Every once in a while, there’s a moment when your house starts to feel slightly… off.

Not messy (necessarily) or broken. Just heavy or tired, or a little stale.

That’s usually when people either ignore and carry on living in a room they don’t really love right now, or panic and decide they need a full refresh.

You don’t. Don’t start re-painting because you’re restless.

You don’t have to go buy more decor, or totally overhaul a room. Just a functional reset is where to start…a reset that actually makes daily life feel lighter.

Here are the seasonal home resets that make a real difference.

Reset the light

Light changes more than we realize.

In winter, we rely on lamps and overhead lighting. In summer, we get more natural light. Think about as the seasons change.

Try this:

• Swap heavy lampshades for lighter ones
• Change bulb temperature if needed (generally I only like warm bulbs, but I know people feel pretty passionately about this! I do use a cooler one in the kitchen in winter so I don’t fall asleep at 4pm)
• Move a lamp to a darker corner
• Simplify window treatments, and make sure they are hung high and wide enough to show the WHOLE window while they’re open.

It’s not redecorating, just adjusting how the room feels at 7 p.m.

That alone can change your entire mood in a space.

Clear surfaces that slowly filled up

Surfaces accumulate things gradually. Mail. Seasonal clutter. Items you meant to put away (don’t look at my house right now).

Once a season, clear your most-used surfaces completely: kitchen counters, entry table, coffee table, bathroom vanity…

Put everything somewhere else temporarily. Then only return what actually belongs.

Don’t think of this as just tidying, but of making sure everything that was out is needed/wanted and actually has a home.

You’ll usually realize that half of what was there didn’t need to be. And if you want to go further, read more simplifying tips.

Rotate textiles, not decor themes

You really don’t need bins of seasonal decorations.

You probably just need different textures (you know how much I preach about texture!).

• Heavier throws swapped for lighter ones
• Linen curtains instead of thick panels
• Lighter blankets instead of lots of thick, layered bedding
• A washable rug rotated in for muddy months

Textiles change how a room feels more than accessories do. They’re also practical.

This makes the house respond to the season instead of fighting it.

(Also…texture > color when it comes to making a room feel finished…I can’t help but squeeze that in there.)

Reevaluate your entry points

Your entryway works differently in July than it does in January.

Shoes change. Outerwear changes. Daily routines shift.

Once a season, ask:

• What is landing here that doesn’t have a home?
• What are we stepping over or around?
• What storage worked last season but doesn’t now?

Small tweaks here prevent friction everywhere else.

Edit one drawer or cabinet

Not the whole kitchen. Not the whole bathroom. Just one drawer.

Seasonal resets work best when they’re focused.

Pick one space that annoys you slightly and reset it fully:

• Remove everything
• Wipe it down
• Only put back what you use right now

Of course, you don’t want to throw away things like lotions you only use in winter, but it’s a good time to move it out of your every-day drawer and into a basket for later.

You’ll feel that improvement every day.

Adjust for how you actually use the room right now

Rooms aren’t static.

In winter, you may gather more in the living room. In summer, you may live closer to the kitchen or outside.

Move furniture if needed. Shift a chair toward better light. Pull a small table closer to where you sit most often.

You’re not redesigning the room. You’re letting it evolve with you.

This is one of the most overlooked resets.

A home that adjusts gently with the seasons feels calmer than one that reinvents itself four times a year.

You don’t have to do all of this at once

Pick one reset. Do it slowly and notice how the room feels afterward.

Small seasonal shifts compound over time. The house starts to feel responsive instead of stagnant.

And that’s usually what we’re craving when we say we want a refresh. Better flow instead of new things.

The post Seasonal Home Resets that Actually Make a Difference appeared first on Little Victorian.

Have you ever opened one of your Pinterest boards and thought, “Wait… what is my style, actually?”

You scroll and see a light, airy living room. Then a dark, moody one. Then a cozy cottage kitchen. Then something sleek and modern. You like all of it. And yet somehow, none of it feels like a clear direction.

It can start to feel like you don’t have a style at all. That’s usually not the problem though.

You’re pinning feelings, not floor plans

Most of us don’t pin strategically. We pin emotionally.

You see a room and think, “That feels calm.” Or, “I love that.” Or, “I wish my house felt like that.”

So you save it.

What you’re responding to might not be the furniture layout or the cabinetry style. It might be the natural light. The editing. The lack of clutter. The fact that it’s professionally styled and photographed.

When you put ten of those images together, they all gave you a good feeling in the moment. But they might not share the same bones underneath.

So your board feels cohesive emotionally…and confusing visually.

You’re mixing real life with fantasy life

Pinterest is also where we pin for a dream life…or 7.

You might pin a super minimal living room with one chair and a single branch in a vase. It’s beautiful. It looks peaceful. But would you enjoy keeping it that empty every day?

