If you\u2019ve ever wanted to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Refresh rooms in your home to better suit your style <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Create money out of thin air by injecting equity into your updated house, so you can sell for top dollar or<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Complete maintenance and home renovation projects yourself to avoid expensive contractor fees<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Then this blog will be your go-to resource to help you do that without feeling overwhelmed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My goal is to help you renovate and decorate your dream home without breaking the bank, and without having to rely on others. I LOVE empowering women to accomplish tasks themselves. Especially in an area of life that is usually expected of men to take care of. (Not to say we don\u2019t love our men who help us! I’m just saying that it is no longer necessary to rely<\/em> on them to \u201cfix the house\u201d. We can do it ourselves and they can help if they\u2019d like!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women, like you and I, are more than capable of fixing the clogged drain, painting and decorating the bedroom, tiling the kitchen backsplash, and building the high-end kitchen table! And lucky for you, I\u2019ll be here every step of the way while you take on this new DIY journey. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m a cat mom, a volleyball fanatic, a loving wife, and a girl who\u2019s always loved being artsy and creative. Painting, building things, doing arts & crafts – you name it, and I loved it as a kid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I even created intricate drawings of exactly how I\u2019d decorate and paint my room in every color of the rainbow. Imagine the cringy-est kid\u2019s room ever then multiply it by 10! That would have been this design haha! Luckily, my parents said I had to buy the paint to complete the project, and I lost interest pretty quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although, that didn\u2019t stop me from rearranging my room every few months and covering the walls with posters and drawings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Excluding that terrible paint design, I never considered being artsy and hands-on in anything relating to home improvement. Of course, that probably had a lot to do with me not owning a house. But that all changed when I started getting more interested in homeownership and real estate investing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MY REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE WITH DIY & HOME RENOVATION<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019ve ever heard of \u201cHouse Hacking\u201d then you\u2019ll know what I\u2019m talking about in this section. But in case you don\u2019t know, this is what Google has to say about House Hacking:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\u201cHouse Hacking<\/em><\/strong> is a strategy that involves renting out portions of your primary residence to generate income that is used to offset the cost of your mortgage and other expenses associated with owning a home.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n– Forbes<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
I mention this because when I was a sophomore in college, my parents and I went in on a duplex together. If I helped fix it up, I got to live rent-free on one side, and the rent from the other side would pay the mortgage. Crazy enough, I was house hacking before I had ever heard the term. (This strategy is something I\u2019d HIGHLY<\/em> recommend if you ever get the chance.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Duplex<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n![\"My](\"https:\/\/diywithchristine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Duplex.jpg\")
The duplex I lived in during college. My first home renovation.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n When we bought the duplex, we bought it as a HUD foreclosure. There was old, crackling plaster, hardwood flooring missing in the bathroom, and animal feces all over the basement. Most people would probably wonder what we ever saw in the house! I\u2019ll tell ya – it was a good deal, the bones were good, and the rent potential was worth it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I spent that entire summer working alongside my family renovating the duplex, so it could be ready before college started again. In that time, I painted walls, sanded and refinished hardwood floors, and installed new door trim and baseboard, on top of a myriad of other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I lived there for 4 more years taking care of the property (both my side and our renter\u2019s side) and adding unique touches (like new cabinet handles and kitchen backsplash) to make the rental better when my husband and I moved out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Check out my other blog, DIY Rental Manager<\/a>, to learn all about how we self-manage the Duplex and our other rental properties for only 5-10 hours a month! (We manage them better than a professional property management company would AND we get to pocket the management fees! Win-win!)<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/diywithchristine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/About-Me.png\")
My husband, Adam, and I!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n Meet Adam, my husband! He and my father (who hates pictures haha) helped me learn everything I know about DIY and home improvement. They empower me to be a stronger woman, and for that, I\u2019ll forever be grateful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 1950’s Ranch<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
