Before and After: Guest Room

It's been a long time since I've blogged about house projects, and we certainly have done a few. We patched and painted the basement stairwell and stairs, put down wood floors,  put on a new roof, put up lattice to cover the basement crawlspace, revamped the utility room, converted a half bath into a full, and more I'm sure. Sometime, I'll have to blog about those projects.

For now, I thought I would post about the guest bedroom. It is a small room and was very bland, with carpet that was different from every other room in the house (all of the carpet in the house was removed before we moved in). The room itself was finished soon after we moved in. In fact, we slept in the guest room until our master bedroom was finished. This renovation was relatively simple: paint and flooring. We painted (Copen Blue by Sherwin Williams' Rustic Refined palette) when we first moved in, and flooring came about 6 months later. I already had the bed and cabinet, our neighbor contributed the picture and lamp, and my mom sewed the curtains. I really like the colors in this room and the way it turned out.

Before: Nasty carpet, no color

After: New flooring and color!

 

 

How to Distress a Dresser

A few years ago, I obtained a mid-century dresser as family hand-me-down. My Uncle Tim didn't have a place for it, and I needed a dresser in my spare room, so I snatched it up. Fast forward a few years, and our new house didn't have a place in our guest room for the dresser, so I decided to use it as a buffet in the dining room. I love it because it givens me lots of linen storage! However, with wood laminate floors and a wood table, I had too many wood finishes and wanted a the buffet to contrast more in the room (see pic on left). So I decided to paint and distress it. Here's how it worked.

First, I roughed up the original finish with sandpaper and removed the hardware. I had to use putty to fill in the holes from the hardware because we changed the knobs. Then, I painted a base coat of yellow paint (leftover from the kitchen) on the dresser. I made sure to have it plenty thick on the edges, because this is where I would be seeing it the most.

Next, I painted the top coat of a brownish-olive color that picks up some of the accents from the rest of the house and the green in the wall color. I did two coats of this. I used enamel from Sherwin-Williams, but next time I think I might try a different type because it wasn't super easy to scrub off for the distressing part.

Finally, I took sandpaper to the dried top coat along the edges and natural wear lines until I had as much yellow showing through as I wanted. I also used a "rough" paintbrush to give it wear on the top and sides since the enamel was pretty hard to distress on the flat surfaces. Sherwin-Williams has these 2-inch brushes for a buck that worked really well for this. 

To finish the piece, we put on new hardware from Lowe's. I didn't want it to look too new, so I rubbed paint over the pieces and then used a dry cloth to give it an aged affect. The knobs and handles were around $1 a piece, and the paint was about $15, so I did the whole dresser for about $25! Nice, right?

Living Room... Before and After

The living room has been done for while, I just haven't posted about it yet... sorry! Since we have an "ice day" off of school today, I have some extra time, so I'll try to remember the whole process from before and after. Though in many ways, I like forgetting about it all!

First, the carpet had fleas. The walls, trim, and fireplace was a worn-out off-white color. The fireplace tiles were gross, which I replaced in this DIY project. An bookshelf took up space on one wall. We ripped it out. After the carpet was removed (as per the contract when we bought the house) we sanded and painted the floor with Cocoon from Sherwin William's Rustic Refined collection. Our family came down over a weekend in the fall, and helped paint the walls with Bittersweet Stem. I replaced the tiles, with Justin's help to tear them out, in December.

I picked up the rug and pillows from Gabriel Brothers, a discount store. The blue chair I got from Goodwill for $5. The coffee table was a DIY project that I got at a garage sale this summer for another $5. I'll have to post more on that later- it was purple to start with) Mom graciously made the curtains, which have a light blue pattern, this fall. And finally, finally, we had the revelation that my hope chest would fit just perfectly in the space between the fireplace and the wall! Dad and mom had a talented wood-working neighbor make these for Bethany, Ratona and I when we were young. They actually all fit together in the window seat of our dormer window at our house in Springfield, but look great separately too. I never took it to Cali when I moved out there... I guess I always knew I would be back here somehow.

I think that pretty much covers all the improvements. Waddaya think?

