Bathroom Demo

Trying very hard to envision the final project amid this mess :)

 toilet out and testing a file floor tiles

 a "note" behind the mirrored cabinet tells us when this bathroom was added -- 

1984 by a company run and owned by Rob's high school principal

pencil signature

Molly using the drop clothes as a run way

 modeling her coat

 watching from the front door

"Before" Bathroom Pictures

Next up--the first floor bathroom project.  Just as we had hoped to upgrade the wallpaper in our house, we've also wanted to update the bathroom on the first floor.  Even though it wasn't our style of design/decoration, it was actually a great selling feature when we were buying this house as most houses in the neighborhood (or really any in our price range) only had one bathroom.  Elderly owners had a second full bath put in the first floor off of the living room in place of a coat closet when they needed ground level access.

In the past few years, tiles have slowly been cracking and falling out and the wallpaper has also been peeling.  What started out as an idea to "bath fit" the shower stall and simply "throw up some dry wall to cover the wall tiles" (my naive words!), has turned into a major remodel project--as in taking everything right down to the studs!  So, there is no turning back now with everything ripped out!  Thankfully, we have knowledgeable professionals, some extra funds to help us afford this, and a second full bath upstairs to use while this one is a work in progress.

Here are some before pictures (you can only look if you ignore the dirt and grime on the floors and tiles ;) )

 view from the doorway..

lots of blue and white tiles, "sponged look" wallpaper, and lighthouses border, 

along with lots of wood/blue mixture on the fixtures

 another view

(I never want to see that wooden toilet lid, again--I had fun throwing it in the trash pile!)

 a look at the tile flooring

 the shower with the "if you get tired" seat in the corner

We are also very excited to get rid of the noisy shower door

 view of the back wall behind the door

 gross grout and tiling

 view looking from the shower toward the door

final look

Kitchen Update

When we moved into our house, nearly all of the rooms were wallpapered.  Luckily, it was fairly neutral and nothing too horrible, just not our taste.  We knew that eventually we'd want to remove it and paint, but with a baby on the way, we held off the rooms that weren't as essential, like the kitchen.

That "baby" is the one who actually prompted us to start the wall paper removal in the kitchen when she found small loose sections of wall paper and began to rip them off herself!  So, we decided that we'd better just go ahead and make that a spring project.  Below are a couple "before" pictures of the checkered green and white wall paper and the apple border.  There are also some "during" pictures of the layers being removed.  Now we just have to have it painted--we're thinking something in the yellowy, goldeny family.....

 eat-in kitchen area with pantry cabinet and laundry closet

 wallpaper in between pantry and door leading to back patio

(notice the apples are even on the light switches!)

 our starter attempts at removing the wallpaper on our own
in between back door and basement door

 view looking toward front of the house from the eat-in area

 main kitchen area

 a pantry and fridge area

 removal of the first layer of wallpaper

 first layer gone

(We're either going to replace the laundry closet doors or repaint them without the fruit border)

 second layer removed

 no turning back now!

 protecting the kitchen counters and appliances

wallpaper is gone

Spring has Sprung

We have been enjoying the early crocuses and daffodils that are popping up around the yard, and even the hostas has begun to open:

March Randoms

I have been really behind on posting pictures lately, but here are some random ones from this past month.  We have been busy with lots of "around the house" projects, including Spring yard work (cleaning up, redoing, and upgrading some flower beds), having our first floor bathroom redone, wallpaper removed and kitchen repainted, and just trying to do as much spring cleaning to downsize how much "stuff" we have (many things have been donated or thrown out as we try to steamline things).  While we aren't doing the bathroom and kitchen work ourselves, we have still been spending time on the weekends picking out and purchasing materials, like paint colors, new fixtures, etc.  I'll post some pictures, next, of some of the "befores," and "durings," and hopefully I will be able to post the "afters!"

 Ella showing me her "water blaster"....She told me she found a neat way to use it without hands..

 Miss Molly's new shoes for all of the walking she has been doing

 girls playing on the obstacle course they made in the yard

 posing in the wind and sun

 Molly demonstrating her hoola hoop skills

 more set up of the course

 Molly making adjustments of the "leap pads"

 Ella's turn with the hoola hoop

 Ella starting her "magnetic" project

We made pictures of things around the house..She had to find them and use a magnet stick to determine if it was magnetic..then glue it onto the correct page.

 getting started

 checking to see if the fridge door is magnetic

 Is the book basket magnetic?

 after gluing the pictures on the pages

 messy Molly during a pizza picnic

 yum!

 coming out of the Little House

 sisters cleaning out the Little House and getting it ready for the kitchen set to get moved in

 Ella ready to go to a pajama birthday party with her friends

 even has her Pillow Pet poochies on

 Molly enjoying her favorite fruit---stawberries
She says, "stus-stress-ee"

 Ella's first book---100 Puppies

 a poster Ella made for the 100th Day of School celebration--

we put 100 stickers inside the number 100

 up close

 proud of her work

Molly was so cute after lunch---she had a "yoggie bite" stuck to her check and didn't even realize...
So Ella and I just giggled and took pictures of her :)