Changing to a Positive Mindset

 

I have vowed to make 2021 a year of positivity. 2020 was a hard year for everyone, given the state of the world during the global pandemic and subsequently, the crumbling of the United States government due to the election. During that same time period, the Hawkesworth family was going through their own reckoning. 2020 was the year of legal trouble, daycare problems, virtual learning and an overwhelming amount of negativity. I wasn't sure my family was going to survive to see 2021. As soon as we got to a place where we could move forward from what seemed like endless stress and anxiety, we decided to keep our family the top priority and move into 2021 with the intentions of only being happy. 

Remaining positive is one of the healthiest things you can do for your mind. It is so easy to fall into a trap where you plant yourself as a victim and everything around you is crumbling as you try to live your daily life. I have learned through crippling experience that you have to manifest your own good luck. It is NOT easy, and will take consistent effort each and every day. Here is how I plan to maintain this positive mindset, and hopefully provide you with opportunities to reflect on any negativity in your life and change it for the better. 

1.  Money Isn't Everything

I know that sounds ridiculous. Money rules the world. The more you have, the higher up you are and the more you can do. 

When we moved to Florida in 2017 we drained our life savings buying a house and starting a new life. Bruce had just gotten out of the military in May 2017. I had Madden in February and was not planning on going to work until the new school year in August. We stayed for a few months with my dad to transition from Texas to Florida and allow our paperwork to process. Bruce had a job lined up with good friends of ours at AAT Restoration, and I was prepared for a teaching job at Deltona Middle School. Bruce even moved down to Florida early, staying with his mom, to begin working and keep us from drowning in our bills. 

Do you know how hard it is to get a mortgage when you have a job but you haven't technically started yet?! DMS sent countless letters to state that I was hired, I was starting a certain day, I was being paid a certain amount, etc. It took us double the amount of time to close on a home. When we DID close.....we were BROKE. And boy, do I mean broke. Everything and anything went on a credit card because Bruce's paycheck alone could not cover all of our bills. Our student loan debt is outrageous. When I finally got my first paycheck it just barely covered our mortgage and a trip to the gas pump. Our only saving grace, ironically, was Hurricane Irma. While we were thankful to be safe, and reflected on the fact that Madden and I had survived our first hurricane (Bruce is a FL baby, he didn't blink an eye), and our house had zero damage, we also relished in the benefits of being in a State of Emergency; we were granted FEMA food stamps, we were given forbearance for 1-3 months on most of our loans, and time off of work (no gas $). 

Being in this trap made us money hungry. We hustled to make sure we would stop living penny to penny. After my year in Deltona, I accepted a job in Flagler County at Belle Terre Elementary School.  This meant less money in gas, local daycare and higher pay. I took every opportunity to get extra money, such as tutoring through the school. Bruce found a line cook job after a few months, and worked his way up to Executive Chef in just a few months. He worked that position for 1.5 years before finding another line cook job and again, working his way up to Executive chef. His paycheck fluctuated, causing money stress and constant I-can't-rest mentality. If Bruce misses a day of work, he misses a day of pay. Therefore, Mandy has to be the one to take the day off, and now Bruce can never have time off. I would adore the times he got off early, but the stress of losing an hour or two of pay would bubble to the surface. When he was an Executive Chef it was worse. His last chef job was at a local brewery. He worked 6 days a week, 12 or more hours a day. His paycheck was salary, which was phenomenal, but was only paid out for 40 hours a week. Bruce easily worked 60-70 hour weeks. He had one day off, Monday, which was spent home with Madden for daddy-son bonding time, but also to reduce the cost of daycare. Oh, but Monday was also the day he was required to put in his orders for the restaurant, meaning he never technically had this day off. This cycle triggered Bruce to become depressed, anxious, exhausted and in general, destroy any mental health he had. His PTSD came to the surface and began a journey of bad life choices. We have moved past this time in our life, so no need to elaborate, but take my word for it when I say it got ugly. 

