Rain on a Tin Roof

Tag: remodel

Tackling a Bathroom Remodel on a Budget: Nine Ideas

Tile, vanity, hardware, plumbing fixtures. It all adds up and it all adds up fast! These nine bathroom remodel ideas on a budget will help you save some serious dough! The best part? No compromising on style!

Bathrooms and kitchens. The two rooms that will make or break your house when it comes selling time and that also tend to cost the most when it comes to renovations.

If you’ve got the budget for an out-of-this-world bathroom renovation, then go for it! There isn’t a doubt in my mind, you’ll enjoy that bathroom for years and years to come.

If, however, your bathroom remodel budget is closer to non-existent than anything else, no worries! I’ve got nine different ideas for you here that can help you save some serious dough on your bathroom remodel, without compromising style.

Local Chattanooga folks – I’ll be teaching a workshop about remodeling your bathroom on a budget in November – more details here!

Bathroom Remodel on a Budget

Have your bathtub/shower painted instead of replacing it.

When we redid the guest bathroom, we were on both a tight budget and a tight timeframe, however the shower needed some cosmetic help for sure. The door needed to go and that beige color was awful. We didn’t want to rip out the entire unit because it wasn’t in bad condition and this was the guest bathroom – we don’t have guests every weekend. And of course, because $$$. After some research, I discovered you could have your bathtub unit professionally painted. I called around and got some estimates and it only ended up being around $500 to have our unit painted. The finish is very similar to what they use in the factory. Our guy even removed the doors, filled those holes and you can’t even tell where the shower door was! He even custom matched the white to the white on the toilet so that the two whites didn’t stand out against one another! Huge savings on not ripping out the old unit and we didn’t have to deal with the mess from ripping it out!

Ask for remnants or “scratch n’ dent” countertops.

The vanity in the guest bathroom needed a paint job, but other than that and the hideous countertop, it was still a pretty solid vanity. The countertop was awful though. We visited a local countertop store and asked to see remnant pieces of countertop options left over from bigger jobs so we wouldn’t be paying as much. We found one that worked, but as it turned out there was a scratch on the countertop. But, it didn’t affect the stability of the counter and it was in the corner. Since I had planned to put a tray on the countertop anyway in that spot, it didn’t bother me a bit. We were able to get an extra $100 knocked off the cost of the counter because of the scratch. On top of all that, the scratch isn’t really even noticeable when the tray isn’t there, you really have to hunt for it. Top the new countertop off with a shiny new sink faucet and it will only look like you spent a million bucks. 🙂

Instead of tile on the walls, go with a custom painted wall treatment.

When I started planning the guest bathroom makeover, I found an image of a bathroom online that had this beautiful tile on the wall in horizontal narrow rows. Again though, this was the guest bathroom – not the master or any other bathroom that gets a lot of traffic, so I wasn’t going to spend hundreds of dollars on tile for the wall. I mimicked the tile look with paint though and I love how it turned out! And can you believe all I used to create the washed-out blue stripes was a roll of Frogtape and just a sample pot of paint?! See how I did this wall HERE!

If you prefer to make a bigger statement in the room, go with a bolder pattern and color…

This is an accent wall I did in one of the bathrooms at our previous house. I wanted a bold pop of color in here and a pattern that mimicked cane like you would see on the back of a chair. All it took was a little time to tape off the pattern and then a couple coats of paint. See how I did this cane inspired wall HERE!

Put snap together flooring over your old tile flooring.

Apparently, the guest bathroom is like the poster child for quick fixes on a budget. This space had to be turned around fast and ripping up the tile and putting down new wasn’t an option. Instead, we installed this snap together laminate flooring directly over the old tile. I love how it looks like wood flooring, but it’s not! There are loads of gorgeous vinyl flooring options out there these days! You can see how this space looked before HERE!

Stalk discount stores for mirrors.

