15 Projects to Make a House a Home

Wow! What a year it’s been! It doesn’t seem that long ago that I wrote about the heartbreak of leaving what was supposed to be our forever home. 

At the time, I knew moving was a sound decision, but it didn’t settle well. A lot of things needed to happen to make the house home, the little comforts that we’d grown used to having. And no matter what, I was still going to miss living close to my parents. 

But the last 12 months have been largely good and, looking back, I couldn’t imagine life any other way. 

As we inch up on a year of homeownership at our new residence, I can’t believe all the work we’ve done (or had done) to finally make this place feel like home. Some are big. Some are small. Most were planned and stayed on budget. All of them add that bit of twist that make the house more Us.

If you’re looking for a few ideas to add a little something to your house, consider one of these. They all made a big impact for us.

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1) Painting

This was the very first thing that we did upon purchasing. Moving was such a whirlwind. We had one week to get out of our old house and yet we wanted to paint almost the entire interior of our new house before moving our stuff in. We went through about eight gallons in the two full days we spent painting. 

The results? Not perfect, but all major areas were done!

Our color selections: Sherwin Williams: Light French Grey & Grizzle Grey for accent

2) Fence

One of our first necessary projects after painting and unpacking was to fence in the yard for our dogs. The yard was partially fenced, so we didn’t have to do the whole thing, but there were big gaps and two different styles, so we opted for something even more different: an eclectic mix of 1”x4” and 1”x 6” boards with a cap to encourage conversation with passersby. 

I feel like it suits the vibe we’re hoping to create and it worked within the budget we had established for the project. 

3) Sliding door

Did you know that many houses constructed prior to the 1970s didn’t have direct access to the backyard? I found this baffling. How did people let out their dogs? The only access prior to us adding a sliding door was through our attached garage. I can’t imagine stepping foot in my garage in the middle of the night to let out our dogs in January. BRR!!

This wasn’t a project we were willing to tackle on our own and, for what it is, it’s a fairly reasonably priced modification for a contractor to complete. Definitely something to hire out.

4) Patio/fire pit

We had hoped to construct a second patio at some point in our future to surround a fire pit, but this project was quickly moved up when one of hubs’ co-workers offered us a bunch of flagstone for free. A few yards of rock and gravel later, we had ourselves a unique and budget-friendly sitting area. Bonus that the fire pit surround was old brick that was in our shed. 

5) Sink

We had installed a single basin kitchen sink in our previous home and we loved it so much that putting one in our new home made the short list of to dos. 

Read more about why we love our single basin kitchen sink so much!

6) Carpet removal 

We were really back and forth about removing the carpet in our living room, as we were uncertain about the condition of the wood floors underneath, but one day we decided to go for it and it was well worth it! They were in great shape and really warmed up the space! We bought a bright area rug to bring in some colors and we’ve loved the change. 

7) Woodstove

A wood stove was always on our bucket list at our previous residence. We had both grown up with wood burning fireplaces and we were able to afford this bit of extravagance with our equity, so we moved ahead. We also hoped it would keep our energy bills in check.

This is a project we opted to hire out for the install and masonry work, as homeowner insurance won’t cover you if it’s not professionally installed. 

The woodstove brings a whole new homey feeling to our living room (especially when it’s snowing) and makes the space 80 degrees lickety split, which is fantastic in a Wisconsin winter.

8) Pantry build out 

Our kitchen (attached to the garage) had a coat closet that, at some point, was turned into a less-than-functional pantry space. With some minor demolition, spackle, a fresh coat of paint, and new shelving, it makes a world of difference in functionality.

Also, with the installation of an outlet, we were also able to move our microwave in here when we decided to move some….

9) Cupboards 

The kitchen in our new home is pretty sizable with lots of cupboard space, although it’s not ideally laid out. On a whim, after finishing our pantry buildout, we decided that the cupboards along the same wall were suffocating our kitchen space and we opted to tear them down. 

Although it may not seem so, we really didn’t lose much storage as the venting over the stove rendered the cupboards fairly useless anyway, so we opted to take them out in lieu of a stainless hood cover and some breathing room. 

This project also included removing a soffit and the wall repair. Fortunately, we have an awesome contractor with a very talented drywall guy. Drywall and texturing seems like a simple task, but a quality final product is not easily achievable. While I generally consider myself fairly frugal, I’ve definitely learned that there are some tasks worth hiring out. Drywall is one of them. 

(Note: There’s still more to do with our cupboards, but it may take a year or two. Stay tuned!)

10) Solar panels

This was an unexpected home improvement that will pay for itself in the long run. As of writing this, we’re four months in and looking forward to no electric bill again until the dead of winter. 

Learn more about our journey here!

11) Toilet

Creating an efficient home is ultimately the goal, right? Well, replacing a toilet original to a 60 year old house works toward that goal. Also, we’re tall, so a tall toilet in the master seemed necessary. (Why are old toilets so short?)

So out with the old, in with the new! (And thank you, hubs, for tackling this one!)

12) Rain Garden 

This project reminded me that we really are weekend warriors! We had constructed a couple of these amazing, pollinator love nests at our previous home and could not imagine not having [at least] one at our new home. 

If you own your home, you should consider constructing one. There are lots of benefits! Read more about them here!

13) Raised beds

With our new fence in place we had a fair amount of dead space between the patio and property line, we also wanted a small vegetable garden, so we opted to build some raised beds here. As someone who’s not had much luck with gardening, they’re the perfect size to start out. 

The raised bed project was really fairly inexpensive, as we opted to use cinder blocks. A simple, single cedar board around the top finished the hard edges, and we were able to reuse part of an arch from the existing flower garden space as a trellis. 

14) Deck

When you have a sliding glass door, you need a place to step out onto and hang out, right? Plus, the dogs loved lying on our old one and basking in the sun. 

While we originally intended to build this ourselves, but it was going to be a summer-consuming doozy, so we opted to hire it out. No regrets.

15) Kid space / fort revamp

When we moved in, the house came with a fort space that was sturdy, but not very functional for young kids. It was also ugly. With spring here and parks closed due to social distancing, we modified the existing structure to include a slide, climbing wall, and tire swing. We also repainted the bottom half to a single, neutral color.

The kids are in LOVE with the tire swing and officially think that they have the coolest dad ever (and they do!). 

What’s left to do?

As a homeowner, the projects are never done! Of course the list could go on and on, but here’s what’s we have in mind:

Landscaping

Our new deck needs something to tie it into the rest of the yard and the current landscaping involves a lot of different media — concrete, flagstone, riverock, mulch. It’s starting to look like a pair of patchwork pants. I love patchwork pants, but we’re hoping to tone it down just a little to create a more cohesive look.

Timeline: Summer 2020.

Bathroom

In a house with four people (one which will eventually be a teenage girl), one shower is not enough. So in the next year or so, we’d like to add a shower stall to the master bathroom.

Kitchen remodel

This is a really low priority project, but we’d like to rearrange the cabinets in our kitchen to put our refrigerator in a less obtrusive spot. At that time, we’ll also probably put in some new countertops and backsplash. 

Paint cabinets

We painted our kitchen cabinets in our previous house and it’s a doozy of a project, but well worth it. Paint is so inexpensive when you consider the size of the impact that modern-looking cabinets make. If you set yourself up for an efficient operation and don’t change out hardware, it doesn’t really take that long. In our previous home, we not only changed out hardware, but also painted the cabinets’ interiors (orange!). (It made a fantastic impact.)

Are you a homeowner? What’s been your favorite project to make your house a home? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

—Melissa, Funky Crunchy Mama