Home Home Reno in the Nest

[Elmorton]

Tell me about your home improvement projects as a newlywed! DH and I started out slowly...painted, then we stripped paint off the woodwork, and now we've moved to ripping out the carpet and refinishing the wood floors. It's certainly stressful, but we've really found out a lot about communication, teamwork, and just understanding eachother's behavior. And, having a project is a little addictive. So, what projects have you undertaken with your spouse? What did you learn from it?

ETA: And if you have 'em, post before and afters!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

DH and I love to do home reno projects together. It really tests our communication skills (LOL or lack thereof), and we do bicker sometimes, but I really think it brings us closer. Because there's such a strong cause and effect when doing these projects, it's clear when there's an issue-something nagging at you, communication problem, etc. It forces you to address the problem head on and correct it for the sake of finishing the project (and your marriage!). DH and I reno'd our shower and foyer last year and this year we're working on painting our house.

This is a picture of the "After". In addition to retiling the shower, we painted the walls and added a new shower curtain. I don't have a before picture, but the shower enclosure was this gross pinkish-brown speckled tile that was falling off the wall and it had this plastic door thing that slid closed. It was really gross. We decided to keep the pink/brown tub as-is for the time being and so we chose the border (multi-colored slate) because it ties the tub and the grey/blue floor together.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

the tile-you can see a bit of the tub in this pic

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

close up of the border

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

pic of the new fixtures with the ugly tub color

 

[Clairitek]

We are in the planning stages of renovating our bathroom. We want to make it bigger and refinish all of the surfaces- new tile floor, new tiling in shower area, re-glaze tub, new toilet, fixtures, and sink.

So far the only stuff we have done to our house is paint a bunch of rooms. I really want a new kitchen but I am not convinced it will be worth the money quite yet.

Here is the view from the hallway. I think we will tear out the closets from the adjacent bedroom (on the left, on either side of the sink) to make it feel bigger. We can always build in a new closet in the adjacent room. The linen closet is blocked by the door. The tub is on the right next to the toilet.

ETA: We have painted this room since this picture was taken. The walls are now white... no more poorly done sponge painting.

 

[Clairitek]

Here are the closets in the adjacent guest room. I think we could build a closet either on the same wall (it will just come out into the room a couple of feet) or in the corner on the left. We both think the effect on the bathroom will be worth the effort. It just feels so closed off in there right now.

 

[AsscherGirl]

We lived in our house for almost 2 years before we got married, so we did basic painting and decorating before the wedding. We had a mish mash of furniture in our t.v. room and had bought one good couch pretty early. About 3 months before the wedding, I started getting freaked out that the furniture didn''t match in the t.v. room and the photog. was going to take pictures in there (I got ready at my house), so I made us buy the 2nd couch for the t.v. room right before the wedding. It was delivered 2 weeks before!

After the wedding, we knew we wanted to renovate our master bath, but didn''t do anything for a YEAR! Then we finally demolished the bathroom, but haven''t put it back together yet. We are having a really tough time deciding on stuff and dealing with the cost and have another full bath so we''ve been kind of ignoring it. We are going on vacation in a couple of weeks so I''m just going to forget about it until after then .

The one project we have recently finished is relandscaping our front yard! We had 3 totally overgrown bushes on either side of our house that were so big it covered a window and at one point blocked the doorway. We ripped everything out and replanted some new cute SMALL shrubs and flowers. It was a lot of work and my hubby really wasn''t into the landscaping project, but he worked REALLY hard and I definitely couldn''t have done it without him! I have learned this already, but we really make a good team when everything is over. We usually have different ideas at the beginning but are good at seeing eachother''s sides and end up with a product that really is representative of both of our styles/personalities.

Next we are going to work on the bathroom and change a couple of light fixtures and hopefully get some overhead lights and a fan in our family room. One day we will tackle our kitchen, but I know that will be a big expense so it might be a while.

 

[musincy]

Date: 8/4/2009 8:53:41 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
DH and I love to do home reno projects together. It really tests our communication skills (LOL or lack thereof), and we do bicker sometimes, but I really think it brings us closer. Because there''s such a strong cause and effect when doing these projects, it''s clear when there''s an issue-something nagging at you, communication problem, etc. It forces you to address the problem head on and correct it for the sake of finishing the project (and your marriage!). DH and I reno''d our shower and foyer last year and this year we''re working on painting our house.

This is a picture of the ''After''. In addition to retiling the shower, we painted the walls and added a new shower curtain. I don''t have a before picture, but the shower enclosure was this gross pinkish-brown speckled tile that was falling off the wall and it had this plastic door thing that slid closed. It was really gross. We decided to keep the pink/brown tub as-is for the time being and so we chose the border (multi-colored slate) because it ties the tub and the grey/blue floor together.

I love what you''ve done with your bathroom... so cute. The tiles you chose for the shower are really cool. I like that they''re not the standard square white tiles that everyone else (including me!) has.

