One of my favorite things of being a homeowner is having the space to take on BIGGER DIY projects. It’s amazing how much more you can do when you have an actual outdoor space and a garage… say WHAT!

When I moved back to Washington 3 years ago, I was starting over on the furniture front and was trying to keep things on a budget after a big and expensive move too. Queue Pinterest and another one of my favorite things, Facebook Buy Sell Groups and Marketplace! Which feels a smidge safer than Craigslist? I’m sure there are creepers there too but this post isn’t about that! It’s about…. how I snagged a bed frame for $25 and did some DIY furniture magic on it!

Let me back up a few though, this all started because I really loved the look of industrial style bed frames. When I was looking to buy one though the prices started at $300 and went all the way over $1k! Ones similar to these…

Of course, I didn’t want to spend that though… so I spent some time on Pinterest and found some tutorials of people who had spray painted brass bed frames to get the same look. Ding, ding, ding I could totally do that! So I started looking on Facebook Marketplace and I quickly found this beauty for a whopping $25! Which looked like a lot of my friend’s bed frames growing up! Of course there’s nothing wrong with this look if that’s your thing, but for me it was a stepping stone to getting that industrial vibes I was after.

To get the look I wanted, I opted for a flat black spray paint from Krylon. I usually go with the all-in-one spray paints so that I can skip the separate primer coat, which saves some time. If you go with a traditional spray paint can, I also highly recommend getting one of the comfort nozzle too. SO worth the extra little money to save your fingers. Plus you can reuse them for future projects.

Two coats on each side later they turned out like this! Which, in case you’re wondering was 4 cans of spray paint. I wanted to make sure it was covered well.

I’d say I achieved the look I was going for! What do you think? The best part too? I didn’t spend hundreds of dollars… in fact the whole project came in right under $40! Of course, your price will vary a little depending on if you have a bed frame around the house or buy one. Either way, though it’s an inexpensive project that can totally change the look of your bedroom!

Welp, summer is officially saying its farewell and I’m not going to lie I’m kind of sad to see it go! While I was in the PNW for most of last summer, let’s be real my life was kindddd of in shambles in a lot of ways so this summer definitely had a different vibe and an AWESOME one at that!

I have to say, summer usually isn’t my favorite season and I think a lot of that has to do with it was SO hot and humid in NYC, but PNW summers?! Justttt my style. I’m sorry, I know everyone likes to say our weather over here is terrible butttt IMO it’s pretty dang perfect. Moderate temps year-round.. nothing too hot, nothing too cold.. just dang perfect. So while normally I can’t wait until Fall, this year I kind of wish summer was just a little bit longer! That being said, it was a busy and memorable one so before I officially say goodbye, I’m recapping some of my fav memories of the season!

Lots of Memories with My Fam

Okay, I’m kicking things off with a big one… Time with my fam! I’m sure you’re all sick of me talking about how much living near family again means to me, but truly it is the best. Being able to go on adventures, have BBQs, go hiking, or just chill and spend time together has been so SO nice!

Hiking & Enjoying the Outdoors

Another big overall category that I loved this summer was spending so much time exploring outdoors! Don’t get me wrong, I’m still very much a city girl but it just felt so refreshing to be able to explore so many different places. Hiking in the mountains… kayaking on the sound… walking around the lakes and beaches… I just love all. of. it and so I did a lot of it!

King County Fair

I haven’t been to the King Country Fair in years, but it just so happenedd Little Duck was going to be up for her birthday so we squeezed in a trip and just had such a fun day. Learning what mutton busting is (and then hysterically laughing), eating elephant ears and scones, seeing all of the goats, and watching pig races… I’d say we did it right!

Visits from Some of my Favorite New Yorkers

I got really lucky this summer and got to have 3 of my fav New Yorkers come out west and visit. Which BTW, having a guest room is AWESOME! First up my NYC roomie and her husband visited and then later one of my other besties Lynette and we had such a blast! They definitely put my Washington tour guide skills to the test too and luckily were good sports about me trekking them all over the state! I meannnn there’s so much variety here you have to see it all right! City, country and mountains!

Sounders & Mariners Games

This summer I got my fair share of sports in too! We made it to a few Mariners games including Star Wars night (which was awesome). Which let’s be real, I’m much more about the stadium food than the sports but.. those were a blast nonetheless. Then I also went to my first Sounders game which was pretty cool too! My sister won some tickets at work and couldn’t go so we got to live that club level life too which was cool.

Fort Nisqually

Something else we did that was so much fun was a Happy Hour at Fort Nisqually which is a living history museum that was one of the first settlements in the PNW. This summer they did a happy hour series of events that you could check out the museum and enjoy some 19th century crafts and history with drinks and it was seriously so much fun! Definitely worth checking out if they do the series again!

Growing all of the Veggies at the Garden

I mentioned it before, but this summer we joined a community garden and I’m obsessed! I started mini balcony gardens when I lived in New York so I had dabbled a little bit in gardening but having a pretty decent sized plot opened so many options! It was definitely a commitment and learning experience (there will be a full blog post on that later) but we grew so many fresh veggies and fruits and it has just been so fun being part of a little community. Even if we’re like a few of the only people younger than 70.

Loon Lake Trip

Roadtripping over to eastern Washington for a trip to Loon Lake with Evan’s family was definitely another highlight! His family spends a week at their cabin every summer and we had just the best time floating the lake, watching a meteor shower, and playing some serious cards and drinking games. We even made shirts because I like to get a little DIY extra like that.

Trip to Portland and McMinneville

In case you haven’t caught on yet, there was a lot of travel this summer! Having a car again is amazinggggg. No I won’t stop talking about that yet either! On this trip I met up with my college bestie Danielle and her husband and finally got to meet their adorable nugget who is now a year and a half! Somehow we failed to get a picture together 🙈but we had such a fun time catching up and exploring Portland’s waterfront and taking a visit to the zoo! On top of meeting up with Danielle, I also headed a little bit further into Oregon’s wine country to go visit Little Duck at college. Complete with staying at their apartment (they’re way more of adults than I was then) anddd having my first official legal drink with Little Duck at McMenamins. Yes. She’s officially 21 now, say whattt?! #Forever8yearsOldinmyHead

Exploring Tacoma with Friends

Last but definitelyyyy not least, we rounded out the summer with SUCH a fun visit with my friend Bryson in Tacoma. We both moved back to WA from NYC and LA last year so it was fun to get some exploring in locally doing all of the PNW things. A farmers market, kayaking (and almost dying but we won’t talk about that), wearing plaid (yes all of us, no not on purpose), and hitting up craft beers and cocktails. It was a solid weekend to round up the summer that’s for sure.

And with that, you have my top 10 highlights of the season. I’m def sad to see summer go, but with a full calendar of things going on in Fall I know that this season will be a good one too!