DIY

How We Fixed Our Too-Bright Skylights With Motorized Blackout Shades

May 13, 2026 by Bre Leave a Comment

Plain and simple: motorized skylight shades are the best things we’ve ever put in our home.

We loved the natural light from our skylights in our bedroom… until nighttime when the moon would shine in our eyes, or the morning when the sun would wake us up too early, or on summer days when the room would become unbearably hot in the afternoons.

OK, so yeah, there wasn’t too much time that we did love them.

Why we decided to install blackout motorized skylight shades

My husband rigged up temporary skylight shades with tension rods and blackout roller shades, but they were really ill-fitting, ugly, and could not be moved at all.

Temporary skylight shades were ill-fitting. — These were our janky temporary skylight shades that my husband rigged up with tension rods and roller shades cut to size (sort of).

The shade on my side of the bed didn’t even cover the whole skylight. Talk about junky.

With the moon interrupting my sleep on an increasingly regular basis, I couldn’t take it anymore, and we started looking for a more permanent solution.

The motorized skylight shades we chose

Thank you to SmartWings for providing the skylight shades featured in this post. The opinions expressed herein are all my own. Also, this post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.

I came across SmartWings’ skylight shades, and the reviews were very positive, so we decided to give them a try.

We selected the SmartWings Motorized Premium Skylight Cellular Shades in white with blackout fabric (remember that moon I was telling you about?). The fact that each shade was made to fit each skylight with custom measurements was great because each of our skylight openings was slightly different in size.

And, we chose the remote control shade functionality (though there is a model that can be controlled via smartphone), and the solar panel charging feature so that we wouldn’t have to plug the shades in to recharge them in the future. If you get these shades, I definitely recommend the solar charging panel.

The skylight shades installation process

Apparently, people are surprised that you can install skylight shades on pre-existing skylights. That didn’t surprise me, but what DID surprise me was how easy the installation of our shades was.

The SmartWings skylight shades arrived almost completely assembled, so that was really nice. It only took a few minutes to put a couple of pieces in place, but it is important to know that there were some sharp or rough metal edges to the pieces that did need to be snapped into place.

From there, it was just a matter of hanging the shades in the skylight box. Because our skylights were framed out at the base, we didn’t even need to use anchors (which were included). We just screwed the shade frame right into the skylight frame.

Two sets of hands were definitely necessary (there is no way one person could hang these on their own), but they weren’t heavy, and hanging them went really quickly. My husband and I were both surprised by how fast we got them up. Hanging three shades probably took us an hour, and all we needed was a drill and two sets of hands.

Troubleshooting small gaps

As I mentioned earlier, the SmartWings skylight shades are custom-made to fit each skylight opening.

When measuring, you submit three sets of measurements for the width of the opening, and on one of my skylights, there was a significant difference between the top measurement and the bottom measurement.

The shades are made with the smallest measurement (otherwise they wouldn’t fit into the opening and the motor wouldn’t work), so when we hung that one shade, there were decent gaps in between the skylight frame and the frame of the shade.

These gaps allowed light to come through, so we pressed inexpensive foam backer rod into the gaps, and the light was eliminated. The backer rod isn’t visible in the gaps, so it really was a perfect solution.

To be clear, this is not a manufacturing defect; it’s just the nature of how the skylight shades have to be made. Thankfully, there’s a simple solution.

Did the motorized skylight shades make a difference?

I mean, if I could scream this I would: I wish we would have installed motorized skylight shades sooner!

The difference is insane. These are my favorite things we’ve ever put in our home.

First of all, that moon is not bothering me at night anymore. Thank goodness. The bedroom is so much darker and better for sleeping both at night and in the morning. (But let’s be real: with kids, I’m not sleeping too late anyway.)

Next, the ability to block the afternoon sun is incredible. And, we don’t have to close the shades all the way if we don’t want to. Even having them partially closed has drastically helped with that heat. I just know this is going to help with our air conditioning bills this summer.

The difference in my quality of life as it relates to my sleep and enjoyment of my bedroom is significant. (I can’t believe I’m saying that because of window treatments.)

