the house list...updates

Remember that horribly long list of house things that I wanted to do. Well I am here today to update that list.
Looking at it now, WE my husband got a lot done.  
The lines in blue are things I am adding now.
It is nice to see so much RED. 

Living Room

• Complete Frame Wall  about 90% complete, the walls are done, i am adding filler now. will update with photos soon.
• Paint Entertainment Unit (a tealish blue color) ended up buying a new unit since we bought a much larger t.v. so no need to paint the new one.
• find an accent Chair Scored a great chair from husbands grandfather that they were going to trash!
• Find Roundish Mirror No need for this now, I DIY'ed a piece of art myself to hand in this spot. 
• Finish Bookcase wallpaper Finally after a year and a half, i put my big girl pants on and finished this.
• Add Decorative Pillows
• Install Recessed lighting
• Add Ceiling Fan 

Kitchen

• New Stackable stainless Washer/Dryer Done, and love them!
• New Stainless Steel Appliances - we are contemplating this. May just live with what we have for right now.
• Some Art Not really much room for anything now looking back.
• Install Backsplash
• Paint Cabinets White?

Dining Room

• Paint Wainscoting White Done and added chair rail.
• Paint Ceiling We had water damage so we luckily got this done for us
• Find (4) Dining room Chairs Found a set we LOVE and it came with a bench!
• Find a Bench (target storage bench) see above.
• Re-Finish Table Not necessary anymore since we found a new set that fit our style better.
• Blinds or some sort of curtain
• Finish Tile Floor

Guest Bathroom

• Hang Basket Storage Done.
• Add Towel Hooks I have the Hanger just need to re-paint and will add this into the room.
• Re-paint?
• New White Toliet
• New Vanity
• Re-finish Tub & Surround in White

Guest Room

• Remove Wallpaper
• Paint
• Re-finish Desk
• Find a Dresser We are going to downsize our bedroom by one dresser and then put it in here.
• Find or make headboard I used and old curtain and part of our old bckboard from our Malm ikea bed and make an upholstered headboard.
• Curtains & Rod Done and Done.
• Add Art & hang mirror
• Update Closet Shelving

Master Bathroom

• Buy Toliet Done.
• Buy Vanity Done.
• Faucet Done.
  
• Purchase and Lay Floor Done.
• Finish walls and paint room Done, ended up using the left over gallon of paint when we repainted the living room.
  
• Add Art
• Paint Trim & Door
• Purchase Accessories
• New Fan
• New Vanity Light Done.

"Man Cave"

• Hang Second Guitar Hung Second and Third.
• Cover & Add Pillows
• New Larger DVD storage Moved all DVD's to living room in the cabinet part of the bookcases.
• Add long shelves to hold frames Added Ikea shelving to hold some of his art work. 
• Organize
• Add large Expedite shelving with baskets for memorabilia.  

Master Bedroom

• Create Larger Headboard Used part of the Malm backboard and make an upholstered headboard.
• Paint Dressers? - Still up in the air about this.
• Hang Television When we got a larger living room t.v. we used the old one in here and hung it on the wall.
• Add Art & Photos
• Organize husbands Closet
• New Night Tables Bought 2 small end tables
• Add Ceiling Fan - bought but not installed.

Whole House

• New Carpet
• Paint Trim
• New Door Hardware
• Add Photos & Art in Hallways Moved full length mirror into all way, and added some photos. Don't think the hall can handle much more. Done.  

This was a wordy post so for your enjoyment here is a photo of my co-pilot and myself.

 

the list.

I love lists, I really do. I feel the need to make one for every reason. It helps me remember what I need to buy, what I need to do, things that I want. Lists in general are just great to me. This one on the other hand I'm going to be in trouble. Have you ever heard the lamb chop never ending song? Well I feel this is how this list will be. It will be the list that doesn't end, yes it goes on and on my friend.

What is this list I am referring to you ask, well let me tell you. The list of items that need to get done to finish our condo. I made this list up one day and while sitting at dinner one evening I slipped it to my husband across the table. And then came the best part, his face, it was priceless. It was a jaw dropping, blank evil eye stare are you kidding me kind of face. As if I don't bother him enough, I have now complied a list of what needs to be done. Without Further Ado:

Living Room

• Complete Frame Wall
• Paint Entertainment Unit (a tealish blue color)
• find an accent Chair
• Find Roundish Mirror
• Finish Bookcase wallpaper
• Add Decorative Pillows

Kitchen

• New Stackable stainless Washer/Dryer
• New Stainless Steel Appliances
• Some Art
• Install Backsplash
• Paint Cabinets White?

Dining Room

• Paint Wainscoting White
• Paint Ceiling
• Find (4) Dining room Chairs
• Find a Bench (target storage bench)
• Re-Finish Table
• Blinds

Dining Room

• Paint Wainscoting White
• Paint Ceiling
• Find (4) Dining room Chairs
• Find a Bench (target storage bench)
• Re-Finish Table
• Blinds

Guest Bathroom

• Hang Basket Storage
• Add Towel Hooks
• Re-paint?
• New White Toliet
• New Vanity
• Re-finish Tub & Surround in White

Guest Room

• Remove Wallpaper
• Paint
• Re-finish Desk
• Find a Dresser
• Find or make headboard
• Curtains & Rod
• Add Art
• Update Closet Shelving

Master Bathroom

• Buy Toliet
• Buy Vanity
• Faucet
• Purchase and Lay Floor
• Finish walls and paint room
• Add Art
• Paint Trim & Door
• Purchase Accessories
• New Fan
• New Vanity Light

"Man Cave"

• Hang Second Guitar
• Cover & Add Pillows
• New Larger DVD storage
• Add long shelves to hold frames

Master Bedroom

• Create Larger Headboard
• Paint Dressers?
• Hang Television
• Add Art & Photos
• Organize Mr. F Closet
• New Night Tables
• Add Ceiling Fan

Whole House

• New Carpet
• Paint Trim
• New Door Hardware
• Add Photos & Art in Hallways

Okay Well there you have it. I will check back with this list frequently to update it with things we have completed. It seems like so much when it is listed out this way. I feel by the time it all gets done we will be moving. 


