Completed Master Bathroom

Finally!!! The vanity and tub have been finished for a while now, but we've been saving up for the shower glass. With all of this renovation it was very important to us to pay cash and not incur a lot of debt. So a year without a shower was a small price to pay. The glass was installed last week and we have been so happy with it!! I love the river rock floor and it doesn't hurt my feet. I've had lots of people ask me about that. Here are a few pictures of the finished product.I love the natural sunlight coming in but couldn't risk giving the neighbors a peep show so we frosted the window. At first we used this spray on frost but soon learned it didn't hold up when it got wet. So we ended up using the frosted window film which was surprisingly easy to install. It works like a charm!The vanities turned out great as well. I'm so thankful we decided to take down the extra large, cover the entire wall mirror and replace it with individual mirrors. I found these at Walmart for $35 each which was a steal! My next project is to find an old vanity stool to paint and recover. I've hit just about every antique store in the area.

Kitchen With New Lights

The last thing we had left to do in the kitchen was change the florescent lights and move a light. Well, we waited and waited while Jason educated himself on electrical work until I finally convinced him to hire someone. It was the BEST decision!! They were in and out in a day and no one got hurt. We (or should I say I) have learned that anything having to do with plumbing or electrical needs to be left to the professionals.This is the before with florescent lights. We replaced them with can lights (which I LOVE) and moved the other light. We needed one centered over our table. And here's the after...

Winterize Your Home

I haven't updated our blog in forever! Over the winter months we took a little break from renovations. There were a few things we did to help insulate the house. Jason caulked just about everywhere he could. He insulated the garage door by using construction foam glue to glue XPS Rigid Foam Board insulation to the door. You would be surprised at how much cold air was coming in through the laundry room via the garage. If you decide to do this on your own I will say that the insulation added weight to the garage door and it wouldn't open. We had to call the company and have them come out to re-calibrate the door. Not a big problem but definitely not expected. So you can learn from our mistakes!We added weather stripping to the bottom of all the exterior doors. This helped with the cold draft.

The change that made the biggest impact was in our master bedroom closet. We noticed that it was extremely cold this winter. On each side of the closet we have these little doors that lead to extra storage. Jason noticed that the storage areas weren't insulated and were on the exterior of the house. So he insulated the storage areas and added lights. Eventually we will sheet rock and carpet the space so we can store totes and luggage in it. But for now the insulation was a HUGE help. Our closet is no longer freezing cold!

One last change we made was to the attic door in Olivia's bedroom. Don't have a clue why they would put the access to the attic in a bedroom, but oh well. We noticed that her bedroom was colder than the others so Jason decided to try insulating the door to keep heat from escaping.

He used 1x4's and plywood to build a "box" inside the attic door. To enter the attic you simply push the box up. It's attached with piano hinges. The box is insulated with batt insulation on the attic side and XPS insulation around the 2x4 frame that it sits on. He sealed where those two meet with foam weather stripping.