Keeping Kitchen Home Improvement Cheap

The kitchen is one of the most used rooms in the house. They are also one that sees the most problems. Home improvement in the kitchen is something that involves a lot of planning and a lot of work. It is also one of the most expensive areas to remodel. Remodeling a kitchen is something that needs to be done quickly, since this room will most likely need to be used again fairly quickly. That is why planning is so important.

When starting to plan a kitchen remodeling project, you should write down everything you would like to do. Then you should write down what you can afford to do. You may not be able to replace all the appliances or add that pantry. It is good to know this up front. This way you can create the design around what you will be doing.

Some remodeling tips can really help you out to reduce costs. The following list is some of the best tips for kitchen improvements on a budget.

• Paint cabinets instead of replacing them. If your cabinets are in good structural shape there is really no need to replace them. Try painting them instead.
• Replace the hardware on cabinets and drawers. Changing the hardware is a good way to bring new life to old cabinets and drawers. This trick is very cost efficient, too.
• Give the stove and refrigerator a deep cleaning. Many times a good cleaning can make something look brand new. Cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer can actually make it more efficient, too. You may find you do not need to replace them after all.
• Replace individual tiles. If your floor is tiled and there are only a handful of chipped tiles, you might want to think about just replacing the bad ones instead of getting a whole new flooring type.
  

When undertaking a kitchen project it is easy to get overwhelmed. Fortunately, it is also easy to save a little money. The tips above, along with good planning will help you complete this project quickly and within your budget.

Tips for Making Cutting In a Painting Job Easier

If you are inexperienced at painting, a simple painting job can take forever to finish - or at least feel like it is taking forever. To make things easier you should take a look at a few tricks from the professionals about one of the most time consuming parts of painting - ‘cutting in‘. By learning these tricks you can make painting an easy task. Plus when you are finished you will be amazed at how great it looks.

Painting seems very straightforward. You use a brush or roller to spread the paint on the walls and you are done. That is far from the truth, though. There are many little hassles that you may not even realize until you begin. Rarely are the walls and ceiling painted the same color, so there comes the point when you have to paint the top of the wall without getting it on the ceiling. This is called ‘cutting in’ and it is the most time consuming part of painting. The following tips address the issue of ‘cutting in’.

No matter what you do or how carefully you are there is always a need to put up a masking product to keep paint off surfaces where it is not intended to go. As mentioned above you will want to mask off the ceiling so the wall paint does not get on it. There are new products on the market that incorporate tape and a sheet of plastic or paper. These products are easy to apply and make painting quick.

Another way to make ‘cutting in’ easier is to learn how to use your brush properly. If you cut in by using the tip of your brush instead of the sides you will be able to avoid having to mask off certain areas. With this technique you should be able to ‘cut in’ the ceiling and around baseboards easily without having to mask it off.

‘Cutting in’ is a frustrating, but essential part of painting. By using the tricks above you should be able to maximize your time and still be able to ‘cut in’ to get results that rival the professionals.