too long

you know you've been renovating too long when:

• your baby uses floor samples as building blocks
• your baby prefers to push around paint rollers instead of toy cars
• you perceive all the white dust as a great way to practice letter formation with your preschooler
• your kids express home improvement store preferences
• instead of grabbing a piece of paper for a phone message, you just write directly on the wall

what are your "renovating too long moments?"

a look back -part one

Since we started our family room renovation before I started blogging, I realized that I never revealed all our slow-learn-as-we-go-along-the-way progress.

We started here. . .this is the listing photo.

The first mini project was taking out the coat closet, and gaining access to our garage. Handyman just installed a door and hung the same existing brown clam shell trim.

At some point over the summer we painted the room. But by the end of the summer, Handyman was tired of my constant complaining encouragement and relented, and demo began.

The first step was to remove this space hogging gas stove.

  

With the stove gone, the room felt instantly larger.

Next, it was time for the brick hearth and wall to go.

The brick was laid on top of the wood paneling.

Everyone wanted to get in on the demolition action.

Within minutes the brick was down.

And we were left with a mess. Due to their weight and size, I knew the best way to offset our disposal costs would be to give away the bricks. I immediately hopped on the computer and posted an ad on Craig's List. By that evening, a thrifty-patio-laying couple contacted me, and hauled away all the whole bricks, leaving only a handful of partials.

Next, we started removing the wood paneling.

With the wood paneling removed, we could see the condition of the insulation. It was old and needed replacing, and explained why the room was constantly cold in the winter. It wasn't a lack of heat as we first suspected, but precious heat was escaping. (This room has two heating vents, which we later worked around when installing the baseboard trim.) The room was losing heat. This reassured us that even without the gas stove, we would be warm enough in the colder months. After living in it a complete winter, we happily discovered we were perfectly cozy, warm, and best of all draft-free.

My only regret of ditching the gas stove is losing a non-electric heat source when we get these gnarly Nor-Easter storms here -which seem to occur a few times a year.

Handyman took out all the old fiberglass insulation and replaced it with new insulation. He filled in all the gaps around the window and the front door. (He had already sealed all the gaps to the garage door when we took out the closet. He used the expanding yellow spray foam.)

Although we didn't plan on replacing the insulation, it came with a couple of unexpected benefits. The first was the smell. My house no longer had someone else's smell. The old insulation had accumulated a few decades worth of various odors.

Another benefit of removing insulation, was the opportunity to rewire the electrical in the room. We had light switches everywhere. In this room we had

• the outdoor porches lights
• the pool lights
• the backyard outlets
• the patio lights

 I imagine this was a result of the various additions to the home, but we figured since we had the walls open to the studs, it was a great opportunity to improve it.

However, Handyman did not like crawling around the in the leftover rodent droppings. And I was happy he assured me they were old droppings and not fresh. Phew. (We don't need any extra occupants hanging out in our attic.)

We didn't want to live with it like this, so re-building was imminent.

Next, I'll show you how we went about rebuilding the room.

our family renovation

Did you ever read Laura Joffe Numeroff's sweet story If You Give A Mouse A Cookie?

It's the full circle tale of an innocently cute mouse's simple request that evolves into increasingly complicated requests and their ensuing messy consequences, eventually tiring the generous giver to utter exhaustion.

I {might} have been a mouse.
And I {might} have wanted a cookie.
And we did make a mess.

I blame it on my babysitter really. She was unavailable that fateful Friday night, leaving us bored and wondering what to do. So, we did what any listless couple does, we demolished a room.

The initial mess ensued not long after we painted the fake wood paneling. Truthfully, we didn't even finish the job. . .

All I really wanted to do was:

• paint the fake wood paneling
• remove the space-eating gas stove
• tear down the brick hearth

But once the brick was down we realized we might as well:

• remove the fake wood paneling
• replace the old and yucky insulation
• spray foam the window joints
• rewire, relocate, and consolidate the electrical
• install overhead lighting
• replace the door
• remove the acoustic ceiling tiles
• update the trim

And that's how we got from wanting to paint our family room to renovating the entire space.

You can read more about our family room renovation here, here, here, and here.

Please tell me I'm not the only DIY mouse out there?

front steps

This is the story of our front steps . . .

When we moved into our home, our steps looked like this. . .

functional, and intact. The home inspection didn't reveal anything amiss and we didn't notice anything either.

That winter, like almost everyone else, we were buried in snow. At least 5 feet here.

When the snow finally receded in the spring, we noticed the mortar between the bricks was literally crumbling underfoot. Even the gentlest toe nudge crumbled the concrete into dust.

For safety reasons, this clearly wasn't a project that could wait. We step up some temporary cinder block stairs while we drew up plans, priced supplies and materials, and Handyman arranged some time off work for our unexpected DIY spring project.

After a long weekend of concrete mixing and brick laying we had our new steps. . .

I spotted these planters sitting outside a cute shop in Napa Valley last fall.

Anyone know where I can purchase a similiar pair?

I don't even want to think about how much this would have cost if we hadn't done it ourselves. . .

