Maintaining Your Home - DIY or Pay Professionals?

I had a conversation with a friend recently about home maintenance. I am in the middle of trying to make some upgrades to my home. My kitchen flooring needed to be replaced and I did that. As soon as the new floor was installed, it became very apparent that the paint on the walls was dull and dreary. I hadn't noticed until the floors cast a new light on the walls.

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I shopped yesterday and purchased a five gallon bucket of paint to spruce up the walls in the kitchen and living area. I also purchased some trim to be used on a custom corner vanity for my bathroom. I needed a piece of transitional moulding to go between the kitchen and the living area because they are now at a slightly different height. Home Depot had the exact transition piece that I needed but it would have cost me $40. I decided that I didn't want to pay that much, so I went to the Habitat for Humanity Restore next because I can usually find great deals there. Home Depot, builders and other consumers donate building materials to the Restore so you can usually get them at a fraction of the retail price.

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I didn't find the transitional moulding that I needed but I did find some really nice trim moulding for a steal. Normally solid wood trim with several curved surfaces is sold by the linear foot. I was able to get some trim at prices by the piece. I purchased 5 pieces for less than $20 because of a sale that they were having and due to a senior discount.

I still had to find the moulding that I needed though, so I my next stop was Lowes. Lowes was more expensive for a similar product that I had seen at Home Depot. Lowes' price was $30 for the transitional piece that would work. I told the salesman that I didn't want to spend that much because I still needed to buy some other things to complete my project. He suggested that I take my old transition which is solid wood and use it. I hadn't thought about sanding, and staining the old piece to match the new color. I ended up buying two different stains and decided to do it myself.

I have been able to do more upgrades in my home if I do some of the work myself. I paid to have the floors installed, but I didn't want to pay a premium price just for a transitional piece of wood. I also plan to paint the walls myself. My house needs some maintenance work on the outside as well, but that will have to wait.

I spent the day driving around town to save some money. Since I am retired, I have more time than money. I like doing some projects that are not real labor intensive myself. I am a crafter and I make a lot of things with my hands. There are some things that I have learned how to do because I felt that the price that I was charged was too much for the job. There are experts in the home improvement stores waiting to assist homeowners with their projects. Their help is free because they want to sell you the materials and supplies that you need to do the work.

In addition to home improvement, I have been still working on my knitting projects. I am almost finished with the cotton wash cloth that I have been working on for a couple of days. Knitting is relaxing and does not require a lot of physical strength, so I finished my day with some needle therapy.

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I will spend today working on the painting and tonight I will be in my dance class. I hope that I have enough energy left to dance. It's all about balance. Have a wonderful day, however you choose to spend it.