At the end of the day, you don’t want your skylights to be a nuisance. They’re supposed to be a nice feature of your home. So if you’re dealing with glare, heat, or early-morning light, I genuinely think motorized blackout skylight shades are worth the investment.

Please ask me any questions in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them.

How I Painted Fabric Chair Cushions Instead of Reupholstering

May 5, 2026 by Bre Leave a Comment

When I spotted this chair at my local Habitat ReStore, I knew it had good bones. But the fabric? Let’s just say it was giving the Golden Girls‘ living room. Bold floral upholstery that was not exactly my style.

The typical solution would be to reupholster the cushions, but that’s time-consuming, can get expensive, and honestly, I wasn’t sure it was worth it for a thrift store find. So I decided to try something I’d been curious about: painting the fabric directly.

Two years later, I’m so glad I did.

Upholstery Painting Supplies

This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.

Chalk paint (in your color of choice)
Fabric paint medium
Chalk paint brush
Extra fine grade sandpaper
Spray bottle with water
Iron or heat press
Mixing cup and stir stick

How to Paint Seat Cushions

Painting fabric upholstery like this is actually pretty easy. I will walk you through each step so you can try it if you like.

Wash the cushion covers

If you can get them off, wash the cushion covers in the washing machine. If they’re not able to be removed, spot clean and vacuum them.

Mix your paint

Combine your chalk paint (any brand works!) with the fabric medium, according to the medium’s instructions.

The fabric medium is the key to this entire project. It keeps the dried paint flexible so it won’t crack or feel stiff when you sit on it.

Apply your first coat

Spritz the fabric with a light coat of water, and then paint your first coat of paint onto the cushion fabric. Work the paint into the fibers as you go, and don’t worry if it looks a little rough at this stage. That’s normal. Let it dry completely.

Sand lightly

Once the first coat is fully dry, take your extra fine grade sandpaper and lightly sand the surface. This knocks down any stiff or raised fibers, and gives you a much smoother finish on the second coat. Wipe away any dust before moving on.

Repeat the painting, drying, and sanding process

Yep, do it all again (and maybe even again) until you get the paint coverage you want.

I stopped at two coats. I liked that some of the large, white flowers peeked through instead of a totally solid color.

Heat-set with an iron

Once everything is dry, heat-set the paint using an iron (or a Cricut heat press like I used). This step helps lock in the paint and makes it much more durable over time.

Use a pressing cloth if needed to protect the surface, and follow the guidance on your fabric medium for temperature settings.

That’s it! The whole process is surprisingly simple, and the results are genuinely impressive. My chair cushions have held up beautifully for two years now with no cracking, no peeling, and they’re still comfortable to sit on.

If you’ve got a piece of furniture you love the shape of but can’t stand the fabric, this method is absolutely worth trying before you commit to a full reupholster.

Have you ever painted fabric furniture? I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comments!

I Covered My Bathroom Floor with Tile Stickers. Here’s How It Went.

March 17, 2026 by Bre 1 Comment

The floor tile in my cottage’s loft bathroom and laundry room was in great shape, and it wasn’t ugly. But . . . it needed a little something.

The room was essentially a white box, and I wanted to give it personality without tearing anything out.

This post contains affiliate links and sponsored content as part of the Amazon Influencers program. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.

Having installed peel-and-stick floor tiles in my sister’s kitchen five years earlier, I wondered if that would be an option for this bathroom. But because those were more akin to real tiles with thickness to them, I knew they wouldn’t work on top of the tiles already in this space.

So I settled on waterproof tile stickers, or tile decals, which are very thin and can be placed right on top of the preexisting floor tiles.

Products Used in This Post

Prepare for tile sticker installation

To get the floor ready for installation, I first vacuumed and then cleaned the tiles and grout with Krud Kutter.

Krud Kutter is the cleaner I use before almost all of my painting projects. It does an amazing job and doesn’t leave any residue, so I was confident it would be a good choice before putting down tile stickers.

Mix up the tile stickers

Next, I opened all of the tile sticker packages and mixed up the decals from the various packages. I did this to be sure that if any of the colors varied from package to package, they’d blend in and not stand out in sections of the bathroom.

Start with full tiles

The next part was easy and went quickly. I started with the full tiles where no cutting is required, and placed the tile stickers.

