Final Touches

I will still make a few tweaks here and there, and complete some final paint touch-ups, but here are "after" and "before" photos from my project.

The bathroom (I'm very pleased with my final choice of linen colors!):
The bathroom "before". The photos just don't convey the state of disrepair:

The living room "after." (I still have a few paint touch-ups to make):


The living room "before." I'm so happy to be rid of the louvered wall (on the left between the kitchen and the living room):

Choose your own adventure

I took some photos of two different options for towels/bathmats. (I haven't had a chance to touch up the paint, so forgive the obvious smudge about the TP.)

The towels I originally purchased (I can't remove them from their packaging until I decide to keep them). If I do keep this set of towels, the trash can doesn't have to stay:

Another option:
The second version definitely pops A LOT more and I like that. I'm just not sure it is as warm as I would like. I like that the bathroom is so cool and clean, but I would like also like it to feel warm and comfortable.

Too impatient

I'm too impatient to wait for the final reveal. It is probably going to be a while before I can complete my final paint touch ups (that's my job, not the contractors'), so I have decided to post photos of the not-quite-finished product. Besides, I'm having second thoughts about a few of my accessories and I could use some feedback on that.

Photos as of 10 minutes ago are below (first the overall effect, then some details, including the new tile baseboard).

I bought towels in two colors, this pale grayish blue and a darker blue (What you see hanging is actually the bath mat). I'm having double thoughts about the towel colors now that I see them here. I think I would prefer towels that are more turquoise, like the trash can shown in the second photo. Any thoughts?

Right now the art is propped up on the towel bar and not hanging on the wall. That's because I don't like the frame it is in. It adds one too many silver/gray to the room. That's an easy fix though:

It keeps going and going...

I was back in town for the weekend and I was sick. Which is too bad, since I had a lot I had to get done. To save some money, I decided to paint myself. My boyfriend helped me with that this weekend. In any case I'm a day or two away from a completely functioning bathroom. At this point I'm going to save the photos for a final reveal...

Looking good

I'm still out of town but my boyfriend was nice enough to stop by and take photos of the recent progress on my project. They look great and I can't wait to see everything in person.

The shower tile:

The floor:


The knee wall in the kitchen. I talked to the contractor about the finishing they added that had not been what we discussed. They redid the finish and this is more in line with my tastes:

Hooray!!!

Losing track of days...

I've been traveling from one place to another-- this past weekend I was in Michigan and now I'm in Minnesota for work. As a result, I haven't been able to take photos of the most recent progress. As I understand it, the contractors have begun tiling the bathroom. I'm looking forward to seeing it on my return. In the meantime I am enjoying the fact that my hotel room has a functional bathroom.

Day 4

Here is the most recent progress.

The shower nooks are taking shape. They look great. I am concerned that the bottoms should have a slight slope so that they will drain, so that is a question for the contractor this morning:


The knee wall in the kitchen is being finished. They aren't finishing it the way we discussed, which was with a narrow ledge of leftover counter from another project my contractor worked on. I don't love the aesthetics of the way it is being finished. So that's another thing I could talk to the contractor about. But I'm not sure I should worry about it since I do hope to get new kitchen cabinets and counters in the next year or so, and plan to install new the countertop on the kneewall at that time. So in my mind this is (and always was going to be) a temporary finish and I wish they hadn't spent so much time on it. They did a nice job, it's just not my style:

Day 3

Some more progress on day 3.

Some plumbing work was completed:
The workers shown here completed more work on the floor, ceiling, and walls:

Day 2

Day 2 was not nearly as dramatic as day 1., but overall I was pleased with the progress.

A little bit of drywall was installed:


Yesterday the contractor alerted me that some of my floor joists were not in good condition. A piece of plywood was screwed and glued to the floor over the warped joists. I'm worried about this... I thought the message I got this morning was that the joists would be repaired for some added cost. They have not been repaired, but the plywood has been installed. If you step on the portion shown in the upper right hand corner it is quite bouncy and not level:

The new bathtub was positioned in the bathroom:
And the bonus project! I had the contractor remove the white louvered wall that served as a divider between the kitchen and the living room. This shows progress of the new knee wall being constructed to replace it. It's almost there:

End of Day 1

I checked in after work and was surprised to see how much had been done.

The walls and ceiling:

The pipes where the vanity used to be:

The quarantine bubble between the construction and my living room:

The scary thing is that I got a phone call from the contractor this evening. He wants to meet me first thing in the morning. Apparently there's something unexpected with the floor. I'm seeing dollar signs, and is this an ulcer I feel forming? (How fast excitement can turn into stress...)

Pre Remodel Chaos

My contractor should be here in a few minutes. Here's what my apartment looks like.

The living room is more crowded than it has ever been. The bathroom and my closet are completely emptied of my belongings: