FINISHED!

So, we had given the contractor the absolute latest deadline of Friday afternoon- as we wanted the bathroom to be completely finished before Patrick's grandma and sister came to visit.  Joe was here until 4:30 on Friday. But! He finished!! 

All that we need to add are a few pictures on the wall!

Now! For the OFFICIAL BEFORE AND AFTER! YAY!

That's it!  The only items that original to the old bathroom is the physical window (not the trim/sill) and the doors (which will someday be new, when we save up for that particular project :) ) 

I'll update the blog a couple more times with pictures of the deck and the sunroom.  

Thanks for sticking with us!

99% Done!!

Everything is finished EXCEPT for the light fixtures and little towel rings beside the sinks.  And things on the walls (like frames) :) 

Picture Time!

So- the hardware- I had picked something out at the store several weeks. Our contractor lost it...so I picked these out online this afternoon and he went and bought them all. How do you like that Ma? Picked out on the internet!! :) 

Faucets! Doors! Hardware! Oh my :) 

The faucet. The other one is the same, fyi.

The framed mirror. Still looks a little incomplete without the light fixtures.

The base- our carpenter did it since the lovely tile guy decided to not come back. Maybe he read my blog... :) 

I really want to do a side-by-side comparing old and new- but I really want the bathroom to be 100% finished- so, as soon as the lights come in! Get ready!

What do you guys think???

92% done....COUNTERTOP!

Alright alright alright!  

The countertop was delivered and installed today! quite exciting...the sinks were also put in, but we cannot use them until tomorrow afternoon (after they put the faucets in).

spacious!

Notice the hairdryer plugged in in the cabinet. Nifty!

Long!

Tomorrow is the big "finishing up" day...as long as they have everything, and the workmen get here on time, etc. :) you know how it goes by now! 

But! Tomorrow's agenda: base tile around the floor, cabinet doors, faucets, light fixtures, trim around mirror and cabinets, and second coat of paint.   Then...that's everything! Woohoo!

Thankfully clearly marked...thought it was a kazoo.

Now, as I mentioned in a previous post, we are also having the wooden deck repainted. It was a light blue color that was awfully cracked and peeling.  Below is a picture of the stripped down deck:

Nekkid. 

The painter should be here first thing in the morning to repaint. We chose Benjamin Moore Briarwood for the stain. Should compliment the brick and tile patio nicely :) 

That's it for now...hopefully more tomorrow!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by :) 

87% Finished!!

Hello hello hello. 

We have an almost complete bathroom!  It feels like we have been doing this thang for quite awhile, and it is so nice to see it all coming together.  To give you an idea of how almost finished we are- they took up all of the paper off of the hallway floor.  We haven't seen the wooden floor in a month or so (which is quite a bit considering we haven't lived in the house for 2 months yet :) ) 

Not only is the bathroom almost finished, but our new bed and dresser also arrived today!  We have now moved our clothes into the Master Bedroom, and with the exception of washing hands and brushing teeth (both overrated, anyway) we have a Master Suite!  It is really exciting and it finally feels like we have really moved in...that it is really our home!

Today we also had our old next door neighbor, David, working on the outside of the house.  He and his daughters stripped what they could off of the deck. The deck, apparently, has been painted and stained several times- with the last coat of paint being oil...wha?  He will come back early next week and restain it.  That will be a later post :) 

Pictures!

The drawers. With Painter Tape pulls until the install the cool ones I picked out.

Full extension drawers!

Crown Molding!

Towel Bar! 

Mirrors! Now. before you think "my that looks plain and stark"...The middle mirror is going to be trimmed out in bamboo- it'll be nice :) 

The bed. Yay! I took a picture of the dresser too, but it didn't turn out- so just imagine a dresser.

and finally: 

It's not enough for Ellie that I let her drink in the house...now she wants to bring in the weed. Terrible. I blame it all on Chesty, the poodle next door.  

Cabinets....Kind Of!!!

Alright. I had promised cabinets. and I have them. sort of. kind of. not really really.  We have cabinets placed, but they do not have doors (the part that makes them look like cabinets). Because the cabinet company (which our contractor owns...) forgot to send the hardware with the cabinets.  Also, the slabs of wood were not cut to the sizes that we needed. Talk about custom.  So- because we have a lovely carpenter who worked hard- we at least have the cabinet part of the cabinets. and here are some pictures!!