You might love a romantic English cottage bedroom, and also a modern, high-contrast office. Both can be beautiful. But they don’t usually belong in the same house.

Sometimes your board feels scattered because it’s you’ve pinned both who you are and who you dreamed of being for a few minutes on Tuesday night.

Totally normal! And doesn’t mean you don’t have taste. It just means you haven’t filtered it yet.

So what do you actually do about it?

1. Stop adding to the board for a little while.
   This sounds small, but it changes things. When you stop reacting and start observing, you can see your board more clearly.
2. Go back and pay attention to which images still feel right. Notice which ones feel flat or random now. Time has a way of editing.
3. Start looking for repetition.
   Are most of your favorite spaces lighter or darker? Do they feel layered or simple? Do you see a lot of warm wood? A lot of black accents? More old pieces than new?
   Ignore the one image that is wildly different from everything else. Focus on what shows up again and again. That repetition matters more than any single dramatic photo.
4. Pick some images that you genuinely love and ask yourself what specifically is working. Is it the color palette? The lighting? The symmetry? The softness? The fact that it looks uncluttered?
   You might realize you don’t actually love “modern kitchens.” You love fewer upper cabinets and more breathing room.
   You might not love “cottage style.” You love warm wood and layered bedding.
   When you get specific, your style starts to feel less mysterious.
5. One more thing that helps more than people expect: create a new board. Call it something like “Beautiful But Not For Me”. Move over the rooms you really like but wouldn’t realistically recreate in your own home.
   This helps you separate from what you want for your own home, and still lets you have those random dream lives on Tuesday night.
   Your main boards should represent spaces you would actually try to build and live in.
6. Finally, shrink your board down. This part feels uncomfortable, which is usually a good.
   Try narrowing it to around twenty images that feel most true to you right now. If two photos communicate the same idea, keep the clearer one.
   When you reduce the clutter, patterns jump out.

The real reason boards feel chaotic

Most style confusion isn’t about having too many tastes, it’s about not separating what photographs well, what trends well, and what you actually love (and supports your everyday life).

Once you start filtering your Pinterest boards through that lens, it stops feeling overwhelming and starts feeling useful and inspiring.

If your board feels messy right now, that’s not failure. It just means you’ve gathered information.

Now you get to edit it, and editing is where your style starts to show up.

The post Why Your Pinterest Boards Feel Confusing (and How to Fix That) appeared first on Little Victorian.

Ever stood in your living room thinking, “I guess this is fine?”. Me too.

A lot of us live in houses filled with things we don’t actively dislike… but also don’t really love. Furniture we bought because it was a good deal. Stuff we inherited. Styles we absorbed from trends, rentals, or previous homes. After a while, it can start to feel like our taste, just because we’re used to them.

But being used to something isn’t the same as really liking it.

And you want to really like your home, right? It should totally be a reflection of YOU.

Why this happens so often

Most people don’t choose their home style intentionally. It’s usually just happens.

We work with what was already there (builder-grade stuff, previous owners, etc), what was affordable or available at the time (a great deal on a “nice” sofa), what was popular when you first started decorating, what felt expected in a space because that’s what we grew up with or see in other people’s houses.

None of that’s wrong. It’s practical. But it means your house reflects circumstances, not what you really love.

You get used to it and your brain starts to see it all as neutral, but you don’t realize the feelings you’re missing out on when your home ACTUALLY reflects you.

Used-to vs. like: the key difference

Here’s a simple way to separate the two: What you like either gives you energy or relaxes you. It feels right, even if you can’t explain why. What you’re used to feels invisible. You stop noticing it, not because it’s good, but because your brain has adapted.

If something never registers emotionally anymore (good or bad) it’s often a sign of habit, not love.

Common “used to” traps

Let’s take a look at what you already have and see if it really reflects you.

1. Second-hand furniture you kept because it worked

I love some thrifted furniture, but it can be so easy to “settle” for it, even without realizing we’re settling. Think about this: If one of the pieces broke tomorrow, would you try to replace it with something just like it? And do you like the style or are you just grateful it was affordable?

Think about whether you REALLY like it or if you’re just used to it.

2. The farmhouse hangover

So many houses are still carrying design decisions made during peak farmhouse years: shiplap, barn lights, black hardware, gray floors. (Definitely not the ONLY trend, but the most recent one everybody jumped on board with whether it was their style or not.)

If you jumped on a trend, think about this: If this style wasn’t everywhere for a decade, would I still choose it?

Do I like how this looks now, or do I associate it with a time when it felt aspirational?

Trends usually stick around longer than our actual good feelings for them.

3. Builder-grade defaults

Builder-grade choices are designed to offend no one, which usually means they don’t make anybody happy either.

If your house is filled with those, think about cabinets that are just “okay”, lighting you don’t really like, but you haven’t changed, or paint colors you wouldn’t pick out yourself.