Bathroom: Before and After

Our front bathroom has come a long way. When we first came in the house, there was a mildew problem. The shower, sink and toilet plumbing were on three different walls.  All the fixtures were outdated, and the tub must have been the original cast iron. It was super heavy. So heavy, in fact, that it is still sitting on the side of the house, waiting for someone to be interested in its posting on Craigslist. But I digress...

To fix it, Justin and dad tore everything down to the studs. It sounds easy to say but it took several days! The flooring came up too. When Brentwood came in, they put up new walls and placed the plumbing all on one wall. That was my plan, because it just makes so much more sense! Then, in one night, I painted the walls Bracing Blue (Sherwin Williams) and ceiling and trim Creamy (also Sherwin-Williams). They came in after that and officially hooked up all the fixtures.

Wait, I thought that sounded too easy.... how could I forget? Before they could finish the plumbing, Justin had to dig in the crawlspace to find a good section of pipe to hook into, because the old pipe literally had holes in it. This stopped up the process for at least week. Still, I'm glad that we figured it out at this point.

Once the fixtures were in, I was able to start making finishing touches. I found a shower curtain at HomeGoods  that was pretty close to the color of the tub. If you remember, I spent a few precious hours this summer restoring that old tub that we found on Craigslist for $225.   Xenia Glass and Lock put a mirror in an old frame that I bought at a garage sale. The mirror was $10, the frame about a dollar. (By the way, Xenia Glass and Lock had great service and were so reasonable in price. I'll be going back to replace some glass in a frame soon.) Our awesome neighbor Bert once again helped us with some shelving, and then I painted the shelves. I hung a few other decorations, and it was finished! It's one of my favorite rooms in the house now!

Before:                                                              After:

 



Updating Fireplace Tile

The bland, red-ish, dirty tiles in front of the fireplace had been bothering me for some time. We had already updated the brick with paint, which helped A LOT! But, the tile in front still looked pretty crappy. So finally, over the last few days, we had some extra time. Justin started the process by ripping up the old tile. Then we went to Lowes to get some tile. We got some tile for .58 cents for 6x6 pieces. The 3x12 was around $3. All together, we spent about $30 on the tile and $25 on the grouting materials.

That morning, I had played around with the tile pattern by cutting out paper patterns. While this wasn't exact, it really helped me know how many tiles I needed and how we needed to cut it.

After Justin mixed up the adhesive, I had to try to level out the surface because it definitely slanted down from the fireplace. Placing the tiles was a little tricky, because I had more spacing on the outside border than on the inside diagonal pattern. (Maybe we should have gotten the spacers). I went and cleaned up in the kitchen while it dried for a a little time. Next, I used a large sponge to start wiping off the excess grout and clean up. After the first round, it dries and then I was able to just use a towel to wipe off the final layer. I must say, I'm pretty proud of myself with this tile job. I think it looks pretty darn good!

Kitchen: Before and After

Finally, I am starting to feel like things are coming together. The kitchen isn't all decorated yet, but it's getting there. Here's a quick recap of the process- when we first toured the house, there was weeks-old litter boxes and feces around the floor. It smelled of dung too... A horrible blue-checkered pattern was on the damaged linoleum floor, and the cabinets were probably the originals. The kitchen had an arch in the middle, but it couldn't be seen because it was coved in the cabinets. A awkward layout was also an issue from the placement of the appliances, half-bathroom door, and many entrances.

To remedy this, we had family come help us tear out the cabinets. What a task! Some were completely unscrewed but still on the wall from the layers of paint!! They were heavy too, once we actually yanked them off. This left a lot of patchwork, which I did, and Justin sanded. We also cut a door into the master bedroom, and closed the door to the bath off the kitchen. Justin ripped up the old floor. We painted the walls with White Raisin from the Rustic Refined selection at Sherwin-Williams. Then, we stepped back and Brentwood Builders did the rest. Yay!!

Brentwood put down the new vinyl flooring, which looks like tile even though it's not. They installed the cabinets, which was quite a task since the floor sloped. Evening it out was a pain, I'm sure. They dropped the sink in, put in the electric and new gas line, and finished.

