Living Rich on Less | Decorating, organizing, home & life improvement

Today, y’all don’t get to just relax and read this post. I am giving a call to action!

Last summer, I read the book “Sink Reflections” by Marla Cilley.

In her book, Marla offers helpful ideas on how to we can better manage our homes and lives so we aren’t constantly overwhelmed by daily responsibilities. One of Marla’s “baby steps” includes developing a routine of cleaning our kitchen sinks before we go to bed each night.

I have to admit, I have fallen off the wagon with this “baby step” and I want to get back in the habit! It is amazing how much more in control I feel and how much less anxiety I experience when I am greeted by a clean kitchen sink in the morning.

When you wake up to a sink full of dirty dishes, how do you feel? Maybe it doesn’t bother you, but it’s giving me the hives. (I’ve told you I’m not normal.)

So I am challenging myself (and all of you) to a seven-day, clean-sink challenge. For a whole week (starting tomorrow), I am not going to bed until my sink is empty and spotless.

And because misery a clean sink loves company, I’m offering a prize to one lucky LROL reader who agrees to join me in the challenge. If you’re up to it, leave me a comment (with this post) stating you are participating in the “seven-day, clean-sink challenge” and then tell me what baby step you’ve taken this year to improve your life.

On Tuesday, May 29, I’ll pick my favorite comment (I give bonus points for humor and inspiration, by the way) and the winner will get this cute set to go along with his/her clean sink:

Now let’s break out the scouring pads and get to work!

Hey there, peeps! In case you didn’t get a chance earlier this week to hop on over to my friend Traci’s to check out my molding tutorial, I thought I’d share it with you today on this ol’ blog.

I have been up to some serious shenanigans in my dining room and it is only fitting that I fill you in on all the deets.

I got the inspiration for my dining room wall color (Behr’s Cinnabark) and some of the accessories from Sarah over at Thrifty Décor Chick. Of course, almost everything I buy is very budget-friendly.

In an effort to break up the dark walls and dark furniture in this space, I decided to add chair rail molding and finish it off with picture frame, box molding.

I began by painting the lower portion of my dining room walls with the exact trim color used throughout our house. This made it a breeze to paint around baseboards and window casings.

After that, I primed and painted four 12-foot sections of chair rail molding, which I purchased at 84 Lumber. (I’ve found molding is often much cheaper at lumber yards than at home improvement stores.)

Next, I got my dad – a lifelong carpenter and handyman – to help me cut the molding so it fit perfectly into all the corners (no buckets of caulk or putty needed).

Check out our video on how to do this the RIGHT way:

Here’s another tip: If your molding is not long enough to stretch across the room, you can easily splice two pieces together. Cut them at an angle and the seam will be more inconspicuous. (We cut ours at a 45-degree angle). This is our splice without any filler or paint:

Once I fill and paint this seam, it will virtually disappear!