Neutral doesn’t mean intentional.

A simple test: would you choose it again?

This is one of the most useful questions you can ask about anything in your home:

If I were starting from an empty room today, would I pick this?

Not “could I live with it.”
Not “is it fine.”
Not “does it match.”
Not “it was a great deal.”

Would you actively choose it? (Don’t think about money here, we’re just thinking about style.

If the answer is no, that doesn’t mean you need to replace it ASAP. It just means it doesn’t define your style, it’s background noise.

Let’s figure out what you actually like

At this point, you might be realizing something uncomfortable but useful: a lot of what’s in your home isn’t something you chose with intention.

That’s okay. This part isn’t about judging past decisions, it’s about making more informed choices from here on.

Let’s focus on noticing what feels right.

Challenge 1: Notice where your attention naturally goes

When you scroll, browse, or walk through someone else’s home (online or in real life), pay attention to what catches your eye.

Not what you think you should like, but what quietly draws you to it. What kinds of rooms do you keep clicking on? What feels calming or energizing? What looks like it would be easy to live with?

Don’t a Pinterest board yet. Just pay attention to patterns.

Challenge 2: Find repeating themes

After a while, you’ll start seeing repetition in colors, contrast, minimal vs maximal, quiet vs bold, etc.

These threads matter more than any single picture. They’re clues to your underlying taste.

This is how style clarity starts…not with labels, but with consistency gravitating towards things.

What to do once you realize you don’t love most of your stuff

This is the part where you might feel stuck. You’re aware now, but action feels like…a lot.

The goal isn’t to replace everything. It’s just to stop making new choices that don’t fit anymore.

Here’s what actually helps.

Stop “doubling down” on old decisions

If you feel meh about something you already have, avoid buying more things to match it.

Don’t repaint around kitchen cabinets you already know aren’t your style (there are other ways to make it work until/if you can replace them).

Pausing prevents your home from drifting further away from your tastes.

Start with low-commitment changes

Don’t plan a renovation yet, just start small moving in the right direction. Start experimenting with accessories, lighting (the lights themselves AND where they are placed), hardware, paint in small rooms where it won’t clash with what you already have.

These tweaks will show you more about your taste without chaining you down to it.

Keep a short “yes list”

Instead of a long wishlist, keep a short list of things you know feel right. Stuff like fabrics you’re consistently drawn to, colors that are calming, etc.

When you aren’t positive about a purchase, check it against that list. If it doesn’t align, skip it (even if it’s on clearance!).

You don’t have to act on everything right away

This part matters more than it sounds. There is nothing wrong with an in-between space. Just take your time to learn your real preferences before spending more money and energy.

The more you notice, the easier future decisions become.

A home that’s intentionally changing (even if it feels too slow) feels better than one where we just hurried up to finish it.

The subtle shift you’ll start to notice

Once you stop confusing familiarity with preference, buying decisions are easier and your home starts reflecting you, not just your (or other people’s) past.

After a little while, the things you do choose stand out more, because they’re not competing with everything you settled for anymore.

The post Do you really like it, or are you just used to it? How to tell. appeared first on Little Victorian.

It’s time for you to see my current house!

It’s a cabin in the mountains, the complete opposite of the last house in a busy town (and in walking distance of all the good amenities). Now I’m off-grid (solar, wood stove, well water, septic) and I love it.

The woods have overtaken the back yard, but once I get the trees cleared, there is a beautiful valley and mountain view from the whole house.

I’ve been here for a few years now, but I’m only sharing and the pictures from when I first moved in in this post.

Thankfully it didn’t really need many repairs, mostly just cosmetic stuff. And a lot of that is still left to do, but it’s coming along.

The good part about only having subfloor is that I don’t have to pull up any flooring to put down good stuff.

It’s essentially a one room cabin, but it’s pretty big at over 1,600 square feet (bigger than the Victorian).

The bedroom is a loft over the kitchen and it overlooks the bar/dining room and living room.

The bar was one of my favorite features, it’s made of one giant slab of wood from the property with live edge on both sides. And it has a working tap, with all the hookups for a keg in the basement. Sadly I’m allergic to beer, but I have been thinking it would be cool to put a barrel of water down there and have sparkling water on tap.

The house was built as a hunting cabin, and then the builder/owner decided to live here full time, so he added on the living room and all kinds of cool features.

As is always important to me, I want to keep the original intent of the house in mind when finishing. It will remain a masculine hunting cabin, just updated.

The house is currently a sea of orange with all the aged wood, but I’m working out ways to tone it down and will NOT be painting the walls. But all that orange right now…wow.

The kitchen really needed a lot of work. It had mismatched cabinets that didn’t fit in the space. The vintage fridge was so cute, but sadly it wasn’t in good enough condition to use anymore and the quote for restoring it was many thousands.

