Can you DIY?

buttaflly227

Hi !

  SO my husband and I just bought our FIRST HOUSE and there are a few thingS I'd really like to get done asap and I'm wondering whether they are as easy as they look on TV because we have ZERO experience and my man isn't the handy type but is willing to learn.

 

1) Kitchen backsplash- we'd need to remove the existing as well

 2) Redo the fireplace surround. Right know there is a white mantel with this maroon tile? I'd like to have it all be stone or tile up to the ceiling.

 3) Painting the cabinets. I want the cabinets to be white and I always see on makeover shows how they just spray the cabinets with paint and change the hardware. 

Thanks! 

R.Wilsonny

We've been doing pretty much everything DIY, but my H is pretty handy and I?m not afraid to get my hands dirty either. We don't have any heavy renovation stuff right now though - so it's been mostly painting and fixing stuff for now. My H did build panels for his studio from scratch and I?m about to tackle a dining chair project within the next week or so (stripping paint, repainting, reupholstering, etc)....

We're all about saving money, but I think for bigger things down the road, we might bring in a professional....

I actually came across a website that has a lot of cool DIY projects and how to do them step by step....

http://ana-white.com/node/4682

Was considering this project, but in the end, found a sideboard on craigslist that we liked, and we're just going to repaint it and give it a more 'updated' look....there's all kinds of cool stuff on this site though, so maybe some of the projects you want to do are on there....

QT3.14

The only one I can speak to is painting cabinets white. It is super easy but can be time consuming. If you choose to sand down the old paint or gloss that can be more of a challenge. I just painted over some old dingy cabinets. You want to clean them and let dry. Tape everything off and get your drop cloths in place. Use glossy white door and trim paint that you can wipe off.

mricher1983

I've been doing a lot of DIY projects around the house but started with smaller stuff first. As you go along, you'll learn the little tricks and what not to do's. I like going to Home Depot and asking the staff there for some tips but I usually google the project first to see if it's something I want to take on and have a general idea what to ask.

I got inspiration by this blog www.inmyownstyle.com

I follow her a lot and has a tutorial on painting cabinets and adding stone to the fireplace surround. Of course she makes everything look easy but it's trial and error. 

 Good luck. 

 

AurorasEnvy

I think all of those are reasonable DIY projects.  However, I'd make sure to do my research into techniques/methods/how to actually do it before I started.  I'd probably start with project #1, because it will be the easiest.