Let's Talk Remodeling

[Am_I_There_Yet]

You're going to love your new trim and doors. That alone brings the house into the new century.

And thats how it all starts. One innocent little project unravels another, then another, then another.

In the last house we lived in, I started by wanting to change the towel bar. Seriously. 6 months later, the project was finished. We had gutted the bathroom and spent $12000. (Its ok though. It upped the price of the house and made it much easier to sell.)

So, word to the wise, watch out when you go towel bar shopping.

Or in my case, it could be more ominous. There could be a loose shower-stall tile, or a microwaves that sounds like it just might be petering out.

I'm two rooms down, and now my ugly towel bar has gotten to me in my master.

It's an illness, but we don't want the cure.

 

[binny]

yep that is how it all starts... one little things that makes you crazy and the next thing you know youve bought out the tool department at home depot and all the employees draw straws to see who has to deal with you THIS week.




the landscape guy is coming today, his role in this round is minor so far but he has a way of talking me into things I didnt know I needed. I just give him a budget usually and let him do what he wants. Its much easier on all of us that way! LOL

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

the landscape guy is coming today, his role in this round is minor so far but he has a way of talking me into things I didnt know I needed. I just give him a budget usually and let him do what he wants. Its much easier on all of us that way! LOL

Mine is too!

All we have left on this house, is our master and our backyard. We painted the outlines of the beds with spray paint last night and his crew is coming out to remove the grass and put the dirt in for me.

I like to do everything else.

Now, I'm looking for the perfect fountain for back there.

Nothing is more relaxing than sitting in the backyard with a glass of wine, reading a good magazine and listening to running water. Until you've drank too much wine - then the sound of running water can become an issue.

 

[Hixski]

yep that is how it all starts... one little things that makes you crazy and the next thing you know youve bought out the tool department at home depot and all the employees draw straws to see who has to deal with you THIS week.




the landscape guy is coming today, his role in this round is minor so far but he has a way of talking me into things I didnt know I needed. I just give him a budget usually and let him do what he wants. Its much easier on all of us that way! LOL

Before we started our "change every door, trim and baseboard" project I thought we needed to get an air nailer. So I told DH the project would be much easier with one of those. We went and got one with three guns and the air compressor. DH was so proud that he was bragging to everyone that his wife wanted to buy power tools.

 

[binny]

. DH was so proud that he was bragging to everyone that his wife wanted to buy power tools.

yeah mine actually complains that he is the only man in the power tool aisle at Christmas LOL

I need a saw though


our neighbour across the street is a retired carpenter so I think I will hit him up a bit he has every tool known to man!

I will need that air compressor before I paint this year though I have a lot of places that I dont want to sand

 

[elizke]

Howdy remodelers! I love seeing others' pictures here. Incredible old house restoration, and Binny your kitchen is lookin good. I remember seeing a post a while back about what color. Still haven't made up your mind eh? I would have trouble too. I can't decide for your kitchen what color I would choose if I were you either. I love that tin stuff.

Arewethereyet, I just LOVE that kitchen. Very elegant, and I really like the colors. Your bathroom looks like it's going to be very fancy and nice. I love the new vanities these days.

We've done remodeling on every house we've lived in too. First one was a little shoebox we tried to make "charming", second one was a 115 year old cheaply built house we tried to make look more historical than it ever was, and third was a brand new house with zero character which we worked hard to force upon it.

Now we are in #4. It's a new one again, and there is definitely less to do beyond painting here than any other house we've had, but I had one major problem with it. Now am I the only one who likes some walls in a house???

Every new house we look at is open all over the place, and it seems to be so popular it is the only option in new housing. But I like some danged walls! I like to listen to music in the kitchen, and can't stand hearing TV all the time. Plus I just like a cozy kitchen with it's own character. And I like to be able to hang a bulletin board up somewhere for heaven's sake (Right Binny?)

So we are adding a wall with pocket doors and built-in speakers. My DH does most of the work and I do all of the design and ordering and occasional drywall holding. Here it is so far...

(View from family room before we moved in...

Wall so far doors open....

and closed (glass is still plastic covered)

View from kitchen before....

and with wall doors open...

doors closed...

So what do you think? Am I the only one out there who like these things called walls? Am I the only one who does not necessarily enjoy every waking moment in the company of everyone in the family? I know the feel is nice when you walk into an open space, but living in it is something else. Plus it's nice to have different rooms, each with it's own feel and character. I like change from room to room.

Now I am trying to choose a wall color for the kitchen. I am thinking of going bold and spicy this time, and choosing a rusty red. My last kitchen was blue and white, so this is a real change for me.

