Who's remodeling?

[Pea-n-Me]

The subject has become one of my favorites lately.

Anyone else planning or in the midst of remodeling?

I'd love to hear about what everyone's planning or got going on.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Renovations?

Additions?

Redecorating?

Sprucing up?

 

[luvmyboys]

Painting right now... Moved in in July, entire house is that contractor's off white. I thought I could live with it for a while longer. I was wrong!

My boys rooms, guest room, family room & dining room are now finished. Kitchen, foyer, & stairway & upstairs hallway are next.

In the spring we'll be having a couple of walls torn down to open the floorplan up a bit, and hardwood put into the family room to match the rest of the 1st floor. I know it'll be an inconvenience & a mess for a while, but I'm excited!

 

[Mickeypooh99]

We are thinking of remodeling our living room this summer. I have been thinking of getting rid of the carpet, and going with wood floor, but I'm not sure. I worry it would be too fragile... Get scratched from the kids playing, or maybe water damage from someone spilling a drink. I'm not sure.

We really need new furniture in the living room since ours is falling apart, and I'm tired of sewing it up. So I have been trying to research that. I want something that will hold up to kids playing on, and cats sleeping on it.

We will also paint. Our entire house was painted an off white color 11 years ago when we moved in. I'm so tired of it. We need some color! We have a fireplace with grey stone, our furniture is beige, carpet is white. Very boring! We have held off on painting because our ceiling is 16 ft high in some places, and its not going to be easy.

 

[wendy46001]

Just painted the office last weekend...took awhile to pick a color…went with a nice blue…now i have to find curtains...so almost done...after we finish this room we are moving on to the guest bath

 

[LUVMYTINK]

A new roof, thanks to a leak we spotted last week.
Getting a metal roof so we never have to worry about it again ( lifetime warranty) & saves us 42% on our electric bill

After that we are starting on the hall bathroom -new sink/counter, paint and floor. Already replaced the toilet when we noticed it leaking RIGHT AFTER we moved in a year and a half ago.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Paint is such a great way to freshen things up.

What colors did you all use? Any pictures?

I have a few painting projects ahead of me, too. My family room, bedroom and the outside of the house. I have some ideas about colors but no final decisions yet (outside house will be the toughest one).

 

[hoosll]

DH and I discussed remodeling our bathroom but could not agree on a design (I could not agree to a glass wall in place of a shower curtain or tile wall ...) so we decided to take the bathroom money and spread it over a number of projects:

New heat pump and ductwork which freed up space in our closet (also qualified for tax rebate)

New closet system

New carpeting (replacing the 25 year old carpet in our bedroom)

New cabinets and counter in our laundry room which is also in a major hallway and was looking shabby

By doing a number of separate projects we supported a number of local contractors and suppliers. Our closet system was built in SW Va and the cabinets were built in MN so I was happy to send our money all around.

Work started 12/4 and the laundry should be finished this Friday. Lots of commotion but worth it.

Next we need to paint some rooms!

 

[dakcp2001]

We are looking to sell our home this summer, and our bathroom is from the 50s. Blue porcelain tub, sink, & toilet and vinyl overlay wall. I ripped off a wall (to df dismay) to see what was underneath, and it is AWFUL! Pink and black tile with blue porcelain! YUCKY!!!!

Sooooo,we need to do a super budget renovation!!! We are getting:

-new walls (some special sheetrock that is made for bathrooms, or areas that get damp)
- White toilet & pedestal sink
- having tub reglazed white
-installing a fan/light
-the tub area is already new tile, so leaving that alone
-retile floor
-oh and the $$$ part, rewire the bathroom to add a GFI plug for it to be up to code


In this market we cannot take the chance of trying to sell a home with a blue porcelain bathroom, lol.

 

[merekc]

We finished our basement last year (ourselves). It has been a really good thing.

This year we might add vents/ducts to the basement area. We were cheap and decided to see if the basement would stay comfortable without adding any vents. It has not been bad until it got so cold earlier this month. I think we decided to go ahead and add them. We already had it looked at during the finishing process and it is not a big deal to add them now.

We are also eyeing the kitchen to possibly update. I have plain white tile backsplash I would love to replace and old green counters that are showing wear. I think we could clean the cabinets really good, replace the hardware, replace the countertops and possibly the backsplash and have a whole new kitchen. Thinking about it.

We are also thinking about doing a lot of landscaping in the backyard this summer. Last year, we added two 4x4 raised gardens. We really enjoyed it. So we are thinking of adding some other garden areas in a more relaxed fashion.

