The new floor

We extended the new laminate floors into the living room and dining room. All we have left to do is the kitchen, and the entire main floor will be these beautiful new floors! We are also saving all of the quarter round trim until the end.

1/2 bath renovation...LOOKIN' GOOD!!!

With the floors done, the next thing on our list to complete was installing the quarter round to finish off the look. WOW was this difficult! Our floors are not perfectly level, the walls are not straight... this was a challenge, but we did our best! I think it turned out pretty good in the end.

 

We then installed a new toilet. We found that the old supply line was leaking, so we replaced that while we were at it.

 Then we cut and connected the pvc piping for the sink. We also had to drill holes in the vanity itself for the pvc exit and supply line entrance. All went well here! We still need to actually hook up the drain of the sink since we were waiting on the seal to dry. Soon to come though!

 

The faucet looks beautiful and we love the vanity! Such a sleek looking sink and we got it for a great deal! So, the mirror went up, towel ring was hung, and the toilet paper holder was placed in the room.

 

All that's left is some decorations. We have two shelves on the way to put above the toilet and we are discussing which art pieces we'll be putting in the bathroom. Everything is working great and looks 100 times better than it used to. We had a great time working together on this project and can't wait to start our next one!

Progress on the half bath

 The bathroom is SOOOO close to being done! We are getting really excited! We finished the wainscoting, finished grouting the tile, and hung our new, BEAUTIFUL light fixture!!!!


Next up....the floor!

We knew that to do our floor right, we needed to start at the front entry and work our way into the bathroom. That way any cuts would be on the far bathroom wall instead of right in the entryway itself.




So, we pulled up the old pergo flooring in the entry way and exposed the sub-floor.

The flooring goes in very easily! Literally snap and go! This is our big investment in the house so far, and it will carry into the kitchen, dining room and family room - the entire main floor.    We updated the outdated (gold) vent covers as well while we were at it!



The bathroom was a tricky space, but with my mad measuring skills and Joe's exceptional cutting skills....we did an awesome job! 

Next up--- we will finish off the floors with quarter round. Then we can put the toilet in, the vanity, etc. Finishing touches now!!!!

Updating the half bath

Here is what our half bath used to look like...


We started by removing the jungle animal wall paper. Then we got the seashell sink out of the bathroom and decided at that point that the beige tile that was consuming the bathroom needed to go.

The wallpaper came down pretty easily with the help of some chemicals. The tile on the other hand did not!!! The drywall behind the tile was in bad shape. So, the next step was to remove the bad drywall and replace it... (This step was actually pretty easy). We also removed the old flooring and the toilet.





We patched the seams with drywall tape and plaster...then sanded them down. 





When we removed the old vanity, we cracked the pvc pipe (oops!) We fixed that prior to re-drywalling that wall. We also noticed that one of our copper pipes had been leaking. There was an old patch that simply was no longer working. So, we found some couplings that worked on copper piping and fixed the leak.

Next up was to paint the walls, install wainscoting and put up some beautiful tile...

 

Next on our list...

1. finish the wainscotting
2. grout the tile
3. install the new light fixture
4. install the new floors
5. install the new toilet
6. install the new vanity and sink
7. connect the pvc piping
8. paint the pvc piping
9. install shelves above the toilet
10. finish it up....new toilet paper roll, hang the mirror, hang the towel rod, etc
    
    We'll be done in no time! :) Then we have our entire main floor to continue our new floors on! I'd say we are no longer newbies at this whole DIY thing!
    

 

Installing a recessed light

We decided to try our hand at installing a recessed light above the kitchen sink. We had to run power to the fixture location and install a switch. We decided to tap into the power in a nearby outlet and ended up having to expand a single outlet into an outlet plus a switch...all through tile. It took us quite awhile to get everything working perfectly, but we managed to get it done successfully! We now have a beautiful light above our kitchen sink!