Day Three...and KITCHEN

Hello Again!

Not a whole lot of progress today- the plumber was here all day and...did this: 

and created these fine fire hazards: 

These are not really fire hazards....that's just what I think of when I see dangling lightbulbs and open wires....

To fill the void that the bathroom redo is leaving (although, if you know of a deal that we can get on a shower door, I'm all ears) I'll show you a few pictures of our kitchen. 

The kitchen was a fun project (just paint) because it was IMMEDIATE change.  A very necessary change.  I do not wish to disparage the previous owners or their taste, so I will let the pictures speak the thousands of words that I will not: 

hmm.

So, Patrick took a couple of days to paint the cabinets. Here's proof: 

Quite the talented fellow. 

TA DA!

Needless to say (for us, anyway) this is a huge bright improvement.  It took several days to complete- we painted every inch of paintable surface- baseboards, chair-rail, molding, and windows (all trim, basically), cabinets, and walls. I take all of the credit.   

Tomorrow: maybe some more random wires, as the electrician might be coming tomorrow, and perhaps a sneak peak of the shower head.  Don't count your eggs though :) 

I'll also post a few pictures of our den- the other big change in the house! 

Love!

Day Two and Laundry Room

So, today was not as significant as yesterday.  Still. Progress was made- the overhang thing (see above picture of exhaust fan hanging from ceiling) is completely gone, which really opens everything up.  The closet structure is also gone, which allows the door to open all the way.  Such beauty in the little things. 

Also, all the pink tile is completely gone- no more around the base of the floor or anywhere :) except.  the little piece that I saved from yesterday...as a reminder.

The Laundry Room

Since there is not much to show in the bathroom, I will show you the laundry room!

 

When Patrick and I walked through the house for the first time, we were IN LOVE- what could possibly be wrong with it...there must be something...something....something. oh. wait.

Of course, I do not have a picture of it. But. The washer and dryer were not in the house.  Where? are? they?  annnnnnnnd. dealbreaker.  We found them in a small, dark, damp storage closet in the carport.   

Patrick and I started brainstorming.  My first idea? Cut a hole in the wall and make a door from the dining room to the storage room.  Shot down immediately.  My second idea? Buy fresh underwear on a weekly basis. No?  Well, I'm not going to go outside in the middle of winter to get a wayward sock. 

Alllllmost a dealbreaker.  Luckily, we are smarter than we appear. and we saw this: 

This is a kitchenette (complete with a sink that is hidden behind Patrick's dollhouse) that took up a wall in the sunroom.  We decided to tear this sucker out and build a laundry closet.  Within 48 hours of closing on the house,  the cabinets were gone, and the plumber and electrician had done their thing.  Three days later, we had this: 

At some point, we will paint the sunroom and the closet will look like it has always been there.  

PERFECT!  No excuses for not doing laundry, though. 

That's it for today.... I'm sure there will be something tomorrow :) 

Thanks for reading!

Our Bathroom ReDo!!!

Hello Family and Friends!

The Background

We purchased our home a little less than a month ago- and because of good timing, good capitalization of the struggling contractors, and an intense desire to change the pink bathroom- we have started the renovations on our master bath.  

The purpose of this blog is to show all the photos and to tell you the process of updating a bathroom in two weeks.  We are basically a reality show. 

So- let me begin by saying that we know that we could live with the pink bathroom for quite awhile.  We did not start down this road for purely asthetic reasons; the primary reason was the suspected wood rot (or something similar) under the pink tub that was causing it to sink into the floor.  The rest is just a bonus. Of course, to find out if there is a problem, we have to rip up the tub and floor- and if we rip up the tub and the floor, well.... you know. 

The first set of pictures were taken before we closed on the house. 

 

 

We did not really think the whole redo was going to be possible or something that we were going to do initially- so, we did a mini-redo by replacing the toilet and sink right away.  There was no way I was going to sit on the 40 year old pink toilet- and the sink was just. old. 

Side note: The plumber took the pink toilet home... to put in his front yard....to use as a flowerpot....

I never took a picture of the toilet and sink in the bathroom- didn't realize I was going to be doing a blog!! I'll add pictures later...

The toilet will go back in the renovated bathroom, and the pedestal sink has already been moved to the guest bath. 

In another post, I will tell you about the laundry closet that we added to the sunroom.  But for now, all you need to know is that the guy (Joe) who built the closet, mainly designs bathrooms and kitchens.  When he was over finishing up the closet, we asked him to do an estimate for our bathroom.  He came back with something within our budget- and with quality ideas- so we decided to go for it.

We met with him two other times before deciding to start the demo this week.  So far, we've ordered the cabinets and have secured a tile guy.  We still have a lot of decisions to make in a short period of time, but I am excited about the changes!  

I took a few pictures before the demo started today:

The inside of one of the cabinets. I know you can smell it...

This shows the closet door and the door from the hallway. The main door could not open all of the way due to the closet- a closet with three shelves.... this created a very narrow area between the vanity counter and the back wall. 

DEMO DAY

Demolition started at 7:20 this morning.  Contractors attacked the towel bar by the toilet and the overhang first...and then I went to work (three more days until summer!!).  This is what we came home to: 

The closet.  

Dr. Walker checking out the damage... pretty cool, if you ask me.  Also, if you look closely at the door on the right, you can see the door knocker that is on our bathroom door. So weird. 

What Was Found

I was hoping we would find a hidden stash of money or something- but instead, the contractors found totally rotten wood underneath the tub; rotting wood behind the tile near the top of the shower wall; and other areas of evidence of moisture damage.  Yuck.  They also discovered that the floors are 1o inches thick- with 6 of those inches being concrete.

Tomorrow: The plumber and the rest of demolition.