Manda and Caitlin McGrath, the duo behind The Merrythought blog, are scrappy women who are forever upgrading their houses without spending a penny more than necessary. Close in age, the two live in Western New York and are related by marriage: “We probably have one of the oddest/most interesting blogging partner relationships,” they write. “Manda is Caitlin’s stepmom.”
They share an interest in bare-bones wooden design, and a knack for coming up with storage solutions that they tackle themselves. They’re both also able stylists. Here are seven of their DIY standouts: go to The Merrythought for more photos and step-by-step instructions.
Photography courtesy of The Merrythought.
Ladder Plant Stand
Above: In response to Caitlin’s growing indoor plant collection, a DIY Ladder Plant Stand.
Paper Organizer
Above: Manda created the DIY Wood Wall Organizer in response to her kids’ daily flood of school papers: “I think that might be the number one complaint I hear from moms when we’re discussing clutter and things they struggle with: All the papers,” she says.
She gave each of her kids a pocket (with instructions to weed out the unnecessary and the out of date). But notes that it’s also ideal, as shown here, for mail or magazines.
Peg Rail
Above: A project that speaks to us Shaker peg rail lovers here at Remodelista: The Merrythought’s DIY Wooden Wall-Mount Rack. Note that they used basic dowels as hooks, but you could easily add wooden Shaker Pegs—they’re .60 each (25 for $14.25) from Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in Maine.
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
Or Subscribe for Maximum Value!
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Sorry! As a registered member you get 10 free posts from our archive (posts more than a year old) every 30 days. You have reached your limit for this 30-day period. If you would like to access unlimited posts from the archive (ad free, too), become a subscriber today, and keep reading as many articles as you want.
Full Access Individual Subscription
Benefits include:
Unlimited access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive the full-text daily newsletters
All features that Members have access to
Annual subscribers pay just 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Sorry! You have reached your limit of three (3) free posts from our archive every 30 days. You can increase this to 10 posts by joining as a free Member, or read unlimited posts with no ads by becoming a paid Subscriber.
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Become a Member at no charge
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Have a Question or Comment About This Post?
Start the Conversation