Average But Inspired

Inspiring creativity at home.

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How to Fix Scratched Hardwood Floors in No Time!

Alright.  I have nothing cute or creative for you today.  But if you have hardwood floors in your home, I have something SUPER exciting.  Drumroll please . . . the easiest way to fix scratched hardwood floors in no time at all!

Seriously.

You guys, I can’t tell you how excited I am about this recent discovery of mine.  It may seem basic and silly, but I lived with unsightly white scratches on my hardwood floors for years before finding this solution.  It takes about 20 minutes (TOPS), and costs hardly anything to fix.  So are you ready?

Supplies Needed to Fix Scratched Hardwood Floors

This post contains affiliate links.  To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.

How to Fix Scratched Hardwood Floors

After recently replacing some furniture in my living room, scratches left on the floor from the old furniture were really starting to bother me.  There were large sections of white marks that stuck out like a sore thumb all over the place.  You don't have to live with scratched hardwood floors! There is a super easy way to fix shallow scratches and it doesn't cost a lot!

Then one day while digging through my utility drawer (aka “who knows what’s in there drawer”), I found a pack of DAP Wood Blend Sticks in the red wood tone.  I have no idea where these things came from.  I literally have no memory of buying them and neither does my husband.  But I digress.  Anyway, I decided to see if they would fix my scratched wood floors problem.

I cleaned up the section of the floor where I needed to work, and then I started rubbing the wood blend sticks over the scratches – kind of like I was coloring on the floor.  (My three-year-old was watching me the whole time, and I just know that I’m going to find Crayola crayon drawings on the floor sometime soon.)  You don't have to live with scratched hardwood floors! There is a super easy way to fix shallow scratches and it doesn't cost a lot!

I used several of the colors that came in the pack, since my floors vary in tone from place to place.  After I’d applied a lot of blend stick to the scratches, I let it sit for a couple of minutes.  Then I grabbed a lint-free cloth and got to work buffing the colored areas.

I had to use a lot of elbow grease to get all of my handiwork off of the floor.  It was easy to tell when I’d removed all of the excess blend stick from the floor because the cloth moved over those spots easily and it no longer felt sticky to the touch.

The scratches looked much less pronounced after I’d done that, but it wasn’t totally perfect yet.  You don't have to live with scratched hardwood floors! There is a super easy way to fix shallow scratches and it doesn't cost a lot!

I then grabbed the S.C. Johnson Paste Wax that I love to use on furniture refinishing projects, and I applied a thin layer over the scratched areas.  You don't have to live with scratched hardwood floors! There is a super easy way to fix shallow scratches and it doesn't cost a lot!

Once it had been on there for about twenty minutes, I buffed the excess off and was SO EXCITED to see that the scratches on my hardwood floors were virtually invisible now!  Everything blended together so nicely and the floor looked beautiful once again!  You don't have to live with scratched hardwood floors! There is a super easy way to fix shallow scratches and it doesn't cost a lot!

Of course if you put your face right up by the scratches you can see them because there are still the scratch indentations there (I didn’t sand anything down after all), but to a person who isn’t checking the floor out with a microscope, they look beautiful once again.  You don't have to live with scratched hardwood floors! There is a super easy way to fix shallow scratches and it doesn't cost a lot!

This little trick for fixing scratched hardwood floors has made a big difference in the look of my floors.  And it is so inexpensive (compared to refinishing!), and easy!  If you have any hardwood floors that are in need of touching up, I recommend giving the DAP blend sticks and paste wax a try.  Remember to only use the paste wax if your floors have a finish of a subtle sheen (as opposed to gloss or matte).  You don't have to live with scratched hardwood floors! There is a super easy way to fix shallow scratches and it doesn't cost a lot!

Bre

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This is the Trashiest Post You’ll Ever Read

Earth Day is next week.  And that got me thinking that I’m all for recycling, saving the planet, hugging trees . . . you name it.  I really do like the Earth.

But the fact of the matter is that despite our best efforts to the contrary, there will always be trash.  And consequently, there will always be trash cans.

These totally functional and utilitarian objects are often overlooked as a place to show some style and personality, but they don’t have to be!  So why not turn your trash can into something a little less, well, trashy?  Here are some fabulous ideas to get you started on making your own DIY decorative trash cans!  Take your trash bin from trashy to classy with this roundup of DIY decorative trash can ideas!

[Read more…]

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The Secret to Making Your Stainless Steel Shine!

**Thank you to Viva Vantage and Walmart for sponsoring today’s post and helping me make my stainless steel sparkle and shine!**

 Hello, friends!

When we remodeled our kitchen three years ago, I was excited to step into the “new millennium” and get stainless steel appliances.  But my love affair lasted about four days and promptly ended once I realized how kid unfriendly they are.  They show every.single.handprint and constantly look streaky and grimy, even after I clean them.  Gross.

I’m not a total clean freak, so I usually just go about my day, ignoring the streaks and spots.  But upcoming visits from friends and relatives prompted a closer cleaning of my home, including my appliances.  And I’m happy to report that, in the process, I found the solution to the stainless steel disgustingness problem!!!!  Best part?  It’s an easy and inexpensive solution.

First off, you need some olive oil.  Yep, plain old olive oil.