The preexisting floor tiles in this room measured 8″ x 8″, so these tile decals, which were slightly smaller than that, were the perfect size for my tiles in that they didn’t require me to trim them to fit full tiles. It’s good for the decals to be slightly smaller than the preexisting tiles so that they don’t hang off the edges.

I took care to ensure that each sticker made contact with the entire tile. (You don’t want any edges hanging off, or your socks or shoes will snag on the corners.)

My process was removing the paper backing from the tile, placing the sticker on top of the tile, and rolling over it with a brayer to make sure the decal’s adhesive made good contact with the tile.

Cut and place partial tile stickers

Then it came time to cut and place the partial tile decals. For this part, I used white copy paper, a ruler, a pencil, and scissors.

Essentially, I traced a full tile onto a piece of copy paper and cut it to size. Then I laid that paper on top of the partial tile on the floor, and traced along the edges that needed to be cut.

I then cut those parts of the copy paper and traced them onto the front of the tile decal. I cut out the tile decal to shape and placed it just as before.

The copy paper worked great, including around the base of the toilet. But a contour gauge would also be helpful for even more precise lines.

The finished bathroom floor

This took me about five hours from start to finish, and I absolutely adore the charming look these adhesive tile decals gave this space.

Of course, I don’t expect that these tile sticker decals will last forever, but they’re inexpensive and a relatively quick way to update a bathroom, so that’s fine with me.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below, and tell me what you think of this room’s new look! And don’t forget to share this image on Pinterest to share this post with others!

Mirrored Medicine Cabinet and Hollywood Vanity Light Makeover

February 18, 2026 by Bre Leave a Comment

If you have a mirrored medicine cabinet and/or Hollywood vanity light in need of a new look, this easy DIY makeover might do the trick.

Our tiny lake cottage has a super small bathroom and laundry room cleverly packed into the loft. Complete with a very slanted ceiling and an extra small footprint, it is actually one of the main reasons we purchased this cottage.

Most of the properties we looked at only had one bathroom, and if they had laundry machines at all, they were in weird places, like the crawl space.

So, even though some might not view this particular bathroom or laundry room as ideal, I love it!

I recently set out to give it a makeover (more on that soon), and one of the projects was refreshing this existing mirrored medicine cabinet and Hollywood-style vanity light.

This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.

Why not replace them with a new mirror and new light?

Because I know you’re wondering why I didn’t just rip out this medicine cabinet and vanity light, I’ll tell you!

First, with such a small cottage, we need all the storage we can get. A medicine cabinet was a must-have in here.

Next, the slant of the ceiling makes it so that a regular-sized mirror and a separate vanity light would not fit. The mirror would be too short.

Finally, I like a challenge. I wanted to see what I could come up with.

So here we are.

Peel and stick mirror trim

The edges of this mirrored medicine cabinet were becoming discolored (getting those black or brown splotches along the bevel). That’s not a huge deal, as desilvering happens to mirrors all the time.

But I found this cool peel-and-stick trim for mirrors and decided to try it out here. It sort of reminded me of my mirror wall makeover, except there I used tape, which was totally flat. This mirror trim has more heft to it and looks more like trim.

It was easy to cut with scissors and press onto the face of the mirror, and it gave it an updated look right off the bat. I chose the matte gold finish, but it comes in other colors, too.

Hollywood light fixture makeover

The next part of this project was giving the dated vanity light a makeover. I had several ideas rolling around my brain, but none was going to work quite right. It took a lot of trial and error, but I eventually came up with this solution, which took into account a couple of important factors:

Any light embellishments did not interfere with the functionality of the medicine cabinet or hit the sloped ceiling, and
The light bulbs could still be incandescent (this fixture would not accept LED lights. Trust me, I tried). Incandescent bulbs are hot, whereas LED are not, so I had to be cautious about heat and starting a fire.

I found glass candle wax catchers (the fancy name for them is “bobeche”) and decided they were exactly what I needed.

I applied Rub n Buff in the shade Gold Leaf around the edges and backs of the bobeches, and super-glued them to the part of the fixture where the light bulbs screw in (which I also applied Rub n Buff to on the outside only).

