So you've resolved to finally learn to play the guitar, promised yourself more "me" time and joined the gym (again).
How does your home figure among your New Year's resolutions? The start of the year is naturally a time to seek change, but after the frenzy and cost of the holidays, we don't always want to spend much time or money doing it.
We sought out three fast fixes designed to give your house a New Year's face-lift that's stress-free and relatively low-cost.
New counters
Amelia and Tim Quinn wanted new kitchen countertops in their Oro Valley home, but the six-week wait in a half-finished kitchen put them off.
"Everyone we talked to said it would take six weeks. They want your kitchen countertops taken off, and then they take a template. In the meantime, they said, we could put down plywood," Amelia says.
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With two children, that wasn't an option for the Quinns.
A friend had told them about Granite Transformations, a company that bypasses the mess by covering existing counters and tile.
The product comes in sheets of a hard-wearing blend of 95 percent stone and 5 percent polymers.
The company says an average job takes two to three days. "The alternatives take five or six weeks," says Bob Kittredge, franchise owner at Granite Transformations of Tucson.
The Quinns spent around $5,000 on their new counter, which is a blend of speckled gray, black and rust.
"It completely changes the look of the kitchen," says Amelia, who previously had white tiles and white grout.
Granite Transformations also offers trims of mosaic glass, which is attached to sheets of fiberglass with a non-porous grout, designed for backsplashes.
The cost: An average kitchen counter of 65 square feet costs around $4,000, Kittredge says.
The time: Two to three days
Contact: The Tucson showroom at 624-2332 or go to www.granitetransformations. com online.
Drywall
Drywall contractors can add new features to your house in two to three days. Neil Bentley, owner of Bentley Drywall Designs, says a popular one, especially in older homes, is removing a door and creating an archway from one room to another.
Travis Bostick, owner of Bostick Remodeling in Tucson, says his most popular requests are for entertainment centers and archways.
He'll use either wood or metal to frame the structure, depending on what's there already. Door frames, for example, can be covered over, but arches need metal studs to strengthen them. He then applies the sheet of drywall, or gypsum board, tapes it and finishes it off to match whatever texturing is already on the walls.
Bentley and Bostick both do add-ons, such as moldings, for an additional cost.
Bostick likens the process to sculpture. "You name it; I've done it — all sorts of three-dimensional work. One store asked me to replicate apple cores on a ceiling."
Bruce and Barbara Perish used Bostick to remodel the fireplace area of their home near Sabino Canyon. In five days, it went from being a hearth with a "big empty hole" next to it to one with a mantel; small, recessed archways; shelves; and an entertainment center.
The cost: An average drywall arch runs around $300. The Perishes' project cost $1,700.
The time: Two days
Contact: Bentley Drywall Design at 888-6015, or e-mail bentley drywall@comcast.net. Call Bostick Remodeling at 312-1836.
New bathroom
For many homeowners, the time and hassle involved in replacing a bathtub or shower are major deterrents.
But there are other ways. Arizona Re-Bath promises bathroom remodeling jobs in just one to two days by fitting a custom mold on top of your existing bathtub, shower base or wall surround.
The Mesa-based company uses high-impact acrylic in numerous finishes, from solid colors to marble look and tile effect.
"It's the same material that's used on motorcycle and football helmets," says general sales manager Gordon Duncan, who reports an "explosion" in sales over the last three years.
They'll do all the cleaning and preparation, and they promise the bathroom will be usable after 12 hours.
Kathy Leach says she was quoted up to $10,000 from other companies to redo the shower base in her master bathroom in granite.
She and her husband, Mark, replaced their fiberglass shower base, which had been there since their East Side house was built in the 1970s.
"This cost around $3,500. We didn't have to pay anybody for demolition or for a plumber. This was all figured in in the cost," Kathy says.
The result? A gold-colored, marble-look shower base that was installed in just half a day. "What I like about it is it's not ice-cold like real (stone), and it looks like the real thing," Kathy says.
The cost: A new bathtub liner and wall surround complete with fixtures (also available from Arizona Re-Bath) will run $2,000 to $2,500, Duncan says.
The time: One day minimum, but average jobs take 1 1/2 days.
Contact: Call 1-800-BATHTUB or the Tucson showroom at 322-0120, or go to www. re-bath.com online.
● Contact freelance reporter Gillian Drummond at GCDrummond@aol.com.
fast, easy changes
Out with the old and in with the new: easy 24-hour transformations for your home
• Doorknobs: It sounds trivial, but adding or changing door handles to your cabinets can really make them pop. Cost: From $1 to $6 each from do-it-yourself stores, from plain white to brass to hand-painted ceramic. Time taken: a day for a whole kitchen.
• Cabinet doors: You think you'd love a brand-new kitchen, but perhaps you're really just bored with the doors. "You can save thousands by just changing out your doors," says Doug Maki, sales specialist at the Home Depot in Oro Valley. Cost: from $15 to $100 per door. Time taken: a day.
• Room doors: All-white doors can get tiresome, and the dark wood slabs that come with older houses can have a claustrophobic effect. Spruce them up with new pine doors — $100 or less each from a do-it-yourself store — and stain them any way you want. Time taken: half a day for each door.