The kitchen is totally different now, but it’s not finished so you can’t see it yet. I purchased a second-hand kitchen of Facebook Marketplace and altered everything to fit. The appliances were replaced with vintage-look new ones.

Project posts will be coming soon!

The post The New House: a Mountain Cabin appeared first on Little Victorian.

When I adopted my Golden Retriever 16 years ago, I was maddened by the dog smell. He was 9 months old and didn’t have any accidents inside, he didn’t go in the carpeted areas of the house, and I cleaned constantly, but still couldn’t get rid of the smell.

Since then, I’ve had another (even stinkier) dog and hosted over 150 dogs in my house (up to 7 at a time!) with my dog-sitting business. I have been so excited to hear many times throughout all that, guests commenting that they couldn’t smell the dogs or see the fur anywhere.

So here’s what I did to keep our house smelling and looking clean, AND keeping the dogs comfortable, clean, and happy:

Daily cleaning tasks with dogs:

• Run the robot vacuum (automatically–and bonus tip: run it on a schedule, so it forces you to tidy the floor before it runs). I’ve tried many of these, and in 100% honesty, I LOVED the inexpensive ones and nearly despised the expensive name brand ones. My favorites are the Deebot and the iLife.
• Run a lint roller over your clothes. I do this before cooking (we keep one in a kitchen drawer). It keeps fur out of the food of course, but also off of everything else you touch and sit on.

As-needed cleaning through the week:

• Spritz Kids-N-Pets enzyme cleaner on problem areas or areas the pets frequent takes care of small odor issues.
• Spot clean any carpeted areas or fabric furniture that are stinky for whatever reason. You can use Kids-N-Pets diluted in water with a towel to scrub and then cover with a clean, dry towel, or use a spot cleaner. This spot cleaner gets regular use around here.
• A couple times a week, brush the dogs (outside) to keep loose fur out. You can use any brush for this, even a hairbrush works well on many dogs.
• Clean their paws. Doggy feet get stinky and transfer that stink to the floors, so when needed use the MudBuster paw cleaner–usually once or twice a week. Then dry with a towel. You’ll have less stink on the soft floors and less paw prints on the hard floors. If you don’t have a MudBuster, use a very wet towel to scrub, then a dry towel.
• Dry shampoo the dogs, my DIY dry shampoo recipe is my favorite, and it’s practically free. For me, this is usually about once a month, in between baths.
• Shake out rugs. I was impressed by how much these rugs actually work. We keep one outside the back door (on a covered deck) and one inside the door for double the dirt catching. I would like to shake them out daily, but it’s usually once or twice a week.

Weekly cleaning tasks:

• Use a deshedding brush on the dogs.
  If you have a double-coated dog, you might want to take pictures of the second dog you could create out of the fur…fur that would be all over your house otherwise.
  Different deshedding brushes work on different breeds. For double coated dogs, the ShedMonster has been my absolute favorite. For short-haired dogs (and cats), I love the EquiGroomer (I learned about it from the great groomer, Girl With The Dogs, so it’s safe and effective.)
• Remove fur from fabric furniture. Very lightly mist the fabric with water, then put on rubber cleaning gloves and wipe the furniture down with your hands. It’s AMAZING how much better this works than a lint roller, and there is no burning through roller refills either.
  It picks up all the fur way better than a lint roller does, and there’s no waste and no refills to buy.
• Remove fur from bedding. Your bedding and theirs. The Chom Chom is so good for large surfaces.
• Run a full-sized vacuum on carpeted areas. Twice in a row. You’ll be amazed at what comes up with a second cleaning, whether you have dogs or not, but especially if you do.
• Mop hard floors. (Don’t use Kids-N-Pets in your mopping liquid, it makes them VERY slippery.) You can do a full mop, but even a Swiffer-style wet mop will make a big difference.
• Wash the rugs in the hottest water you can. If you get the rugs I recommend, don’t use vinegar on them as it will break down the non-slip backing. If they are stinky, soak them in water with Oxiclean overnight before washing.

Bi-monthly or monthly cleaning:

