Tag Archives: DIY

The {Big} Tax Refund Renovation

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It’s that time of year.  Unfortunately, this year’s tax return looks NOTHING like last year’s.  Our refund last year was  5 digits long.  We had enough to pay off a student loan, credit card debt, put into Avery’s college fund, oh yeah, and build a deck!

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This year, it was two.  Yep, two digits long.  This year we got a whopping $31 back.  But because we had to pay federal, and got back from the state, we put that on our credit card since our points were getting up there, and we’ll be getting a cash back reward of $25.  So our grand total after our 2012 taxes were filed, is $56.

Now, that’s much better than owing  which we thought we would need to.  But we found some papers we were missing and thankfully we didn’t have to pay.  After last year’s giant refund, we were planning on using our refund to pay off debt and do some home renovations, like last year.  Well, $56 sure won’t fund a big project like a deck, so we’ll have to get creative with this one.

Speaking of the deck, we never finished it.  We still have to put a set of stairs on the other side of the back stoop down to the deck, so we don’t have to walk around on the grass to get to it.

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Our building permit is good for a year (I think), so I mentioned it to my Dad that we need to finish it by end of May, and could he help?  When he was here visiting last weekend, he took measurements and was going to cut pieces for the stairs and bring them down next time.  When I found out we were going to get a measly tax refund, I called him and asked if the stairs would cost $31 or less, and he said yes.  The advantages of having a carpenter for a father. (LOVE YOU DADDY) Free labor, and he sometimes buys the supplies without letting me pay.  Especially in this case.

So there you go, our BIG plans for our BIG tax refund… a set of stairs – although I don’t know if you can technically call them stairs when there will probably be only 2-3 steps. Either way – looking forward to building the stairs with Dad next month….

Did you get a big tax refund?  How are you spending it?

Mud ‘Room’ Remodel: the AFTER photos!

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Let’s continue where we left off yesterday: Our mud ‘room’ remodel, part two.  After gathering all my ideas, and making a sketch, we went to work.  First, shopping for supplies.  Dad estimated $100, and we weren’t off by too much:

  • 2x8x16 lumber (with knots)
  • gallon of paint
  • decorative trim molding
  • roller, paint, & pan kit
  • BIN spray (for the knots)
  • coat/hat hooks (x9)
  • Total: $143

We went with lumber that had knots because it was much cheaper, and a $5 can of BIN spray would keep the knots from bleeding through.  It took me a few minutes to pick a color or paint…. going on a whim, I picked something from the ideas Vinay suggested, “blue, green, dark.”  And to add a little finish to the wood panel that would hold the hooks, I picked a $3 piece of trim molding.  We would have stayed closer to the ‘budget’ had the darn hooks not been so expensive! They were $3.50 a pop, and I decided instead of just a coat hook per cubby, I added hat/scarf hooks, so just the hooks were $32+.  But I think it was well worth it.

With all the supplies, we went to work!  I painted the room (two coats!), while Grampy (with a little help from Avery), made the built-in.

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(yes, that’s a fishing pole….Grampy still needs to educate Avery on what are construction tools)

After building the frame, we painted it white (2 coats), and then installed it on the wall, added the hooks, and I put up a few of our jackets & coats for good measure.  I still have to  pick out some baskets and decor, but here’s the progress/AFTER photos:

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The entire project was complete in a weekend, for under $150, and with the labor of 2(and a half if you count Avery) people.  And we only had one goof up.  We cut a piece of wood incorrectly, and had to go back and buy another piece of wood, no biggie.  But reflecting on the project, the majority of the work was painting.  Of ALL the rooms in our house, this one has the tallest ceiling.  Five foot nothing me had quite a fun time getting those high walls…but thanks to a cool ladder we have that you can adjust to go on stairs, I was able to reach!  But man, did the painting take FOREVER!  I even got paint on my knees, and how did that happen, because I was wearing pants!

