Mini makeover

I know a lot of you want to see my bathroom progress however I've decided that I want the hubby to be the first one to see it coming together. I will post Saturday afternoon after he gets home and sees it for himself.

So to tide you over I'm going to show you my mini makeover of the week. When we moved in to our house was in immaculate condition just not our style. One very obvious showing of that was the house numbers by our front door. I don't think I even need to explain just take a look:

So while I was looking at drawer hardware for the bathroom I spotted a new cost effective option for replacing it. I picked out the plaque and the numbers stuck them together and here you go:

It makes me smile every time I pull up to the house.

Just for fun here are the drawers out in the garage all primed and ready to be painted. I'm showing you this so you can see how beautiful it was outside this weekend and that all the snow is gone!

Lessons from the bathroom.

Yes you read that right.

My parents came up this weekend to help with the bathroom re-construction. But first we had to do more destruction. This is what I've learned in the bathroom this weekend.

Do it right the first time. There was absolutely nothing wrong with our bathroom structurally except the fact it was pink! But the previous owners (who built the house) did everything at the best it could be done in the early 60's and it has held up. But it did use a lot of water. However this did make it a pain to remove everything (there is 2" of cement locking in the tile and bathtub.) It was solid and if not for the color would not have needed anything done. Look at that foil lined insulation that was the best of the best back then. If you look on the floor to the left you can just see where I had to cut out 2" of concrete to get the tub out.

Ask for help when you need it. Hubby and I are pretty smart and fairly handy but there is no way the two of us could have gotten this tub surround in without my Dad. We didn't have the tools or the knowledge. Thanks Dad. Not only was he helpful but Mom kept the house running, made meals did dishes, and folded/washed laundry. It was amazingly helpful. Oh did I mention she did several runs to home improvement stores....

The right tools make the job sooo much easier. I learned how to pre-fill nail holes for my dad and my first putty knife was bent up and made it impossible, once I got a new one I looked like a pro....maybe.


Teamwork makes everything easier. Enough said.

Take time to have some fun. I don't look great but this moment felt so good! Hubby left yesterday for a two week business trip and I think this pic/memory will help me make it through.
There you have it that is what I have learned. Now for some sleep.

Bathroom distruction!

Day 1 and 2 you saw pictures of before it was mostly removing the accessories (soap dish, towel bars, TP holder and the like) it was ridiculous when I finally got them out some had 4-6 inches of plaster on the back of them...yikes.

Here are the pictures from Day 3 and 4 I got a lot done this weekend!

This is where the toilet used to be, my friend Kristin and I were doing such a good job of removing the base tile we decided to remove the toilet. I have to admit this is what I was most proud of that day. It's not hard to do but neither of us had done it before so we both felt kind cool when it was done.

You can also see that all of the tile and drywall behind and to the side is gone those were the first wall that lost the pink tile, another proud moment.

Kristin and I removed most of the tile (just one row left behind the sink) on day 3 and that was amazing.)My goal for day 4 was wall paper and the counter top/sink. Wall paper came down no problem.

The sink/counter was another story, I removed the tile behind the counter and cut the caulking around the sink and removed the water and drain pipes, no problem. Then I started chipping away at the tile, can you say over kill? 1 inch ply-wood metal mesh, concrete and then the mortar and tile...yikes. I was so discourage I stopped

Then at 9:20 at night when I was showing the hubby what I had gotten accomplished that day we decided to try and get the sink out. With my husband and a pry bar it came out no problem. So then we tackled the counter top it came out in one piece and we got both out in less than 20 min. What a great end to the night!

So this is what it locks like now I have a few scraps of wall paper to get down some sanding and cleaning up of edges. The last big project is removing the floor if its anything like the counter top its going to be a bear.

So this is where we are at. Just ignore the hole it will be covered by the new shower wall. I think I will be ready when my dad comes on friday!

The wonder of craigslist and other things...

So I think by know you all now my favorite color is not pink, and that is the main reason I don't like my bathroom. However you never know who out in the crazy world is in love with pink. So just in case I posted my tile, tub, toilet, sink and such on craigslist last night before bed. Low and behold I had 5 e-mails about it when I woke up this morning! The tub, sink, and accessories have all been claimed! I'm just left (so far) with a toilet and tile! Plus the guy who is going to help me get the tub out is a metal recycler! And the Chick who wants the accessories is using them to re-finish her bathroom retro style. I'll ask her if I can post pics. Its pretty cute and much better than my all pink bathroom! I'm loving that these things will get reused or recycled instead of put in the land field.

So on to the 'other things' I was referring to. About two weeks ago I went to a great BBQ place with some friends and broke out the bamboo travel silverware for the first time in 'public.' The response was funny, a lot of people just asked why, a few thought it was cool and I was proud. It was funny. So far none of my friends thought I was 'crazy' green (I'm not but I'm working on it) but now they are starting to wonder, and I like it.

Random thought number 2, I have an interesting mind. I'm one of those people that if I have a plan in mind and it has to change (specifically regarding schedule) it really throws me off. So the other day my hubby found out he had to go on a last min business trip that will last between 2-4 weeks. Once I got over the initial shock I was cool with it and thought he was going to be leaving today. Not so now it may not be till this Friday or next Friday. You would think this would be good news but I'm kinda twisted up about it. I was ready for him to leave so that I could be ready for him to come back now its just putting off the inevitable. Grr.

Ok last random thought, I forgot my water bottle. I didn't want to go buy a plastic one but then a friend at work had a good idea. Go buy one and then keep it in the office empty for when I forget my bottle the next time I can just use it again. Thanks Hil! I know using the plastic ones over and over isn't advised but it won't be often and probably just in till I get a cheaper back up here. I don't want to leave one of my $20.00 Sigg bottles in the office.

Ohh and check out my SIL's blog http://www.theiheartblog.com/

New Main Room!

So Out living room was WHITE I mean ALL WHITE with old brown carpet. A month or so ago we painted the 3 living room walls red, 4.5 coats of paint later I was sick of painting and decided to put off the other walls for a while.

After 5 hours of taping Friday night Ryan and I had the main room ready for my friend Sarah and I to paint the next day. The room looked crazy with its white walls and blue tape. One of our friends even commented saying " I think I liked it better the old way" then his wife informed him that it was tape, lol.

*Hint for a crisp line wile painting use a putty knife to push down the tape.*

Then Saturday my friend Sarah came over and we painted for 3 1/2 hours and pretty much got the main room done. Then we had fun at a friends house making some meals for our freezer, and finally we went to a bar and played bingo (Don't knock it till you try it it was great!)

Sunday I spend from 12-6 taping and painting the hallway and entry as well as touching up the rest of the living/dinning room !

We almost have all the tape down and by this weekend the room should be back together with all of our pictures hung!

Plans for the house (and the green things I hope to do)

So here are some of the upcoming plans for the house:



We want a rug for the TV room so the couch doesn't slide around anymore. I'm hoping to craigslist it and would love to find a sports themed one (without being too corny) since that is the theme we are going for (Wild, Twins, Vikes and Gophers.)





I'm going to redo the bar, instead of starting from scratch we are going to rip off the carpet and recover it and then we are going to cover the top of the bar with sports memorabilia. Speaking of which if you have any you would like to give me let me know!




The pink bathroom is going away!!! We are hoping to redo the cabinets instead of replace but all the tile will have to go. We are hoping to get the 'new' tile from the Re Store. Those are the immediate plans more to come.