Next time I will rant about the super tall ceilings in the family room and being forced to hire painters for the first time ever and windows up there to figure out. Don't worry, we won't put in a lower ceiling.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I think your living/kitchen looks MUCH better with the wall closed in some. That was too open for me, too. Good call!

I have my dining room painted red and I love it. Here's a photo of it:

 

[elizke]

Thanks Arewethereyet. Always nice to have reassurance even if you think you're sure. I'd hate to do something to hurt resale down the road.

And I sure like the looks better. The openess just looked gaping to me. Course the wall is still ugly and needs paint and trim...

I love your red walls! Thanks for posting a pic. It sure helps to see real colored walls when you're trying to decide. Your dining room looks very warm and welcoming. The red looks nice with the golden color.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Thanks Arewethereyet. Always nice to have reassurance even if you think you're sure. I'd hate to do something to hurt resale down the road.

And I sure like the looks better. The openess just looked gaping to me. Course the wall is still ugly and needs paint and trim...

I love your red walls! Thanks for posting a pic. It sure helps to see real colored walls when you're trying to decide. Your dining room looks very warm and welcoming. The red looks nice with the golden color.

Well, I'm a realtor and you get a thumbs up from me.

My dining room is at the front of my house, and at night, I turn on the lamp on that chest in the photo. I tilt my blinds up at night, but you see just enough of the red walls.

I can't begin to tell you how many of my neighbors have asked the color of the paint. People tend to be so afraid of dramatic color until they see it in person.

 

[FroggyinArk]

ok who started it,,lol.. we are redoing walls in a bedroom/master bath for a customer, she had us remove a 5 ft double sink vanity, ( cheepo) and my fool self brought the base cabinet home, ripped up the top, re worked the insides and am turning it into a big entertainment center. i got most of it sawn out today, hopefully weather will hold a few days and i can get it together stained out and in the house before it starts raining.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

ok who started it,,lol.. we are redoing walls in a bedroom/master bath for a customer, she had us remove a 5 ft double sink vanity, ( cheepo) and my fool self brought the base cabinet home, ripped up the top, re worked the insides and am turning it into a big entertainment center. i got most of it sawn out today, hopefully weather will hold a few days and i can get it together stained out and in the house before it starts raining.

You can't blame me, because you're not talking to me, after my Arkansas joke!

 

[binny]

LOL Froggy

Hey I have a question for you. I had a contractor friend over and he assured us that we have a good deck and can just lay the laminate sheets on top of what we have. I have only done laminate in one project I had a set of coffee/end tables that the top was trashed on. I went to a kitchen place and bought a remnant for $10 they cut it to sizew for me and I glued themon! It was a huge improvement for those $99 Untied furniture tables LOL.

Anyway, do you think we can do this ok? I know we would have to rough it up but I dont think it would be too bad.


yeah Im still decinding on colours. I think I will wait and see how dark it is in there once the lights, floors and new countertop are in. That will determine how dark I want to go.

 

[mickeysgal]

Ok, you guys are going to get a kick out of this.

We're still pricing our the vanity in our master bath. We've got a piece of granite on hold so we're trying to move quickly so that we don't tick off the granite supplier for holding this piece too long - and its already been too long.

I got an estimate from a cabinet maker that does Wood-Mode. There are only one of two places in this city that deals with Wood-Mode and I thought this one was going to be the cheaper of the two.

Three cabinets...two 36" sink bases and a center base cabinet of bowed front drawers. Cherry with a glaze with mitered picture-molding-type doors. Not that unusual overall - very simple design. Approx size 114".

Price, for just the cabinets...not installation, not granite tops....

.
.
.
.
.
.
$8400.

Yup, $8400. If I change to drop the bowed front drawers, it will drop me about $2000.

Guess I'm going back to the Diamond/Thomasville line where my estimate was $3000. I don't know how anyone normal can afford the Wood-Mode line.

Can you believe it?????

 

[binny]

wow that is amazing!

 

[mickeysgal]

wow that is amazing!

I didn't (and still don't) like the high Diamond estimate and thought that we could go Wood-Mode for about the same amount and still get the bowed front cabinets. Ha!!! Jokes on me!!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Ok, you guys are going to get a kick out of this.

We're still pricing our the vanity in our master bath. We've got a piece of granite on hold so we're trying to move quickly so that we don't tick off the granite supplier for holding this piece too long - and its already been too long.