• Clean the carpet. After running the vacuum (twice!), clean the carpet with a carpet cleaner, preferably using Kids-N-Pets as your cleaning solution (it’s natural and actually eliminates the odor instead of masking it with fake ones and it’s the most effective natural ones we’ve found). And don’t worry, cleaning the carpet with the right cleaner is just as easy as vacuuming.
  This is my favorite carpet cleaner for dogs. It does a great job at getting out the gross, and if you take your time, it dries the carpet pretty well too.
  For the first year or so, I kept everybody (human and dog) off the carpets while they dried, but then realized it didn’t really matter in the end. Before bed is a great time to do it though if you’d rather not walk on damp carpet.
• Bathe the dogs.
  There’s much advice about how often to bathe your dog. After having 3 of my own, and having over 150 visiting dogs, I’ve found that every dog has different needs. Some need a bath monthly, some weekly. When your dog no longer smells neutral or feels pleasant, they’re are likely feeling it too and start scratching and rolling in the grass excessively. Give ’em a bath. For double coated dogs, a silicone dog brush helps tremendously to get the shampoo all the way to the skin when bathing. It’s important to get all the way to the skin if you’re going to remove the smell. (If you struggle to get the shampoo all the way to the skin, that might mean they have slightly matted fur, use a “slicker” brush to clean that up, then bathe.) I do 2 to 4 shampoos per bath, depending on how clean the fur feels. Start with 2 if you’re not sure.
  Dry thoroughly after the bath, otherwise they’ll just bring in fresh wet dog smell and undo everything. Towel dry (2 to 3 towels with lots of encouraged “Shake” in between, then let them run around outside while you clean up–tossing some kibble into the grass keeps them excited by engaging their hunting needs and keeps them busy while they dry out a little–we say “Kibble hunt!”). Then once you’re ready, blow dry to make sure they’re dry to the skin.
• Wash their bedding in the hottest water you can. I like to spray it down with Kids-N-Pets first and lay it outside to dry, then wash normally with soap, but using vinegar instead of fabric softener. It comes out with the least smell and the softest that way.

Recommended products to keep dog smell out

To keep the dogs clean

Paw cleaner

Effective at cleaning stinky paws before the smell transfers to the house.

Buy Now

ShedMonster

For deshedding double-coated breeds, I recommend this twice a week.

Buy Now

Equigroomer

Originally made for horses, this works so well on short-haired dogs (and great on my cat too!).

Buy Now

Silicone Dog Brush

Great for our Berner who has fine hair, both for de-shedding and bathing

Buy Now

To keep the house clean

Oxiclean

Oxiclean takes the dog smell straight out of clothes and bedding. For really strong smells, soak overnight.

Buy Now

Carpet and furniture spot cleaner

This is perfect for accidents on carpet, or just frequently used areas. I use it on my upholstered living room chairs as well with great results.

Buy Now

Chom Chom Roller

Much more effective than a traditional lint roller on large surfaces, and no refills to buy!

Buy Now

Door mats

They’re not all that cute, but they make a big difference!

Buy Now

Gloves for picking up fur

These gloves work way better than lint rollers for gathering fur. Just a light mist of water on the surface of your furniture or clothes, then swipe with the gloves and you’re done! So easy.

Buy Now

Carpet Cleaner

Carpet cleaner that’s as easy to use as a vacuum. This runs weekly in our house to keep the dog smell away.

Buy Now

Kids-n-pets

The most effective odor eliminator (even urine). Great for spraying directly on accidents, or for using in the carpet cleaner.

Buy Now

Deebot Robot Vacuum

Our favorite vacuum if you DO have a smart house. (WAY better than Roomba from our experience–and way more affordable.)

Buy Now

ILife Robot Vacuum

Perfect vacuum to run daily if you DON’T have a smart house. (Currently only $99)

Buy Now

Dyson Animal Vacuum (Refubished)

We’ve been using our refurbished (half-price) Dyson for 8 years and it’s still working beautifully.

Buy Now

And one last point: humidity makes a huge difference. The less humid your house is, the less it will smell like dog. Even if you do everything listed above, if your house is very humid, you’re going to smell the dog(s). Consider a dehumidifier if it’s an ongoing problem, otherwise, just remember it’s temporary and you’ll be back to normal when the humidity is.

Pin it for later!

The post How to keep your house from smelling like dogs appeared first on Little Victorian.

Our cabin came with a medium-ish sized dresser in the bedroom. It’s about 3.5′ tall and 2′ wide. The drawers were pretty shallow, which could be a good thing. Except that we’re just not big fans of dressers. We’ve found that if we have to go through the very laborious task of pulling a drawer out, we’re just not very likely to use it, or keep them neat if and when we do use them.

Okay, apparently we’re lazy. BUT I do still very much prefer to keep cleaning up after ourselves as easy as humanly possible so we can spend more time doing more fun productive things.

To make this particular dresser worse than most though, was that it had been sloppily painted several times, so all of the drawers stuck and went all wonky every time we tried to use it. So I gave up and it sat there empty for months.

In the meantime, I had been trying forever to come up with shoe storage ideas for our shoes, which had just been sitting randomly and inconveniently on the floor.

Then came my idea for a free shoe cabinet: take the useless dresser, remove the drawers and use the base of each drawer as a shelf to fill in the hole that was left behind under each drawer and store the shoes in there until we get to a permanent solution.

