It is Finished- Master Bedroom

Before:

In case you think your eyes are surely deceiving you, they're not. The master bedroom walls were painted pink and had gray trim.

After:

Before:

After:

In the bedroom we:

primed and painted walls and trim

new outlets and switches

new ceiling fan

Our sweet friend Kyle painted the entire bedroom for us. Of course that pic is on the computer at home too, so I will post it later. Promise!

As a bonus, I'm adding a pic of the master bath- if you can call it that. It is TINY. It's the project I decided to start up one weekend in November and then Joe had to come along and fix it. You see, I am banned from anything having to do with electricity (new light fixture) and I don't think he trusts me to hang things either (new mirror). And I couldn't get the old fixtures completely out of the wall....and my spackling is not so smooth...you get the picture. But I did paint the walls and trim (which was also GRAY).

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

It is Finished- Dining Room

Well, I am away from home and can't find the "before" picture of the dining room. You'll have to use your imagination again. Remember those orangey walls from the living room? Same in the dining room. We painted walls and trim and did the floors. The light fixture was the only one in the entire house that we were able to salvage. We painted it and added the shades. I would like to hang some more things in there but not sure what or how yet.

Sorry this was a boring day- I'm heading upstairs tomorrow!

It is Finished- Half Bath

This is a project we tackled during Snowmageddon. In between rounds of shoveling we worked on the downstairs half bath. I am just so thrilled to have a bathroom downstairs after dealing with an entire pregnancy in which all of the bathrooms were on the third floor. Better late than never.

Before: This is the only before picture I have, which is pretty lame. Just picture a vanity with laminate cabinet doors and a light fixure that dated back to the 70s. The important thing to note is the striped wallpaper (circa 1987) and the scroll-y towel rack and toilet paper holder.

We had originally planned to removed the vanity and put a new one in. After hours and hours of work, endless mathematical calculations, and prayer, Joe came to the realization that the vanity would not be coming out of the bathroom. It is clearly an integral part of the structure of the house.

At that point we decided to strip it and order customized doors (that only took 2 months) and stain it all a dark brown.

We absolutely love how the wood turned out and now the vanity and house are one again.

We are a little ashamed at how long a 5 x 2.5 space took to renovate. (Those are my guestimate measures by the way)

Here's what we did:

Remove wallpaper

Repair, and I do mean repair the walls

Paint

Light Fixture

Light switches (that weren't standard and only took about 8 hours)

Removed medicine cabinet and converted to shelves

Stained vanity

Mirror

Granite Countertop

Sink

Faucet

Towel ring and toilet paper holder

Door knobs

Sweat

Blood Tears

Tomorrow is the Dining Room and then we're done with the downstairs!

It is Finished- Playroom

This room is right off the kitchen and I'm not sure why the builders put it there, we have a separate dining room, but it is perfect place for Grayson to play while I'm cooking/cleaning in the kitchen. I recently put baby gates up at the entrances to have a completely baby-proofed area that I can drop G for a second in an emergency and know he's safe-ish. He's not a huge fan of this development, but we're workin' on it.

The playroom required less than other rooms; just the floor, sanding and painting. That mauve area under the chair rail had a lovely gritty texture that required an electric sander and many coats of primer.

Before:

During:

Look! I'm working!

After:
Just noticed the little flap hanging down from the ceiling- that's where we turn the water off and on and Joe had been utilizing the switch while working on the bathroom.


I think that Joe and I did this room all by ourselves...except for the floor, of course. If the floor has been redone in any room, you can just assume that Noel helped.

And just because it's cute, a picture of Grayson and Jonah playing in the room the other day.


Don't you love the height difference? It could be their dads standing next to each other....and Joe's no shorty!

...tomorrow!

It is Finished- Kitchen

I have to say that the kitchen was mostly my labor of love. Painting and distressing the cabinets was about a 2 week process that seemed to involve 30 steps. OK, that is not entirely accurate. But one day I did count through the steps and got to about 17. Joe was responsible for everything to do with the appliances: Jason helped him moved the water line so we could have an ice-maker, Joe cut cabinets in half to fit the appliances in, installed the microwave and outside vent above the stove, and of course he and Noel did the floors. I was thrilled with the outcome and even though it is small I really enjoy cooking in it.

Before:

During:





After:

The score:

paint on walls "Sagey" by Behr
3 new outlets
light fixture
water line moved so we could have an icemaker (and re-patched ceiling)
4 new appliances
repainted cabinets
new hardware for cabinets
hardwood floors/baseboards

Back tomorrow!

It is Finished

I am so very thankful to report that we have finished remodeling our house. Oh my goodness, what a job! We started in June before we moved in, worked the rest of the summer, took a break and then picked up after the new year, finishing this weekend. We are SO ready to be outside enjoying the beautiful Spring instead of inside working and breathing questionable fumes.

