Master Bathroom Transformation

Does your home have a sore spot? Something that really embarrasses you, that you know needs fixing but can’t seem to find the time or money?

Ours has a lot of them. But one of the biggest problems, until this weekend, was our master bathroom. Here it is in its former glory. It’s. So. Blue. But besides aesthetics, there was a bigger problem – it didn’t work. Our master bath had plumbing issues that we couldn’t fix without ripping out the tile, which would then have to be completely re-done, so we’ve had a non-functioning, ugly @$$ master bath for about 2 1/2 years.

So we showered and got ready in our tiny pink guest bath (which itself is starting to have plumbing issues – oh, the joys of home ownership). Finally, enough was enough. We decided that there would never be a “perfect” time – that we’d always feel like there wasn’t enough money. We bit the bullet. Who needs the Property Brothers, anyway?

We found our contractor through a neighbor referral on Nextdoor. He’s kind of old school so he doesn’t have a website, but we couldn’t have been happier with our choice. We moved completely out of our bedroom and soon, renovations were underway. After day 1, it looked like this:

I was beyond happy to see the blue tile gone, but being able to see my attic through the bathroom wall was a little freaky (hello, Christmas decorations). We were both terrified of everything that could go wrong at this point. Would we come home to find a flooded basement? Would the contractor decide to ditch us for a higher paying job?

Luckily none of this happened (save for a “minor” flood in the basement laundry room caused by a leaky pipe). In about 10 days, our awesome contractor was able to complete the following:

• Completely gut the master bathroom, removing all tile, the old foundation, and a whole bunch of mold.
• Make the room bigger. There was an unnecessary wall in the bathroom’s entrance where the only purpose was to conceal a large pipe. The contractor was able to move the pipe and make it smaller/ more modern, so we had more space for storage (although it took some space away from our closet).
• Modernize plumbing for basically the entire house.
• Lay a new foundation and tile (we went with natural stone “Crema” tile)
• Install a shower, vanity, and tall cabinet
• Hook up our master bathroom with all new lighting including recessed ceiling lighting, double sconces around the mirror, and an exhaust fan/light. All with separate controls.
• All the final touches – bead board, paint, etc.

What a difference 10 days has made!

We felt like kings when we could finally use the bathroom again! The FINAL final (hopefully) step will be installing a glass shower door this week, so we’re using a shower curtain.

Between finally having a clean house (which has been covered in dust) and having a functional, pretty bathroom for the first time since we’ve lived here, I am one happy mama.

I plan on adding posts about the design / tile selection process later on. But so far…what do you think?

Property Brothers Casting Saga Continued

About two weeks ago, after a whirlwind application and interview process, casting and production agents from the studio behind Property Brothers visited our home. We were expecting to give them a quick tour of the home and point our problem areas, and have another quick chat like the Skype interview we’d done a few days before with the production company in Canada.

That was not the case. They arrived at our house with cameras and equipment, and they were there for four hours filming b-roll and interviewing us. Yikes!

First, they sat us down in the kitchen and asked us questions (on film) about our “story” and why the home wasn’t working for us any more – we were to work the questions into our responses, which I kept forgetting to do.

They wanted us to act out “scenes” in the house, like us trying to prepare dinner and bumping into each other because the kitchen is too small. We really suck at acting. In one particularly painful scene, I was to pretend I was trying to fit a casserole dish into the oven and it wouldn’t fit. I really, really hope that footage never appears on TV or anywhere else. I don’t need any help looking like an idiot.

After we went around to each room in the house and explained on camera (multiple takes) what wasn’t working for us, we stood outside in the muggy heat for what seemed like eternity trying to shoot one final scene. We were supposed to say “Help us, Property Brothers! Please come to our house!” in unison, but there were a number of challenges including Lucie squirming and screaming to get out of our arms. If the Property Brothers thing doesn’t work out, maybe we can get on Nanny 911…

I’m sure there are plenty of people out there wondering how to apply, and how to get cast on Property Brothers (or similar shows). Even though we’re still not sure if we are going to get cast, I can offer a couple of tips.

• Monitor Facebook for casting opportunities. On the official FB page, they will post announcements saying where they are casting and how to get in touch.

• Have a compelling story. Be prepared to make a case for “why should we pick you?” It does help if your house needs a lot of help, but it’s equally important that you have a good compelling story. One recent episode featured a family whose sons were accepted into a prestigious school, and would lose their spot if the family couldn’t sell their house quickly. Now that is a much more compelling story than ours.
• Expect cameras. When they requested an in-person interview with us, we were not prepared for the cameras because they didn’t mention they would be filming. Just be aware that they’ll use the opportunity to shoot scenes and b-roll – even Skype interview footage is fair game for the show.
• Don’t clean the house too much. That’s one pointer they actually gave us. You want the house to appear cluttered and chaotic – this helps your chances of getting on the show. The downside is that if you do get on TV, you look like complete slobs. But who cares if you get a home makeover out of the deal?
• Have a babysitter ready. Your kid(s) should be present for filming, because they will want scenes with them in it. But there are also scenes that don’t involve them, and i’s extremely difficult to film while they are clamoring for your attention. If we could do it over, I would have had a babysitter there to entertain Lucie.
• Open ALL the blinds/curtains. Turn off the A/C. You’ll want as much light and as little background noise as possible.