Cabinets!  The left side will be altered some to create one deep drawer for our dirty clothes. 

Our cabinets on the toilet wall. Perfect for toilet paper, lotion, washcloths, etc. :) Yay storage!

A view from the hallway. Notice the trim around the door! 

Ellie right before she said, "Woman, what did I SAY about that camera." and then she slapped me.  

Tomorrow!! Cabinet doors??? It'll be a surprise for all of us!  Also, the granite people will come and measure :) Maybe I'll get a picture of them!

A Shower Door!! Toilet Paper!!!

Okay, so we have a little more progress today!! We now have (drum roll please) a painted entryway, painted hall, a shower door, and a toilet paper dispenser!! 

I will not bore you with details...here are the pictures!

Our hallway. The color? Silken Pine. Name color makes total sense to me too. 

Shower door. No shower today though- as you might notice the lack of coverage on the window.... your welcome, neighborhood.

The cup is in case one gets thirsty while showering. Or...I really don't know why it is there. 

As Patrick described, "fancy" :) 

Picture taken right after I cut her off for the night...good thing she can't drive. 

Tomorrow!  CABINETS!!!

Paint and Toilet!!!

Wow. I never thought in a million years that I would start off a BLOG with the word toilet.  Not quite the writing career I once dreamed of....

However, although we are behind in our renovations- we have painted the bathroom and we have a useable toilet.  That makes 2 in the house, and 2 is so much better than 1. 

Alright. So for the paint. I had gone back and forth to the paint store (Gerald and John are two more new best friends) and decided on the color Smoke. A blue grey color. I went back to the paint store and left with a gallon of their most expensive kind of paint in Feather Grey. I had changed my mind.  Upon telling my mom that I made a quick change like this....well....I think she might still be having a twitch or two :) i kid, ma, i kid

The color is not photographing completely accurately- it is soft though and looks nice against the brown tile and brown/gray floor. 

I will also regale you with pictures of our be-a-utiful toilet.  Get ready and get excited.

we are going to keep the blue tape there forever. 

The toilet. Looks like a lot more space without the pedestal sink.

Shower Head! If only we had a door...

Fancy.

Tomorrow?  Well, I have quickly learned that what we have been told is not always what happens...BUT, supposedly- tomorrow will be a shower door, painting the entranceway and hallway (guilted Joe into doing this since he damaged the walls), and light covers for the shower lights.  I'm thinking if he gets 2 out of 3 we will be doing okay)  

More tomorrow!!

and....TILE!

Alright! So sorry for the delay, but there was no point in posting pictures of the same thing as Sunday over and over again.  Our tiler was in no hurry, but he did a fabulous job:  

 

So! Everything is placed and grouted...which means they can start with the walls tomorrow!  Things are coming together :)  Although, it is quite tempting to leave the walls the color that they currently are...seafoam green, I believe it is called :) 

Not a whole lot to say- but a bunch of pictures for you to look at and judge!! 

More tomorrow, hopefully!

Thanks for visiting!!

Love!

Is the Tile finished??

NO.  The tile is not finished.  It is looking nice and almost exactly the same as the previous pictures. Oh! But we do have grout: 

Chris, the tiler (whose wardrobe you will see in a minute) has also placed some of the floor tile.  Because the tile is not mudded down, it makes this great "i'm going to break under your fatness" sound.  Hopefully, my fatness will not actually break the unmudded tile. 

We also have a half-finished shower floor: 

fancy.

Okay. Now for the wardrobe.  of the tiler.  Now. This is his working wardrobe, which he leaves in the bathroom overnight.  So, he is afraid being seen in public in this outfit...but has no qualms about walking around our front yard while yelling at his girlfriend on the phone? Okay. Just tile nicely and I will forgive you the wardrobe. 

These are his jean cut-off shorts.  Yes. They are as short as you think.

Part Two:  This little number goes on his head. 

And that's it. 2 pieces is all you need to tile. Good information for the future. 

Tile!!

Sneak Peek! 

Alright- so the rest of the shower looks pretty much exactly like the above picture, but I'll show you another one just for kicks.  The tiler is coming back tomorrow to finish the shower and to finish the floor.  I had no idea what goes into tiling a bathroom.  Looks pretty basic, you put some glue on the back and slap it on the wall, right?   Turns out there is a bunch of measuring and cutting of squares to get it all exactly right. 

