Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
Landscaping part 3 of ?
So the hardscaping was finally done!!
We wait til spring to start the landscaping…and then we were delayed again due to issues with the storm drain and septic drains…so the entire backyard got dug up
So we spent several weekends slip/sliding around moving dirt.
Then we finally decided and bought plants!! I wish I would have known how much work landscape fabric, mulch etc would be
Coming up next…actually planting and putting down all the mulch and rock in part 4.
Part 5 will detail how we decided to do and wire up the new landscape lighting!
Please feel free to leave reviews or questions and I will answer the best I can!
Landscaping part 2 of ?
In taking out the front and back steps, we had a plan to replace them with stone steps, so we looked for a contractor.
We went with a friend’s husband’s business as the contractor. It started fine…but we started noticing issues in the workmanship pretty quick. When we drew their attention to it, they just stopped coming….
We eventually broke the contract as they couldn’t/wouldn’t do the job correctly. We are still in court 1.5 years later trying to get our money back.
So the landscape project sat for months…we finally hired Purgreen as our new contractor in September 2018. They had the project hammered out in 2 weeks. So the new entryways were in.
And included was the new number wall… numbers bought from moderndwell.com
Cost of hardscaping ~15k
Don’t use Cleveland Yardscapes for anything.
Next up- we actually plant things!
Let’s start the landscape story
We bought the house in February and gave a year to see what we had.
First order of business was to take down the old back step with its turf grass and the plank way to the house.
Taking those off let lots of natural light back into the house.
In taking out the front plank way, we decided we wanted larger windows for our master suite as it was quite dark, so we had larger windows put in.
Once the windows were in, we were then in business.
We took out the rest of the wood walkway and hired the first contractor we would have for our hardscaping project.
Part two of the landscaping project will be posted in a few days…..its the not fun part of the story
Finding uses for rooms
When we found our forever home, we loved it. It did need some work and its definitely more than big enough for us.
In order to not have wasted space in the house, we turned the 2 original upstairs bedrooms into hobby rooms- one for each of us.
Both rooms got minimal updates which included new ceiling fans, paint, and curtain.
Mine has been set up for me to do my crafting- quiting and scrapbooking
His is being set up for him to build and paint the model planes, cars and other models he likes.
Cost of the changes- paint ~$80
Ceiling fans- $200
Other expenses(curtains, outlets etc) ~$200
Overall a couple simple updates that make a big difference in the feel of the house.
Side Projects
While we were working on the big kitchen project, we did several side projects as time and budget allowed.
One of the first was converting what was an office into our exercise room. This room could also easily be a 5th bedroom if you put in a closet!
This room doesn’t look like it needs much.
But we spent hours patching and covering nail pops and seams.
We of course changed out the lighting for one more our style and hung up movie posters I had collected. And those 90s blinds had to go!
We hung the tv on a solid bracket and then cut out behind it so we could hid the wires. We had easy access to the attic to run wire and wanted a clean look.
As with all the recipticals in the house, we switched out the old for newer Legrend ones that show no screws.
We then painted it in a gray color and there it is.
Costs: lighting ~ $100
Paint. ~50
Curtains ~100
Let’s start with the kitchen
The kitchen was a huge thing for us.
When we moved in, none of the appliances matched and the fan was ugly!
We replaced all the appliances(sold the old ones to supplement budget), took down the cabinet over the range to make room for a range hood and modified the existing cabinets to hold a microwave.
Due to size constraints on the fridge, we went with all GE Profile stainless steel appliances.
We thought we were done.
Then we decided to replace the countertops. The cabinets, although not our style, are still nice.
We got new Quatrz countertops directly from the stone yard installed.
We choose a Ruvati square single bowl sink that we found on Amazon for a great price
We continued the kitchen by adding a tile backsplash. We like a more modern style, so we chose a wood look porcelain tile for the backsplash. My husband did the install and it turned out great!
After that it was just paint. We have plans to replace the flooring but not right now.
Expenses- countertops ~$5k
-appliances ~$5k
-tile/paint ~ $300
The kitchen looks completely different and we are happy!
Adventures in Home Improvement
So I should have started this blog 3 and a half years ago when we bought our house…but I’m going to try to catch you up to speed on what we’ve done.
Buying a house is expensive , renovating it to your personal tastes is so also expensive.
This blog is a story of how my husband and I, managed to make our champagne tastes fit our beer budget when it comes to our home together.
We bought the house in the dead of winter 2015. We loved the location, the room and knew we could mould it into what we really wanted.
I will update to show you how we renovated the kitchen, updated the rooms and totally overhauled the landscaping .
Introduce Yourself (Example Post)
This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.
You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.
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Adventures in Home Improvement 