I’m not a big fan of the matchy-matchy mirrors that come with vanities from big box stores these days. I’m also not a fan of the plain Jane frameless mirrors that many bathrooms sport. I’d rather have something with a little more character that adds to the space instead of just being there to take up space. So, I always check out places like Home Goods, TJ Maxx, Marshall’s and Ross for mirrors that would be great above vanities. The mirror you see above was only $30 at Home Goods!

Damaged walls? Cover with luan or beadboard.

When we started working on the farmhouse, it was obvious something was going to have to be done about about the walls in the bathroom. The whole bathroom actually had to be nearly gutted. The tile on the walls were actually plastic tiles and lots of them were falling off. Again, no budget for retiling walls here! We pulled all the tile off, but the walls were still damaged underneath where the tile had been glued. For a fast and budget friendly fix, we covered the walls where the tile had been with luan panels and topped it with a chair rail. If you would prefer more detail, you could do this with beadboard panels instead.

Go for timeless finishes that tend to cost less.

Trendier finishes on faucets and hardware are usually going to cost more. If you want to save some money and keep your bathroom from dating too easily, go for finishes that will stand the test of time – like chrome. Chrome will always be in style and it tends to be cheaper.

That being said, if you absolutely love whatever the latest finish trend may be, then go for it. I have Champagne Bronze in my master bathroom and I still adore the finish just as much as I did when we first put it in there.

Paint the existing vanity and replace the hardware.

I’m sure you’ve heard this one a few times – paint your vanity instead of replacing it. As long as your vanity is in pretty good shape, go for it! If it’s falling apart though or has water damage for some reason, I’d seriously look at replacing it. The vanity in our guest bathroom was solid and had good classic lines, so I just gave it a couple coats of oil-based paint and new hardware – it made a world of difference!

Add in wall-to-wall shelving for extra storage and decor space.

If you’re tight on storage space in your bathroom, build you some shelves! The photo you see above is about the 3rd time I’ve built shelves like these – they are so easy! Find out how to HERE!

Any budget bathroom remodeling ideas you can share with us?

Want more budget DIY and decorating ideas?

20 High Style – Low Budget Knock Off Decor Projects – who knew knock-offs could be so pretty?!

14 Real Life Bedroom Ideas – beautiful bedrooms that are actually attainable!

20+ Living Room Ideas – loads of decorating ideas for every style!

Want to come back to these bathroom ideas later? Just pin the image below!

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October 29, 2019
Black, White and Brass Kitchen Remodel

Affiliate links included in this post.

I need to be clear on something.

This remodel of The 70’s Landing Pad has not been a one man band. It has not been a two or a three or a four man band either. It’s more like a fix or six man band, made up of random friends and family pitching in to help out as needed, fueled by cheap beer and 80’s country music.

This kitchen remodel showcases the specialities of each band member.

Does any of that even make sense? #FlyYourFreakFlag

Maybe it will help to just start showing you pictures. When we first got this house, this is how the kitchen looked:

Opposite that wall of cabinets was this:

And opposite the pantry door was this:

The kitchen was a really good size to start with, so we didn’t need more room, however the awful wallpaper, awkward vanity lights above the cabinets (WTF?), stained vinyl flooring, grimy cabinet hardware and much more needed to get the boot.

We kept the original cabinets, with the exception of taking out the ones above the stove and sink, and I painted them black. These cabinets really aren’t in the best condition, but it just wasn’t in the budget for new cabinets. I’m hoping in a few years, we can maybe have new doors for the cabinets made.

I switched out the knobs and hinges on all the doors and drawers. I tried quite a few different styles of knobs and pulls, but in the end I was surprised that these simple round concave brass knobs which are less than $1 per knob were perfect.

Cabinet Knobs / Footed Brass Bucket (similar ones) / Leather Ice Bucket (similar ones)

With all the brass and black, the kitchen had a more glam feel, which our previous kitchen did not. Our old canisters and counter decor just didn’t mesh with this kitchen as well as they did our last. I decided to think outside the box for counter storage (and also within our small budget) and raided my vintage ice bucket collection to find one to act as a canister for sweets and another to act as a cooking utensil holder. I pulled out a $1 office decor find from an antique store to be a recipe holder and the brass lion bucket was only $3 at an estate sale. It holds two smaller cookbooks that I use a good bit.

