Feeling a little out of touch lately since I am not actively involved with dirty hands in a DIY project at the moment.  My husband and I are building a new home and are acting as owner/builder which means doing our own project management.  Crazy maybe, but the reward at the end will be immeasurable.  Like any good project, it requires HOURS of careful planning beforehand to be successful.  Measure twice, cut once right?  I have also found that there is absolutely no way that I would be able to carry a huge binder or boxes of ideas around with me as we go through the extensive design planning process.   Sure formula for going crazy!

So, forget the old idea of magazine clipping and folder making.  Now, anyone can dream with ease by clicking the button on their mouse.  With the explosion of online information and social media, there are lots of sites now dedicated to the online consumer of information.  Even online “bookmarking a page” has gone into the caveman era.  Pinterest, Houzz and similar sites have grown by ginormous numbers that allow consumers to easily share and save socially their ideas, dreams and in the case of Houzz, portfolios of design professionals in your area that can help you.

As a user of both myself, I can tell you, it was love at first click to discover these sites.  These online based idea boards also allow me to also easily identify  a client’s ideas by going to look at their likes and wants on their idea boards online.  Anywhere that I have an internet connection, I can see YOUR ideas as well as my own.

Now to take it a step beyond the “idea board”…..Enter “Evernote” and “Dropbox”**…ahhh true love. 

**not a paid advertisement for either, just my own opinion based on heavy usage and what has worked well for me

Evernote allows you to easily clip pictures from your phone, camera, or any web site (ie Pinterest, Houzz etc).  It will also clip website URL’s, webpage text/image data you want to remember, emails you receive, documents (pdf, word, excel etc), self made notes you need to remember, etc. and they can all be filed at the click of a button into handy notebooks you establish.  Think “kitchen”, “bathroom”, etc. or even as minute as “kitchen faucet”, “bathroom tile color”   where you can add any and all the information to your heart’s content that you feel like you have researched or should remember.  The information syncs to all of your devices and to the cloud seamlessly, so its always available.  The notebooks can also be shared with whomever you choose as long as they also have Evernote.  Yes, my husband loved the notebook “man-cave” and anything I added to it because he received a notification when I added something new.  You can email or print from Evernote as well.  Sites like Pinterest and Houzz are limited to their own information,  so Evernote takes it a step further since it is completely user customizable and allows all media from all sources.

Finding myself calling contractors to get pricing, the all want high resolution pictures or my .pdf construction drawings.  Not easy to do via email given large file sizes and you sure aren’t going to spend the time making hard copies for mailing or face to face meetings.  The solution?  Drag and drop large file size documents and pictures into a free dropbox account and share the folder with anyone you choose and they can view or print on their end without ever emailing the information.  These large files also don’t take up space on my home computer since they are “in the cloud”.

Planning is everything in DIY so I hope you find these sites helpful by increasing your project organization skills and decreasing the paper and stress level involved in most DIY projects by having all the information at your fingertips.  This is one instance of why you should get your head in the cloud.

This 1920′s kitchen was in desperate need of a makeover.  New custom crafted cabinets were added for around $75 in materials,new  counters for less than $200, sink $120, faucet $150, lighting $60, new stainless backsplash $200 and appliances were added.  The old linoleum floor was pulled up to reveal wood floors that could be sanded and refinished.  The result?  See for yourself.

Kitchen Before

Stove area before hot water heater was moved to attic and a new custom built cabinet was added

Kitchen floor once linoleum was pulled up

Kitchen After

Kitchen after

** Disclaimer:   I am NOT a licensed electrician.  However, there are many simple projects such as this, that you can do for yourself safely and accurately, as long as you follow EACH step precisely.  Any deviation or questions, should be consulted further before proceeding.

Materials Needed:   flat and  Philips (star head) screwdrivers, wire strippers, plug in style voltage tester (shows proper ground, etc)

How to replace:

1)  First and foremost, the most important thing to do is to turn off the WHOLE house power at the breaker panel.  The “main” switch is usually at the top.  For good measure, I not only flip this one switch but also each individual switch as well to OFF.  Overkill maybe, but it doesn’t hurt anything.  Of course, just to be certain or if there’s a concern, power off AC’s, computers, TV or other sensitive electronic equipment before you flip the breaker.  Some people still like to double check each outlet before they begin by inserting an inexpensive plug in type of voltage tester that shows “no voltage”.  This is perfectly fine if it makes you feel better, but really, if you have turned off ALL breakers, there should be no voltage.

2)  Begin by unscrewing the outlet cover and discard since this is what you are replacing.  Usually a flat head screwdriver is all you need to do this.

