The console table was made from a $50 workbench Carey found on Craigslist. “My husband and I refinished it — adding new wood, etc. — to make it a brand new rustic table!” Below, Carey painted a tree mural in her daughter’s room. “I’m no artist, so I used an overhead projector and traced it onto the wall with chalk. Then I filled it in with paint.”
Photography courtesy Chris Carey
Photography by Michael buck (top right); courtesy Chris Carey (top left & bottom)
“I love change. People tend to think, ‘I have this new house so I have to wait several years to remodel.’ Not true. Styles and tastes change.” — Chris Carey “I started with small things, like teachers gifts and tips on wrapping presents,” she said. “But then it evolved into larger home projects.” As her blog attracted more viewers, it turned into a moneymaking endeavor with advertisers, affiliates, sponsorships, product reviews and more. “It turned into a business — my second job,” said Carey, who teaches English in Rockford. “And it pays for itself. Whatever money I make, I roll back into the house.” The Carey’s 2,300-square-foot home (“plus the 1,000-square-foot basement that I haven’t finished yet”) was custom built nine years ago. Already she has repainted every room at least once. “I love change,” she said with a laugh. “People tend to think, ‘I have this new house so I have to wait several years to remodel.’ Not true. Styles and tastes change.” So was she always a Martha Stewart? “I always liked doing thing creatively,” she said. But Carey got seriously creative when she and her husband moved into their first home. “We obviously didn’t have a lot of money just starting out, so I started sewing pillows
out of placemats and making my own ornaments for our Christmas tree.” As the projects became more elaborate, she wasn’t afraid to tackle new skills. “I just figure things out for myself,” she said. “I’m not afraid to do some research if I
need it. Otherwise, I just dive in.” Her biggest project to date was installing a board-and-batten wainscoting treatment in the dining room. “My mom had given me a nail gun for Christmas,” she said. “It was my first power tool.” She and her husband, Doug, cut and painted all the wood. Cost was only a couple hundred dollars, she said — much less than she would have paid a professional. Carey also customized an entire wall using Ikea bookshelves. For another project, she used cardboard toilet paper rolls to create wall art. She painted a wall mural in daughter Olivia’s room. And for a hostess gift, she made wood coasters using free wood flooring samples from Home Depot. “You have to have luck and ingenuity,” she said. Besides Doug, whom Carey describes as the muscle behind her rehab projects, she also enlists her father-in-law to help when projects are really large scale or require electrical work. “Figuring things out together is a real help. If three people feel it’s going to work, then we have a good chance for success.” GR September 2012 / Grmag.com 29
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