10 GENIUS Home Hacks That CHANGED MY LIFE 🏠 Life Hacks to Save Time + Money!

Hi everybody, welcome back to my channel. Drew here from Lone Fox, and today's video is another tip-driven video, but these are some of my favorite videos to watch here on YouTube because I feel like I gain so much insight from other people, and today's video, you guys, is one that I really do think you're gonna get so much insight on, whether it comes to your next design project, your next DIY project, whatever it might be, I think some of the tips and tricks I'm sharing are gonna be extremely useful. And you might be asking yourself, what kind of tips and tricks will you be sharing, Drew? And today's video is primarily focusing on tips and tricks kind of that help out in the design process, and actually more so in the design process of making over a space. So these are tips and tricks when it comes to painting, when it comes to hanging curtains, when it comes to like the actual process of making over a space. These are things that make that process so much simpler. We have a lot of information to cover in today's video, but before jumping in, I do want to mention that if you're not already, make sure to subscribe to my channel. I post brand new home decor and DIY content every single week here on Loon... LoonFox. What was I about to say there? On LoonFox. And I'm also on Instagram and TikTok, both of which are LoonFoxHome. And lastly, my online shop is back up, you guys, if you're in the market for any home decor, accessories, gifts, whatever it might be, LoonFox.com is your place to shop. But let's go ahead and dive on into our first hack. This first tip here is one that I have definitely seen on social media before, whether it be TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, I have seen people use this tip and hack, but I feel like it's never really been popularized before, so I wanted to go ahead and share it with you guys because I really do think it's innovative for somebody that maybe has struggles when it comes to hanging curtains or they really want to get that nice pleated look, and that's actually using toilet paper rolls to separate and kind of space out the pleats of your curtains in order to get a more symmetrical and uniform look in the end. What I mean by this is essentially you take and you save your toilet paper roll. So when you get to the end, just pop the roll off, save it, and you can actually use this as a spacer for any pull pocket or grommet style curtains. So any kind of curtain that has either a hidden pocket or a grommet that the toilet paper roll can hide behind, you're going to essentially kind of layer these in between every other panel or every other loop of your curtain, and then in the end, it's going to space out your curtains. So when you go to open them or close them, it just gives them kind of a nice spacing and it essentially allows them to lay a lot neater on the window pane. And I think that's really nice, especially for somebody that gets annoyed by curtains because I know a lot of people really want their curtains to lay extremely symmetrical or just lay properly and it bugs them when they don't, so I think this tip is really great just to all around get that symmetrical look without having to kind of space them out as you open or close them. Also seeing people use just like cut up PVC pipes, so really anything or even like paper towel rolls, you can totally slice those up as well. It's really just a clever tip and I think it totally elevates the look of any plain curtain panel. Moving into our second tip, this is all about hanging photos that have two hangers on each side. If you guys know what I'm talking about, I feel like those are the most annoying. I hate when I go out and I buy a mirror and I'm looking forward to hanging it when I get home and I just want to have one little nail hole in the middle because I know how to properly do that very easily. You get home and there's two nail holes on the left and right side, so you have your two picture hangers, and I just always find that so challenging when it comes to hanging because you really have to find the perfect distance, they have to be level. If you like nail one higher than the other one, it's going to hang crooked. So I ran across a TikTok, I believe it was a TikTok, of somebody using painter's tape to hang up these photos and I thought that was the most genius idea ever and I first utilized it actually in my grandpa's room makeover. So I went ahead and I grabbed a piece of painter's tape, you just take a piece that is long enough to stretch from a picture hanger to picture hanger, lay it across there, mark where you want your two nails to go, and then on the wall, you're actually going to transfer that tape on the wall, make sure that it's level, either using a laser level or a level itself just to make sure that your tape is nice and level, and then you're just essentially allowed to nail holes directly over the top of your tape and that's going to give you the perfect placement for your picture every single time. So I thought that was extremely genius and this also works as well if you just have one hanger in the middle so you can just put your tape across, cut it perfectly to the width of your frame, then mark where the hole's going to go, transfer the tape to the wall, add your nail hole, and you are good to go. So it's extremely simple and easy, it's really not too hard, most of the times when there are two picture hangers as well, I feel like that traditionally means the piece is on the heavier side or it's larger and it needs the support of two nails, so just using this process also makes it a lot easier to then go ahead and hang it up if you're solo as well, like traditionally I am, so I'm able to hang this up super easily using that tape method and it's just something again to keep in your back pocket next time you are hanging a mirror or a large piece of artwork. Hack number three is one that I actually learned when I was working at West Elm, which was quite a few years back, but it was really my first look into interior design and it's where I started dabbling into making over my own space and started picking up on designer tricks and tips because we did have a ton of designers on the floor at West Elm who would help out, you know, people when they're shopping for furniture, and one of the tricks I picked up was actually to purchase pillow inserts that are a little bit larger than the pillow cover. So let's say you have an 18 by 18 pillow cover, they actually recommended that