2022 has been a year of incredible makeovers here at Today’s Homeowner. Here are our favorite before-and-after transformations from the past year.
This front porch now invites you to pull up a chair and enjoy the view. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
5. Front Porch Makeover
Mike and Leigh Ann have a beautiful piece of property that they share with their horses. But they felt like the front of their house lacked the visual appeal that the land it sits on deserved.
The walkway to it was incomplete and unattractive, while the front porch was a sea of dingy paint, stuck on the front of a white house. There was nothing to draw you in or make you feel welcome.
But now, the front porch is freshly painted, and even though we only added a little gray to the mix, there’s enough contrast to give the space some personality.
The rotten wood and peeling paint are gone, and so is the poorly poured sidewalk. In its place is a symmetrically arranged walkway of 12 stepping stones — made from Quikrete’s Walkmaker molds — that create a graceful transition to the porch steps.
The porch now invites you to pull up a chair and enjoy the view.
Large-format pavers make the patio seem larger than it actually is and the new fire pit is the ideal spot for entertaining. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
4. Two Patios are Better Than One
Jerry and Shay have a beautiful backyard with great shade trees and a lush lawn. But their old fire pit had seen better days and the existing patio offered few opportunities to enjoy the outdoor space. It was too small for entertaining and the monotone color palette lacked any real interest.
Now, the whole backyard has come alive with the addition of a big new patio that complements the shape of the trees while it enjoys its shade.
Large-format Pavestone pavers make the patio seem larger than it actually is and the new fire pit is the ideal spot for entertaining.
There are two large steps that create a graceful transition to the old patio, which has been revived with a new shade of stain and a bold color on the doors.
That same color on the storage shed plus some simple landscaping has transformed this yard into a spot you just can’t wait to enjoy.
Chelsea and Brandon’s bathroom is 65 years old. At that age, there’s some baggage — like the pink tub and the lack of ventilation.
The vanity was newer than that, but it really didn’t fit the style of the room and it lacked character.
But now, the bathroom is overflowing with character and grandmillennial style. The wraparound wallpaper not only creates the jewelry box feel that Chelsea was after; it also makes the pink tub look intentional.
The vent fan makes the space more functional, and the larger vanity makes it easier to use. Plus, its black finish complements the room style, and the new Fluidmaster bidet toilet seat elevates the whole room to a spa-like experience.
This bedroom has a clear purpose, which is to make guests feel right at home. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
2. Guest Bedroom Update
Corey and Grace’s extra bedroom was just that — it lacked any real identity. The hardware and paint color lifted by the previous homeowners didn’t make the welcoming statement they wanted for their guests.
But now, the guest bedroom has a clear purpose and that’s to make visitors feel right at home. The board and batten accent wall draws you into the space and the custom trim around the windows tells you they were intentional about making this room nice for you.
The floating shelves and nightstand are functional for short-term guests without taking up as much space as larger pieces of furniture. And the warm wood tones complement the cool green accent wall, just as the gold wall sconces do.
This breezeway has taken on the feel of a courtyard in a fancy hotel. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
1. A More Inviting Entrance
Delane’s breezeway is the main entrance to her home, but before, it had a very tired and haphazard feel to it. The random collection of different slabs on the floor left visitors with questions about what the space was supposed to be.
The sad empty planting bed made the house feel a lot older than it actually was. And the chain link fence made it feel more like a cage than a relaxing space.
But now, the whole space has taken on the feel of a courtyard in a fancy hotel. The consistency of the stencil floor ties everything together from the wrought iron gates to the lush green planting beds.
The door adds a pop of color while the fountain adds a cool visual element and a peaceful soundtrack for the space.
The simple curtain rod and the curtains frame the backyard and somehow make it all feel like a resort.
Sustainable living protects our ecosystem and preserves natural resources for future generations — and it improves the quality of our lives.
Living “green” means being aware of how your actions affect the environment and those around you. Then, you can take everyday actions to improve outcomes.
This may sound like a tall order, but this lifestyle shift doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Here are some simple things you can do now to transform your home for sustainable living.
A key part of sustainable living is using only energy you need — that starts with insulating your home. Doing so will conserve energy, save you money and increase personal comfort.
The North American Insulation Manufacturers Association estimates up to 90 percent of homes are underinsulated. So, your home probably could use more insulation!
However, not all insulation is equal — or sustainable. Some companies use large amounts of non-renewable energy to produce their insulation, which has negative environmental impact.
“Embodied carbon refers to the carbon dioxide equivalent emitted throughout the product life-cycle, including raw material extraction, transportation, and manufacture,” the company’s website states.
In addition to being sustainably produced and soft as cotton, it’s made with natural materials. Owens Corning PINK Next Gen Fiberglas Insulation has the highest recycled content in the industry.
