Category: - WHERE MY MIND WONDERS

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7/23/2020

office

demo and
progress

With all the projects we have lined up for the house there was one I wanted to start rather quickly. My closet! While we have decent storage in the house there is not much room for clothes. So we decided to take the second bedroom on the first level and turn it into a small walk in closet/ office for me :-)

Above and below: Before images

CONCEPT

The main goal of this space was additional closet storage, since IKEA had just opened when we moved into the house we thought it would be the least expensive way to add storage.

LET THE DEMO BEGIN!

We already knew the existing hardwood floors were under the carpet so bye bye maroon carpet! And within the first 24 hours of being in the house, bye bye to this little closet. Which exposed a lot more. Welcome to the wall that will stay exposed for the next 6 years :-)

The walls got a fresh coat of paint and Jeff started the
wonderful task of sanding the floors

We went through a number of wood stains... wanted grey but came to find out because we have red oak as the base the grey would always have a red undertone. So we ended up selecting a brown stain.

CABINETS

We purchased the PAX wardrobe system from IKEA.

Cabinets put together!

To give the cabinets a more built in look we lifted the boxes so the baseboards could wrap around the cabinets.

Here is the wall that stayed exposed for all those years :-)
Once we replaced the main cast iron vent stack the wall could be closed up.

WHAT'S NEXT

Baseboards are in, another round of fresh paint, existing doors were sanded and stained, clearly a few new Iphone cameras later, and we are back to a blank canvas! This room has been under construction since we moved in... which was 2013. So happy to have this room in a good spot!

To complete the built in look Jeff built and painted boxes to make it look like the cabinets went to the ceiling.

Next up, completed cabinets, lighting and furniture!

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7/7/2020

BASEMENT
BATHROOM

Complete...
Almost

Long gone are the laminate tiles and pink flowers!
Welcome to our remodeled basement bathroom!

Below: A reminder of the before

All of our final selections are listed below with
links to where we purchased from!

For this bathroom we wanted something clean and modern, but we also didn't want to ignore that the home was built in the early 1940's. So we went with a modern look and some traditional touches.

The carpet just outside this bathroom is grey, but when placed next to cooler grays it looks beige. To help tie the two rooms together, we chose the above tile from Floor and Decor because we liked the larger pattern and it had the perfect combo of both warm and cool tones.

We didn't want to make things any more difficult then they already were so we decided on this vanity from Home Depot. We like the traditional detailing and the counter top and sink were included, eliminating the need for us to
hire a slab fabricator!

A simple faucet was picked for the sink and we reused our existing toilet. We chose a wood mirror to help bring some warmth in the room and because we had limited height a narrow wall sconce was selected for over the mirror.

Above: We had some additional wall space so Jeff built in some open shelves. Besides the floor tile, this is one of my favorite parts of this room. Helps give a little added character and color to the space!

Below: this is what I mean by almost complete! I mentioned in an earlier blog post that we decided to take over a portion of the laundry room for the new shower. There are a lot of things my husband is comfortable doing but moving gas lines are not one of them! So till we get someone hired to move it,
the new shower shall wait.

1. Wall Sconce: Branches 2 Light from Kichler Lighting.
Purchased through FUSION light and design
2. Wood mirror: We purchased this from Target on clearance for $40 (score!) so I couldn't find an original link :-(
3 . Vanity: Aberdeen Vanity from Home Depot
4. Faucet: Miseno Faucet from Lowe's
5. Floor Stone Tile: Bianco Orion stone floor mosaic was
purchased from Floor and Decor.
6. Denver Skyline Watercolor: If you don't know Kelsey yet, you should! Local to Denver, Kelsey does some beautiful watercolors.
Check out her Etsy page HERE.
7. Denver Art Museum: Ok I had to stick one of my own in there :-)
8. Clock: Was my Grandma's, got in a white elephant gift exchange
9. Low Vase: A gift from some good friends and
the flowers are from Dollar Tree!
10. Apothecary Jars - this set of 3 glass apothecary jars were purchased from Amazon as additional storage and decor for our open shelves.
11. Baskets - the four pack of black and grey baskets were purchased from Amazon to carry the black of the vanity to the open shelving and provide some additional hidden storage.
12. Bath Bombs - For decor and to add a nice scent to the room these inexpensive bath bombs were purchased from Target.
13. Weather Photos (over the toilet): Because we have to sneak in tornadoes whenever we get a chance :-)

So, how did we get here! Lets catch up a bit!