Our saving grace was the day he got fired from the local brewery. It's a long story, and I have personal negative feelings so again, no elaboration. But when it happened, we both felt a weight lifted off our shoulders. We knew his mental health needed this, and in that exact moment, we learned that money isn't everything. While making more money seems to make your life easier, it can come at a cost. If the cost is your social and emotional well being, is it really worth it?

2.  Family First 

I know the irony of saying Family First but having it be second on a list. But the order is important. As you just read, Bruce and I fell into the more money trap. This led to our demise as a family. We put money before our own family needs. There always seemed to be something that "needed" our attention. It seemed like we lived a life where we moved from one tough situation to the next. This mentality consumed us and inevitably, our family suffered. 

The COVID-19 lockdown brought us together somewhat. I was working remotely, which was stressful and took some adjustments. I didn't have much time to spend with the boys, but it resulted in constant stress and too much T.V. Bruce and I fell deeper into a depression and our struggle to be emotionally healthy just got worse. 

In late 2020, Bruce was let go from his Executive Chef position at a local brewery. This job was the black hole of his mental health problems. When he went there, the life was sucked from his soul like a Harry Potter dementor. I never saw my husband. I would wake up and he would be dead asleep. He would come home, and I would be dead asleep. Madden saw him on Monday's when he got his only day off. Him being let go showed us that we needed each other, and he made a phone call and was hired again at AAT Restoration. 

3. Find an Outlet

I have found that without a way to channel my emotions, I retained all of my negative energy. I was desperate for an outlet to release stress and increase my positive hormone levels, but fell into an excuse trap. There was always something that I could come up with that held me back from doing anything that wasn't working or taking care of Madden and the house. Being diagnosed with anxiety, I knew exercise would have a positive effect on my mental health but always found an excuse to avoid it. 

Exercise is not my jam. I grew up playing soccer, and eventually played on a travel soccer team while playing 3 sports seasons in high school. It came as a shock to me that when I stopped playing soccer to go to college, I gained weight. I never was a gym person, so going to workout in a gym is challenging to adjust to. How was I supposed to develop an exercise routine when I had no clue what would work for my schedule and my physical needs?

At the beginning of 2021, I decided I wanted to take my positive motivation to the next level. I have always heard wonderful things about yoga. I used to be very flexible, a cheerleader for many years, and thought I could be good at yoga. My two best friends on the planet do yoga and have told me wonders. Following their advice, I have made a major attempt to do yoga 3 mornings each week. I set my alarm for 5:00 a.m., and get my butt out of bed by 5:30. This allows me enough time to find a yoga video on Youtube, complete a 20 minute yoga work out, and have 5 minutes before Bruce and Madden wake up like bulls in a china shop. This starts my day with positive thoughts and de-stresses me before the stress can even begin. I have found that the days I do yoga, I have much more patience and react with a gentle, kind attitude to my students and family. Days I don't do yoga tend to leave me feeling slightly scrambled impatient, meaning I will  have a higher tendency to snap. 

I also began reading more on my Kindle, avoiding the negativity that surrounds social media. My family began doing a hobby called Letterboxing. If you haven't heard of letterboxing, go to my blog post about it. This is a wonderful family hobby that you can do any where, any time, and in a variety of environmental situations. 

4. Write in a Journal

If you don't enjoy writing, this will seem stupid. I was always one of those people that felt stupid writing in a diary. Trust me when I say this is the most beneficial thing you can do when negativity swarms your brain and anxiety is eating you alive. There are major benefits to journaling. Let me explain how I use my notebooks and how they help me in my daily life. 

I am notorious for my purse notebooks. I have a notebook for every scenario. 

• I made a budget notebook that fits inside my purse, to have access to our finances at all times. 
• I have a purse notebook that stays in my purse and allows me to write lists, thoughts, and things I needed to remember. 
• I have a mini notebook I use to make daily checklists at work, notes during meetings and anything that needs a reminder during the day. 

