Category: Home Improvement

  • Ikea Kitchen Storage Hack Rail System

    One of the most important features of any kitchen is storage. I am fortunate to have a ten foot long pantry to store my kitchen items. However, there wasn’t a very easy way to store my pots and pans. Whenever I’ve stored them in cupboards, I always have to stack them “just so”, or it…

  • How to Remove Drawer Liner

    I found an awesome, mid-century Drexel dresser at my Habitat for Humanity Restore. It came with one drawer covered in this dated drawer liner. The liner wasn’t even cut perfectly rectangular and didn’t fit the drawer quite right. I decided I must remove drawer liner! Here’s an easy technique to get any old, stubborn drawer…

  • DIY Faux Brick Wall

    Determined to give my kitchen a timeless look, I created a faux brick wall with some inexpensive paneling, drywall compound, and paint. I created this look on one entire wall of my kitchen. that included a bump out, so it was a bit time consuming (the better part of a week, while on holiday vacation)…

  • 14 DIY Ways to Transform Your Kitchen on a Budget

    Kitchen renovations can be expensive…VERY expensive. Here are a few ways to make a complete transformation while on a limited budget! 1. Paint Your Cabinets An easy way to totally change the look and feel of your kitchen is to paint the cabinets. They sell kits to do this, but I am sure your local…

  • How to Refinish Old Woodwork

    One of the things I like most about my house is that it still has the original, wooden trim and doors. No one has painted over them. The stain used is a deep, reddish mahogany color. Unfortunately, it’s been awhile since anyone’s paid much attention to the trim. There are some nicks and worn down…

  • Back Door Entry Makeover

    The back door entry space to my lower unit in my duplex was anything but welcoming. The walls were marked up, multiple spiders were making home to the corners, and the carpeting was worn out, holding a strong pet odor. It was one of the first spaces I chose to really tackle. The picture taken…

  • Facing the Fixer Upper: Befores

    Here it is: what my house looked like when I first moved in. I purchased the house in August 2018. It’s an upper-lower duplex, originally built that way, in 1918. Each unit has two bedrooms and one bathroom. As you can see, a definite fixer upper! The two units are nearly identical, with a couple…

  • Staircase Makeover

    Tackling the stairwell to the upstairs made all the difference to feeling like a more welcome apartment. This staircase makeover wasn’t too expensive and was completed in a couple of weekends. The majority of it involved painting- and lots of it! A Look at the Before The stairwell entry to the upper apartment wasn’t inviting…

  • Cute and Quaint Kitchen Remodel

    Up to this point in my renovation experience, my kitchen remodel has been my favorite project.  It’s cute…and quaint…but it wasn’t always that way. When I moved in, there were huge holes in the flooring. A haphazard caulk job. Pieces of laminate countertop breaking off. Makeshift “laundry cabinets” as upper cupboards. A stove riddled with…

  • Budget Bathroom Remodel

    The first major project I found myself tackling after I bought my fixer upper duplex was my bathroom. Several descriptors for this room include: dated, yellowing, moldy, and rusty. Just to name a few. You can observe from the pictures below: Close inspection led me to believe that some improvements had been made in the…