house hunters Archives - Authentically B

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As many of you know our family appeared on HGTV’s House Hunters earlier this year. When we began filming we weren’t even close to being ready to move in. While we were still prepping, I was able to knock out small projects that were fun, easy to do and inexpensive. Let’s be real, renovations are not cheap so I was definitely looking for projects that would make a real impact for not a lot of cash.

This easy DIY helps you provide a serious upgrade to your cabinets that are easy to change anytime you want. Our home was built in the 1920’s so everything isn’t perfect but it will last forever. Our cabinets don’t have backing so to spice it up a bit I created patterned backings to make the bare wall look amazing. To start gather large card board boxes, scissors, fabric of your choice, a tape measure and a hot glue gun.

Measure the length and width of the inside of your cabinets.
Once you have those measurements, cut out card board pieces in the exact measurement and shape of you cabinets.
Take your fabric and make sure too cut a section that will cover the front of the card and slightly fold over the edges and corners.
Use your hot glue gun to glue the fabric to the card board on all four sides and let it cool.
Carefully insert the covered part so that your fabric is visible inside the cabinet.
Press it firmly into the back of the cabinet until its snug.
Repeat these directions until you cover all or part of your backings.

I hope you found this cabinet upgrade simple to do. It can pack a real punch in an otherwise ugly or boring cabinet. Leave me a comment and upload photos to show me how this easy DIY worked for you. Enjoy!

House Hunters Episode Information

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Our cottage was built in 1929 with 1 bedroom, 1 living area, 1 bathroom,and the kitchen. Somewhere along the line the previous owners added an addition(2nd bedroom) and a detached single car garage to the house. The second bedroom is now our son Grant’s room. Since our total space is about 891 square feet we decided that using one continuous color through out the house would make a big difference in making the space feel open.

Grant’s room was being used as a dining area previously and needed lots of love because of the salmon colored walls and horrible pink tile. The first order of business was to paint the walls. After looking at paint chips for days we finally got some samples and tested them in the house. (Boy was that exciting!!!!) We chose a beautiful Behr Marquee Natural Gray paint in the perfect tone. It wasn’t too dark or too light, and most importantly, not too brown. (I hated the idea of having any brown/tan paint in the house at ALL!) Behr Marquee paint is a bit pricey but it saves you some time, energy, and mental anguish by knowing that all you need is ONE coat. That was important to us because every room in our house needed to be painted.

Next, I tackled the floors.The rest of the house has hard wood floors that we refinished. The tough part was finding flooring to match the original refinished hardwood in the rest of the house. We ended up finding a really good deal on laminate floors in the perfect color at Lumber Liquidators. I was able to put down the floors by myself over a few days but I must admit, the first day was the toughest because I wasn’t prepared. If you ever plan on putting down floors start by taking an entire day to just watch installation videos on youtube. (seriously,Lol) Also, be sure to get a complete kit with spacers, rubber mallet, etc. Have the proper tools to cut boards with as well. I found that a circular saw worked much better than a jig saw in this case. Never the less, I got it done.

Another important note is to remember that if you are using a flooring product that goes over existing floors, it will affect the doors. I wanted the flooring to go inside of the closet as well so I had to remove the doors while I was installing the floors. Before reinstalling the doors, I had to trim some length from the bottom of the closet doors so they would fit the new space.

It was a ton of hard work but we saved some serious $money$ by doing it ourselves. After completing this project I felt like I could take on the world! I hope this will inspire and encourage you to spruce up your living space however you see fit. Just know in your heart that if I can, YOU can D.I.Y. (Do it yourself )

Enjoy!