Lemon Hand Towel (similar one) / Pantry Doorknob

There wasn’t any guesswork when it came to the flooring, we knew we would carry the same flooring we used in the adjoining living and dining room into the kitchen as well. However, the white walls were a different story and probably caused me the most stress in this space. When I first started on the design plan for the kitchen, I decided on black cabinets and white walls. However, that combination became very stark against one another when it was all in place. And on one side of the kitchen, I had a lot more black with the cabinets than I did on the other side of the kitchen, which had no cabinets. I tested out no less than 15 paint colors to go on the wall from greens to grays to creams and more and none of them worked. Both Grunt and my friend Brittany were adamant that white was the color it should stay and I should have just listened to them from the beginning and saved myself the stress. Grunt was also the one who made the suggestion of putting up black crown molding to balance out all the black and was he ever right on that. When he told Mom and Dad about his idea, they offered to pay for the crown moulding (Thank you!), so we got that sooner than expected and it was a total game changer. It pulled everything together perfectly.

Cane Runner / Lemon Hand Towel (similar one)

The island was an addition as well and also one that I doubted in the beginning. I wanted an island in here, but I was very much overthinking it. The island is actually a cabinet that was in the school that Grunt Labor and I first met and worked together at. They tore down the building and we snagged that piece before they did so. He said from the beginning that it would make a great island, but I wasn’t sure. Then, Nicky’s dad, Wayne, came over and we were discussing building an island and he looked at that cabinet and said it would be the perfect island. At that point, I knew I was wrong and they were both right. Wayne took the cabinet home with him and modified it into an island for me.

Barstools (similar ones)

The barstools were a vintage find at a resale store. There are similar ones here.

The one thing I never swayed on in this space was the black subway tile backsplash in a herringbone pattern. It might actually be my most favorite part of this space. Grunt and Nicky usually do all our tile work, but they both refused to do this backsplash because I wanted the herringbone pattern. It is much more tedious and time consuming. I ended up going through Home Depot, using their in-home installation services for the backsplash. While it was more expensive than doing the tile ourselves, I knew the herringbone pattern would be a showstopper and well worth it. They did an impeccable job.

Black Subway Tile / Brass Faucet

The faucet is the same one we had in our old kitchen. My in-laws wanted something in brushed nickel at our old house, so I happily switched out the faucet for them and brought this one to the new kitchen for us.

Cane Runner / Lemon Hand Towel (similar one)

You might have noticed in the before photos, there was a stovetop on end of the kitchen and a wall oven on the other end of the kitchen. The old stovetop didn’t work correctly, so rather than replacing it with just another stovetop only, we opted to replace it with a double oven.

Range Hood / S tirring The Pot Towel / Magnetic Knife Holder / Brass Ice Bucket (similar)

We do a good bit of entertaining and hosting family holiday dinners at our place, so having three ovens makes those things so much easier. We also took out the cabinet above the stove and put in a more effective and prettier range hood as well.

As I said earlier, I used a vintage ice bucket for a cooking utensils holder. We went with this magnetic knife holder to clear up more counter space and attached it with velcro to keep from having to drill into the tile. I have two of those runners, one on each side of the island, to add more color and pattern to the space. The hand towels also add a much needed dose of color.

The open shelving to the left of the stove was also something that Wayne and Ron, another family friend, built for us – we are so lucky to have them!

Brass Fruit Bowl (similar) / Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks / Acrylic Wine Rack

That space used to be where a tiny cabinet and trash compactor were, both practically useless. We took those out and they built me this wonderful open shelving. It’s another favorite thing of mine in this space. This is also where I keep favorite cookbooks, our fruit bowl, wine rack and a few other knick-knacks.