I got an estimate from a cabinet maker that does Wood-Mode. There are only one of two places in this city that deals with Wood-Mode and I thought this one was going to be the cheaper of the two.

Three cabinets...two 36" sink bases and a center base cabinet of bowed front drawers. Cherry with a glaze with mitered picture-molding-type doors. Not that unusual overall - very simple design. Approx size 114".

Price, for just the cabinets...not installation, not granite tops....

.
.
.
.
.
.
$8400.

Yup, $8400. If I change to drop the bowed front drawers, it will drop me about $2000.

Guess I'm going back to the Diamond/Thomasville line where my estimate was $3000. I don't know how anyone normal can afford the Wood-Mode line.

Can you believe it?????

No wonder I like Wood-Mode... I'm not surprised with my champagne-tastes and beer-budget situation I've got going on.

Holy cow! I think I'm in the wrong profession! I should have been a cabinet maker!

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Now we are in #4. It's a new one again, and there is definitely less to do beyond painting here than any other house we've had, but I had one major problem with it. Now am I the only one who likes some walls in a house???

Every new house we look at is open all over the place, and it seems to be so popular it is the only option in new housing. But I like some danged walls! I like to listen to music in the kitchen, and can't stand hearing TV all the time. Plus I just like a cozy kitchen with it's own character. And I like to be able to hang a bulletin board up somewhere for heaven's sake (Right Binny?)

So we are adding a wall with pocket doors and built-in speakers. My DH does most of the work and I do all of the design and ordering and occasional drywall holding.

No, you are not alone!!! I like walls. I like rooms. I don't want to spend three hours prepping and making a meal in the kitchen, only to sit at the dining room table or den and look in the kitchen! I like -- OMG -- a wall to walk through and leave a room behind.

Plus, not for nothing, it makes decorating really fun. All our friends bought new-construction homes, and everything is sooo open with no dividers. I'm helping one friend right now with paint colors, and it's so hard because her kitchen is open to the dining room, and both the kitchen and the DR are completely open to the living room and den. I don't know how she's going to paint it but with one color. Where do you stop one color and begin another?

I have a blue room which ends at a doorway -- and wall -- that goes into a red room, surrounded by walls and doorways. Then you have a choice to go into a sand/green room or into a green and lavender kitchen. I keep my trim color consistent through the house. There's no way I could have this much fun with color with all my rooms open.

Your remodeling looks fantastic!!!

 

[lillygator]

this thread is great....

we have a lot to remodel...just takes a lot of $$$!!!!

I would like to do some easy things like put up crown molding or chair rails or something. I think that may be something that I could easily do myself?

 

[shovan]

Well, here I am going thru the posts for the last few days. Pull up the link for the Wood-Mode Cabinets. Thinking, now this is what I had in mind!Then I get to this post!!!!

Ok, you guys are going to get a kick out of this.
Price, for just the cabinets...not installation, not granite tops.....
$8400.

Yup, $8400. If I change to drop the bowed front drawers, it will drop me about $2000.

Guess I'm going back to the Diamond/Thomasville line where my estimate was $3000. I don't know how anyone normal can afford the Wood-Mode line.
Can you believe it?????

No wonder I like Wood-Mode... I'm not surprised with my champagne-tastes and beer-budget situation I've got going on.

Holy cow! I think I'm in the wrong profession! I should have been a cabinet maker!

That's me too! Champagne taste & CHEAP Beer Budget!

Well, the contractor we liked, never got back to us with an estimate! We've called mutiple times & he hasn't returned the calls! I guess we're very lucky to find out at this stage instead of after he started the job. Wish me luck, I have a designer coming out tonight to help with the planning of the bathroom. We haven't tried that route yet, hoping to find a good contractor to make recommendations. We've never worked with a designer before. I'm worried that we'll just get a lay-out that my DH has already come up with & lots of super expensive ideas!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Well, the contractor we liked, never got back to us with an estimate! We've called mutiple times & he hasn't returned the calls! I guess we're very lucky to find out at this stage instead of after he started the job. Wish me luck, I have a designer coming out tonight to help with the planning of the bathroom. We haven't tried that route yet, hoping to find a good contractor to make recommendations. We've never worked with a designer before. I'm worried that we'll just get a lay-out that my DH has already come up with & lots of super expensive ideas!

That's horrible. What is it with unreliable contractors???? I hate that!

Maybe you can find someone like the lady that I'm working with.

She lets me use her trades, her discounts and she gives me great ideas, but she lets me contract it out on my own and pretty much do the basic design.

I think she's so busy, that it's a relief for her to do work for me, because I do so much of the footwork myself.