The cool thing about this project is that it doesn’t have to be temporary! If you get the dresser you want and have the space for it, this would be a great permanent shoe shelf/cabinet…and no one would know it was a DIY. In fact, even a cheap dresser could potentially look pretty custom.

So!

What do do with the rest of the dresser parts

You’ll now have a pile of bottomless drawers. You can just toss them in a burn pile (if they’re solid, unpainted wood). Or if you like doing small projects like I do, you can disassemble them for use elsewhere. Personally, I’m thinking picture rails or shallow wall shelves for the bathroom or kitchen.

You may also have a pile of handles or knobs you could give a makeover to and use elsewhere. Spray paint can work wonders on knobs. If not, I’ve always been able to find a customer for things like this on FB Marketplace, listed for free (or if you paid for your dresser, maybe you can recoup some of the money by charging for the knobs?).

If you try it, please share below, we’d love to hear about it!

The post DIY Shoe Cabinet – For Free in Under 10 Minutes appeared first on Little Victorian.

We finally finished our galley kitchen remodel! In the last post about it, it was being demoed. I was hoping to have project-by-project posts, but instead here’s one giant before-and-after post.

We’ll start with the “After”, then the “Before” from the dining room.

From the living room (after):

And before:

Guys…this one tiny room completely transformed our house. It went from a 6′ wide closet of a kitchen to a place where everyone wanted to (and could!) be.

We were finally able to enjoy cooking together again.

There were still some things we didn’t get to, like the backsplash we had planned, which would have really warmed the room up, and replacing the main light fixture, but we’re still pretty pleased with how far we did get!

The layout changes

The biggest change was obviously ripping out the wall. A galley kitchen just wasn’t going to work for us. We built an island where the wall used to start. Not only was it way more open, but we could also now access the kitchen from more than one spot.

We also swapped fridge and stove positions to further open things up.

The cabinets

The cabinets were a huge score. One day we randomly went into a Restore (by Habitat For Humanity) second-hand store hoping to find some art for the dining room and ended up with “new” kitchen cabinets.

They had been the showpieces at a nice cabinet store…which meant they were never actually used, but it also meant that they had all the upgrades like olive wood drawers, amazing slide out cubbies and baskets, built-in spice racks, tiny bonus cupboards on the ends for small items, and more.

They came in a really nice gray, but while I intended to paint them black (and already had the paint), we ran out of time.

So the cabinets were very affordable, and as we love, we opted for open shelving on top.

The island was super fun to do. Since space was really limited, but we needed more storage, we used some of the upper cabinets for the island as they are only 15 inches deep. The Hubs built a base fastened to the floor to attach the cabinets to. Here’s a video of how to build a sub frame if you’re using wall cabinets for bases, so you can get a visual of it.

Then we used a regular depth countertop which overhung perfectly for counter-height stools.

We put veneer over the sides and backs of the cabinets and then painted them with a custom color to match the rest of the cabinets.

The cabinets were the perfect depth for pots and pans and all those random kitchen items.

The floor

We pulled up three layers of flooring down to the original hardwood, but sadly it was way beyond repair (looks-wise!). We weighed our options, and decided to go with the very affordable, very fast peel-and-stick vinyl.

If it wasn’t that, it was going to be real tile, and we didn’t have the time or the budget for that at the moment.

We put down new subflooring on top of the hardwood for a clean surface to stick to. Then it’s just a project you can work on for a couple hours a day until it’s done! At least that’s how I do it.

A big thing I love about peel and stick is that because there isn’t nearly the time and financial investment, I’m not afraid to go bold.

We used Achim Geometric pattern tiles. I loved them.

The appliances

The big splurges were the fridge and stove, though we did wait until they were on sale. We went with black stainless steel (since the lower cabinets were supposed to be black).

We started buying counter-depth refrigerators years ago, and just can’t go back to standard depth. Less food gets lost in the back, AND it just looks so much better and saves that much more room in the kitchen.

The range hood was from Amazon. It was more affordable there, but it was a little frustrating to install with the way the sleeve was designed.

The sink and counters

The sink was special to me. Since we were going to go black on the cabinets, I also wanted a black sink to sit on the marble-look counters. We found this single bowl sink from Kohler and paired it with this gorgeous (and affordable) gold faucet.

The counters were our old favorites from Ikea. We got shock and disbelieving comments from both a pair of designer friends and from realtors that were visiting when we told them they were IKEA. Highly recommend!

The pantry

The pantry was a huge change too. I can’t currently find an image of what it was originally but…

The door to the right inside the kitchen was a little hallway with a door to the back yard at the end.

When we bought the house, that hallway had three closets in it for pantry-type storage. It was clever, but a lot of the spaces were awkward and because of the doors, things would pile up and get messy in there really fast.

So we gutted it.

We didn’t want to take out the walls as well, but they were plastered within an inch of their life and it was just not pretty.

