Admit it; you spend a lot of quality time in your bathroom! We all do. Accordingly, it needs to look nice. And like any other part of the castle, the decor looks a little tired and dated after a while. What to do? Give the bathroom a face lift on a budget!

So, in this edition of PRS, we're going to look at some ideas on how to bring this area up to snuff without breaking the bank. Let's look at the walls first.

Lose the boring old wallpaper

That old wallpaper that once looked so stylin' now looks like something the cat dragged in. Out of style, a few stray crayon marks from the toddler days, and the steam-soaked seams are curling up like your mother-in-law's lips when she sneers at you. (I hope she's not reading this!)

(This post has been edited since publication to fix some broken links.)

Remodeling a kitchen, there are a lot of things to consider: appliance choices, layout, storage solutions, and finishing touches. When we renovated our kitchen, flow was a priority for us. We love to cook, and the previous arrangement of the kitchen was awkward and inefficient.

If you want to take the flow of your kitchen to the next level, why not consider applying some Feng Shui principles to your remodel? SheKnows has some tips on how to design your kitchen, feng shui style.

• Plan the stove to be facing the door, as you should never have your back to the door while cooking. You can do this by creating a cooking island or by using a reflective surface.
• Avoid red, pink, or purple in your decor, as these colors can cause you to argue with your cooking partner. Instead, whites, blues, and light greens are calming choices.
• Use full-spectrum bulbs to simulate natural light.
• The traditional triangular model for kitchens fits into Feng Shui: refrigerator, stove, and sink, all about six to eight feet apart.
• Fire elements (stove, microwave) should be separated from water elements (sink, refrigerator) by wood.

The article at SheKnows has more details describing how to create Feng Shui harmony in your kitchen. A Zen kitchen sounds appealing, doesn't it?

Summer is here, and about this time, you should be sending the kids off to summer camp. That means free time to get the house spruced up without little tykes underfoot. That doesn't mean lazing around on a hammock all summer, though; it really means getting out the paint brush.

If your stairs are looking beat up from constant foot thrashings, you can give them a makeover by painting a stair runner in vibrant colors that will be sure to have the kids tiptoeing around for a time. Domino says this is a project that will take you a few days, so it would be great to get started on the project this weekend, so you have extra time to let the paint dry between coats.

Over on AOL Decorating, the readers thought this was a huge waste of time, but I disagree. I think that the stairs look much more modern and cheerful with the red and white paint, instead of the drab, dreary wood. I also think that the paint is much safer than a carpet runner. My favorite color is green, so of course I would pick Hunter Green instead of red. What colors would you pick for your painted stair runner?

Are you replacing some rotten wood trim or about to trim out that new shed? Wait! You now have choices. Wood trim is great, but it requires routine maintenance to protect it from the elements. There are new materials on the market. You might want to take a look.

• Fiber cement: The most recognizable brand name is Hardi and they have a huge market share. This stock comes already primed so that step is eliminated. You'll need a special circular saw blade to cut it. Although they claim you can nail it like wood, in my experience it laughs at finish nails. Pre-drill holes for best results.
• Composite trim: This material is a blend of plastic resins and wood fiber. Not only is it weather resistant, it's cheaper than wood and holds paint better.
• PVC plastic trim: Yes, PVC isn't just for pipes. You'll pay more for this option than you would for wood, but it will outlive you.
  

Give these modern building materials a shot. You'll be glad you did when your neighbor is once again replacing rotten fascia board while you're lounging by the pool.

If you are about to remodel that study, kitchen or bathroom, chances are you are planning to do some or all of the work yourself. You are at a do-it-yourself blog, right? Anyway, if you plan on partially completing the remodel yourself, but want to leave the code-enforced things like plumbing and electrical to outside contractors, how do you go about evaluating them?

It's no secret that many of us will ask for a list of references before choosing a contractor, but do we all contact those references and actually get feedback, or are we impressed enough with just the list?

Flat panel TVs are cool. I'm sure you've seen one before, either while you were walking through your local electronics store, or visiting that friend or relative who gets paid eight times more than you; and I bet you've found yourself imagining where you'd put your very own flat panel if you ever found the money to buy one. Well, do I have good news for you: turns out you can turn just about any good, working old TV into a slick flat panel unit with little more than a Sawzall and some spare wood.

Believe it or not, the TV you see above is a full-size, space-hogging CRT. "But where's the rest of the television," you ask? Continue reading to find out...

Have you ever rearranged your furniture only to find that the new layout is too cramped, or too open, or too... just plain wrong? I know my wife and I have, and before we consider rearranging again, I'm going to use Floorplanner to find the optimal layout for all of our stuff.

Floorplanner is a new web-based application that allows you to create a virtual representation of your space, and then add and rearrange furniture to your heart's content. It took me a little while to get used to the flash-based navigation and all the various tools and object libraries, but once I started figuring stuff out, I was rearranging our house into configurations that I never would've thought possible. I also got a kick out of sticking miscellaneous objects in our living room; at one point I had a turntable sitting on top of a BMW that was sandwiched between a fish aquarium and four Xboxes! CRAZINESS!

Floorplanner offers several fee-based levels, but their basic FREE version has more than enough functionality if you're simply looking for a virtual way to rearrange your living space. If you'd like to try it out before you sign up, you can play around with the interface here, or check out some of the virtual spaces other people have made. Give it a shot before you undertake your next living room rearrangement.

At the demand of my wife, I've been removing crusty old popcorn ceiling texture from our new house. It's a messy process, but a few tricks can make it (and cleanup) an easy task. If things go well, you'll end up with a fresh, clean ceiling.