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.
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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The only thing we were able to salvage from Mom’s old powder room for her new accessible bathroom was the one-piece toilet. For the longest time it sat in the dining room. Not the most appetizing sight but that’s about to change! Continue reading
How to clean tile grout was always an issue with our white tile and light grout. Until we found an easy solution! A few years ago Hubs offered to rip up our ugly white tile and replace it with new tile. It was a very tempting offer, but I didn’t have the heart to send all that waste to landfill. Continue reading
Today you’re getting a sneak peak of the new bathroom my sisters and I planned and designed for our Mom. Continue reading
Resanding with Polymeric sand marks the end of an era at Birdz of a Feather. All good things must come to an end; nothing lasts forever. Today that sentiment is twofold: we’ve updated our logo and are replacing the polymeric sand in our front walkway! Continue reading
When we built the mancave and craft studio in the basement, double door access was a must have so we could easily move my industrial equipment into the space. We used a sliding door kit elsewhere in the house and were so happy with the result that it was a no-brainer to install a similar system in our basement. This time, we chose to do pocket doors since we were dealing with new construction. Continue reading
Pond maintenance is par for the course if you want to enjoy an urban oasis. Are ponds high maintenance? Yup; but there’s a secret to keeping algae at bay if you continue to read. That will help keep maintenance during the season to a minimum.
Opening up the pond for the season is a dirty job. But somebody has to do it – and thankfully, it’s not me! I’m happy to take my place behind the camera to help show you how it’s done 🙂 Continue reading
A few years ago, we replaced all our kitchen appliances with Energy Star appliances and are reaping the benefits of energy savings. However, we still have a set of washing machines that my grandmother purchased for me over 20 years ago when I was still single. Given the sentimental value, and the fact that they’re still going strong, I don’t have the heart to replace them. Unfortunately that makes sustainable savings in the laundry room a challenge. They are energy guzzlers; my 1990s electric clothes dryer, for instance, use at least 17 percent more energy than those produced today. Continue reading
As you saw in Part I of Waste Not Want Not, in trying to live a more a sustainable lifestyle, it’s important to us to reduce food waste. In Part II, we’re taking it another step further. Along with reducing food waste, we’re reducing water and excess packaging waste to reduce our environmental impact.
Have you ever given any thought to renovating for an aging population? Like the needs of an aging parent – or for your own future needs? Aging in place has never crossed our minds until recently! Birdz of a Feather is known for it’s detailed, hands-on DIY tutorials. But today I’m stepping away and taking off my tutorial writing hat to switch it out for one that supports my role as a daughter. Continue reading
Mold prevention – and remediation – after any kind of leak or flood is hugely important because of health implications. We learned a hard lesson last year after the pipe connected to our outdoor faucet burst and caused water damage in my newly built craft room. In that post (part 1), we showed you how we installed a frost proof faucet to repair it and make sure it wouldn’t happen again. Now that it’s Fall, we’d like to remind you to remove the hose from the faucet – even if you have a frost-proof one, so you don’t make the same mistake we did. Leaving a hose connected during the winter is a recipe for disaster! Continue reading
Today we’re showing you how to maximize kitchen space with some kitchen storage improvements. Continue reading
Without a doubt, kitchens help sell houses! So when we were thinking of selling our house, a kitchen renovation was a must! Unfortunately, the previous owner of our house didn’t think that way. Continue reading
Today’s post is a quick one to show you how Hubs made over the filing cabinet for his mancave. Continue reading
I had yet to install a paver walkway, despite owning and renovating two houses before this one. Hubs came into the picture shortly after I bought this house so it was great timing for me; maybe not so much for him! Faced with rows of underwhelming builder slabs that the previous owner lived with for over 20 years, the perfect opportunity presented itself for both of us to learn a new skillset! Continue reading
And now for something completely different! When we didn’t have enough wall space for a clock in the Mancave, it didn’t stop us. We built a Foghorn Leghorn clock right into the door of our IKEA Besta TV stand! Continue reading
Have you ever thought about a crackle paint finish to upcycle an Ikea wall cabinet? Neither have we: this update was a fluke! Hubs and I are supplement users so when our local pharmacy started a twice a year anniversary sale, we wanted to take advantage of the huge price savings. Unfortunately we didn’t have anywhere to store a 6-month supply of supplements until the next sale! Enter Ikea! Continue reading
When we were looking for backsplash ideas for our laundry room, we fell in love with a patterned backsplash tile. Today we’ve got a tutorial specifically on how to install a patterned backsplash. I have to warn you that it’s a long post because there’s a ton of valuable information 🙂 Continue reading
A ledger board is a must-have step for supporting the weight of the tile as it dries when starting with a clean slate (no lower cabinets). If you’re as indecisive as us and you want to move ahead with tiling a backsplash, keep this post handy. We’re going to explain how to install a ledger board to keep wall tile level when installing. Our updated how-to guide for tiling a patterned backsplash will follow here tomorrow!