I love the character of old houses but I don’t love the lack of insulation. There are several ways to add extra insulation to old homes without having to tear down interior walls. My solution is the least expensive and the cutest (in my humble opinion!) [Read more…] about How to Add Insulation Without Tearing Down Walls
Home Improvement
How To Turn Bi-Fold Doors Into French Doors
My closets have bi-fold doors. To me, bi-folds waste space because you can’t hang anything on the back of them and when you open them, the two doors never open wide enough to give you full access to the opening of your closet. When I found wood bi-fold doors at a yard sale, I decided to install them on my closet with hinges instead of using the bi-fold track.
How To Install New Doorknobs
My very first home had lever doorknobs and I loved the ease of them. So much better than knobs for those times when your hands are full. I love the look of them as well. My latest house has mismatched doorknobs throughout. The original, 1930s house has glass doorknobs which I kept. The new part of the house had chrome knobs and every time I opened or closed a door my knuckles would bang against the door frame. I decided to replace the newer round doorknobs with lever style doorknobs.
The great part of the lever doorknobs is the ease of use. You can open the door with your elbow if your hands are dirty or greasy. The lever knob is much easier on folks with arthritis in their hands or lack of strength. AND you don’t knock your knuckles on the door frames. If you’re thinking they’re a bad idea for spaces that you don’t want your kids to get into, the manufacturer I chose offers interior lock sets that come with a key! So cool!!
Two Ways To Dress Up Stock Cabinets
Stock kitchen cabinets are a great way to get a new kitchen on a budget. The current popular trend is to have a few open cabinets in the kitchen. Stock cabinets can look a little undressed when left without doors on. Here’s how a little TLC can make your open stock cabinets look amazing!
Over the Fridge Open Cabinet
- Bead Board Paneling
- 1”x2” lumber
- Paint
- Paint Brushes
- Wood Glue or Acrylic Caulk
Use a piece of bead board as backing. Cut the bead board to size and glue it to the back of your cabinet using wood glue or acrylic caulking (works just as well as glue). Trim around the bead board panel with 1×2 molding and paint it in a color that matches your cabinet, backsplash or another dominant colour in your kitchen.
Upgrade to Full-Extension Kitchen Drawers
Basic drawer slides only let 75% of a drawer slide out so you never can see what is in the back of the drawer easily. Full extension drawer slides are an upgrade that allows the entire contents of the drawer to be exposed when you pull the drawer out. These slides are strong and sturdy, so the opening and closing of drawers is smoother and much quieter. Even better, it’s easy to swap out your old slides for new ones!
Measuring for Sizes
To find the right size needed, measure the depth using the sides of the drawers (just the box, not the fronts). Mine were 22 1/2 – so the size I needed was 22″ (round down to be sure the slides will fit!). Then measure the width of the drawer and the inside of the cabinet to be sure that you have enough space to install the slides. You need at least 1/8″ of extra space to install side drawer slides.
Installation
Remove the existing slides from the first drawer. Disassemble one of the full-extension slides:
Tissue Paper Faux Painting Technique
We’d had some ceiling water damage from a leaky vent pipe roof seal. After repairing the roof leak, we still needed to remove water logged drywall and finish it back out. Now neither of us are professional drywall finishers, but we follow along with Jennifer Allwood of The Magic Brush, and her technique for tissue paper painting provided the ideal solution for us. [Read more…] about Tissue Paper Faux Painting Technique