apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We just moved almost 3 months ago to our first house. I'm a self-employed artist, so I've been able to spend a lot of time on the house- we started with the main living areas (stripping wallpaper, painting, etc) & then tackled the 'most offensive' rooms (ie: lavender bathroom).

Start with the areas you'll enjoy/spend the most time in! Then, tackle what bothers you most. Save big but somewhat unnecessary projects for last (our office/3rd bedroom is last because I'm refinishing the floors in there).

It's been hectic for us, but I'm on schedule to get the whole house 'done' by the holidays. :)

I've been going on an "as-needed" basis...and it's eaten my budget. Converting the only tub to a shower, treating termites, replacing a busted hot water heater, digging up plumbing filled with tree roots, replacing a rotted out porch...barely enough money left for a bucket of paint! My rule is that improvements that improve the energy efficiency or value of the house take priority...especially if they save me money in the long run. Reflective shingles, insulation, shades and drapes are all supposed to happen before the nasty winter heating bills!

The first things I tackled were ones that I could just not ignore, such as carpet in the bathrooms ( gross and super gross after I saw the stain on the other side of it, plus the smelllll).
Another one was the second bedroom that was such a bright yellow, that it glowed in the morning. In fact I thought slight was on.
Otherwise we have been moving along slow, because we were saving up for a bed and mattress ( sleeping together on a twin was only cozy for as long as you didn't need a good night's sleep, like on a weekend) and some bookcases for all the books in the boxes.
Next big one will be hard wood floors.

OF COURSE it's better to invest in paint and cabinet hardware now- you can always reuse the cabinet hardware when you redo your cabinets or counter tops, and it's a great way to improve the look of your space IMMEDIATELY (and affordably). Why wait when you can do something great now?

Here's a great article to help you choose between cabinet knobs and pulls. Good luck!

We bought our house in July and it was in a very sad state with lots of water damage and repair work to accomplish. We've spent the past five months doing that work. Our priorities were #1) stop water from coming in the house #2) overhaul the electrical #3) replace old boiler with a high efficiency HVAC system #4) rearrange the upstairs footprint from a 4 bedroom 2 (bad) bath/no closetspace layout with small rooms to a 3 bedroom 2 (good) baths with a master suite and lovely large closets #5) plumb in the new 1 1/2 baths. These things are mostly done and we will be moving in next weekend. I've tackled a couple of smaller projects like a mini-kitchen make over that will hold for 4-5 years while we build up the budget to gut the thing. Wallpaper has been completely removed and all walls have been primed. Once we move in, priorities will be turning it into a comfortable space for us to inhabit while we continue to work on the place, bit by bit. Unpacking and developing functional systems is key to running a household smoothly. Everything should have a place and everything should be in it's place. We should be getting a tidy little bundle back from taxes and from there we will complete the new 1 1/2 baths, install a fence in the backyard, and probably tackle painting all the mouldings. Things that go futher down the list are expensive but cosmetic. We have plaster mouldings in the foyer that have been damaged by water and I will have to hire the one guy in town that still does plaster mouldings to get those repaired. We have unique crown mouldings with picture mouldings that will have to be custom cut. Those types of things will have to wait until budget allows. It won't be perfect, but it will be warm, cozy and welcoming. Friends and family won't care that it's not "finished" but that it is open.

Is your kitchen functional? Does it fit with your practical needs (floor space, countertop space, etc.)? Can you aesthetically tolerate the major structural aspects of it without feeling negatively about the fact that you're not able to completely rehaul right this minute?

If you answer these things with a yes, then why WOULD you overhaul it "in one fell swoop"? I know this is a design blog and all, but what's wrong with just dealing with what you have already, and making it as nice as you can?

I really hate the assumption that pops up every now and then on AT that when you move into a new place, you immediately "need" to renovate and rehaul. It's so indulgent. Be creative with what you have! And then donate the money you think you have "saved".

By the by, I really love those red chairs. I also really love the iron railings. Each to her own.

I meant to say "...it's so self-indulgent".

