Over nine-and-a-half years, Chelsea made major interior and exterior improvements to her first home. Some, such as creating a nursery, were out of necessity. Others, like adding trim, were purely decorative.
Here are Chelsea’s nine favorite projects that she tackled and featured on her blog, Checking In With Chelsea.
1. Lucy’s Nursery
When Chelsea learned she was having another girl, Lucy, she decided to paint the nursery soft pink — something she didn’t do for her first girl, Mary Helen. Pink is Chelsea’s favorite color, though, so now was the time!
She also considered the room’s small size and realized that wasn’t the only thing she wanted to do differently this go ’round. She purchased multifunctional furniture from Facebook Marketplace to eliminate unnecessary furniture she placed in her boy Gus’ nursery.
Along with an accent wall and new window treatments, this room was fit for her princess.
Read more about Chelsea’s girl nursery >>
2. Workshop
When you don’t use your garage to park a car, and you often tackle home improvements, it’s time to consider alternative uses for that valuable space.
For Chelsea, the answer was a dream workshop where she could store all her tools and get stuff done in an aesthetically pleasing environment.
Creating a defined workshop was easy and affordable thanks to using many items she already had on hand, such as mixing old paint and reusing cabinets. The result was a pretty-in-pink workshop fit for a queen.
Watch: “Budget-Friendly Garage Workshop Makeover”>>
3. Master Bathroom
When Chelsea purchased her first home, she was single and lived alone. Over the nine-and-a-half years that she owned the home, it gained some new household members. The first was her husband, Brandon; then came their three children, Mary Helen, Gus and Lucy.
With an expanding family came the need for nurseries and more space. And, after three years of dreaming; a year of planning, saving and designing; and three months of construction, Chelsea and Brandon got their master bathroom addition.
The addition — with its tile accent wall, glass shower surround and wood vanity — packed a big style punch into the small space.
Read “Small Bathroom Addition, Big Style” for more on this project>>
4. Burlap Roman Shades
Chelsea is nothing if not sentimental. She kept a ton of burlap table runners from her 2014 wedding reception in storage, and wasn’t sure what to do with them.
When she couldn’t sell them, she found a way to repurpose them as Roman shades for her sunroom. This way, she could reuse the material and help tell her young family’s story through interior design.
The project required some cutting here and sewing there, and resulted in a stylish solution to reduce sunlight and glare in the sunroom.
Read “DIY Burlap Roman Shades” for more from this project>>
5. Entry Update
Every home needs curb appeal, and your guests’ first impression starts with your entry. That’s why Chelsea tackled a pair of curb appeal projects when things started looking worse for the wear.
She started with updating her fiberglass door, which regularly takes a beating from the sun. The result was a front door with a beautiful faux wood grain.
Next, she painted the porch’s stained handrails and applied caulk as needed. Then she did the same for the spindles, columns and flowerbox for instant impact.
For more on these projects…
