Your Favorite Home Improvement Project?

[gardenswithkids]

What were your favorite home improvement projects that you successfully completed?

It seems we’re always doing some project here or there in our home. We’ve done a few big projects that I loved. My favorite was probably the back porch in our old house because it created living space outside and gave me a fantastic spot to sit by my old rose garden. Now that I wrote that, the gardens are really my favorite, but my gardens are never really done.

 

[on_the_hill]

I laid hardwood flooring throughout the first floor of our house. It turned out great, stunning.

Other than that, I built a few built-in shelving units. Our house is only about twenty years old, so it doesn’t need a whole lot yet.

 

[Kelfa28]

Ugh.

We have so much that needs to be done with our house. It’s an 80 year old house. It’s built quite solidly…so everything that needs to be done is just cosmetic.

The owners who had the house before the previous ones supposedly did some “updates” to the house.

The only good thing they did was rip up the carpets to expose the beautiful hardwood underneath. That was a huge improvement.

But, the main bathroom is just hideous. Black and white tiles (including the floor) and gold fixtures.

I bought a black and white shower curtain, just to embrace the ugliness, until we fix it.
That will be my favorite once it’s done. It probably won’t be attended to until the fall or winter.

All of the updates have been so cheaply done. The fence is plastic and parts of it are broken. That needs to be fixed big time.
The kitchen is original and the cabinets have been painted and repainted so many times that they don’t close anymore.

 

[centerbe]

We renovated our kitchen five and half years ago. We took our old small kitchen and knocked a wall down to combine it with our little used dining room. We added an island where we have spent many hours of enjoyment together around it. Having an excellent designer/contractor was the key for us.

 

[on_the_hill]

But, the main bathroom is just hideous. Black and white tiles (including the floor) and gold fixtures.

I bought a black and white shower curtain, just to embrace the ugliness, until we fix it.
That will be my favorite once it’s done. It probably won’t be attended to until the fall or winter.

I agree with ditching the gold fixtures, but b&w can be beautiful, classic.

 

[gardenswithkids]

I laid hardwood flooring throughout the first floor of our house. It turned out great, stunning.

Other than that, I built a few built-in shelving units. Our house is only about twenty years old, so it doesn’t need a whole lot yet.

Your floors and built-ins sound beautiful! That takes some craftsmanship!

 

[gardenswithkids]

…The owners who had the house before the previous ones supposedly did some “updates” to the house.

The only good thing they did was rip up the carpets to expose the beautiful hardwood underneath. That was a huge improvement.

But, the main bathroom is just hideous. Black and white tiles (including the floor) and gold fixtures.
…

Ah, the gold bathroom fixtures–I remember that trend! That’s the problem with trendy up-dating. Any time something is “in-style”, it’s only a matter of time before it’s out of style. My husband and I have been looking at houses recently. It’s funny to see old homes advertised as “up-dated” when the up-dating was done over a decade ago and is now out-dated!

 

[gardenswithkids]

We renovated our kitchen five and half years ago. We took our old small kitchen and knocked a wall down to combine it with our little used dining room. We added an island where we have spent many hours of enjoyment together around it. Having an excellent designer/contractor was the key for us.

Sounds like a major remodeling project! I’m glad you enjoy the results.

 

[Kelfa28]

I agree with ditching the gold fixtures, but b&w can be beautiful, classic.

I suppose…if it’s actually done elegantly. I really can’t see how…but that is my opinion.

But this bathroom…it’s a floor to ceiling Tom Petty video.

It’s literally dizzying when you walk in because it’s not a huge bathroom and the black and white tiles cramp everything together. It’s all you can see…it smacks you in the face it’s that bad.

When we did a house walk through, I was really impressed…until I saw the bathroom from around the corner.

My husband busted out laughing when he saw the look on my face…and the second look when our real estate agent tried to say “well…this is…nice…”

The broker immediately said we could easily change it and paint the tiles if we wanted to. Were opting for an entire overhaul.

