Master Bathroom Progress

While we've been busy painting downstairs, a steady stream of contractors have been working their magic upstairs in our master bathroom. Here's a quick run-down of what's been going on:

Electrical Progress:
- Added breaker to the electrical box for new whirlpool tub
- Wired and installed an outlet for the new whirlpool tub to plug into
- Added a second electrical outlet to the wall that will be home to our double vanity
- Wired the new air vent (complete with additional light and heater)
- Added a second double-light switch to control the air vent, light and heater (given that there will be four light switches for the bathroom, it may take me a while to figure out which switch does what!)

Plumbing Progress:
- Pipe adjustments were made to the tub/shower area to accommodate the new tub
- The new whirlpool tub was installed
- The previous single-faucet plumbing was split into two faucet connections
- The toilet to floor connection damaged when the old toilet was removed was replaced

Shower Window Upgrade:
- Old, damaged window (that didn't open) was replaced with a brand spanking new window that actually opens

Tile Prep Work
- Cement board was applied to the shower area and the floor

Wall Repair Work
-The wall that was opened up for plumbing work has been patched

Here's some snapshots of the progress:

My dream come true...two faucets!

Drywall repaired around the new faucets.

Our new whirlpool tub in all it's glory!

David couldn't resist testing out the new tub after a long day of working on the house--beer in hand!
He didn't mind having to turn the water on and off with a wrench.

Before: Water damaged wood window that didn't open.
After: Beautiful new vinyl window that will resist water damage and OPENS!

Inspector Poof checking the cement board progress on the floor.

Cement board installed in the shower area.

Next up the drywall repair will be sanded and textured, and the room will be ready for paint! We've picked out a beautiful light blue color and I can't wait to see up on the walls! Stay tuned. :)

Just for fun, here's a comparison of what we started with and what it looks like now. Even the unfinished bathroom looks a million times better than it did before!

More Painting Completed: The Living Room

Next up in the long line of rooms to paint this Summer was the living room. The walls and ceiling started out  the same dirty, tan/beige/yellow, dull color. We couldn't wait to paint the ceiling white which really opened up the room. We painted the walls the same fresh, brighter yellow that we used in the entryway and did some major touch-up to the black trim. Overall the transformation wasn't shockingly huge, but the room looks so much brighter and feels so much more open now!

Here's a glimpse of the new living room followed by some before and after breakdowns:

The entry and stairs have been painted!

Here's what the space looks like now:

A Before & After breakdown:

Click here for the DIY curtains post.

The next step will be to remove the tile flooring and restore the original wood flooring underneath.That will begin as soon as we finish painting the other rooms on the main level.

Marathon Mulching

We had one unit (7.4 yards) of mulch this delivered this past Friday. The before photo doesn't really do justice to how massive the pile of mulch was to begin with--it was as deep as it was wide. And after three days of shoveling, dumping and spreading mulch we only have a few wheel barrows full left.

Adding mulch to the slopes and garden areas was pretty straight forward but the parkways required a lot of work. They were overflowing with dirt, grass and weeds which all had to be removed and both sides of the parkway had to be edged. Unfortunately, the dirt was beyond rock-hard and even the edger we borrowed from our neighbor wouldn't make a dent in it. David ended up using a shovel and some serious brute strength to get the edging done. One shovel broken in half mid-way through the job! That gives you an idea of how hard the dirt was (or how crappy our shovel was).

The "pile" -- before and after

David edging the parkway right before the shovel broke.

The mulching is done!!

The last two pieces of the puzzle in the back yard are adding the veggie garden and extending the fence all the way to the retaining wall.

We used the left over mulch to cover all the garden areas including this newly landscaped spot.

After much manual labor, our yard finally looks presentable! We lost count of how many neighbors and passer-bys stopped to comment on how great the place looks. It's always nice to hear that others are enjoying the fruits of our labor as much as we are.

The final phase of landscaping is to plant the laurel hedge. That should be delivered and planted very soon (famous last words...)!