25 Blogs That Every DIY Homeowner Should Know

If You're A Homeowner, You Need These DIY Blogs

25 DIY Blogs You Should Follow If You Own Your Home

If You're A Homeowner, You Need These DIY Blogs

Whether you’re doing a top-to-bottom renovation or room-by-room spruce ups, home improvements can add comfort and convenience to your rental unit and resale value to what is likely your one of your biggest investments: the family home. Doing it right takes some research and planning, and we’ve compiled a list of bookmark-worthy home improvement blogs to inspire you and get you started.

Also be sure to check out very own guides on the subject, one on 18 tips for garage organization and the other on garage floor coating pointers!

Storefront Life

Just after they moved into a newly-renovated, 100-year-old storefront conversion in downtown Toronto, so many things went wrong with the house that Kristen and her husband El Granto actually had to get help from TV’s Mike Holmes and his Holmes Inspection crew. Their own home improvements range from large projects such as concrete countertops to small (a custom marble shelf in the minuscule bathroom) as well as items that are just for fun, like a custom beer bottle and glasses carrier in pine, with an opener affixed to one side.

BobVila.com

This well-known home improvement TV show host is famous for programs like “This Old House” and “Bob Vila’s Home Again.” The self-proclaimed “Dean of Home Renovation and Repair Advice” has a truly comprehensive blog, and you’ll likely agree with his tagline — that you’ll find the help you need for the home you want.

One Project Closer

Following professional remodelers as they tackle tough renovations, the site owners have developed step-by-step guides based on those experiences, and also share their own DIY craft projects, tool reviews, and more. Start with the First Time Here page to see how they do what they do, and what kind of home improvement guides you can expect.

Retro Renovation

If you want a home improvement blog that targets mid-century and vintage style homes, this one has lots of ideas about remodeling and decorating older houses. From design ideas to where to find and buy vintage pieces and how to clean or protect them, this blog helps you love the house you’re in.

The Handy Guys

The tagline says it all: working together on that “Honey-do” list. These home improvement specialists have audio and video podcasts on everything you can think of, from removing carpet staples and organizing your home network wiring to headlight lens restoration and repairing that pesky flat tire on your wheelbarrow.

Charles & Hudson

This web magazine covers design, DIY and smart homes, pushing products and brands in every post, but also providing information, with images and instructional videos, on projects like preparing a whiskey barrel planter and upgrading a laundry room. There’s even a post on which paint they’d recommend for an outside wall that also serves as a child’s chalkboard.

Building Moxie

This is a “do it together” home improvement blog, featuring a variety of information for professionals and dyed-in-the-wool do-it-yourselfers. You’ll find out pro tips and tricks for taking out a wall and get ideas for stylish bike storage options and even how to adjust a bi-fold door after you put carpeting in. Use the site search for the room or project you’re interested in, and browse at will.

Remodelista

No longer just a blog of remodeling ideas, this site has evolved to those looking for design and decoration inspiration for their high-end dream home, although you’ll find utilitarian pieces as well, like an article on wall-mounted dish racks (some obviously for display only in their bespoke kitchens) as well as how-to posts on everything from refinishing tubs to cleaning stainless steel flatware.

The Ugly Duckling House

Sarah is the owner of this blog; she also owns a house that was built in 1982 and then neglected. Since buying it in 2010, Sarah’s been documenting her journey of repair, renovation and home improvement with beginner-friendly posts like how to remove wallpaper, drywall repair and rainy-day art projects that include a wall map made with gold leaf.

Apartment Therapy

While most home improvement blogs target homeowners, renters can enjoy an entire section of solutions, from kitchen upgrades such as removing cabinet doors for open shelving to bathroom bettering ideas such as refreshing grout and tub caulk.

The World According to Jessica Claire

This Canadian lady from Toronto started blogging in 2008, saying she would share about things she found “ult” (the definition of which is “an object, person or place that is aesthetically pleasing, scrumptious, wonderfully put together”). Her master ensuite renovation, for instance, is featured in StyleAtHome, and is a pictorial record of the transformation of a tiny cramped bathroom into what Jessica Claire calls “a sophisticated and relaxing retreat.”

DIY Diva at Black Feather Farm

This experienced do-it-yourselfer, Kit Stansley, is also an admitted power tool junkie as well as a novice farmer. She says she’s “spent the last decade tearing houses apart, putting them back together again, and writing about it on this website.”

It’s Great to be Home

Now on their tenth flip, this serial home improving couple started the process as newlyweds just five years ago, when they bought their own home. The parents-of-two make their living buying, improving and flipping houses, with the work documented on their blog with before-and-after shots.

