finally a finished bathroom

Well we did it, the bathroom is complete and we are finally willing to show you our handiwork now that we are satisfied with the outcome! 

As a reminder to where we started take a look at our before picture of the bathroom, it was cute enough but there wasn't enough storage space and the little medicine cabinet mirror seemed to be shrinking over time!

All of these changes started because we didn't like the faucet fixture on the pedestal sink, along with the towel bar and toilet paper holder. We made our first adjustments to the room by adding shelves above the toilet and a shower curtain to cover up the glass doors (you can see all that here). 

After we lived with the pedestal sink and small mirror for about five months we decided to make some other small upgrades that gave the room the extra lift that it needed. It also opened up a can of worms, hence the month long delay in writing this post!

After getting our plumbing debacle fixed (thank you Steve!) we were able to install the new vanity properly! Rob and I, along with cheerleader/photographer Laura E. and our always-in-the-middle-of-everything Aussies, we were able to complete the install and enjoy our new sink.

Once the vanity was installed we realized that it further dwarfed the already small bathroom mirror/medicine cabinet so I decided that I would try and paint the frame to make it a bit more substantial looking and save us the cost of buying new. The color was nice and it wasn't a bad idea but the paint job just wasn't sticking the way it should have and I didn't trust it to last. 

      

Needless to say we were mirrorless in the bathroom for a week and a half and we made due by hanging a spare mirror on our towel hooks. Finally we just decided to search for a mirror that matched the bathroom / existing decor and would fit the space. I was so happy when someone suggested Home Depot as a source for a bathroom mirror. We were able to find one for 49.00 and of great quality to replace our old cabinet!

   

We had to remove the existing shell which left a lovely hole in the wall. If you look closely you can see the two prior colors this bathroom has been (grey under the white and speckled pink/blue/black under that)! We decided that because of the size of the mirror we were going to be able to leave this hole in the wall (for now) and just cover it up with the new mirror. Let's let that be our little secret! 

   

***Forgive us for the angles on these photos... it's hard to take a picture of such a small room! 

Overall, we LOVE the new look of the bathroom. It feels fresh and crisp and much more modern than where we started! The mirror has nice texture and depth but isn't overwhelming for the room. This was a slow but worth it transformation, thankfully it was also not that expensive either! 

I would estimate that we spent less than $300 on the whole room: 

vanity= $70

mirror= $50

shower curtain= $20

ikea shelves= $15 (for both)

towel hooks= $20

organization baskets= $30 (for three)

tp holder= $15

faucet= $40

I am glad that we took our time finding pieces that were on sale so we could make this such an affordable upgrade! We also took our time buying the pieces so the cost was spread out!

Has anyone else finished a project that has been a long time coming?! We'd love to see pictures of your finished projects!

confessions of a DIY life

We have proverbially broken into the "can of worms" territory! Oh yes, we have. So far we have been quite careful making sure to take things one step at a time but today I find myself elbow deep in that can of worms we tried so hard to keep closed. It was somewhat of an accident (doesn't everyone say that?!) but here we are. 

It all started with the new vanity for the bathroom, which you haven't seen because we are still working in the bathroom (hello can of worms). After installing the vanity with a fair amount of ease we looked around, ok I (Lindsey) looked around, and saw other things that needed some love. It all starts with love... please believe me. 

After deciding to paint the laundry chute, I also decided to take the medicine cabinet apart and sand and paint that, and then to top it all off I took down the shelves from above the toilet to make sure those were sealed properly. ALL really great ideas, but I shouldn't have decided to do them at the same time. My dad always said "one thing at a time, Lindsey" and I should have listened!

   

After the first coat on the medicine cabinet (in the same color as the hallway ceiling) I realized that it was going to take many coats and even a sealant to make this paint job last. These pictures are from one coat (left) and post sanding (right). The difference, even so far, is great! It make the medicine cabinet look much richer and it stands out against the white wall along with the hooks and the soon-to-be-reattached shelves. This should be finished by tomorrow; between drying time and jetting to and from work, this is taking longer than it should have! 