So far, we''ve just painted and started doing some lawn work. We also semi-refinished our kitchen cabinets. They were refinished before by the previous owners, but they didn''t do a great job, so we fixed that. I think our project for the fall will be installing new hardwood floors in our kitchen and foyer.

 

[kama_s]

HH, love what you''ve done with the washroom. The border looks amazing!

 

[Elmorton]

HH, your bathroom is AMAZING! I love the tile work. I can't believe everyone is re-doing their bathrooms - I see title and plumbing and I basically run. C-tek, whoa, that's a big project!! But your plan sounds great. Danielle, I'd love to see pics of your landscaping. If we aren't completely exhausted from our current project and the weather is still nice in the fall, I think we might start tearing out some overgrown gardens in our yard. I didn't know this until I was a homeowner, but weeds are the worst thing ever. Why can't they stop growing??

Here's a photo of what we've done so far in our bedroom - the floors are really horribly stained and it's hard to tell in this photo, so hopefully by next week I'll have a nicer update with everything back in place. The trim in here used to be white (you can see some of that white still at the bottom - we have a little curved "shoe" to put into place to cover that) and we stripped all of it and refinished the baseboards/trim earlier this summer. Then we ripped out the awful carpet, and we're sanding/staining/finishing this coming weekend.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 8/4/2009 8:53:41 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
DH and I love to do home reno projects together. It really tests our communication skills (LOL or lack thereof), and we do bicker sometimes, but I really think it brings us closer. Because there''s such a strong cause and effect when doing these projects, it''s clear when there''s an issue-something nagging at you, communication problem, etc. It forces you to address the problem head on and correct it for the sake of finishing the project (and your marriage!). DH and I reno''d our shower and foyer last year and this year we''re working on painting our house.

This is a picture of the ''After''. In addition to retiling the shower, we painted the walls and added a new shower curtain. I don''t have a before picture, but the shower enclosure was this gross pinkish-brown speckled tile that was falling off the wall and it had this plastic door thing that slid closed. It was really gross. We decided to keep the pink/brown tub as-is for the time being and so we chose the border (multi-colored slate) because it ties the tub and the grey/blue floor together.

Very nice!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Thanks ladies! I just wanted to add-the border was super easy and you could do it with any type of tile (we used subway). The accent tiles came in a large 12" x 12" ''tile'' which we then cut into strips and applied to the shower. The little tiles are affixed to mesh, so you don''t have to apply each and every one perfectly by hand.

 

[Mannequin]

Date: 8/4/2009 5:16:43 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
Thanks ladies! I just wanted to add-the border was super easy and you could do it with any type of tile (we used subway). The accent tiles came in a large 12'' x 12'' ''tile'' which we then cut into strips and applied to the shower. The little tiles are affixed to mesh, so you don''t have to apply each and every one perfectly by hand.

Nice job on your bathroom reno! I have helped my FI work on three total bathroom renos and a complete kitchen gut at rental houses in the past two years, and I found out I LOVE doing tile. LOL Then again, I was the kid who liked doing puzzles, too.

I like the subway tiles with the border tiles you put in. We need to do our master bathroom at home. I am going to save a picture to show him!

 

[Clairitek]

I also wanted to say that H_H''s tiling job has shown me that it is possible to DIY with tile! I also love subway tile. I think its a neat look and fits the age of our home well. Love the taps you picked out too!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

IMO, DIY tile is one of the easiest reno projects you can do. The most difficult part is cutting the tile and even that is easy once you get the hang of it. I''m going to take pics of our foyer tonight so you can see what we did there (we used the same border).

 

[QueenB29]

We''ve been in our house 2 years and the list, my husband would say, is endless and nowhere near done. We have been doing things in small increments every couple of months.

1. We''ve repainted almost the entire house.
2. My DH changed all the light fixtures and outlet and switches and fixed a lot of the plumbing.
3. DH tore up the rotting back deck (and almost two years later I''m waiting for the stone patio he promised

)
4. We pressure-washed the outside of the house and touched up the paint.
5. We planted (and killed) numerous flowers in our front plot.
6. I''ve made curtains for all the rooms so far except the guest room and basement and we changed all the blinds.
7. I hate, despise and loathe our kitchen. It needs to be completely redone: cabinets, countertop, floor, appliances, you name it. We were going to get all new cabinets with our tax return this year, but an emergency fix in our basement took all that money and more.

8. We had to have our basement ripped apart and shored up due to water damage that wasn''t disclosed when we bought the house.
9. As a result of which, we need to put in new studs and drywall throughout the basement and paint.
10. We want to add a 3/4 bath in our basement.
12. We want to replace all our carpeting with hard-wood floors.
13. We want to replace our sliding doors with french doors.
14. We want to have the outside repainted.

There''s probably some other things I''ve forgotten.....

