Home Improvement Tips & Ideas
Quick, easy decorate & design ideas to help you become the master of your own domain. Explore these tips and let your home improvement adventure begin!
If you're expecting friends or family over the holidays, now's a good time to take stock of your home's needs. Here are some suggestions for holiday home improvements to get you started.
Holiday Home Improvements: Bathrooms, Childproofing, Painting and MoreRead More
Tips on choosing historical paint colors and how it can be a trip back in time to discover what the colors of the past actually looked like. Historic New England offers a color chart featuring a palette of historically accurate interior and exterior paint colors for each of the above historical periods.
Choosing Historical Paint Colors: Colonial to PresentRead More
I’m self-employed and with the economy being tight, I’m spending a lot more time at home and thinking converting my garage to a workshop that I’d use to tackle projects from car repair to woodworking. In reviewing the floor options, I’m trying to decide between adding a locking floor tile or painting it. Any suggestions?Nick …
Get tips to help decorate dorm rooms and other small spaces. Learn to decorate dorm rooms without damaging the walls or floors, including what furniture works best for dorm rooms.Â
I painted my daughter’s bedroom using primer and then paint. Now it has become my son’s room, and there are spots where the paint just pulls off in long strips and looks like rubber. I want to repaint the room, but have no idea how to handle these areas. What can I do?Laura It’s pointless …
I’m about to tackle my first interior paint job, and don’t want to wind up with the same rough-looking results I’ve seen in other DIYers’ homes. What’s the key to getting a great finish?firsthome08 2-29-08 6:47 p.m. When it comes to painting, preparation makes perfect. What you’ve probably seen in those other homes is the …
My kitchen cabinets are looking pretty tired, and I’d like to give them a low-cost face lift. What kinds of finish should I use?nlvc 2-18-08 First, make sure your cabinets are eligible for DIY refinishing by examining their construction and material content. Solid wood and laminate are both good candidates for refinishing, but anything covered …
I recently applied BEHR Premium 2-Part Epoxy Garage Floor Coating in my garage which looks terrific, but I would prefer a glossier finish. Can I apply Behr Wet Look Sealer as a top coat or will this damage the integrity of the epoxy coating? Do you have any suggestions?crwines 11-28-07 11:15am Good question. Increasingly, I …
I’m a new listener going through all the podcasts. I just bought a house built in 1921 and there are few things I want to change. The previous owners painted the front entryway brick white. The only other brick on the house is the chimney. The chimney is red brick so I assume underneath the …
I want to tear off the paneling in a couple of rooms. Having removed a piece of paneling I find several coats of paint peeling off of the walls. Not all the paint is loose; some is still on and hard to scrape off. I want a smooth finish on the walls. Should I drywall …
We are planning to list our home for sale in the near future. We will, of course, open the pool before that time but we know that the cement around the pool is older (22 years) and is being to show signs of age. We have always power washed the cement after winter to remove …
I was just wondering what kind of land I would need if I planned on building a baseball complex. Could I build it on just farmland, residential land or would it need to be commercial? Thank you for your time.reedz1 4-8-07 11:14pm Wow…so you want to build your very own Field of Dreams? We’ll, unlike …
I just purchased a new home with a solid poured concrete wall foundation. I am not looking to “finish” the basement, but would like to paint the walls to brighten up and make the basement look clean. Is there a material that I can use that would also fill in all the little holes in …
I just reorganized my garage. However by getting everything off the floor, I now noticed how grotesque my floor looks. I filled in all the cracks, but the floor is not very easy on the eyes. Is there a low cost option to pretty it up (in a masculine sorta way)? It’s a cement floor …
I’m planning to paint the outside of my home, in the near future. I’ve never done it before, but I can not afford to pay to have it done, therefore I’m planning to do it myself can you give me some steps to follow? Here are some specifics to help guide me: -The outside of …
I have a two-story house. Recently, my 2nd floor shower stall developed a leak, as evidenced by water dripping from the first floor ceiling. The leak is small, a few drops of water after every use, and I believe I have now fixed the source of the leak (failing, cracked grout). I’m preparing to repair …
I’m taking on some painting projects this winter and am looking for a safer paint. Lately I seem to be more sensitive to working with paint. I get an allergic reaction that makes my eyes water and leads to some nasty headaches. Are there any options for a more environmentally friendly paint product? I have …
I found your podcast a couple of months ago and have been listening to it ever since. Good stuff! Moving on to my question, this year my wife and I bought our first house. It’s a 1910 bungalow and we love it; however there are a few things that we’d like to change around the …
Ok, I am desperate and need some help. I have a short stair way that goes from our Mud Room to our Kitchen (7 treads) built during a remodel last year. We had the contractor build it with some pretty simple wood treads and risers. Well, he didn’t put in any sort of trim molding …
In our nine year old house, the spaces where the cabinets meet the drywall were caulked. After about three or four years the caulk began to crack leaving a space in this area. The space gets larger in winter – some as much as one eight of an inch – and in some places hardly …
Looking to skip the sanding on those cabinets you are about to repaint? That might not be such a smooth idea. Washing away the grime before painting …
You think you’re ready to tackle that paint job – but do you have a rubber band? You’ll need one. Here’s why. Stretch a heavy-duty rubber band acr…
