Home…from crayon drawings as children to home loans as adults, that’s what we strive for throughout our lives. To create a place we can call our own. We all have picture perfect ideas of what are homes should be like. The emotional colors of love, warmth, and peace aside, our collage of pictures also contains images of the perfect living room, the perfect kitchen or perhaps a landscaped garden outside. Whether we can afford it or not, our dream home is usually something straight out of the pages of Home Improvement (the magazine).
If dreams can be realized, then why not dream homes? A home being a lifelong location, its improvement (and maintenance) is always a work in progress. You can pay thousands to have it renovated in a go or do it in bits and pieces on your own. There is no dearth of inspiration or of ideas. If it’s some DIY coaching you want, then there’s no better or cheaper place than the web. Let’s check out seven resources which just might make your dream home a waking reality.
Sleek, comprehensive and informational…that’s what HGTV.com offers. The site features do-it-yourselves, reviews, guides, and message boards. The site covers the entire range of what a home is about with specific sections devoted to everything from home improvement to entertainment ideas. The website is also about a lot of videos because HGTV is also a leading home improvement cable channel with a viewership in 89 million US homes alone. And if you really want to get inspired, check out the Dream Homes tours on HGTV. You can literally walkaround the house in HGTV’s embedded player.
If the last website made you dream, this one tells you to get real and more hands on. Both sites are from the same network. DIY Network is about home repairs and maintenance. If you have your tools on standby then checkout, the site for project ideas, step-by-step how to guides, detailed illustrations, videos, and expert advice. Just like HGTV, this site also offers online videos with a complete program finder and guide. With 10,000 short-form videos, it covers all angles of home improvement. The site is also top-ranked in Nielsen’s Online Home and Garden category.
Easy2DIY offers animated tutorials and product demos. The tutorials cover everything from the correct techniques to the correct tools for the job and how to use them. The videos are high quality and instructively animated. Some of the step by step How-To videos marked as 3D let you take a virtual tour of a room or house. The How-To instructions also have a note on the skills levels and the time that will be required for the project. Specific projects can be searched out by Categories, Project Locations, Tasks, or by Brands.
Hometime is actually a long running television show on the PBS (an American non-profit public broadcasting television service) network for a very long time. 23 years worth of knowledge is available on the web through instructional how-to articles and streaming videos. You can browse through the How-To articles or the How-To videos for your home project. The site is simpler to navigate as compared to the previous ones we have shown.
Another comprehensive resource on everything related to remodeling, redecorating, plumbing, or keeping your house together with a stain remover. Do It Yourself features that. Pick an area and click through to discover the articles detailing the job. The site also helps you to find contractors by allowing you to submit your project on the site. You can get 4 free estimates and your listing also lets the local contractors contact you.
The above sites assume that you own the house which you aim to improve. But what if you aren’t the home owner? Rental Decorating Digest covers that by giving you a library of tips and advice on how to improve the living space around you. You might not have the power to renovate it from outside to inside but with how-to’s on multi-purpose furniture or something on window treatments, you can create a cozy place of your own. Also check out the posts for the first time renter as well as the section on money management.
Unclutterer says that it’s a blog about getting and staying organized. Unlike the others which are websites, this one is a blog for the ‘helplessly disorganized’ (aren’t we all!). The blog is a treasure trove of tips and strategies on how to organize the space around you. From workspace to home space, the blog tries to give its two cents worth. If you are too cluttered and want a dose of minimalism, then head for the Ask Unclutterer section. The blog in that respect is not about décor or remodels but about using what you have (or you don’t have, like space) and giving it a kick of neatness.
What’s the best way to use all these sites? For me at least, it’s picking a project and then going through these sites and noting the best (and cheapest) way to do it. From text instructions to videos, these sites try to cover all the bases. We may not be mojos with self help but these sites do give us a smattering of what goes on in building a house. The ‘home’ is up to us.
Do you consult an expert or do you like to do it yourself? If it’s the latter how do you go about it?
Image Credit: LAGtheNoggin
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