 1/2″) to the measured width of my washer/dryer to find the minimum amount of space we needed in the cabinet.

It’s up to you how much extra space you want there to be between your washer/dryer and the cabinet doors, so add a few inches on either side as you’d like for the final measurement. We were pretty tight on space with a small air conditioning unit next to the washer, so we had to keep the measurements pretty close.

Make sure your cabinet is deep enough to cover the sides of your unit and give enough space in front for 3/4″ thick doors to be closed inside the cabinet frame as well without hitting the front of the washer units. With the height, I would just go a couple of inches above the top of the dryer unless you are trying to match the height of something else in the room nearby.

Using 3/4″ thick sheets of plywood in whatever sizes you need, build a 3-sided box as you see in stage one above that fulfills your height/width/depth requirements and place it around your unit to make sure it fits correctly. Don’t nail or screw it into place just yet though!

If you want to paint the inside of your cabinet, now is a good time to do those sides at least since it will be difficult to do that once it’s all in place. It’s also a lot easier to mount the hardware before connecting the sides of your 3-sided box to your top piece so I’ll show you how we did that too.

We used two sets of this slide system for the doors (this part gets mounted inside the sides of your cabinet) with two of these rods to connect the top and bottom slide on each side so they slide at the same speed (you can cut the rod shorter if you need it smaller with a simple hacksaw).

We mounted the slide hardware starting 1 1/4″ away from the front edge of each side board and 60″ apart and cut the two rods to fit that distance apart and connect the hardware sets. Then we repeated the process on the other side.

Once the sliding hardware was in place, it was time to cut our doors! Unlike some cabinet doors that go on the outside of an opening to cover the hole completely, you want these doors to fit inside the cabinet frame so you’ll want to measure that space inside the frame between the sides and top to bottom.

Cut the width measurement in half to find your door width (since you will have two doors) and I would take off 1/8″ from the width of each door so your doors aren’t jammed into the space too tightly. Also, take off 1/2″ from the height of the doors and mount them so they are flush with the top, but a little off the floor, so they can open freely at the bottom without scraping the floor.

We bought boards that were bigger than we needed and used a circular saw to trim the doors down to size (if you have access to a table saw though, that’s the easiest way to cut a large board). If a table saw or circular saw seems a bit scary to you, I totally get that and you can use less-intimidating jig saw instead—I promise they aren’t that scary at all and super useful!

To attach our new doors, we used two of these full overlay hinge kits to attach the cabinet doors to the sliders so they could slide in and out of the cabinet and open properly. You can lay your door next to the corresponding side panel and mark where the hardware should sit on the door in order to line up properly.

We used a 1 1/2″ hole saw drill bit to drill 1/2″ deep into the door at each place where a hinge needed to go and then knocked out the excess wood with a chisel and flathead screwdriver to make an indentation for the hinge to sit into (basically what this video shows for similar door hardware prep).

Then, we could install the hinge kits and attach them onto the slide systems on each side and make sure the doors worked.

Most systems like this should have some adjustment options in the hinges themselves so that loosening or tightening certain screws will cause the door to sit up higher/lower or be pulled back/forwards so you should be able to make those adjustments within the hinge pieces themselves if the door isn’t sitting properly when you first attach it.

Once each door is mounted to each side, you can put your 3-sided box back over your washer dryer for another fitting for any final adjustments. If everything looks right and the doors open and close correctly, go ahead and screw your top into the sides of your cabinet, attaching all three main pieces together.

For stability, we cut some back braces to connect the cabinet across the back to make it more sturdy and keep it from wiggling. Since there are lots of wires and hoses that need to come out of the back of the washer/dryer, I didn’t want to make a fully solid back to the cabinet so using some “X” braces and a straight across piece seemed like a better way to go.

We only screwed these in rather than also gluing them so that if there was a maintenance issue and someone needed to access the back of the machine, we could remove the braces and slide the cabinet forward off the washer/dryer for easier access to the area.

It’s also hard to drill directly into the back of the cabinet at this angle without puling the whole washer/dryer unit forward to stand behind it, so we cut the braces to fit inside of the cabinet so we could drill them in place from the sides rather than screwing them directly onto the back of the cabinet edge.

Once the braces were in place, it was time to add a coat of paint, some handles, and those 4 little black stoppers you see at the front top of the cabinet (they come with the hardware and keep the doors in place as they roll and close).

I added some hardware (these are a great option) close on each door so the doors do stick out a little bit when slid into the sides since they have to stop once they hit the hardware, but you want/need them to go all the way in, you can use hardware like this for a totally recessed option.

