It’s Bud’s day off before we have company in town for the weekend, so we’re getting stuff done. Errands, projects and some fun with the kids. It was pretty rainy, so we weren’t sure what we’d end up doing, but come hang out with us.
What you’ll get from this post
- How we turned free unfinished cabinets into garage storage on a budget
- Our cheap countertop trick at Lowe’s, including the free cut
- Where to find discounted pre-mixed paint
- How the kids helped paint (and why it’s okay if it isn’t perfect)
- Why houseguests are great motivation for projects
The project: free cabinets for the garage
We really want to organize our garage. A friend who’s moving gave us some unfinished cabinets, but they didn’t have countertops, and that’s not something I want to spend a lot of money on. So Bud measured them, and we headed to Lowe’s and Home Depot to look for something cheap, or just a piece of smooth wood to put on top.
We also needed sealant for our shower. It started leaking, and that’s a whole other story.
Childhood treasures in the car
Bud recently cleaned out his mom’s attic and found some treasures from his childhood, including a recorder. I remember doing recorder in school too.
At Lowe’s: countertops and half-price paint
- Countertops: We got a sheet of particle board for about $27 or $28. Lowe’s gives you one free cut, so they cut it in half so it would fit in the van. Bud did the rest of the cutting at home.
- Waiting with kids: We waited for someone to help us at the wood-cutting station. It feels a lot longer when you’re waiting with children.
- Discounted paint: Head to the paint section and look for paint that’s already been mixed and marked down. We found a gray we liked for half price. That’s what I’m talking about.
We were at Lowe’s way longer than we wanted, then picked up our grocery order while tensions rose and babies cried. Okay, they’re not babies, but our three-year-old still naps.
Next up: too many toys
While the little ones napped, I looked around and realized we have way too many toys, and the kids really don’t play with all of them. Decluttering is coming soon. Reorganizing the garage is next on the list too.
Painting the cabinets with the kids
Here’s the plan:
- Paint the cabinets gray.
- Put the faces on.
- Add handles or knobs.
Bud cut the counters while I started painting. When the little ones woke up, they wanted to help. One cleaned the cabinets for me so we could paint, and Maggie painted the cabinet fronts and did a great job. These are just garage cabinets, so it’s okay if they aren’t perfect. Then we had popsicles.
ATV and the pool
Later in the afternoon we hit the pool, and by the end of the day the ATV was working great. Maggie showed off her muscles, which she says are from dribbling all those basketballs.
Why company is great motivation
Normally Bud goes to Lowe’s by himself. But that leaves me home with the kids on his day off, which I don’t want. So sometimes I convince everyone we should all go and make it a family outing.
Tomorrow we’ll organize the garage in the couple of hours before our guests arrive. When people come to stay with us, it’s great motivation to finally do the projects we’ve been meaning to do for months, and the nitty-gritty cleaning I’ve put off.
Key takeaways
- Free or secondhand cabinets plus a cheap particle board top make budget garage storage.
- Lowe’s gives one free cut, handy for fitting a big board in your car.
- Check the paint section for discounted pre-mixed paint.
- Let the kids help with low-stakes projects like garage cabinets.
- Houseguests are great motivation to finish projects.
Want more of our weekend vlogs? Come hang out with our crew on YouTube. Subscribe to The Johnson Crew on YouTube.
FAQ
What’s a cheap countertop for garage cabinets?
We used a sheet of particle board for about $27 or $28 from Lowe’s and cut it to size.
Does Lowe’s cut wood for free?
Where can I find cheap paint?
Look in the paint section for already-mixed paint that’s been discounted. We found a gray for half price.