Last we left we were ready to start our final finishes.

Our stone flooring was purchased from Floor and Decor

Because there were a few pieces with too much yellow in them we went through each piece individually to remove any pieces we didn't like. And we did a test run with a portion of the bathroom to make sure we liked it!

Pieces were cut and laid out with Jeff's own little coding system to make sure they went back in the right spot.

Tile is in and we are ready for trim!

Above Right: Unloading the new vanity, don't worry I helped, but of
course had to get a picture first :-)

And we back to the completed bathroom!

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5/27/2020

Basement
bathroom

Home Reno
Demo

Most of the homes that we looked at had very low ceilings, and even lower where the heating and cooling ducts needed to run. So we were pleasantly surprised when we walked into this basement and Jeff didn't hit his head!

We could have easily only done some cosmetic updates but adjacent to the bathroom is a large laundry room. We decide taking some of that square footage and using it for a guest shower was a better use of space.

Proposed Layout

Let demo begin!!

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4/6/2020

backyard progress

Home
Reno

PROGRESS UPDATE #1
I posted about the backyard waaaaay back in 2017 and with the Spring tease in full swing here is a quick backyard recap! This is the area I have been the most excited about updating. We started working on the backyard in 2017 but last two summers we made some great progress!

BEFORE
The backyard was one of the main features that attracted us to the house. Sadly one of the first steps we had to take was to remove a few trees. Fast growing roots headed towards the house wasn't worth the risk!

DEMO
Awnings were only held up by two nails, which made removal easy! The trees were another story. To save some money my husband spent a full weekend tediously sawing the roots so they could be removed and ground quickly by a professional crew.

PREP
Once the trees were removed and scraps of the awning were recycled, prep for sod and mulch began. The ground was leveled and the tree roots were ground and placed through the yard as fertilizer. Again to save, my husband rented a rototiller from a local shop to do the work himself. (think his arms are still tired!)

We sectioned off the areas we wanted sod and laid weed barrier where we wanted plantings. Sod was laid Memorial Day weekend 2017 and besides the spots from the new additional of a dog to the family, sod is doing great!

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6/5/2017

bACKYARD PROGRESS!

Home Reno

Been a while since we posted a home renovation update and the nicer weather has pushed us outside! Below are some before and progress shots of our backyard work. Next up, shed, trees and trellis!

Above: Current updates!

Above: Before
Sadly we had to remove the trees. While they were beautiful & gave us great shade, they were fast growing & we couldn't take the risk of roots growing into our sewer lines

10/22/2016

Sweet Dreams

before and after

As we continue work on the basement...an update on the upstairs!

With in the first few hours of closing on our house we removed all the carpet in the upstairs to expose the original wood floors. From there is was just a simple 6 months of floor refinishing and a fresh coat of paint! ;-)

Below: Floors are finished and walls are painted.

We had a hard time deciding on a light, so we photoshoped in our favorites to make the final decision.

The final product!

Floors: Sanded and stained by Jeff
Trim: New baseboards installed by Jeff
Mirrors: purchased at Walmart, custom frames made by Jeff
Lighting: Quoizel, purchased from FUSION Light and Design
Nightstand: The Arch, $10 each!
Pillows: Target
Bedding: Ikea
Vases: Wedding present
Doors: Original, painted black

5/22/2016

Front
Yard

Before & After

Three years in the making... and we have sod!

Since refinishing the floors was the priority project the front yard took a back seat till summer of 2014. We (Jeff) removed the willows trees, shrubs and cleaned up the front yard. New edging and mulch started to bring some color back to the front. Spring 2016, irrigation and sod!