After we got married, we got to live in that little duplex together and create a home. Only a short year later, we bought our current home – a 1950\u2019s ranch that needed EVERYTHING replaced in it. Again, what did we see in this house?? Oh yeah, that’s right! We saw a great-priced estate sale in the perfect location, and I really wanted to flip a house haha! Luckily, Adam was all-in on this project with me, so we made it happen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We spent the next year gutting and renovating every single aspect of this house. I\u2019m not kidding when I say this – it might be a 1950\u2019s house, but almost none of it is left from the 1950s. (Except parts of the foundation and the structure – but we redid a good portion of that as well).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s a before and current picture of just the kitchen:<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/diywithchristine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/About-Me-Kitchen-Update-683x1024.jpg\" "\\"1950s")
A comparison of our kitchen: How we bought it vs. how it looks right now. It looks 1000x better now! We installed a new kitchen island<\/a>, installed subway tile backsplash<\/a>, replaced the cabinets and appliances, and even removed a wall to make the kitchen open to the living room.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n Here\u2019s a before and current picture of the master bathroom:<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/diywithchristine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/About-Me-Bathroom-Update-683x1024.jpg\")
The layout in the master bathroom was horrendous. We had to move some walls, doors, and plumbing to make it and the master bedroom much more functional. We also installed Palisade waterproof tiles<\/a>, a rain shower head<\/a>, laminate flooring<\/a>, a new toilet, a new vanity, and new medicine cabinet mirrors.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n And finally, here\u2019s a before and current picture of the exterior of the house:<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/diywithchristine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/About-Me-Exterior-Update-683x1024.jpg\")
I’m in love with the updated color scheme we chose. We painted the front door<\/a>, painted the gutters<\/a>, replaced the siding, and are currently in the process of getting new concrete poured in front of the front door, along the walkway to the left, and on the entire patio.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n Do you see what I mean? I mean look at that WOOD PANELING<\/strong>! It was very satisfying to remove that stuff. During this project, I went from performing basic home maintenance and home improvement projects to building walls, running plumbing through bathrooms, drywalling entire rooms, tiling showers, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve definitely made my fair share of mistakes, but I\u2019ll never trade those mistakes because every mistake has made me better and stronger. Lucky for you, you can learn from my mistakes and avoid making them yourself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HOW I STARTED BLOGGING ABOUT DIY & HOME IMPROVEMENT<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Towards the end of our 1950s home renovation, I started to think about how much I had learned over the past year and how much money that knowledge had saved me (and hopefully how much it will make us when we sell it later!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I realized that it is not normal for women to learn the skills I learned. (And if you were taught them, kudos to whoever taught you! They\u2019re helping you have a better life!) I just feel that it shouldn\u2019t be that way though! Women, like you and I, are just as capable of renovating our homes on a budget like anyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s no reason to wait YEARS to have your dream house when you can create your dream TODAY with your own two hands<\/em>. I just think that is so cool, and I want to help more women feel the same empowerment I felt on this journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I\u2019ve said before, DIYing your home is one of the fastest<\/em> ways to learn new skills, get a major feeling of accomplishment and empowerment, and save some major money (while also adding more value to your home!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hope I\u2019ve inspired you to try your first DIY or home improvement project! If you feel inclined, I would love to hear about your experiences and lessons learned as you go through your own DIY journey!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ABOUT DIY WITH CHRISTINE BLOG<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
DIY With Christine\u2019s main focus is helping you renovate and decorate your dream home without relying on others or paying a contractor outrageous fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This blog also covers topics about DIY, home improvement, & home decor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Disclaimer: Please note that this is a personal blog where I share my personal experience, tips, and tricks about DIY & home improvement. All opinions are mine. You should not take anything from this blog as professional advice. You can read more about the privacy policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hey there! Welcome to my world of DIY! My name is Christine, and I started this blog, DIY With Christine, to document my husband and I\u2019s journey while we completely gutted and renovated our first home, and to show other women that we CAN build our dream home without relying on others or paying outrageous … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diywithchristine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diywithchristine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diywithchristine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diywithchristine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diywithchristine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/diywithchristine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5840,"href":"https:\/\/diywithchristine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84\/revisions\/5840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diywithchristine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}