Animal Humane Society Before and After Grand Reveal and Adoption Event

Helloooo, DIY friends! I’ve just returned from an awesome packed few days where I partnered with Purina Cat Chow in assisting with a fun makeover of the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley, MN. Exciting and so rewarding!

#purinacatchow #myrescuestory @purinacatchow @diyshowoff

The Purina Cat Chow “Building Better Lives” program is committed to helping improve the lives of cats across the country by supporting 50 cat-focused shelters nationwide – one in every state! – and donating a generous $275,000 in renovation and adoption support, product and monetary donations as well as a possible $50,000 donation to The Petfinder Foundation, for a total donation of up to $325,000. Wow! Purina Cat Chow identified three of the participating 50 shelters for on-site makeovers of their cat facilities valued at $50,000 each or $150,000 total. The makeovers include custom changes and upgrades to meet the specific needs for each facility. Bri and I were so excited to lend a hand! 

The work in progress and awesome team effort:

painting hexagon cat cubbiesbuilding cat furniturepainting honeycomb cat cubbies assembling cat towersinstalling cat towersassembling cat stairsconfiguring hexagon cat cubbieshexagon cat cubbiesworking on cat walk

Purina Cat Chow, a DIY blogger, a skilled contractor and awesome volunteers…we did it! 

Ready for some before and after shots of the cat colony room designs? Let’s go!

before

cat colony room 3 before

after

glass cat colony room after

 Stairs leading up to a shelf that sits level with the window gives cats a better view. Glass walls give potential pet parents a ‘showcase’ view. cat stair shelf

3D hexagon/honeycomb cubbies are fun and interactive for the cats and a clean modern fit for the adoption center’s new look. cat hexagon furniturecat stairs

before

cat colony room 2 before

after

cat colony room 2 after

Three cat towers reach to the windows for lounging in the sun and bird watching. cat colony room 2 makeover

before

cat colony room 1 before 

after

cat colony room 1 after

Stairs to a cat walk give the cats a better view and showcase the frisky felines in the adoption center. bri - cat colony room 1 makeover

from outside the window

cat walk

I love the cat wall murals, don’t you?

cat wall murals

Easy reach cat toy storage for visitors…

cat toy storage

The cats are loving the new environment…

cat hexagon cubby shelvescat on cat walk

So many sweet cats looking for forever homes. 

adoptable cats

And the entire adoption process has been streamlined so that it will feel less like an interview process and more like a conversation. Those looking to adopt will be in love with the center’s changes too.

animal shelter lobby

The Grand Reveal Party and Adoption Drive started with a ribbon cutting ceremony and provided tours, a vintage photo booth, DJ, giveaways, cupcakes and beverages, balloon animals, face painting, food trucks and TONS of super cute adoptable cats and kittens. So.much.fun!

animal humane society grand reveal partygrand reveal party

Purina Cat Chow believes every cat deserves a forever home. The “Building Better Lives” program helps local cats find new homes at all 50 of the brand’s shelter partners.

How can you help? Purina Cat Chow will donate up to $50,000 to The Petfinder Foundation if from now until Sept. 2,  at least 1,500 stories are shared with the brand’s social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) using the hashtag #myrescuestory. This donation will be used to support 50 Petfinder.com shelters to help support future cat adoption fees. Find out more about the Building Better Lives program at Purina Cat Chow.

Purina Building Better Lives

Thanks SO much to Purina Cat Chow for sponsoring/inviting me to participate in this amazing opportunity to help sweet cats find forever homes and for all of the friendly volunteers and staff from the Animal Humane Society for their assistance and guidance, my daughter and assistant, Bri, for all of her help and support, along with one super skilled contractor, Tim Pond and his assistant, for his brainstorming and building genius. 

Animal Humane Society Makeover #myrescuestory #purinacatchow @purinacatchow @diyshowoff

Pantry Before and After

A pantry makeover, before and after…DIYShowOff Open Pantry before and after makeover

Did that space actually grow larger and taller with the addition of shelves or is it just me?

When we removed a pantry closet in our kitchen to move the refrigerator (more on that here), it decreased valuable storage space. What were we thinking?! What to do? Well, after much thought, the solution was to utilize an odd room/hallway to create more storage space. Lucky for us, that space exists in our home right behind the kitchen. Jackpot! Kismet. Fate. Whatever – it was finally time to make it happen!

The space is bigger than a hallway but six (6!) doorways make it too awkward to be a room. There are doorways opening to the kitchen, dining room, living room, old cellar stairwell, enclosed porch (original front door) and half bathroom. We walk through that room a gazillion times a day.

It’s approximately 6 ft. wide and 9 ft. long with 9 ft. ceilings. Ever since previous owners enclosed the front porch and re-routed the front door, this poor former entryway has been feeling forgotten. Perfect for some custom DIY industrial pipe shelving and a new job description as ‘open pantry’. 

Where is all started: The idea to one day call this area a pantry formed three years ago after drooling over this awesome pantry by Emerson Made on Design Sponge.Emerson Made open pantry

And then falling in love with this cool pipe shelving I spied at the Brick Housepipe shelving at the Brick House

inspired the transformation of this space…

before – boring, useless, a lamp for lightopen pantry before

now: a functional beautiful open pantry area…DIYShowOff Open Pantry

with new paint, new lighting and DIY industrial pipe shelving. It’s a small space…no room to get a photo straight on of the monstrous pipe shelves but plenty of walking room even with 20 inch deep shelving. I love storing dried goods in glass jars too. 