Lemon Hand Towel (similar one) / Brass Fruit Bowl (similar) / Acrylic Wine Rack

The countertops are Quartz in Brown Fantasy. My friend Kellie gets a huge thank you for dealing with me when it comes to the countertops. I had no clue what to go with or what I even wanted and she held my hand the whole way with it. I never would have looked twice at that stone if it hadn’t been for her and I absolutely love it in here, as does Grunt.

I removed the tall, skinny cabinets that were opposite the range and replaced them with the buffet that was in the living room at our old house.

We also added a black chair rail and decorative wall molding here to bring more of the black over to this wall.

Marble Slab / Brass Bamboo Tray (similar ones) / Profanties Coffee Mug

I put my coffee station here as well as a couple of plants and other knick-knacks.

DIY Lucite Frame + Free Gone With the Wind Printable

And my daily answer to anything before the hour of 7am. 😉

Finally, where the built-in corner cabinetry and desk once was is now our breakfast nook.

Pendant Light

Complete with Loretta, Conway, Johnny and June.

Of course.

This banquette is all thanks to Grunt and Nicky.

Palm Print Pillow / Tiger Stripe Pillow / Malachite Pillow

You see, I had this wild idea that I could actually build it all by myself.

I was full of shit.

They both swooped in, calmed me down and helped me finish it. That’s a whole other story which you can read about here. I also added more color to the kitchen here with the pillows, which was a whole other stressful ballgame that I can’t even think about right now.

So in conclusion, thank you to all the band members who made this kitchen possible: Grunt, Nicky, Brittany, Wayne, Ron, Kellie, Mom and Dad.

There will never be enough cheap beer in the world to pay you back. We are blessed to have you.

Lord, I hope I didn’t leave anyone out. It takes a lot of people to deal with this crazy train.

Shop the Kitchen:

[show_shopthepost_widget id=”2489923″]

You might also want to see…

DIY Kitchen Banquette

Types of Paint to Use on Cabinets

The 70’s Landing Pad Home Tour

Disclosure: D. Lawless Hardware provided the cabinetry hardware for this remodel and Rug Studio provided the runners, however all opinions are 100% my own.

*Affiliate links may be contained in this post. That just means that if you click on one of those links and buy something, I may receive a small commission, but you won’t pay a dime more.

March 7, 2017
Three Things That Could Cut Your Electric Bill In Half

Affiliate links included in this post.

Ahhh, the joy of renovating a house. Picking out new paint colors, flooring, new bathroom vanities and maybe even some kitchen cabinets.

You put your heart, soul and waaaayyy too much thought into finding that perfect shade of gray, deciding what kind of pattern to lay the tile in and you may even spend an entire month deciding what light fixtures to go with.

And when it’s finally done, you sit back, prop your feet up, and open a cold (cheap) beer while you leisurely go through your mail.

You spit the beer out when you see the $300 electric bill that has your name and new address on it.

True story.

Ok, I wasn’t all feet up, relaxing, but I was sitting at my desk.

I was in no way prepared for that first electric bill we got when we finally moved into The 70’s Landing Pad. Before moving in, the heat and/or air was only running when we were there working on something. Otherwise it was off. And sometimes, it wasn’t even on while we were there because we didn’t need it.

So when we did finally move in after all the remodeling and I got that first $300 electric bill, followed by another and another, we realized that something might be up.

Where we live, there is an eScore program you can sign up for and have an energy professional come out and do an energy audit on your house. They will tell you what you need to fix to stop losing energy and in what order you should do it. It’s all free and sometimes you are even eligible for rebates after fixing many of the things.

These are the three biggest things you should address first if you’ve got a crazy high electric bill.

