6 Easy Projects to Personalize a Cookie-Cutter Home!

July 14, 2017

By: Amy Howell Hirt

Value-boosting ideas for your home’s interior to make it really yours.

There’s so much to love about a new home — especially the fact that it’s yours! No worries about an aging furnace or the source of a stain in the carpet.

Yet it can also feel a little, well, uninspired. Like that neighborhood in “The Truman Show.” Your home can feel like a carbon copy of everyone else’s.

But just like Truman, you don’t have to succumb to the sameness. It’s quite easy to take something ordinary in your home and make it a little bit special, something unique. Some examples to get you started:

Paint Your Ceiling Fan:

Homeowner Nicki Decker and her husband banished a ‘90s-era builder-grade brass fan from their master bedroom by simply spray-painting the metal with an antique finish. Decker lightly dry-brushed two shades of mineral chalk furniture paint onto the medium-toned wood blades — delivering a whitewashed effect that enhances the room’s rustic, beachy mood.

“I got to use my creativity to turn a dated eyesore into a beautiful and functional centerpiece that really brings the room together,” she says.

Frame a Window:

A window over the kitchen sink is a common feature in homes new and old, but it doesn’t have to be ordinary. Seeking to “add some cottage-style detail to our very standard builders’ kitchen,” interior designer Amy Chalmers fastened vintage cast iron brackets to the cabinetry on either side of her window to create a framing effect. The brackets support a stamped tin-covered plywood shelf, heightening the room’s one-of-a-kind charm.

Add Classic Molding:

In this new San Francisco home, Geoff Gibson, a partner with Winder Gibson Architects, installed molding inspired by the city’s classic architecture. “To keep it from being too busy or too boring,” his firm carefully selected the 5-inch-wide window and door casings and 6.5-inch-high baseboards.

Paint the Door:

When the blah, beige-gray paint on his front door began to show signs of wear, homeowner Paul McLandrich says, “I figured I may as well use it as an excuse to spice up the outside of the house a little bit.” Three coats of Behr’s “Red Pepper” semi-gloss exterior paint, and no one has trouble spotting his house from his neighbor’s.

Upsize Your Cabinets:

Like many people, Detroit-based home stylist Sarah Macklem had dreams of replacing the basic birch cabinetry in her kitchen with tall, custom creations, but had a budget that required more modest measures. To achieve the look, she capped her existing wall cabinets with 1-by-4-inch boards and thick, decorative crown molding.

“Adding height to the top made my short cabinets look taller and more like expensive, custom cabinetry,” says Macklem. “It was a small detail that made a huge difference in the feel of my kitchen.”

Paint the Floor:

When you’re seeking to create a big personality in a space, don’t stop until it’s got the right look from head to toe — including under your toes. This adorable retro kitchen still had floors just like everyone else’s. Thankfully, Dallas-based interior designer Janet Gridley righted the wrong. She lightly sanded and primed the laminate floor, then applied white porch paint and in striped layers to create a whimsical, checkerboard pattern. The peacock blue is unexpected, Gridley says, while the overall design does something that average laminate flooring likely never would: “It makes everyone smile,” she says.

4 Genius Yard Upgrades Even a Klutz Can Crush!

July 12, 2017

By: Elizabeth Lilly

No DIY skills necessary for these outdoor projects. Did we mention they’re really, really easy?

You don’t need to be the host of an extreme home makeover show to build an amazing backyard. In fact, the transformative projects below are easy enough for even the klutziest home improvement newbie to complete.

Just don’t be shocked when the Johnsons appear at your door with hot dog buns in hand, begging to throw a cookout at your place.

#1 No-Blow Outdoor Curtains:

When Cara Daniel of “The Project Addict” blog spied a neighbor’s unruly outdoor curtains, she hacked some for her porch that could withstand a gusty Tornado Alley afternoon without upending a glass of lemonade or ensnaring an unsuspecting guest.

She found the sweet spot by slipping conduit pipes through the curtain tabs up top and a hem at the bottom, and securing the pipes with wires (taut, but not too tight).

Daniel did all the hard work of dreaming up the curtains, so a DIY newbie can definitely recreate the project, which uses easy-to-find materials like washers and camping stakes.

Upkeep has been equally simple thanks to her sturdy choice of fabric. “The marine fabric is better than outdoor fabric that I bought,” says Daniel. The easy-to-wash choice has kept the curtains looking picturesque after five years of use.

#2 Shutter Privacy Fence:

No fence? No problem! Daune Pitman of the “Cottage in the Oaks” blog MacGyvered an attractive privacy feature from a friend’s pile of discarded shutters.

The $0 price wasn’t the only thing that made the material desirable for an outdoor nook’s privacy screen, though. “They were tall,” says Pitman, “could easily be attached to posts, had the vents — which allows air to flow through — and didn’t weigh too much.”

After nailing the shutters to four-by-fours cemented into the ground (an easy task with a store-bought bag of pre-mixed cement), the nook-facing side got a charming French-blue facelift and the back a coating of foliage-matching bark brown paint.

It’s a kind of self-explanatory project because all you need is:

• Shutters
• Posts
• Cement
• Hinges (plus screws) for the shutters
• Paint

What could be easier?

#3 PVC Pipe Pergola:

Suburbanite Monica Mangin of the site “East Coast Creative” jumped at the chance to rehab a client’s neglected urban patio.

The showstopper was a clever PVC pergola decked with industrial-style lights. She was inspired by traditional wood pergolas, but wanted an easier material.

“A lot of mason jar light fixtures were trending,” says Mangin.”I liked the look of that but wanted to turn it a little more industrial.”

PVC pipe — with rebar inside as an anchor — won out for its ease on the DIYer and wallet. Could it get any easier?

A simple coat of hammered metallic outdoor spray paint gave the pipe a pricier look, and industrial-strength zip ties kept the string of dimmable, Edison bulb-style lights in place.

Although the project doesn’t take much time or skill, Mangin recommends recruiting two friends to help. Have one hold each end of the pergola while the third secures the lights with zip ties. Overall, it’s a dinner party-friendly cinch that’s surpassed the one-year mark.

#4 Solar Light Hose Guards:

Topping the list of Sad Gardening Ironies is when the hose you’ve lugged out to help your landscaping stay lush mows over a bed of delicate flowers you just planted. Sigh.

Lynda Makara of the blog “Home of Happy Art” figured out a pretty and pragmatic solution using affordable solar lights.

The DIY part entailed trashing their original plastic stakes (they weren’t strong enough to hold a hose in place), hammering 24-inch pieces of rebar into the ground, and slipping a light over each piece.

Those sturdy posts could handle even the bulkiest hose, protecting Makara’s plantings during waterings then casting a lovely spotlight on them post-dusk.

“The rebar is maintenance free,” says Makara. “I have had to replace some of the batteries in the solar lights, but I think that’s pretty normal.”

It doesn’t get much easier than hammering a stake into the ground. Although Makara suggests straightening the rebar with a level, that’s about as technical as it gets to create a more functional, flowering garden.