Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Five Best DIY Projects



Over the years I have embarked on some pretty hairy DIYs. I have 5 things that are by far the best projects or most worthwhile things I have ever done.

# 5. Removing the sliding glass doors on a bathtub. 
Our house in Lubbock, Texas was built in the 70's. At the time these doors had been in operation for 20 years. There was an incredible amount of soap scum and hard water stuck in the tracks. 
It would have been impossible to clean. It looked very similar to these. 

Photo by Gary Goubert
I just began unscrewing any screws and pulling off the pieces. I scraped away grout and caulk against the tub. I did not have a plan or instructions. I just began unscrewing things. 
I was able to hang a cute new shower curtain that was clean!! 
All that was left was two holes in the tile. These were visible to me, but anyone else would have to look for them. I almost wish I could do that with our surround in our master. See the project here. 

#4 Removing the built-in kitchen desk. 
We had a desk in the corner of the kitchen. It had a laminate top and three small drawers. It was cheesy and I wanted a piece of furniture in that spot. Again, I did not have a plan. (Do you sense a theme with me and not having a plan?) I looked at the area of the floor that would need flooring but for everything else I just winged it. 
I took a razor blade to the caulk surrounding the desk so I could pry off the laminate counter. It popped right off. I took out the drawers and unscrewed the frame from wall. The drawer unit easily pulled away from the wall and up from the floor. I was excited when it went out to the trash! 
I had extra flooring in the attic and patched the square where the drawer unit sat. I repainted the wall behind the desk. In just a few hours we had this cute spot to put this desk from my Nana.
Here it is when it was Robin's Egg Blue (Halycon Green- Sherwin Williams)


 Here it is now.



Can you even see where I patched the floor? No? I didn't think so.
It was a wonderful place to sit and talk on the house phone. 
Obsolete now with the advent of cell phones.
Do you notice the difference the lighter wall color makes?
Same spot, same time of day, much different feel to the room.

#3 Taking down the wallpaper in my house.

 We bought this house at the end of the wallpaper craze and before HGTV started telling us that we need wallpaper again. The bathrooms were easy. I guess because of the steam from the showers. The kitchen on the other hand was a nightmare. It came off in three inch pieces. I vowed then that I would never have wallpaper again. I love being able to change my walls every few years as the mood strikes. 
Although... 
Lately I have seen some cute wallpaper on the design shows. 
But I promised myself I would never wallpaper again!
The walls in my kitchen have been forest green wallpaper, yellow, Halycon Green and now this neutral called Kilim Beige, from Sherwin Williams.

#2 Texturing the walls in our kitchen.

I used a mixture of joint compound, white paint and sand. I dabbed it on with plastic grocery sacks. It was really easy, a bit messy but totally worth it. 





Here is a close up of the texture. I went with something not too heavy. It has been very easy to live with. I haven't ever felt the urge to redo. 

I know I have done something right if I don't have the constant urge to do it over.

#1 I think the best DIY for us is our tile floor.
 We had a pipe burst under my son's sink about 5 years ago. We pulled up the carpet and replaced it with tile. It handles pets well. We bought 600 square feet of tile. I don't know how much we actually laid but I assume it was over 500 square feet. It was a ton of work and there were tears involved, but it was worth it. 

There were tears when this guy ate my hamburger in the midst of a very difficult section by the piano. 
R.I.P Mikey Jan 1993-Sept 18, 2010


Living room wall color: Softer Tan- Sherwin Williams


The entry color is Antique White- Walmart Color Place. (It used to be made by Sherwin Williams.) (At least that is what I was told.)

There you have it. Five of our best projects. This was fun. I will have to do it again.



Okay, I think I owe you a few worsts. 
A.Pulling up the vinyl flooring in our kitchen and painting the floor with concrete paint. 
This idea was in magazines in the 90's The problem was that our new flooring would not stick to the painted floor and all the paint had to be hand scraped and sanded off. Bill was not happy. 
B. Patching a wall with tile adhesive instead of joint compound. I told Bill I needed to patch the walls in the powder room bath. He handed me a bucket. I assumed the bucket he handed me was joint compound. 
It wasn't until I was all finished, that I noticed it was the wrong stuff.  Re-patching the walls and touching up the paint is on my list of to dos this summer.
It did give the walls kind of a crackled effect that is pretty cool. 
It was not easy to work with though. 
I will leave you with some antics from Bekah's cat.
I got a new gazing ball when the dog knocked my other one off the retaining wall.


Hobby Lobby 40 % off.
Kitty really loved the box and hung out in there for hours.



I hope you have a blessed day. 

Katie 
Linking with:
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage 
&Time Travel Thursday @ The Brambleberry Cottage 
100 Under a 100 @ Beyond The Picket Fence 
&Inspiration Friday @ At The Picket Fence


  

4 comments :

  1. I love all your DIY projects. Your wall color is beautiful!

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  2. Such wonderful projects that rally made your house into a home!
    dee dee

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks dee dee. I appreciate your checking them out.

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