This page lists home improvement projects completed before I began to take pictures
of them. I intend to list them in chronological order, but sometimes I'm not quite
sure what happened when, so the dates and order may not be entirely accurate..
Here's
the list:
When we finally settled on buying this house, I knew it was lacking a few appliances...
No refrigerator, no washer or dryer. Diane and I went out and bought new appliances
before we moved in, and we were really glad that the house had natural gas, so I
bought a new gas dryer. Well, although the house was connected to the gas service,
the gas line to the laundry area had been removed, and it was wired instead for 220v
electricity!
So, dad came over and helped me (well, I just watched, mostly)
re-run the gas line and also move the water hook-ups in the laundry area. Also involved
was moving a light fixture and switch, and drywall for the entire enclosure. And
painting, of course.. Dad also built a nifty hinged shelf that sits just above the
washer and dryer for holding detergent, towels, etc. There had also been a cabinet
in this area which I immediately removed. It was obvious it has just been
put up by the seller.. It's now hanging in my garage..
One of the first things we wanted to do was fix up the master bedroom before we
moved into it. So we originally moved into the "second bedroom" while we
worked on the master bedroom. I patched the walls, and did extensive rebuilding
of the window frames. I sought out a source for new hardware for the old casement
windows since the original operators were mostly stripped and didn't work. With
Diane's instruction, we painted half of the room using a ragging technique with
blue paint, and the other half a flat, very pale blue. I was skeptical about
the color scheme at first, but that experience made me a believer in the use of bolder,
brighter colors. I also put up floor and crown molding, which made the whole room
looked finished. Diane also oiled the natural wood accordian-style closet doors,
which adds a very nice touch.
Before and after shots of the master bedroom. The window frames needed extensive rebuilding, we replaced the blinds as well as the light kit on the fan. The whole room was patched and painted, and we put up wood trim. You can also barely see the 'upduct' I installed to help make the evaporative cooler more efficient. Oh yeah... We also got a dog.. And furniture!
The master bath was a mess. It had an ugly Home Depot vanity cabinet. A light
bar that was three times longer than was appropriate. The window was jammed shut,
with two broken window panes and a rusty screen jammed into place with fast-food
napkins.. There was no vent fan, so the walls and ceiling of the shower were quite
moldy. And there was this nasty, moldy "101 Dalmations" shower curtain
on a rusty curtain rod... And that repulsive toilet seat!
Not a happy place.
Here's
what we did:
Basically, the only thing I didn't change in the entire room is the floors and the tile in the shower. The tile in this room is nicer than the rest of the house, and we don't mind it at all. I did accidentally drop a pair of pliers on it while I was changing the toilet seat and chipped it, though.. Sigh..
Here's the master bath before. Some work has been done already; the long light
bar has been removed and a new, shorter one put in. This shorter one wouldn't be
there for very long, though. The original one went from where the holes are all
the way over the medicine cabinet. It looked ridiculous. You can also see the
original shower curtain , and the side of the cabinet that was mounted over the toilet.
Here's the bathroom today. Unfortunately, you can't see the textured pattern
on the walls in this picture.
But it shows the new lighting, medicine chest, sink,
fixtures, and shower door.