Slow but Steady

Our master suite has been a very slow but steady process.  It's also been a process that leaves me almost useless to helping Trent.  I can paint and I can help unload cement board, but that's about my limit at this stage.  Building a shower floor that has a perfect, consistent slant towards the drain is something I understand but have NO ability to produce.  Whew...good thing Trent can!  With any luck, we'll be starting on the title work early next week (and I can go back to being helpful).

Trent was able to install the shower drain (which I'm super excited about!).  When we lay the tile, we'll put tile over the top of it so it looks invisible.

A Little Trick

I'll let you in on a trick that we've learned after many projects:  buy all the items you need PRIOR to starting the project.  Truthfully, we don't always have this luxury (time, money, pure coincidence can change it all in a heartbeat).  However, when we can buy it all ahead it saves us so much headache! 
For the master suite/bathroom project, we were able to purchase most items ahead.  For the bathroom, it was critical because several of the items were special order.  By having several weeks of prep time, we were able to shop the items and get some great deals!  We've done all our demo and new painting so that this weekend we can start putting the bathroom together.  Below are pics of our assembled pieces for this project.  The only item not pictured is a really cool teakwood bench (for the shower)....I'm hoping Trent knows where it's at, because I can't locate it right now.
1.  Tile Backer board:  Trent loves this brand and it's sometimes tough to locate.  We were lucky enough to score it on sale!

 2.  The shower drain (which will be flat, in the ground) that allows us to have the shower floor be completely flat to the bathroom floor....no step-in.  This should have been CRAZY expensive, but Trent found a guy in Florida who handmade it for a fraction of the cost (the downside is that he didn't speak much English).

 3.  The actual floor and shower wall tile.  It's 12"x24" and I LOVE it.

 4.  The 16" rain shower head - I refuse to take it out of the box and get fingerprints on it until we install it.  Once again, Trent found an amazing deal on this item (which is great since there was NO WAY we were going to spend the going rate for this item).

 5.  The granite for our sinks.  We have terrible luck with buying vanity tops...seriously, it's just comical at this point.  So we ordered this baby early!

6.  The stand alone bathtub (this may be my favorite item).

I Blame Pinterest

I blame Pinterest entirely for this current project.  The beginning plan was to just paint the master bathroom.  The second plan was to just replace the tile and paint in the master bathroom.  The third plan was to also remove the shower insert and tile that as well.  ONE HUNDRED plans later (and many hours on Pinterest), we have a fully demo'd bathroom.  While we are still disputing talking through exactly what the finished product will look like, the new stand alone tub came in and I think I'm going to love it!

 

 

**Sometimes we put new stuff in its place just to imagine what it will look like.  Yes, it means we have to move big items (like a tub) multiple times, but it's totally worth it.**

We Moved Again?

 

Okay - we didn't move to a new house just yet.  We moved out of our master suite...an entire 12 feet into one of the guest bedrooms.  Shockingly, this small move seemed to be just as much work as a full move. Above is what the guest bedroom looks like now.  Below is what it looked like a few weeks ago.  I know, I know...contain your excitement about the previous "drapes."

We have painted the master bedroom already, ripped out the gross, disgusting carpet and have started demo'ing the master bathroom.  Since we are both sharing the guest bathroom right now, I predict that the master suite will be done a little more quickly.  Below are some official before master bathroom pics.  I'm SO excited about how this room is going to turn out! I can hardly wait!

 



Main Living Space = Done

That's right....our main (primary) living space is done. Mostly.  I mean I might change out a light fixture or two, but it's done.  Initially, we were going to move on to finishing the lower level.  However, we have since decided that the master suite needs a facelift.  We start demo'ing the master suite this weekend.  Below are some before/after shots of the main living space.

 

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Fireplace Upgrade

When we initially purchased this project house, we had no plans to remodel the fireplace.  Unfortunately, it just looked sad and old once we painted and put in new wood floors.  So, we took the old out and put the new in.  Below are the before, during and after shots.  We purchased the stone "stuff" at a local place in Granger and the mantel is a heavy, solid piece of wood (that we painted black).  We found a mill in Decatur, MI for the mantel and had the wood piece cut, planed and sanded there (all for the bargain price of approx. $100!).
We have loved all the upgrades, but this one has had the largest impact and was the cheapest (about $350 total).  If you have a fireplace and don't love it, only a few hundred dollars could change that.

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I can even enjoy it from the kitchen!

 

Busy Few Weeks

It's been a busy few weeks with us.  We've been working on some house projects, but since we are starting our finishing touches it's going SO SLOW!  Pics coming soon of our new fireplace, though.

Trent has spent some time trying to get our storage unit whipped into shape.  Eventually, we would love to have pavement at the storage unit, but the cost is so ridiculous that it might be a few years.  In the meantime, Trent rented a bobcat and spent some time smoothing out the dirt/rocks/weeds.  Unfortunately, he had to do some of it during yesterday's storms.  He would pull the bobcat into an empty unit as a big storm would come through then do another 15 minutes of work after the storm passed.  This routine continued most of the afternoon.

While he was busy working, I was busy vacationing with a friend.  As you can see our past week was spent in very different environments.

 

 

What Happens When...

This is what happens when you don't pay for your storage unit.  We've had a great first, few months with the storage unit business.  However, the "Storage Wars" auction is just part of the business.  After many phone calls, letters, notices in the newspaper, etc we had to cut a tenant's personal lock off this past week.  Our lock is on the unit and the auction is scheduled. Never a dull moment.

Before/After

While our kitchen isn't 100% complete, it is very close.  Last night, I fixed dinner for the first time in this house (since I only know how to prepare 5 different meals, we should be on repeat very soon).  I'm definitely not a chef - so take this worth a grain of salt - but the kitchen is great!  It has tons of storage space, great prep area (if I were ever going to prep anything), and pretty appliances (that is how everyone shops for appliances....right?!).  The only thing left is new lighting.  What a difference 120 days makes.

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Big Purchase

Since owning the storage facility, we have had very few costs (huge relief!).  However, business ownership cost us a little this past week.  The storage facility was sold to us with a riding lawn mower....old, but working.  It didn't come as a large shock when it stopped working a couple of weeks back.  Trent checked on repairing it, but we ultimately decided to put it down.

In my mind, this was an easy choice.  We have a nice riding mower at our home (10 minutes from the storage facility) and we're at the end of September.  We should obviously take our mower back and forth for the 3-4 more times that the lawn needs to be mowed.  Clearly we should put off making a high dollar purchase until spring.  Trent didn't agree.  He felt that we should sell our nice riding John Deere to the storage facility and we should buy a new zero turn mower for our house now (since prices will be cheaper than in the spring).  Side note: since we bought this house in May, Trent has mentioned a zero turn mower EVERY SINGLE TIME he has mowed the lawn.  Apparently, when you have a large lawn these things move pretty fast.

Turns out he was right!  We got a steal!!!  Trent is thrilled since he was able to get his zero turn lawn mower and I'm thrilled because he's thrilled at how fast he now mows the lawn.