Before from another angle…pantry area before

After…isn’t the industrial pipe shelving unit awesome?!DIYShowOff Industrial Pipe Shelving

It’s super convenient with it’s location right off the kitchen.industrial farmhouse pantry makeoverThe shelves were designed to fit the wall to ceiling and floor space perfectly and to accommodate our microwave as well as dried goods and baskets. I’m still messing with getting it all organized but I loooove how this once awkward unused space is now functional and pretty! Hurray!industrial cottage pantry

More photos: Notice all of the doorways?DIYShowOff Pantryfarmhouse pantryfarmhouse pantry decor

Custom design was also handy when working around the heat vent…Kitchen Pantry

Why yes, that’s still a little Christmas hanging around for another week or so. Thanks for noticing!Industrial Pipe ShelvingI’ll share more about the lighting challenge soon too.farmhouse industrial pantry lighting

  • Paint – inexpensive way to brighten up a room lacking natural lighting. (accent wall tutorial) Base wall color: Valspar Cool Grey. 
  • Lighting – The Allen + Roth fixtures from Lowe’s were super affordable at around $57/ea. but electrical wound up costing more than I anticipated due to labor charges because there was no lighting whatsoever in the space from the get go and an outdated electrical outlet. (We did attempt DIY but it was over our heads and I’m not referring to just literally!) The exterior track/wiring adds to the industrial charm.
  • Pipe shelving – DIY means custom to fit our space and needs. Not a cheap DIY but still more affordable than purchasing two manufactured floor to ceiling shelving units. I’ll share how we did in in a couple of days! Check back!
  • West Elm Fiesta Tile Printed Jute Rug (sold out)
  • Flea Market Distressed Galvanized Metal Clock (DecorSteals – currently unavailable)
  • IKEA Burken jars with lids
  • Large Seagrass Basket (I got a set of three nesting ones on clearance at Wisteria a few years ago.)
  • Petite Cow & Bull Cameo Plaques, set of 2 – Antique Farm House
  • Grocery Sign – I had plans for this to be a DIY sign (mine would have been the same wood stain as the shelving with white lettering, not red) but with so much going on in December and the real life holiday home tour deadline…when I spied it at Hobby Lobby, I couldn’t resist.
  • Galvanized letter B – Hobby Lobby

DIY Pantry Makeover before and after

DIY INDUSTRIAL PIPE SHELVING TIPS & TUTORIAL

pipe shelving how to 

ACCENT WALL

easy painted accent wall

 

LIGHTING DETAILS

Industrial Pantry Light Details

  • This post is sponsored by my Young Living business! Check out my essential oils page for more information on how you can get these amazing oils in your hands too along with helpful freebies, a gift from me, and tons of support:
    young living essential oils @diyshowoff

Grape Arbor Gazebo Makeover

The grape arbor gazebo has been a work in progress for years. DIY takes patience sometimes, my friends. Especially when you’re working as time and money allow. I can’t tell you how GOOD it feels to have it complete!Grape Arbor Gazebo Makeover

Let’s start at the beginning. When we purchased our home, we loved the grape arbor’s size and maturity.

 grape arbor before

See those poles? Very, very rustic and home to some critters even…hello!chipmunk

As much as I love rustic and as cute as it looks in the picture below, it felt like a tetanus shot just waiting to happen not to mention, 6’2″ Mr. DIY had to duck to walk beneath it. 

So the rebuilding process took place. Most of the roots to the vines are on the one side. We sort of ‘peeled’ those back one section at a time while a gazebo was installed in the center and more study wooden frame was built on each side. 
 
Mr. DIY and family {thanks, Butch!} built up the new wood structure around the old rusty iron skeleton, lifting and shifting the grapes in the process before removing the old iron poles. 
 
Rebuilding can be stressful but the grapes survived! Maybe they were even a little grapeful (haha!) for the home makeover. 
 
 
Beautiful! But then all that gorgeous-ness didn’t go with the overgrown messy underneath. 
grape arbor gazebo
And that’s where this summer’s DIY project of installing a recycled brick patio and path came into play. 
grape arbor path before
 
See the recycled brick patio and walkway tutorial for more details about the transformation and steps Mr. DIY took to install it with his own two hands. Great job, honey! xoxo
DIY brick patio
 
Once he finished the brick patio and walkways, it was time for some landscaping. I didn’t know where to start. I was so overwhelmed with the size, the work that it would involve. Plants intimidate me. So, the decision was made to hire professionals for weed clean up, planting, edging and mulching. 
 
The view from our kitchen French doors: 
recycled brick walkway
Worth every penny. 
recycled brick walkway
Wow! It was a treat to watch what a team of 5-6 landscaping professionals with the right tools can accomplish in 3 hours. Yes. I said ‘three hours’. This would have taken me months of backbreaking labor. My back hurts just thinking about it. 
recycled brick walkway
Now I feel like I can maintain this area, plant more, decorate. And just enjoy every square inch. 
recycled brick patio
Isn’t it pretty? So romantic. So quiet and peaceful. 
recycled brick walkway and patio
 
I’ve been window-shopping for furniture and ideas but will likely wait until spring. I’ve had the sheer drapes for years but this year, they look the best they ever have. 
DIYShowOff gazebo
 
grape arbor gazebo reveal
And scary… {ghost tutorial}
DIY ghost tutorial
haha!
 
The back yard before…
backyard before
The back yard now…
backyard after
Grape arbor now.  
grape arbor
I can’t wait for the plants to fill in. I’ll be adding a few here and there this week too. Maybe something that will come up in the spring.
 
Now when you visit, we have a place to talk and catch up. Weather permitting. DIY brick patio
 
Do you have a special outdoor area at your home?