In my budget notebook, I keep track of what bills we need to pay, what day they get paid on, how much income we bring in during the pay period, and how we allot any extra penny. As a family, we developed our own budgeting plan that involves rolling our extra money to pay off our debt. I can't say we use one specific method, but we researched a variety and took specific aspects that worked for our financial situation. As a team, we tag team our budget and communicate about any spending to ensure we don't get stressed about money. Money is a major trigger for anxiety and by documenting everything we need to know, it keeps the anxiety at bay. 

In my other two notebooks, I begin a clean page for each day. I start by writing a to do list, and add everything I can possibly think of that I want to do that day. As the day goes on, I add more if things come to my mind. This helps me keep track of things we need to get done, or need to handle in a timely fashion. It could also be a lists of projects I want to do around the house. I check off things on the list as I get to them. During the day, I begin another clean page if I need to write any reminders to myself, get phone calls that require me to remember information, etc. If anxiety kicks into high gear, I write a brain dump of everything that makes me feel anxious in that moment. When the next day rolls around, I begin with a clean page, and write everything from the previous day checklist that did not get done, then add what I need done for that day. I continue this process every. single. day. 

Writing out my emotions helps me process them better. By expressing my needs and any anxieties I have, I am able to maintain focus what needs to get done during the day. I complete only tasks that I think I can handle. Some days are far more productive than others, and that is okay. You are not considered a failure if you don't complete the tasks on your to-do list every day. 

5.  Identify the Toxic People in Your Life 

There are always going to be people in your life that you don't get along with. Usually, these types of people can be dealt with and ignored. However, some people linger in our lives and spread their negativity deep down into our bone marrow, ruining any chance we have at a positive lifestyle. Take a good look around you. Is there someone in your life that is always one upping you? What about someone who always finds a way to turn your situation into their victimization? Do you constantly find yourself upset by something this person did or said? This is what we call a toxic relationship. You can have a toxic relationship with anyone; friends, coworkers, family members. Their role in your life is to suck your positive energy away like a dementor. 

My entire life, I was always a people pleaser, putting others before myself time and time again. I have always made sure other people's needs are mets before my own because I felt that was the right thing to do. By doing this, I acquired many toxic friendships and relationships because my kindness was always viewed as a weakness. I could list countless people in my life that took advantage of the kind of person I am in order to benefit themselves down the road. 

Naming specific people would ruin the positive vibes I have going for me at the moment. I will let you know that if you have a friend call you sobbing, and you go over to help them with a situation that they feel they can't handle themselves, but down the road you need the same thing from them and they can't help you.....thats a toxic relationship. If you express your feelings to a friend because you are going through something tough and just need a shoulder to cry on, and down the road they use that against you....thats a toxic relationship. If you have a family member that criticizes your parenting and purposely makes food you and your child are allergic to.....that is a toxic relationship. Anyone who uses your Hulu log in information for 3 years, throws a temper tantrum when the password is changed, and accuses you of being a shitty friend......thats a toxic relationship. 

Identifying a toxic person can be hard. Cutting them off can be harder. Think about yourself and your future; if that person is doing nothing to support you in a time when you need it the most, then they don't deserve to watch you be happy. Chances are, they are pushing for you to remain miserable so they can feel better about themselves. 

6. Choose Optimism

This one is definitely not easy. I have been an optimistic person my whole life, thinking of the bright side of situations and hoping things could improve. When tough situations occur, it is hard to see the good. Optimism can seem impossible, but you can start with small steps to help train your brain to reverse its pessimistic tendencies. 

Have you heard of the power of manifestation? As embarrassed as I am to admit this, I learned about it from Tik Tok. You will bring energy to you that you emit into the world. If you are dwelling in constant misery and negativity, you are manifesting negative energy. Surrounding yourself with people and things that bring you joy will increase the positive energy you are putting into the universe, and ultimately bring positive energy back your way. You can even make "requests" to the universe by doing manifestation chants. One method I have attempted is called the 3-6-9 manifestation method. You recite your desire 3 times, your emotions 6 times, and your affirmations 9 times. This is how it worked for me the other day. 