Doing what we can, when we can. Sometimes it's a "want" (paint a room) and sometimes it's a "need" (tackle gutters because basement is flooding.) We moved in March and are not as far along as I thought we'd be by now, but we can live just fine and guests so far have raved. We're doing everything ourselves, so it takes longer but costs way less. I also keep coming up with new ideas as we live here longer, so I think it is a very good thing to take it slowly.

We tried moving with a pre-adolescent once. Our first project was to re-secure the door frame to her room, which she had loosened when she slammed the door, yelling, "You've totally ruined my life!"

We figured she deserved a little bit of a pout and let her get away with it...once.

Generally I recommend doing the most visible things first. You'll see and feel the rewards sooner and that can help keep you going to the end. Remember, though, that it's the things that are most visible to -you-. Think about the rooms you spend the most time in, and the problems you notice most often.

Although with the holidays nearby you might also give some weight to what your guests will see...

I like the iron railings too!

happily, when i moved into my house, there were no major structural things that needed attention immediately. so it was more along the lines of cosmetic adjustments and making it my own. but i also have a life, and don't especially enjoy having home decor and improvements as my biggest hobby.

so i decided to go with a seasonal approach. pick one project to focus on in a season. spring was the yard. summer was collecting some bathroom hardware. fall was painting the front door (and hopefully finishing the bathroom with the new hardware). winter will be painting my bedroom. etc, etc, etc.

having that sort of a loose goal has worked well for me, and kept me from becoming obsessed. it also keeps me from jumping into projects too quickly without thinking it all through.

Choose the three most important things on the huge to-do list and put them on a new list with due dates. Only look at that new list until those 3 things are done. Then go back and repeat.

I often get overwhelmed if the list is too long and do a bit of several things but don't actually finish any one thing or I keep doing trivial items that really don't overall help the list.

I have found the website rememberthemilk.com really helpful for taking massive, unmanageable lists and breaking them into "what should I do today" lists.

3 lists

Need
Want
small stuff

The Need stuff comes first when there is the time (and money), live with the blah curtains and get that boiler, its getting cold. Also when you list all the stuff you've done to your house, new cabinet hardware doesn't sound as great as new boiler.
The small stuff comes when there is only say an hour and you can probably do something like remove contact paper, swap out ceiling fixture, unpack this stack of kitchen boxes, paint a feature wall, that new cabinet hardware, stuff that will make you feel the progress.
The wants are always best left until you've lived there and can go over plans, see how you use the space, and nail down how much of the budget you want to spend. Maybe those new cabinets, aren't actually as crucial to you as an antique rug.
Let your holiday guests be impressed by the space this year and the change next year.

I bought my house with the idea that the kitchen would be the first major thing tackled. Yes, it's functional. No, nothing is "wrong" with it (in fact, the prevous owners had re-done it not that long ago). But I hate it. I hate cooking in it. I hate trying to organize & store things in it. So out it goes.
The only thing that I'm not doing right away is replacing the appliances that are in there...they aren't my choice, but they work and will suffice for the time being.
So as a new homebuyer, I say tackle the big things that bug you the most...it will make the other small stuff seem less annoying.

searchgirl, right on! I am saving up to attack my kitchen... guests say "it's so cute and retro" and then I ask them if they cook and they ALL say no. It's a ridiculous layout and the storage is stupid and the whole thing is clashing shades of avocado and olive and there is no way to keep it clean. And it's MY house. So when the time (a.k.a. $$$)comes, the evil kitchen will be out of here.

The appliances, I agree on too. They do the job. They aren't intrinsic to the kitchen so they don't have to be replaced like everything else.

What we really did was invest in fixing the nastiest, dry-rotted stuff first (the bathrooms) and then I have been going through and painting one room at a time, starting with the grossest (office/guest room that used to have stinky boy roommate living there and putting feet on the walls) and putting off the most high-traffic areas where the walls are least seen (a.k.a. living room full of stuff). The little things that bug me are going one by one but it is a semi-respectable space now. One room at a time.