Does anyone else have a list like this that just never seems to end? Home-ownership is like a constant state of remodeling or re-doing. I want to be at the point where I can sit and enjoy.

 

master bathroom part one: DEMO

Okay, here we go, it has officially started....the DEMO stage. I think a few times during this time I mentioned to my husband "there is no turning back now".

So the following are some before shots and demo shots to get you up to speed on what is going down. Get ready for the beauty that this bathroom beholds.

This is the beauty before. Note the wonderful wall paper, and the photo doesn't do the tub & shower color any justice. It is a lovely almondy color. Looking back I am not even sure how we lived with it like this for 3 years.

This is the door that separated the vanity from the tub & toliet area. It made it feel like a very cramped space. So how about some demo shots. Now let me explain to you how much Mr. F loved this part. It was a task in itself but I think the frustration that was released upon tearing and ripping things apart was good for him. I wish i got a photo, but that tub/shower combo thing was a pain to get out. He basically karate chopped it and started busting it apart to get it out of that room.

 

This is obviously after everything is out of the room.
I am getting better at documenting, sorry.
Tub & Shower = GONE
Toilet = GONE
Yuckie peeling vinyl floor = GONE
ALL dry wall = GONE
Doorway & Door = GONE

So you ask what we do from here? Well we have a whole other section to tackle too.. Notice in the photo above you can still see the vanity, well that will come soon. Next on the list though is installing the new shower pan. We opted to get rid of the tub (main reason we have the babiest water heater ever and can not even fill a tub before it gets cold) So for the master bath we decided to go with just a shower, and yes people don't worry we do have another bathroom with a tub that we are keeping. Now we are doing most of this work ourselves. I say "we" like i really have anything to do with this. Let's rephrase that...MY hubby and father are doing most of this work themselves. ahhh much better. I think we felt that cutting and re-working some plumbing for the shower was more than we could handle, so we decided for the tub installation we should go ahead and hire a plumber. We did not want to take the chance of something going wrong and pissing off the neighbors more than we already do.

So in comes a plumber, while we were working one Wednesday he did his thing. And we came home to this......

lilly checking out the new shower

Ahhhhh the beauty of this shower pan, i swear it brought tears to my eyes. 

I think the thing that did it the most for me was that it was white, a pure white. Stupid Almond.

From here we still have more demo to do. We have the adjoining wall to take out, the vanity, carpet and some more drywall.

That vanity, that counter top, the medicine cabinet the boxed light fixture all made me want to vomit! I was more than happy to see them trashed.

Now as I said before "there is no turning back"
It amazes me that once that dividing wall was out how much larger the room felt. There aren't any fixtures back in yet, but it just opened up the room, and it is starting to feel like an actual bathroom. Up next we added drywall, cement board around the shower, and our new doorway!
 

Ill have more soon, I think I overwhelmed this post enough. What do you think? Anyone else tackling a project like this on their own? Is is taking longer than you thought?

Once upon a master bathroom.

There once was a master bathroom....(lets hope this one ends with" they lived happily ever after")

I am an interior designer and to this day i still just do not understand why in a master bedroom you would choose to place the vanity in the bedroom. This has always been something that bothers me. I just do not see why they couldn't add a door and make the vanity a separate room. 

Here is the dilemma, we have the lovely vanity in the bedroom problem in our condo. The shower and toilet are in a separate room. Mr. F has the luxury of having weekends off to sleep in and what not, I on the other hand work most Saturdays and while I get ready for work I am making someone else grouchy by waking them up. (cue blow dryer and bright vanity lights) Mr. F finally had enough, I have also but I know how much things like this end up costing. So here starts the planning process....

"well what if we add a door here"

"and what if we knock down this wall and take out this doorway"

"and we can convert the tub into a shower"

Here is a sneek peak of what the room looked like before we started anything. So you can get an idea  of what the heck I am talking about.

BATHROOM BEFORE

Don't get me wrong all these sound amazing. But tackling it all on our own? This is going to be a big project, I don't like big projects. Remember before I said I was lazy. Well here is a prime example. I like to come home from work and relax and usually do nothing. Projects like these make me have to give up relaxation time. So I agreed. I know it will look amazing when we are done and if we do it all ourselves we can keep the cost down. We have tiled before, we have installed a toilet and new plumbing fixtures before we can do this! Or i should say we will contract out my father and he will help Mr. F do all this while i supervise, refill drinks and love on the puppy. 

Here is our proposed AFTER floorplan:

BATHROOM AFTER

If you can not tell, we will be removing the wall & doorway separating the vanity from the shower area, and we will be add a door way that used to be the "hallway" to the vanity. You can not tell this by the drawing, but we will also be removing the existing Almond tub and surround and replacing it with just a shower. oh la la. Main reason for this: our water heater is super small and we can't even take two showers without the second person having cold water at the end, let alone take a bath. But don't worry people we do have a second bathroom to bath the baby (aka Lilly).

This is a big job, we will be gutting the whole room, replacing everything from flooring to drywall to light fixtures, vanity and toilet. This will take a little while to complete and take over most of our weekends and week nights when we can kidnap my father.

 I wonder if there is anyone out there that actually enjoys the vanity in the bedroom scenario?