Bruces car broke down at a gas station. He found someone after 10 minutes to jump his car. He told me he would keep me posted. I stated "please let his car work" 3 times. Then I said "we need his car so he can get to work" 6 times (not necessarily an emotion, but still). Then, I said "If he gets his car to work he will be safe and will still get paid" 9 times. He called me back in 5 minutes with a solution that allowed him to remain safe, and still get paid for the day. It's all about the energy you decide you want surrounding you!

Here is a link that describes more about manifestation. 

7. Organize and Declutter

Organizing and decluttering is very on brand for me. I am that friend that would love to come into your home and reorganize your linen closet, it if meant you wouldn't be offended of course.  Making things look prim, proper, and in their place makes me feel a Zen that can't be explained. My anxiety will burn to ashes the second I start an organizing task. 

During the end of 2020, I began a strong love for organizing. I had always been good at it, but struggled to maintain it. I could have dining room table cleaned off every night, but by the next night, they would be cluttered again. The toys could be neatly organized in their baskets, and then destroyed within the hour. I became obsessive about cleaning the house, and even made a cleaning schedule. Bruce thought I was nuts, until we actually started building a routine. We took every day chores that seem daunting and turned them into habits. Our house is never immaculate, but we can honestly say our house is always tidy and clean, even with three dogs, a cat and a toddler. 

With the cleaning schedule, I began finding areas around the house that could be better organized. I ordered more baskets and containers than I thought our house could hold. I gave everything a place to be stored, labeled if possible. When we put laundry away, each sheet, pillowcase and towel has a home. When we use cleaning supplies, we grab it from the basket, and return it to the basket. Putting bins in the refrigerator made us realize how much space we were wasting by tossing things into drawers and bowls. We were able to instantly reduce our clutter. When we come home from work, we don't feel the stress of a messy home. Many of these task have become a habit. Bruce said, and I quote, "Wow, it's nice to be able to find something when you need it." This is how organizing and decluttering saved our mental health. 

Organizing and cleaning can be a dreaded task. If you feel that you don't know where to start, reach out to me privately! I would love to consult with you and discuss how you can start your journey to an organized and decluttered home. If you are interested in seeing my cleaning schedule, I will link a preview down below! If you are interested in having me help you make one, or designing one for you on Canva, send me an email or contact form and I would love to help! You can also reach out to me on Instagram! @amandafromthehawkesnest  I post a ton of cleaning and organizing videos on Instagram and Tik Tok (Follow me @thehawkesnest)

8. You Come First, Because You Matter, Too

I have always fallen victim to putting everyone before myself. I was always pouring from an empty cup, giving every ounce of energy I had to making sure the family had their needs met, even if it meant mine never were. I was the mom that would let Madden sleep for hours on my chest, starving myself all day in refusal to move and wake the sleeping baby because he was sick and hadn't slept much during the night. I am the mom who will always make the sacrifice if it means someone else won't have to. I am the friend that won't want to wake my kid up in the middle of the night to drive you to the airport, but will do it because I love and care about you. The only person I was hurting by putting myself last, was myself. 
Getting into this trap led me into a deep dark depression. I felt so dark, unloved, and truly couldn't fathom daily functional tasks. Eventually, this led to me getting diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorder. One day, I had to make a decision that would inevitably change mine and Madden's life forever. From that day forward, I vowed that I couldn't always be last, and anyone that felt I deserved to be last wasn't deserving of my time and energy. This meant EVERYONE around me. From that day, our family has built a strong, loving foundation that thrives in a positive environment. 
You can't pour from an empty cup. You matter. You deserve to be happy. You come first. 

Upgrading My Bathroom Tile for $8.99

**This post contains affiliate links. By clicking the links and making a purchase, I may make a small commission.**

Have you ever walked into a room and thought, "This room needs a change?" When we moved into our house in 2017, EVERYTHING felt that way. We didn't have the money to start any upgrades right away, but of course we knew the bathrooms would be on the top of the list. 