PINK Next Gen Fiberglas batts come in pre-cut lengths to save time, making them ideal for framed cavities. The batts are extra stiff, so they slide in easily and resist slumping in areas like walls. And if you need to make cuts, they split cleanly.
After installing insulation in the attic and crawlspace, you need to prevent inside air from escaping, and outside air from getting in — here’s how to eliminate cracks and gaps:
Caulk around windows and doors. Homes expand and contract due to humidity changes, so you should do this each summer and winter.
Check each entry door’s threshold for damage and replace a failing rubber seal — or the entire threshold — as needed.
Check for gaps between the threshold and the door and install door sweeps as needed. Some door sweeps attach to the bottom of the door; others are mounted inside the door.
You also can insulate electrical outlets, install or replace weatherstripping in windows and doors, and cover window air conditioners for a weather-tight seal.
Garage sales are a great place to find like-new furnishings for your home. (shironosov, Getty Images)
2. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Living sustainably is all about keeping as much out of the landfill as you can. To do that, start with the 3 Rs — reduce, reuse, recycle.
Reduce: Ditch bottled water and install a home water filter to save money, have healthier drinking water, and help the environment. Eliminating bottled water consumption cuts down its carbon footprint left from transportation to stores and discarded plastic bottles.
Reuse: Furnishing your home? Avoid fast furniture! Like fast fashion, these furniture pieces are mass-produced and relatively inexpensive, so they’re easy to obtain and then abandon. Instead, look for second-hand furniture at online marketplaces, thrift stores and yard sales.
Recycle: Buying new items for your home? Look for the post-consumer label. This means the product is made from recycled materials. You might be surprised at how many things are made from post-consumer recyclables — fences, playground equipment, carpet, and even roofing shingles can be created from garbage.
But to get to that post-consumer point, people need to make the simple decision to recycle at home. Hang these recycling bins on your garage wall so they’re not only out of the way but also in plain sight so you won’t forget this important step!
To keep electronics from using energy when they’re not in use, plug them into a power strip that you can turn on and off. (DonNichols, Getty Images Signature)
3. Unplug Devices Not in Use
Just because an electronic device is turned off doesn’t mean it’s using no power.
Energy vampires are electronic items that suck up electricity when not in use (phantom power) — adding at least 10 percent to your monthly utility bill, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
If you have a light switch that can turn outlets off and on, plug your biggest electronic items (such as TVs and computers) into these switch-controlled outlets, and simply flip the switch when you no longer need the device.
Alternatively, plug media devices — some of the worst energy-sucking offenders — into a power strip and, again, control their power use with a switch.
If neither is an option, avoid leaving your TV or computer idle; power off the flat screen and put the laptop in sleep or hibernate mode. Or simply unplug devices you’re not currently using.
Solar power panels can provide electricity and heat your home’s water. (zstockphotos)
4. Use Renewable Energy Sources
Reducing dependence on non-renewable fuels is at the core of sustainable living, and there’s no better renewable energy source than the sun.
Solar technologies convert sunlight into electrical energy through photovoltaic panels or mirrors that concentrate solar radiation, according to energy.gov. Integrating solar power into your home can be as simple as installing a single panel and battery system or as robust as having a full array of panels powering your entire home.
Solar power can provide electricity for air conditioning, lighting and appliances, and it has virtually no environmental footprint. You can also use solar power to heat your home’s water.
Solar water-heating systems likey won’t provide all the hot water you may need, but for most folks, it can cover 50-80 percent of your hot water needs. Although these systems use some energy, the cost to operate them is only about 10 percent of a conventional water heating system.
Not ready to commit to these big-ticket solar-powered items? Start small with solar lighting to illuminate your landscape and — bonus — deter intruders from coming near your home.
A Little Free Library can foster a sense of community and promote education and literacy. (Scott Fields, Getty Images)
5. Share and Share Alike
Sustainable living isn’t just about the environment. The three pillars of sustainability are environmental, economic and social, and one of the social goals is to educate your community.
You can share knowledge with neighbors by passing along books you’ve read. Little Free Library, a nonprofit organization, promotes literacy, creativity and community through book exchanges.
The signature bookcase — resembling a small building — makes a Little Free Library instantly recognizable. It’s usually made of wood, mounted on a post, and has a door with a window to protect books from the elements.
Another way to share with your community is to grow a community or victory garden. Conventional food distribution with long-distance transportation to grocery stores exhausts energy and human resources.
By growing produce, you can reduce the demand for commercially grown vegetables. Plus, if you grow enough, your can share your surplus harvest with neighbors and reduce food waste.
These are just a few lifestyle changes you can make to live more sustainably. Find more information and tools to help reduce your impact on the environment on the EPA’s Greener Living website.