Next, you need some super high-quality paper towels like Viva Vantage paper towels, which are available at Walmart.  I used to be a generic, store brand paper towel girl myself, but no more.  These towels were amazing for all of my cleaning needs (and I have a lot with kids ages 4 and 2),  and especially for making my stainless steel shine.
For this task, Viva Vantage paper towels are definitely the best choice because:
  • their thickness and sponge-like absorbency is essential for containing the olive oil.  Trust me, you don’t want that all over your hands while you’re trying to clean;
  • Viva Vantage paper towels also have a special V-Flex Weave, which gives them superior stretch and scrubbing power – perfect for removing stuck-on messes; and
  • they have perforations, which allow you to select the perfect size towel for your task, big or small.
So, pour a generous amount of olive oil on your paper towel and get to work!
Don’t believe me that this will make a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE on your appliances?  Here’s an “in progress” comparison for you!
The one small section of Viva Vantage towels I used held up through several applications of olive oil and repeated scrubbing of a strange peanut butter-like substance on my refrigerator’s handles.  I even used the same piece to shine my dishwasher and oven!
My old paper towels would have shredded apart after even a minute of scrubbing, and my refrigerator would look NOTHING like it does now!

Moral of the story:  don’t let handprints and unidentified substances mar the beauty of your appliances; pick up some olive oil and Viva Vantage paper towels next time you’re at Walmart or Walmart.com and make your stainless sparkle and shine!

– Bre

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Five Options for All of Those Kids Clothes You’ve Been Keeping

I know I must sound like a broken record talking about all of the stuff I’ve been getting rid of lately.  I apologize.  I really do.  But you’re going to have to keep hearing about it because it’s consuming a significant part of my time these days.  And trust me – this is much more interesting than me writing about what I ate for lunch (turkey sandwich), or what I ate for dinner all these nights my husband’s been at work late (turkey sandwich), or what I got at Panera last time (Sierra Turkey sandwich).

So yeah, anyway, back to the point of this post . . . the purging.  The bulk of recent efforts has been centered on all of the children’s clothing I’ve been saving for four years, much of it residing in gigantic Rubbermaid tubs and some of it in piles in my kids’ closets.

Before we finished our basement, it made sense to hang on to all of these clothes in the event that we are blessed with a third child down the road.  We had plenty of space to keep clothing in every size and style imaginable, without intruding on our precious closet space.

But now we have about a quarter of the storage space we once did.  This means that all unnecessary objects must go.

The first thing on that list of unnecessary objects is clothing that may never again be needed in this family.  Although my heart doesn’t want to let go of this clothing, my head knows that most of it has to go.    

I’ve been thinking about what to do with all of this clothing, and I’ve determined that there are five options for dealing with kids clothes that are no longer needed.

1.  DONATE IT.  Take it to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army and get yourself a tax deduction.  You can also use Charity Navigator to find other donation sites near your home.
2.  SELL IT OR CONSIGN IT.  Because kids grow out of their clothes so quickly, there is a big market for used children’s clothing.  Consider selling high-quality pieces in good condition in brick and mortar children’s consignment or resale stores, such as Once Upon a Child.  Alternatively, you could sell the clothes online through eBay or ThredUp.  There are a lot of online options for resale, so do your homework before you list to make sure that you don’t get taken advantage of.

3.  HAND IT DOWN.  Every time I receive hand-me-downs for my children, I feel like a kid in a candy store.  It’s so exciting to see all these “new” items that I didn’t even have to pay for!  Since I’ve been on the receiving end, I’m trying to make sure I pay it forward by bestowing my kids’ cute things on friends and family who might feel the same way I do about hand-me-downs.  It makes them feel good, and it makes me feel good at the same time.

4.  MAKE A KEEPSAKE.  If you don’t want to part with all of your kids’ clothes, keep some of the more meaningful pieces and turn them into a keepsake such as a quilt, pillow or shadowbox.  Even if you’re not the DIY type, there are plenty of companies out there who can do this for you.  For example, Jelly Bean Quilts makes adorable quilts out of old clothing, and Etsy seller Mam Creations will turn those old pieces into a beautiful pillow.

5.  STORE IT PROPERLY.  If you find that you have to keep more of the clothing than you planned, make sure you store the clothes properly.  Ensure that all pieces are clean and totally dry before boxing them up.  I swear by Space Bag storage bags (they save space, keep clothing fresh and prevent any little bugs from getting into the clothing during storage), and Rubbermaid containers.  
I will actually be doing a little of all of this.  It is causing me to have a lot of piles and a lot of mess in my house right now, but I know that in the end, it will make me feel like I did the right thing with my precious babies’ clothing.

– Bre (who will be telling Baby No. 3 (should he or she bless us with his or her presence someday), that I loved him or her so much that I didn’t want him or her to have to wear his brother’s or sister’s old clothes, so I gave it all away.)

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Stenciled Chair Seats – A Thrifty and Fun Kitchen Chair Makeover

Thank you to Cutting Edge Stencils for providing the stencil used in this project and the prize to be awarded in the giveaway.  The project and opinions are all my own. One thing I love is giving a plain object new life and personality with a simple change.  Stenciling the seats of my beat up kitchen […]

5 Furniture Makeover Mistakes to Avoid {Lessons From a Failed Furniture Flip}

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DIY Modern Desk – A Beginner Woodworking Project {Monthly DIY Challenge}

Thank you to Kreg Tool Company for sponsoring this post.  The project and opinions are all my own!  Also, this post contains affiliate links.  Please see my full disclosure policy here. Years ago when the ladies of the Monthly DIY Challenge and I started up this whole thing, I knew there would be times that […]

Mid-Century Dining Chairs Makeover

In a strange turn of events, Chicago has had absolutely amazing weather over the past week or so.  It is FEBRUARY and we have had temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s for multiple days in a row.  I am beyond thrilled with this taste of spring in the dead of winter, and have been using it to […]