Ever since Justin and I purchased our home four and a half years ago, we knew we wanted to remodel the bathroom because it didn’t fit our taste at all. But with the way life and home ownership works, you have to prioritize the projects that NEED to be done before the projects you WANT to be done. You also have to manage your time and go with projects that will fit in that time as well as give yourself breaks because it’s easy to get burnt out when you’re doing the projects yourself.
The first big project we tackled was our kitchen because there was no way we were going to be putting our dishes in the old cabinets that were in the house, or use what they had as the pantry. The house was old and so it was in desperate need of updates as well as some love. We would spend nights after work working on the kitchen as well as our weekends, until the project was done. We still have the other bottom cabinets and sink area to get to but because they were in ok condition we’ve left that project to a later date.
After the kitchen we did a reclaimed wood wall in our living room to give it some character as well as make the space feel a bit more like ours. That project wasn’t so much a NEED as a WANT but it literally took a weekend to accomplish so we figured it was worth getting it done in between larger projects. The next larger project we tackled was in our backyard. We extended the brick from our patio around the back of our house and created a second small brick patio right where we put our hot tub. We were tired of walking in the grass (which lets be honest was more like weeds) to get to and from our hot tub. That project took weeks to complete because again, we were doing it after work and on weekends.
Then came the projects I did myself as a surprise for Justin. I had help, of course, because I definitely couldn’t have completed these projects on my own in the matter of two weeks! I got an outdoor shower built as well as converted our shed into a man cave for Justin. I never shared the before and after of that project because while I got it complete enough for the big reveal it was never fully finished to the way I wanted it to be to share on the blog. And now it’s been converted into my office which I will share once it’s fully decorated. I still have some things I need to get before then.
The next two big projects we worked on were again out of NEED and that was when we found out I was pregnant. We had an old wall heater in our living room and knew we couldn’t have that once Mason was born so we enlisted the help of Justin’s dad and we were able to remove the gas wall heater and install a electric fireplace with built-in cabinets for extra storage. And of course the other big project being Mason’s nursery. We had originally used that room for my closet/office and so we had to come up with a solution in our room to make space for all my clothes, shoes, handbags and accessories was well as design his nursery, and then make it come to life!
So now that I’ve given a backstory to all our prior home projects, you can see that we’ve been busy on our house since the day we bought it but after Mason was born we took a few years off from projects. Now we’re back, but it’s so much more challenging to do home DIY’s with a toddler around. This project has been challenging for a number of reasons and we’ve had a few setbacks but I’m excited to share that the bathroom is coming along. As of now, we have our new bathroom vanity installed and our shower is all tiled.
Still on our to-do list before the bathroom is 100% complete:
1. Install the glass shower wall and door.
2. Put caulking grout in all the seams in the corners of the shower walls and floor.
3. Install our cabinets over the toilet.
4. Paint the ceiling.
5. Install a new ceiling air vent.
6. Sand and paint baseboard and trim.
7. Complete switching out the electrical outlets.
8. Hang our new towel hooks.
9. Hang the new toilet paper roll.
But since this project is taking a lot longer than we anticipated…it’s been over a month without our bathroom! I wanted to share this progress update with you as well as share some of our progress pics that we’ve taken along the way. This way when you see the final before and after’s you’ll have some more context to all the work that went into it and not just the before and after.
Have you ever tackled your own home remodel projects? If so, I’d love to hear what projects you’ve done and what you thought of the experience of doing it yourself vs hiring someone else to do it!
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As always, thank you so much for stopping by the blog today!