Three Things That Could Cut Your Electric Bill In Half

1. Insulation

I never realized just how damn awesome insulation was until last year. Have your attic, crawlspace, and garage inspected to make sure enough insulation is there. Our garage was fine and we don’t have a crawlspace, but our attic had almost zero insulation. There wasn’t enough to keep any heat or cool air in the house at all. Having a high R value of insulation (around here, they recommend an R38 value) is the biggest thing you can do to help stop losing energy out of your house and reduce your electric bills. We also had air sealing done in the attic, which sealed up all the joints between the drywall below and any other holes where air could escape. The energy expert who inspected our house made it clear that getting more insulation in the attic should be our first priority. We followed his advice, did just that and yes, it made a world of difference. If you’ve already got plenty of insulation, look at the weatherstripping around your doors. Hold your hand up to the sides of the door and if you feel any air coming in, you probably need to replace the weatherstripping there or add some.

2. Windows

We have a lovely mix of windows at the 70’s Landing Pad. In the front of the house, we have wood, single pane windows (some of which don’t even open) and in the back of the house, we have aluminum, single pane windows. When one of the previous owners decided to change the windows, I guess they just didn’t want to spend all the money to switch out all of them when no one ever saw the back of the house. Thanks, really appreciate that, guys! Not. After insulation, the next thing on the list to switch out were windows – new, energy efficient ones. We haven’t been able to do this just yet due to problems with the money tree out back that isn’t bearing fruit. We are really hoping that by the late spring or early summer though, we will have all 20 windows that the house sports switched out.

We have done a few things to decrease the loss of energy through our current windows though:

• Blinds

Blinds can be really helpful at stopping cool or warm air from the outside coming and keeping the air inside from going out. Case in point would be our bedroom and my office. Both of those spaces were like sweatboxes by about 2pm due to the sun beating down through the windows. We bought cheap $10 blinds and those were a game changer.

• Heavy, Light Blocking Curtains

In the Circus’ room, we bought her blinds and room darkening curtains. The curtains are heavier in weight so they also helped to keep the hot and cold air out.

• Caulk and Seal

Caulk around any of the trim that is around your windows. You’d be surprised how much air can leak out that way. You could also seal around your windows if you feel any air coming in by using some weather stripping.

3. Central Heat & Air Units

And then there are the central heat and air units. The energy inspector said that our units did need replacing, which we knew, but he also said if it was him, he wouldn’t replace them right away unless they just died. He said to replace the windows first because the units could end up lasting for another five years. So, we are saying lots of prayers that the units won’t die anytime soon and also trying to prolong their life. In fact, I have some tips here about things you can do to prolong the life of your central heat and air units. 🙂 Of course, getting a programmable thermostat to regulate your heat and air is always a good idea to cut down on energy bills as well.

And just to reiterate, of all these things, insulation is key.

I am a believer in the power of insulation and I don’t care how corny it makes me sound.

What have you done to reduce your electric bills in the past?

You might also want to see….

How I Made $2K+ in Two Months Selling Our Clutter

Eight Ways to Extend the Life of Your HVAC Unit

*Affiliate links may be contained in this post. That just means if you click on one of those links and buy something, I may receive a small commission, but you won’t pay a dime more.

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January 31, 2017
Kitchen Reveal – The Kitchen Renovation is complete!

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It is finally done. We have conquered the kitchen renovation. I’m thrilled to show you our kitchen reveal.

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

**Update: There have been a couple questions about my faucet. It is Pegasus Lyndhurst Series by Glacier Bay. We’ve had it from the beginning of our re-model and love it! No problems with it at all!

**Update: You can see more (and better) photos of the kitchen and improvements here! Thanks for stopping by!

Kitchen Reveal

The kitchen is finally finished! I posted a month or so back about the new countertops. Well, this is the big kitchen reveal. It’s. all. finished. Backsplash, countertops, cabinets, island, everything!

This is what it looked like when we first purchased the house back in June.

On the opposite wall across from the window, there was a wall, which had to go.

And we knocked another wall down as well.

Luckily, what I did like about the kitchen were the cabinets. I love having the smaller ones on top of the larger ones on the wall. Gives the space lots of character. So, all they needed were some paint and new hardware, which saved us a TON of money!! I used Rust-Oleum‘s Cabinet Transformation kit to paint the cabinets. No priming or sanding required!

