Remodel Project

Jillian here- Happy October. Bet you thought I’d do a post about my love for Halloween, didn’t you? Well, not today! LOL!

Last year, the hubs and I agreed to no Christmas presents for us since we don’t need “stuff” and, instead, we would remodel our small bathroom. Weirdly, in our house, the master bath only has one of those big sunken tubs with water jets and no shower so we have always taken our showers in the bathroom at the far end of the house. There is another bath that the boys use but we have always used this third one for ourselves for showers. It’s also one of the two rooms–the other is the laundry room–that we have never changed the flooring in (and we have owned this house since Oct, 2000). It’s an awful color, but when I suggested it was past time to tile it, Mr. C said he’d rather do the whole bathroom over. So, that was supposed to be our Christmas present to ourselves. Yes, 10 months ago…

Life took a turn with a cancer diagnosis for Mr. C in February and, as he planned to do the work himself, it had to wait for the procedures and treatments to be done and for him to feel better. He was lucky that he didn’t get too sick, but he was tired all the time and didn’t feel like doing much–which is totally acceptable and understandable.

So, today, we start. He is cutting up the tub and removing it. Here are the “before” shots. And I know, it looks like I need to clean, but I have put it off since we have D-day today. Will do some “afters” when it’s done. Wish me luck as he gets to be a bear when he is laying tile-and he is doing the whole shower wall and floor–he’s a def. perfectionist!! Which is good for the final product, but not so good for his mood while it’s happening. 🙂

The three little words my husband dreads to hear…

For the first time in what seems like months, the Joneses house is relatively dust-free having come through what AJ jokingly calls phase one of our refurbishment/redecoration plans. He has threatened to send me back to work as, since retiring last year, I keep coming up with ideas for the house. He says the words he dreads to hear are “I’ve been thinking…”

Hmm, maybe I have been thinking quite a lot recently, but it’s such fun 🙂

Since August last year we’ve had the bedrooms, landing and hallway redecorated and new carpets fitted. We also decided to do something about the living room floor’s stripped floorboards which had seen better days. With last winter being sooooo cold, we noticed there were several gaps between the boards causing draughts. After much deliberation, we decided to have a new wooden floor laid by local fitters. AJ wanted it laid on the diagonal but I wasn’t too sure. I’m very pleased he managed to persuade me because I love the result.

In the way of things, it left our battered old doors looking very sad, so they were replaced too. All this work was well overdue and mostly the house had been pretty neglected for several years while we were both working.

This week saw completion of the kitchen refurbishment. The kitchen is exactly what I hoped for. We had it completely replaced a few years back, but because we were at work and were unable to supervise the job several things were completed which I hadn’t really wanted. The company who carried out the work went bust shortly after completing our kitchen and we discovered that sub-standard appliances had been fitted which left us with a non-functioning cooker and a sink that looked perpetually grubby despite continued cleaning. Now, thanks to a really great local company, we have new quality appliances, a worktop I am totally in love with, a breakfast bar and extra cupboards. It still needs finishing touches, like window blinds and breakfast stools, but I’m very pleased with it.

Of course, the problem with renovating/redecorating is it soon eats through the bank balance, so I’ve promised AJ to stop thinking for a while so both he and his wallet can recover. I’m not totally ready to be project free though and am planning to start work on the garden next. I want to try my hand at re-laying the patio and have already bought some ready-mix concrete, decorative pebbles and various tools and bits and pieces. Plus, inspired by Kit’s gorgeous and colourful garden, I have a list of bulbs and perennials to plant throughout the garden. All that should keep me busy for a while.

How about you? Do you like refurbishing your home? Hate it? What has been your favourite/least favourite project?

Ditching the Apostrophe T

Okay, this has to be the most boring photo you’ve ever seen, right? But I’m very proud of it myself. You see, this little wall has been stripped, prepared, papered and painted…by moi 🙂

I’ve never tried my hand at wallpapering before and I’m rather pleased with how it’s turned out. Why only one wall? you may ask. Well, we place the puppies’ beds against this wall and the little monkeys had a tendency to lean over and chew the wallpaper when we weren’t looking. Since we’re having a new floor laid next week, I wanted to get this wall redecorated before the fitters arrive. Of course, we’d left it too late to hire the man who usually does our decorating, so I thought, why not? I’m glad I took the plunge.

It made me think about other things I might be able to try my hand at around the house but have always dismissed because I thought I couldn’t. Changing an electric plug, painting the back of the garage wall a deep terracotta shade to give it a Mediterranean feel, resurfacing our pine table and chairs, using the electric drill…the list goes on. So what if trying all these things were as simple as hanging that wallpaper turned out to be? What if it’s as easy as taking a deep breath and thinking ‘I can’ instead of ‘I can’t’ – as easy as dropping that apostrophe T 🙂

Well, riding high from my current success, I’m willing to give some other jobs a try. How about you? When did you drop the apostrophe T and think ‘I can’ instead of ‘I can’t’? How did it turn out?

Now, where’s that electric drill?