R2 Update

He is pretty much finished now, although hi might need a stronger battery (he is running of an old scooter battery)
All painted, and everything works via remote control, including the beep boop sounds!
Only took about 3 days and $35 to get him from a pile of parts in the back of the suburban to a working remote control robot friend.

Pink to White

The guest bath is finished! Actually we still have caulking to do... but it's 99% finished!

When we first moved here we had the opportunity to look at a neighboring townhouse that was for sale (great inspiration!). The biggest difference between this house and that one was actually color and light. Everything was white and bright in the for sale unit, which made it seem fresh and modern. The most transformation comes when we lighten the color and put in brighter lights. So for this bathroom the challenge was to de-pink the space! Since the tile is all pink (and we were't going to remove it), we decided to go WHITE white for everything else and shiny chrome fixtures. I think it worked!

Here's before:

The ceiling, cabinet, and doors were all pink.

This bathroom was certainly more challenging than the other two. There was the leaky faucet to start, the fan install, the huge wall repairs where the ceramic towel bar and toilet paper holder came out, and the really difficult wallpaper! This bathroom was actually re-done at some point, and this pink wallpaper did not want to come off easy. Perhaps the glue in 50 year old wallpaper is more deteriorated? Also, it was two layers thick in places...

Midway:

After:

The beautiful faucet! I can't get over the difference it makes.

This is now my favorite bathroom :)

R2D2 Day 1

I found an R2D2 project on craigslist... fully wired for remote control... mostly built...
needs some wiring, a battery, a lot of painting and assembly...
wish me luck!

for the record

Also, this weekend we went garage sailing... Got ourselves a really cool vintage record player console... In near mint condition. Got some great records last week at thrift stores... Gives the living room a great retro vibe.

Tiled

Just a quick update on home improvements... Put in some replacement tile where the old vanity was..



Before



After

And the grand finale (for now)!

Last but not least, we did a little more work on the master bath.

We decided to change the vanity, which was too large a footprint for such a small bathroom. And we couldn't find any vanities that were smaller...

So pedestal it was!

Again Taylor shined with his plumbing skills! For a guy who doesn't like to read the directions, he still gets it done :) We just ordered the tile for the wall behind the sink (where the vanity used to be), we'll get that in next week.

Previously we had removed the wallpaper and painted the bathroom an off white ivory color. But with the yellow floor tiles and off white shower tiles, the whole room just felt yellowish... I made the executive decision to repaint the whole bathroom! And I'm so glad we did! Now it's an off white blue and contrasts nicely with the yellow and whites.

And last but not least, new shelves! By taking out the vanity we lost what little storage there was. But since the ceilings are so high we figured adding some shelves would do the trick.

Taylor cut all the wood and placed them while I was in charge of painting as usual :)

Swapping out fixtures

Taylor's electrical skills have been improving at a rapid speed! He's been changing light fixtures all over the place! For example, the lovely 60's dangle balls above the vanity in the bedroom:

I have to admit I was a little sad to see them go... but the new lights are more modern and practical for the space, and make the room look bigger! (Please ignore the dusty mirror in the background, haven't got up there to clean yet...)

Next big undertaking is the guest bathroom. It is very much still in progress, but we've (well ok, Taylor) made some improvements. Like the leaky faucet:

5 hours and three hardware store trips later:

Shiny new faucet that doesn't leak!

Taylor also installed new lights and a ventilation fan, with ducting going up through the ceiling and the attic. For some reason he insisted on doing this in one of the 100 degree days, when the attic was likely 120! My job was to fetch him tools and water while he slaved away in the heat. I think I got the better end of the deal :)

Home Improvement: Basement Bathroom

We've been doing lots of bathroom work over the last few weeks.

first completed was the basement bathroom:

We actually painted this one over a month ago, unfortunately we did not take pictures before we removed the wallpaper... So these are with the fresh coat of paint already. The wallpaper was plaid orange and brown to match the floor, so you can try to picture it :)

and after:

Taylor and Sho put in a nice new floor and baseboard trim. Taylor also installed a new light switch with an outlet and rewired everything so the fan and light were on separate switches. Also changed the light fixture.

The new wall color and floor really brightened things up! It looks and feels like a totally different bathroom.