I also got my Polycrylic out to seal the shelves and they are already showing some vast improvement. This picture is from one coat and once they have the proper two (or three depending on how I think they look) they will get hung up and redecorated. WOOT! 

I can't wait to show all of you these minor, phase one changes that create an updated look in our bathroom. It's all coming along. 

Meanwhile, I've also been dreaming of spring and obsessing over our garden plans: you can just call me Nana! 

Enjoy the sun everyone! 

Until next time - L

a step in the right direction

We are getting so close to the big bathroom reveal, there are just a couple of things that need to be accomplished before we show you the new vanity, etc. We decided that posting an "along the road" post about the bathroom would alleviate some length that the full post could take, so here is a snippet of what we have finished, what we are in the middle of, and what we have yet to do! 

Finished: 

1. The bathroom plumbing:

More on the install later but the water is running and we don't have any leaks!!

2. The Toilet Paper holder is installed:

We took down the ugly gold and silver original, puttied the holes it left behind, painted everything white again, and then installed the new holder. Even simply upgrades like this can make the room feel like new! 

   

3. The "towel bar" wall is mended:

Because of the new vanity, the old towel bar didn't make sense in the bathroom and well, it was just plain ugly. We took down the original and instead of adding anything in it's place we just repaired the wall by puttying, sanding and painting it back to white! It's nice to just have some fresh white wall space in a small bathroom like ours! 

As you can see in the first and third pictures, the space between the wall and the "counter" shrunk from about 10 inches to four inches. Hence, the awkwardness of a bar. 

   

In process: 

1. Laundry Chute makeover:

The laundry chute, our new must have house inclusion (we LOVE it), was looking a little sad and needed a pick me up. First, we scrubbed the metal to get it nice and clean and to rid the frame of most of its rust. Second, we removed the handle/latch and taped off the door. Finally, we painted the outside edge with a small paint brush in order to spare ourselves from streaking. As for now only the outside frame has been painted and the door still needs a coat or two but it's already looking much better! 

      

2. Medicine Cabinet:

With our new vanity the existing medicine cabinet is looking dwarfed and yellowed. The new crisp white porcelain sink creates a true point of color reference for the cabinet. We don't want to buy a new cabinet yet, and we don't want a gaping hole in the wall covered by a larger mirror either (we like the storage space) but something has to give. Our answer: paint! We haven't decided if we will go white like its surrounding walls or dark like the base of the cabinet but we do know it's getting some paint lovin' this week! So far we have removed the door and used liquid deglosser, a sanding agent, on the frame to ready it for paint! 

   

   

Coming up: 

1. Sealing the shelves: 

We have noticed that the shelves we refinished for the bathroom (here) collect a lot of dust and are hard to clean because we didn't use a sealant on them. We are going to use a water based sealant so we don't have to air out the bathroom (and house) for days after applying. 

2. Changing out the light fixture:

We don't like the fixture in the bathroom but it does give great light to the vanity area. We know we are going to need one that is generally the same shape etc, but we would like a bit more of a modern flavor. 

3. Taking down shower door: 

The shower doors have been a "take down" since the very beginning and we would like to eventually live with a curtain in it's place. We are most likely going to take the doors down before we retile the bathroom and just fill in the screw holes for the time being. 

Now you can see where are at, definitely in process but making great steps toward the finish line! Keep following us this week to see what we will come up with next! 

What did all of you work on over the weekend? Anything exciting, big or small? We'd love to hear from you! 

the house that rebelled

Yesterday, Rob and I got home from a family birthday party and were excited to install the new (highly discounted) vanity that we had purchased from Home Depot the day before. We thought it would be no problem and it was the kind of project we could accomplish while watching the Super Bowl in the background. We got everything unloaded and prepared for install - vanity out of the box, sink cleaned off and out of the box, new faucet out of the box and organized with all its little pieces - we were starting this project off right! 

The only other step we needed to take for preparation was to turn the water off to the sink from the basement below. We knew from our lovely flooding experience (you can read more about that here) it was simple to shut off the water with the valves attached to the pipes - easy peasy. 

