Bathroom Makeover Part 2: The Great Wall

After several months of work, our master bathroom is finally done. (or at least close enough to blog about it!) If you missed the first part of the bathroom remodel, you can read about it here.

The biggest thing we had to tackle next was the outdated style of the vanity/sink area- it was completely open to the rest of the bedroom. Just like the popcorn ceilings, this style is best left in the 70s. And that meant wall building time! 

The goal: enclose the bathroom from the bedroom and install a door in the wall. It definitely wasn't a fast-moving project. And also one that we will NEVER tackle again. Here's a condensed version of the play-by-play:

1. Measuring. I thought this step would be easy, but you'd be surprised how many times you have to measure the opening to get the correct figures for all the pieces that go into the wall. And of course, factoring in the space for the door.  


2. Building the frame. This went well until we realized that we measured slightly off even after thousands of tries. Thank goodness we only live a couple miles from Home Depot! (and they are INCREDIBLY helpful) After much toil, we finally got the frame assembled and ready to install.

3. Removing floor tile. Turns out that to build an interior wall, it needs to be anchored to the foundation, not the tile or flooring on top of the foundation. This means we had to remove a couple tiles. It may sound easy, but this took almost as long as the wall building itself!

3. Installation and anchoring. This part wasn't as challenging. We left .25" for drywall and then nailed the frame into the side walls and the foundation. To anchor into the foundation, my dad let us borrow a contraption that uses a bullet to shoot a nail into the concrete foundation. WHOA. That's when we should have known we were out of our league. But like all first-timers, we gleefully pressed on.  

   

4. Drywall. Thank goodness the steps started getting easier after the frame building or we may have thrown in the towel. Measuring and cutting the drywall was a little time consuming (again with the multiple measuring), but at least the installation was easy. Drywall, check.

5. Joint compound and tape. I definitely didn't even know this step existed until I started wondering what filled in the cracks between drywall pieces. You guessed it, joint compound and drywall tape! The compound is like thick putty and can make a huge mess if you're not careful (oops...). The tape goes on after filling in the cracks. Then two more layers of compound and on to the texture.


6. Texture. This part was tricky and involved a lot of YouTube searching. Basically there were two options for getting the knockdown texture that we needed to (somewhat) match the original surrounding walls.  A) Buy a $200 texture sprayer (NOPE). or  B) Figure out how to DIY (winner!). I used the "Target bag" method. I know, it sounds so professional. Basically you spread on a medium layer of compound and then smash a target bag into it and pull it off to form peaks in the compound. Let it dry for approximately 35 minutes (time varies by compound thickness) and then go back with a trowel and scrape off the top of the peaks. Wall-ah!

Our House, Our Home

Most of you know that Seth and I recently (three-ish weeks ago) bought our first house. We knew when we got married that we didn't want to rent for more than a year if possible, thanks to some good advice from Dave Ramsey. So we started saving as soon as we got married and prayed that we would find the right house when the time came along.

About 7 months into our lease we decided that we should start the house hunt. Since we were first time home buyers, it was all rainbows and butterflies at first. Looking at houses was FUN and something we filled all of our free time with. My grandma works in real estate and recommended a phenomenal agent for us who saved our lives multiple times throughout the process. She took us to look at houses several times a week and was probably about ready to block our numbers by the time we finally found the one.

By July, we had it narrowed down to 2 houses. And we were very much over the house hunting process (trust me, it loses its luster more quickly than you think). We had looked at them a couple times and gone over and over all the details on a daily basis. Basically, we couldn't decide. I was about ready to throw in the towel when one more house popped up on our listings. It was a modest, three bedroom that looked at least slightly promising. So I called our agent that night and she showed it to me the next day.

Seth couldn't get off work so I sent him a virtual tour as we went through the house (isn't technology great?). When I got home, I asked Seth what he thought. Then, out of the blue, without having even seen it, he said, "I think we should get it." I was shocked to say the least. After asking "Are you sure?" about twenty times, we called our agent and made an offer. They made a counter offer and we made several negotiations along the way, but overall things went smoothly.

Finally, after months of searching, we closed on our very first home on Monday, August 6th, 2013.

 It's nothing fancy, but it's full of fun potential. And most importantly, it's now where we call home :)


The kitchen/breakfast nook with a wonderful brick arch over the stove:

The living room (with previous owner's old couch) and formal dining room:

The master bathroom with its weird tile floor and open vanity bathroom (toilet/shower to the left, closet to the right):

Two guest rooms and the guest bathroom:

Stay tuned for a plethora of DIY home improvement blogs from two clueless new homeowners!