you purchase a 20 by 20 insert for that pillow cover, that's just going to make your pillow look a little bit more overstuffed, which in the end results in a more luxurious looking throw pillow. And I know that tip is like such a simple one, but next time you're out purchasing throw pillows, just size up a little bit on your insert, it's going to overall make the pillow look more luxurious, it just looks nicer on the couch, and it's not flat. They go from 18 by 18, you have 20, 22, 24, 26, just make sure that your insert is just a little bit bigger than your cover for that luxurious kind of plush look. I'm probably talking so quickly, whenever I get into these videos and I'm excited to tell you guys my tips, I start talking so quickly, so I'm going to try to tone it down for tip number four. And this one is all about plants, and just basically making the plant look more elevated than it actually is. So a great way to do this is, let's say you have a faux tree, most of the times when you purchase a faux tree, I have a faux fig tree over here, I have an olive tree over here, they come with a really, really small base to them, and you really do want to get a larger pot to make it overall look a lot nicer, and so something that I think that everyone should do when they do this is actually get a pot that is quite a bit larger than they think, because you can actually elevate the height of your tree. When you start getting into those larger sizes, the prices really do jump quite drastically, so buy that six foot tree, but get a pot that's actually quite a bit larger and more substantial. You can easily stuff the bottom of your pot with boxes, extra trash, old clothing, whatever you have that you want to utilize in the bottom of that pot, to then basically heighten your tree or raise it up in the pot. Normally, guys, you would then go ahead and cover the entire top of this with moss, so like maybe fill up the edges with newspaper, and then add like a moss layer on top to height it, but that elevated our tree. That'll overall make your plant look so much nicer in the end, and I know it seems weird to like shove some boxes or trash in the bottom of your plant, but it's gonna be concealed by the pot, and in the end, it's just gonna raise the height of your plant, making most of it show out of the top of the pot, and in the end, just make your plant look larger and more expensive than it actually is, and this tip works for smaller plants too, not just trees. Tip number four is one that you guys are definitely going to recognize if you have watched my makeovers throughout this apartment space, and mainly just the living room makeover and the kitchen makeover where I used electrical tape to create crossbars on my windows, and I know that sounds strange, electrical tape on your windows, but I have black-framed windows, or I created black-framed windows. They were essentially just, you know, framed out in white. I ended up painting the white black, but I wanted the crossbars on the windows themselves to match so that it looked more like an industrial-style window, and the way that I got this was actually just using electrical tape right over the top of the window, and I was able to create those crossbar sections, which in the end made the window just look a lot more expensive, it made the look of it just a little bit more designer, and not as bland and boring as it was prior, and I know that my windows personally already had that little white metal cross panel on it, which I just essentially covered with the tape, but you can totally do this on windows that don't even have that white piece to start. Just simply tape the tape right over the top of the glass, and that's all you have to do. I have done that before as well, I had to do it on one of the windows in the kitchen because one of them randomly didn't have the crossbars, and it worked great, it looks exactly like the one to the right of it. Somebody mentioned on TikTok about how if you want your darker paint colors to come off as dark as possible, always use them in a matte format, so whether it be a matte or an eggshell, use those two options as opposed to a gloss, a satin, or a semi-gloss for a dark color, and that's actually because the glossier finishes on paint on the wall reflect more light, so if you get a lot of window light or just light in general, those glossier colors are going to reflect them, making the color actually look lighter than it is, whereas matte ones actually kind of absorb the color a bit, so it actually makes the color look a bit darker, and just overall true to its actual tone. I know how frustrating it can be when you want to place a lamp somewhere, and you have no outlet, or just a lamp somewhere, even if you have an outlet, but the cord's going to show. How annoying is it when you have to drape the cord down, and then it's popping out from behind a dresser, and it's just kind of going out on the wall, and it's there. I know. So, so frustrating, but you guys, there are actually rechargeable light bulbs that you can purchase on Amazon, and essentially you can charge these for about 12 hours, pop them into a lamp, and you can put the lamp absolutely anywhere. You do not have to plug it in. Every light bulb is essentially different, so some of them have an app for them, some of them have them on your phone, a voice command, whatever it might be, it essentially allows you to use a light bulb without having to have an electrical source to plug the lamp into. A great example of this for myself is down in my entryway, I actually have zero outlets down there, but I would love to put a lamp down there, or just some form of light, because when we come in at night, it is pretty dark, so I'd love to be able to know when walking up to my house, I can open my phone, switch the light on, and it's on when I walk into the door. So that's a great option for you if you do not have an electrical source. Purchase a rechargeable light bulb, and they actually last for quite a while, and you just simply recharge them when they die, pop them back in, and you're able to utilize them again and again. This is also kind of something I featured in the past when I did puck lights in my bedroom, those are just simple battery-operated lights which I popped into my sconces, and I have a little remote control which I can control turning them on and off from my bed, which is really nice, and I didn't have to hardwire them into the wall, so that's another option as well. This tip is one that whoever came up with this is just so genius, and