There wasn't anything necessarily wrong. When we moved in, there were these odd little tiles on the wall in Madden's bathroom. At first, we assumed it was some type of decoration. One day, probably a month after we moved in, I got curious and decided to mess with one. I realized it was light weight and had adhesive on the back. To my horror, it was covering a small hole in the wall. There was a trail of these little tiles leading from the tub to the toilet paper holder, probably 5 all together. There were just 1/2'' sized holes in the wall! This made my blood BOIL. The tiles were to cover the holes in hopes they wouldn't be noticed by an inspector (insert major eye roll emoji here). Clearly this bathroom needed a small makeover. We decided to go with paint.

We patched up the holes in the wall, and got a nice neutral grey color. The vanity and mirror are a dark espresso color, and we knew the grey would look nice. My husband painted the entire bathroom in a short amount of time and it looked good as new! At least the holes were gone, right? We even had enough paint left over to paint our master bathroom the same color. We did hit a small hiccup, when the counter of the vanity in the master bathroom shifted (because of COURSE it wasn't secured AT ALL) and it snapped. We went to Lowe's to replace it, and the vanity's in the same size were out of stock. We got a vanity that was slightly bigger, only to learn that the backsplash was grouted to the wall. No big deal, we start taking off the backsplash and learn THE BACKSPLASH WAS COVERING HOLES IN THE WALL. I thought this minor painting makeover would never end. Pandora's box had opened and I wasn't prepared for what was coming out. 

We were able to patch the holes, fix the backsplash (not to the standard I want, but enough to get us by) and the entire project was finished. Flash forward to this year (December 2020), and the same "I need a change" feeling hits me. When I was scrubbing the bathroom floor, I was looking at the grout in the very closely. It seemed weird. The texture was odd, the tiles are uneven, and there seemed to be some errors. I turned my Handy Mandy hat on and determined the grout needed to be painted. The darker color grout was making the room seem more enclosed. There is no natural lighting, so that doesn't help. If I lightened the grout, the room will seem brighter and I would get that new makeover feel I was craving. 

At this point in time, I had already begun painting the grout everywhere else in my house that had tile (living room, dining area and kitchen). Our floor has a semi-open concept, so the floor in those three rooms is all the same and connects. In the process of completing this floor, I figured it wouldn't take much paint to cover the grout in the bathrooms. Our bathrooms are not the largest, and I figured I could do both bathrooms with one pen. 

Here is a picture of Madden's bathroom. You can see the grey paint on the walls, and our lovely bathroom Christmas decor. This is the old grout color. 

Again, nothing screams ugly to me. I was just looking for an extra sparkle. This is the grout up close. 

Let's analyze this together. The color isn't terrible, but the texture is very course. The tiles are uneven, so therefore, the grout is also uneven. You can see the grout is spilling onto the tile. These lines aren't dirty either; I sat with bleach one day to determine is this REALLY the color, or is it just filthy? It was definitely time to cover it up. 

Makeover Time!

In order to do a decent job, I busted out my favorite grout pen. 

These pens are sold on Amazon for $8.99. I used the small (5mm) pen in the color cream. You can get a larger pen, 15 mm, for $11.99 if you have wider grout. Not only are these pens such an affordable price, the performance is off the chart. When I tried these for the first time, my mind was actually blown. I can't tell you how many videos and pictures I have sent my family and friends to show them the difference. Everyone knows I have a thing with dirty grout, and have tried every solution over the years. Grout Pens was my saving grace. My floors are bright and have that sparkly, clean look, even with 3 dogs and a mud-pit backyard. 

With my paint pen in hand, I got to work. I started in the top right corner, where the wall meets the tub. I learned very quickly that this grout was absolutely course and porous...worse than the kitchen grout. The tip of the pen was the perfect size for these lines. I kept a microfiber cloth handy to wipe up any errors due to discrepancy in tile height. The color was already creating that brightness I was seeking. However, with how fast the color was absorbing into the porous grout, I knew I was going to have to do a second layer. 

Here is a picture from my initial layer. Notice the original color is still poking through. What great coverage for such a dark original color and awful grout texture! The second picture shows the best comparison. 