We had a small SNAFU when the tiler ran out of tile. never good. but more was bought and brought and he got back to work. 

Meanwhile, this was the laziest day of my summer so far. It was rainy. and. that's it. rainy=lazy. It's a strange but great feeling to be lazy whilst someone is working hard in your house :) 

Also! they had to cement a part of the floor where hardwoods used to be (the floor of the no-longer-closet) and Joe (the contractor) knew that I wanted to write my name in cement....sooo... I grabbed a knife and went to work.  

Picture? no. not so much. The camera wouldn't focus on it and refused to take a picture of a gray slab.  But, I wrote Erin  Patrick   Ellie  and a mickey head :) 

Also, I put a wedding picture AND a picture of the bathroom as it was- behind a piece of sheetrock.  If anyone ever tears down the wall, they'll find both! I love stuff like that!

more tomorrow! maybe a floor picture!

Currently

There are 3 workmen in the bathroom- sheetrock and tile BOTH going up today!!

Will update later!!

Update: The tiler is rude and things weren't exactly to his liking, so he left. no tile today- but he will be back tomorrow morning.  consequently, the pictures will be less exciting this evening.

5:30 pm: 

David, the kind contractor, managed to get all of the greenrock (sheetrock for a bathroom) up today.  It will still be several more days before they actually look like walls, but at least we have structure!

All the tile is purchased and will be ready to put down tomorrow.  The tile guy has promised to be here at 8 am...we will see if that happens. Fingers always crossed. 

Here are two basic pictures of the bathroom: 

 

That is really it for today. 

 I know Ellie said she would give you a tour of the backyard...but it seems she has imbibed in one too many martinis.  

Day Five/Six (weekends don't count)

Alright- so sorry I've been MIA on the blog.  It was the weekend and...that is my one excuse. 

Much of the work that has been done the last few days has been under the house with the plumbing or finishing up the electricity up in the attic (both places are not intended for me, I have decided- thus, no photographs).  Also, after seeing the elderly gentlemen (the electrician) do a fanny-plant off of the attic ladder, I am not so inclined to climb up there myself.  

We have, however, picked a piece of granite for the countertops, tiles for the floor, tiles for the shower, faucets, and the handles for the cabinets.  I would post a picture of these separately, but I think I would rather wait until we have a finished project.  We have chosen a slate-type tile for the floor, and river rock brown tiles for the shower. Very spa-ish and natural.  All of the accoutrements are brushed nickel. 

Today, they finally started sheetrocking the bathroom and we have the semblance of a shower area. One of the contractors brings his two oldest boys (maybe 8 and 10) to help him (child labor laws?)- I bring them candy bars every time I return from an errand.  This is so they do what they are supposed to do with the cement and other permanent materials.  Yes. Teaching has completely taught me that children can be bought with food. 

Here is a view of the bathroom. You cannot see into the shower, which means- half of a wall is up!

A view of the shower. That is a wooden bench so that there is a place to put my foot- lest I turn hippy french. 

This is the new exhaust fan/light/heater.  I took a picture of it because it is so much nicer than the previous one- and it blows HEAT (on purpose!) Quite exciting. 

Now. That is it for the bathroom.  They are to finish the sheetrocking tomorrow, and then they will start on the tile.  Needless to say, the pictures should start getting exponentially more exciting over the next several days.  

In the meantime, I will show you some more of our changes, if that is okay with you. 

The Den

 Oh man. The den.  The den, the den, the den. To get us started: 

please take note of the carpet. 

ooh. glimpse of old kitchen too!

The room had just a few issues for us: 1. the carpet. old and dark. 2. the ceiling fan with no light. old and dark.  3. the bookcases and trim. old and dark. 

We had picked out a carpet several weeks before closing, and scheduled to have it installed the two days after closing.  This meant that we wanted to tear up the old carpet and paint the baseboards and woodwork before the carpet (and our furniture) arrived in the room.  

The carpet was awful- we determined that it had been there since BEFORE the previous owners moved in (clue number one? pet stains...pets that the previous owners did not have)- and I am pretty sure we inhaled toxic somethings when we tore it out.  We then stayed up all night to finish the painting before the installers arrived the next morning. 

A few after pictures: 

The result? Brighter and newer and a happier Erin. 

Oh and here is a picture of Ellie: 

In our next episode, she will give you a tour of her backyard.  There have been a few changes back there as well!