DIY Home Projects

[mrs.b]

I've grown addicted and cannot help myself, and I blame the influence Degreeforum.net had on me. Despite far too many hours at work and the usual necessities of taking care of a home, when I finished my various classes, I started some general DIY projects. A garden was first, but it got cold and I'm not that great at green-thumbing. So I turned indoors, and have a ton of ideas and one room almost completely done for what I'm estimating will be less than $500, furniture and all.

Redecorating the bedroom, I'm going with a beach-inspired decor. Blue walls, sandy colored carpeting (it's there already, much as I'd like to do hardwood throughout), and a palm-like ceiling fan in dark wood. Made curtains from a canvas fabric a friend had in his garage and was throwing out that reminds me of sails. Saw someone dropped an old waterbed bedframe on the curb, so I shoved it in the SUV and sanded and stained it dark, nailed some supports inside and made a platform bed, and found an old wood door on the curb from another house some contractors were gutting and flipping, and I refinished it for a headboard. Have some vendor friends I know from work hunting for decent looking rope spools (they throw them out after selling the rope lengths from them) to sand, stain, and make into nightstands. Still deciding what to do with my dresser since it does not go with idea, and am determined not to buy something new. Wanted sea fans in shadow boxes but the ready-made ones are insanely priced, so found some cheap on eBay and am going to shadowbox them myself, along with some other general wall art I already had or am shopping for cheap. Once I'm done with my part-time job and get my weekends back, my son and I are going to take some walks along the local beach to hopefully find some good seashells.

So that room is almost done...and I've got all new ideas to redo the living room, dining room, kitchen, my son's room, playroom, family room, bathrooms... If I could get an accredited Bachelors degree without spending tens of thousands of dollars, I realized a bit of extra research and work could get most everything else. And I learned how to use power tools!

I'm curious if there are any other DIY'ers in this bunch, and what projects are on the roster?

[rebel100]

I built the house we live in. Buy, remodel, and sell houses for fun and profit. in fact the MBA hiatus I'm in now is due to getting involved in a rehab I couldn't pass up.

[Westerner]

Redecorating the bedroom, I'm going with a beach-inspired decor. Blue walls, sandy colored carpeting (it's there already, much as I'd like to do hardwood throughout), and a palm-like ceiling fan in dark wood. Made curtains from a canvas fabric a friend had in his garage and was throwing out that reminds me of sails. Saw someone dropped an old waterbed bedframe on the curb, so I shoved it in the SUV and sanded and stained it dark, nailed some supports inside and made a platform bed, and found an old wood door on the curb from another house some contractors were gutting and flipping, and I refinished it for a headboard. Have some vendor friends I know from work hunting for decent looking rope spools (they throw them out after selling the rope lengths from them) to sand, stain, and make into nightstands. Still deciding what to do with my dresser since it does not go with idea, and am determined not to buy something new. Wanted sea fans in shadow boxes but the ready-made ones are insanely priced, so found some cheap on eBay and am going to shadowbox them myself, along with some other general wall art I already had or am shopping for cheap. Once I'm done with my part-time job and get my weekends back, my son and I are going to take some walks along the local beach to hopefully find some good seashells.

Just wanted to comment that this idea is SO cool!! I love themed rooms, and the beach is one of my favorite themes :coolgleam: I'm sure the room looks awesome

[merolpn]

I built the house we live in. Buy, remodel, and sell houses for fun and profit. in fact the MBA hiatus I'm in now is due to getting involved in a rehab I couldn't pass up.

I know the feeling. As a licensed electrical contractor, I can't pass up a rehab or a commercial job. There isn't much after-hours industrial side work for an electrician right now, so I take whatever comes along. I built (with other friends in the trades) 3 restaurants, a sports bar and remodeled a 3 family in the last year. I needed every dime I made. There is a sense of urgency for every kid to get a college degree and maybe that is justifiable but I wouldn't ever steer a kid away from getting a trade license in plumbing, heating, AC or electrical first then going to college.

Mrs B, check out local electrical supply houses for wire spools. Also, you can also cut wine barrels in half for your night stands. I think Jack Daniels sells them or go to a wine-making store. Doing things yourself is a great feeling of accomplishment. Keep it up, you are creating value all by yourself!

In my area there is a place that is a big warehouse where contractors that demo old buildings donate the old fixtures for charity. Anyone can go in and buy whatever they are looking for doors, windows, appliances, just about any old thing you can think of. This may be something local to New England due to the amount of old houses and buildings but it's worth a shot. You may also be able to find a Habitat for humanity store to buy leftover building materials. From what I understand, the excess materials are sold to fund future projects so by shopping there, you keep the cycle of goodwill going.

[mrs.b]

Oh, rehabing and flipping houses is something I secretly wish I had the nerve and know-how to do. For at least the present, I should stick to reclaiming and repurposing furniture, LOL. The idea of dealing with electrical or plumbing is more than a little intimidating. How long does it typically take to rehab, find a buyer, and get out? Do you do all the work yourself, or do you use contractors for some of it?

Theme rooms can be cute, but they can get overdone quickly. I do not like a lot of clutter, so I'm trying to stick to the beach inspiration for color and just a few odds and ends. It's still being pulled together, but once a few of the other main pieces are found and done, I can snap a picture. I'm enjoying saving discarded furniture, fixing the handful of scratches or broken bits that got them set on the curb, and giving them a new purpose. And only a few things feel more awesome than having an entirely new room, with furniture that looks brand new, for what I previously would have been paid for one bedstand. I would rather spend actual money on quality pieces, like a good piece of art or a nice rug (hunting a good sisal rug for the living room because our tile floors get coooold), and save on things where the same result can be done with a bit of work. In the dining room, I'm researching how to build a window seat for a bay window to start after the bedroom is done. And beadboard...that project makes me nervous. I've heard its not as easy to install as it looks.

[mrs.b]

merolpn, I LOVE the idea of a half wine barrel! That might look better than the spool. Now I'll have to rethink. (The spool tables could also work on our patio room...another project, heh.) Thank you! I'll have to look into those supply options. I've been curb shopping, thrift storing, and garage saling, and picking up the rest at Home Depot or Lowes. Would love to find a Habitat for Humanity store, though. I'm off to research it now!

[rebel100]

At the risk of exposing far too much of my feminine side check out the "plans" section here Ana White | Free and Easy DIY Furniture Plans to Save You Money I freakin love some of this stuff!

[mrs.b]

Bookmarked! There are a couple ideas I may borrow from there. The superhero house shelving would be great in my son's playroom. He has the largest Bionicle collection on the face of the planet - I'm convinced - and regularly puts together massive battle scenes where villians launch off his television stand, fly across to his chair (which also needs to be redone...looking at that banquette plan, too!) to assault heroes having picnic lunches on top of our sleeping cats (thank goodness they're mild tempered). That would give him a better base of operations that would not risk kitty scratches.

Never thought I'd ask for a nailgun for my birthday.

[rebel100]

Never thought I'd ask for a nailgun for my birthday.

If you give a woman a nail gun...she's gonna want an Air Compressor...if you give her an Air Compressor...

Seriously, I discovered the Kreg Jig on that site Shop Kreg Toolboxx Complete System at Lowes.com Must have!

[merolpn]

If you give a woman a nail gun...she's gonna want an Air Compressor...if you give her an Air Compressor...

In that case, I would just buy her the air compressor! I would add a few things to that purchase too.......air chuck (she can fill her own tires) 1/2" Impact (she can change the tire), Heck while I was at it, shop vac, circular saw, table saw, radial arm saw, belt sander, paint guns, reloading bench, dies.....................oh man forget it, that's the stuff I want.