At this point, the different was life changing for me. I proceeded to do the whole floor, then I took a break for about 30 minutes. I wanted the paint to settle and dry fully before moving into a second layer. My fear was that it would do the same thing not-fully-dry nail polish does when you paint too many layers and inevitably chip your nail polish and have to deal with the smudge. After the second layer the color really began to pop. The bathroom was a completely different environment at this point! Who would think something like grout could transform an entire room?

Final Result

This is the final result! Words can't describe how amazed I am that I was able completely change the look of my bathroom for such a cheap price. You would never guess our grout has paint on it! Using the grout pen has also covered up those minor mistakes in the uneven tiles and layers of the grout. To put the icing on the cake, I got out my caulk gun and did a new layer around the tub, baseboards and the toilet. This final touch tied everything in together. The snowman shower curtain helped as well!

Master Bathroom 

After doing Madden's bathroom, I couldn't stop myself from doing our bathroom. The bathrooms are nearly the same size, and have the same flooring and grout. 

Here is a before and after:

Before

After

Final Cost: $8.99 

To transform both of my bathrooms, I only used 1 grout pen. There was enough extra paint in the pen that I was able to complete more of my dining room / living room area! 

If you are looking for a simple, budget friendly way to transform your tile, grout pens is your best bet. I have lived in my house for almost 4 years, and we have had many ups and downs with our budget. There have been so many projects I would love to do in the house, but we were always unable to find the money, or we had a greater need. Redoing the floors has always been on our radar, but the cost is so high. By painting the grout we gave ourselves the transformation we wanted without cost and labor. 

To reduce the cost even more, use the code 20GROUTPENS at checkout to receive 20% off your purchase!

DIY Tilted Trash Can Cabinet Tutorial

 Handy Mandy Series #2: Tilted Trash Can

For those of you that don't know, I have three dogs; Rosko, Zoey, and Mr. Beagle. They are sweet little fur balls that each have their own personality. We rescued each dog from a specific situation, and they've been a major part of our family. Mr. Beagle is a sweet lovable lump; the poor guy is definitely overweight and relaxes most of the time. However, there are plenty of times when his hound dog genes kick into full gear and his nose gets the best of him. This always ends in one of two ways......he digs a hole and escapes so he can chase a rabbit, or he gets into the trash can. Let's focus on the latter. 

Exhibit A:

Now, this is very mild in comparison to what it has been. 

Let me back up a bit. In 2014 when Bruce and I got married, we got Bed, Bath and Beyond gift card with a good chunk of change for us to spend.  We were exploring the aisles trying to determine what we should get for the house. Then we stumbled across the trash bin aisle. There were so many, but one caught our attention. It was the Simple Human brand, and it had a pet lock. The intention was a pet couldn't lift the lid and get into the trash can. We learned too that if it fell over, the lid would stay on. We instantly threw it into our cart. It worked too! At least, it DID....for a while. Mr. Beagle came along shortly after, sweet little boy he is. His nose gets the best of him sometimes. 

When we moved to Florida and settled into our new home in 2017, Mr. Beagle and the other dogs got smart. Something about being in this house made the trash can more desirable. They learned they could knock the trash can over and sometimes the pet lock would come undone, and they could dig away in the goods. They also teamed up and could chew or paw it apart. Our game plan was to pull the trash can out into the garage each time we left the house. The flaw in that plan was my ADHD brain never remembered to do it. I cannot tell you how many times I would come home with a baby on my hip and an arm full of grocery bags to find wrappers, old food and coffee grounds all over the floor. There was one day when I had JUST done a craft with Madden, and I had thrown all of our old paint, paint-covered baby wipes and scraps from the project in the trash. When I got home, there was not only old food, coffee grounds and torn apart wrappers...there was also red acrylic paint smeared EVERYWHERE, even deep down into the grout. Insert me ugly crying and furiously texting my husband about what HIS dogs did (when they are naughty, they are only his dogs, not mine...LOL). 

