Inexpensive Ideas to Customize House?
8 years ago
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Ideas for inexpensive plant labels that LAST?
Comments (68)I know the purpose of this topic and forum is to find frugal ways of doing things. But sometimes frugal is more work and/or less than satisfactory. Several years ago, I bit the bullet and bought a Brother P-Touch labeler. They have several products and some are reasonably priced. But I went "whole hog" and bought the most expensive one which cost me $100 at the time. The current similar model is much cheaper now - around $50, I think. You might try eBay. I bought it to make labels for my perennials. Everything else I have tried which have been mentioned here have to be redone frequently and each time time you lose much of the original plant info. The beauty of this printer is that it hooks up to your computer! I make the labels on the computer, same the label to a file on my computer, then print them out. These labels stay perfect in any weather and sun Forever! If you lose the label, you can look up the label in the computer and print out another one anytime. So you never lose all the original info for your plant. I know this isn't a frugal idea but our time is valuable too and saving time is as important as saving money. I still use mini-blinds but when you break them or your chickens run off with them, its so easy and quick to print up another one. You can make the type size as large or small as you want which is great for me now that I am older and I can't read the old labels with the smaller type size so make another and enlarge the type. Its an investment just like all your other good garden tools and worth it in the long run. Its handy to make labels for everything and they even have iron-on labels. Think about it, Barbara...See MoreInexpensive ideas on updating a bath to be more modern?
Comments (29)Thanks, all, again. As you exit the bath, the kitchen is on your right. It is all one large open room -- thus my concern with the bath colors. nosoccermom: there is little to no grey in the tile. Any grey is just the shadows. If anything, there is a yellow undertone. I've looked at gel staining (for the kitchen) and read about all these disasters in the Kitchen FOrum when people try to do light maple. It makes me very afraid. I found some granite and quartz vanity tops with white sinks in prefab sizes online that may fit. I will check out the local warehouses today. The fortunate thing is that these builder vanities are a standard size, so no custom fabrication is needed. I decided to "Chip It" (the Sherwin Williams app), the photo of the rug and floor. Here's what it came up with. Sturdy Brown seems nice. I'll pick up paint swatches and see how they work with the other elements....See MoreCustom Home ideas
Comments (35)You've already expressed your intent to build a large and expensive project, yet you have also expressed concern about saving money during the build and the ongoing maintenance costs of your project. You can't have it both ways. If you're spending a large budget on a large home, then it will also have large costs to reside in that home. Making a large home be zero sum in the utilities department is virtually impossible without spending at least double the home's construction budget. You'd have to have a million dollars or more worth of solar panels in order to be able to supply the electrical needs of a 8000 square foot home. And that's supposing minimal HVAC, which is the largest energy consumption in any home. Geothermal is a great energy saving idea to add to any home, but the initial costs are quite high and the payback period is long. It's usually 30-70K more than a traditional HVAC system. You are obviously young, as your questions show that you have a limited understanding of real estate, construction techniques and costs, financing, and several other important issues that will impact your build and your life. At minimum, if you want to do this build in an informed and organized way, you are at least two years out from building. It's good that you are asking questions and learning,:) but you have a long way to go. Don't try to rush your education. The only way that you can afford to do that is if you have a lot of money and can hire only the best architects, builders, and designers to do the prep and supervision work for you. Personal education will help you to keep your costs down. The library and this board are your friends. Read all of the back pages here and learn as much as you can. Digest it a bit and then come back for more specific questions that weren't already answered....See Moreschool house light - inexpensive vs expensive
Comments (3)Yes, still deciding. We have made lots of choices where we've selected the "better" and realize all "better" would be great. Just trying to spend on what we will use and enjoy most and less on something we might not notice as much. Probably will end up spending more on the lighting just because we are finding big box copies of some of the lights we are looking at are really limited at this point and for the overhead lights, take less wattage where we really need the most.I think if that time period is more fashionable again or copied more, there may be more options, but for now it seems, there just aren't even many cheaper copies we've found. For example, it seems there are copies of mission furniture in all price ranges and varieties, but less of the lighting. Thanks for your input....See More
8 years ago- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
Small details can make a big difference.
Trim and lighting are my favorite topics.
Accent lighting and sconces can really make things look nicer. Wash your fireplace mantle with lighting or even outside your house if you have stone or brick work. Under cabinet lighting.
Fancy door hardware and kickplate on front door.
Crown molding and molding over a door like this.
- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
PRO8 years ago- 8 years ago
- 8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
- 8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
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