We also saved money by going to Ikea for our cabinet hardware. It was about 40 – 50% cheaper there than at other places. We repositioned the refrigerator to the opposite wall, as well, ending up with this. You can see how we covered the old hardware holes on the cabinets here.

After taking out one wall and moving the refrigerator, we had an exposed open cabinet. I called a cabinet maker and he made me two new doors and a drawer that match my others exactly for only $125! I honestly thought it would be much more than that! We also removed the wall cabinets on one side to make way for some open shelving. And I spray painted the counter tops black to keep me satisfied while waiting for new counter tops. Yes, spray painted. And then my husband built me a beautiful kitchen island made out of old barn wood and porch posts and in December we got new counter tops!

We chose Silestone in Bianco River because it has a marble-y look. I really wanted marble, but knew that it didn’t hold up too well in kitchens without some routine sealing that I knew I wouldn’t do like I should. For Christmas, we got a Lowe’s gift card, which meant…..back splash!!!! We chose white subway tile. I. LOVE. SUBWAY. TILE. This is what our kitchen looks like now.

That’s our big kitchen reveal! What do ya think?

Need more kitchen ideas? I’ve got you covered…

See 7 gorgeous white kitchens here!

Here are 7 Kitchen Island Ideas you haven’t thought of…

And here are 10+ Kitchen Ideas for Decorating, Organizing, and Storage

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January 22, 2012
Bathroom Renovation on a Budget

When we moved into the foreclosure, we knew a bathroom remodel was in order for the hall bath. Of course, we didn’t have much money, so it all had to be done on a budget.

I’m happy to say we were successful with our bathroom renovation on a budget.

Bathroom Renovation on a Budget

As most of you know, my husband and I moved into a new home (a cash guzzling lovely foreclosure) this past June. Everything in the house needed some serious upgrades. It was stuck in 1970. However, everything, pretty much anyway, was in working order, including my bathroom. So, the bathroom sat untouched for a bit while dust progress was being created elsewhere.

Here are a few rough pictures of where we started with the bathroom…

You saw right, that was a bowl in the sink. There were plumbing issues in the kitchen. Definitely an experience.

There wasn’t much money left after taking out a wall in the kitchen for a professional to do the bathroom reno. So, we pulled a DIY bathroom renovation. As you can tell, the bathroom was plain, very plain. I did really like the solid cast iron tub though. It would be nice if it were free standing, but it worked and is in great condition, so I couldn’t let myself rip it out.

About a month into the renovation, I got to start on my very own, husband-doesn’t-set-foot-in-it bathroom. As you will see, the result of the bathroom consists of my tastes, there isn’t a speck of him there. The vanity and mirror were ripped out and then the tile was hammered out. There was about 2 lovely, dusty inches of concrete underneath that tile. Joy.

The hubby did an amazing job on the tile. Of course, I was instrumental in handing him the pieces and supervising. Marble is such a classic stone, I had to have it for my bathroom. Since it is a smaller bathroom, the cost wasn’t outrageous. Yay!

The tile that surrounded my bathtub was horrendous. Like I say…..I’ll paint anything.

I painted my bathroom tile. I used Rust-Oleum‘s tub and tile paint.

After, the first coat, there were still some beige specks coming through, so after another coat and incredibly toxic fumes, the result was….

Yay!!! White tile! It’s not my pick, which would have been subway, but its white like subway tile! I’ll take it!

The vanity in my bathroom is my most favorite thing in there….I think, it was a mere $125.

The open storage was supposed to be drawers, but those were missing, so towel storage, it is!

I used the same Behr custom color match in my bathroom that I used in the nursery.

Grunt Labor built some shelving above the toilet for extra storage.

I’m still dreaming of a floating soaking tub……but I’ll keep dreaming.

What do you think of the bathroom renovation?

Wanna snoop around my house more? Right this way, please….

Screened-In Porch Makeover

Kitchen Reveal

Full Home Tour

A Vintage Nursery

Master Bedroom Makeover

You know you don’t wanna miss any of this crazy.

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November 3, 2011