Now, as for functionality, we’ve had a couple weeks to test this out, and man has it worked wonders.  Luckily it was installed just before the blizzard came, so we had a place to store all our winter gear without having to trek into the house.  Talk about good timing!  I’m still itching to go shopping for some baskets, and we found a great picture to put up on the shelf that has been sitting in the office for the past year and a half.  In time I’ll pick at it and post some updated photos!  Right now some ideas I have for the room are…

  • Add a design or text to the two steps into the kitchen.  Maybe ‘welcome & Home’ 
  • wallpaper behind the coat cubbies
  • baskets for the highest cubbies
  • padding material to go under in shoe cubbies so the wet ones don’t stain the wood
  • a key holder
  • paint the (maroon) basement stair risers white
  • find a new home for the paint/supplies on the lower shelf down the stairs
  • What to do with that high top shelf ??? The fire extinguisher looks lonely up there

And we’ll end with some good ‘ol Before & After:

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What do you think of the transformation?  Any suggestions for some finishing touches?

Mud ‘Room’ Remodel: Design Phase

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It’s a bit of a stretch to claim we even have a mudroom.  Our back door off the kitchen (which we use as our main entry) leads into this 3′ x 3′ landing. Turn right, and there’s stairs down to the basement. Go straight and take 3 steps up to the kitchen.  Very odd arrangement,  yes.  Coming into the house, carrying my 23 pound toddler, his backpack, my lunch bag, and the keys is quite a circus show.

This is the view of the landing from the basement, door on the left, kitchen up the steps to the right.

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Shoes, bags, brooms, everything piles up and creates quite a hazzard for the next person walking into the house.

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And there are these lovely shelves that are loaded with misc paints, sanding paper, cat litter (we don’t have a cat, WTF is the from?!), and dog biscuits… for when our doggy friends visit.  But really, I bet we could find a better home for these random items.

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And did you note the YELLOW?  This house was ALL yellow, I swear the owners before us really had a yellow complex.  This is the last yellow room in the house, and I was on a mission to get rid of this last bit of it!

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Once we’ve trudged thru the landing without falling down the stairs, we have to walk through the kitchen to the dining room where I proceed to dump everything (not Avery – he is gently placed on his feet) on the floor, which means I just tracked my dirty shoes through two rooms of the house.  And then all the stuff is thrown on the table, coats on the backs of chairs and boots on this little stand that is obviously not serving its purpose.

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See, when we bought this house, we made a few sacrifices, one being a coat closet or storage area near our main entry.  So what to do?  We made due with our dinky shoe rack.. and it’s sufficed up until two weeks ago.  On a whim, I decided our next project would be to turn our dinky  cozy entry landing area into a glorified mud ‘room’.  Yeah, you’re thinking I’m crazy because, heck, when does 9 square foot ever qualify as a ‘room’???  Well, you have to get creative…

And by creative, I mean steal pin a bunch of ideas on Pinterest, and pull ideas from each pin to design our new mud ‘room’. (photo credits)

I love the idea of creating a built in along the wall with all the crap (grocery bags, broom, mop, etc) : cubbies for shoes and hooks for coats and bags.  Now, logistically, the depth of the wall before the door frames on either side is only 6-10″, so I wasn’t about to make drawers and even making a shoe cubby would be a challenge, because Vinay’s shoes are almost a foot long.  But if I made the cubbies big enough, we could put them in at an angle. And I LOVE the baskets with everyone’s first letter.  That made me think, with the size of that wall, I could design 3 different sections for each of us: one long cubby for a jacket with a hook, and smaller ones for baskets of mittens & hats, and low cubbies for shoes.

Running full-throttle with my zillions of ideas, I proceeded to measure the room and draw up a sketch of the built in I wanted to build.  I even measured our shoes and jackets to make sure the cubby sizes made sense, and that the height of the cubbies were within reach for short little me:

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Correction, my Dad was going to build it – we have this deal for everything… I design it, he builds it!  So with a few quick emails back and forth about it, we had a design and a weekend for him to help make my idea come to life!  I had a few small decisions still to make, but I knew I wanted to paint the wood white like all the other trim in the house, and paint the room something NOT YELLOW… but minor details that I could decide along the way.

As with all household projects, I had to count my pennies and make sure we could afford a room remodel.  Dad estimated it would be around $100 for all the supplies.  Of course the labor was free :)  I checked with the hubs, and he was OK with that (We have a small house fund we contribute to weekly that we pull from when we do house projects), so we had a green light and went to work!

Tune in tomorrow for the building & painting phases & the AFTER PICTURES!

Do you have a mud ‘room’, or maybe a closet by your front door?  Where do you store all your boots, shoes, backpacks, hats, and lunchboxes?