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Domestic Blonde

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  • Home
  • DIY Projects
    • Home Office
      • Home Office Desk for 2
    • bathroom projects
      • Kid’s Bathroom Makeover
      • Guest Bathroom Makeover
      • Update: How to Refinish Bathroom Vanity
      • Stencil Bathroom Floor
      • Refinish Bathroom Counterops
    • Living Spaces
      • Easy Window Trim
      • Board & Batten Wall Family Room
      • Board & Batten Wall Living Room
      • Sliding Barn Door
      • Hanging Succulent Wall Garden
      • Hairpin Tables
      • How to Shorten Bamboo Shades
    • Kid’s Bedrooms
      • Platform Twin Bed Frame
      • Kid’s Bed Headboard
    • playroom
      • Magnetic Chalkboard
      • Hanging Basket light With Macrame Cord
    • Kitchen Projects
      • Kitchen Island
      • Refinish Your Kitchen Cabinets
  • Home
    • Holiday Decor Centerpiece
    • Best Gray Paint Colors
    • Top 5 Stencils for your home
    • Playroom Makeover
    • 10 Neutral Floor Poufs
    • Family Room Decor
  • Contact Kelly

Personalize Your Gift Wrap For a Special Touch

Personalize Your Gift Wrap For a Special Touch

I had so much fun wrapping presents this year! I decided to take it up a notch and add some fun touches to the gifts for the fam with some personalized wrapping paper. If you haven’t been to JOANN’s Craft and Fabric Stores yet, you are missing out! They have TONS of creative and festive items there for literally every occasion.

Personalized Wrapping Paper

Personalized Wrapping Paper by popular San Diego DIY blog, Domestic Blonde: image of Joann's stamps, letter stickers, twine, wooden snowflakes, gift tags, gold sleigh bells, and black clothes pins.

I stopped in one day when my husband was home with the kids, so I could take my time strolling down the isles of the store. I picked up items like paper gift tags, twine, string, tiny black clothespins and stamps. They also had wrapping paper that comes in solid white, black, or natural, which I was SO excited to find! I got all three colors to use for my gift wrap.

Personalized Wrapping Paper by popular San Diego DIY blog, Domestic Blonde: image of presents wrapped in Joann's black, white, and natural wrapping paper.

Once my gifts were wrapped, I could have some fun. Who wants to look at these boring boxes? I created my own patterns on the paper with stamps. This is the part my son liked helping with. (His present creations didn’t make the final photo shoot.. they were a little to eclectic. Lol)

I didn’t use ribbon or the usual stick-on bows, I opted for string and twine to wrap around the boxes. Then, I used the clothespins to hold the name tag in place. I think it gives them a rustic, pretty look.

Personalized Wrapping Paper by popular San Diego DIY blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a boy and his mom stamping wrapped presents with pine tree stamps.
Personalized Wrapping Paper by popular San Diego DIY blog, Domestic Blonde: image of personalized presents wrapped in twine and embellished with a pine twig, wooden snowflake, and monogram gift tag.
Personalized Wrapping Paper by popular San Diego DIY blog, Domestic Blonde: image of personalized presents wrapped in twine and embellished with a pine twig, wooden snowflake, and monogram gift tag.

I love them so much, I may not let anyone open their gifts. Too cute!

Joann’s is such a fun place to shop for crafts, decor and holiday items. Check out my previous post on a Holiday Centerpiece I created from Joann’s products as well.

Happy Gift Wrapping!

XOXO,

Personalize Your Gift Wrap For a Special Touch

Do you wrap your presents in personalized wrapping paper? Let me know in a comment below!

A Simple Home Office Desk For Two

Personalize Your Gift Wrap For a Special Touch

I never imagined I would be a homeschool Mom, but here I am! 2020 has thrown as all for a loop. Am I right? So many things happening that we never saw comin. Yikes!

When I made the decision that I was going to homeschool my 2nd grader this year, while the dust (hopefully) clears from all of the madness, I knew I was going to need a space where he could learn. Not just a space for him, but for me too. I was on the hunt for a BIG home office desk. Everything I found was the wrong configuration or just not my style.

I knew I would have to make it myself, but I was being super LAZY. I wasn’t in the mood for a big project at the time- I wanted to snap my fingers and have a desk. Lol. Weird how you can’t just make that happen… I did see other desks similar to this online, but they had made the tops of the desk themselves with boards and, like I said, I was lazy. So I came up with a much better way.

This is THE easiest desk you could ever make. I wouldn’t even say I “made” it, because I did no building of any kind. And, the best part? It’s so affordable too.

DIY Home Office Desk

Here is how to create this fabulous, two-person desk for your home office-

Step 1- Find two file cabinets or drawer units that are right around 27 .75 ” tall. This is the perfect height for a desk used with standard height chairs.

I purchased 2 Alex drawer units from IKEA. They also have a style with large file drawers at the bottom too. But the shipping is pricey, and they don’t always have them in stock in the store. So, if this is the case I found some other similar alternatives that are the correct size for your desk.

Ellie Pedestal 2 Drawer Mobile Vertical Filing Cabinet

DIY Home Office Desk by popular San Diego DIY blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a Ellie Pedestal 2 drawer mobile vertical filing cabinet.

Both of these options comes in multiple colors to choose from and also has a locking file drawer.

Premo 3-Drawer Mobile Vertical Filing Cabinet

DIY Home Office Desk by popular San Diego DIY blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a Premo 3 drawer mobile vertical filing cabinet.

Step 2- Get your desk surface! I went to Lowes and picked-up an 8 foot butcher block counter top.

They are 1 3/4″ thick, so it is super solid (and heavy, bring a strong helper). They come unfinished which is so nice to be able to add your stain to it.