What viewers say
We love running errands all together. Having my husband there is so much more fun than when it's just me and the kids. And can I just say that grocery pick-up has literally changed my life and helped me keep my sanity?!!!🤣
@bellaedwards9105 on YouTube
We love doing errands altogether as a family! Although sometimes my husband does just like getting in and out of lowes really quick without all the fanfare of bringing everyone 😂
@thepracticalhomeschooler on YouTube
More from our crew
- Extreme Garage Declutter & Organization: Garage Clean out
- Clean Out Toys Before Christmas With Me! Pre-Christmas Toy Declutter
- Lazy Summer Day with 4 Kids: Sword Fighting, Makeup Try-on, Pool Fun
Full transcript
Okay this is a day off for us so we've got some errands we're gonna run and hopefully fit in some fun stuff with the kids it is pretty rainy today so not sure exactly what we're going to do yet but come join us so we really want to do some organization in our garage one of our friends is moving and gave us these unfinished cabinets but they don't have any countertops and it's not something that I really want to spend a lot of money on or anything
So uh husband is measuring them right now we're going to go up to lowe's and home depot and see if we can come upon something cheap or maybe just a piece of smooth wood to put on top so let's see that'll be our first trip today we've got some other things we need to get done we've gotta get some sealant for our shower that's a whole other story it has started leaking and it was not good so we gotta fix that um so yeah that's cool what do you think of that oh all right
Now while we're on there okay Bud recently cleaned out his attic at his mom's house and found some treasures from his childhood including a recorder I remember doing recorder back in school ah crossbones yeah oh no we need to get some sealer for the shower and some kind of counter tops wow they're so tall straight ahead we're just waiting for someone to come help us at the wood cutting station it feels a lot longer when you're waiting with children all right let's go to the paint section real quick
So there's all this discounted paint that's already colored so we can find something that we like ooh like this one what do you think of that perfect gift price half price that's what I'm talking about I think we're good to go now all righty yeah we were at lowe's way longer than we wanted to be and now we're picking up our grocery order and tensions are rising and babies are crying hurry up we get home all right it's time to get these babies into bed all right they're not babies um a three-year-old still takes a nap yeah you're making a huge another game theo the next thing that we really need to do is get rid of some toys like this is just way
Too much way too much and they really don't play with it all so I think we'll probably be in for some decluttering here soon one of the next projects that I really want to do is reorganize our garage so today's first step is to get these cabinets painted finished I think we've got to put like um the faces on and little handles or knobs on and then we'll have some cabinetry to use in here which is pretty sweet I'm excited about that uh stay tuned for a future video whenever we finally get this all organized I'll share that with you next got my handyman gonna cut me your counters out thanks babe all right here's the cabinet sizing this particle board up right
Now how much was the whole board 27 28 I think and they will give you one free cut at lowe's so they cut it in half so we could actually fit it in the pan to get it home and Bud's gonna do the rest of the cutting what do you think awesome okay here's the gray we got for the countertops all right I'm gonna start painting this one he's gonna cut for that one then I gotta paint the fronts we're getting there fun little afternoon project all right little ones are up
And want to help what are you doing buddy are you cleaning the cabinets for me so we can paint them yeah thank you you're such a good helper thank you we've got maggie over here painting the front of the cabinets for me he's doing a great job these are just garage cabinets it's okay if they are not perfect so get some popsicles and that's okay just keep yours okay yummy then you can share our popsicles very sweet but that's okay just keep your own thanks for helping him get a popsicle big sis how was your run feel like we should hit the pool yeah let's do it go does she look like a baby to you show us your muscles maggie can you see
It oh yeah wow what do you have wow look at that look at that it's from dribbling all those b-balls what you got there yeah fajita and pizza epic ready for some carrots what are you trying to get what is that um milk I think chocolate milk ice cream I think it's vanilla banana um let's get some mommy yeah I think good shot good job good job okay that's good oh whoa okay great job end of the day it's a pretty productive day what lessons did we learn today I'm not sure where you're going with this without supposed to learn something today
So normally Bud goes to lowe's by himself to get things but that leaves me here with the kids on your day off which I don't want to do so sometimes I convince them that we should all go and it'll be a fun family outing was it fun it looks great no good kids you say that now because they're in their rooms being quiet good day great day we got shopping we have paint cabinet stuff atv works great day tomorrow we shall actually organize the garage within the couple hours that we have before our guests arrive for the weekend when people come to stay with us it's like great motivation to finally accomplish projects that they've been voting to do for months or like big
Cleaning things that I've really put off you know like the nitty-gritty cleaning great motivation to get that stuff done nitty-gritty cleaning pretty pretty with it being summertime I'm having more time on my hands I'm thinking about doing an extra video per week a vlog style video if you're into the vlogs let me know in the comments below hit the like button for me so I know that you're into this style video and I'm gonna see let's see if we can accomplish two videos per week I feel like it would be fun just to even just for us to have videos it's kind of like making home videos of what we're doing during the summer time
So I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep it up during the school year but we'll see how it goes I'm excited yeah it's kind of fun all right we'll catch you next week bye