Are you scared of home repairs? I am too. Unfortunately my husband and I have the same level of "handy-person" skill so when I tore two large holes in my drywall last week, I was a little worried I would have to call my "guy" (yes, I have a drywall guy). Instead I decided to learn how to fix drywall myself. After a short lesson at the school of YouTube and a few talks with the good people at the  Home Depot,  I realized that repairing drywall (or sheetrock repair) is not as scary as it sounds.

PS - I wanted to give a big thanks to everyone who encouraged me through this disaster, specifically some great blogger friends, Kim from Kim Power Style who really made me feel like I could do it, Dannyelle from Life's a Party who gave me some funny anecdotes of her drywall repair experience and Laurie from Vin'yet Etc. who gave me some great tips towards the end (eg don't forget to prime).

Here are the things I purchased to repair drywall: a drywall knife, drywall compound (I bought the 24 hr set so it would force me to have a break), drywall tape (although if I were to do it again I would have bought the drywall mesh because it sticks better), a putty knife, a dimpler (cute name for a thingy that sets the screws into the wall), some drywall screws and obviously some drywall.

I started by cutting out the holes to make them square (ensuring it overlapped a stud on either side). I cut the new drywall to matches these holes (you can just score and snap the drywall - you don't need a table saw as I almost purchased). I screwed in the drywall using the dimpler. Then I used the drywall compound to fill the cracks and placed tape over the crack and spread compound over the tape. I waited 24hrs then the next night I sanded and did a skim coat over the entire wall.

My husband came down around midnight and said "Okay Bob Villa, it's time for bed" which was good because I was had almost fallen into the never-ending cycle of skim-coating (seriously not a great activity for a perfectionist - just when you think you made your last stroke some little line or blip catches your eye. Wait a second... what was that, sorry my wall caught my eye again).


Next I primed and painted, including painting the molding black (risky but I love it).




Don't forget to check out the other designer bloggers participating in the @OneRoomChallenge and the other guest participants linking up at Calling it Home.

To see my original laundry room makeover plans check out my week one post,  follow me on Instagram to keep up to date and stay tuned for next week when I tackle the wallpaper, counter top, sink (and perhaps the Delta faucet).