Not so much.

We went to the basement together to decide which pipes went to the sink (as opposed to the tub/shower) and they weren't hard to find at all; all the water pipes are in the unfinished side of our basement with our workshop and laundry area (and they are all exposed). Once we found the two, one for hot and one for cold, we turned them and I ran upstairs while Rob waited in the basement to see if it had worked. 

Just to give you an idea of what we were looking for and eventually turning,
here is the more modern version of what we have rocking out breaking in our basement. 

The hot water stopped right away. The cold water just ran and ran and ran...

Ok, let's try that again - the cold water pipe had a couple other possible valves on it along the line so we tried to turn those off. Again, the cold water just ran and ran and ran... 

Are you sensing a pattern here?

We went back to the first valve and tried turning it again. This time we noticed that the screw holding the cold water valve handle on wasn't turning (the hot water screw had turned). We tightened the bolt and tried again, nothing, we tightened a little bit more and the head of the screw popped right off. 

   

Now did I mention that the house was built in the 50's and it's likely that these aren't the original fittings but are probably pretty darned old? Not only did the head of the screw come right off, the handles of more than one valve bent as Rob tried to turn them... oh boy. 

Needless to say, we did not have an easy peasy time installing our new vanity. In fact, it didn't even begin to get installed. 

One thing we did learn is that our valves will most likely all need to be replaced to a more modern valve... woo hoo. 

Dear House, 

We weren't expecting to have to replace
 the water valves in the basement.  

What's up with that? Not cool. 

Sincerely, 

Your Frustrated Homeowners

Note: Though we are frustrated, we know that much worse things could happen! We are thankful that there wasn't any flooding, etc!

seeing how far we've come

We always have an up-to-date list of what we've accomplished so far on the blog, but sometimes it's fun to take a look and compare the pictures of the original house (at move in) with our new and improved look in each room. The first picture of each "series" is the original, pre-move-in look and anything that follows is what we have done to the house! It's exciting to see it put together this way and really see what the differences are - let me tell you, paint is our best friend - i've said it before but it is amazing what a little paint can do!

Front Yard:

• Move house numbers to other side of door
• Re-do porch and walkway
• Re-landscape - Sod front yard
• Move mailbox
• Install flag and hang it
• Repaint the exterior of the house
• Repaint front door
• Repaint shutters

Back Yard:

• Dig out old garden beds
• Weed existing garden beds
• Remove white rocks
• Move hydrangea bushes away from house and to the back yard
• Decided what to do with shed - tear down and rebuild
• Install raised garden beds
• Plant vegetable garden 
• Re-finish swing
• Change fabric on swing and bistro set seats

Living Room:

• Change out curtain rods
• Hang new curtains
• New rug
• Paint living room / choose color
• Create walkway between living room and dining room
• Replace baseboards
• Hang art
• Paint inside of front door
• Add lighting

Dining Room:

• Change out curtain rods
• Hang new curtains
• New rug
• Re-upholster dining room chairs / choose fabric
• Hang art
• Organize closet for more storage
• Change closet door to be a glass "china cabinet"
• Paint dining room / choose color
• Baseboards
• Choose and hang light fixture

Hallway:

• Hang art
• Change the coat closet from a rod to hooks
• Change the shelves in the linen closet - real wood instead of pressed wood
• Paint the ceiling / choose color

Bathroom:

• Take down original shelving behind toilet
• Hang new shelves and decorate
• Hang Shower Curtain
• Re-attach fallen tiles in shower/tub
• Add hooks for towels and robes
• Organize closet behind door with baskets
• Replace sink pedastal with vanity style
• Replace fixtures / toilet paper holder / towel bar

Spare Room / Den:

• Paint den above chair rail / choose color 
• Change out curtain rods
• Hang new curtains
• New rug
• Arrange collage wall
• Hang art
• Add hanging bar to the inside of closet / maximize storage
  

Kitchen:

• Paint jars and cubby
• Build butcher block table
• Install new cooktop
• Hang pot-rack
• Install new hood
• Tile behind cooktop
• Hang art
• Paint underside of cupboards 
• Add shelf above cooktop
• Add knobs to cupboards