Of course, I left the dirty & heavy work to Handyman and his Dad. I relegated myself to lunch provider, Home Depot runner for all the Quickcrete, and kid entertainer to keep the curious little one and his fingers out of the way. 

We still need to seal the steps and add handrails, but other than that, there are complete. One project down, 99+ to go. . .

Did last winter bring any surprise spring projects your way?

Linked up to SerenityNow, BNOTP, Debbie Doos, Making the World Cuter, LinesAcrossMyFace, NifyThrifty, CRAFT, HomemakerOnADime, MadeByYou, SingingThreeLittleBirds, SweetAnneDesigns, S3, HowtoNestforLess, NotJustaHousewife, CoastalCharm, Carolyn'sHomework, SugarBeeCrafts, ClaimingOurSpace, MyUncommonSliceofSuburbia, aBowlFullofLemons, CozyHomeScenes, theDelectableHome, BoogieboardCottage, theMommyClub, GingerSnaps, SavvySouthernStyle, NewlywedsOnaBudget, DIYByDesign, UncommonDesign, Michelle'sTastyCreations, LiveLaughRowe, ShabbyCreekCottage, FirefliesandJellbeans, HouseofHepworths, the36thAve, LovingThisCrazyLife, FindingFabulous, AtthePicketFence, TheShabbyNext, ALittleKnickKnack, 30HandmadeDays, CheeriosAndLattes, It'sOverflowing, MopItUp, ClassyClutter, SundayRoundUp, DIYShowoff, HomeStories, MakingLemonade, HomeStoriesAtoZ

basement inspiration

We have an unfinished basement. We'd like to have a finished basement. So we can build something fabulous like this. . .

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Or this. . .

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Or this. . .

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But we'll probably endup with something more like this (minus the rocking chair). . .

traditional staircase design by new york architect SchappacherWhite Ltd.

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since Handyman is pretty firm on having the entertainment technology housed in a closet under the steps. I can just add little frames to the steps in the above photo and we both win.

But we've needed to take a number of baby steps before we can start framing and finishing the space.

One of the steps we've taken is to rid the space of the extra stuff that we don't want to frame around, like extraneous gas pipes and plumbing lines. Our space is pretty small, so we want to take advantage of all it.

After a little snaffu with the garbage disposal and a yucky incident of the plumbing it feeds into "throwing up," we decided it was time to re-plumb our main stack. It took less than day, which is good, because it's usually not fun to go without water much longer than that, especially on the day you were scheduled to have your little one's 1st birthday party. (Needless to say, we rescheduled that one.)

And now we have all new nice and modern plumbing. We also capped and removed an old stack that ran to a dry well in the backyard. Now it's all consolidated into one nice little space that we can frame around without creating extra an bulkhead, bump out, or soffits.

A bunch of the old removed plumbing. And yes, the whole rest my basement is the same painted green color.

And sadly, this box is still patiently sitting in my garage awaiting its new home in scrap metal heaven, because this is not the kind of stuff you can just dump in your garbage can for the next trash day.

You can also see how old and corroded it was getting inside.

Here's a photo of the where the old stack was, all capped. Now it can hide away behind the drywall.

Pretty boring stuff*, but it makes me happy. And it's one baby step closer to customizing our little yellow cape.


*If you don't find it boring, there are tons of resources out there. Bret picked up a plumbing how-to book at the home improvement store, but there are also lots of online resources out there, and the local libraries often carry a large selection of books for DIYers.

our first change to an old house

Our very first priority when moving into our current home was to gain interior garage access. We have an attached garage right off our family room. At some point, the previous owners closed it off and converted it into a coat closet.

It was a decent size closet, quite large actually, but we wanted the ability to come and go from our garage more than the storage. (You can read here how we compensated for that storage loss.)

We never used that closet for two reasons. First, we knew wanted to tackle that project pronto. Second, it was frigid inside! I think I opened that brown bi-fold door only once because I was instantly hit with a blast of cold air. (Remember we moved in at the end of January.) It was not insulated well.

Within a month we demoed the closet, installed a new door, and insulated the whole thing. It was also the time we bought our first bagster -because all that old drywall and junk has to go somewhere, and that's not the kind of stuff you can re-purpose.

Our existing opening wasn't exactly square and required a fair amount of shimming.

We had these existing steps. We actually noticed them the first time we viewed the house, because we are always curious about steps that seem to go no where.

You can see in the above photo (besides my messy garage), the scarring where the existing closet used to be. And that's the light fixture they had in there.

We still need to trim it out on the garage side, but that's pretty low on the list. My husband is just pretty happy that it is level, plumb, and not the least bit drafty.

By doing it ourselves, we saved at least $100. (I can't remember what the two home improvement stores charge, but I think they are a comparable flat fee.) It's a straightforward, get-it-done-in-an-evening-after work type of job.
And we are all pretty happy that we can come and go through the garage, like a modern family (which is one of my favorite shows.) And now, we really can come in and out of the closet.

Any weird renovations you've undone at your house?

