Joys of being a Homeowner.

I thought about making a series of "Home Improvement" posts, since we are having to do this as frugally as possible since becoming homeowners this year. The one problem with doing things frugally is that sometimes you have to do things as you can, which means the whole start to finish process isn't as quick, and doesn't lead to many photo ops. It isn't as simple as taking one room and getting it finished, we are having to start some projects then wait while we do others. I am going to try to keep up with taking pictures as well as keep track of pricing so I can be accurate when posting :)

Currently, we have these projects going on:

1. Take down wallpaper in the bathroom. This is taking forever. There were 7 layers to get down, and when we got to the end we saw they just nailed up some cardboard to make the walls. SO yeah. That's fun.We started in the bathroom thinking that a can of paint and new curtains would make it the cheapest and easiest room to redecorate. We were wrong. Sometimes the simple projects aren't so simple.

2. Take down wallpaper in the hallway. This started out taking forever (there were 3 layers), but a friend brought over a steamer. I love that thing and my friend for loaning it to us. That is one frugal tip, before you buy- check what you can borrow :)

3. Paint Hallway. Our house is pretty much pink. Not everywhere, but the hallway, bathroom, kitchen, porch room, front porch, and even the carpet upstairs is all pink. I think the former owners wanted to live in a cotton candy machine. This is in progress, we have one coat up and will probably get another on tomorrow. We are going with a neutral color and will use accessories to brighten it up. That is one frugal way to decorate because then you can change up a room just by changing what you put in it, rather than have to coordinate to a more difficult color.

4. Replace washer and dryer. Our new set will be delivered tomorrow after going almost a week without use of one. We needed to do laundry when the dryer fried for the third time. so now we really need to do laundry. We talked about fixing it yet again, but since we were lucky it didn't catch fire this time, we didn't want to risk it again. Our washer was already acting up and we had the money to buy a new set, so we went for it. We went for front loading machines and researched the best buy for our budget. We were also able to have them delivered and installed for free plus they are scrapping our old set!

5. Frame pictures in the living room. I have a wide selection of frames that are many different colors. I bought a can of black spray paint and when I get the chance (and a sunny day) I will spray paint these so that I can have a theme without having to go and buy new frames. It was only $3 for the spray paint and was a lot cheaper than having to replace every frame. Sometimes it's best to find a way to reuse what you have than get new.

Though this whole process has been overwhelming, I am so happy. Even having a lot of unfinished or "works in progress" make me feel like this place is my own. While renting, I was always afraid that the landlord would drop by at the worst times (like when the dryer breaks). Now I have no fears. I keep a generally clean home (clean enough to be healthy, dirty enough to be happy), but when things come up I can relax.

Do you have any home improvement projects going on? Any horror stories?