We still don’t know whether we’ll get to meet Jonathan and Drew, but the experience was a lot of fun regardless. Has anyone else out there attempted to get cast on a home improvement show, or any reality TV?

This one time we almost got cast on Property Brothers…

Idiots.

After we had Lucie, our DIY progress slowed nearly to a halt. That would kind of explain why I haven’t posted in a while – these days, the biggest projects I’m tackling (at home, at least) are massive piles of laundry and the occasional new recipe.
While our DIY ambition has cooled down, our frustrations with the house have increased. We now have an almost-two-year-old, and a backyard that is still a jungle. Those piles of laundry are not pleasant when you’re working in an unfinished laundry room with no light. Tiny bathrooms, tiny closets…what the Hell were we even thinking when we bought this house?

If this storyline sounds familiar, it’s probably because it’s the same thing nearly every family you see on HGTV is dealing with – they want out of their current situation, and into something more livable. So when my mom sent me a note saying that Property Brothers “Buying and Selling” was casting in Atlanta, I had to send them a note.

The woman responded to my e-mail right away, and I filled out an application where I explained our situation (why we were looking to move, what we would change about our house, etc.) and answered questions about our personalities. We also had to send pictures of every room in the house, and candid photos of all of us.

About a week and a half later, at a happy hour with co-workers, I nearly spit out my chardonnay when I saw the casting person actually wrote back requesting a Skype interview with the whole family. We were able to do the interview on July 4 – because they’re in Canada, it’s just a regular day (hey, it was raining here anyway).

The interview was a bit awkward. Lucie was being loud and throwing temper tantrums. Ken didn’t talk very much. I was trying to be someone I was not (in hindsight, I wouldn’t do that again). When it was over, neither of us expected to hear anything back. This is how I saw the production company’s conversation about us in my head:

Thin, stoic woman wearing pencil skirt: “Yeah, their story isn’t all that compelling. They are kinda boring.”

Stylish Hollywood man with trendy glasses: “What about the house, though? People love a good transformation. And that house is…[laughter].”

Thin, stoic woman wearing pencil skirt: “I still can’t get past the family. I mean, the guy has the rugged good looks and they have a cute baby. But let’s face it – the wife has a mug for radio.”

All: [Laughter]

Thin, stoic woman wearing pencil skirt: “Maybe we could find a stand-in for her.”

Amazingly, it didn’t end there. About an hour after we had wrapped up the Skype interview (and lost all hope), we received a call from the production company. They were sending people to our home the following Monday for an in-person interview…

But it’s late, and this tired mama needs to be getting to bed. I’ll tell you all about our visit in the next post!

It’s getting hot in here…so take off all the doors

It’s been nearly two years since we’ve lived here, and the hall closet has always bothered me. First off, this closet is the first thing you see when you walk in our front door and it isn’t exactly the loveliest thing to behold. The metal doors are straight out of the 70s, and practically rusted to the track. Plus for some silly reason, they didn’t even have knobs. This resulted in a banging/cursing fest pretty much every time I simply needed to grab my jacket and get out the door in the morning.

No need for jackets this weekend, however – with temperatures in the triple digits, we shut ourselves inside all weekend and decided it was a good time to get some projects done around the house. This one was top of mind.

After cleaning out the closet, which had become a dumping ground for anything and everything (who new we had 3 lint brushes, 2 rain ponchos, and 5 coolers) it was time rip off the metal doors and tracks. PEACE OUT!

Then we went ahead and painted the inside walls, ceiling and trim. These may have been the last yellow, mildew-stained walls in the house, and it’s always extremely rewarding to paint those. For the walls, we chose Olympic Timeless Taupe. We were sort of using it as a testing ground for the rest of the living room, which we’re going to have re-painted in the coming months. And the taupe color looks spot on.

We lucked out and found a closet organization system at Wal-Mart for only about $37. It took a little hack saw-ing on Ken’s part to make it fit our closet size, but it definitely works! Especially for organizing all of our many diaper bags and laptop bags.

I bought some pretty spiffy Chevron Pattern curtains from Bed Bath & Beyond, which we plan on installing in place of the closet doors this week.

We should have a triple digit heat wave more often. Maybe we’d get more projects done!

Little miss five-month-old

As promised, here’s a video montage from Lucie’s first five months.

Come On, Get Happy

The holidays (and let’s face it, the past couple of months) have quickly gotten away from us. So how’d we do on those 2011 Home Resolutions? Pretty dang good! I’d say the house has much more personality. The living room is finished. The entire house is furnished. With mostly grown-up furniture.

And, most importantly, we’re becoming more content with the house now that it is shaping up. It’s actually beginning to grow on us.

Since we are a “real” family now, we got into the Christmas spirit much more than the past. We got our first Christmas tree (see last year’s substitute for a laugh), and I put my amateur decorating skills to use.