At this point, in mid-November, my kitchen already looked loads better, and I unpacked my kitchen stuff, went grocery shopping, and settled in. But I will wanted some open shelves, so our neighbor Bert (who is amazing!!) made some custom shelves that fit perfectly with the style. We showed him pictures, bought the wood, and then he made them for us. And they look great. We got these in just a week or so ago, and that's why I've been waiting to post, though many people have been asking for pictures. We still have more decorating to do, but this is where we are at now. I'm so pleased!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Sneak peek at the bathroom

Finally, all the drain and plumbing issues are resolved and the bathroom is in place! The walls are painted Bracing Blue and the tub is Antiquity, both from the Rustic Refined HGTV/Sherwin-Williams collection. I don't have decorations up or anything, but what do you think so far? I like it!

Walling up a door frame

After we cut the door frame out yesterday, it was time to put framing and drywall in so could make it disappear. Justin had a little bit of experience with framing, so he put in the 2x4's after trimming them to size. Then he cut the drywall to size and hung it with screws. Sure, he's not a pro, but it did the job.

 

After that, I started mudding up the seams. This is the most frustrating part because mudding is truly frustrating for the novice. The professional that drywalled the bathroom was a pro- he was so skilled and didn't seem to sweat it at all. But me, I take a lot of time, and still I don't think that I am too good. I am getting a little better with keeping the edges smooth, but I know that Justin will still have to sand quite a bit. But this was just the first coat, and we will hopefully get it where it needs to be. We did use the drywall mesh on the seams, which seemed to help. Now we just wait for it to dry and then finish it off.

 

Cutting a door frame

We got the door frame for the bathroom entrance cut!! You see, right now the door for the half-bath opened into the kitchen. However, we are covering up that door and having it open into the master bedroom. Eventually we will break down the wall the sink is on and open it up longer to create a full bath. But for now, we just need to close up the wall into the kitchen and open another door frame into the master bedroom.

 

We had a family friend who is really handy come over to help us with this. The first thing that he had to do was make sure that when we cut through the wall, we weren't going to run into any electrical problems. This ended up being a little difficult, because he had to go through a very small hole to get to the crawlspace under the bedroom to try to figure out what the wiring was doing.

 

After he figured that part out, he started going into the wall on the inside of the half-bath with a sawzall very carefully. It was uber dusty too! Whew- wear a mask over your eyes and mouth if you do this at home! We had measured out and found where the studs were so that we would only have to cut through one stud. That stud was in the middle of the new door frame, and we will have to put a brace across the top when we frame it in. The electrical wiring will need to be rerouted either under the door or over the top- that's for another day though.

 

Justin stood on the other side of the wall as our friend cut the the section of wall for the door to come out. It was pretty heavy too! It took both of them to lift and move it once they had it out, but thank goodness it was all in once piece. (That side of the wall has unique texturing, and we are hoping to be able to use it when we patch another area). Having the door frame cut out now is such a huge piece of progress, because we can now put new drywall up  on the kitchen wall and paint before the new cabinets are put in. Below you can see the process.

 

      Before any cutting  -------------------> First cuts on the inside of the bathroom

Outline cut in the inside of the bath ----->Justin holding the wall piece steady as it comes out

 The new cut door frame... but NO PRIVACY!!

 I'll have to put up a curtain or something until we get it finished.

This is our only working bathroom right now! LOL....

Now we need to frame it up and get that drywall up. It never ends!! But we are glad to be working on our own home! God is good.

Autumn Weather...Surprise!

That old saying still rings true, "If you don't like the weather in Ohio, stick around for a day and it will change." After being on the cooler side this week, Friday and Saturday brought some warm weather. It was perfect for refinishing the deck and enjoying being outside. I took the opportunity to plant some of the bulbs that grandma had saved for me- I can't wait to see them come up next spring. Hopefully I did everything right and they survive the winter.

Our big tree in the backyard is shedding its leaves rather quickly. I swear I could probably rake leaves twice a day. It is so beautiful though; I am going to miss the leaves once they are all gone. Seeing them come back again next year is going to be a joy; hopefully we have some porch furniture by then and can have people over to enjoy. But for now, the weather has turned windy and rainy again, and we will stay inside!

