VACA!

Woo Hoo! Today we're leaving for our vacation today! We're dropping Con-Man off with the grandparents (sorry Con-Man, maybe next time) and headed to Acapulco!



We're ready for some fun in the sun and beach time after our bathroom remodel. And it will help us mentally prepare ourselves for the upcoming move!

But never fear- I've got a few posts lined up for the week so you wont miss me to much. ;)

Have a great week everyone!

Bathroom Reno Complete!

Finally! After 2 years of living with this lovely yellow and brown flowered bathroom we finally have a new bathroom. If you don't remember let me refresh your memory of the beauty we used to have.

Not only was the decor bad 70's the tile was cracking in some places and the shower was leaking. So it was time for a change. Overall the reno took 5 days and only cost $1000 for materials and labor. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 here.

After those 5 days this is what we have now:

After everything was demo's we installed gypsum board on the walls instead of tile and Hardi Board for the shower surround instead of plaster.

We had our tile guy install 3x6 subway tile. This took 1.5 days for him to install with all the cutting involved. He said it would have been quicker and cheaper to install larger sized tile but I wanted the subway tile to go with the older style of the house.

To save money we grouted the tile ourselves. This wasn't hard to do but was a little time consuming. I just followed the directions on the box on how to mix and trowel it on. And to save an extra step I poured stain blocker in the grout as I mixed it so I wouldn't have to go back later and apply it.

Also to save cost we kept the existing penny tile floor. So after the tile walls were removed there was a gap between the new gypsum board walls and the old floor. I choose to install baseboards myself to cover up the gaps. It was the first time I had done it and I was praying I wouldn't mess it up to bad. Overall it wasn't that hard- I watched a few internet videos on installing crown molding and base boards and I was ready to go.

I just wish I had a mitre saw instead of just a mitre box!

Side Note: Liquid Nails (Which I used to adhere the baseboard and molding, is really hard to get off your nails!)

After all that it was time for paint! Instead of renting a machine that would blow texture on the wall I opted for a pour in texture. You just add it to the paint and roll it on as your painting. For me it works well enough since our bathroom is small but I don't think I'd want it for my whole house. The wall really does feel like sand it it made the paint thick and harder to roll on. But for a few dollars it was worth it for this project!

I had some hardware on hand that I had bought when the West Elm by our house for 60% off was going out of business. I thought I'd use it in our new home but since we're renting now I used it for the new bathroom here.

Overall I think the remodel was a success and I wish we had done it sooner!

What do you think? Major improvement or what?!

Linking here

Gitt'r Done!

Hello all! I was hoping to come to you tonight with a finished bathroom to show off- all sparkly and clean and new. But alas- there is still more to be done. I had set a limit on how much I wanted to spend on the remodel and we reached that limit on Saturday. So it was time to take on the finishing touches myself. Sunday I spent part of the day grouting tile and painting.

And last night as I sat on the floor of my bedroom trying to cut baseboards with a mitre box instead of a mitre saw (I really want one of those!! So Bad!) I wondered if it would have been worth paying the extra money to have these things done so I wouldn't have to be up past my bedtime covered in saw dust.  

But just as I was starting to despair the inside corner that I had cut for the baseboards actually fit together; my measurements were in fact accurate! I swell of pride and accomplishment was such a good feeling that I remembered why I decided to take on the rest myself. I love working on things with my hands and seeing a final result. I'll be able to say that I worked on a part of this bathroom no matter how small.

So with those thoughts in mind I leave you with a short post with the promise of a finished bathroom to be seen soon; to go and finish cutting the crown molding. Wish my luck, I'm going to need it!

Some Progress

Lately all I've been focusing on is our bathroom reno. It's in full swing and nearing completion, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel (YAY!) But even though I've been knee deep in construction dust doesn't mean I've been neglecting another project I started a while back: My Coffee Tables!


I'll warn you this isn't the most exciting post ever but it was a neccessary step in getting these guys finished.


I needed to grind down the slag that was created when I welded the steel rods together the the ends would be smooth and finished.

I thought the grinding bit on my Dremel Tool would work for this job but it was taking for ever! I needed to bring out the big guns. Luckliy my neighbor had a ginder- that worked fabulously!

Once I got all the corners smoothed out it was time for painting. I used Rustoleum Spray Paint specially made to prevent rust. On the other tables I made I didn't use this type of paint and rust will seep out of the bottom exposed edges.

And Tu-Dah! Here are the tables looking fabulous. All they need now is a wood top and they are finished!

Oh and if your wondering how to keep a 2 year old busy while your grinding and spray painting a pool works wonders!

Oh and having a dog join in doesn't hurt either....

Oh ya, and I changed up my blog design. What do you think? I thought since we're moving to a new place it was time for a new blog header. My Do It Yourself sassy Pin Up Girl Header was fun but it was time for her to retire. She might pop up again- you never know. 

And- Yay it's the weekend!!!!

