Merry Christmas from the Bylunds
As 2022 comes to a close I’ve taken some time to think about all I’ve accomplished this year. I’ve had a lot of growth, a lot of learning, a lot of change and a lot of excitement. I’m really proud of myself for completing these projects and making my home a space that I absolutely love as well as transforming spaces in different family members homes. So, with that, lets look through my projects from this year!
Lily Ann Cabinets Bonus Room
Time for a new project! My aunt and uncle have an awkward space above their garage. It’s kind of a bonus room that the builder finished, but they haven’t known how to use this space. So, with the help of the amazing team at Lily Ann Cabinets, I was able to take this bonus room space and make it so much more functional. Lily Ann Cabinets helped me design a space that included a desk area, a window seat, and tons of storage cabinets all in the White Shaker Elite style. So, let’s get started!
How We Use Countdown Chains
One of the many accommodations we use for our autistic daughter is countdown chains. Usually when we use these, I actually have our daughter help me make them. She loves doing crafts anyway, but I use this time to talk about what we are counting down and how many pieces we need for the chain. She personally seems to enjoy the entire process more when she's participated in creating it.
Customizable Cabinets with Lily Ann Cabinets
Time for a new project! I'm going to take an awkward bonus room and make it much more functional. With the help of Lily Ann Cabinets, we have created a desk space, a window seat, and tons of cabinets for storage. I’m so excited to see this space come together, so I want to show you how easy it is to use Lily Ann cabinets for yourself!
Peel & Stick Wallpaper for Powder Bathroom
In 2021 I decided to upgrade our very basic builder grade half bath on our first floor. It's a tall space so I wanted to split it up by adding a chair rail. I knew that I wanted to do some wallpaper on the top and after doing some research I decided to go with the peel and stick wallpaper from West Coast Wallpaper. It was so simple to order, after finding a pattern that I liked I gave them the measurements for the bathroom. They sent it in a set of panels that were clearly labeled so that I knew exactly what to do.
Teacher & Therapist Gift Ideas
The Holidays are here, which means it is time for gifting! If you have a child that has special needs, you may have multiple teachers and several therapists that you're looking for gifts for. So, I've come up with six different gift ideas at varying price points. These will work for teachers, therapists, neighbors, coworkers, or even hostess gifts, the people that you would like to give a gift to, but you're not super close with and don't know them all that well. I'm also sharing a few different packaging ideas in case you don't want do a gift bag or wrapping a gift isn't your thing.
Built in Bookshelves with Bench + Download
The bookshelf we had in Jackie’s bedroom just was not cutting it. It was overflowing, it wasn’t secured to the wall and there was too much extra stuff that we wanted to put on it that we just didn’t have room for. I went to Pinterest to look for something that might work for the space. I ended up finding a Pottery Barn shelf that had a ledge on it that I absolutely loved. I did not, however, love the price. So, I came up with my own much taller design of that shelf, got all the measurements I needed and got to work.
Refinishing Antique Dressers
I've had this set of dressers my entire life. They belonged to my grandparents on my dad’s side. I love the quality and the sentimental value of them, but they just really aren’t my style. However, after years of my dad telling me he didn't want me to change anything about them, he finally agreed to let me do something with them. So, now I get to update them to fit the esthetic of my home a little more.
Cookie Garland for the Holidays
Something I started doing in the last few years that my mom has always done is a Christmas cookie garland. My mom always did it over a doorway so she could see it often. Last year with the sudden passing of my Oma (grandmother in German) my mom wasn’t really feeling up to putting any of her decorations up. However, she’s always told me how much she loves it, and I know my Oma loved the tradition. So, I helped her put it up in the perfect spot around the window in the kitchen so she could see it from the whole kitchen, and I know it made her feel better through her grief.
Play Table & Benches Build + Build Plans
On the last blog post I talked about the play kitchen we got Jackie for Christmas last year. It’s so cute and functional for the space, but having tea parties on the floor wasn’t going to cut it. So, what goes perfectly with an adorable built in play kitchen? A custom play table dining set with enough seats for all of her “girls” (her dolls)! When I asked Jackie what she wanted, she requested a table with soft benches instead of chairs. So I gathered my supplies and got started.
Jackie’s Play Kitchen Space
For Christmas of last year (2021) we got our daughter an adorable play kitchen from Teamson. I got it for a great deal and it was shipped to us before Thanksgiving, so I had it in plenty of time for Christmas. When we decided that we were going to put it in her room I knew that I wanted it to be more built in. I did this for a few reasons. First, I didn't want it stick out from the wall. Second, I wanted to have confidence that it would be secure and finally I didn’t want the random stuff that kids inevitably have to get stuck behind it.