Pretty cool, huh? You’ll notice that we did a cutout on the bottom of the right side of the cabinet so it could sit on that ledge and kind of blend into the trim, but that’s a bit of a unique need for our space so I would imagine most people would just do full panels on each side. I love that Todd can now go from “laundry area” to “music studio” mode in just a few seconds now without taking up hardly any room in that tiny area.

While I absolutely love the slide function of the doors, it is a bit pricey to add that hardware, so if you can spare the space to have the doors open quite a bit to keep the washer door open (which you should do whenever possible with front loading washers to help keep mold from growing) you can save money by using 3 or 4 of these small hinges on each door instead.

You won’t have the slide function that keeps the doors out of the way when open, but it will look the same when the doors are closed so it’s a good budget option.

If storage is more what you need in a laundry area, then options like this and this can be a good alternative too! We also have a woven hamper that we use to cart clothes back and forth from our rooms. If you have one I hope this helps solve a laundry problem for you as well! xo. Laura

You can use this same resist pattern dye technique to create all kinds of holiday decor for your home. Create a bolster pillow, linen stockings, or cloth napkins!

Looking for more Christmas tree skirt ideas? Try these!

• Reversible Tree Skirt DIY
• Glitter Star Tree Skirt DIY (No Sew!)
• 3 Easy No-Sew Tree Skirts

Tree Skirt Supplies:
-one yard of wide bolt 100% linen
-one yard of wide bolt felt
-two yards of white pom pom trim (optional)
-fabric scissors
-straight pins
-sewing machine
-iron

Dyeing Supplies
–100 wooden clothespins
-2 tablespoons alum for mordanting
–20 quart stainless steel pot (can’t be used again for cooking)
-stainless steel ladle or wooden dowel (can’t be used again for cooking)
-1/2 ounce-3 ounces of madder root powder extract depending on your desired shade
-access to a stovetop

Preparing Your Fabric

To prepare your linen for dyeing, wash it with a mild detergent in hot water. This will remove any oils from processing in order for the dye to best attach to the fibers. Make sure you are using 100% linen and not a linen/poly blend.

Before you start cutting your fabric, fill your pot 3/4 full with hot water. Set it on the stove on medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of alum and stir to dissolve. Add 1/2 ounce of madder root for blush pink, 1 1/2 ounces for mauve, and 3 ounces or more for a darker mauve-brick red. Stir to dissolve, cover and bring pot to a simmer. Do not let it boil or it will muddy your color.

Step One: Cut your linen and your felt to measure 1″ wider than you want your tree skirt to be. I usually fold my fabric in half vertically and then in half horizontally, then make a compass using two pens and some yarn to draw perfect circles on top of your fabric.

Cut your circles out and then cut a smaller circle near the center for the tree stand opening. Finally, make a cut from the outside to the inner circle on both pieces of fabric.

Step Two: On the linen only, imagine it has lines on it like a cut pizza. Pinch up on each of those lines and attach six clothespins so that they’re evenly spaced.

Step Three: Continue all the way around. The more pizza slices you imagine, the more clothespins you’ll need and the more dense your pattern will be.

Step Four: Carefully add your fiber to the dye pot and gently stir so you don’t disturb the clothespins. Leave in dye pot until you’ve reached desired color. It will dry slightly lighter. Remove clothespins, rinse with cold water, and hang to dry or dry in dryer. Iron flat.

Step Five: Next, place your dyed fabric and your felt on top of each other. There aren’t really right sides on either of these fabrics, but usually you would want right sides facing each other. Pin together along the perimeter. Sew along the perimeter so that you leave 1/4″ from the stitch line to the edge. Leave an opening the width of your hand.

Step Six: Pull right side out and iron flat so that the opening is turned inside. Pin the opening together.

Step Seven: Pin your pom pom trim along the edge and stitch it to your tree skirt using a coordinating thread. Then add some along the smaller circle near the top to frame it nicely. Hand stitch leftover felt strips to the bottom of your tree skirt along the opening to use as ties to keep things in place.

I love how it really pops against the white tree and the white floor of this room. Paired with so many gold and brass accents, it really warms the space up.

Interested in making a tree skirt without having to use a sewing machine? Check out these beautiful options. Ready to make your own Christmas tree collar? Try this one!

You can use these instructions to create whatever size tree skirt you need. This tree is only 5′ and not too wide so I kept my tree skirt a bit on the petite side to keep things in proportion. The felt backing on this piece could easily be used as the front if you decide you want something much simpler next year, but it really helps add some structure so the linen isn’t falling down in between the tree stand legs.

Not into the pom poms? Try a fringe trim instead or just leave it off completely. We love seeing what you make from our tutorials, so be sure to tag us when you share on Instagram! – Rachel

Credits//Author and Photography: Rachel Denbow. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.