Alex | Real Life Renovation

Our story of an abandoned house, a baby, and a rollercoaster of DIY disaster 🫠#extraspacepartner We bought a fixer upper house that’s been abandoned for over two years at the exact same time we found out we were having a son. Here’s how our DIY renovation journey has panned out 😮‍💨 With a super tight timeline and very little money to throw at the house, our backs were against the wall to get the house ready for our son in time. So we packed all of our stuff into an @Extra Space Storage storage unit (which was the true hero for us to be able to make this happen) and moved in with Kylie’s grandparents while I began the renovation journey. Of course everything that could go wrong… went wrong. We’ve had to pay for: A new roof, mold remediation everywhere, two new HVAC systems, new subfloor everywhere, new electrical throughout, completely new well water system, & so much more. Now our bank accounts are drained completely, but there’s no going back now. Time for DIY. So far I’ve installed hardwood, tiled our laundry room, built and installed all of the cabinets in the laundry room + kitchen. Our home isn’t anywhere near complete but with our due date only weeks away, we’ve now moved into our incomplete home. We’re very much in debt and trying our best to get it ready before our son arrives, so make sure you follow us here at Real Life Renovation to see if we can pull it off! #extraspacepartner #diyhomeimprovement #abandonedhouse #fixerupper #diyproject #homerenovation #contractor

Here’s the most important project of my life 🥹 Our son can come any day now and officially make us parents and his nursery was not ready for him. I really wanted to DIY everything in here for him, but there was just no way to get it done myself. @The Home Depot came in and saved the day by installing brand new carpet from their Designer Picks and we couldn’t be happier with how it turned out 😊 The Home Depot’s Carpet Designer’s Picks make it really easy to get a high-end design WITHOUT the high-end price tag. And most importantly for us, they’re all made from high performance fibers that make cleaning up after our little one a dream 🙌 I still can’t believe how quickly they installed the carpet so here’s a complete timeline breakdown to give you a perspective on how fast they were: 🕰️ 8:18am - arrive at my house 🕰️ 8:28am - get started after we discuss game plan 🕰️ 8:48am - tack strips + carpet pad fully installed in both bedrooms 🕰️ 9:21am - all carpet cut + placed in both bedrooms 🕰️ 10:11am - carpet fully installed everywhere and they drive away I even asked them (theoretically of course) if they would’ve been able to carpet my entire house in one day. They said that with 4 workers, they can absolutely bang out your entire 2,000 sqft house in one day which is so crazy to me 🤯 Below is the carpet I had installed, but make sure you check the link in my bio to see all that The Home Depot has to offer you! Collection: Lifeproof Style: Abbotts Gate Color: Linen Carpet Pad: Tempurpedic with Spillsafe And don’t worry, we’re not done with his room yet. Now the fun part starts… 👶 Let us know in the comments what you think this room needs to finally feel like a nursery and be ready for our son when he arrives!! 👶 #HomeDepotPartner #THDHomeServices #nurserymakeover #carpetinstall

Here’s how to make your own custom trophy for your NCAA bracket pool! @Cricut #cricutmade #NCAAPlayoffs #bracketbuster #bracketpool #bracketology #selectionsunday

Here’s how to reno your laundry room for cheap! If you’re rich, don’t watch this. You can just pay someone to do this lol. Otherwise, this is how it’s done with some simple @HART Tools and a tile saw 😎 To start, get some ready-to-assemble cabinets. They’re much more affordable than pre-assembled, because they’re cheaper to ship and you’re not paying someone to build them for you in a factory. These cabinets are from RTA Cabinets and are high quality + easy to put together with a partner! Next… TILE. It seems intimidating if you’ve never done it, but my first EVER project was my laundry room in my old home. I grabbed a cheap $99 tile saw and I banged it out without ever touching a power tool before, so you can too 💪 Just make sure you take your time and PLEASE use tile leveling clips (the yellow ramps) because you will stub your toe on tiles if you don’t. This might be a lot of work, but unless you’re rich and wanna pay someone else to do it… it’s worth it. We obviously still need to trim out our laundry room and put up some decor, but our son could come any day now so we’re prioritizing having our kitchen ready before we address that. 🚨 If you wanna learn how to renovate your kitchen yourself and on a budget, make sure you follow me here at @realiferenovation 🚨 #DoItWithHART #homeimprovement #laundryroomrenovation #diyproject #diyhomeimprovement #contractor

Here’s how to transform an entire room in 1 day! I could be a dad any day at this point which is super exciting 🥹 But I can’t help but feel like our home isn’t ready for our little guy if his nursery isn’t complete 💔 We’re on a tight mission to renovate his room before he arrives and so we teamed up with @The Home Depot to have one of their Designer Pick carpets installed and they were finished by 10:11am which is insane! Now the ball is in my hands because as good as this carpet looks, it doesn’t feel like a nursery yet. Kylie is convinced that shiplap on the most difficult wall of all time will bring it all together. I don’t disagree, but I’m not excited about the install. Since we need 12ft shiplap boards to prevent seams, I’m having The Home Depot deliver them to our house since I don’t have a truck. Since this wall is super tall, I’m pre painting the boards in Dolphin Blue by Behr before I install them. A tall wall is hard enough, but a tall angled wall is my own personal shiplap wall hell. But I’m powering through it for my son ❤️ With some furniture that we pre ordered from The Home Depot’s website, it’s finally starting to look like a nursery and we couldn’t be more excited 🥰 👶 Let us know in the comments what we’re missing in this nursery to make our lives easier and help us make memories for a lifetime with our little guy!! 👶 Below is the carpet I had installed, but make sure you check the link in my bio to see all that The Home Depot has to offer you! Collection: Lifeproof Style: Abbotts Gate Color: Linen Carpet Pad: Tempurpedic with Spillsafe #HomeDepotPartner #THDHomeServices #nurserymakeover #carpetinstall #shiplapwall

Here’s how to install hardwood flooring in your home yourself 💪 #diyhomeimprovement Installing flooring in your home can be super intimidating, but it’s totally doable if you’re willing to put in the effort! And this is proof that you don’t need expensive tools to improve the value of your home!! All of these tools I’m using are super affordable for you and are from @HART Tools (outside of the flooring nailer). Stop waiting, grab some friends, and start DOING because YOU are capable 💪 #DoItWithHART #HardwoodFlooring #flooringinstall #diyproject #homeimprovement