3) Next, unscrew the old outlet you want to replace and pull gently from the box so that the side of the outlet/switch is exposed along with the wires.  STOP HERE

4)  Take a good look at how it is wired.  If your outlet is wired with anything other than the following, it would involve a more advanced discussion and you should not proceed until you consult a licensed electrician or more advanced instruction.  What I am about to discuss covers the majority of house wiring you will find in the outlet boxes:

BLACK (copper wire with a black insulating cover)=hot wire

WHITE (copper wire with a white insulating cover)=neutral wire

COPPER (no insulation)=ground

5)  Using a screw driver, remove the wires from the old outlet by loosening each of the screws.   Someone once gave me great advice:  If you have 2 sets of the 3 wire system (i.e. 2 blacks, 2 whites wired to one outlet), as you remove them from the old outlet, bend them back in the same pattern so that you can remember how it should go back in to the new outlet.  Most older outlets were wired with a “loop” around the screw.  For this instruction, we are covering “new style” only and discarding the old loops.  The newer style outlets and switches are great because the wire gets inserted directly into a slot in the back without having to get the loop just right, which can be time consuming.

6)   Using the wire stripper, clip off the old loop back to the insulating cover.  You can leave the exposed  copper wire loop as you will re-use this.

7)  Using your wire strippers, find the slot that best matches the size of your wire (usually a 12 or 14 slot) and go up about a 1/2″-3/4″ on the black and white wires consecutively and clamp and pull.  The wire strippers will strip away the insulating cover only and leave exposed copper wire.  Leave the newly exposed area “straight”.

8)  Take your new outlet and look at the back and sides.  You should see 5 screws (2 silver, 2 gold, 1 green), the back should have 4  small holes and lettering that actually take the guess work out for you by stating “HOT” and “this side up”.  Easy huh?!

9)  One at a time, insert the black wire into the slot at the top hole on the back marked “HOT” (or if you have 2, in the same pattern as before in both of the “hot” side holes).  You should actually feel a small “click” when its pushed in correctly.  You should not see ANY exposed copper wire sticking out of the outlet.  If it is, pull it out and snip off the small amount that is extra with your wire strippers.  Fasten the side screw securely and pull on the wire.  It should not give at all.  Once this is done, proceed to the white wire and repeat.

10)  Reusing the loop for the exposed copper wire, loop the wire around the green screw and secure well so that it does not slip.

11)  Once you are satisfied with the fastening, simply push back into the box securely and screw to the outlet box with the screws already provided.  Finish with a new cover.

12) Once you are completely done, you may turn the breakers back on. Using your voltage tester, plug it in and it will confirm that you are all wired properly.

You will love the clean, crisp feel of a fresh outlet!  Please feel free to comment if you have any questions!

Demo:  removed all pine tongue and groove slat walls, relocated back door from its current spot and removed half window, used Craigslist to dispose of all old appliances, reconfigure stainless counter top to fit a modern sink

Here is what I started with; in this photo you can see the slat walls, the back door in its current location and the lack of an additional upper cabinet:

I began by demoing all the slat wall and stripping the cabinets:

I began building new upper cabinets to match the originals (my first time to build cabinets!) and relocated the counter top to receive a new sink and installed new sheetrock:

The back door was relocated and the half window cut out:

Another first, polished concrete counters tops for the new lower cabinets built in the utility area and adjacent to the stove:

Now for the finished result.  More cabinets with new polished concrete counter tops, new appliances in including a dishwasher addition, new lighting, new switches and outlets, fresh paint including the new color for the cabinets, new marble and stainless steel backsplash, refinished hardwood floors

The newly incorporated utility area:

In small spaces, I recommend using a brush. but in the larger areas, the stain is applied easily with a paint roller and an extension pole.  Here you can see how it hides all the imperfections and repairs made to the original hardwoods very well.  When patching wood to be sealed, make sure you get the wood filler that says “paintable AND stainable”.

The stain will be “tacky” to the touch for several hours.  You don’t want to proceed to sealing until the stain is completely dry which typically takes at least 24 hours if not slightly more, especially in humid conditions.

Once the stain is completely dry, you can proceed to sealing.  Minwax makes a Polyurethane for Floors; I chose a satin finish which will look shiny when wet as you can see in the below photo but dries to a nice subdued finish.  It applies easily with a lambswool applicator attached to a painters pole.  After about 4 hours, the manufacturers label says that you can reapply a 2nd coat without sanding in between.  If you wait to let the first coat dry, you should plan to sand the area with a fine grit sandpaper and remove all sanding dust before proceeding.  In this case, I opted to reapply the 2nd and 3rd coats so that I could eliminate the sanding.  A word of warning here and that is to wear a face mask meant to block odors because this stuff is very noxious!  Allow at least 48 hours before walking on the surface.

