Favorite Mother's Day gift ideas

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Mother's Day might look a lot different for many of us this year, but that doesn't mean you can't still show your love. I've rounded up a few of my favorite gift ideas for every type of gift-giver & momma.

Home Decor Gifts

For those who want to stay cozy & comfy

I just love these chunky knit and tassel blankets from Homeplistic. These textured throw pillows are just to die for (I have a couple on the way!) & if you use code FIRSTHOMEFOREVER on your order, you'll get 15% off :)

For those who want to support Small Businesses (but also shop on Amazon)

Check out these hand painted wine glasses, this snuggly candle, or your new favorite ice cream-eating spoon.

Sentimental & DIY Gifts

For grandma who misses her little ones

A photo book full of all of your favorite memories - shipped right to her door. Artifact Uprising makes gorgeous photo gifts and you can get 15% off when you sign up for their mailing list.

For the bird watcher

These DIY bird feeders are great to make with kids. Surprise your mom by hanging them in her yard or off the back deck and watch the birds come flocking.

For the gardener

Stop by the local garden center (most are remaining open with curbside pickup and/or outdoor shopping) and drop some of her favorite florals or vegetables at her front door. Mother's Day weekend is the signature milestone for many gardeners when its finally warm enough to plant!

Home Improvement Gifts

Somehow all of the power tools got associated with Father's Day - but if you've got a handy momma in need of some upgrades, here's a round up of my favorite tools:

• Our favorite drill

• Our orbital sander

• Ego cordless lawn-care tools: Leaf blower, weed wacker, hedge-trimmer

• Ryobi nail gun

Quarantine Theme Gifts

For the mom with a sense of humor

These cute gift boxes from Etsy have a quarantine theme - and help make light of this crazy situation we're in. Option 1, 2 & 3.

For the one who needs to stay busy

These Amazon crafts & activities are a surefire way to keep mom occupied during these days at home:

• Puzzle

• Paint by numbers

• Coloring books

• Embroidery set

DIY laundry room makeover

As an Amazon Associate & a member of other affiliate programs, I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases when you use the links below. All opinions & recommendations remain my own.

I LOVE that we have a first floor laundry room. I also happen to love that its in a high-traffic area of our home because then I'm less likely to forget I was doing laundry and leave a load of wet clothes in the washer for hours (or days...I'm gross I know). What I didn't love was the mismatched materials and lime-ish green paint. Since we're all cooped up inside, I decided it was time to give this space a little refresh (and I did it all with items that could be delivered or picked up curbside!). Most of the changes in here were purely cosmetic, but it sure makes doing laundry much more enjoyable.

Here's a look at the before...not exactly my dream space to fold clothes for hours on end.

To start, I know I wanted to do something to spruce up the counter top. Although I would love to put an actual marble counter top in here, that just wasn't feasible/possible for us right now. This top actually unscrews and comes off so we can access the plumbing behind the machines, so although its not pretty, its pretty functional. I decided to take the simple route and go with marble contact paper. This provided a smoother surface that was more-easily scrubbable (and a lot prettier). I also painted the wooden trim pieces white to match.

Next up: an accent wall. I chose this gorgeous wallpaper from the Magnolia Home collection from Home Depot. It was peel & stick - way more manageable for my first endeavor with wallpaper. If you haven't done wallpaper before, I definitely recommend starting with something like this. It's a bit more forgiving in that you can actually un-peel and re-stick it a few times if you make a mistake.

I painted the majority of the room in a creamy light green color called "Mountain Haze" by Behr. I wanted to keep the color light & bright but without the lime-green undertones. But I also LOVED the darker green I tested while choosing paint colors, so I decided to color-block and paint the lower half of the room in "Grasshopper Wing". I absolutely love the two colors together & I'm already looking for another excuse to use both of them. I painted the cabinet above the sink white to match the other trim in the room, and then distressed the edges to give it a more worn look.

Someday I would love to add wooden shelves in this space, but due to our current stay at home order... that's just going to have to wait until another day.