Finished Basement:

• Replace carpet in basement
• Remove carpet from stairs and re-trim
• Paint basement / choose color
• Complete ductwork that connects to living room vent

Laundry Room / Unfinished Basement: 

• Clean existing shelves
• Build laundry organization
• Create shelves for Rob's tools / work bench

Upstairs / Bedroom:

• Strip the carpet from the stairs
• Refinish stairs with a pallet wood look
• Hang curtains
• Organize closet
• Replace carpet upstairs
• Hang art
• paint ceiling
• paint walls
• new bedding
• create a bed platform

Thanks for keeping up with us!

Until next time,
Lindsey 

bathroom facelift

We were so happy to find a house that didn't need any major work, especially in the bathroom or kitchen since those are always such expensive rooms to makeover. We feel so blessed to not go through that. Now, even though they don't need much in the way of remodel, they both definitely needed some work in the way of a facelift. So here is what we did to spruce things up a bit - since the bathroom was the first to be finished we'll post about that room first. 

We went with black and white because it is so clean looking and so effortless at the same time. The floor in the bathroom is a black marble with white markings so we just took our cue from that and ran with it. 

All in all we added much more that what was already existing in the bathroom. The tile (which you can see here) is not terrible but we didn't want to look at the grey/green and maroon all the time, so we used a shower curtain to hide the shower. We added towel hooks so there would be somewhere to put wet towels, what with the curtain covering up the shower door rails and because that space was so blah and empty before! 

When we moved in there was one shelf, very high above the toilet - the metal kind that they have in hotels. Well we didn't like it, it made the room look blank and cold so we took that sucker down. Of course it left four large holes in the wall that needed to be spackled and re-painted but it was worth the extra step to get something pretty in the bathroom. I (Lindsey) am from the school of thought that a bathroom should be just as lovely as the rest of your house and not just a forgotten room. Hence, the shelves above the toilet - somewhat functional and somewhat just for looks.

Here is my new favorite house treat, a laundry chute! It goes right down to the basement and the laundry plops down right in front of the washer - so handy. I never thought I would like it or use it but now, after only a month, I can say that I would put one into any house we live in from now on!

It's not a very big opening, but even a towel fits right down! 

So far, so good and we love the way the bathroom looks from the hallway. We are "done" with the bathroom for now and will keep looking for deals and discounts on certain hardware that we don't like...

Aren't these gold and silver fixtures lovely??? No, they absolutely aren't.

Thanks for keeping up with us and our improvements (little by little)! Until our next report, Lindsey (and Rob too!)

before we begin

Well we closed - YAY!! - and we've had a garage sale (yes already haha) and it has been quite the whirlwind getting projects done and semi-settling into the new house. We are really loving the layout and all the potential this place has for us and our eventual family (Lord willing!!).

Before we begin posting pictures and tales of the projects we are doing around the new house, we want everyone to be able to see the house before we made any changes. These photos are from our inspection date and do include a little bit of the previous tenants furniture so bear with that please! 

Let's begin the tour! 

Our cute little home in Royal Oak, MI. 

This is the view when you walk in the front door, there is a wall directly to the left!

Another view of the living room from the archway in the previous picture. 

Through the swinging butler's door into the kitchen. 

From the other side of the kitchen - not a whole lot of cupboard space but we do have a basement to store extra things! 

 Cute pedestal sink in the bathroom with a great little vanity mirror.

We lucked out with the bathroom decor - it has newer tile, new marble floors and the colors aren't horrendous!

Bedroom #1 / Our Dining Room (after project 1)

Bedroom #2 / Spare Room for guests

Master Bedroom upstairs with walk-in closet (beyond arch on the other side of the bed)

There are a lot of built ins in the Master Bedroom! 

View from our Kitchen window - Oswin's new playground! 

Thanks for taking the tour everyone, we can't wait to share what we have in store and all the projects that we have already started / finished / are in the middle of! 

Until next time,

Lindsey