Condo Remodel

During Mom and Dad's month long visit, we decided to tackle some projects. We spent countless hours in home depot, picking out shelves, base boards, door knobs, caulk, stain, cupboards, screen doors, sinks, faucets, towel racks, tools, vanities. If they had it, by golly we looked at it - at least twice. We got to the point at the end of the 2 and a half week project, that we knew Home Depot merchandise and stock, better than their own employees. We went through 3 check-out nightmares, but made lasting friendships in the meantime. Everyone in the store knew who we were, what we bought/ordered, and continually wanted progress reports as we walked through the store. I mentioned we gained some friends from the deal, and we really did. Dad scored a phone number from one of the floor sales associates, which turned out to be a wonderful gentlemen. He offered any tools we needed from his own home, and also his own time after Mom and Dad left to tackle some unfinished projects.

 

So these pictures are all kind of mixed up, there is no way to really keep it all organized, but I will try and help keep everything straight. We had so many projects going at once, it was hard to keep our own tasks in order! But somehow, with Mom and Dad's talents and assurance, we got it all done!

 

 

Dad installed this door from our kitchen, into our half bath/laundry room. Before, it was a black sheet covering the doorway. The condo, a few years back, was a rental property. When one of the tenants moved out, the door was completely gone. . . and Brad hadn't gotten around to getting a new one and installing it. So with Dad and Mom here to assit, it was perfect timing for a door! 

 

Here is the laundrhy room. Notice the new sink on the dryer - haha little to now workspace!  The shelf you see was our original set-up. As you can see, nothing is organized or hidden. It drove me nuts. Plus, we had run out of room, and we had lots of wedding gifts that would need to be put somewhere! 

 

I originally wanted to get the new cabinet staining product by rust-o-leum. Its a solution to many outdated cabinents. Basically, there is no sanding involved! I thought that sounded like a great idea. In reading the demographics of the process, Brad and I decided that it wasn't time to tackle that project, because it would be a big project, with layer upon layer and drying time and what not. We agreed that we would wait on that...Then, mom happened to be talking to one of the sales associates, who recommended WATCO stain - which was about $7 to Rust-O-Leums $60. We got some sponges, and gloves and thought, "Well, might as well give it a try. Our cupboards arent actually in bad shape, they needed to be cleaned and restained! When finished, the looked brand new! I couldn't believe my eyes. We ended up buying a few more cans of WATCO to touch up all our door frames, wooden doors, and floorboards. I now swear by the WATCO product. If you want something quick, and easy, and worry free, I definitely recommend picking up some WATCO. It's revolutionary. I was so amazed with the outcome, that I posted on facebook for all my new homeowner friends to see. I just wanted to spread the word about this stain! 

Me applying the stain

We had so many projects going. This is dad, working on our old vanity, trying to install the laundry room cabinets.

While Dad worked on cabinets, Brad worked on installing a small ceiling fan in our dining room. It is awesome. Our kitchen always gets hot with moisture while cooking as the air becomes confined. The fan has helped tremendously keeping fresh air moving through!

 



Cabinets in the kitchen drying

restained the existing vainty, purchased a new countertop. Notice all the heavy materials on the counter? That's the help seal the liquid nails to the vainty. Next we will place the new sink!

Storage cabinet above dryer in place!

Looks so much cleaner then that shelf.

Amidst all the chaos, we started to tear apart and remodel the upstairs bathroom. I could not take a bath in our tub, heaven forbid we think about having babies and them needing baths. The drainage was rusting therefore water would leak out the tub and down through the walls. I found this out the hard way last spring when I burned in a tanning bed before the wedding. The tanning salon told me to soak in a cold bath to stop the burn, but when I laid my aching skin down, all I heard was a constant drip. I got out and ran downstairs and noticed some wet spots in our laundry room below. DANG! So we knew that a new bathtub was a neccesity. The only thing that stayed in the bathroom upstairs was the existing linoleum. Everything else was new!

 



We were redneck, and had a tub outside our condo for a few days. I should have planted flowers!

Notice my living room? It was a storage place for all the remodel materials. The large white box is the new tub:)

With the tub gone, it was prepped for the plumber to come in the morning and set the new one:)

This is my dining room. We sold our counter top microwave for $20 one afternoon on craigslist, and took our over the range microwave out of the box to use. Its on the dining table. The rest is the upstairs bathroom remodel materials.

The plumber came, and set the tub, and began tiling. Brad and I picked out these design tiles to add accent to the existing white tile shower.

Tub set

After the laundry cabinets were installed, it was time to unpack wedding gifts!

