My friend Abraham and I spent the evening at Home Depot working with the nice folks in orange putting together an order for trim and doors. They didn’t have everything we needed, but after loading up over 1,000 linear feet of trim, we were okay with that. We were working of list furnished by Chris that included over 1,500 linear feet of trim in 3 sizes, 3 entry doors, 7 interior doors, and 7 bi-fold doors.
I also decided to go with the “Santa Fe” style doors that I’ve seen in all the recent parade of homes rather than the new standard 6 panel doors. They were about $5 a more a door, but I think will give it a more modern appearance and not date as quickly. We also picked up the front door as well - I love the glass, but don’t know how I feel about the bottom portion of the door. I think it will look better painted.
Front door (left), inside doors (right)
Close-up of front door glass
The stacks of trim (8 and 10 foot lengths)
We’ve got to pick up 6 more doors (3 bi-fold and 3 entry) when they come in. The one for the small pantry closet in the hall was a “special order”. We also need some more of the large trim to do the crown molding I’m excited to try.
Chris wrapped up the wood floors tonight, and they look great! Here’s a living room shot and a hallway shot (my camera didn’t do so well, but you get the picture… or should I say “pictures”)
The cabinets were installed on Thursday and Friday of last week. Now they need countertops and hardware. Check out the results:
Kitchen Cabinets:
Before and Now:
Hall Bathroom Vanity:
Master Bathroom Vanity: (A bit dusty!)
It’s all the rage these days in building and remodeling - being “green”. I’ve tried to be as green as possible in my remodel by finding homes for many of the stuff that would otherwise be thrown away. My mom just used some of the fireplace stones to make a nice path to her birdbath (that’s what made me think about writing this post)
I’ve listed most of the stuff I’ve gotten rid of on KSL.com classifieds, though I know many people use Craigslist as well. So far I’ve found homes for:
- Cabinets and Vanities
- Closet Doors and Entry Doors
- Hearthstone and Mantle
- Fridge and Stove
- Extra Outdoor Curbing
Still trying to find a home for my funky orange carpet (I’m hoping someone will take it… it’s so cool) and the barnwood. It’s nice to find people so happy to take this stuff that no longer works for the house.
So you thought you liked the carpet that was in the bathroom before? (Refer to lovely orange shag in the bottom of this “before” photo.
Before:
Check it out now!
After (well, Now):
Yeah, it’s THAT kind of carpet. Awesome hu?
Tile work has continued in the master bathroom as well:
Before:
After (well, Now):
Also, wood floors have begun to go down in anticipation for tomorrow’s cabinet installation.
I picked up the wood earlier this week and loaded it into the small bedroom. It has to get use to the space before it’s installed. Does it look like 600 pounds of oak? (It sure felt like it when we moved it in) Installation starts on Wednesday in preparation for cabinets on Friday.
The two bathrooms upstairs began getting tiled this week. The master bath, since it has a window is getting darker travertine, and the hall bath is getting lighter travertine. Both are getting an accent color of the other tile.
Here’s the beginnings of the master bath’s tile: (Notice the cool brick accent, that will be repeated in large tiles on the bathroom floor)
Master Bathroom
Each bathroom will have a niche to put shampoos, soaps, etc. Craig - the tile guy - recommended we put a slight lip in the bottom for larger bottles. (It’s great when contractors give you excellent recommendations!)
Here’s the progress of the hall-bathroom, which I’ll blog about more this week when it’s done. (but you’ll see it has a niche as well.)
Hall Bathroom
So I made a decision to re-texture the entire house and to replace the somewhat globby orange peel texture with a more modern “old world” texture look. It was quite the project and left me, my friends, and my handyman’s arms feeling quite “weak”. But the result is awesome! (Many buckets of mud and gallons of paint later)
Here’s the ceiling texture:
Here’s the new wall texture:
Here’s a couple shots of the results of the painted walls (it will look much more dramatic when all the trim is up). The color on the walls is a nice taupe color and the trim is an off-white (the paint chip literally said “off white). It’s a big improvement from the previous wall color which we call “barbie skin beige”.
Remember the “before” on the above shot? (Just making sure…)
Do you see the similarity to barbie skin? Ewwwwe!
In preparation for the painting this week, I tore out the brown carpeting on the stairway and discovered another 1970’s gem. What house would not be complete without a few accents of olive? I’m sure the original appliances had that olive glow as well… it would have looked so hip with the fake marble counters, and dark wood cabinetry. Enjoy!
Once the upstairs is nearly done, I’m going to get started on the basement. I’ve been working on getting it gutted with the help of some friends. It’s looking very much like a truly unfinished basement at this point. These photos aren’t that interesting, but when we see the “after”s, I’ll be glad I took them.
Here’s a couple “before and now” shots to help you see where we’ve come.
Before and Now
Before and Now
Before and Now
Before and Now
