No-spend project review

Well hello all and happy Friday! It’s time to bring this month to a close and review the big projects I completed over the past few weeks. This review is one I’m pretty excited about since it was a self-declared no-spend month for me.

I’ve done this before on the blog and this time I accomplished even more, but it was a little bit harder too. I mean, I still spent money on other stuff, just not DIY or decor. My Instagram feed was incredibly boring this month with zero shopping excursions. Lots of pictures of my cats. Very exciting.

BUT I got a ton done. The to do list is still long but I’ve made a dent.

Here’s a few of the projects I completed this month without spending any cash! I started out with a redo of an old cherry 80’s nightstand:

I’m really happy with how that turned out – I was surprised I liked it as much as I did. ;)

Our outdoor hoses were an absolute mess and I was tired of trying to step over them when I needed to water the plants. So I downsized a bit and then created a hose holder (without digging in the ground):

I’m obsessed with those hoses. Many of you mentioned they gave you problems, but we’ve used ours for about two months without any issues. Crossing my fingers they hold up!  

I started the house-wide decrapification in the guest room and cleared out a TON. I made better use of that awkward space in the closet too:

SO much better. I can now close the doors without stuffing things back in. :)

I finally finished up a few details in the basement bathroom and called that one done:

I really love how that space came together!

I don’t have it all figured out when it comes to managing all the paper that comes in our house, but I do have a few tips that have helped a bunch. I shared them in this post:

I am figuring out a few things when it comes to keeping plants alive – slow but sure. I shared our tiny little garden and how we grow a lot of food in a small space:

Earlier this week (wow, it’s been a LONG week!) I shared another big project I completed this month. Our guest room has needed a paint job for years now and I finally got to it, with a little ombre:

Honestly, if I hadn’t done this no-spend month I would have found five other projects to do instead. I’m SO glad I finally just got it done!

As I decluttered our craft/play/I-don’t-know-what room I got sidetracked again and decided to line the drapes that have been hanging there for years:

I shared a quick and dirty tutorial on lining drapes and the unexpected source I used for lining. ;) Use what you’ve got – that’s what this month was all about!

Finally, I cleaned up the front yard a bit and made our outdoor planters new again with some spray paint:

And added a teensy bit of fall. It’s time.

I did a bunch of smaller projects too, I’ll show you those some time soon. I gotta say, I’m kind of proud of myself for getting so much done this month. Usually in August (summer in general) I’m busy being sloth-like so this is pretty big for me.

Have a great Labor Day weekend folks! I’ll have the Before and After Party up on Monday – it just may go up a little later than usual. You can grab the code for the button here if you’d like to add it to your post ahead of time.