Save it Saturday: DIY

{Shh, don't look at the calendar}

The regular Save it Saturday post didn't go up in time, but I wanted to share why:

We ordered new appliances for the kitchen (yay! My oven didn't heat evenly and we had burnt/raw food, and the fridge leaked and was breaking), to replace the ones that were here before we moved here (and probably here before we were born).

Taking new appliances into a crappy kitchen just didn't seem right, but we didn't have a huge budget to replace and repair everything. Thankfully, my husband is handy and can do minor construction jobs.

This helped offset the cost tremendously.. so far. We have hit some snags, and I wanted to share what I've learned so that if you take on a big job you won't have the same issue. 

1. Know exactly what you need. Don't assume that just tile and some grout is all that's needed for a floor. You may also need special boards, scraping tools, a level, a special tile cutter, etc. Look on websites and ask people who do these jobs what you really need!

2. Measure and round UP. Always round up when determining how much material you need. Worst case, you return unused stuff. Best case, you have just enough for the job you need. Going to the store to get even more material can be a hassle and make you wonder why you even tried. 

3. Get what you want- within reason. Sure there may be a tile that is 50 cents cheaper per square foot, but if you're doing this job you want it done for life- right? So though you should stay within a reasonable budget, don't cut costs just to cut them. You'll look at the tile for the rest of your life, and I'd rather you think "I put this work in for what I wanted" not "I really liked that other color better." 

4. Adapt a Zen like approach to chaos. Your house will be a mess. You will eat out more than you like to. Put on imaginary blinders if you need to. This part is temporary and you will get your house back to order (or even better!) soon. 

5. Do not take on more than you can do. Just because you may save money doing a DIY job, there are so jobs that are too difficult- no matter how many youtube videos you watch. Know your limits, or else you may end up with a bigger job that requires more money because you had to hire someone to repair your mistakes AND do the job. 

Good luck with your DIY jobs- link them below, I'd love to see what others have done! I'm about to get back in the black hole of my kitchen and hope that we make some more progress today :)