Guest Blogger: The Perfect Do it Yourself Projects for Wintertime Warmth

Guest Blogger #332, Entry #903, January 17, 2012

When it’s too cold outside to actually accomplish anything outdoors, it’s hard to avoid the hermit feeling while stuck inside your home. You’re aching for spring to arrive so you can get back to work on your home. You’re the do-it-yourself-er that can’t stand sitting still for 10 minutes. Running out of hope and patience waiting for spring? Try some of these easy home improvement ideas that are perfect for winter!

Update your fireplace this winter

Update Your Fireplace

What’s the one place in your house that is the coziest during the winter? Where guests seem to congregate when they come to your home? The fireplace, of course! If you have a fireplace that’s outdated or too large for your living room, it can completely destroy the ambiance of the rest of the room, and even your house.

Winter is the perfect time for making updates to this cozy centerpiece. You do anything, really, from as simple as hanging a large mirror over your fireplace (which will make your room appear larger and add a touch of elegance to your mantle) to completely remodeling the whole thing. Try painting over dated brick in a sleek white or cream color. It will add contrast and style.

Consider ditching the mantle altogether. A more modern look is one of flawless stone that extends from the bottom of the fireplace all the way up to the ceiling. Or replace your old stone or brick with ceramic tiles for a mosaic look that will diversify any casual setting. Check out thrift stores for old, antique mantles that you can clean up with a good sand and a fresh coat of lacquer, and replace your dated mantle with a piece that’s classic and timeless.

If you haven’t yet already, how about an upgrade to an electric or gas fireplace? Your chimney and flu may need to be reworked, so make sure you’re willing to put as much time into this project as necessary before tackling it. But save yourself (and your family) the hassle of running back and forth to the cold garage for firewood. With gas and electric fireplaces, you have a perfect, roaring fire to keep you and your family warm at the touch of a button.

Your kitchen …

Image via: Elledecor

Remodel Your Kitchen

If redoing or redecorating your fireplace isn’t a large enough project for you, you might enjoy taking on a larger project this winter, like remodeling your kitchen. Old, dark, closed off kitchens are now considered out of date, and appliances that were top of the line 10 years ago will no longer cut it if you’re going for a modern look.

Start at the appliance level. Still working with the old dishwasher your in-laws gave you as a wedding present before you bought your house? It’s time to kick that to the curb (literally – put it out when the junk removal takes place in your town – guaranteed some poor college student or someone who really needs it will pick it up before it gets taken away) and put in an update. Stainless steel is the way to go in terms of appliances for the 2010’s. Gas range stoves are all the rave, with a stainless steel oven underneath, and maybe even an extra drawer to use as a plate warmer.

How about replacing your counter tops? Old, colorful counter tops that don’t match anything else in your house anymore can be an insult to the rest of your kitchen. Consider switching to granite, or if you’d like a lighter, less expensive version of granite, try one of the many options out there for laminate surfaces.

Try replacing the floors. Hardwoods are hard to keep up in a kitchen, so think about switching to a nice tile design that goes with the color scheme of your kitchen without taking the focus away from your beautiful new counter tops.

Build a custom island. By putting in an island (especially one that you’ve designed yourself), you’re expanding counter space and increasing traffic flow through your kitchen. Since you’re already doing that, how about opening the kitchen up so that you can see out into the living room while you’re cooking? Start knocking some walls down! An open floor plan is the best way to maximize space in your home, and will give you a great project to work on all winter long!

Bathroom do it yourself ideas

Image via: Babble

Switch Up Your Bathroom

One of the best feelings in the world during the winter months is getting that warm to the bone sensation from sitting by a fireplace or relaxing in a hot bath. Don’t have a bath tub? Put one in this winter. Already have a tub, but are looking to upgrade to a sitting tub or jacuzzi? What are you waiting for?

Installing a gorgeous claw-foot tub will not only give you a wonderful place to unwind and warm up during the winter, but it will add such a nice touch of elegance to your bathroom. If you have the floor space, a claw-foot tub can be an easy install.

Need an extra form of relaxation for cold, tight muscles? Install a tub with pressure jets. These tubs can replace your current tub quite easily, and all you’ll need to add from there will be a nice line of decorative tiles to seal off the tub when you attach it to your bathroom wall.

You could even think about updating your shower. This could be as simple a project as going out and buying a new rainfall shower head – the kind that drops water straight down onto your body, as if it is raining on you.

Heated floors are even a reasonably inexpensive way to warm up your bathroom for when you get out of the shower. No longer will you have to bear the awful chill of stepping out of a hot shower and into a freezing cold bathroom! Simple hot water pipes are easy to install under a new laminate floor. Between your new heated floors, an updated tub and a great shower head, all you’ll have to do from there will be add water!

Warm up your bedroom this winter

Image via: Belgian

Warm Up Your Bedroom

Switching up your bedroom and making it warmer and more inviting could be as simple as rearranging your furniture. But if you’re looking for more than a 2-hour project, consider some of these ideas.

Install organizational areas. Under the bed is a great place to build and install custom drawers for. You’ll add storage space without cluttering up your bedroom, and maybe you’ll finally be able to organize the mess that you already store under there!

Customize your curtains. This idea may be geared more toward the ladies. Go to the fabric store and pick out a couple of slabs of fabric that you think would match the style of your bedroom. Use your imagination, or check online for curtain design ideas, and start sewing! Making your own curtains is an inexpensive way to completely change the look and feel of your bedroom.

Organize your closets. If you’ve got the time indoors (which you always do in the winter!), pull everything out of your closet, reorganize it, purchase some closet organizers and space savers, and have at it. With the clutter gone, you’ll feel more relaxed and at ease, plus all your stuff will be easier to get to and find!

With any of these great home improvement ideas, you’re sure to stay busy all winter long, without ever having to work outdoors! And when spring finally arrives, the exterior of your home will thank you for warming up with all of these indoor projects before tackling the monster projects that are sure to come outside!

Allison Waters is a Massachusetts homeowner who often contributes to home and garden columns. Her forte is finding the lowest heating oil prices in MA and giving tips on how to secure homes for winter to reduce heating oil costs.

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