Not long ago my Mom asked me if I could help her bring the 1960’s era half bathroom in her home to something a little more aligned with present day styles. Since I’m always up for a good challenge, I eagerly agreed to the task at hand.
After a couple of weeks of hard work we were able to completely transform this space into something she can be proud of. Now when we look at the bathroom we can hardly believe where we started!
In this video I replace an old sliding glass patio door from the 1960s with a newer model equipped with built-in blinds. The install itself went relatively smooth although their were a few modifications that had to be made in order to get this newer door to fit into their existing opening without having to remove any of the brick siding. Luckily, I was able to get the old door removed and the new door installed and sealed off in one day and then I came back another day to finish trimming everything out. As mentioned before, this install wasn't super difficult but I would definitely recommend not trying to tackle it alone.
In this video I tackle building a new set of stairs off one side of my deck. These steps will give us access to a portion of the yard that we use a lot. Stairs can seem really intimidating to the beginner level DIYer but with a little research beforehand and some patience, I think most people could tackle a project like this.
In this video I tackle pouring a small concrete slab that will be a landing spot for some stairs coming off of the deck. This is a good beginner's guide to pouring concrete, since I was doing this for the first time you will get an idea of what it's like tackling this project as a beginner. There is something about concrete that just seems super intimidating. Maybe it's how time sensitive it can be or one of many other factors. However...after pouring a small concrete slab for a landing spot for some stairs off of the deck, I feel like I can now say that working with concrete is nowhere near as intimidating as I previously thought.
In this video I install a handrail for a set of stairs. This was a pretty quick installation requiring minimal tools.
In this video I tackle installing a carpet stair runner on a set of stairs that I had previously renovated. This was a fairly simple install that only took me about 2 hours from start to finish. This project is definitely beginner friendly and only required minimal tools. It's a great way to sort of change up the look of an older stairway as well as making it a little bit safer for getting up and down those stairs.
In this video I help my parents tackle transforming their 90's era dining room into something cleaner and more aligned with today's trends. This meant removing the 40+ year old carpet, sanding down the hardwood floors and refinishing them. We removed wallpaper and gave the walls some fresh color as well as adding a wainscoting feature to the walls for a more formal look. We completely transformed the look of this room!
In this video I renovate my parent's 1960's kitchen. This space was in desperate need of a refresh. Nothing had really been changed since the house was built in the 1960s. Even the Kelvinator oven was still functioning somehow, which is kind of impressive to be honest. All of the lower cabinets were completely encased in full size bricks, which made demo a real chore. Since the upper cabinets were in decent shape, I simply sanded them down and painted them and built new shaker-style doors for them. All of the lower cabinets were custom built according to their design preferences. New floor, appliances, countertop, sink, lighting, backsplash...all things that helped breathe new life into this space. My Mom has dreamt about updating her kitchen for a long time. I'm just glad I could help here make that dream a reality. For me...a project just doesn't get any more fulfilling than that.
In this video I tackle refinishing my parent's staircase and upstairs hallway. This meant removing the old, extremely dirty carpet and sanding down the oak hardwood floors underneath. After sanding, I simply applied 3 coats of polyurethane to the wood and let it cure. I also painted the stair risers and the walls. This staircase is one of the first things you see when entering the home and it is giving off a much better impression now!