And then it was time to accessorize! Metal bins from Home Goods (similar) provided functional storage to hide cleaning supplies and excess paper products. The glass dispensers (meant for drinks) provide a much more appeasing way to keep laundry detergent handy. I finally used the refresh as an excuse to switch from dryer sheets to the much more eco-friendly wool dryer balls, and ordered a large glass canister to store them in. The green tray is actually a window box tray - but it works perfect to catch drips before it falls through the wire shelving. The largest wicker basket from Target catches the laundry that falls from our laundry shoot above, and I added the large laundry sign and a pull-out drying rack on the other wall (similar).

This space just goes to show you that you can make minor updates to a space that totally change the look & feel of the room, and make it a space you actually enjoy using. Do I still have dreams of real marble counters, gorgeous natural wood shelving, & machines that I don't have to break my back to use? YES! But why do I have to wait until that day comes to full enjoy the space?

Let me know your feedback/questions/thoughts in the comments below. I know times are weird right now, so keep your head up (and your hands busy). We'll get through it.

Your forever friend, Morgan

Attic closet makeover

As an Amazon Associate & a member of other affiliate programs, I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases when you use the links below. All opinions & recommendations remain my own.

One of the drawback of an old home? Closet space! We're lucky that we even have two closets in our master - but both are very small. Thankfully we have lots of extra space in the rest of the house, and the previous owners were smart enough to turn one of the spaces in the attic into a walk-in closet. I love having the extra space, but the bubblegum pink walls and faded yellow built in chests were not exactly my style. So with a little paint, some new storage solutions, and a few pops of gold I had it feeling like a whole new space.

Keep reading to see how I spruced up the space...

The space has sloped ceilings and a single window in the back - so it gets a good amount of natural light during the day. The hanging rack on the left side goes the length of the space, and there are built in chests on the right with four cubbies - perfect for storing t-shirts, sweaters, etc. in the off-season. My goals were to give the space a fresh look & also make the storage more functional for the types of things I would be keep there.

I was really inspired by the images below with the moody dark colors and pops of gold. I'm normally a very neutral nancy when it comes to paint - whites, grays, tans, etc. - but for space that probably only I was going to see, I wanted to go a little bolder.

I chose "Black Evergreen" by Behr for all of the vertical walls. For the sloped walls, I kept in neutral and used a creamy white. I had Home Depot match the Magnolia Home "Carter Creme" - one of my go-to creamy white colors - for sloped walls. For the built ins I used a more pure white in a high-gloss finish to match the trim, and added gold accents by replacing the handles & spraying the brackets. I also spray painted the outlet covers and a few command hooks to match - a simple update that makes a huge difference.

For storage, I originally wanted to build built ins into the two nooks underneath the sloped ceilings. But my old home had different plans. We couldn't find a single stud in the room - and because the walls are old plaster that probably hasn't been drilled into in 50 years, we decided that it wasn't worth the risk. I ended up finding two old cabinets on Facebook Marketplace that were of good quality and I knew I could make work in the space. Well, one worked just great, but the 2nd didn't fit in the other nook (this is why you should measure before you buy). I ended up cutting the 2nd one down the size and then reattaching the top. Once I secured it with brackets, caulked the edges, and painted the whole unit, you could hardly tell it wasn't always that size! I painted the shelves gold and adjusted them to the correct height to hold all (JK about 1/2) of my shoes.

I added a pop of additional color with the Hendesi Heriz Garnet Rug from Ruggable (pro tip: it's machine washable!) - and I love how it anchors the space (and also draws attention away from the ugly brown carpet that spans the entire 3rd floor). I grabbed my favorite thrifted wood + iron stool, purchased matching felt hangers, and moved in!

Although I wasn't able to do everything I wanted in the space, I love how it turned out. It's more functional + more beautiful, and that's exactly what I set out to do.

Drop your questions/thoughts/feedback in the comments below - I'd love to hear it!

Your forever friend,

Morgan