My husband is a remodeling contractor and has been for the last 25 years. We’ve also remodeled every house we’ve lived in. We’ve never had big houses or big budgets so we had to be creative with space and money. David is a master at both of those things and has repeatedly come up with amazing solutions. I thought I would share a few of those with you from our current renovation. I hope they give you some great ideas for your house.
The kitchen in our house is a galley kitchen, and when we moved in, it had very little counter or cabinet space. David rearranged things a bit, built cabinets and increased both the cabinet space and the counter space. He also used a tiny little bit of space next to the refrigerator to add a pantry. This pantry is a lifesaver and so cool!
In what we now use as our “office”, David built bookshelves for all my books. Now bookshelves aren’t normally that special, but these are. They’re floating bookshelves with wood pieces on each end. I think they look really cool.
We added a deck to our family room – actually it should be called a balcony since it doesn’t have steps. When he was first talking about the railing, he mentioned using wire instead of wood. I wasn’t impressed. It sounded kind of hokey to me. But I went along with it because he’s always right and he was again! The wire allows an unobstructed view of the yard. When we sit out there, we can see everything rather than having to peek between rails. And as an added bonus, when our granddaughter went out there, she loved it because she could see and she could hold on to the squares of wire more easily and safely – no splinters. I would definitely do it this way again if there was a view worth protecting.
And finally, we recently moved our bedroom upstairs (our daughter got married, moved out and vacated the room). We didn’t have much furniture and really needed some nightstands. We went shopping for some but didn’t find anything that was quite right. Either it was too short, too big, too expensive . . . you know. Anyway, we came home empty handed and decided David should just make something. So that’s what he did. I LOVE the new nightstands. They were simple, quick and cheap – especially since he used scrap lumber he already had. See what you think.
So there you have it. Maybe one of these creative solutions will give you an idea for your house.
Loved everything! David remodeled our bathroom and did an outstanding job. I have a kitchen that is needing his attention!!
He’s really awesome at kitchens as well as bathrooms. Actually he’s good at everything. How did I get so lucky!
In our first apartment we created nightstands very similar to those. They were great and perfect for a newly married budget!
My kitchen didn’t really have much counter room either until just recently, but I love what you did next to the refrigerator! What a great idea. And the side tables for the bed are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Would he be willing to share details of how he made those attach to the wall to look like they’re floating?
Absolutely. I’ll get details and e-mail you.