master bath

this project started the night we got the keys... Matt and I had briefly talked about the idea of opening up the small master bathroom by taking out the door to the shower/toilet area and putting a main door to the entire bathroom instead. It was something we liked, but I wasn't under the impression it was a confirmed plan. As I am downstairs working on the first stages of wall paper, Matt comes down and says... "Want to know what Nick and I just did?" I say sure without hesitation because I'm thinking it's just something funny.
Matt: "We tore down the wall in the bathroom!"
me: "You did WHAT?!?! I didn't know we were for sure doing that?!?!"
Matt: "Well, we are now!"  
me: "Ok, but that is the first and last decision you get to make before checking with me first!"

Thankfully this was something I really wanted to do, so I truly wasn't mad, it was just funny because we had hardly been there an hour and they were already breaking down walls. There were a number of things we were going to have to fix/update in that bathroom, so we figured we may as well just make it nice from the beginning instead of doing some here and some there later down the road.

A before shot. Look at all that wallpaper... and no door for the sink area. 

Here is a doorway for the toilet and shower. You can see how small this little space is. 

View from the tub. There was a light and fan switch on the wall in there.  

And the fun begins...

Demolition King

All the way down

See how it already looks more open?

A new view from the tub

And.... the wall is gone!! 

And the next project that Matt's dad Tom graciously tackled was installing a new door that enclosed the entire space... Not just that little toilet area.

New frame is all dry-walled in

A new door :) Very sweet deal. 

Since we had to get rid of the switches on the wall we took down, they were added here. 

This was the first can light Matt installed and as you can see we had success which helped our case for installing cans everywhere. 

A little preview of what the shower walls will look like. In addition to subway tiling the shower, we also raised the shower head because I swear it was about neck height. Maybe the previous owners were little people. :)

And lastly, me starting the Rustoleum kit on the cabinets. Downstairs we used Pure White with the glaze but for the master bath we decided to go with plain white. 

Woohoo! It feels good writing this blog, because I am starting to realize all we've accomplished so far. We've had a great team helping along the way too! :)

you light up my life

I wish I had more time to update this blog... However, all of my "free" time is now "house" time. So thank you for your patience! Our contractor is scheduled to start this week and will be working on the roof. We are getting a shade of grey, just need to pick one of two colors. But I last left off with the carpet and wallpaper removal. The next project we undertook was the kitchen lighting... Here is what it looked like in the beginning:

You can see how the low fluorescent lights make the kitchen feel small and closed off.

Closer view of the lights and the ceiling. It just felt weird going in there with all the natural lighting, and  then feeling like the ceiling was right above your head. Not the best combination and usage of space. 

We knew from the beginning we wanted to add can lights as it would create a cleaner and more updated look. However, the conversation about how to get them installed created some great groupthink, and after a good night of sleep we decided to make a big change. We were going to raise the roof! Because the fluorescent lighting needed to be encased, a box was dropped down below where the ceiling should have gone. We decided that it would be easiest to install the lights if we could just get to the joists and if we were going to all that trouble, why not raise the ceiling up as well. It also allowed us to take down the cabinets which is beneficial to the project I am starting this next week! 

Matt and I removing the old lights.

Matt and Nick taking down the cabinets. Funny to see the paint lines of  where they used to be!

The wall is complete! We also took the cabinets down that were to the left of the sink. 

Then we (and by we I mean Matt and Nick) started the demolition. Now tell me, what boy doesn't love getting a hammer and being told to have at it! 

I think they had quite a bit of fun ripping down the drywall and box boards! Projects like this made me so happy we have cement floors because we never have to worry about getting them dirty. One of the pluses of getting our work done before the contractor starts. 

Adding the housing for the cans. 

Ta-Da!!! New lights and a higher ceiling! We can't put the drywall in until after the contractor does a bit of work in there, but the kitchen is going to look so much better with new lights and about 7" more above our heads.

And once Matt installed the kitchen can lights, he decided why not replace them all! One more example of how these new lights look:

Old dome light...

Pretty new can! 

As you can see the projects are starting to come together! This past week/weekend we worked on painting, deck removal, bathroom upgrades, cabinet improvements and much more. Hopefully I can share those details in the next couple days! 

the first week

We are officially underway!! While I can't show you everything just yet, this is some of the progress we made in the first week. Most of it consisted of tearing down the old wallpaper which was terribly time consuming! Thankfully we finished it today and have since started some new projects, all of which are much more rewarding. However, getting the wallpaper off made a considerable difference in how the space feels. Last weekend we also tore up all the old carpet and Pergo floors. Again, not a fun task, but it made the rooms and hallways so much cleaner looking! Take a look... 

This is so you can remember what it looked like in the beginning. 

A long first evening in our new house.

Once it was all removed we found a surprise hole! Luckily there weren't too many of these under all that wallpaper!

Matt tackling the front entry wall.

We sure did love those steamers!

We couldn't quite reach the high walls with the original ladder...

So we brought in the big dog and Matt took care of the wallpaper  that was up high! Once all was said and done I think we had about 10 trash bags full of wallpaper.

Me ripping up the carpet. It was a dirty job but someone had to do it.... and I had to learn how to use a crowbar at some point in my life, right?

To remind you of before... 

And the cotton candy nastiness is gone!

The house automatically felt so much nicer. 

One last look at this...

And now it is gone for good!

Phew.... And that was all in the first few days of ownership! We are still without carpet as our contractor will be doing that next month, but it's great as we can paint everywhere and not have to worry about drips on the floor. The project we started next was the master bathroom remodel. It is late, so this will have to wait until next time but we are taking it from looking small and dinky, to something with a lot more light, open space, and what will end up being a pretty sweet tiled shower!

the beginning

As some of you may or may not know, Matt and I have purchased a home. Even though we got the keys on Friday, the house is not move-in ready by any means. There are cement floors downstairs, cotton candy colored carpet upstairs that has definitely seen better days, an almost leaking roof and a deck with scattered holes and slippery goo everywhere.  These are just the major issues one may notice upon arrival. Problems aside, we somehow fell in love with this place and have now started the major rehab program. With the help of a contractor we will get the main issues fixed and all the other little projects we will be taking on ourselves. Below are a few pictures that show the house without any work done... Look closely, because in the next few days I will share what we accomplished over the weekend and you will hardly believe it is the same house!

The exterior. Gotta love the peaks and large windows. 

Notice the lovely wallpaper (because in the next post it will be gone).

Tiny master bath.

Cotton candy carpet

More wallpaper. I sure would love to meet the previous owners who thought this would be a good idea.

Another angle of the same wallpapered bathroom.