 

[luv2sew]

Finally after about 20 years I decided that master bathroom wallpaper had to come off..so New Years Day I peeled away and there was absolutely no going back. We are still in the process of the redo because with the wallpaper came off whatever paint and primer was underneath. We ended up having to spackle, sand, primer and now we are finally painting.

Don't really have a lot of extra cash for the redo as my DH will be losing his job next month. So we found a new sink counter top with sink in it on clearance for $40 at Home Depot, painted the cabinet white instead of the walnut stain it had on that was water worn, and put new hardware on.

Got a new mirrored medicine cabinet, small wall cabinet for over the toilet for more storage, light fixture, fan light, shower curtain, and new toilet so that at least the sink and toilet will be a match. Cannot do anything with the shower stall as that was one of those huge one piece things that actually went in before the walls of the house. We made one big mistake when we built out home and that was to pick out shower, sink and toilet that was baby blue in color instead of going with a neutral color.Big mistake. So I'm stuck with the blue shower stall....but it's only in the master bath not too many people see it anyway.

So after all that the color will be a color "sea mist" which is a turquoise color and on the internet last week I found out it is one of the top colors for redos of baths and bedrooms this year. I think it will be very uplifting in morning to see such a pleasant joyful color.

So that is my remodel story and probably ended up spending about $600 total. A little more than we set out to spend but I think it will be great. Got the first full coat of paint on tonight and hoping to finally finish up this weekend on it.

 

[tinatark]

check the remodeling/building/buying boards at www.thathomesite.com

 

[blanq]

I have remodeling fatigue right now, so am taking a break. I do have a bathroom to undertake, and am just adding to my "ideas folder" right now...I have no energy to get beyond that. Two years ago, we undertook a major remodel (gut to the studs, kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, rebuilding the stairwell to the upper level, and spare room). It took 9 months, and meant moving out of our home for three months. Six months after that work was done, we redid the dining room, TV room and living room, including skim-coating all of the plaster/lathe walls, new carpeting (hardwood for the DR), and all new furniture and accessories. There is still more to be done, and that's what I get for buying a home built in 1903! I am so tired I cannot tell you. Here are some photos of the first project (I had the help of a designer):

Kitchen: http://www.spiredesigngroup.com/project14.html
Laundry: http://www.spiredesigngroup.com/project18.html
Bathroom: http://www.spiredesigngroup.com/project15.html

 

[arminnie]

I bought a 30 year old condo recently. The kitchen cabinets have been painted white, but the formica countertops are a beige color that just makes them look dirty next to the white.

The kitchen is pretty small so new laminate countertops would not be expensive. But if I do the countertops I should replace the old cabinets. If I go with new cabinets I should expand the kitchen. If I expand the kitchen I should remove the old tile on the floor and put in something new on all the floors.

But all of this seems like way too much trouble so I'm just going to go spend more time in New Orleans where I have a beautifully renovated condo (granite, wood floors and new cabinets).

My dad and I had lived together for 10 years in Little Rock. He moved into an independent living apartment in August. The house is on the market so I bought this condo. Unfortunately my dad died unexpectedly in December so I really don't have a reason to stay here now.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

These sound like great projects.

Blanq, your home looks gorgeous! Awesome job. I can definitely understand why you are wiped. We just finished up a kitchen remodel and are kind of feeling that way too, but we have lots more work ahead of us. We're in the midst of doing the whole house, pretty much by ourselves (with a few exceptions, as needed), on a budget, little by little. We've finished one bathroom, the living room, and the kids' rooms (which we still have to paint) already. Next up is our family room, bath/laundry and a storage room we're redoing. Then we have our bedroom, the cellar and outside work - painting, landscaping, etc. We're also having a sunroom built, which will hopefully start soon. It's exhausting, but we've been here 20+ years and life was always too busy, but it needed to be done so we're finally doing it.

having tub reglazed white

We did this, too. It looks great and has held up very well.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Is Jennasis here? I know you were doing some remodeling lately, too. I have a question for you.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Well, wouldn't you know. My dishwasher went yesterday, have to buy a new one. Need to make a decison - stick with black, or get the combination stainless/black. Decisions, decisions. (ETA decided to fix it and keep the black).

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I know others must be remodeling, let's keep this going.

I'd like to hear more stories and see more pictures.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

check the remodeling/building/buying boards at www.thathomesite.com

Forgot to say thanks for this website. I'm going to check it out.

 

[tonilea]

We are in a perpetual state of remodeling..... when ever you fix something, something else clearly looks like crap! lol