So we took it all down and started with fresh drywall.

I always wanted a butler’s pantry, so we built one. And it was so much more functional! It was also a great place to store dry goods, which is always the one thing missing when you go with open shelves for uppers in the kitchen.

We also removed the door so it would flow better.

The pictures aren’t that great because it’s such a tiny space (and we left in such a hurry), but there were two full lower cabinets and one extra large upper hanging above them. Then we had more open shelves, and an open section underneath for a trash can and rain boots.

We didn’t keep detailed records, but including the splurge on higher-end appliances, we estimate the whole remodel at $15,000. The biggest costs were the appliances and then the building materials (the wall we ripped out was load-bearing, so we needed to put in a lot of quality materials and care there).

So worth it to go from the very cramped galley kitchen to a big open one for a couple who loves to cook and entertain.

So there it is! Our years-in-the-making galley kitchen remodel!

Pin this to your house inspiration board.

Hover over the image and click “Pin”

The post Finished 1940s galley kitchen remodel appeared first on Little Victorian.

The $100 Room Challenge is wrapping up today! Unfortunately, I can’t quite call this a “reveal” since I still have some work to do. Most of the delay was due to rebuilding the gutted pantry and kitchen at the same time.

But here’s the room this morning, and then a month ago!

Let’s just pretend the fireplace surround is painted charcoal already.

DIY Mantle

We removed the giant floating mantle and the Hubs built the new fireplace surround from scratch (we’ll do a post about it in the future). It still needs to be primed and painted, it will be a darker gray when it’s finished.

All it took to build was 5 boards, fasteners we already had on-hand, and the French cleat that we stole from the back of the old mantle to secure it to the wall.

DIY Art

This was one of those projects you’ve seen on most DIY blogs: a “blueprint” or “engineering print” from Staples. You can get a photograph printed in giant format for really cheap. Of course, it’s not meant for photographs, so it comes out looking grainy, but that look was fine with me for what I had in mind. I was hoping for something that looked old and modern at the same time, and the graininess did the trick.

For the frame, we used 2 1x2s, miter cut and fastened together.

I have lots to say about this project (including when we were getting ready to hang it and our dog stepped right through the picture and put a giant hole in it), so a post about it will be coming.

Rug

The rug is one we’ve had for many years. Unfortunately, even though it was a pretty pricey piece from a higher-end store, the ends started fraying pretty quickly.

If any of you have dogs or robot vacuum cleaners, you know both are drawn to anything fraying like magnets and make it their mission for the day to help in the unravelling process.

So the rug had to go away before it was completely torn apart.

Getting it repaired properly and officially would be in the many hundreds, and honestly that’s just not something we’re interested in spending hundreds on. So I bought an upholstery needle and wool yarn that matched and started stitching the ends.

It’s going well, but it’s time-consuming, so I still have A LOT to do. In the meantime, the really bad end is tucked under itself.

Dog gate

We wanted something more modern and more user-friendly than the big metal baby gate, so we built one out of a crib railing that we got for free from Facebook Marketplace.

There’s a post with the details here.

Accessories

Curtains were also from Facebook, just $10.

Plants were collected from other parts of the house.

We removed the Craftsman style sconces, and replaced the light fixture with one we purchased for our office area, but didn’t end up using, so it’s been sitting in a closet forever.

So the official total was $93.14!

Here’s my wish list from the beginning:

• Repair the black and white rug that’s supposed to be in this room, and swap the tan one out for it
• Paint the walls
• Paint the trim (decided not to–still debating)
• Remove mantle
• Build new mantle that actually surrounds stove (still art deco style)
• Replace light fixture(s)
• Custom doggy gate at the front door
• Complete curtain and blinds set on the window, hung properly (curtains, still keeping an eye out for blinds to go underneath)
• Custom radiator cover to replace metal one (under the window) (removed the cover and like it much better, still hope to build a simple, modern cover eventually)
• New bar stools for island (honestly probably won’t happen this month–and definitely not within the $100 budget) (was hoping to makeover the ones we had for a few dollars, but didn’t have time)

So we got 2/3rds of the wish list done!

Now go check out the huge differences the other ladies made with just $100 too:

The post $100 Dining Room Makeover Progress appeared first on Little Victorian.

One of the projects we wanted to tackle for our dining room in the $100 Room Challenge was an upgraded dog gate. It wasn’t super high on the list of priorities, but it all just came together for only $3.75 so I couldn’t resist.

Update: I’ve gotten a couple irate comments on Pinterest over this gate (even an accusation that I created this so I could laugh when strangers children fell and injured themselves). People claimed that their dogs and/or children would climb it. First: if it’s not for you, you don’t have to do it! Second: we are dog sitters and had dozens of dogs of all ages and sizes while we had this gate and NOT ONE tried to climb it. Two of them put their front paws on top…and nothing happened. Third: if you have trouble with your child, you should clearly consider other options. Everyone else: please enjoy this very easy, cheap, and effective project.

