Ignorance was my bliss.

So Todd and I were going to go to Lowes together, he arrived earlier than I did and said that it was pretty much the same things that we had seen at previous places so I didn't go.



All I want is a 1 piece shower and tub with a whirlpool. Is it really all that much to ask. Apparently it is and therefore I'm ignoring the major detail of the bathtub and moving on to color schemes and styles for the bathroom.



However I'm finding this to be difficult as well because this will be the beginning of our "style" for our home and there are many different styles that I like, however I'm not sure that I want to live with one of those styles forever. I wish wall color could be changed like you change your shoes.

I love all of those photos above and it would be wonderful to start my days by brushing my teeth, washing my face and getting ready to face the day in any of those rooms. However which one of those rooms could I live with for a LONG TIME??

Sweet goodness, I want to go back to the preremodel when I had idylic visions and could say things like "When we remodel we will do this...".

1 week Ago

So this week our renovation has come to halt. Which has made me realize why we didn't start all of this earlier- Life gets in the way for example:

Our house has finally recovered from being gone for 3 weeks; although the laundry is waiting for me when I get home everything else is CLEAN! (The joy that a clean house brings is amazing, probably because in a clean house I can have a quiet mind!)

And more importantly our daughter now pulls herself up to standing next to things and can dance. As soon as I figure out how to put up a video I will.

Also the Olympics are on. Four years ago Todd and I got married and we spent our honeymoon at home watching the olympics. So this week we have been relaxing, enjoying each others company and watching the wonderful USA athletes.

All of these things will delay our progress. I am now realizing 2 things-

1) This whole remodeling this is going to take a LONG TIME. (I think that Todd will be happy that I have come to that realization.)

2) This blog will not only contain the milestones of our renovation but the milestones in our family as well. (Which means there will be videos of Iz dancing and doing other HILARIOUS things!)

The photo below is for everyones enjoyment! SO BIG!

Home Depot and Menard's

Talk about Goldie Locks and the Three Tubs. Every tub that we looked at with either not long enough, not deep enough or to big for the bathroom. So upon a recommendation from a friend we will be visiting Lowe's at the end of next week.

We saw a couple of vanities that were OK but nothing we loved. I think my favorite thing to look at was shower heads! There were hundreds! We also looked a flooring. We haven't decided on a color however we do know that we will be using groutable vinyl tile because the floor isn't level, which eliminates the choice of ceramic tile.

So basically after a quick hour of looking around we are not much further than where we started yesterday! Oh well. I think Terry was right, everything is apart now the hard part is going to be putting it back together!

Flooring...

Today Todd ripped out the flooring in the bathroom. In the picture above you can see the linoleum and part of the carpet that was in the bathroom and bedroom. This flooring has been the bane of my existence! Even when I was painting the bathroom I spilled paint on it hoping to get new flooring, that was 4 year ago. Finally new flooring is all I can think about. Below you can see the pine flooring that is in the "hallway" are between the bedroom and bathroom that had carpet over it. I'm hoping that we will be able to refinish these floors.
The picture below here is what was under the first layer of linoleum... More nasty linoleum. And guess what was under the layer of flooring above.. MORE LINOLEUM! This last layer was the worst yet. I'm not sure who would have put something like this in. It's a mix of flowers, plaid and squares... yuck!
Finally more of the pine flooring. Apparently the people who owned this house liked their flooring just as much as they liked their wall paper! I just hope that it isn't this way in the kitchen, but it probably is. Oh well just part of our adventure.

Last Day Off

So from the beginning of the blog to today it's been 5 short days. and when you see the picture below you will be AMAZED. OK so maybe not amazed, but I'm AMAZED! This renovation has been something that Todd and I have talked about for years and years and now its really starting. It's making me anxious for the rest of the house.

This is what I saw when I walked into the bath/bedroom tonight when I got home from work! It's a clean construction zone. I didn't think there was such a thing but Todd did a great job cleaning up.

This is looking through the bathroom into the bedroom.

This is looking from the bedroom into the bathroom and out the door into the rest of the house. Todd's parents have stopped by to check in on the progress, because they live right next door and tonight his mom came equipped with many great ideas!