It wouldn't matter if I had just fed the dogs a full gourmet meal of all of their favorite foods, provided them with their favorite treat and bone, and given them an exclusive ticket to camp out on our bed all day. These guys would still feel it necessary to get into the trash can. Sometimes I swear they do it to be spiteful. There won't even be anything good in there....nothing of dog-value. Yet, day after day, I would forget to move the trash can to the garage, and I would come home to a mess. I reached my limit one day when I decided enough was enough, there must be a solution. I put my Handy Mandy hat on and began to brainstorm. 

Take a look at my kitchen.

It isn't very big. The cabinet space is limited. Our game plan is to redo the cabinets and the island and extend how many cabinets there are. However, that is not an option at the moment. I couldn't sacrifice a cabinet for just a trash can. I would lose so much storage, and storage is already slim to begin with. There is a weird gap between the counter and the last cabinet near the garage door. It has always been there, we have NO idea why the gap was there (there are a TON of things in this house that have made us do the confused-puppy-head-tilt, just like this gap). We have always placed our trash can there. It seemed logical, and had easy access to taking the trash bags out. 

I knew I could fill that space somehow. Based on the dimensions, it couldn't be a trash can that pulled out forward and was flush with the countertop. There wouldn't be a manageable trash can that we could use to fill such a narrow cabinet. I began researching different styles of cabinets and came across the tilted trash can. The pictures below were my inspiration. 

   

These are both saved in my Home Projects Pinterest Board. Both of these trash cans were inspired and/or created by Ana White. She has some amazing tutorials for DIY projects, and was excited to seek inspiration from her. 

Ana White offers a tutorial for you to follow to create this just as she did. She provides the materials, tools, cuts/angles and pictures of the steps along the way. It is a beautiful tutorial that works for visual learners. The picture of the red cabinet is an example of what is shown in the tutorial. Pictures, the name of the board, and the measurement....simple and easy to follow. The hard part for me was I needed specific dimensions to fill the gap in the cabinet/counter area. The link to Ana's tutorial can be found here. 

After gathering inspiration, I used this tutorial as a guide and went a little rogue. I used the same materials, I had the same tools, and just needed to be specific in my measurements. 

TUTORIAL: DIY Tilted Wood Shelf: Handy Mandy Version

Materials:

• Two 1 x 12 @ 6 feet long
• Two 1 x 3 @ 6 feet long
• Two 1 x 2 @ 4 feet long
• One 1/4 plywood 2ft x 4ft
• Narrow Hinges (any kind, it doesn't have to be fancy)
• Handle or Knob
• polyurethane coating in Clear Satin
• steel or nickel plated small chain (I got the length inside the plastic box. nothing fancy)

• 3/4 inch finish nails
• 1 1/4 inch finish nails
• 2 inch finish nails
• 1 1/4 inch pocket hole screws
• 2 inch pocket hole screws
• 120 grit sand paper

Tools:

• Safety Glasses
• Tape Measure
• Square
• Drill
• Miter Saw
• Circular Saw
• Pocket Hole Jig
• Air Nailer

Optional: This tool helps you align your cabinet holes to keep them straight and level. Drill bits are included!

Procedure

My procedure closely mimics Ana White's tutorial. I am going to break down the steps for how I put everything together. There will be similarities, but my cabinet needed to be customized for my space. 

Step 1: I started by building the frame. After measuring and cutting with the miter saw, I used pocket holes and 1 1/4 pocket hole screws to secure it together. I make sure it fit in its place before moving forward.  

 

2 inch finish nails would work as well, if you aren't familiar with pocket holes. This project helped me learn pocket holes; I didn't know how to do them before I started. I practiced on scrap wood I had around the garage to make sure I could do it without mistakes.

Step 2: Next, I made supports on the back. My recommendation is to absolutely do a support on the top. The second one is a good idea but I would wait and do this at the end. I learned the hard way that the placement of the second one interfered with the thickness of the trash can. I ended up moving it later. 

