BLACK LIVES MATTER! 
BLACK LIVES MATTER! 
BLACK LIVES MATTER! 
BLACK LIVES MATTER! 
BLACK LIVES MATTER! 

Now, read it again. 

I created this blog and have chosen to share my art, DIYS and creative life throughout the years to make the world a more beautiful place, to connect with others through art and creativity and to inspire other people to do the same. And I don't just mean people who look like me, I mean EVERYONE. 

Talking about race can feel uncomfortable for some, it can feel like you don't have the perfect words to say and thats okay, because we don't need perfect, we need PROGRESS. We need change. We need POC (people of color) ALIVE and to feel safe with the same rights to navigate through this world as freely as any white passing body. 

Human life matters and can not be replaced. The social injustices in America are sickening. Police brutality (murder) is disgusting and undeniable. Leadership in America (the president) is horrendous and lacking. It all makes me incredibly sad and frustrated and helpless feeling.

​The world just feels so broken right now. 

I don't have the answers to any of these problems but I promise to do my best, to do better, to make this world a better place for people of color. I encourage all of my readers to do the hard work, do the research and deep reflection on everything you see happening in America right now and through out history. To acknowledge your privilege in the world and to vow to use as an agent for change for POC.

Below I am linking resources that I have found and using to educate myself. I am also providing links to places that you can donate money to actively help in combating these injustices. 

This Anti-racism google doc. This google doc covers it all. It has resources for parents to assist with educating their children. It has books, articles, podcast, videos, movies, TV shows, social media accounts, lots of good stuff. I suggest starting there. Big thanks to Sarah Sophie Flicker, and Alyssa Klein for putting this together. 

These journaling prompts to help you do the personal work of uncovering and unlearning racial and social biases you may have. Good to do alone and as a family. 

This step-by-step guide of how to be an ally. 

Do you have a resource that should be added to this list? Share in the comments, anything inappropriate or not constructive will not be approved.

This is just a very small list of resources available to you out here on the web and a very small list of organizations that you can donate to. But we all need to start somewhere and be involved NOW. 

Paint with ME in my new Youtube video where we will be painting a festive Jungle Cheetah! This video is a special shout out to my little friend, Nora in North Carolina who is celebrating her 7th birthday in quarantine. She had plans to go to one of those paint places for her birthday, but because of the covid19 lock down she had to cancel those plans. 

Nora's mom reached out to me to see if I could help make this paint party still happen virtually and you all know how much I LOVE to ARTY HARD, so I said OF COURSE! 

Over the years I have gotten lots of request to do paint videos or just to start a youtube channel in general. I've had a youtube channel for years, I have just always let my lack of video + video editing skills hold me back. I've learned that I LOVE creating video content and being on camera, it's just frustrating when my lack of skills + knowledge of video prevents me from truly creating the type of content/video I imagine in my head. BUT hey, we all have got to start somewhere. 

Any who, I had so much fun creating this painting and video for Nora and all of you out there. I hope y'all enjoy it too. Below you will find a link to the video, the supply list, and the free downloads to assist you in your painting. 

• canvas
• cardstock
• Acrylic Paints
• Pencil + scissors 
• sponge
• dot brushes or qtips
• old toothbrush
• water, rag and paint pallet or old plate

I would LOVE to see how your Jungle Cheetah paintings turn out. Share it with me on facebook and instagram using the hashtag #PaintwithCourt @myfriendcourt #iliketoartyhard 

Also, be sure to like this video and share it with your friends and family who want to paint too. And don't forget to subscribe to my channel so you don't miss out on any future paint videos from me! 

And as always, thank you for the support! 

p.s.: Do you want me to create a special request/shout out video for you? Email me at courtney@myfriendcourt.com 

p.s.s: Here is a link to my patreon if you'd like to show your monetary support so I can continue to crank out creative content for you! 

The Guest Room mini makeover for a small guest room and office space. With budget friendly and space efficient furniture. 

This guest room makeover is a very MINI one. We really did not want to spend too much money on this space right now and mostly just wanted to get it more functional for my hubby, Chris to use as his office space. Seeing that we don't really have many guest, it will be used much more as his office. 
The room is rather small, so the big queen bed frame wasn't working in this space. We already had this bed + bedframe before we bought this house, which if you notice has an extra ledge around it, making it even larger. It was actually our bed, until we upgraded to a king size mattress in the master. 
We honestly looked for months for the right solution to this space. We spent most of the time looking at pull out couches. Trying to find the perfect size, look and price. We were not having much luck. We haven't even bought a new couch for our living room, so I really wasn't interested in dropping $1k+ on a couch for a guest room that won't be seen or used often. Also, not that we are trying for kids now, but when we do, if we’re still in this home, this will be a future baby room. SO, spending a lot of money on a pull out couch wasn’t making sense. 

