year round. For bird safety, the mirrors are placed parallel to bird flight paths in my narrow side garden. In open areas, I cover the larger mirrors with lattice. There's more details on my blog. http://www.empressofdirt.net/using-mirrors-i...

appliances, etc. With nearly 500k pins on Pinterest, this one's a keeper!

polyurethane. It was easy to do (albeit time consuming) and is very durable. This room is 10 X 12 and cost about $80, but future rooms will cost about $30 since I have plenty of leftover supplies. Click through to read the tutorial....http://www.domesticimperfection.com/2013/03/paper-bag-floors-a-tutorial/

Pavers are actually quite easy to install and really only require one tool to be rented, a plate compactor. The heavy work is in excavating the area to about 6 and 1/2 inches below grade and moving the dirt. Then you build up the base with crusherun/crush&run which is a crushed stone. Build it up in 2 layers running the compactor over the area. A homeowner can use a 4 foot level and a 2x4 board to help get the crushed stone base to a proper pitch and close to even. Remember that the base should extend about 6" beyond the last paver.

The exact level surface is then done using 3/4" iron pipes. You will need at least 2 pipes. Lay the pipes across the base and check with a level to see if you have the proper grade. Use a little sand to adjust the pipes. With the pipes set, you begin shoveling the sand into the area and with a straight board, you screed (drag) the sand. You are left with a perfectly level surface of sand. As you move along, remove the pipes and fill the gaps with sand. Remember to not walk on the sand once it is screeded.

For a larger patio, we usually work in sections laying pavers as we go so that we can then work off of the already laid pavers. The chosen pattern will dictate any cutting. For a few cuts, a grinding wheel on a circular saw will suffice. For lots of cuts or cutting curves on a patio, a large gas powered cut-off saw with a grinding wheel or diamond wheel is necessary. We also use a large sliding table tile saw to custom cut some pavers.

Once the pavers are all laid, install the edging strips. Then, run the compactor over the pavers to bed the pavers in the sand. You will have a perfectly level and smooth paver patio/walk. It does not require setting each paver individually. While compacting, you will sweep regular sand or polymeric sand into the joints. If polymeric sand, follow the manufacturer instructions on sweeping, compacting, and wetting.

See the following photos for the process. As an example of how fast pavers can be installed, 3 of us installed the paver walkway seen in the photos in one day. We followed the same path of an existing paver walkway that was improperly installed. The one day included all excavation and all installation and clean-up.

We love the outcome! Check here for more pictures and info:

http://askannamoseley.com/2012/03/giani-gra... #ProudestDIY #DIY #kitchen #kitchenmakeover

Transformations kit in Onyx and it really looks so much better.

Hopefully, it will last me a few years and then later on I'll go for all

new.

Regal Red. It took three coats over a weekend, but they look amazing! I followed it up with some spray on poly to help protect it. It's been nearly a year and no chips yet. I used a silver paint pen to add my settings. What I should have done there was placed tracing paper over the knob prongs and meticulously copied my settings, because I left a lot out. Then I could have added a vinyl transfer or used a fine tip paint pen. I may scrape off the paint around the dials and redo it later down the line. Otherwise it was a cheap and easy update! More photos and details here http://www.killerbdesigns.com/10-appliance-m...

#Bestof2012

Previously, this kitchen (originally installed in 1988) was too monochromatic. The color of the cabinets and the floors was too similar and the small island was lost in sea of golden oak. The awful drop ceiling fluorescent light was extremely dated and the lack of cabinet hardware only emphasized the arched paneled doors which didn't feel very modern..

I stained the center island dark brown, and painted the cabinets a warm cream color (Manchester Tan by Benjamin Moore) I added hardware to the cabinets and removed the old fluorescent lights which I replaced with 2 pendants and some LED cans. I tiled the backsplash with pencil tile to accentuate the generic granite countertops. I also updated the kitchen faucet and removed a few cabinet doors to break up the monotony of the cabinet doors.

The entire transformation (including the new Bosch appliance suite) came in under $3500. I did all the work myself, including the electrical, plumbing and tiling. The transformation took a little less than 3 weeks.

#Bestof2012