Put your butcher block right down on top of the file cabinets.

DIY Home Office Desk by popular San Diego DIY blog, Domestic Blonde: image of Varathane ultimate Polyurethane.

Step 3- I wanted to keep the natural look, so I just put 2 light coats of Crystal Clear Satin Polyurethane, water based.

Before I added the top coat, I did a very quick sanding over the top and edges with a 400 grit sandpaper. This may not have been necessary, you will just need to see how smooth your block feels to the touch.

Use a sponge brush like the one above, and paint on the poly top coat in small sections so you don’t miss any spots. Smoothing out any bubbles as you go along. Wait 2 hours, do a light sanding with the 400 grit wherever needed to smooth it out, and add another thin coat.

DIY Home Office Desk by popular San Diego DIY blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a home office desk, fabrick chairs, Mac laptop, Mac Desktop, and gold wire baskets.
DIY Home Office Desk by popular San Diego DIY blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a home office desk, fabrick chairs, Mac laptop, Mac Desktop, and gold wire baskets.

That’s it!! So dang simple, quick and pretty too! This will last forever, and I can choose to change the look by adding a completely different stain, or cabinets as my needs change.

You can shop all of the items I have in the office space below!

Have you made a DIY home office desk before? What current DIY project have you been working on recently? Let me know in a comment below!

Personalize Your Gift Wrap For a Special Touch

LOVE this one!

XOXO,

Personalize Your Gift Wrap For a Special Touch

Kid’s Bathroom Makeover

Personalize Your Gift Wrap For a Special Touch

This sad, sad kids bathroom has been staring at me for years. I just put it on the back burner while finishing other projects throughout the house, and decided it was time to give it a little update. Yes! So excited for this one!

Here is the bathroom before I started the update… very similar to our master bath and guest bathroom before I updated those rooms also.

Kids Bathroom by popular San Diego interior design blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a dated bathroom.
Kids Bathroom by popular San Diego interior design blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a dated bathroom.
Kids Bathroom by popular San Diego interior design blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a dated bathroom.
Kids Bathroom by popular San Diego interior design blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a dated bathroom.
Kids Bathroom by popular San Diego interior design blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a woman demoing a bathroom.

Kids Bathroom Makeover

I cannot tell you how satisfying it was to demo this tile with a giant hammer and crow bar. This was the first time I’ve taken out tile. It was tough, but almost like therapy smashing away at it. I was actually pretty nervous about putting in the wood floors, but the process was shockingly easy! Anyone could do it. The floors I went with are solid, affordable, and really beautiful too.

I know, you’re wondering why I thought it needed updating. It was already so gorgeous. 😂

I considered taking out the tub/shower combo and putting a walk-in shower here, but decided to keep it the way it was and put my money into something else. You can’t always splurge! But I still feel that it turned out so cute with this fun shower curtain. What do you think?

Kids Bathroom by popular San Diego interior design blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a remodeled kids bathroom with a white and grey stripe accent wall, modern lighting, round mirror, white vanity, light wood flooring, and abstract shape shower curtain.

The gorgeous matte black faucet is by Pfister. We also have a Pfister faucet in the kitchen, and love the selection they offer. I chose this one because of the modern look and clean lines. Completely timeless, and won’t ever go out of style.

Kids Bathroom by popular San Diego interior design blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a remodeled kids bathroom with a white and grey stripe accent wall, round mirror, white vanity, and black faucet.
Kids Bathroom by popular San Diego interior design blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a remodeled kids bathroom with a white and grey stripe accent wall, modern lighting, round mirror, white vanity, light wood flooring, and abstract shape shower curtain.

This vanity was a total winner. The construction is so good. This thing is solid! It also comes with the counter top and sink already installed, which was so great. I recommend this vanity 100%

Kids Bathroom by popular San Diego interior design blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a remodeled kids bathroom with a grey shiplap wall, modern lighting, round mirror, white vanity, light wood flooring, and abstract shape shower curtain.
Kids Bathroom by popular San Diego interior design blog, Domestic Blonde: image of a remodeled kids bathroom with a grey shiplap wall, white vanity, light wood flooring, and abstract shape shower curtain.

I added shiplap to the room in Graphic Charcoal by Behr. I love the dark color in this small space. I think most people are scared to add a dark color to the walls when the room is small, but I really feel that it adds such a fun contrast and almost makes it feel larger.

I went with a mix of horizontal and vertical, just because I thought it would be fun. Ultimately, my goal in the kid’s bathroom, was to create a fun space that wasn’t obnoxiously kid-like. Still stylish and pretty.

All of the items I used in the Kid’s bathroom are linked below!

Here is the link for the Faucet, too!

Personalize Your Gift Wrap For a Special Touch

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO,

Personalize Your Gift Wrap For a Special Touch

DIY Window Frame In A Snap!

Personalize Your Gift Wrap For a Special Touch

Read more

Update Your Space With a Gorgeous Board & Batten Wall

Personalize Your Gift Wrap For a Special Touch

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Hey, I’m Kelly!

Hey, I’m Kelly!

I love DIY Home Improvement, and I'm sharing all of my projects with you! Not only that, but my favorite products, family life, and more! xoxo

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This corner fireplace just got the best upgrade wi This corner fireplace just got the best upgrade with a new mantle 🙌🏼 #ad It’s always so fun to see what a little wood and some #Minwax Wood Stain can create.I always use @minwaxusa when a project calls for stain. This time I used Minwax® Wood Finish Oil Based Penetrating Stain in the color Driftwood. This formula delivers premium oil-rich color in a single coat that dries in just two hours. Available in 36 colors! #FinishedwithMinwax #MinwaxPartner
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