Category Archives: Home Projects

Home Projects to Repair or Improve

$40 Kitchen Backsplash with Decals

Posted on by September 10, 2013avatar
$40 Kitchen Backsplash with Decals - The DIY Girl

I was looking for a low-cost solution for the kitchen backsplash. I had painted the walls a gold that matches the color in my countertops using Benjamin Moore chalkboard paint, but wasn’t sure where I wanted to go from there. Maybe do some artwork with chalk or just settle for being able to jot down shopping items? I had been thinking about the large decal mural my niece-in-law Brandy had done and was browsing decals for ideas. Shopping and decision-making Then I found Dali Decals. These folks have some great decals and the mini poppies that I loved were only $10 a set. I ordered … Read more…

Caulking sink after Giani Granite Paint

Posted on by February 18, 2015avatar
Caulking sink after Giani Granite Paint - The DIY Girl

I didn’t think I’d like the appearance of clear acrylic (recommended by Giani) around my sink so I ended up ordering color matched caulk (see my post Matching caulk after Giani Granite Paint) so it was way, way past 12 hours by the time I caulked my sink. To be honest — I was putting it off because I dreaded doing it. I thought this would need to be “freehand” caulking with no wipe down and I didn’t see myself doing a good job at that, especially in the nearly impossible-to-get-to back edge of the sink. And I didn’t want to … Read more…

Matching caulk after Giani Granite Paint

Posted on by September 10, 2013avatar

The Giani instructions for painting the countertops were very clear they expected you to caulk around the sink and along the backsplash when the paint completely dry. Duh. I didn’t dawn on me that my custom paint job wasn’t going to match any of the limited selection of colors at the big box stores — they carry white, almond and clear caulk, none of which would look good or cover the gap between the backsplash and wall that didn’t have a perfect paint edge. I needed an opaque caulk that would cover the paint edge and it needed to be a … Read more…

$70 Countertop Fix – Giani Granite Paint Part 2

Posted on by February 18, 2015avatar

Link to Part 1 of $70 Countertop Fix – Giani Granite Paint   As promised by Giani the replacement paints arrived Monday morning. In the meantime I had figured out how to get the appearance I wanted. If you use a large section of sponge (like half of one) you get a blotchy circles look. If you use the edge of a thinner piece of sponge and use it repeatedly you get a speckled, not blotchy look. This is a case where less really is more. After you cover the area with the big splotches using a large piece of sponge, switch to … Read more…

$70 Countertop Fix – Giani Granite Paint Part 1

Posted on by February 18, 2015avatar
$70 Countertop Fix – Giani Granite Paint Part 1 - The DIY Girl

While I am thrilled with how my Shaker cabinet update looks, ease of cleaning, and durability so far, I had yet to solve the problems of ugly countertops and back splash. As you can see in the image on the right the white cabinets need some color contrast instead of the washed out looking counters. Since this is a house I don’t plan to stay in, I am doing all the improvements at the most frugal cost possible and still look good. After researching I decided to try the Giani Granite paint rather than replace the counters. $70 and a … Read more…

Basement flooding – surprises inside surprises

Posted on by September 10, 2013avatar

  Our are had what I would call almost monsoonal rains yesterday. I watched from the window in dismay as the gutters on both the front and the back of the house overflowed and were washing out maple seeds. I was aware the gutters would need to be cleaned in the fall. I didn’t think about cleaning them recently, especially since the roofers had cleaned them out when they did the roof in March. First surprise The basement floor of this house is half finished out and half garage. Late in the morning there was a lull in the storms … Read more…

Installing electric dog fence

Posted on by September 11, 2013avatar
Installing electric dog fence - The DIY Girl

My dogs are trained for an electric fence. When they were puppies I purchased an Innotek Contain and Train SD-3000. Innotek has come out with much fancier systems now, but I’m still happy with what I have. I like Innotek — they stand behind their products. The collars are the most expensive part and if one fails (and they have) you can do a trade-in at a much lower cost than buying a new collar. This system also comes with an adjustable transmitter. The dog collars beep well before the dogs gets a shock. The width of that area where … Read more…

Touch up paint

Posted on by September 10, 2013avatar
Touch up paint - The DIY Girl

I’ve recently seen some name brand touch up paint containers. They leave me wondering how tightly they seal and how long the paint lasts. I believe in handy to use touch up paint for the rooms you’ve painted in your house. No more trucking out to the garage, maybe having to let the paint warm up. No stirring cans, dealing with possible rusted cans. Just reach under the sink and dab a little paint where you just scraped the wall. I started doing this when my son was little so when he hit the wall with one of his toys … Read more…

Repairing torn window screens

Posted on by September 10, 2013avatar
Repairing torn window screens - The DIY Girl

The house I’m in had a couple of screens with serious holes in them. It looked like vines had grown up and sent anchoring tendrils into the screen and someone had attempted to rip the vine off. The vine was gone and so were patches of screen. I have replaced screening before. It’s any easy job anyone can do. You need a spline (the rubber stuff that holds the screen in the frame), a spline roller, and screen. The spline and the roller will cost you about $3 or $4 and a roll of 36″ by 25′ fiberglass screen should … Read more…

Shaker Kitchen Cabinet Update – before and after

Posted on by September 3, 2015avatar
Shaker Kitchen Cabinet Update - before and after - The DIY Girl

The inspiration came from the Lettered Cottage and the pictures to the left. They started with cabinets almost identical to mine so I figured I could do the same thing since I love the look of Shaker cabinets. I knew the kitchen had to be greatly improved if I was going to sell this house for a decent amount so the cabinets had to look better. They were well-built, solid cabinets, but ugly. I wanted to keep the cabinets, but lose the ugly while not spending much money. Many, many hours of work that required a lot of patience. This kind of … Read more…