The finished look:

Here’s what was done to transform this room:  1)  All fixtures and finishes were removed except the medicine cabinet and tile 2) new travertine tile was installed directly over the old tile 3) new toilet, vanity, lighting and fixtures 4) had a plumber help to replace old galvanized pipes in walls and under foundation for new shower  5) installed new step in shower pan, backboard and tile for shower 6) instead of going back with mini-blinds, I used a frosted window film that I found that gives privacy yet lets the natural light shine in uncluttered.

Details:  wall paint color-Mushroom Bisque, oil rubbed bronze fixtures by Danze, Medicine cabinet and shower trims painted Espresso brown, shower tile is a combo of blanco tumbled marble and a glass mosaic I found at Lowe’s

Before: 

Shower

Vanity area

First step:  DEMO, my favorite!!  This was also the stage where I found out that the tongue and groove planks were not original to the home which made me feel a lot better about not saving them!

Taking a hammer to the shower tile-this revealed the wood interior walls behind

Old tub removed…Craigslist is great for having a heavy cast iron tub removed for FREE-recycle!

Old plumbing revealed…some of the old connections literally crumbled in my hands

Sink removed but original medicine cabinet intact

One of my favorite discoveries-the original wallpaper behind the shower tile!  To hang wallpaper in the 1920′s, they first tacked cheese cloth to the wood walls with tiny nails and then glued paper to the cheese cloth.  I left it all in place behind the new cement backer board.

New tile going in

New 18″ travertine laid directly over original tile

New vanity, hardware and toilet and sheetrock walls

AFTER:

New doorless, step in shower

Completed fixtures and freshly restored medicine cabinet

The bedroom, like other rooms in the unit showed many signs of settlement with cracks above almost every door and window.    The home has a pier and beam foundation with a brick ledge around the perimeter which all had to be leveled and repaired.  This allowed me to make the crack repairs inside.  In the bedroom alone, there are six lovely windows that allow A LOT of natural light to enter so I definitely did not want ugly cracks to detract from that beauty.  The bedroom also had an area on the wood floor that had been damaged either by a prior roof leak or heavy object that was dropped.  I was able to cut the damage out and match the hardwood.  In older homes like this, all of the walls, interior and exterior are actually tongue and groove wood and over time sheetrock installed over the wood.  Pretty much, you can install a picture anywhere without having to wonder if you hit a stud!

Bedroom (Before)

Bedroom before

Bedroom (After):  Paint, new blinds, windows, doors and trims painted, new fan and outlets/switches with stainless covers, refinished hardwoods with a repair area and all door and window settlement cracks repaired

Paint color:  Home Depot’s Behr Paint and Primer in One- Mushroom Bisque

Floors stained:  Minwax Jacobean with a satin Polyurethane for Floors

Here is a picture of the product:

Tools you need:  Measuring tape, straight edge, razor knife, soapy water in a spray bottle; the film itself comes with a squeegee

Here are the steps:

1)  Clean the window-ensure interior of window is completely clean

2)  Measure the area to be covered and cut film on the paper side using a razor knife and straight edge-Before you cut the film, ensure that it will be even on both sides if there is a pattern.  To do this, subtract 50% of the total reduction from each side.  In other words, in my case, my width was 21 1/2″ and the film is 24″ wide; I cut 1 1/4″ from each side.  Repeat the same measurement for length.

3)  Wet the window-Using a spray bottle with water and a couple of drops of  hand soap inside, wet the window generously.  The wetter the window, the easier to work with the film.  Of course, lay a towel down on your floor to protect it from the drips.

4) Apply the film-Starting in one corner, peel the film from the paper backing and press into place and gently continue to roll the paper backing away and pressing the film against the window at the same time.  Be careful not to let the paper come in contact with the window.

5) Squeegee the air bubbles-Using the provided squeegee, start in the middle and work outwards to remove all air bubbles. Once dry, the film should be nicely adhered.

No more blind and a bonus that I now made my 1920′s door look like it has a leaded glass insert.  Love it!  This really was such an easy project that gave me so much reward and was much faster than installing a floppy blind!  I’m going to now use the same film but in etched glass to get rid of the blind in the bathroom.

If you have any questions, let me know…hope you enjoy transforming your window.