Bathroom Remodel

What kind of contractor do you need?  There is a good chance you will need a plumber.  Since most of the bathroom is about water, unless you know a lot about plumbing yourself, you will need a plumber. (more…)

Hiring a Contractor

When planning a remodel there will probably be things you won’t be able to do yourself. This means you will need to hire someone to do the work. (more…)

Low Cost Remodeling, Floors

Today we will talk about a couple different types of flooring that

really didn’t fit into the other categories of flooring.

Bamboo, is a beautiful choice for flooring. it’s not cheap so

depending on your room size, and the size of your budget, you will

want to look into this option.

I don’t know about you, but to me, bamboo would be considered a wood

flooring option. They say no. Bamboo is not a wood. Many years ago

when I was a kid, I remember my older brother had a bamboo fishing

rod. If you have seen bamboo growing, It really doesn’t grow like a

trees grows. It doesn’t have a thick trunk and have branches shooting

out of that main trunk.

So by that definition, I would have to say they are right. Bamboo

isn’t a wood. I won’t pretend to know how they process bamboo. Somehow

they open the stalks out flat and seam them together to make a

beautiful flooring material that certainly looks like wood.

The real beauty of bamboo is that it is a very eco friendly material.

Bamboo grows very fast. Instead of having to way 50 years for a tree

to be replaced every time one is cut down. Bamboo will regrow in about

5 years. You can’t ask for a more ecofriendly product than that.

Another great choice for flooring that is just now coming into it’s

own, is “Cork“. Cork does come from a tree, but just from the bark of

the tree rather than the inside wood of the tree. Cork is considered

to be another ecofriendly flooring. Like bamboo, cork flooring isn’t

cheap, so depending on the size of the room and the size of the

budget, cork might be a good choice for you.

We all find different materials that we think are beautiful. So each

choice we make is based on what each of us like. Some people won’t

like the look of cork. It’s a very comfortable floor to stand on. It’s

also warmer than most tile or wood floors. It can also be a good

choice in wet areas, like kitchens and bathrooms. Entryways are

another place that cork would make a good choice.

So when you go out to look at flooring, you might want to consider

either of these types of flooring before you make your final decision.

Low Cost Accessories

Accessories are common to every room. Other than paint, they can be the cheapest way to update or decorate a room. They can also be expensive, so watch your budget. (more…)

Redecorating the Master bathroom

Walk into your master bathroom. What’s the first thing that draws your eye? Is it something you like? Or is it something you just hate to see.

Often the first thing to draw our attention is something we really don’t like. Something we would like to change. Get paper and pen. Now get a measuring tape. Let’s make a list of things we would like to change in the master bathroom.

First take your tape measure. Measure from wall to wall. Just guessing here, but I bet the bathtub is taking up most of one wall. So you can measure up to the edge of the tube, for a floor measurement. If you want to do something different with the walls, you will need to measure all the way to the wall including the space where the bathtub is at.

Write these numbers down. Even though you think you will remember them, if you are anything like me, they will be out of your head by the time you get to the store.
Now consider what skills you bring to the table. Can you paint? Pretty much anyone can paint. So that is one thing you know would be low cost. A gallon of paint is less than $30 in most areas. So is painting something you want to do?

Maybe you have tile in your master bath. Did you know you can paint tile? It takes a little more work to paint tile than to paint a flat wall, but it’s still a low cost spruce up.

What about the floor?  If you have a stone tile on it now, it might be a little costly to take that up and replace it. You might have to keep the floor you have. If you have vinyl on the floor that is another reasonable low cost item to replace. Of course that depends on the size of your bathroom.

Vanity light fixtures are another item that is relatively easy to replace. You don’t have to be an electrician to change a light fixture. Remember you want a fixture over each sink. If you have two sinks, you will probably want two light fixtures. One over each sink. And by the way, aren’t you lucky to have 2 sinks?

Changing a shower curtain is another low cost easy to do update. Make sure you have measured how long the bathtub is, so you can be sure to get a size that will fit. Yes, write that number down also.
How about towels? Towels seem to wear out pretty quickly. They are also reasonably low cost, and can bring a lot to the new look.
Depending on the size of your bathroom, and which of the above mentioned improvement you want to do. You could get your new look for less than $1000

Low cost Flooring

There really isn’t any low cost flooring that I know of, but some of our budgets are larger than others. For this reason, it seems like flooring needed to be included in the low cost decorating. (more…)

Low cost decorating with color

Paint is a great way to tell visitors who you are. Many of us are afraid to put color on our walls. When you go to the home improvement store, notice how many people are standing there with that deer in the headlights look on their face, as they approach the color choice samples. (more…)