Step 3: After the back support was complete, I added the front trim. I cut 2 pieces of 1 x 2 the same length as the front. I added on to the very top to create an extension to the top, and a piece horizontal to frame the top. I also added a piece of 1 x 2 horizontal on the bottom to frame it. To spice up the look, you could get trim board, or cut a decorative pattern into it. Ana White does a pretty trim on the bottom. I chose to keep mine plain, as I still do not have a table saw and didn't want to risk destroying what pieces of wood I had left. I will insert a picture of Ana White's to show you what it looks like. I apparently forgot to take a picture of this step!

Step 4: Next, it is time to build the door frame! Using 1 x 3 boards, I build a rectangular frame, and secured it with pocket holes and 1 1/4 pocket hole screws. Getting the measurements correct was tricky. It was easy to measure the side pieces, but determining the middle pieces was trickier than predicted, mostly because I was overthinking the whole process! Once I got the pieces cut, I laid it on the floor to make sure it looked good. Then, I assembled with the pocket hole screws!

Please ignore how cluttered my garage is! It is a current work in progress.

Step 5: This is the step where I truly went rogue. In order to get the tilt effect, there needs to be a piece of wood connected to the frame that is the same length as the bottom of the original frame. Then, there needs to be 2 pieces of wood cut at 45 degree angles. I measured and cut a 1 x 12 to create and connected it to the bottom of the door frame. I attempted to leave a gap, as suggested in the AW tutorial, but frustration sunk in and as I mentioned before, I went rogue. I planned this part out for a long time before committing to connecting it with screws. Once the bottom 1 x 2 was secure, I used the remaining 1 x 12 wood to make two 45 degree angles pieces to secure the sides of the frame. It came out a little something like this!

Step 6: From here, I measured the inside of the back of the door to apply the plywood as a panel. Once I had it measured and marked, I cut it using my circular saw. Make sure your circular saw blade is up to par; mine definitely needed a finer tooth blade. However, it did its job! I secured the panels with 3/4 finish nails. 

Step 7: From here I added the hinges and made the holes for the handle. Then, I began to paint! I painted it white to match our kitchen cabinets. I made sure to take the hinges off before I painted. I did 3 coats of the white paint. When the paint dried, I added a polyurethane coat, and allowed that to dry fully before doing anything else. 

Step 8: Once everything was dry, I assembled the hinges, handle, and put the pieces together. Then, I connected about 8 inches of chain to each side of the door. This will prevent the door from opening all the way, providing security from the door smashing down onto our toes. Here she is!

Again, please ignore the disheveled state of my garage. She is a beauty! We immediately put her to work. At Lowes, we found a simple trash can for $15 that measured 22 x 15 that fit perfectly. We had enough storage room next to the can that we could put our rolls of trash bags from Sam's club in the cabinet as well. Double storage! Here she is inside the kitchen. 

Now, as beautiful as she is, I couldn't tolerate that gap. It drove me bonkers. I forced myself to relax for the night and set out to fix it the next day. The cabinet itself was still fully functional and beautiful. My OCD is still cringing about that gap. 

The next day rolled around and I toyed with the hinges and took out some screws and replaced them with longer screws to secure them better. I learned that the 45 degree angle boards needed longer screws to screw it better. The gap came from a combination of the hinges being screwed too tight (there was a slight variation in my measurements and the boards were not flush) and the weight of the trash can not being accounted for. The weight was pushing too far forward rather than laying flat. To fix this, I added the second piece of 1 x 3 that was intended as a back support and connected it to the back of the second 1 x 12 that connects to the door panel. It balances the weight of the trash can perfectly and eliminates that gap. The only flaw is the cabinet is no longer flush with the other cabinet. This is going to be fixed with a piece of trim board. Pictures to come as I update it. 

Final Product

Here she is! Finished, balanced, and just a minor trim board needing to be added.

We haven't had a single issue with dogs in the trash can! We also have enough room to store the trash bag rolls next to the can, so replacing the new bag is simple. While I am my own biggest critic, I am still so pleased with the outcome! I have some minor flaws to work out when it comes to DIY, but that is what makes DIY so fun. You get a custom built project that you can love and appreciate. DIY projects like this help make your house a home!