After months of looking at a bunch of different options (even murphy beds, lol) I came across these stackable twin beds at ikea. We have a day bed that we bought years ago for our patio, that is twin size and we absolutely love it. When I was looking at this ikea bed online, I knew that a twin daybed would be the prefect size ‘couch’ for the space. Then, I was thinking about it, and every place we have ever stayed at in Iceland had two twin beds pushed together, Lucy and Ricky style. With this great price point + the fact you could upgrade the mattresses I knew this was the perfect solution for the space. I showed it to Chris and we were both sold on it!

You can see in the pictures above that the room has a pretty decent size closet (even has a window) and it has it's own private bathroom. I'm not showing you the bathroom now, as we haven't really done anything to it.  

Other than the bed and bed linens, we already owned everything else you see in the space. We’re both super happy with how it turned out and we’ve already had 4 guest since the guest room makeover. The report back has been that the bed is VERY comfy! ​​

Are you enjoying these home projects + room reveals? I sure hope so, because I am having so much fun sharing them with you. AND stay tuned, because soon I'll be sharing our home tour with HGTV Handmade where you will get to see a home video tour of the entire house, I can't wait!

Below I have linked most everything you see in the pictures. If I couldn't find the exact product, I did my best to find something very similar for you!  

“This is NOT a sponsored post from the brands + products mentioned but does include affiliate links to the products on Amazon. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

Before and after bathroom updates pictures are finally done! I am so very excited to share this fun little space with you. This bathroom is located in my studio of our house. So since I am the only one that uses it I had extra license to make it however/as girly as I wanted. 

And it is oh so girly! AND quirky AND nostalgic, with a little bit of humor sprinkled in. Which is why I am calling this my 'Party Pooper Bathroom' [I love a good pun]. I wouldn't call myself a party pooper, but I am the gal who will sneek away to the bathroom at a party just to catch a break for a sec. hehe and if the bathroom was this fun, I may never leave! 

This bathroom (like every other surface in our house when we bought it) was an ugly dull yellow, with a tiny shower and a pretty standard vanity. AKA nothing special. 

And don't even get me started on the tile. It was so bad. Not even real. I mean, it is real tiles, but it had like this pixilated texture on it, that most definetly was printed on. 

One day, all of this will be replaced, but for now it was nothing that a little bit of paint couldn't fix. Below you'll see the transformation. 

The bathroom doesn't have a window in it, so the space is naturally pretty dark. Painting it with whites, pinks and peaches brightened it up SO much. Painting this small space wasn't the easiest in the world, only because we painted every surface just about. Luckily, my sweet hubby, Chris helped so we knocked it all out in just a couple of days (that includes dry time & me going to my day job).

While Chris was painting the walls a solid light pink, I tackled painting the shower tiles. I am going to do another blog post explaining how to paint the tile, but if you can't wait, check out my instagram stories under Home DIY. There I show the process of painting my entryway tiles, which is the exact same as for this shower and the tile floor in this room. I used Valspar Duramax paint for the floor and shower. 

After the walls were done and a few coats on the shower tile, I was ready to start painting the bathroom floor. Luckily, the shower floor was already white, so I didn't have to paint that. 

In the pictures, the floor looks like it is white with gold stars, but it is actually a super pale pink with gold stars. I used a stencil from Stencil Revolution, the Twinkle Star Stencil to paint the pattern on to the tiles. It was a tedious task, but not really hard. I used a roller sponge to roll the paint over the star stencil. I would roll it in the paint, the make a few swipes on a piece of cardboard and then over the stencil. You have to be strategic and give yourself a lot of time (and patience) on this part. But the outcome is so worth it in the end. If you're working on a budget and can't replace tile, I highly recommend painting it. Our entryway has held up for almost 2 months now, and it is the only way in and out of our house. 

I actually had a different kind of mural, a more colorful one planned for this wall. But I was running out of time (and energy), trying to complete this bathroom in time for another project. I also was super nervous that I was going to be over doing it in such a small space. And keeping in mind that this bathroom is attached to my studio,  I wanted the design of it to compliment my studio.  

I decided a monochromatic mural of some sort would be best. I painted expressive squiggle lines inspired by artist Keith Haring and moon shapes (because of the stars on the floors). 

The decor in this bathroom are my nostalgic nick-nacks and collectibles. Like the giant pencil my brother gave me, my mom's childhoom piggy bank, my childhood bedroom phone, troll dolls, a vintage clock, a hand stitched sign and my 'Party Pooper Guest Book'. 

I was very nervous about painting the cabinet, but I am very happy I did. The color is much better than faux wood before. I do plan on changing the knobs on the doors but I haven't found the 'right' ones yet.

For now the shower is filled with a bunch of balloons. We have four bathrooms in this house and it is just my husband and I so we don't use this shower, EVER. I wish I could fill it with disco balls, but those coast too much money, so the balloons are a fun alternative and such an unexpected surprise! 

What is your favorite part of this bathroom makeover?