We have a nice little entryway at the front door, but with the dog boarding business, we need a way to keep dogs back and safely inside when the front door is opened.

We have a really nice, fancy baby gate set up, but there are three annoyances with it:

1. A lot of people trip over it coming or going because it has a bottom piece that you don’t really notice, which is terrible (and the most important annoyance).
2. Guests also always have to ask how to get out, which is also silly to have to do, and unfortunately, they often get a little embarrassed.
3. It’s not pretty.
   I actually didn’t even notice how unattractive it was until I was taking the “before” picture for the challenge.

Here is the previous one:

And now:

As I like to do when I need to decorate on a budget, I started the project by browsing Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for free items. Usually I’m looking for things that could be given a cheap makeover, or taken apart for parts to build something else.

Knowing we wanted to DIY a gate, all I saw when I came across a free crib were tons of free gate parts.

This was the crib (originally):

We picked up it, and were super excited when we got home to find out that the side pieces were the perfect size for our doorways! We actually didn’t even have to take it apart for parts, just add hinges and a door latch. (I did trim down the two side pieces on top because they were too tall.)

So project breakdown for the new gate:

• Crib (FREE)
  If we needed to at this point, we would have cut down the parts to fit the doorway, or built it from scratch using the parts.
• Spray paint (FREE)
  We had white spray paint on hand. It wasn’t necessarily needed, it was a nice color, but this one had stickers that just would not come off cleanly, so it needed to be re-finished.
• Two hinges ($2.75 at Home Depot–similar here)
• One door latch ($1 at Home Depot —similar here)

A bonus of getting the whole crib is that we now also have a (free) headboard for our guest bed, another side piece that we’ll eventually use to add another matching gate to the hallway, and the whole front panel, which we’re not sure how we’ll use yet, but we’ll figure something out.

Oh, and if you happen to find a free or cheap crib online, many of them come with mattresses included, which make perfect large dog beds.

Here is a picture with the other side of the crib for reference. The left is the part “before.” So we just turned it on it’s side, trimmed the new “top” down and removed the drawer slide.

Another unexpected bonus is that the Roomba can now also vacuum the entryway. Which is very exciting for me.

Other updates we’ve made to the room so far are actual curtains(!) (also from FB Marketplace for $10), and we swapped out the light fixture.

The light fixture we had purchased a year-and-a-half ago for the family room and didn’t end up using it because the light it gave off wasn’t enough for the room, so it’s been sitting in a closet for all that time. (It’s this one from IKEA.)

Hover over the image to Pin it for later.

The post DIY dog gate for cheap ($3.75) appeared first on Little Victorian.

We are still mid-kitchen remodel (thanks to 2020–update coming soon). But since the kitchen is now open to the dining room and it’s pretty much one space, we wanted to fix it up a little too.

$100 Room Challenge time is MY FAVORITE time to do that. Because, it clearly only costs $100 and it’s so much fun to see what you can do with just that much money.

So here are the “Befores!”

Not long after moving in, I broke the mini blinds that were on the window when I tried to close them…apparently too enthusiastically. And the temporary curtain we put up is STILL there.

You can see we have a couple cabinets hanging out in the room. Those will be going into the soon-to-be butler’s pantry.

We have an art deco mantle just hanging out mid-wall. And art deco/craftsman ceiling light and sconces.

The sconces are tricky. I love sconces in a dining room, but it’s way overkill with overhead lights there as well. Plus they are way too high up the wall. So I’d like to remove one set, either the overhead or the sconces. This is a tough one for me!

And teal walls.

The color is actually nice. But I just don’t personally do teal walls, just not “our thing”. You can see the black and gray I’ve been testing.

My wish list is huge for the room. Not expensive stuff, just big projects, so I doubt we’ll be able to get to them all, but hopefully at least a few for this challenge:

• Repair the black and white rug that’s supposed to be in this room, and swap the tan one out for it
• Paint the walls
• Paint the trim
• Remove mantle
• Build new mantle that actually surrounds stove (still art deco style)
• Replace light fixture(s)
• Custom doggy gate at the front door
• Complete curtain and blinds set on the window, hung properly
• Custom radiator cover to replace metal one (under the window)
• New bar stools for island (honestly probably won’t happen this month–and definitely not within the $100 budget)

Here’s a sample of my Pinterest inspiration board for the room (a soft black/charcoal and white, as usual for me):

The $100 Room Challenge is a challenge that anyone can join, just makeover a room for $100 and share your progress on your blog. Everyone that joins can link their posts together so we can all hop from blog to blog getting really fun inspiration (and be amazed at what you can accomplish with $100).

Here are the rest of the participants for this challenge:

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