Tomorrow Todd and I are going to visit Menard's and Home Depot just to get ideas and see which direction we want to go. We have a clean slate and could start anywhere! I'm also excited to look at bath tubs. We have not had a working bath tub since last October. Which hasn't been a big deal we have a 3/4 bath upstairs in our house however Iz our daughter is getting too big to bath in the sink so a bath tub would be greatly appreciated. Also on a Friday night such as this I would love to put Iz down, get a glass of wine and good book and take a soak. With that wonderful thought I'm off!

It's almost done

This is looking from the bedroom to the bathroom.

This is looking out at the entry door to the bathroom and bedroom.

No more shower?!?!? Just kidding there is another one up stairs!

No it's not mold on the wall it's just a darker color on the plaster.
I think it might be old glue from wall paper!

Looking from the bathroom into the bedroom you can see the vanity and bathtub! Todd said he didn't get all that he wanted to get done today done however I think seeing through walls is pretty dang good!

Before and Afters

OK so there is a lot of demo to be done. However in the 2nd day of demo we did discover a few beautiful gems! First i would like to point out that this beautiful curtain was the "door" to our first bedroom as a married couple. This thin plastic curtain was all we had between us and the only bathroom in the house. In the summer when we would have the window air conditioner cranked up this curtain would form condensation on it. I am not going to lie to you. I have not missed this curtain one bit since we have moved our bedroom upstairs to a room with real doors.

Any way I digress, I talking about the "gems" discovered. As you will see below it's the same door way with a bit more attitude! Look at this beautiful wall paper! Because this home has been in and out of our family for many years Todd's father has a few memories of our home as a young child. The one over whelming memory is that of wallpaper.

Ron remembers the wall paper being an inch thick on the walls. I don't know if that is true or not I'm just glad that removing wallpaper is not part of the renovation.





In the next few photos you will see what the shower looked like before and after.


As wonderful as it looks in the top photo you can see the plywood that was behind in the second picture. Todd also said that there were about 1 million nails in the plywood to make sure that it was never coming out. Todd said thus far pulling this plywood out has taken the longest.

And finally our last gem for the day- More wall paper they just make me laugh! I can't imagine having anything this wild on the walls!

Some Demolition

My wonderful husband took this week off to begin the renovation on our home. He will call periodically to let me know how the progress is going or is he has a great idea. However every time he calls he say "I'm not getting that much done." Then I come home and I'm astonished at his progress! Here are some pictures from the first day of demo. The first two pictures are of the walls after the dry wall was down but the plaster was still up.

Surprisingly enough the colors were a really dulled

down color of what used to be on the walls. There must me something about that room that called for green and blue. The first day that Todd started he helped out on the farm for a while and then went inside to work. His curious father came in to check out the progress and is quoted as saying "you have a really big project here".

Here is the same wall as in the first picture but this is what it looked like when I got home! you can see some of the insulation and lath. The white behind the lath and insulation is another layer of plaster that we can only think would be there as a wind break because this is the west wall of our house.

This is the north and east wall in the bedroom. the wall with only partial lath is a wall that is shared with the bathroom.

This is looking from the bedroom into the bathroom. The dots are not a ghost of renovation or spots on my camera but the flash reflecting off of all the dust in the air. Todd first trip the next morning was to the hardware store to get a ventilator!

The Beginning

OK lets just put it all out there- I'm not a fantastic writer or great at spelling but I thought it would be fun for family and friends to read about our trials and tribulations of remodeling our house.

Here is the Back Story. My husband grew up just 1/3 mile away from where we live now and this house has been in and out of his family since it was built (that date still unknown). In 1999 Todd bought the house on auction. It was perfect for a bachelor because at that time the house was split into 2 apartments. Todd could then live on the main level and then rent out the upstairs.

Then we met and fell in love! We got married and I moved in just 4 short years ago. Since then we have opened up the house so that there are no more renters just us and have painted and made things quite comfortable for ourselves. All the while knowing that we would someday begin to remodel out house.

Really scared at the thought of remodeling, it was just a topic of discussion every now and again. When ever I had an idea that started with "When we remodel the house we should..." I always heard the response "You are putting the cart in front of the horse." Which I was but its way more fun to think about paint colors and furniture than tearing out lath and plaster.

So here we are 1 day into the remodel. I hope that you enjoy the ride with us. I promise to put up many pictures and interesting storied along the way.