Speaking of inside, Justin had to dig a trench in the basement this weekend for the new water line for the washer. Apparently the drainage was a problem in the utility room, so the washer and dryer will be moved downstairs. We actually wanted that in the first place, just to get it out of the way. But all the little changes add up in the cost... At least we will save a little from Justin doing the digging.

We also finally finished tearing out the cabinets, mudding and sanding the kitchen this weekend, and were able to get a coat of paint on the walls. It makes such a difference. I am definitely starting to get excited about seeing the flooring, cabinets, and countertops come together as well. Only two weeks or so till it is all done! (I think I can wait that long...)

 

How to Clean a Dirty Deck

Well, I feel like this weekend has been productive, and it's not even over yet. That's a good sign, right?   I was off of school on Friday, and Justin decided to take the day off since I was already off so that we could work on the house more.  I worked on cleaning the deck because it was a great day to work outside. We saw some serious progress made!! I love it when I can actually see the progress.

I applied the Olympic brand deck cleaner, which I had bought from Lowe's earlier in the day, with a soft mini-broom tool. It seemed to spread well- it's the consistency of water- and worked quickly. Following the directions, I let it sit for about 10 minutes before scrubbing it off. According to the packaging, you aren't supposed to have to scrub it, but the deck had a serious layer of mildew. Maybe it we had a power washer it would have come up, but I've also heard that can damage the wood. So I stuck to a hand scrubber for that part of the process. Then our awesome neighbor Bert came over with a acid brush that had a longer handle, which was a lifesaver because being down on my hands and knees in that mess was not so fun. The cleaner had bleach in it too, so the smell was pretty strong to be down close to.  I did still need to scrub it a little with the hand brush, but that's just because it was so bad.

I am serious when I say it was bad.... when I was scrubbing, I couldn't even see how much of the mildew that I got off until I rinsed the boards, because the green goop that kept foaming up. It was not pretty. The end result though, was so much better. We still need to go over it with a second coat, but at least it's not slippery when you walk on it anymore. The deck was seriously a hazard when it rained!

And before I close, a special shout-out to my mom, who finished the last portion today, and to my husband, who was stuck inside digging a trench in the crawlspace for the washer hookup while I worked out in the fresh fall air. I love them both!

 Left side of deck... before; right side of deck...after

Homeowners in week four...

It is crazy that we have had the house for four weeks now. In some ways I feel like we have gotten a ton done, in other ways we still have so much to do. I think that is because there are a few things in each room that aren't finished. For example, the master bedroom still needs the floor painted and the new door cut for the bathroom. The family room needs to have the new section of drywall put up, but we can't do that until the roof is fixed. Another instance is the kitchen- we have the floor taken up, the cabinets taken out, but we are still working on the walls. Then the utility room has been painted, but still needs new flooring. So, we have made progress, but so many finishing touches still need to be done.

Monday and Tuesday consisted of sanding down the patched drywall in the kitchen, which Justin mostly worked on. Bert was amazing, again, and painted the utility room in White Raisin from our Rustic Refined color scheme from Sherwin-Williams, which I have been blogging about. I really like how the color turned out, and this is the same color that we will use in the kitchen. Also, I worked on painting the three walls in the master bedroom that won't be affected when we make the full bath. It sounds easy, but there is a lot of trim work to take care of- three windows, several doors, and the baseboard and ceiling. It just takes some time. (Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to post of me actually working... guess it's hard to take pictures of myself- someone should get on that!)

Today dad helped Justin get the claw foot tub over to the house (finally!!) in the evening before church. The plumbers were able to come early because they needed the exact measurements. They took the plumbing for the kitchen sink out, so now we only have one functional sink. And that one's not even very good because it gets jammed so often! Justin found a decent amount of quarters in the pipes that the plumbers took out. I think we'll rinse it off and give it to church. Speaking of money, we hope to cash in on that old cast-iron tub that is now out of the bathroom too. That is, if no one takes it off of the front porch. I think it's a couple of hundred pounds though, so that might be a bit of a discouragement. But that's all for now. More to come in the next few days!

And a silly kiss to end the night... I was trying to stay away from too much dust.. LOL