We had a Griswold moment with our outdoor light display. We inherited several boxes of unopened icicle lights from Ken’s grandmother and, assuming they’d work, didn’t test them before installing. Here were the results:

Lucie had an excellent first Christmas. The best part was spending time with my sister, Josh and their “child” Henry, who drove all the way from Austin. They bought the three of us some awesome personalized stockings from Pottery Barn Kids that are going to be great keepsakes for us.

At her last doctor’s appointment she weighed nearly 15 pounds. She has hit a “learning” growth spurt, as I call it. She has finally discovered what her hands are for, and will reach out and play with objects. She’s particularly fascinated by the mobile we got for her car seat.

Most recently, she has perfected the art of rolling over! I compiled a cute  video to send to my Grandmother, who has never met Lucie – I’ll share it in a second post.

Although I am back at work now (have been since Mid-October) and seem to never have time to straighten up the living room let alone DIY, we’ve got a whole new set of reno-resolutions to get started on. I’ll be sharing our progress as we go!

Lucie Olivia at 6 Weeks

Lucie turned 6 weeks old this week, so I thought it was time to post an update here (my Facebook friends are no doubt sick of being barraged with pictures and updates). She had her one month checkup last week, and everything is looking great! She weighed 9 pounds, 10 ounces, nearly 3 pounds more than her birth weight. Her length and weight were average, but she was in the 97th percentile for head size (we now joke that she has a Stewie head). Here she is at her checkup with Daddy.

She’s developing just like a textbook baby! Her recent accomplishments include: real smiles (sparse, but adorable), a lot more vocalizing / cooing, holding her head steady when upright, and she can kind of sit up when in her Bumbo seat.

We still wish she would sleep a little longer at night, but we’re trying to enjoy every moment, sleeplessness and all. For now, she has a beautiful nursery that she still hasn’t slept in at all – I think we’re going to wait until she’s doing at least 5 hour stretches at night. I have heard this first year goes by fast, and judging by how quickly the past 6 weeks have gone, I certainly believe it.

Basement before & after

Finishing up the basement makeover was our biggest priority before the baby, and we did manage to get it to a good place just in time. I haven’t talked about it much on the blog. I am normally not ashamed of the eyesores in our house; after all, the uglier a room is to start with, the more talented we look when we paint it in a non-headache-inducing color and dub it a “transformation.”

The basement was pretty creepy, though. To the point you just kind of got the heebie jeebies going down there. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. I apologize in advance if you can’t handle my mad photography skills – most people can’t.

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We got our carpet from Carpet Liquidators, who we highly recommend if you’re in the neighborhood. While we still need to finish the staircase and furnish / decorate the space, it’s definitely one of the most rewarding projects we’ve completed so far.

Our best DIY project yet

It’s remarkable what you can make with just a couple things you have lying around the house. Lucie Olivia was born on Wednesday, August 24th at 2:07 a.m. at Northside Hospital. She weighed in at 6 lbs., 13 oz and was 20 inches long. She had a full head of brown hair  (still hanging on to it!) and blue eyes.

Lucie came into the world seemingly hungry for life – very inquisitive, with her eyes wide open for hours. She’s the same way nearly a month later. She’s got an intense stare, like she has so much to say, and seems almost frustrated with her limited mobility as she squirms around constantly.

I used to joke that I wasn’t scared of giving birth, but I was a little scared of having a child. Although our lives are drastically different now, it’s amazing how easily she fit into our lives and how naturally parenthood came for both of us. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that she’s such a good baby.

Right now she’s definitely a “mini me,” and looks exactly like I did when I was a newborn.  It’s been so thrilling (and maybe a little bittersweet) to watch her grow and develop. She’s looking more grown up every single day.

I love Lucie.

Ready for Baby!

Thanks to some fantastic gifts from friends and family (and a couple of rare bursts of energy), Lucie’s nursery is finally starting to look like home. After painting the nursery and adding the accent wall, we got busy adding a few personal touches. Along the way, we managed to score some great deals!

We harassed family members (parents and siblings) for their favorite baby photos, and created a collage over the changing table (the Ikea dresser is doubling as a changing table). This is probably my favorite feature in the room – I think it will be neat to see which traits she inherits. It was also a cheap accent idea, since most of the frames we either already had or bought at Marshall’s for under $5.

Both the glider and the Pottery Barn bedding and rug were lucky garage sale finds. We got the glider and ottoman combo for $80 – it normally retails for over $500! The Dr. Seuss quilt hanging over the crib was actually handmade by Ken’s mom.

And here’s the owl picture! The bookshelf was yet another garage sale find ($50!) – although the finish doesn’t match perfectly, it does fit the tight space perfectly and provides some much-needed storage. I’m looking forward to filling the shelves with all of my favorite baby books. Any suggestions?

The diaper cake was another contribution from my creative mother-in-law, who gave it to us at our shower a couple weeks ago. It’s so cute, I don’t think I can ever bring myself to take it apart to actually use the diapers.

As for the peanut herself, she’s doing famously. I am now 34 weeks, and counting down the days! Our EDD is still August 28, though I wouldn’t mind if she decided to come just a little bit early. We know when she does, we will be ready!