Home Improvement

Most people do Home Improvement in the Sprint and Summer, but because Winter is slow in our business, we try  to do ours during this time of year.

Our home is over 100 years old, but it is large and comfy enough to hold my big family, which was a huge factor when we purchased it 7 years ago and remains a huge factor still today.

The bad part is that in most rooms, it looks 100 + years old. We have updated the dining room and are almost finished save for the flooring. It was necessary to do this room first because i decided that the ugly pink wallpaper had to go...well the wallpaper ended up being 7 layers of wallpaper with plaster behind it, the plaster decide it had to come down with the wallpaper, so we were left with no choice but to tear out all the plaster in this room and replace with drywall, and we added higher more open ceilings without the "popcorn" finish.  The floors are hardwood, original to the early 1900's, but sadly they are warped in places and we cannot find any flooring to match ( i have scoured old houses, craigslist, etc) but the few pieces i did find were way out of budget.

Budget....now that is the key when doing Home Improvement for us. Quality materials but within our price range, so the overall picture may end up lasting years before i get it done. I hope not, but with prices soaring daily, you really never know. We are doing all the work ourselves, after all, Construction is our business. ( we actually do Steel construction but hubby is a master at all things Home improvement minus electric and heat and air work)

We are currently updating the main bath in the downstairs. In April of 2011, we had major floods here in East Tennessee, especially right in my area, now, my house sits on a hill, so it should not have been a problem, but all the water ran down the hill and pooled in our basement and crawlspace, which in turn caused major damage in our floor joist in the bathroom ( We did not have Flood insurance because we are nto considered to be in a flood zone), so the floors have been replaced. We have purchased new cabinets and sink and now have to replace drywall and the bath tub/shower. This, i am not looking forward too as i need to find quality products that will last as well as fit in my small budget.

Next up, which i hope to get a good start on this winter, is my Kitchen. I cannot afford to totally replace it as hoped, so i have taken a different approach. My counter tops  will be redone using Giani Granite paint kits ( which i cannot wait to review...it is on it's way) , so now i need to decide how to redo my cabinets ( they are very dark original wood and some will need repair ) . I want to strip and paint them in a lighter color, but need to find just the right stripping agents and tools . I need to tear down wall paper and decide what to do with the walls ( not much wall space to worry about as my kitchen is super tiny, which is not good when you have a large family such as mine) and i would like to replace the small floors with a decent flooring ( i have not made any decisions yet as to if i will do tile, laminate, etc)

My husband has informed me that the Kitchen is my project. The work shall be done by me and that if i finish everything else, he will then help with the floors provided i make the choices and stay within a small budget.

Not many women would take this on, but me, i am determined.
So now, it's research time, and hopefully i can find more great companies like Giani who would love to help with my Kitchen project just so i can prove to my husband that i can do this, and show other women and men alike how to give the Kitchen a whole new look on a budget.