Outer Banks Home - DIY Fixer Upper

I know that many of you started following me after HGTV and come to follow our family (then, only 4 of us) and you were used to seeing lots of home projects and renovations on my posts. Then, LIFE happened and we double the number of children that we had and the time to do projects... much less clean the house... somewhat ceased! But now that we are spending so much (read: all) of our time at home, I am finding so many more projects to do. Are you all feeling the same way? I started with taking huge hauls to donate and clearing out old things that aren't serving our family. Then we moved into needing a mudroom so that all the "germy" stuff stayed in one place... It's really and on-going DIY project over here. Our house was built in 1999 and we've made incredible improvements over our 5 years of owning it. Without a doubt, the best improvements have been adding our two youngest daughters to the house! With two more kiddos comes SO MUCH STUFF so most of my DIY projects are to organize and "hide" their stuff!

My living room is directly off of my entryway and kitchen. Our girls like to play with ALL of the toys. We have lots of baby dolls, lots of Barbies and lots of books so having some storage in our living room was a serious need. We decided to convert our very, very small coat closet into toy storage. We also added doors to our living room built ins. These built ins have been an eyesore since we moved in. Like...it is with great embarrassment that I share this photo! Built-ins become clutter collectors in this house.

I hit them with a fresh coat of white trim and cabinet paint by Behr. I used pure white and I am so happy with how the paint freshened them up. Next, I enlisted the help and craftsmanship of a local woodworker named Davis. First things first, this guy came recommended by a treasured friend so he was my only call. Then, he came in at a fair price and... HE SHOWED UP WHEN HE SAID HE WOULD. That is incredibly valuable. I was honestly caught off guard when he pulled in my driveway on time! I showed him the shelves and a week later I had custom doors being installed! The slow close doors that he installed on our built ins are flawless! I honestly couldn't be happier. I'm pretty sure he is a fly-under-the-radar kind of guy but he is a pretty big deal. Incredible talent and attention to detail! Not to mention, kind as can be. These doors hide the diapers and wipes that I need at the ready. They hide the blankets, the toys AND the electronics. Check out this "after!" I'm obsessed! I'm most happy to get the Xbox and the cable boxes out of sight!

Of course, I had to snag some new decor and hit up our local HomeGoods because that fresh coat of paint and the doors just begged for grown up decor and I'm so happy with how it turned out.

I also LOVE the new lights! I ordered them on Amazon for less than $30 and they're powered by battery and use a remote. WAY cheaper than paying an electrician to come and install lights!

I know it's super common to work on house projects during the winter off-season when we all have extra time. Are you working on a house project, too? Tell me all about it!! Can't stop, won't stop over here!