Who Is Stephanie Abbott?
Hi! My name is Stephanie Abbott. I’m the blogger behind Abbotts At Home. I started my blogging adventures in late 2016. But, I’ve been into all things DIY for about 30 years.
In the last 20 years, I’ve remodeled multiple homes, learning a lot about DIY home remodeling along the way. I’ve even had one of those DIY projects featured in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine.
My DIY, cleaning, and home maintenance YouTube channel has had more than 8 million views. I LOVE helping people learn how to take care of projects around their home with confidence.
How I Got Started With DIY
I started off as a craft-loving kid in Cincinnati. I’d often try to get my Mom to teach me how to sew and make pillows. I’d follow my Dad around learning about things like drywall, painting, framing, and landscaping.
Back then, my Dad owned an HVAC company and built custom homes on the side. So, I grew up visiting job sites and living in a home that had constant DIY projects happening.
As a teen, I helped my Dad do yard work and assist with lots of home remodeling projects. Sometimes I had to do things like paint a room or help install duct work before I was allowed to go out with my friends. I can say, I hated that back then. But, I’m so glad I had that experience now.
After all of that work, I picked up a few skills from my Dad and a BIG LOVE for DIY and working with my hands. Decades of watching This Old House probably helped too. Thanks Dad (and Bob Vila, wherever you are)!
Getting Started In Home Remodeling
In my 20’s, I did some furniture remodeling for my apartment, then flipped a few homes while working full-time as a Software Developer.
But, after a few hard years, I got tired of basically having 2 full-time jobs and put all my tools in storage for a while. Then in 2009, I moved from Cincinnati to Orlando with the plan to spend my life there.
After just 6 months in Orlando my boyfriend, who was living and working in Egypt at the time, changed all that. He proposed to me in front of the pyramids at Giza. Who could have ever imagined that??
A year later, we married in Orlando and I was off to Cairo to live without a job or any idea when I’d be moving away from Egypt. But this was just as the revolution was starting in Egypt and things were changing in Cairo.
So, we decided to move to Houston, Texas just a year later. I was happy to be back in the US and super excited to have a new “old home” to start remodeling.
We’ve been here for 11 years now. And, for the last 7 years I’ve been a full-time DIY blogger and YouTube content creator.
Between the Abbotts At Home blog and the Abbotts At Home YouTube channel I share all of my home remodeling, home maintenance adventures, cleaning hacks, and the occasional woodworking project.
Popular DIY Projects
Here’s 10 Popular Posts, You Might Like.
- 8 EASY Ways To DRY Paint Cans For Disposal (How To Harden Paint)
- What To Use In A Bissell Spot Cleaner: 6 Best Alternatives
- 24 Great Ways To Repurpose an Unused Dining Room
- 5 Best Ways to Remove Dried Citristrip on Furniture and Wood: Easy DIY
- How To Stain Wood Furniture Without Stripping (4 Easy Steps And Video)
- 16 Great Ways to Repurpose an Unused Formal Living Room
- How Do I Get Rid of Cable And Still Watch TV: Easy Guide
- Testing 7 Easy Ways To Get A Heat Stain Out Of Wood (With Video And Tips)
- 15 Best Ways To Make An Old Ceiling Look Better: Easy, Cheap And Pretty Ideas
- 3 Easy And Best Ways To Clean White Kitchen Cabinets – Plus, 3 To Avoid!
Hi Stephanie,
I loved your project where you made your own chalk paint using latex paint. There is no sanding or stripping when using regular chalk paint, is this the case when using “homemade” chalk paint? Thanks much
Hi Debbie. Thanks! Homemade chalk paint still works just like the store bought chalk paint. Most of the professional furniture painters still clean the furniture with TSP first, then lightly “scuff sand” the surface with 120-grit or similar grit sanding sponges. It just gives the paint a better grip to the surface. Good luck with your project. 🙂
Enjoy your blog and your great tips and projects! Thanks!
Thanks!!
Help please with getting the pdf and cut list for the washer dryer folding table. Have joined your Email list and responded to your email. Can’t find the links. Thanks, Dan
Hi Dan, I just sent you an email about this. 🙂
Stephanie,
Thanks for the blog and posting to Pinterest. I really loved your 41” table. My family and I live in Kingwood (now part of Houston). Your work is inspiring!
Thanks so much, Jason. That’s so nice of you to take time to leave this comment! I love sharing my ideas and seeing how other people build on them and create their own designs. 🙂
Hi, Stephanie. I’m just a hop, skip and a jump from you (Austin, TX), and I can relate to your background (working in tech, flipping houses, wanting to DIY everything, etc.). I have a 3-year-old, and with a full-time job, I have zero time to fix up this 25-year-old house we live in, but I’m determined to carve out some time! I look forward to reading your posts!
Hi Tami! Thanks so much for the nice message. I’m so glad you like my projects. I swear there is something about people in the tech field that also makes them likely to love DIY and woodworking too. I guess we just love all of the problem-solving and following big projects step-by-step. I think it’s just another form of the puzzles I loved as a kid. Hopefully, you’ll get time one day to fix up your home too. 🙂
Hi Stephanie – REgarding your staining the wood door. Any suggestion you have for a temporary “screening” while the door is kept open for the 5-6 hours to dry? My wood door is the only thing keeping outside critters and such from getting inside the house lol. Thanks and appreciate your DIY instructions.
LOL, sorry no ideas. I just try to do jobs like this in the “low critter” season in my area. 🙂
I really enjoy your build plans, i recently built a Farmhouse Console table based off your plans. Though i did tweak it a little, adding more molding and changing the edge profile of the top. Thank you for all the hard putting content out here for others like myself to enjoy.
Jon Bailey
H-Town
Yay! Thanks so much, Jon. Comments like these keep me motivated and happy to put in all the effort that goes into sharing these plans. Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Love the paint pour canvases. You gave a list of the colors used in the dining room paint pour, but not for the paint pour you made for the bathroom. Would you remember the color s of paint you used for that pour? Looks like maybe tans, browns, peaches, pinks?
Hi Judy! So glad you love the canvases. Unfortunately with that Bathroom canvas, I couldn’t find premixed colors I liked. So I bought a big bottle of white then some light tans, peach, and creams to mix my own colors. 🙂
Stephanie, I just read the post about your thrift store frames and placemats used in your Farmhouse Hens up-cycleing projects. I really like the way they turned out. They look very professional and I expecially like that the pattern is vertical in one and horizontal in the other. That adds interest, I think. And it tickles me that you got something as nice as the ones you’d have had to pay big bucks for at VERY little cost! Good job!
Thanks so much, Naomi. I am really happy with how they turned out. You have a good eye for detail with those stripes. Thanks so much for the nice compliment. And I love saving money. 🙂