Bathroom Remodel: Underneath it All

So when we last left you we had just finished the bathroom demo. Next up, moving all of the plumbing and electrical to accommodate the new layout.

If you take a look at the plans for the new bathroom layout you can seen that the 2 bathrooms are practically mirror images of each other. Apparently this made things much easier for moving the plumbing and electrical since both bathrooms could share the same main plumbing and electrical.

So here's some pictures of the work that they did to accommodate the new bathroom layouts. First they moved the plumbing to the wall that both bathrooms would share. Then they started framing in the wall - I have to admit seeing the two empty bathrooms made me pretty nervous that the bathrooms would still be impossibly small.

We also decided to add a sun tunnel into each bathroom. Originally we were planning on only adding one to the hall bathroom to make up for the fact that it wouldn't have a window anymore. But after seeing how nice the results were we decided we should get one for the master bathroom too. BEST.DECISSION.EVER.

Next up, picking out all the little details like tile, lighting fixtures, and vanities.







Want to see where we started? Check out the plan and the demo.

Fall Fashion Love

Temperatures are dropping below 70s in the bay and I am so excited for the fall/winter seasons. Don't get me wrong, I loved the bright neons and tank tops of summer 2012, but there's just something wonderful about a cozy sweater paired with some black leggings and boots.

About a month ago I invested in a pair of Melissa Button Frye boots I had been drooling over for years. Finding a pair of shoes for my tiny feet (size 4.5-5) is a real challenge. Finding a pair of boots for my tiny feet yet abnormally large calves makes buying a great pair of boots almost impossible. After much research I fell in love with the Melissa boots from Frye and they came in extended sizes (YAY!), but as a starving student investing +$300 in a pair of boots was just not going to happen. Now that I'm finally a productive member of society with a stable job I decided to take the dive. And I'm so glad that I did (hub's may say otherwise). They are made with such wonderful craftsmanship and in such a classic cut that I can guarantee to get years of use out of them.



Lately I've had my eye on adding a leather skirt to my wardrobe. Here are a few that I've been fiending for lately. I especially love the pleated a-line cuts since it adds a little bit of girly-ness to the edgy-ness of the leather skirt.

L to R: Patterson J. Kincaid ($298), Rebecca Taylor ($495), Theory ($575)

I'm always in the market for a new cozy sweater to rock in the fall/winter season. And if you ask me nothing says soft and cozy like cashmere...oh cashmere how I love thee.

L to R: Aqua ($220), J.Crew (4258), The Row ($1205)

Let's not forget the outerwear- coats and jackets galore! In my humble opinion nothing is as classic as Burberry outerwear (not that I know from any personal experience).

L to R: Cinched Waist Quilted Jacket ($495), Wool Duffle Coat ($995),
Mid-length Wool Twill Trench (4995)

Now excuse me as I wipe the drool off my keyboard from all of these beautiful clothes. Till next time.

Bathroom Remodel: Demo Days

The day after we met our contractor and okay'd the plans for the bathroom remodel they got down to work and started doing demo. If you've ever watched HGTV I think you'd agree the demo looks like you just go around ripping things off the wall and knocking walls down with sledge hammers - both fun and fast. Apparently this is a misconception (damn you Property Brothers!)

After demo day 1 they had removed the walls separating the 2 bathrooms and taken out all of the bathroom goods like the toilets, tubs/shower, and sinks. We had them try to salvage as much of the stuff from the bathrooms as possible. In the end we were able to reuse the toilets from both bathrooms (yay savings!) and we saved the pedestal sink, cabinets, and bathroom hardware (ie: towel bars and toilet paper holders) which we were able to sell at a garage sale we just had.

At the end of demo day 2 they had pulled up all of the flooring and ceiling. They also patched up one of the windows that would have ended up in the middle of our new master shower.

I couldn't imagine that demo took our crew a whole 2 days to complete. But I guess things aren't really as easy as they seem on television. That seems to have been a reoccurring theme throughout the entire bathroom remodel.

Next up, moving all the plumbing and electrical to accommodate the new bathroom layouts.

Want to see where we started? Check it out.

Las Vegas Getaway

Sometimes you just need to get away. Things with the bathroom remodel have been crazy and we've both been swamped at work so that's exactly what we needed. And that's exactly what we did. We took off for a city that will always hold a special place in our hearts, Las Vegas. If you think it's weird that sin city holds a special place in our hearts, educate yourself.

Here's a little picture montage of all the fun we had.

1. spending the day with some friends that were also in town,
2. Inside Ceasar's Palace before our show, 3. Ready to see Absinthe,
4 & 5. Acrobats at Absinthe, 6. Chocolate fondue at Spago,
7. Kickin it with the Jabawockeez, 8. Front row at Crazy Horse

All in all good times were had. Taking some time away from the craziness at work and with the house was just what the doctor ordered.