We moved into our first condo in August, and purposefully chose a place that did not need a drastic overhaul, just aesthetic changes and small quality of life updates. One of my "need to haves" when we were house hunting was a dishwasher. When we got in to the new place, we discovered that the dishwasher was on its last legs so replacing it was our first project, with returned deposit money from our old apartment. Barely saw the money, just funneled in straight into a GE Profile. Right around the same time we repainted the kitchen because I couldn't stand the dark orange that was in there. Light fixtures also got switched out quickly.

Right now we're in drywall, spackling, and painting mode for the living room, dining room, and hallways. Then once the home improvement cash pile recovers in a couple months, the two bedrooms.

In spring, we're using a chunk of our $8,000 to buy a badly needed new stove. Someday in the distant future, new kitchen floor, new countertop, and refacing the cabinets.

Sweetheart, when you can't live with it, work with it! That railing deserves a coat of shiney green or red enamel paint. Woot!

When I moved into my house, my approach was, obviously, to do the essential things immediately. Then, I decided to purchase key items that would give the house an instant face-lift. Large projects would have to wait for more money and time. So, I purchased fantastic Amerock pulls, painted with bright, inviting colors, and bought some fun throw rugs.

You can certainly make the house livable and enjoyable - even with only a few quick and easy changes!

OHMYLANTA!

I have lived in my apartment for just about 1.5 years, and it's STILL not done. I have managed to paint all the rooms but the bathroom, and all rooms but the bedroom are fully furnished. We still need an 8x10 rug in the bedroom, an extra long runner in the hallway and rugs for the kitchen. And we have art and mirrors that have been leaning against walls since we moved in, that we just need to get hung up!!

It's extremely hard to make everything just the way you want it, especially wehn you have a slow inflow of money and work full time jobs. Patience is key!

I've owned my apartment for three months now and still don't live in it due to a combination of family illness, work, work, and work. I was feeling very angry and frustrated about the lack of progress and the ever lengthening to-do list (what kind of person glues curtains to the ceiling?). I've learned the hard way to ask for help and to be patient. Very patient. Because if you're not patient you end up having to rip out your newly installed bathroom vanity, retile your floor, and reinstall the vanity. (sigh)

We have moved three times in the last three years so we haven't decorated in forever. I've missed it!

When we moved into our rental a month ago, we tackled the backyard first. It was full of brambly looking, half dead bushes and most of it was mud pit because the lot sits on a hill. My husband tore out the bushes and started a rock path to cut down on washout. He want to plant grass seed eventually. (We realize its only a rental, but we adore the place and hope to live there for a few years at least.)

Our living room needs work, though. I don't like how the furniture is set up. It looks... off. My husband loves it, but the whole thing is a polygon with no logical places for a long, straight couch, loveseat, TV, etc.

My next project is the bedroom. I want to turn it into a Japanese haven for the two of us.

Prioritizing renovations is tough but worth spending time thinking though. There are renovations and then there are RENOVATIONS. Think about the scale of each project, whether it's something you can DYI, and strategize from there.

If it's relatively inexpensive DYI work, like painting or changing cabinet hardware, then definitely go for high impact or fix the "bug you most" projects first. You'll feel so much better about your place with each project.

For the more expensive work think about what is a "must/should do" vs. a "want to do." That can be tough, because the "must/should" projects (like new boilers) are rarely sexy and hard to show off to your friends. But energy efficiency or code issues--do them first, you won't regret it.

So for example, when I bought my condo 7 yrs ago, the kitchen was by far the worst room in what was generally one big home improvement project. There was nothing to love or save about the cramped, ugly, cheaply-done 1970's renovation of a 100 yr old kitchen with crumbling horsehair plaster walls. And I cook a lot, both for fun and professionally.

In a perfect world, it would have been the first item on the "to do" list. But awful as it was, I could cook in it. So I put up some Ikea shelving and rail systems for storage and lived with the barely functioning appliances while I did more important things like get the electrical system up to code and installed new storm windows (which cut my heating bills in half). Last year, six years later, I finally completed a gut reno of the kitchen. Love it, wish I could have done it sooner, but no regrets about taking care of other things first.

as need basis is a good start or something small and easier so when u r done u will feel accomplished and it will give u the push u need to do other projects.