While the plumber worked on the tub and shower, we did smaller projects to keep ourselves occupied. We were taking a moment to relax and watch TV when we heard a real loud bang. Mom and I looked at eachother and commented, "that didn't sound good." A moment later the plumber came down and asked Brad to come upstairs for a moment. I heard brad say, "Oh no!" I then went upstairs and found out what had happened. They were on their last section of grout on the tile, and the plumber was working on the shower head and his wrench slipped! IT SLIPPED! And chipped the BRAND NEW TUB! (pictured below). It was very noticable. He mentioned it was an unfortunate mistake, and he would make it right. He could either adjust his work price, or get a new tub and start all over the next day. I woke dad up from his nap and asked him what he thought. We all agreed that we could fill the chip with porceline putty, but it would still be noticible. I really didn't want to have to worry about getting a new tub, ripping out all that NEW tile, and trying to find more accent tile (we bought out the stores supply the first time). We decided to opt for filling it with putty, and him adjusting the price for the honest mistake. The plumber was shaking, you could tell he just felt sick about it.

Chip in tub - filled with white putty

Brad and I picked out oil-rubbed bronze for our bathroom fixtures

The finished product!

Brad also installed a new ceiling fan in our room as well. We installed our old one in his mom's dining room.

Brad, Mom and Dad installing my cabinet above the toilet. It took three people!

We had to gut the bathroom. This is before we installed my new toilet, vanity, medicine cabinet, and wall cabinet. You can see the new oil-rubbed bronze light fixture Mom and I installed together!

Brad installing our fixtures to our new counter top

The counter top for the upstairs bathroom was really a frustrating process. We had purchased and returned faucet plumbing lines 3 times. Our water lines come up from the floor, rather then the back of the wall. Therefore we had to cut little holes in the bottom of our BRAND NEW VANITY. The most frustrating obstacle to this ordeal was the faucet. This brand new faucet was almost all the way installed, when Brad found a missing clip. A real tiny peice missing off one of the lines. HOW IRRITATING. He would have to pause for the evening (1 am) and wait till a Home Depot trip in the morning.

 



And then the bathroom was complete!

Next was installing my new pantry!

After Mom and I stained it, Brad and dad pulled up the carpet to install it.

Brad had to cut the kitchen cabinet off so that it would sit flush

Although the small cabinet above the microwave had not arrived, Dad went ahead and removed the existing

Got new fixtures for down bath, as well as installed another light to go under the cabinet. We purchased a new mirror at Garden Ridge as well. The cabinet pictured here, and above the microwave, would not arrive until after dad left.

But he got all the others installed for us - he is pro.

And then my pantry was installed. It looks the exact same as the existing cabinets. With no microwave on my counter, I can have my mixer available as well.

We started to be able to see the floor, and TV in the living room

It really started to feel like home sweet home!

From every angle!

It was finally clean:)

It turned out the the two cabinets we were waiting on, had arrived on time. Only, they were placed ona pallet to go to a dentists office, and didn't realize until the contractor for the office called and said he had two extra cabinets. Because of the inconvenience, Home Depot said they would make sure they got installed at no cost. Come to find out, the proper individuals were not contacted about this procedure, so they brought the cabinets to us, and weren't going to be able to install them for a week. I was thinking, are you kidding me? ITS BEEN A MONTH! We ended up installing the cabinet on our own! I was so frustrated, but to make matters worse, because they told us they would be able to install them - without asking - we made dinner plans with Brad's Mom and sister. Kind of like a celebration dinner, for the completion of all our projects! But it wasn't going to be done. So Brad stayed up till 2 am one night getting it done for me, because we both did not want to wait another week!

and when he was finished - it looked amazing! Also, take note of my adorable spoon holder:)
 

The following day, Brad installed the bathroom cabinet too.

So there you have it! The end of the condo remodel. This fall we plan to recarpet the downstairs, and repaint as well. We might consider selling the condo within the next few years, and with this update, it feels more like home, and we don't feel cluttered. It also makes me happy to be home, and allows me to feel like it is clean with everything behind doors. Thanks Mom and Dad for all your inspiration, thoughtfulness, assistance and expertise. We could not have made this possible without your help. You truely are gems. We loved having Mom and Dad here to help. It was so difficult for me to visualize in Home Depot how things would look, and they were so paitent (along with my husband) in taking me around the store to show me what the trim would look like after stained, and what the cabinets would look like, and how the white door in the laundry room would look like with the dark stain. I know it wasn't easy, and Mom thought we were crazy for picking all browns, but I am kind of partial to the warm neutral colors. Someday, when I have a spare bathroom, or kids, we might consider other colors. But I wanted to keep it home-y and warm . . . knowing someday we will sell and wanting it to be as inviting and neutral as possible without giving up the new fresh look. I can honestly say I LOVE BEING HOME. It truely is my sanctuary, and I enjoy all the updates and added value to my home. Thanks Mom and Dad, and Brad for all your hard work. It looks amazing!