Weekend Warriors: Baseboards Edition

This was the first of many weekends to come dedicated to home improvements. This weekend's project of choice was replacing the current baseboards. Luckily there are a lot of handy people in the hub's side of the family to help us. And no one will do a better job of making sure your home looks great than family (since every time they come to your house they'll be forced to look at their handy work).

Our home was blessed with several different styles of baseboards depending on the room you're looking at. Not to mention that some of the areas were in pretty poor condition - missing pieces or falling off. At first we considered just repairing the baseboards that we already had but after a jaunt at my new favorite store, Lowes, we decided to go with a much more ornate baseboard. It was more costly than just repairing what was already there, but since we'd like to add crown molding at some point we figured a more ornate  baseboard would just jive better.

The goal was to get remove all current baseboards, install new baseboards, and paint new baseboards in a weekend before carpet was to be installed. This all seemed like a completely reasonable list to complete in 48 hours, but I was wrong (I'm finding that my idea of how long home projects will take and how long they actually take are never in line with each other). We really needed to get it all done before we had the new carpet installed.

DAY ONE:

The hub's family arrived bright and early with all their handy dandy tools and got right to work. The guys started pulling out the old baseboards and the women folk followed behind pulling out or hammering in any wayward nails and evening out the wall in preparation for the new baseboards. It's amazing the kind of stuff we found under the baseboards - old paint, old wallpaper, and even even a paint brush. Then the new baseboards went in. Apparently a lot more thought goes into installing baseboards then I could've ever imagined. They installed the base boards a little higher than the hardwood floors since we were installing carpet the following weekend. Now that the carpet is installed we don't lose the look of the full base board. Genius right??? I know.

The next challenge of the day was dealing with the baseboards for the entrance between the dining room at kitchen. For some reason the tile in the kitchen is a lot higher than the rest of the flooring. *shrugs* Add that to the growing list of many strange things about this house. Luckily the hub's brother was able to come up with a creative and beautiful solution.

At the end of a terribly long day we successfully installed and caulked the baseboards throughout the house and I learned how to use a nail gun. Okay, I only used it once - but that totally still counts.

DAY TWO:

The second day of our baseboard adventures was tackled by just the hubs and myself.We went through and painted all the baseboards in the house. I figured it wouldn't take more than half the day to paint all of them. I mean they're not even 3 inches tall and we weren't going tape any of it off with painters tape since we plan on repainting anyway...how long could it take to paint such a small thing? Well, the answer to that is a very long time. So long, in fact, that after a whole day of painting we had only completed the 3rd level.

FYI...painting a home with your significant other will teach you a huge deal about them. I am a details kind of person. I wanted to make sure that the baseboards were perfect and well painted. On the other hand the hubs is more of a big picture kinda guy. His forte seems to be painting large expanses like ceilings and walls. Guess it just goes to show you that we really do complete each other (did you just barf in your mouth a little?)

DAY TWO AND A HALF:

Since we didn't finish painting all the baseboards over the weekend - weekend warriors FAIL - we had to come back during the week to finish painting the baseboards in the main level and the bonus room. While painting the main level we got ambitious and thought it might be a good idea to try and tackle the eye sore that is our fireplace. Our fireplace was probably once a beautiful brick...and then it got painted...brick red. Why anyone would paint bricks brick red is really beyond me. We decided to just dip our toes in the water and paint the outer mantel the same color as our baseboards hoping it would make the painted bricks look less harsh. I'm still not satisfied with the results. I think we'll probably paint the bricks white too. What do you guys think?

All in all even though we didn't exactly finish our project in 1 weekend I'd say it was a success. I love the baseboards and we got everything done just in time for the carpet to be installed. Whew! These home projects are a lot more time consuming then I originally anticipated. Looks like I'm going to have to work on my patience skills when it comes to all the projects I want to tackle in this house.

Don't You Hate It...

When you realize you should have caulked something AFTER you've already painted it? UGH!

Why Hello, Stranger

So apparently it's been almost a month since my last post and some of you may have thought that the hubs and I killed each other in the midst of our move and bathroom remodel. Fear not, we're both very much alive and kicking. Things have been pretty hectic around here the past few weeks, but I thought I'd take a sec to give you guys a rundown of the things that we've been up to lately.

• All of our worldly belongings moved into the house - not even close to being entirely unpacked
• Soft, fluffy carpet installed throughout the ENTIRE house - please don't hate me all you hardwood lovers
• Bathroom remodel ALMOST complete - over a month from when we started demo. Remember when I said we were hoping to get all the work done in about 2 weeks? BAHAHAHAHA! Apparently that was a joke that I wasn't let in on until now.
• Painted master bedroom - we're hoping to move out of what used to be a baby's room and into our master bedroom this weekend now that the remodel is mostly done.

Wow...when I list it all out like that it sure seems like we haven't really done a whole lot of anything at all! But I swear to you it feels like I've been slaving away at this house like it's a freakin sweatshop. More detailed updates to come.