Fixing up Your Home.
 

Just got done staining window sills, well at least part of them!

Still many to do.

Next will be doors.

Anyone else do home projects?

completed project: painted the living room.

current project: attempting to put together some crap from IKEA.

ongoing project: trying not to kill the flowers outside (cant do anything inside, because i have a greedy cat that will eat everything).


that's pretty much the extent of my expertise. :) I wish i was REALLY handy though, i'd like to re-do the ceiling fans and the fixtures in my bathroom. oh well!

Seeking hardy plants
 

It's not a "home" project, but outdoor.
For the first time in years, I have a patio. Apparently in the pages of forms I was handed when renting, it says the tenant maintains the patio. It seems tall weeds were the vegetation of choice by the prior tenant.
I asked management to remove the weeds, as in a big patch of them. I was told, no, it's not their responsibility. Fine, I'll hire someone to do it.
Then I'll plant something. Plants and I don't have a good history.
It's hot, the CA central valley, but I don't want cactus.
I'll look for flowers or green plants that are hard to kill.

We've done quite a bit since the hubby and I got our townhouse almost 3 years ago:

- put up a small "retaining wall" out front, filled in with soil, and planted new snapdragons each season
-new carpet and paint throughout the house
-new ceiling in the basement
-new cherry-stained wood trim around the fireplace, with matching trim around the room at the top of the walls (I know there's a better way to phrase that...)
-new bathtub
-new copper pipes throughout the house

Hubby just got done redoing the half-bath in the basement, it was FUGLY with dark dark wood accessories, a vanity from the 80s, and peel-and-stick yellow tiles. It now has beautiful ceramic tiles, a new vanity, and brushed nickel accents. We're going to refinish the upstairs full bath next (when we get more money to do it ;) ).

I'm guessing crown molding???

We redid our half bath (paint, pedestal sink, new mirror, new flooring), painted the kitchen and living room, and the hubby surprised me with new hardwood floors one weekend. All of that is in addition to the outdoor work we did at our house in CO... complete new landscaping and staining of the backyard deck.

question on the landscaping. I don't have a large area to plant, but don't want the weeds. Any recommedation on some hardy non cactus green plants/flowers in a sunny spot? Or I may just go to OSH, or home depot, and ask for fearless plants.

hehe, sounds like when i went to Lowes and asked for "green stuff i cant kill easy" lmao! i swear, i can kill WEEDS without trying!

i have an apartment but my parents are redoing their bedroom and ive been helping. they repainted, put down wood laminate, got one of those fancy closet units, redid the molding. the laminate was the most fun to do. i hated the color they were painting. (seriously, who still picks BEIGE???)

I personally am big on flowers, so I had a lot of lavender (very easy to grow, pretty and fragrant!) and a butterfly bush. If you want bushes or other hardy green plants, I'd go with an apache plume or mojave native. There are some good pics and information here: http://www.turtlestuff.com/shop/?shop=1&cat=41

thanks. the ghosts of my dead plants thank you. the lavendar sounds nice.

Would you visit my yard? I have a hillside I want to denude prior to planting anything, and our borough won't allow me to napalm it.

Current projects: minor kitchen remodel (ripped up the carpet, refinishing the hardwood floors underneath, and repainting), upstairs reorganization, and dealing with the roof replacements from the hail damage 2 months ago (softball size at 60 mph can be fun!!)

Starting soon: repaint the exterior

Wishlist: redoing the yard (taking up the current grass and starting over among other things!) and a fence for the backyard so I can actually use the yard and not just the neighbors' dogs and kids!!

We just finished replacing the lanolium (sp?) and mauve-pink carpet in our kitchen & family room with wood laminate. Painted the kitchen and the downstairs half bath. new light fixtures and drawer pulls in kitchen and half bath.
Next we will put the leftover laminate in the half-bath. Also, getting a new backyard playset for the kids- so assembling that and replacing the sod underneath with mulch and weed barrier.
Next spring, the kitchen will get new countertops and a new sink. At that point, my husband will probably decide it's time to move!

Oh, and assembling the bunk beds for the boys and moving the 2 year old in with the 5 yr old.

Plus having baby #3 in the midst of all of this (not exactly home improvement though).

Yep, that's the phrase I was looking for! :p

I love home projects! Has anyone ever painted kitchen cabinets? Mine are currently wood stained so I was going to clean them thoroughly, sand, prime and paint. It's going to be a huge project but I know it will be worth it.

I also want to add recessed lighting to the kitchen and family room and maybe other rooms (hire someone that is, I know I can't tackle that). I have no idea how much it will cost but I am sure it will make a huge difference as well.

We've done some projects getting the house ready for sale. Unfortunately, the builder beige on the wall is an obscure color that is very hard to match...cheap watered-down beige so we've bought 3 colors trying to match it. So there is a patch on the foyer wall leading down the stairs that is off-colored.:mad: