Places to Look for Home Remodel Ideas

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Great article about inspirations places that may give you ideas for your home remodel!

Are you thinking about remodeling your home, but don't know where to start? By hiring a professional, you can be assured that you will get what you are looking for in a home remodel. But before hiring someone to turn your house into exactly what you want it to be, you should have a pretty good idea what that is. Start looking for inspiration while you are searching for the right contractor. Here are a few inspirational places to start looking for home remodel ideas.

The top home remodel magazines

Several magazines come to mind when I try to come up with some of the best home remodel journals. This Old House is one of the top resources for remodeling ideas and information. Not only will you find design and decorating inspiration here, but you will also learn some valuable information homeowners might use. Better Homes and Gardens is another good source of inspiration and information.

The top home remodel websites & blogs

Both This Old House and Better Homes and Gardens have websites that you can visit for home remodeling inspiration. Today, most magazines have websites or can be read online. Houzz.com is another website that has plentiful, up-to-date information and home improvement ideas.

Home improvement television shows

While home improvement television shows are not always realistic--you have to factor in the contractor's/architect's/designer's fees--they are a great place to start looking for design and style ideas. HGTV is where you will find home improvement shows running all day long. As you are watching, jot down any ideas you like or questions you might have for your hired professional regarding your own home.

Home shows or a "parade of homes"

If you want to visit one place to learn about all the local vendors, go to a home show. You will be able to see life-size displays, talk to vendors and bring home information to go over with your spouse. Another idea: find out if there is a Parade of Homes in your area, and when. This is a great way to look at recently-remodeled homes and see the work local contractors have done.

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Six Tips for Your Next DIY Home Painting Project

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Whether you hire professionals or tackle the work yourself, few things are more stressful than home improvement projects. Although the thought of undertaking a job yourself can be intimidating, licensed contractors can cost much more than expenses incurred during a DIY project.

Even if you don't have any experience with a brush or roller, painting the rooms yourself can be a great way to save big and spruce up your home. A small investment in paint and supplies and a little bit of your time are all you need. But before you throw on those old overalls, be warned: home improvement projects require a lot of patience and preparation.

Here are six tips that can help you tackle the job properly and efficiently:

1. Prepare Properly
The common rule of thumb for home improvement projects is the seven Ps: "Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance." Tape off your ceilings and baseboards with blue painting tape. Sandpaper the walls to ensure an even coat, and wipe them clean to eliminate debris. Next, lay down some protective matting or newspapers to protect your floors. Remember, your goal is a smooth, finished coat of paint on your walls -- not a home that looks like it was designed by Jackson Pollock.

2. Invest in Quality Paint
The last thing you want to do is let your paint dry, move your furniture back in, and then realize you need to repaint because you chose the cheapest brand of paint in the store. Consult the professionals at your local paint or hardware store to determine the best quality product available at the best price.

3. Spend the Extra Money on Brushes
Brushes can cost anywhere from $5 to $30 apiece. Don't purchase the cheapest ones available -- instead, invest in mid-range quality brushes for medium-scale home painting projects. They hold up well, and if you clean and store them properly, they'll be usable for many future painting projects.

4. Coat Well
With a good coat of paint, the color stands out and imperfections on the walls are better camouflaged. Don't be afraid to dunk your brush all the way into the paint can and apply liberally to the surface. Do-it-yourself newbies and experienced professionals alike should give a wall at least two coats of paint, so make sure you let that first coat dry for at least four hours before applying the second.

5. Only Buy What You Need
Most experts recommend one gallon of paint for every 400 square feet, so measure the surface area of your project to determine how much paint is required. Purchase a little extra to be used in the future when you need to do touch-ups, but don't go overboard. The last thing you need to do is blow money on gallons of unneeded paint that will only end up in storage.

6. Register Your Color
When you purchase paint, most stores offer to create an account for you that can be used to register your color in case you need it for future projects. Rooms that experience high traffic, such as kitchens and living rooms, often require touch-ups every few years. Instead of having to match your color to a swatch or rely on a photo and a salesperson's interpretation, register your color and you'll be able to purchase an exact match when the need arises.

Final Thoughts
When planning your time-frame for a home painting project, do yourself a favor and double your original estimate. Unexpected surprises are sure to occur, and you should not feel rushed to complete your job. If you plan well, you can save a lot of money and have some fun as well.

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Article source: Huffington Post

5 DIY Projects That Could Ruin Your Home

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Great advise in this article!

Before you take an unsupervised plunge into your next do it yourself project, you may want to keep in mind these four DIY disasters.

Here are a few easy ways you could ruin your home from Yahoo! Homes.

1. Flooring - When you deal with bathrooms, you're dealing with water. You should really hire someone who knows what they are doing. This is serious stuff! Educate yourself and go online, because you can't cheap-out on doing a bathroom floor.







2. Toilets - Homeowners have ended up paying thousands of dollars to repair ceilings and floors after the new toilet leaked through one floor to the next. An extra $2 wax ring to seal the toilet and floor drain is one solution, or just hire a contractor or plumber for about $135 in labor costs.


3. Cabinets - You can have a professional painter do the job or have a company reface them. Cabinet refacing has become a quick, affordable, and less messy renovation process. Contractors remove and replace doors and drawers for a couple thousand dollars, depending on the size of your kitchen, which is a bargain compared to the more than $10,000 is can cost for new cabinets.





4. Walls - A load-bearing wall is one that bears the weight and force of a structure and transfers that weight to the ground. That means everyone and everything is safe from falling through to the bottom floor. But before taking out one of these walls, you need to first put up a temporary wall. If you don't do this series of events in tearing down walls, everything drops.

5. Venting - The ventilation in your home is vital to keeping the temperature regulated, so when doing things yourself be aware of where the ventilation is in your home. It could cost up to $15,000 to move ventilation. So if you want to DIY but ventilation proves a problem, it may be best to leave that project and move on.

To order your copy of Remodeling Hell, CLICK HERE

For more information about Remodeling Hell, CLICK HERE

To order a copy of my new book Murder on Kilimanjaro, CLICK HERE

For more information about the Summit Murder Mystery series, CLICK HERE

Follow me on TWITTER

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