Kelly and Jennifer Foster love improving their home, but their closet has them stumped — what’s good for him isn’t necessarily good for her. So, we’re creating a custom closet system to maximize storage space in a couple’s divided closet.
The Projects
The shelves on Jennifer’s side of the closet create space for purses, shoes and folded clothes. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
Build new shelving
The first step in creating a custom closet system is to remove the old wire shelving. These builder-grade wire shelves are common in newer homes, but they’re not very user-friendly. The slats are the right size for hangers, but it’s impossible to slide them to create more space.
After the shelves are out, we patch the holes left behind and set up Kelly to paint the closet walls and Jennifer to pre-paint the shelf boards we’ll be using for the new storage systems.
And on the dividing wall, we install wall hooks to hang necklaces on.(3 Echoes Content Studio)
The shelving unit on Jennifer’s side of the closet is too large to assemble outside, so we put it together inside the closet. It includes space for purses, folded clothes, and cubbies for bins.
To create space for shoe storage, we remove the hanging towel cabinet and use it as a base for more shelves.
The double horizontal rods maximize the number of shirts that can hang in the closet. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
For Kelly’s side of the closet, we install double horizontal rods to get double the amount of hanging space.
For his shoe rack, we build a smaller version of the shelf unit Chelsea built earlier. But because of its size, we can assemble this one entirely in the garage.
This laundry chute/linen cabinet combo provides space for storing towels. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
Install laundry chute
Every time Kelly and Jennifer walk into their closet, their eyes are immediately drawn to their dirty clothes hamper.
Since their laundry room is on the other side of the wall on Kelly’s side, we install a laundry chute so the dirty clothes can go straight to where they need to be.
To finish the opening, we build a box that exactly fits the space and adds trim on one side so we can slip into position and add trim on the other side.
Then, we add shelves to stock clean towels. This one opening serves as both a linen cabinet and laundry chute.
Kelly and Jennifer have a spacious closet but there was very little about it that was efficient or convenient. The wire shelves only offered the bare minimum to utilize the space available not to mention the fact that there was nothing “pretty” about them.
But now, the space feels even larger thanks to a custom closet system that features shelving that organizes and displays the contents of the closet for both ease of use and visual appeal. And the addition of all those horizontal surfaces hasn’t reduced the hanging space at all because the double rods we installed have made up the difference.
Plus, the new laundry chute/linen cabinet combo is the definition of efficiency.
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A spool of nylon string can be used for many things — general crafting, fishing and hunting, and laying mason lines.
When used for masonry, it’s one of the simplest quickest and most accurate ways to create a perfectly straight line.
That’s why a spool of nylon string is often sold as mason’s line — because brick masons use it to get nice straight brick walls.
The string is easy to unwind off the spool, but it’s not as easy to get back on after you’ve used it.
Winding it by hand back onto the spool can lead to tangles and uneven distribution. And eventually, you’ve got an unusable mess that you have to cut up.
Using a power drill to wrap nylon string around a spool will speed up the process and lessen the likelihood of tangles. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
Here’s a much better, and faster, solution:
Take a screw and drive it through the end of the plastic housing that the spool is on. Then, chuck it into a drill.
Turn on the drill to the lowest setting, and just like that, you can now use the power of the drill to put the line back on the spool.
It only takes a few seconds to wind the nylon string back onto the spool!
As you’re winding up the nylon string, slowly move it back and forth along the spool.
This way, you don’t overload one side or the other, and the string winds up neatly every time.
Did you know you can recycle coffee grounds for plants to use in your garden?
Horticulturists praise coffee grounds for acidifying soil and enhancing plant growth.
Coffee grounds are slightly acidic (5.5 to 6.8 pH), so certain acid-loving plants like azaleas, rhododendrons and gardenias love them.
Azaleas prefer soil with a pH of 5 to 6.5. (c11yg, Getty Images)
They contain about 2 percent nitrogen, 0.06 percent phosphorus, and 0.6 percent potassium by volume, according to the University of Wyoming Extension. They also contain many micronutrients including calcium, magnesium, boron, copper, iron, and zinc.
Use a garden shovel to spread a thin layer of coffee grounds around the base of acid-loving plants. (3 Echoes Content Studio)
Here’s how to use them in your garden:
After you’ve had your morning cup of joe, save the used coffee grounds in a plastic container. You should have enough grounds after about a week or so to use in your garden.
To use them as a soil amendment for your plants, rake back the mulch to expose the soil. Then, use a small garden trowel to spread the coffee grounds around the base of the plant. Only spread the grounds about a quarter of an inch thick.
And then, of course, rake the mulch back just to protect the soil and keep the weeds down.
Add a thin layer of grounds to the plants about once a month, and you’ll see a much healthier plant with many more blooms.
By the way, if you don’t have coffee, you can also use tea leaves just be sure to take it out of the tea bag first.