Next up plants, trim, and some help for those entry stairs!!

Image gallery of progress yard work...

2/22/2015

Bathroom
Quick Fix

Before & After

Since we have many more projects we would like to tackle before remodeling the updates bathroom, I decided to make a few quick and easy updates to hold us over!

1. New wall sconces - Schoolhouse Electric L Sconce
2. Painted walls and tile- Benjamin Moore White Dove
3. Painted ceiling - Rust - Oleum Black
4. Towel bar - 18" bar, Home Depot, spray painted Rust- Oleum Metallic
5. New shower curtain and shower rod
6. Mirror
7. Art work
8. Boxes for storage
9. Embroidered hand towel - by Sew What Embroidery

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6/8/2014

Refurbishing
Doors

Before & After

One of the biggest hidden tasks we are taking on in our home, is to refurbish the doors. All the doors on the top floor match and for the most part were in great shape. We have 6 doors total (not including the front door) that we are planning to refurbish. 2 down, 4 to go!

We have doors that are both stained with a clear glossy sealer (above left) and painted (above right). We started with Ready Strip, an all purpose stripper that you can buy at any hardware store. It worked great on the first round so we have stuck with it.

We removed the doors from inside, took off all the hardware and followed the general directions of the Ready Strip. We applied the stripper at first with a thin coat, but found that a heavier coat (especially on the painted doors) was easier to remove. Once the stripper is applied and sits for a few hours (above left) you can come in with a putty knife to remove the sealer and paint (above right). The stained doors only took one coat to remove the glossy sealer, but because there were a number of the different painted layers, the painted doors took about 4 applications.

Once the sealer was removed, we sanded the doors down to clean up an nicks and scratches (above). Any major nicks were filled with wood filler and sanded down. We started with 60 grit sand paper to remove the remaining stain, then 100, and 220 for a final smooth finish. (120 would work as well).

Tips:
1. This was more time consuming then I thought it would be. I was planning to remove one door, have it finished and back up the same day. While this can definitely be done, because the stripper needs to sit for a few hours and the painted doors need a few applications, one door took a few days.
2. If the stripper is applied and is left for more then about 12 hours, it tends to dry out. This isn't a big deal, all you need to do is wet the door down with a spray bottle of water.
2. Once most of the stripper is removed we went back in with a wet cloth to remove as much of the access film as we could. A bristle brush is also useful to help remove the stripper from the corners.
3. I started to sand relatively quickly after removing the stripper and found it quickly gummed up the sander. Instead I let the door dry overnight and sanding was much easier.
4. If any of your doors need additional wood filler, plan for them to sit overnight once again. Leaving time for the wood filler to dry before sanding.

Some may ask why strip the paint and stain from the doors at all. While this was more time consuming then I thought it would be, it was worth removing the clear sealer because the final paint would not have adhered as nicely or at all to the glossy finish. Because painted doors take paint differently then an exposed wood, to make sure all the doors stayed cohesive, we had to strip the painted doors as well.

All in all we are extremely happily with the final door, which you can see below!

1/19/2014

home
reno

Office/ Closet

With all the projects we have lined up for the house there was one I wanted to start rather quickly. My closet! While we have decent storage in the house there is not much room for clothes. We decided to take the second bedroom on the first level and turn it into a small walk in closet/ office. After many hours online and looking at magazines, the above sketch and concept images below are part of the proposed design!

1. Desk Inspiration - West Elm
2. Eiffel Chair - Baxton Studios (Amazon)
3. Black File Cabinet - Wayfair
4. Pencil Holder - Anthropologie
5. Isaac 1 Light Pendant - School House Electric
6. Disney Records - Ragtime Annies Antiques (Wheat Ridge, CO 80033)
7. Shelves - Ikea
8. Disney Phone - Ragtime Annies Antiques (Wheat Ridge, CO 80033)

Before Images

Progress Images