I feel like a lot of you guys might know about this, but if you don't, this will change your painting game, and this is when you want to go in and paint any form of color that's contrasting from your original color. So let's say you wanted to do an accent wall in your bedroom, and it's going to be a dark green, but all the other walls are white in there, but you're kind of scared, you know, putting the paint on the walls. A lot of times when you pull it off, you do get a little bit of bleeding paint, which sucks, and especially with textured walls, you do see that more often. So a great tip is actually to put your paint down, and then paint over the top of where that color is going to be going, paint over the top of that with your original wall color. So with the white color, paint over the top, let it fully dry, and then go back in and paint the entire wall green. That's going to actually allow the white paint to bleed first, and kind of create a seal, and then when you paint the green over the top of it, and you pull the tape off, the white paint would have already bleeded, but it bled onto the former white paint, so it looks like a perfectly clean and crisp line every single time. And I love this. This is also great if you're not even painting a wall, but you're doing like stripes on a piece of furniture, or you're doing stripes on a canvas or something, anywhere that you're essentially using tape, and you want a clean line when you pull it off, paint down the base coat first that's under the tape, then paint your accent color, then remove it, and you'll get a clean, crisp line every time. Our second to last hack comes in handy for anyone that's installing new hardware in a kitchen, on a piece of furniture, on a bathroom vanity, whatever it might be. I have utilized this tip in the past, and I think it's really nice. So essentially, I always find it so much easier when your piece of hardware just has the one screw, because you're putting it through one hole, screw it in the back, and you're good to go. But when you have hardware that has two screw slots, I find it so much harder, because it has to, first of all, be symmetrical, and the screws have to be perfectly placed so that they, you know, pops into your piece. So a great tip for this is actually to use lipstick, apply a little bit onto the holes on the back or the screws, whatever it might be that's kind of sticking off of your handle, then use that lipstick as a stamp to transfer it from the handle to the cabinet door or the nightstand door, whatever it might be, and then remove it. You're then going to have your lipstick spots, which you can use as drill holes, so you're just going to drill right over the top of those, wipe away any excess lipstick, but that's going to give you perfect placement every single time, and then I also like utilizing something like a laser level or a ruler in that process, just to ensure that the placement of it is centered still, because you can't really, you know, make sure that it's perfectly centered if you're stamping, but that just makes the process a bit easier, and I do find that that then allows you to have a perfect width for those screw holes. You can also totally do this and transfer it to a piece of paper just to get that width, then use that paper and actually put it on the cabinet to make sure it's nice and straight if that makes sense. That's another option just to kind of give you a little bit more guidance in the process of ensuring that that handle's going to be straight on your piece once you add it on. And guys, we are on our last tip here, and I wanted to save this one for last because I feel like I have talked about this multiple times on my channel, and this is when it comes to creating gallery walls. Now this back here, it's not the craziest gallery wall, there's just three images in it, but when you do add more and more, it does get a little bit daunting when you have to start hammering all the nails into your wall. You want to make sure the placement is right, and it can be a little bit scary to kind of create that commitment to adding so many photos to a wall. So a great way to do this is actually to create templates for every single picture. So I'll grab all of my frames, and I'll actually create individual templates by laying it on top of some butcher paper, newspaper, or printer paper, whatever you have that's large enough that a poster board works as well. I trace out the shapes of all of my frames, and I also transfer over the nail hole placement. Just by kind of finding it and pressing on the paper, you can kind of find where that nail hole is. You can add the spot there, and then you can kind of write on there too what the artwork is that's going to be there. Once you have all of your templates created, you can transfer those over to your wall and add them on the wall using, you know, some removable masking tape, and it basically allows you to get a visual for how the placement can be, and you can go ahead and add and remove, adjust, and edit your gallery wall prior to having to actually commit to it. And the great thing is that once you have all of your templates up on the wall, all of your nail holes are in the perfect spot. So then you can go back over the top of your template, add the nail, and then pull the template right off and add your frame, and you have a perfectly placed gallery wall. And those are my 10 designer, innovative, clever hacks when it comes to making over a space. So those are just tips and tricks that I have used when it comes to any form of transformation I'm doing in my space, large or small. If I want to add a gallery wall, if I want to add a simple framed piece of artwork, if I want to swap out the hardware, these are just things that I have used that I think make the process so much simpler, and I hope that this helped you guys out as well. So if you are not already, make sure to subscribe to my channel. I post brand new home decor and DIY content every single week here on Lone Fox, and there are a ton of other tip-driven videos on my channel. If you guys want to check those out, I'll leave some in the cards above. We have small apartment hacks, organization tips, decor hacks, there's a lot on this channel, you guys. So definitely subscribe, and also make sure to follow me over on Instagram and TikTok. It is just LoneFoxHome for additional content. I'm always checking in with you guys over there. And yeah, I guess that's really all for today's video. I hope that you loved this one, and I will catch you guys in my next one. Bye!