Each day this week I will post the before and afters of a different room. And then at the end we will share our house remodeling "black magic list"- products that work so well that they must have something to do with the black arts.

Another thing to mention is that I apologize for the quality of the pictures. I can't remember if we've told the story on here about our camera and how we lost it- basically I unknowingly dropped it in the snow one day during the first blizzard and didn't find it until the snow melted. And it obviously didn't survive. Nick and Maren have graciously lent us their old camera until we get another, but I do not know how to use it that well. So try to ignore the glares, shadows, blurriness, etc.

And now down to business- keeping in mind that we did all of this ourselves...and with our friends. No professionals (unless you count Jason who could be if he wanted to quit his day job).

We will start in the living room:

Before:


During:


After:



By the numbers:

4 coats of paint on the wall
2 coats of ceiling paint
1 hardwood floor installed
4 new vents
5 new outlets
3 new light switches
1 new ceiling fan
baseboards and shoe molding

The peeps:
Jason: fixtures, drywall patching, got Joe started on the floor
Noel: laid floor with Joe (for a WEEK), baseboards, shoe molding, touch-ups, decor
Chris: painted shoe molding, baseboards, touch-ups, decor

There is someone that is missing from the pictures because they are behind the camera- please do NOT think that person was not working!!!!

See ya back here tomorrow.

Sneak Preview

You may be thinking that I have gone back on my promise to post photos of the entire house remodel after we finished the bathroom (last project). Nope. I have bought myself plenty of time in that area because the bathroom is taking forever. It doesn't matter how cut and dry you think a project is- IT'S NOT.

The bathroom has taken over our lives these past few weeks. The reason for the lack of blog posts is because there is NOTHING to tell other than: we're working on the bathroom.

Exciting, I know.

My saintly husband has battled all sorts of plumbing and caulking issues, repaired drywall, and moved electrical outlets. Wow, that sounds so easy when you put it into one sentence. Translation: Those things took 2 weeks. The upside: he has learned SO much and impresses daily me with his remodeling knowledge.

Today I spent close to an hour cleaning up the bathtub. It was finally ready for my precious boy to take his bath tonight. It required some serious elbow grease and this:


and this:


both of which work so well that:

a) they must be toxic
b) have something to do with the devil (black magic)

I try not to use these types of products in my house very often. However, after weeks of mortar, grout, caulk, and paint flying around the bathroom desperate times called for desperate measures. So, before that cute little body got in the tub, I rinsed and rinsed and scrubbed and scrubbed.

The result, along with a little preview of what is to come:


And just in case you were wondering, here is where Grayson has been taking his baths in the meantime:

Out on the Town

Well, Saturday night was quite a treat. One of our Team Dickerson JV members was in town and so the 3 of us packed up the diaper bag and went out on it! (the town, that is)

Many of you remember Michelle, who spent a blissful 3 months on varsity, and who we traded last minute for Grayson. (Sorry friend, but he is DANG cute). Despite this, we are thankful that they are still able to enjoy a great relationship.

Joining us for our big night out, (which if you are wondering what that includes: dinner at 6pm at the Cheesecake Factory, followed by a leisurely stroll around the Galleria), were our friends Dr. and Mrs. DeSalvo. (Daniel and Michelle...she's also named Michelle) They are both super-smart Aggie medical professionals whom I love to pepper with questions. During the dinner conversation when I heard Daniel would be Chief Resident in his department next year, I quickly asked if that was like Dr. Bailey (from Grey's) just to make sure we were on the same page. We were! Way to go Dr. Daniel!

This is them. They are way cute and fun and I wish that either they didn't live in the city or we didn't live in the burbs so we could see them more often.

Back to the other Michelle. After leaving DC, she is now the assistant for a certain lady in women's ministry who loves dressing to the nines and big hair. In the course of the evening, I came up with something I thought was hilariously original and brilliant. I told her maybe I should send her boss a Bump It! She looked at me and dryly explained that they have about 25 at the office already that people have sent her. Blast! Shot down.

Anyway, this is us before the trade-in:

This picture was taken at Michelle's good-bye party. That night an acquaintance of hers confessed with agitation to Michelle how horrified she was that I, the 9 months pregnant roommate, was walking around at the bar sipping on a Coke. When I heard that, I had a good mind, in my misery, to walk up to the girl and tell her she should be thankful I wasn't walking around with a MARTINI.

I kid.

A little.

This is us after the trade:

She likes those pearls. And she has great hair.

Can't wait for your next DC trip, roomie!

And Daniel- I totally dreamt Sat. night that I had diabetes. Honestly, I think about these things too much.