GUEST BLOGGER: CHIC LITTLE HOUSE

Hi guys do you miss me yet?! Don't worry, I'll be back next week with lots to share with you! Right now I want to introduce Mrs. Chic! Her and her husband are some great DIY'ers who pretty much tackles everything themselves when it comes to their home. I figured todays post would be great given that this is Memorial Day weekend and a great time to spruce up your home for summer! Take it away Mrs. Chic!


Thanks Lakietha for having me guest post today. It’s my first time guest posting and I’m very excited. I’ve been reading Home to three Duncan Boys for months, and I’m always amazed by all the projects Lakeitha’s able to get done with three little ones running around.

For those of you who are not familiar with my blog Chic Little House, my husband and I purchased our little 1956 rancher in Northern, California in December 2008. Since then we have completed many projects around our house {inside & out}. With the weather warming up, I thought I’d share with a two projects that you can tackle around your home that will make a big impact.

Everyone knows the power of paint and how it can transform a room or an old desk. Not only can paint transform a room it can work wonders on the outside of your house. One of our first major DIY projects we tackled was painting our house. I know what you’re thinking that’s way too much work, but trust me if you can paint honey oak trim, you can paint your house too!
A couple of reasons why we choose to go the DIY route is: saving money, we have a one story, and there’s that satisfaction of a DIY project. If you think about it, most DYI projects don’t cost that much. Why? because you’re saving on the labor. We estimated having our house professionally painted in the area we live in would have cost us $ 1500.

Our home on painting day

Tips for painting your house yourself:

*pick your paint colors in advance, think of the trim, garage door, front door, eves color.

*walk around your neighborhood during different times of the day for inspiration. Most home look good with a color palette of four of more colors. Our house has 5 colors: grey exterior, white trim, black shutters and red wood, wood trellis.

*Check out the outdoor paint color booklets at your local home improvement store, most paint companies have great color combinations.

Just like painting a desk, your house requires prep work. Here are some items you may need:

*broom to remove cobwebs
*ladder
*paint sprayer (we rented ours)
*caulk for wood siding
*roller and paint brush

Remember to tape off your windows and watch for over spray. We got lots of help from my dad and his girlfriend and had so much fun paint our house! So invite friends over and have fun.

Our Home Now

Budget Breakdown for painting our house around $ 300.

we spent around $ 155 on paint (and had leftovers that is perfect for touchups)

$100 for paint sprayer for 24hrs

remaining money went on misc. items like paint supplies, shutters and house numbers

Another way to make a big impact without painting the entire house, is painting your front door. We recently painted our front door a cheery red!

Another project that really improved the look our house was installing sod ourselves. We got a quote from our landscaper who installed our sprinkler system in the front yard. He wanted to charge us $400 just for the installation, which was more than our sprinkler system with labor cost! So we went the DIY route. Are front yard is approx. 1000sq my husband installed the entire yard himself! I wanted to help but each roll was too heavy for me.
We order 2 1/2 pallets of sod

Here are a few tips for getting a deal and laying sod:

*Call around to sod farms and see if you can get free delivery. Some places will deliver for free if you reach a minimum square foot amount.

*When you lay your sod stagger your seams, and make sure you lay them tight.

*When laying over a sprinkler head use an exact o knife to make a sit. That way when the sprinkler head is lowered, it will disappear. Laying sod is hard work, but the transformation is amazing!

Thanks again Lakeitha for having my guest post. It's been fun sharing our DIY projects with your readers!

Thank you Mrs. Chic (oh and I can't forget the Mister)! You guys did an amazing job of sprucing up your house! I love the red door and how it just pops out against the house! Are any of you doing any outdoor entertaining this weekend? Do you plan on sprucing up your outdoors? If so, I want to hear your plans!

Have a great holiday weekend everyone! "See you" next week!