Thursday, April 14, 2011

In the Bafroom - The story of my house Part III

 SO SORRY ABOUT THE AWFUL BEFORE PIC! Yeah, it's a cell phone picture, But I'm glad that we at least have that. I'm sure you can't tell, but the shower, which was 50% tub surround, 50% duct tape, had built in glass sliding doors. And your knees hit the tub when you sat on the toilet. We chose to Gut, and start fresh
Yeah, That was really nice. Chunks of lint, and cigarettes and...? I don't really want to know. Came falling out of the fan vent hose. Appealing. Who's that Man of Mystery? Daniel did So much of the work, as I was Very pregnant while this was going on. But I still take some of the credit.





Tiling; The Bath/shower walls on the Left, and the floor, and tub front on the right. We used 12x12" tiles that were only $0.69 each, and cut them down (and by We, I mean Daniel ;-D) It took so long to do, but I love the high end customized look it gave for under $100.

View from the Hallway

What do you guys think? I know it's a teeny, tiny space but I still Adore the deep chocolate brown in there.


 This is my first Completed room,
It has new dry wall, new electrical, new plumbing (We still need to replace the Stack) Tiled, painted, new light switches, and fixtures. I love it.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

I kind of like this little Shit box- The Story of my House Part II

Well Guys, I'm actually starting to like this little House. Yes, We're up to our ears in Debt. Yes, We've just barely started the renovations. Yes, It's half the size I wish it were. But I'm not hating it. I'm actually quite proud of what we've done in our spare time with a small amount of money.
This is a Sort of Before picture. We were so enthused when we bought the house we forgot to take pictures before we started ripping wall paper off. That is the actual colour our kitchen was, not because It's a bad picture, it had something to do with the orange nicotine stained walls, in combination with the light fixture globe, that was stained brown, and orange from the smoke and grease build up. Don'tcha just love it. 
The Cupboards, which were wall papered, and had 8+ different paint colours layered on, 3 layers of Mac Tac, on the shelves, and cigarette burns. Were also missing knobs.

This is what my kitchen looked like for the first few months we were in the house. Yeah... It was, uh, Fun? But notice my new fridge, and stove, and the portable dishwasher on the right, A hand-me-down from my sister Michelle. Do you like my counter top accessories? doesn't everyone have drills charging in the kitchen? and to the left along the wall is where the drywall, and wood was stored. :-D
Now That's some lovely carpet on the Kitchen floor, isn't it?
We found a "clean" clean piece for comparison, What do you think? My favourite part was when the floor got wet, and your sock would turn brown if you stepped on it. Also the huge spot on the floor in front of the stove where I May, or May Not have spilled half a can of primer on the floor... Hehee.

 
 So after nearly two years of living with that kitchen floor, and of wearing slippers in our house 24/7 We just didn't know what to do. The carpet was glued directly to the linoleum underneath, The linoleum underneath which was chalk full of asbestos was glued directly to the wood underneath it. We didn't want to rip it all up, and tile the floor. We want to redo the kitchen and move everything around, cutting out walls, rearranging all. Tiling would just be a waste of money. We couldn't just glue lino on top of the carpet, on top of the linoleum, on top of the wood. We contemplated just throwing down plywood, it seemed like the best option. Then a brainstorm hit. We cut plywood into 3" strips, and nailed it to the floor. Three sheets of plywood Some left over stain and varnish, a heck of a lot of nails, and voila


Not to shabby, Hey Guys? Well I happen to love it, and It's a heck of a lot better than it was before. We chose Plywood boards with awesome Grain details. I think it's Gorg! The walls are also painted blue around the cabinets, and Grey on the other two walls.

And the Cupboards. The top ones are just open, We will get around to it one day, but it's a lot of work to sand 60 years worth of paint off of a piece of wood. What do you think? It's all just temporary, in a few years we will gut it and change it around, but for now I'm enjoying my "ghetto Hardwood", and having a kitchen table and chairs, (also a hand me down from my sis Michelle), a functioning work space, NO TOOLS on my counter.  I've found that Owning this home has changed me, A Lot! I'm so appreciative of the small things, I don't expect things to be perfect, or to have a place, or to be dust free in a straight line.

It's definitely not perfect, It's Not Ideal, But it is my Home!