Ugly Bath Reno Pt 2

Our bathroom remodel is in full swing! It's a little inconvenient having dust all over our bedroom but it's going to be so worth it in the end. I think it looks better already! In case you don't remember what we started with here's a gentle reminder:

First we ripped everything down to the studs. We found that the leak had seeped into the walls which was causing the cracking tile; gross.

We also found some things that are worrisome. It looks like whoever did this reno back in the day cut some corners along the way.

The image above shows where the shelf was. There should be a piece of wood running across the top to support the studs and ceiling above. There's not...

When I saw that I felt like that guy on HGTV's Income Property when he finds something not to code and says- "We have to stop work right now!" Anyway we fixed it and it's all good now.

Next was gypsum board and Hardi Board. We had gyp laid along the walls and the water proof Hardi Board was laid in the shower. No more plaster and wire walls in this bathroom!

To save money and time we kept the existing floor. It's in good shape and was laid in concrete- so I didn't even want to try ripping it out. Plus the penny tile is reminescent of the older style of the house.

My original plan was to save the penny tile accent band to match the floor. We took it out very carefully but it doesn't seem that we'll be able adhere it back on the wall in sections like we wanted. 

If we want to use the tile again we'd have to take it all apart and put it back piece by piece. I'm not down with that- so we scrapped the accent band. I didn't see anything that matched the floor well enough to use.

We're laying the tile tomorrow and our bathroom should be back in business soon!!!

Bathroom Reno Pt 1

So we decided to bite the bullet and renovate the "Master Bathroom". Our time here in San Antonio is getting short, and though we've had pretty good traffic through the house we haven't had any offers that we're happy with. Some of the main comments that we kept getting were about the bathroom and that it would be too much work for most people. So we've found a renter and will try to put our house on the market next year with a new bathroom and hopefully a better market.

It was one of my main concerns about selling the house and I asked our realtor if he thought we should just go for it and fix it up but he said he didn't think it would be that big of an issue. But I feel it has been. Not only is the bathroom ugly 70's, the leak has gotten worse and the tile is cracking in some places. Ugh...

So we're trying to go as inexpensive as possible and make the biggest impact. It's not going to be the bathroom I had dreamed of but it's going to look good. I want something timeless and classic- Subway tile with an accent band. The white tile will make the space feel larger and make it feel fresh and new. It won't cost to much to rip out the tile and replace with new but it will look a lot better.

Source

Source

I got a wild hair in me last night and thought I'd save some money and do the demo myself. I've never ripped out tile before, how hard can it be right? 

Well, it was a little harder than I thought and after chopping away with not much progress... I ran into this:

What is that? I thought tile was supposed be be lain on gypsum board or Durock. The gray stuff was everywhere.

I budgeted to have someone come and lay the new tile and fix the leak. He had told me he wanted to try and lay the tile over the existing backing to keep costs down. So when I saw that gray stuff I didn't think either of us were expecting it. So I held off so he could come and look at it.

Turns out it's plaster- my tile guy said they used to do that "back in the day" and it's probably why the shower hasn't held up that well over time. He ripped out the rest of the tile for us down to the studs. He did a much better job than I probably would have done but at least I tried. 

Hope to have some more progress shots coming up soon! 

P.S.- Word to the wise, don't let your 2 year old see you banging on the wall with the hammer. They may get the wrong idea and you may find them later on trying it on their own!

See Part 2 Here~

Linking here!

Na Na Na Na- Hey Hey Hey- Goodbye!

We're starting demo on our bad 70's bathroom tomorrow. It's long overdue and I'm glad it's going to go. It's not the dream reno I had envisioned but it's going to look 100x better.

I'll elaborate more later- wish us luck! We're going to need it!

A Sad Departure

No we haven't moved to the big OK yet, that's not for another month. What's so sad is that I sold my Mid- Century Lounge Chairs this week. 

(Moment of Silence Please)

I have been torn for a while about what to do with them. They were on my list of what to keep and what to give away with the pending move. It was a hard decision and I made it kind of spur of the moment. I listed them on Craigslist in the morning and by the afternoon they were gone.

I really enjoyed lounging in them after work, or reading a book or magazine at night. Good times. I even felt kind of Mad Men-ish sipping wine or some other adult beverage while sitting in one of my chairs. 

What finally did it in for me was that I've heard from people living in Altus now that the main thing they do is go to each other's houses for dinner and movies (since there is nothing else to do there....). So I want to make sure I have a comfortable living room that people want to hang out in. The lounge chairs are comfy enough but don't have a head rest or upholstered arms. So I'm seeking out some alternatives.

What also helped sway me was that I only bought the pair for $35 and was able to sell them for a lot more than that. A lot a lot. 

I'm glad they went to a good home, the girl who bought them was super excited to find a pair in such good condition. All good things must come to and end- and now I have an excuse to furniture shop again!

The hunt is on!

Have you ever had to part with a piece of furniture near and dear to your heart?