With new, clear incandescent bulbs, the Hollywood vanity light looked less 1980’s Glamour Shots chic and more, well, cute.

Shop My Mirror & Vanity Light Makeover Supplies

In the end, would I rather have a new mirror and vanity light? Probably. But I’m glad to have come up with a creative solution to work with what I already have. I’d so much rather save the cash!

I’d love to hear what you think about this makeover, so please leave me a comment, share this on Pinterest, or find me on social media @averagebutinspired.

Simple DIY Garage Mudroom with IKEA Shoe Storage Cabinets

September 4, 2025 by Bre Leave a Comment

Do you have any spaces in your home that are just embarrassing? I’m talking dirty, disorganized, and dated messes?

My garage entryway was one of those. It featured a wobbly shoe tower, a scrap wood pile, crumbling leaves that had blown in who knows how long ago, and more spiders than I care to count.

But I finally decided to do something about the mess, and I have to say . . . it has been life-changing! (OK, that might be a little dramatic, but it’s been really good. How about that?)

If you’ve been waiting for a sign to create a garage mudroom or garage drop zone, let this be it. You will not regret it. I’ll show you how I did it and all of the products I used to create this functional space.

Defining the “Mud Room” Space with Paint

After cleaning out the mess and washing the walls (they were covered in dirt and leaf bits), I decided to do something I’d been wanting to do for years: paint the door.

I primed with my favorite adhesion primer, BEHR Multi-Surface Stain Blocking Primer, and then applied two coats of BEHR Cabinet and Trim Enamel in Woodland Moss.

I picked this color because it is really close to the color of our exterior siding, Sherwin-Williams Pewter Green, and I wanted it to flow with the outside when the garage door is open.

I then decided to block off part of the area with painter’s tape and paint the lower part of the walls the same color.

I thought that if I defined the space, we would be less likely to let junk encroach again.

For this, I used BEHR Premium Plus paint in eggshell finish. Eggshell is a little shinier than I wanted, but I felt like this was a good choice because of the scrubability.

Adding Shoe Storage and Sports Bag Storage

After touching up paint bleedthrough on the walls, I was ready to get to work on the actual functionality of this garage mudroom.

Wall-mount shoe cabinets from IKEA

For shoe storage, I settled on two sets of the IKEA Trones wall-mount shoe cabinets for the wall perpendicular to the door.

These shoe cabinets are very narrow, which makes them an ideal choice for this wall, since the door opens onto it. Also, they’re plastic, so they’re easy to clean, and they are quite affordable.

They come pre-assembled, which is AMAZING. And they were easy to hang with wall anchors (or into the studs if it works out that way for you).

Creating hanging storage with wall hooks

Then I attached some pretty gold coat hooks to a scrap board that I stained, and added hanging storage for sports bags above the shoe storage. (One of the other scrap boards sits on top of the shoe cabinets to serve as a little ledge or drop zone.)

SHOP THIS POST

I also attached a couple of hooks to the other wall and hung my husband’s swim bag and some umbrellas there.

A little wooden storage stool (also from IKEA) next to the door is the perfect spot to sit down and take the shoes off before coming inside.

The Impact of a Garage Mudroom

After several weeks and a full sports schedule for my family, I can honestly say that this garage mudroom or drop zone was the best thing I could have done to this space!

It has made my indoor mudroom or entryway so much cleaner. The dirt is staying outside, and the clutter of all of the sports bags and gear is staying out there, too.

It took a little while, but my family is finally getting the hang of taking off their “outdoor” shoes and putting them away before coming inside. And I am SO happy!

So I encourage you to claim a little portion of your garage and make it the drop zone you didn’t know you needed. I think you’ll be so happy you did!

Cozy Cottage Bathroom with Vintage Charm

April 17, 2025 by Bre 2 Comments

A dated lake cottage bathroom gets a cozy makeover with vintage charm.

Although our lake cottage is teeny tiny (around 700 square feet), one of the reasons we chose it is because it has two bathrooms.

Neither is luxurious, but the good thing is that neither was in bad shape or terribly ugly, either!

