A vintage stamp holder gets upcycled to create a wooden paint brush holder that rotates like a Lazy Susan. Continue reading
Wooden Paint Brush Holder – (Rotating)
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Category Archives: Home Improvements – DIY Renovations
We’ve done many home improvements over the years and want to pass our experience along to you! We’ve fully renovated our basement to include a man cave, laundry room and craft studio. You’ll find tutorials on renovating bathrooms, installing baseboards, laying engineered hardwood floors, how to hide the electrical panel and more.
Home Improvements – Some Ideas
Over the years we’ve slowly improved the builder grade finishes in our humble abode by renovating. However, it didn’t happen overnight! We’re making our way through each room of the house and learning as we go.
If you’re a beginner, I hope our projects will give you some ideas and help you build the confidence to try a renovation project or two in your own home!
We’ll show you storage solutions for the kitchen and laundry room. We’ll even show you how to renovate your kitchen if you’re thinking of moving.
Check out some of our most popular home improvement posts:
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- Kitchen Storage Improvements
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- Kitchen Renovation to Sell a Home
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- Renovating for an Aging Population
Also,
How to Whiten Sheets
It wasn’t until we were just about ready to list my sister’s house that how to whiten sheets even came onto our radar. Up until then, we stored our yellowed cotton sheets and duvet cover away, thinking they’d never see the ‘white’ of day again. But an impending open house and zero staging budget have a way of getting us to spring into action! Continue reading
How to Fix Scratches on Wood Floor
Do you know how to fix scratches on wood floor? Whether for home maintenance or to get the best selling price for your home, we’re showing you the easiest way to fix those scratches and gouges! Continue reading
Small Backyard Landscape Ideas: Backyard Oasis
We think you’ll find inspiration in our small backyard landscape ideas! Planning and laying out a garden can be challenging in a small yard where space is limited, but we’ve got some solutions! Continue reading
Remote Control Holder – Leather Wrap Handle
Today we’re making over a thrift store wooden caddy by turning it into a remote control holder and answering the age-old question: how do I keep my remote organized? Do you always lose your remote controls too? This one will keep your remotes in one handy spot! Continue reading
Gas Fireplace Won’t Light? Easy Fix
What do you do when your gas fireplace won’t light? This very thing happened to us just when winter was setting in. But you know what else was setting in? Omicron! If you’re us, you nix calling in an expert because it’s early days of a new variant and you don’t want to take chances. After some initial anxiety on my part about ‘messing with fire’, Hubs got it working for a while. But he only had short-lived success.
There are only two season in Canada: winter and construction. So now is as good a time as any to fix our gas fireplace!
Powder Room Makeover – on a Beer Budget
Our powder room makeover was a long time coming. It is the first room you see as you come into our front entry and it was an eyesore. Dated oak cabinets, builder beige walls, old toilet and an ugly light fixture made for a poor first impression. Continue reading
Pull Out Cabinet – Turn a Filler Panel into Storage
A pull out cabinet is a great solution to utilize wasted space in the kitchen. Although our kitchen is a beautiful space, it isn’t overly functional; I knew we could do more to maximize the limited storage. The light bulb went off one day when I was surfing the net and found a base filler cabinet roll out. Continue reading
Upcycling Ideas and More – Best of the Nest
We’re popping into your inbox today to bring you these upcycling ideas and more. These are some of our favourite picks of the nest from this year. Continue reading
Pegboard Craft Organizer (Organizing the Craft Studio)
If you liked our last pegboard idea – where we showed you how to hang a sliding pegboard in a cabinet, you might just love this pegboard craft organizer! We’re on a roll with rolling pegboards: it also slides out. But instead of being hidden away in a cabinet, it slides out from the wall! Continue reading
Loose Lay Vinyl Plank Flooring Installation
Today we’ve got the ultimate guide on our loose lay vinyl plank flooring installation. Because it’s waterproof, durable and can be easily removed and reinstalled if you ever have a flood, loose lay luxury vinyl plank is a no-brainer for a basement. And, let’s face it, most basements will experience water damage at some point (you can read about how we recovered from our first leak here). Continue reading
Stone Patio Installation – a DIY Achievement
A stone patio installation is likely the most backbreaking work you will ever attempt. But it’s also the most rewarding DIY! That’s because the money you save on labour can be put right back into high end finishes and accessories. In our case, that high end finish is real Travertine. We fully intended to splurge on this stone but as luck would have it, the company was moving locations and it was on clearance! Better to sell cheap than to shlep it to the new location!
Installing real stone is as easy as pavers and looks so elegant when it’s done! So it’s nothing to be intimidated by! Continue reading
Luxury Vinyl Flooring Innovation – True North LVMax
Our luxury vinyl flooring install was a long time coming. You might even say long overdue. Our basement flooded and we lost our beautiful engineered hardwood floor. Collateral damage of course was my craft studio, Hubs’ man cave and our laundry room. Despite doing all the right things, and even recovering from a previous flood, we knew we were taking a risk by installing real wood. After the incident, our dimpled membrane did not save us a second time. But that’s now water under the bridge (or I guess under the floor!).
Now with the flooring out, we’re down to bare concrete again. Continue reading
Walk In Shower Remodel – How to Go Curbless!
A walk in shower remodel takes centre stage. Today we’re showing you how to add a curbless shower to a two piece bathroom on the main level. Continue reading
How to Install Baseboards in 12 Steps
Adding baseboard to a renovated space is like putting lipstick on a face; it’s the finishing touch that brings it all together. Today we’re showing you how to install baseboards to get professional looking results if want to DIY your baseboards. Whether you’re building out a space from scratch (like us) or replacing baseboard trim with more modern baseboards, these tips and tricks will help you get a great-looking finish. Follow along how to install base boards with our 12-step guide. Continue reading
Trouble Shooting Baseboard Gaps: How to Scribe
Are you afraid to tackle DIY baseboard because your floors aren’t perfectly level? Well, don’t be! Our basement installation was going pretty smooth when all of a sudden, we were confronted by huge gaping spaces between the floor and the baseboard! If this isn’t the look you’re going for either, read on 😉. Today we’re showing you how to scribe to troubleshoot this common problem. Continue reading
Engineered Hardwood Floor: Basement Installation
If you are considering installing real hardwood in a basement, an engineered hardwood floor should be your only consideration – in conjunction with a dimpled membrane! The membrane will help protect the floor from vapour migration coming up from the concrete slab. It will also protect from minor leaks – as we found out when one of our pipes burst a year after this install! Continue reading
Customize Ikea Cabinets – Laundry Room Makeover
More and more people are realizing that you can customize IKEA cabinets. Even the most experienced carpenters we know buy IKEA boxes and then build their own doors. You just can’t beat the price or convenience. So that’s exactly what we started with when we renovated the laundry room in our basement! Our laundry room makeover will show you how to customize and install Ikea cabinets. Continue reading