The past few months have been very busy and challenging for my family as we have been getting ready to make a big move across country. If you could not tell by some of my postings (cheap house updating--painting and such), we were getting ready to put our home on the market, hoping to sell quickly in a very slow market. I needed to make sure it looked its very best before we listed it. If you have never been house hunting before, let me just say, it would amaze you how many people do NOT do this and it is a HUGE turnoff to their homes being sold. Everything I did to get the house ready cost less than $1,500 to get looking as close to a a model home as I could and we did end up getting more than we paid for the house! I hope that goes to encourage anyone debating whether it is worth it or not. We only hired out for one part of the 2 month process and that was painting up a stair case with up to 20' ceilings. That one was worth paying a professional who had the correct equipment to do this instead of break our necks trying! Anyhow, long story short, here are just a few more do it yourself things to help fix or spruce up your place to just enjoy your home more or maybe get it ready to sell. We are coming up on spring and summer which are the hottest times to sell you house.
This first clip is how to fix nail pops you might find on the walls or ceilings. We had a lot of them I had to fix, but they are super simple. All they require is a hammer, putty, putty knife, sand paper and then paint to go over it with after the patch. You can buy a wall patch kit at any store that sells home improvement supplies for roughly $7-10.00. They will often have the little sander in them with the putty and knife as well. As shown in the video, all you have to do is:
1. Hammer the popped nail back in
2. Use the putty knife to rub of any extra dry wall
3. Patch the hole with putty and wait until it dries
4. Sand flat
5. If it is on the wall and you have texture, you can purchase a texture canister at the home improvement stores to match the texture and spray. Let dry
6. Paint over with flat paint
7. Paint over again with the color of the wall or ceiling.
***TIP*** I really do love to pain and I have learned a few tricks. One thing I have recently learned is when you do patch holes or touch up areas with putty, after you have sanded the area down and applied texture if needed, apply a flat paint before you put on the matching color to the wall. This will help avoid the glare of the sheen you can often see afterwards if you have painted with a satin (eggshell). Amazing trick that works really well!!!
Another thing I had paid to have done when we moved last time was have someone repaint all of my trim and doors. I had already painted the walls but thought the baseboards and doors was too much for more. I paid the man about $600 and he was there for about 2 days. I watched what he did and it looked incredibly easy. The outcome was AMAZING. The house looked so good and we ended up selling the house in only 4 days, again making a lot more than we paid for it! Well worth it. So when I was getting this home ready to put on the market, I thought I would give it a chance. I bought 2 gallons of the trim and door paint from Sherwin Williams (no color added). I watched for a coupon. They often have 30-40% off coupons. The paint was about $26.00/gallon. I used my great trimming brush and a really big putty knife, started in one room and worked around until I had completed the whole house. I used the putty knife to hold the carpet down so I wouldn't get paint on it and it worked great. Again, the finished product was FABULOUS!! A bright, crisp white against all of the other colors I had painted in the home. I loved it! Here are some before and after pictures of the baseboards.
Baseboards before painting them
Large putty knife tucked under the baseboard, ready to paint.
Same wall after trim painted.
Kitchen wall after trim and baseboards painted.
Another thing that is super easy and cheap to do and helps add a lot to your kitchen is accessories above the top cupboards if you have them. This is really inexpensive and if you have a Hobby Lobby, or Michael's near you, watch the papers or print a 40% coupon each time you go in and you will never pay full price for any of the decorations. Get candles and holders, pictures, clocks, greenery, fancy vases, baskets in a variety of sizes anything you would like to look at. To get different heights on things, use old books or containers to lift things above to a good viewing level.
Just get a variety of things so it doesn't look all the same and it will add a lot to your kitchen!
Have fun!!
~Stacy~