With some elbow grease, paint, and new accessories, I was able to infuse the main bathroom with some personality and a bit more functionality, too! And it was all on a pretty low budget, which makes it even more impressive (I think).

I’m excited to show it to you and hear what you think!

The Cottage Bathroom Before The Makeover

The main bathroom is right off the living area, and it’s visible from that room.

Its main features were an interesting tile pattern in the shower, a medicine cabinet that was held together with duct tape, and a laminate vanity and over-the-toilet cabinet.

Painting the Builder-Grade Vanity

The vanity was in great shape, but it was not the nicest vanity in the world. The sides were like a sticker – they were not wood veneer like the cabinet fronts.

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read my disclosure policy. In addition, some items were generously gifted to me by Lowe’s and Moen. Thank you to those companies for their support!

I cleaned the vanity with Krud Kutter (my favorite pre-paint cleaner), scuff sanded it, and then painted it with two coats of my favorite one-step paint.

(In between coats, I started to disassemble the medicine cabinet, too!)

I used Heirloom Traditions in Spruce for this vanity, and I LOVE it. It’s a deep blue green shade that looks really sophisticated.

Because the paint is fast-drying and doesn’t require a topcoat, I was able to finish the vanity in just a few hours.

Color Drenching the Walls, Ceiling, and Trim

Once my husband was able to come down here with me, he finished up the medicine cabinet and vanity light removal.

When he got that down, we found that the light wiring wasn’t actually centered over the vanity. Great. Another project. Womp womp.

I filled the holes left behind by the medicine cabinet, washed the walls, and got to painting.

I chose Wedgewood Gray by Benjamin Moore, but I had it mixed in Behr paint to save some cash.

I painted the walls, ceiling, trim, and over-the-toilet cabinet all the same color to make it feel extra cozy in here. The designer-types call this color drenching. And apparently it’s great in a small bathroom- from what they tell me.

At this point, I was sick of painting, and my neck hurt from painting the ceiling, so I decided to put up the new mirror to make me feel better about this bathroom.

Although we need all the storage we can get in here, I couldn’t find a medicine cabinet I love, so I chose a pretty wood mirror instead. I liked the soft wood tone and scalloped corners of this mirror, and when I hung it up, I felt so much better about this space!

Changing the Vanity Light and Adding Cottage-Style Details

We came back another day for my husband to move that light box. We also swapped the shower head and added a towel bar under the over-the-toilet cabinet so we’d have a place to hang hand towels.

Then I decided to add the CUTEST scalloped wood trim to the bottom of the cabinet over the toilet.

I really prefer shelves over a toilet, but we had to keep this cabinet. We need the storage! So I figured I’d at least infuse a little of my love for scallops in here! (Check out the adorable DIY scallop shelf I built for our primary bedroom at the cottage!)

My husband walked me through how to hang the vanity light (spoiler alert: it was much easier than I thought it would be), and it only took me buying three lights to finally settle on this brass two-bulb vanity light.

I love how the brass/gold adds more warmth to contrast the cool paint colors and the chrome fixtures.

Then I did a bunch of little things like adding new mother-of-pearl cabinet knobs, hanging a pretty plaid shower curtain, displaying thrifted art that I’ve been stockpiling, and hanging up cute gingham hand towels (that will only be used for pictures and when we have guests – IYKYK!).

Changing the Faucet

Finally, I had the privilege of partnering with Moen for a video on Instagram, and I changed a faucet for the very first time!

It wasn’t the easiest project, but it wasn’t too awful either. I needed some help from my husband to get the supply lines loosened and then also reconnected at the end. I made a lot of weird faces during the process.

But the swap from that builder-grade faucet to this high-arc chrome stunner actually made a huge difference in here!

The Cozy Cottage Bathroom is Complete

In the end, I’m super happy with how this budget bathroom refresh turned out!

I think I succeeded in giving it some style without going overboard.

Even though all of the “bones” in here are exactly the same, it feels totally different.

Thank you for checking it out and seeing how my hard work came together!

Shop the Bathroom | Items I Used Here

In case it’s helpful, here’s a list of the products I used to bring together this cozy cottage bathroom style.

Thanks for visiting! Be sure to let me know what you think of this makeover or ask me any questions in the comments!