Cheap House Updates

    We are doing some changes in our house I wanted to share.  These are easy things that can be done by anyone, on any budget!  These things can make all the difference in the world too!  The first one I have done is our powder bathroom downstairs.  I was a nice beige color, but it was painted in the builders grade flat paint.  I HATE flat paint! 

 

 

This only took me about 4 hours total and 2 coats of paint.  I used a semi-gloss paint in here because it is the main bathroom my little boys use (enough said I hope) and our friends use when they come to play.  This will make it easy to wipe walls and keep clean.  I did use Benjamin Moore paint at Ace Hardware for about $30.00, but I also really like the Walmart brand paint which is only about $17.00!  I guess I should probably tell  you all the color of the paint too, just in case you love it too!  It is "Bourbon" from Lowe's 'Autumn Harvests of the Appalachians' collection.  Now, I can't guarantee it is still there.  I have honestly had this swatch taped to my bathroom wall for almost 4 years.  I don't know what I was waiting for!!!!

 

 

 

Another one I am currently working on is re-staining our fence.  We have one of those cedar fences that most of the people I have seen in the south just let weather and turn gray.  I am not a fan of that.  I feel if you are going to spend the $2-4,000 on the fence, you should keep it maintained by staining it.  For around $90.00 and about a days work of labor, you can do that.  I have always used the McCloskey brand of stain before and used a $15.00 sprayer, but this time around I was not able to find that brand of stain ANYWHERE!  I ended up having to use the 'Flood' brand.  It looks like paint so don't be alarmed like I was when I opened it up.  I am using a small roller because it would not work in the sprayer, but the roller is working very well!  The stain is going on beautiful too. 

 

                          

The section in the middle is what the fence looked like before I started staining!  Down the side and to the right are the color after.  What a difference, huh!  (Can you see the neighbors grey fence?  They have not ever stained their fence and they had theirs put in several months after ours.  I stained ours originally about 3 months after we were in the house and this is only the second time I will have done it, so you can see how well it has been protected).

 

So, I finally finished staining the fence today!  It has taken me a little longer than a day!  but, can you see the difference between my fence and the neighbors?  Do you see why I say spending $90.00 is worth it to keep your fence looking nice?  Fences like this will cost anywhere from $2,000-$4,000 depending on the size of it, so why would you want to let it just weather and turn grey?    Anyhow, I will get a better and closer picture once my husband has mowed the lawn!  Ha, ha!



 

    Do you have any walls that look like this behind the door?

 



What about even worse, like this?

 

We do have doorstops on all of our doors, however, the doorknobs are still banging into the walls creating lovely little, or large dings and holes in the wall.  So here is what you do:

 

For a small one, you can get soft doorstops.  Walmart has packs of 2 for just $2.97.  Get a small container of putty, which will probably be enough to fill all of the dings in your home.  Again, you can get one for about $3.97.  Fill in the hole with the putty and let it dry.  Repaint over it so the soft doorstop will stick.  Once it is all dry, hold the soft doorstop equal to the doorknob and slowly push it to the wall until you get it pushed on tight.

Here is the final product.  Works like a charm and you shouldn't end up with a giant hole!

 

The larger hole will take a little more effort.  You will need to get a wall hole repair kit.  You can purchase this from anywhere that sells home supplies- Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, Walmart, etc.  It costs about $10.00.  Here is what you'll do from there:

 

1.  Once you have your kit, sand down any rough edges around the hole.  Then attach the repair metal square, sticky side to the wall, over the hole as centered as you can.

2.  Apply a generous helping of plaster/putty over the top of the metal sheet.  You may have to let it dry as I did and do a second coat of it.

3.  After your 1st or 2nd coat is dried and you do not see the mesh plate or any sign it was there anymore, sand down the putty until it is smooth.  Wipe off the area and the wall area around it and paint over it.  Then you are able to follow the same steps as the smaller hole to apply the soft doorstop.



 

~Stacy~