 

[on_the_hill]

The broker immediately said we could easily change it and paint the tiles if we wanted to. Were opting for an entire overhaul.

We painted the tiles in my mom’s house, and they turned out fine. Don’t lose hope.

 

[on_the_hill]

Your floors and built-ins sound beautiful! That takes some craftsmanship!

Thank you. My motto is: “Try.” You can either pay someone to do it or try it yourself. If it doesn’t work, you can pay someone to do it.

We had to “think outside the box” for the floors. A sunroom addition built by the previous owners has light maple flooring, and based on the advice of various people, including ourselves, we wouldn’t have been able to match the color exactly, and the result wouldn’t have looked right.

So we opted for a dark color with a result much like this: cdn.cosbysweaters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/214.png

In terms of actual DYI projects, laying a hardwood floor really isn’t all that hard. Takes a lot of time, but basic skills go a long way.

 

[Kelfa28]

We painted the tiles in my mom’s house, and they turned out fine. Don’t lose hope.

Thanks…that is actually good to hear.
We are still fleshing out ideas and I wasn’t sure if we could paint over the black tiles. I’ve never heard of anyone painting over tiles before.

We have some ideas we’ve seen at Home Depot that we liked. But I’m glad we don’t have to take the tile painting off the table. That would save some money, I imagine.

 

[newf]

My favorite home improvement project is our in ground swimming pool, hands down. I love, love, love it!

We had it put in years ago when our youngest was in 3rd grade. She is now 26 and lives in another state. But all my kids and grandkids love to come to the pool.

We designed it so that the first step is enlarged and little kids can sit and play. It is also a nice area to sit on the edge with my feet in as I have a glass of wine. The diving board is at the other end. And that provides so much entertainment for the bigger kids.

And of course, my newfoundland loves to swim in it. The basset hound, not so much.

 

[gardenswithkids]

My favorite home improvement project is our in ground swimming pool, hands down. I love, love, love it!

We had it put in years ago when our youngest was in 3rd grade. She is now 26 and lives in another state. But all my kids and grandkids love to come to the pool.

We designed it so that the first step is enlarged and little kids can sit and play. It is also a nice area to sit on the edge with my feet in as I have a glass of wine. The diving board is at the other end. And that provides so much entertainment for the bigger kids.

And of course, my newfoundland loves to swim in it. The basset hound, not so much.

Oooo! A pool !!! :tanning:

(And now we see where you got your user name.)

 

[gardenswithkids]

Thank you. My motto is: “Try.” You can either pay someone to do it or try it yourself. If it doesn’t work, you can pay someone to do it.

We had to “think outside the box” for the floors. A sunroom addition built by the previous owners has light maple flooring, and based on the advice of various people, including ourselves, we wouldn’t have been able to match the color exactly, and the result wouldn’t have looked right.

So we opted for a dark color with a result much like this: cdn.cosbysweaters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/214.png

In terms of actual DYI projects, laying a hardwood floor really isn’t all that hard. Takes a lot of time, but basic skills go a long way.

LOL, yes we’re mostly do-it-yourselfers here too. It’s kind of a fun hobby and the results are usually satisfactory.

(I clicked on that link to check out your floors. You must be some seriously devoted college basketball fans to create tri-color floors with UCF in the middle!)

 

[on_the_hill]

(I clicked on that link to check out your floors. You must be some seriously devoted college basketball fans to create tri-color floors with UCF in the middle!)

I’ll admit I walked into that one.

When I first showed that picture to a coworker, I said, “We used blue and white instead of black and gold…” (our local high school colors)

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

What were your favorite home improvement projects that you successfully completed?

It seems we’re always doing some project here or there in our home. We’ve done a few big projects that I loved. My favorite was probably the back porch in our old house because it created living space outside and gave me a fantastic spot to sit by my old rose garden. Now that I wrote that, the gardens are really my favorite, but my gardens are never really done.

Uhhhmmmmm…successful? Completed?

I’ll get back to you. It never ends, lol.