Anyone else keep their garbage and recycling cans right by the door because they are too lazy to walk across the garage?

If you want more information on how to do this yourself, check out this video from This Old House. They categorize this project as moderate difficulty and completed within 2-4 hours.

Also, Lowes has an article as well.

marathon monday

It's Patriot's Day here in New England. And probably the best weekend of the year! If you have ever thought of visiting Boston, this is the weekend to do it.

image source

You can check out the schedule of events here.

And if you are in the area, you absolutely have to go watch the marathon. It is truly inspiring. In the words of my friend Deidre,

"This is an awesome event--even if you have never run a mile in your life. I would encourage those who will only be in New England for a short time to be sure NOT to miss this."

I mean, c'mon. Check out this guy! If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is!

And speaking writing of marathons, my family room renovation is a marathon.

Have you ever attended the Boston Marathon?
Any marathon renovations going on at your place?

Linked fav photo

my pink bathroom -part 2

Remember my pink bathroom that literally fell apart two days before Christmas that I posted about here?

We were suddenly in a hurry to make it functional again. We could have just bought a single piece insert from the home improvement store, but the design girl in me just couldn't do it. Our overarching goal is to honor the architecture of our little yellow cape and thus preserve the original charm that we fell in love with at first sight viewing.

Enter Pinterest. Months before, I had casually started collecting images of ideas to serve as a jumping off point for when we got around to redoing the bathroom. I thought I would have months to meander my way into deciding how to renovate our little and only full bath. Now I had a matter of hours.

Images from here, here, and here (all via Pinterest).


(I don't know if other couples share this frustration challenge, but my husband and I communicate a whole lot better when we can both look at the same image and discuss the features.

What I love about each bathroom is the tile! Each bathroom looks like a peek into a charming little country cottage.

It was becoming increasingly clear, I love white subway tile.

What features are you drawn to over and over again?

Stay tuned for the shower reveal!

my pink bathroom -part 1

My house has {had} a pink bathroom. A really pink bathroom - a pink tub, pink square tile tub surround, a pink marbled Formica vanity, and pink tile two thirds up each wall, met by some very 1980's pastel-marbley-strippy wall paper.

Despite the pinkness, it was functional and wasn't too high on the reno list. That is, until two days before Christmas, and my husband went to just spruce it up a bit in preparation for his parent's arrival for the holiday.

His original intentions were to just re-grout the tub surround. An easy-do-after-work-kind of task. That is until the tile started falling off the wall.

Oops.

The wall behind the tile was wet and just couldn't take the weight of the tile any longer.

So, it needed to go.

And go it went. Along with the wet drywall behind it. {Below are the only pictures I took of the evening with my iPhone.}

after we took the tile down

after we took the drywall out

While we had the walls open, we rewired and clean up the the electrical. (That little blue box is the electrical box for an outlet in a bedroom closet on the other side of the wall.)

Mind you, this was all after the kids were down for bed and I was trying to finish all of the Christmas /house guest preparations.

And this is the only shower in the house.

I quickly called my in-laws and let them know about the situation. Not strangers to DIY renovations, they just said, they would work on with us while visiting.

Sometime around 3am we decided to we were tired enough to quit for the night. By that point Bret had rewired everything, and gotten up all the backboard. He even took a shower that night.

Thanks goodness for a guy who never gets flustered and can fix just about anything!

Other post you might like:
Part 2-Pinterest to the rescue
Part 3 Partial reveal

the bible

We recently picked up this book at the home improvement store. It has been invaluable as we fix, update, and renovate our home. Like many older homes, our house passed the home inspection, but it is not up to code. So, we like to reference this as we go along updating areas such as our dated plumbing and electrical. Check it out.

By the way, amazon.com has it for about 30% off shelf price.

bagster

The bagster! the best invention for home DIYers with limited disposal options.

1. Just pick up a bag at your local home improvement store.
2. Fill it with anything you can't re-use, recycle, or donate.
3. Call the number on the packaging for a pick-up. Waste Management comes to your home and hauls it away for a reasonable fee.

We have purchased them from both Lowes and HomeDepot.

Its the perfect solution for the mid-size renovation projects, without having a dumpter parked in your yard!

We have used a few of these already. Our closet demolition,posted here, occupied most of the first one. Then we throw a whole bunch of remnants, posted here, in as well.

Plus, our kids have fun watching Handyman drag the bag down the driveway with his car.

Anyone else's husband's routinely treat their Audi like a pick-up truck?

faux brick flooring

I've got it! along with two different floor coverings in my family room. I've got gray rectangle tile by my side door, which then gives way to an old blue and gray square design Berber carpet. The real treat was discovering the faux brick vinyl covering after we removed the red brick wall and hearth. Clearly, we need some new flooring in this room.

The adjoining kitchen has a similar blue rectangle tile. The remainder of the house has oak hardwoods. Our family room is the most used room in the house, so the flooring needs to be durable and easily to clean. Right now, I'm leaning toward cork. From what I understand, it is easy to install and can live up to my hard-wearing family.

Anybody have cork? Do you love it? Let me know.