Wonderful White

Our cabinets are complete!!  Can you tell that I am thrilled?!  

When we bought our house, the cabinets were a dark brown wood (original from 1971).  Since replacing the cabinets was not in the budget, we chose to paint them white and put some modern hardware on them to update the look.  Painting cabinets is not an easy, quick process (especially when your Dad is a painting contractor and likes everything to be done properly.... lucky us!)

This weekend my Dad replaced all the hinges and installed the new hardware.  Want to see?

Here is the kitchen when we first bought it.  Notice the dark, outdated cabinets.

TAA-DAAA!!!! Obviously, the floors are ripped out and there is a lot of work to do in the kitchen (new counters, perhaps?!)  However, in my opinion, the white cabinets really brighten up and instantly modernize the kitchen.  I love it!

Do you like our choice of pulls?  It's called the European pull.  Nick and I both love the sleek, modern look.  

                                        This is what the pantry looked like before....

                                And.... the final product!  So much better, right?

Our next project for the kitchen is granite counter tops.  Now that the cabinets are white and pretty.... the yellow tile/brown grout counter top is a major eyesore!!

Can We Get a Pocket Door?!

It's the little things in the house remodeling process that excite us!  This past weekend Operation: Pocket Door was completed!

We are excited to have a door that separates our bedroom and bathroom!  You can read about the first half of the project (beer cans and all) HERE.

Day two of the project included framing the door area, shaving down the door to size, and installing the door.  

Check it out!

 Success!!

The space to the left of the door will be made into a complete wall eventually.  We also installed a a stainless steel pocket door handle.  

One door down... one step closer to moving into our home!

Vanity Fair

There are so many components that go into remodeling the house.  Naturally, my favorite part is the shopping and picking out the pretty pieces!  Lucky for me, my husband trusts me and gives me lots of freedom in this area; we have pretty similar taste which makes life easy!  

Our bathroom desperately needed a new vanity.  The old vanity, although in good condition, was outdated and not our style.  We have been searching store and after store for "the one" without much luck.  Our "must-haves" were a double sink, adequate drawer/cupboard space, a modern look, and a marble or granite counter top.

We finally found our perfect vanity.  We both love it and can't wait until it is delivered on our door step in a couple weeks (all 800 pounds of it... wow!)

We found it at none other than trusty, old, COSTCO.  I am thrilled that we found it at Costco for several reasons.  

1.) They have an excellent return policy.

2.) They deliver for FREE (even an 800 pound item).

3.) We can charge it to our American Express and receive a 3% kickback in February (yes please!)

4.) I like Costco in general and am happy to support their corporation.

                      Here is the vanity that was in the original bathroom:

 

Original Vanity

           

              Vanity no more..... (our backyard currently looks a little white trashy!)

                                            This is where the new vanity will be!



                                                                      

 

Here she is!!!  The beautiful new vanity!  Can't wait until it's delivered!

Shower Progress

It was another weekend of productive housework at the Klaus house!  I have to start off by giving a huge shout-out to my incredible husband.  This man works 9-10 hours days Monday-Friday and then puts in a solid eight hours on Saturday and Sunday on our house.  What a stud.  I couldn't be more thankful for him and all his hard work and drive. 

This weekend, Nick spent a lot of time working on our master bathroom.  The master bathroom has been by far the biggest project in the whole house.  We decided to gut the entire bathroom and start over.  The whole bathroom was out of date and needed a major facelift. 

The biggest job in the bathroom was the shower.  So far, here is what we have done:

We tore our the existing shower and cut into the hallway heater closet in order to expand the shower.  This enabled us to gain a total of 12 inches in length and 8 inches in depth.  We also tore out the false ceiling which makes a huge difference!  The ceiling of the shower is now the same height as the rest of the bathroom.  We had a contractor come in last week and "frame" the shower with wood.  Next step is waterproof sheet rock.... and then TILE!  

 Shower before: See the false wall above the shower?  We tore it out!  The taller the better!

 Shower before: Notice how small the shower is.  Our new shower goes 8 inches deeper and is 12 inches longer. 

 Current shower: You can see the wall we took out between the shower and heater closet.  This photo was taken from our hallway on the other side of the heater closet! 

Current shower: It is hard to tell, but this is the shower framed with wood.  All we need to do now is plumb the new faucets, install the sheet rock, and have our tile guy come out and work his magic!

One day at a time!  We are slowly, but surely getting there.  We are getting excited!

Cardboard and Sharpies

All you need is love.....

It's a slow going process... remodeling a 1971 home (not just a little remodel, a full-out, big one), while working full time jobs, trying to balance it all!

Sometimes, you just need a little reminder that you'll get there and that it will all be worth it.

That's what amazing husbands are for.

Earlier tonight, Nick asked me to meet him at the house after work to go over some plans for our electrical outlets and switches.  I went, we discussed, we decided, and got ready to leave.  

On the way out, he lead me through the living room, and much to my surprise was the sweetest little gift.  

Our torn-up, no-where-near ready fireplace had a "roaring" Sharpie fire.  Hanging above our fireplace was one of my favorite pictures from our wedding.  

And just like that... I remembered, it's our home.  Undone, dusty, torn-up, not ready... but it's still OUR home.  

Can't wait to move in with my sweetheart.  We are going to create so many lovely, fun memories in the years to come.  

Tonight was my reminder that we have already started creating those memories together!

Wall Scraps and Beer Cans

Another weekend, another house project!   This weekend we (meaning my husband), started a new project.  We have been continuously working on our new master bathroom.  New vanity, new shower, new toilet, new floors... basically new everything!  

