This thing sucks

We have the ceiling in the downstairs powder room removed to work on the plumbing for the new bathtub.  While the space from the powder room ceiling to the attic was exposed we took the opportunity to add a new ceiling fan. This little thing moves some serious air!

 
While he was working Andy noticed that there was no outlet in the powder room.  Neither of us had noticed that we were without an outlet for almost the entire first year we lived here, but we still thought it would be a good idea to add one.  We figured just one outlet would be sufficient so we kept the light on the existing switch, added the outlet, and a new switch for the fan on a double wall plate.

I love this picture.  It looks like we cloned Andy -- too bad we don't get twice as much done.

And again we have another picture without all of the screws lined up properly.  I promise I'll get these fixed before I take any more photos.

All this for a shower curtain!

Since we've been using the upstairs hall bathroom as our one and only full bathroom we've noticed some significant problems with its function.  Just like all of our bathrooms it has no ceiling fan, it has glass sliding doors on the tub instead of a shower curtain, and some really ugly wallpaper (just my personal opinion).  Some people really prefer the glass doors to a shower curtain, but these are the old style doors with a track at the bottom and it is impossible to keep clean. 

The thought process went something like this:  Wouldn't it be nice to get rid of these doors?  Yes, but that would make the shower a little too dark.  OK, but we need a ceiling fan in here anyway, why don't we install and fan/light combo like the one Kyle Wise installed and then vent it through the roof with the new fan in the master bathroom.  Sounds simple, right?

Andy and I were having the same thoughts about the doors, so down they came.

The last day for the doors.  Ignore the red towels -- we're of the mindset that we should just use what we have, plus it's my plan to eventually get rid of that wallpaper and having towels that clash is just good motivation.

We didn't expect and certainly weren't planning on having to repair the tile, but the frame for the glass doors was secured with some crazy strong double sided tape.  At least the tiles weren't damaged and Andy was able to get them all cleaned off.

Replacing the tiles.

With the doors down Andy started to work on the ceiling fan.  Here the drywall is cut out for the new fan.

New fan/light combo and shower curtain.

It just looks like a recessed light, but it's a serious fan.  No more steaming the wallpaper off the walls from the shower.

  

There were two switches in this bathroom before we started the renovations.  One switch controlled a light in the ceiling and the other controlled the light over the vanity.  We found that we always turned them on at the same time so we didn't compromise any function to combine those two lights on the same switch and use the remaining switch to control the new fan and light in the shower.  This new switch plate replaced the previous one that was covered with wallpaper.  I consider even a reduction of a few square inches of pink and blue flowered wallpaper a success.  

Because it was a small area to repair and we eventually plan to replace the tile when we renovate this bathroom we just needed a quick, but complete fix. Since the existing tile and grout are white this adhesive and grout combo served the purpose.

Finally finished the grout.  SEE -- all of that just for a shower curtain!

One Crazy Weekend

We had a full weekend at home which is unusual and so we decided to make good use of our time.  We managed to remove the railing at the top of the steps and frame out a new wall, create a new flower bed (minus the flowers) along the driveway and in front of the new fence, and tear down the ceiling in the family room.

 Old railing.

 Floor exposed.

 Securing to the wall.

 Securing to the floor.

 The weather was so nice we decided we should finish a few outdoor projects while we still can.  One of those is this grass area between the fence and the driveway.  With the new fence in place it is a pain to mow.

 We planted some daffodil bulbs for the spring, covered the grass areas with newspaper and added mulch.  It needs more plants but that will probably wait until the spring.

 Finished!  And less grass to mow makes me very happy!

 With most of the plumbing and electrical work done in the new bathroom we need to frame out the new closets so that we can hang drywall.  But before we can finish the framing Andy needs to re-route some baseboard heat.  We already removed part of the tile and styrafoam beam ceiling to access the plumbing for the bathroom.  We thought about just removing sections and rehanging the old ceiling.  A little more thought and we finally decided to remove the entire ceiling and replace it with drywall.  We will hang the drywall but hire someone to tape and mud it so the more we can get done with the bathroom, the better.

 This is the area to the front of the house and under the new closets.

 He loves a good demo project.

 But this one led to the first renovation injury.  When he was almost finished he stepped off the ladder and right onto a nail.  STOP READING IF YOU DON'T LIKE THESE TYPES OF STORIES.  I would stop reading -- but unfortunately, I was there.  I heard the scream and ran downstairs to see what was wrong.  I found something similar to the picture above (don't worry -- I didn't just start taking pictures).  He was in the process of removing his sock and said "Come here.  I need you to tell me how much it's bleeding".  Now, if you know me, you know that I would rather clean up the mouse poop that fell out of the ceiling than look to see how much his foot was bleeding.  I was afraid I was going to have to sit down so that we didn't end up with two injured people.  Luckily for me there really wasn't too much blood.  Andy was is terrible pain as we discovered that the nail actually went entirely though the bottom of his large toe. 

He survived and didn't even need a trip to the ER despite my pleas.  And I still got to clean up mouse poop.

Master Bedroom

As you can see in the original house photos the color scheme in the master bedroom needed some help.  The master bathroom remodel and closet relocation is scheduled to be our first major renovation so we don't want to spend money on paint and flooring until the bathroom is finished.  With our old bed and quilt (brown, blue, and green paisley) the colors in the bedroom would make me start to twitch if I kept my eyes open too long.  Not to mention that the lovely pink flowered curtains cast an awful pink tint out of the bedroom windows at night.  Something had to change!  Even Andy was fed up the the curtains but the master bedroom was the only room upstairs without blinds in the windows.

We took down (and happily trashed) the curtains and hung blinds in the windows.  A few weeks later we bought the curtains and shears.  They still need hemmed but are much better than the original.

New blinds.

New curtains and shears.

Getting rid of the curtains brightened up the room which actually gets decent sunlight, but the room was still dark without a ceiling light.  Without the old curtains I though I could handle a fully lit room so we installed a ceiling fan and light.

New fan.

As part of the move we planned to get a new bed so that the old bed could move to the guest bedroom.  The new king bed arrived at the end of January and we couldn't be happier.  King beds really are huge (but wonderful)!

 New bed and bedding.  The dog was free with the deal :-).  It almost goes with the carpet....ALMOST!

And then the weekend after the bed arrived the wallpaper border had to come down.  A new steamer made short work of the border (we actually found 2 borders when we started to remove them).  

 Bye-bye border!

Good-bye ugliness. Just imagine matching curtains!! 

 The room actually looks bigger without the border.  If I lay in bed where I can't see the carpet the room doesn't seem so bad anymore.