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

LOL Our list of things to do is very long too...

We need to:
Have a new roof put on (full tear-off/repair of a few questionable places)
Replace the water spigots outside (front and back outdoor faucets leak)
Update/upgrade out our breaker box (we still use the old screw in glass fuses)
Paint the outside of our house (it''s scraped and ready to go but it hasn''t been dry enough)
Replace the sink faucets in both bathrooms

We want to:
put in crown molding in the bedrooms, the kitchen, and the bathrooms
Change the orientation of our kitchen cabinets and install a dishwasher
Replace the countertops
Insulate the breezeway between our house and the garage
Redo our laundry room which was formerly a kitchen (in-law suite).
Refinish our floors
Convert the half bath into a 3/5 or full bath
Put a half or 3/4 bath in the basement

 

[musincy]

Your to-do lists are making me feel better about what we still need to do! Although, if I really thought about it, our''s could probably be just as long...

We need/want to:
-Put on a new roof
-Replace the windows
-Put hardwood floors in the kitchen and foyer
-Put some kind of flooring in the unfinished part of our basement
-Put in an attic fan (the second level of our house is HOT!)
-Finish painting a few rooms/ceilings
-Update the landscaping (meaning... take out everything and start from scratch)
-Have our air ducts cleaned

Since we moved in in June, we''ve cleaned the carpets, painted some of the rooms, refinished the kitchen cabinets, gotten rid of some seriously gross cat smells in the basement (I don''t know what the previous owners used to cover that up when we bought the place...), started doing some landscape cleanup, ran cable to the upstairs level, replaced carbon monoxide and smoke alarms

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 8/10/2009 11:25:40 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
LOL Our list of things to do is very long too...


We need to:

Have a new roof put on (full tear-off/repair of a few questionable places)

Replace the water spigots outside (front and back outdoor faucets leak)

Update/upgrade out our breaker box (we still use the old screw in glass fuses)

Paint the outside of our house (it''s scraped and ready to go but it hasn''t been dry enough)

Replace the sink faucets in both bathrooms


We want to:

put in crown molding in the bedrooms, the kitchen, and the bathrooms

Change the orientation of our kitchen cabinets and install a dishwasher

Replace the countertops

Insulate the breezeway between our house and the garage

Redo our laundry room which was formerly a kitchen (in-law suite).

Refinish our floors

Convert the half bath into a 3/5 or full bath

Put a half or 3/4 bath in the basement

Oh, I forgot to add in the wants list, we want to put in central air. We''ve already got the duct work in the house, we just need to get the compressor system. Our Sister/BIL have an attic fan and OMG it''s awesome! I wish we could have one, but our house isn''t really set up for it (crawl space is in the closet of a guest room.

 

[musincy]

Date: 8/10/2009 2:07:01 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk

Date: 8/10/2009 11:25:40 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
LOL Our list of things to do is very long too...


We need to:

Have a new roof put on (full tear-off/repair of a few questionable places)

Replace the water spigots outside (front and back outdoor faucets leak)

Update/upgrade out our breaker box (we still use the old screw in glass fuses)

Paint the outside of our house (it''s scraped and ready to go but it hasn''t been dry enough)

Replace the sink faucets in both bathrooms


We want to:

put in crown molding in the bedrooms, the kitchen, and the bathrooms

Change the orientation of our kitchen cabinets and install a dishwasher

Replace the countertops

Insulate the breezeway between our house and the garage

Redo our laundry room which was formerly a kitchen (in-law suite).

Refinish our floors

Convert the half bath into a 3/5 or full bath

Put a half or 3/4 bath in the basement

Oh, I forgot to add in the wants list, we want to put in central air. We''ve already got the duct work in the house, we just need to get the compressor system. Our Sister/BIL have an attic fan and OMG it''s awesome! I wish we could have one, but our house isn''t really set up for it (crawl space is in the closet of a guest room.

Does the attic fan help keep the upstairs cooler? That''s what we''re hoping for...

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

An Attic fan is a high powered fan in your attic that sucks all the hot air out of your house. My in-laws have a small two story cape and it cools off their entire house.

 

[Clairitek]

Hmm attic fan might be in order for us too! The upstairs of our house gets BEASTLY at night. We have window AC units (and ductwork for heat so we''re with you on the central AC) in our bedroom but it doesn''t do anything for the rest of the house at night.

 

[musincy]

Date: 8/12/2009 8:03:32 PM
Author: Clairitek
Hmm attic fan might be in order for us too! The upstairs of our house gets BEASTLY at night. We have window AC units (and ductwork for heat so we''re with you on the central AC) in our bedroom but it doesn''t do anything for the rest of the house at night.

We do have central AC, and our upstairs is still very warm. We''re going to have our ducts cleaned for other reasons... I wonder if that''ll help any. But we''re certainly going to install either an attic fan or look into improving our attic vent situation.