One thing that we felt was missing from the bathroom was a door.  The bathroom opens up right into the bedroom.  This wouldn't be a big problem if we were always up at the same hours.  However, during the summer, I am off work and I definitely enjoy my sleep-in time.  Also, Nick often stays up later than I do some nights, and when he goes to bed, I don't particularly love hearing him brush his teeth, shower, etc while I'm trying to sleep.  Needless to say, we wanted a door separating the bedroom and master bathroom.  

We decided to go with a pocket door because it wouldn't infringe on our bedroom and could be neatly tucked out of site whenever needed.  

Nick started working on installing it this weekend.  As with pretty much every project thus far... there were little funny things that happened and memories that I just had to capture.  I have decided that building codes and work regulations were a little different in the 1970's....!

The opening is where the pocket door will go.  The little half wall on the left side will be built up to create a solid wall.  

           Nick cutting into the wall in order to install the pocket door.  

                          Wall gone, lots of beams to remove!  

Apparently in the 1970's, contractors decided to leave scraps of sheetrock INSIDE the walls.  Guess it cut down on expensive dumping material costs?!  We joked that it makes for a nice, cheap sound barrier!  Our neighbor that remodeled his house said that most home build in the 70's have stuff in the walls... they found the same thing in their house too!

Look at that!  In between all that sheetrock... we found an antique beer can!  Perfect condition... it's just been hanging out in our bedroom wall for the past 41 years!  So... apparently, crew members were allowed to drink on the job.. OR someone decided to secretly hydrate themselves while the boss was in the other room.  What do you think??

Anyone recognize this type of beer?  Nick wants to keep it.  Who knows, maybe a perfect beer can from '71 is a collector's item.  We are hoping that someone will pay us 10K for it and pay for our whole bathroom remodel!?  Any takers?

Beams removed.  Next step: Remove header and install the pocket door.  I'll be sure to update with photos once it's complete!  

Since it's Sunday, we are resting and not working on the house today :)  Instead, after church, we drove around to Open Houses in the areas and looked around for ideas.  So much more fun attending Open Houses when you are not actually in the market for a house!

Leveling Things Out

Big progress in the Klaus home this week!  

We have done most of the "grunt" work that we can on our own.  We are at the phase where we are hiring out for certain things.  Even though Nick can do most of the house work on his own.... we had to weigh out our personal sanity and time.  So, we decided to hire for certain projects.  

The first was one our sub floor in the living room.  Apparently in 1971, sunken rooms were popular!  Our living room and family room are both sunken with one stair leading into them.  The family room has a slider door which makes it very difficult and costly to raise it.  However, we decided to raise the floor in the living room.  

We have a long time family friend named Jerry who we hired.  TOTALLY worth the expense.  He completed the whole project in about seven hours and it looks amazing!!  It makes the whole area feel so much bigger.  Next week Jerry will be framing our new shower and new bathroom door.  Things are getting exciting and it's starting to feel more and more like OUR home!

BEFORE: Notice the step down on the left?  There was also a step down on the other side of the room by the entry. 

 

Beginning the sub floor building process.  It was a complicated job because the floor had an half inch discrepancy from one side to the other (due to the Earth settling over the years).  When they built the sub floor they made sure to even it out.  Hooray!

                                                           Half way done....

Complete!!  It makes our living room and dining room feel so much bigger.  I can't wait to see it with the new floors!

                                                   View from the dining room.

We're getting excited!  In the meantime, life is great at our parent's house.  They have completely, absolutely, ridiculously spoiled us.  We came home from work today and found our sheets cleaned and changed, our laundry washed and folded.... and dinner on the table.. even though they were out for the evening (see below).  Wow!!

Even though we are excited to move into OUR very own house... we sure have loved this special time with Mom and Dad!!

Black Widows and Claustrophobia

This past weekend, my husband did a job on the house that he had been putting off for a couple weeks.  He had been putting it off because nothing about the job was fun!  Since we are building up the sub floor in our living room and rebuilding one of our fireplaces, he had to move the gas line.  In order to do so, he had to climb under the house, move the line, fish it through a new hole, connect an extension, etc.  I pretend that I understand it all, but I really don't.  All I know is that it needs to be done and he is awesome for doing it!

He has climbed under our house a few times for various reasons, but this time was for a long period of time and he had to carry under a few tools with him.  Yuck!  Since owning and remodeling a house is certainly not all glamorous, I figured I should document his adventures.  

Ladies and Gentlemen.  This is not a job for those with claustrophobia!  See that opening???  It is no deeper once inside!!  My heart starts beating quickly just thinking about it!  He wiggled he way through rotating from his back to his stomach.  Sometimes there were areas that were not deep enough.  So, he pulled out his shovel and bucket, moved dirt aside and created a path for himself.  

I get very concerned when he is under the house.  I pace, I sweat, and I worry. I even cleaned the toilet while he was under there to keep myself busy.  Did I mention that cleaning the toilet is one of my least favorite chores??  

It drives him crazy when I worry and periodically yell, "Are you still okay?!"  or "Are you alive under there?"  So he came up with a code to help me.  He told me if he banged on the floor repeatedly and very loudly, then something was wrong.  That of course panicked me more because... what am I supposed to do if something is wrong??!?!  Cut a hole in the floor?  He didn't have a good answer for me.  The second code was if he banged three loud bangs, he ran into a rat or something gross.

You can probably not imagine me during his 30 minute period under there.  I was vigorously scrubbing the toilet, jumping at every little noise.  Luckily, he came out after awhile and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. However, he was quite annoyed!  He promptly explained that he would never go under there again without a large can of bug killer spray.  He encounter two large black widows!!  Gag!  My husband does not like spiders one bit.  

What can I say?  He is my hero.  Truly incredible.  Unfortunately, he got out of there so quickly... that he left some tools under there.  So off to the store we go.... to buy a big bottle of BUG KILLER SPRAY.