My plan for no spend July: Get 'er done!

Hello my friends! Our weather for the past few days has been GLORIOUS! I mean, just perfect. I'm sitting outside under our pergola writing to you right now. When it's like this I could spend the whole day outside. 

So in just a few days I will be embarking on yet another no spend month...if you're new around these parts you know I usually do this once a year. It helps with the budget but for me it's more about just clearing my mind and getting stuff done. 

I usually finish up projects that I have the supplies for, or fix little things I've been putting off. I also usually do some organizing and purging. At the end I feel lighter in more ways than one. So at the end of this week I'll be kicking it off again. Usually I do this in January -- that's a great time because I'm so overwhelmed with stuff from the holidays. It forces me to put the brakes on and simplify. 

I think I did it in the summer years back and I think that's a good time too. We're home and life slows (just a bit) so it's perfect. 

My no-spend months are pretty strict and this time I may not be quite at strict -- only because I may have to grab a few minor things from hardware store. Nothing major, I'm talking paint brushes or random little stuff like that. But NO spending on decor for sure. I have plenty. ;) 

Thus time I'm focusing on finishing up projects that I've let sit for a few months or even longer. Our stairs don't look like this right now:

We had them sanded down for me to restain last month...I thought I was going to work on it then but time got away from me. So they're still unfinished and I need to get that done. Big time. 

I took our cabinet doors down in the laundry and taped everything off to paint...and still haven't finished that: 

I adore our laundry room -- getting those painted is going to make such a difference in here. It's going to look so good! We've had unfinished cabinets hung for ummm...years? I also have a built in cabinet in the corner I've never shown you that I would like to trim out and paint as well. 

Our. nightstands. are. still. unpainted: 

I know what I want to do with them...I just need to do it. Squirrel!!

I've also made a loooong list of little things for each room that I've been meaning to tackle forever -- like filling anchor holes in the walls, touching up paint, filling holes in trim from when I installed it. Just a long list of teensy little things that add up over time, you know? 

It's so nice to look back at the end of the month at what I am able to accomplish. By the way...so not a sloth this summer like usual! Virtual high five please. I've been working my tail off on the bathroom reno and I hope to share that next week. 

Some of my favorite projects in our house have been completed during no spend months...that's the thing -- I'm all about completing during those weeks. I had the paint for our master bedroom but because the walls were so tall I never finished it up till my no spend month one year:

That was such a big transformation!! 

I tend to install things and then not paint them. I guess I get tired? 😂 (See the laundry room above for reference.) I finished painting the window trim in our library one year and called that room done: 

Often I'll have something that needs to be installed and a no-spend month is a good time to get it done. I had the "command center" hardware for our mud room forever and finally got it up: 

You can see more of that mud room makeover here! Oh, and I always have my black paint on hand so you never know when another door will go black. ;) 

I have a huge spray paint stash so I finished up our basement bathroom by painting a mirror and adding the finishing touches one year: 

And sometimes I'll find free ways to decorate, including these free printables I found for our gallery wall: 

Sometimes it's about getting creative to get a job done, sometimes it's just getting the job done. ;) But I always enjoy the NOT buying part and just clearing my mind and our house a bit.

I know many of you have tried incorporating a no-spend month into your family/household over the years as well. If you haven't I think you'd be surprised at how good it feels! But I AM always ready for a trip to HomeGoods at the end. ;)

Let me know if you have any questions about these projects! As always, you can see a list of my favorite projects and paint colors in our home here.

Easy painter's tape trick for hanging art

Well hello! I shared this quick tip on my Instagram stories this week but it was such a good one I thought it deserved it's own post. :) I've seen this tip a few times over the years but haven't tried it -- I just wasn't sure how well it would work. 

But it worked like a charm and I'll be using it again! I bought two of these IKEA mirrors at least a year ago for the bathroom renovation: 

They are the Stockholm mirrors and are so pretty! I wasn't sure how long it would be before I started the room, but it's a long trip to our closest IKEA (at least for the next few months, ours opens in the fall!) so I grabbed them up. 

This week I was finally to the point where it was time to hang them and it was very exciting. :) They are quite large so the holes on the back were far apart. You can use a level (I have a couple long ones), but I found this trick to be much more precise than measuring and trying to transfer that measurement onto the wall. 

Because I was drilling into tile I wanted this to be as exact as possible. This little hack is pretty easy. You'll need to grab some painter's tape and put it across the holes on the back of your art or mirror:

Make sure the tape is placed at the same spot on each side. (Meaning the same distance from the top of the tape.) Then I poked a hole through the tape. You can also mark it with a pen for a really precise measurement: 

Then you take your tape and place it where you want on the wall. You'll still need a level for this part -- I forgot to take a photo of using it, but you need to hold it against the tape to check: 

Then you just drill, using your marks as a guide! 

When you drill into tile you need to use a tile bit -- this is the set I have and I like that they include four different sizes:

It takes awhile to get through the tile -- you'll need some patience and a fully charged drill. ;)

Then you can insert your anchors or screws and hang your item! Again, I've always measured with tape or a level but I found this to be much more precise. I wasn't going to mess around with this tile!:

Sorry for the messy mirror -- the major cleaning will happen after the room is done. 😆

Now this part of the room is fully functional again and it only took maybe two months? Ha! I'm pretty sure I remember saying something about it only taking two weeks. I should know better. 

So much left to do -- today I plan to get that door trim up! Slow but sure, this room is coming together and is turning into one of my favorites in our house! 

Have you used this hanging trick? I'm a fan for sure!

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