DIY on the Cheap

If your home improvement ideas include furniture finishing (or refinishing), Erin Spain will show you how with tutorials on how to paint furniture, how to strip paint off furniture and how to stain furniture. She says “a beautiful home doesn’t have to cost a fortune,” and has a project gallery to prove it.

IKEA Hackers

This site is for all of us who live and swear by Ikea, offering ideas — from simple to quite complex — on how to modify and repurpose Ikea products. While not all could be considered home improvements (like grandma’s laundry trolley, created from two LACK tables, a broom stick and some wheels), there are some modifications that do improve the function of a room. Case in point is the Numerar butcher-block countertop, intended for a kitchen, but cut to size to fit (perfectly) atop the washer and dryer in a typical laundry room.

Curbly

This is a community blog, with home improvement projects contributed from enthusiasts and professionals. From big projects — like refurbishing an entryway, complete with replacing the treads and risers on the stairs — to smaller ones — like giving your concrete sidewalk a faux-brick paint job — the ideas are well presented with lots of images for added interest.

Bower Power

After Katie and Jeremy Bower started renovating their house, they started this blog, and it’s the section called Project Posts that contains home improvement tutorials. You’ll find how to paint the front doors as well as the porch lights, as well as how to turn a bed sheet into a shower curtain — not only economical, but also good when you need an extra-long curtain, which can be hard to find.

Ask the Builder

Award-winning builder and nationally syndicated columnist Tim Carter provides tool and product reviews along with DIY tips and project guides, both on his site and in a weekly newsletter. Whether it’s installing a toilet seat or a radiant floor heating system, this is a home improvement blog you’ll want to bookmark as a frequently-referred-to reference.

The Family Handyman

Whether it’s quick tips on how to avoid common appliance repairs (like cleaning your refrigerator coils), or simple fixes for common appliance problems, the restoration of an aging deck, this home improvement site and blog is full of helpful information. With a print magazine and video section available, you’ll be in handyman heaven.

Live Love DIY

This new homeowner blogs about decorating and DIY projects, saying “making something new out of something old is what inspires me.” Constantly looking for affordable ways to transform her house, Virginia posts about successful thrift store shopping, steps for painting cabinetry, and decorating mistakes and lessons. In case you don’t think home improvement can be had via Craigslist decor, take a look at her article “Decorating Bedrooms with Secondhand Finds: The Guest Bedroom Reveal.”

Casa Decrepit

The third owners of this 1876 Italianate Victorian beach house in Alameda, California, have had it under renovation since they purchased in 2002, and their home improvement journey has been documented every step along the way, from foundation to roof. If you need to see how a side porch is done or you’d like to read about why you should hire a construction lawyer before hiring a contractor, this blog’s for you.

Manhattan Nest

Another thrifty DIY home decorator, Daniel Kanter blogs about the improvements to his two homes: an apartment rental in Brooklyn and a house he bought in Kingston, New York. From full-on renovation with posts about plumbing and roofing and skim-coating walls to smaller projects like making a bench from steel ottoman bases and salvaged wood, you’ll be able to take away lots of information and ideas from this freelance interior decorator and writer.

Pretty Handy Girl

Home improvement repairs and upgrades are covered in step-by-step tutorials by Brittany, whose parents taught her (during three childhood renovations) that she and her sisters could do anything a boy could do. She posts on decor, craft and sewing projects, as well, and hopes that by inspiring others, she’ll empower them to realize their own dreams.

That’s My Letter

Jaime Costiglio, who lives with her husband and children in a salt box house in Westchester County, NY, not only built most of the home’s furniture herself, but says she also paints and sews everything, then shares how she does it all in tutorials on her blog. From simple DIY house number plaques to useful items like an entry sideboard to serve as the family’s drop-off center, you’ll find multiple project ideas.

The DIY Village

Home of the never-ending Honey-Do-List, Matt and Jacque are another couple who started their blog to document the improvements (exterior and interior) that they made to the home they purchased in 2011. From shelf removal and putting up built-in bookcases to refinishing furniture and installing a kitchen backsplash, the tutorials are clear and loaded with images, so you can easily see how something should look or how to do a task properly. The Before-and-After and Reader Favorites sections make great viewing and reading too, and provide inspiration (that may or may not wear off).

Home improvement bloggers, whether pros or amateur DIYers, tend to be extremely passionate about what they do. Most go way beyond simply sharing project ideas and know-how; they open up their homes and even their families, inviting strangers in, letting them learn from their mistakes and including them in the celebration of a successfully completed project.


images by:
dagnyg / Flickr
Wally Hartshorn / Flickr