One of things Hank and I are most excited about are the bathrooms. We knew we wanted to go with white to keep the bathrooms looking as "clean" and "crisp" as possible. Also, down the road when we feel they need a "facelift", we can always change the look through new paint and accessories. Hoping to keep the old fashioned or vintage look of the house, we've chosen hexagon tiles for the floors, subway tiles for the shower and wainscoting for the walls (to cover the concrete portions). We found a few pictures to give us some ideas... hopefully the bathrooms will turn out right. The tile is going in this week and next week. We'll get to see some of the results this weekend..... super excited!!!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Kitchen demo
Well..... HANK was supposed to post this, but he's not cooperating... so here I go...
YUCKY! Yucky, yucky, yucky. The kitchen was just nasty. Filthy. The cabinets were old and let me say again, filthy. The floor was layer upon layer of linoleum. The pantry door was a bi-folding door that had been "rigged" to not fold anymore and had wheels attached to the bottom of it so it would swing in and out... well, roll in and out? Does that make sense? Guess you had to see it... Anyway, we knew none of this was really an issue... we wanted to rip it all out and replace it. We budgeted for this, so it wasn't really an issue. When we decided the kitchen demo day arrived.... I started feeling really bad for Hank. The cabinets, however old they were, had been built into the kitchen walls.... literally. To take them out was basically taking them out in one piece. I cannot begin to tell you how heavy they were. Some parts of them smelled like fat lighter. (With some of the wiring that needs to be done in the kitchen, I guess that wouldn't have been a good combo.)
We originally hoped the linoleum would come up and we could refinish the red oak floors underneath to match the rest of the house. We even thought if we didn't want to deal with the "refinishing", we would paint the floors... but still have the great look of the thin slats of wood in the kitchen and breakfast nook/butler's pantry. Well, as we wrestled... (Ok... so I wrestled to keep it out of Hank's way... obedient wife) ... with the linoleum, while Hank ripped it up, we started to realize our floor plans were changing. There was a third layer of linoleum tiles that had been applied straight to a tar vapor barrier... ON TOP of our red oak floors. :( It took a while on our hands an knees scraping/chipping those up. The floors must have been beautiful once. It even shows in some spots where they are still a great color, etc. But overall, they are just ruined. We're having to go with tile.... they are being laid as we speak... errr... type.
We are still deciding whether or not we want a glass tile backsplash. We also are having our cabinets custom made... which we're really excited about! They will be red oak with a light stain on them. We still have some old paneling to pull down around the pantry and put sheetrock up and some crown molding to replace. At least the major work has been done in there so far...
And here is the floor ready for tile:
YUCKY! Yucky, yucky, yucky. The kitchen was just nasty. Filthy. The cabinets were old and let me say again, filthy. The floor was layer upon layer of linoleum. The pantry door was a bi-folding door that had been "rigged" to not fold anymore and had wheels attached to the bottom of it so it would swing in and out... well, roll in and out? Does that make sense? Guess you had to see it... Anyway, we knew none of this was really an issue... we wanted to rip it all out and replace it. We budgeted for this, so it wasn't really an issue. When we decided the kitchen demo day arrived.... I started feeling really bad for Hank. The cabinets, however old they were, had been built into the kitchen walls.... literally. To take them out was basically taking them out in one piece. I cannot begin to tell you how heavy they were. Some parts of them smelled like fat lighter. (With some of the wiring that needs to be done in the kitchen, I guess that wouldn't have been a good combo.)
We originally hoped the linoleum would come up and we could refinish the red oak floors underneath to match the rest of the house. We even thought if we didn't want to deal with the "refinishing", we would paint the floors... but still have the great look of the thin slats of wood in the kitchen and breakfast nook/butler's pantry. Well, as we wrestled... (Ok... so I wrestled to keep it out of Hank's way... obedient wife) ... with the linoleum, while Hank ripped it up, we started to realize our floor plans were changing. There was a third layer of linoleum tiles that had been applied straight to a tar vapor barrier... ON TOP of our red oak floors. :( It took a while on our hands an knees scraping/chipping those up. The floors must have been beautiful once. It even shows in some spots where they are still a great color, etc. But overall, they are just ruined. We're having to go with tile.... they are being laid as we speak... errr... type.
We are still deciding whether or not we want a glass tile backsplash. We also are having our cabinets custom made... which we're really excited about! They will be red oak with a light stain on them. We still have some old paneling to pull down around the pantry and put sheetrock up and some crown molding to replace. At least the major work has been done in there so far...
And here is the floor ready for tile:
Friday, March 12, 2010
A Step Back in Time
While we were cleaning up the Hall Bath from it's "wall destruction", we came across this piece of newspaper... stuck to the concrete. It's as though they were using newspapers from Thomasville as part of their vapor barrier while doing the concrete walls. It's funny... that 73 years later... in March... we're re-doing the bathroom. Seventy Three years ago... in March.... they were starting it. A little step back in time.... :)
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Hall bathroom demo
We have pulled off all the original sheetrock. The walls were not the traditional plaster, but instead a sheetrock with hardcoat on them. The lower half of the walls are a concrete wall... which we decided to keep. They have stood the test of time thus far and will be the best moisture barrier to last another 75 yrs. Hank spent hours and hours on his hands and knees with an air chisel chipping away the tile floor. We were determined to get rid of it and have the new tile flush with the hardwood over the thresholds. It will be well worth it!!! (sorry Hank) The tub still has to be taken out...
Bathrooms "Before"
Here are our bathrooms "Before" pictures. They are the original tubs, small art deco tile and weight sash windows. UGLY
*click on pictures to see more detail
*click on pictures to see more detail
Sunday, March 7, 2010
New House
Can you say meant to be? We found this house in Cairo while looking at some property. When we drove past it we both took a double take. Approximately a year late we saw it on the internet for sale. We placed a bid, they accepted, and now we are neck deep in renovations with no signs of slowing down. The house was built in 1935 by an attorney in Cairo. There have been a few upgrades over the years, and structurally the house is in phenomenal shape. The house is 2,800 sq. ft. and has 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, a formal dining room and living room, a kitchen nook, and an extra room that could be considered a den. Our main goals at first are to renovate the kitchen and baths, scrape and paint every single solitary square inch of this place. We will basically have the credentials to be professional painters when we finish this place!! So, please enjoy the pictures, and have fun reveling in our misery as we work ourselves to the bone to create what we hope will be a nice home. :)
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