PROGRESS: Master Bedroom and Bathroom

Here's a peak at what we've accomplished on the Master Bedroom and Bathroom thus far.

BEFORE

PROGRESS

BEFORE

PROGRESS

BEFORE

PROGRESS



BEFORE

 

PROGRESS

BEFORE

PROGRESS



BEFORE



PROGRESS

BEFORE

PROGRESS

BEFOER: Hers Closet

BEFORE: His Closet

PROGRESS: Combined walk-in Closet

PROGRESS: Combined walk-in Closet

BEFORE: Room Layout

PROGRESS: Room Layout



So, obsiously there is a lot left to do. The bedroom door, closet door, and cabinet doors and drawers in both the dressing room and bathroom still have to be painted and rehung. The bathroom mirror needs to be rehung (after it under goes a small super glue surgery). The mysterious hole in the wall by the sink in the bathroom is where the medicine cabinet was and since we didn't think to close it up while we were closing in the closet door and removing the old intercom from the wall in the bedroom, we are stuck with that beauty for a little while. So, it too has to have a fresh coat of paint and then I guess we'll hang it back into its hole.

Aside from those things, there is the obvious decorating needs. Knowing me, this will happen one piece at a time and will evolve over months and/or years. But, our immediate focus in that area is window treatments and some sort of rug solution.

As for the closet, we plan to install some sort of shelving at each end of the closet to optimize our storage space. This girl's got a lot of shoes so I'm envisioning some shelving for my shoes and purses on my end and storage for Travis's shoes, hats, neck ties on his end.

We eventually plan to do a complete overhaul on the bathroom to combine the two areas and make one large space. We'd like a big glass-enclosed shower with dual shower heads and a stylish vanity. But since we've cleaned and painted that little bathroom, we've pushed that plan a little further down the list of things to do because, so far, we are pleasantly surprised with how she shined up. Not to mention, it's proving to be a pretty functional layout. It's only been a few days but I'm enjoying my dressing room area and the linen closet his huge.

So with the completion of just a few small tasks, we will be shifting our focus to the next plan of attack -- The Den.

Now We Call It Home

I'm still not sure how we managed to make it happen but we actually pulled it off. We spent out first night in the house on Sunday, Sept. 11th.

Not only did we have moving on our agenda this weekend, but Travis's cousin, Dani, and long time family friend, Mindy, were married this weekend. On Friday evening, we took a break from the house and the move to attend Mindy & Dani's rehearsal dinner at the Santee Cooper Resort. It was a really nice night and we were happy to be able to share in Mindy & Dani's last night as single kids.



Travis and I at the Rehearsal Dinner

On Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early, packed up a few things, and headed over to the house to work on a couple of things left on our "to-do" list before heading out to Mindy & Dani's wedding. We accomplished a lot in those few hours before the wedding. I did some touch-up painting and spray painted all of the electrical outlets and covers (they were a dingy off-white color that just didn't go with the new bright white trim) and cleaned up a bit, while Travis worked on hanging the closet rods. When we left for the wedding, all that was left on the "to-do" list was paint the closet and bedroom doors, paint the bathroom cabinet doors and drawers, clean the bathroom, and MOVE! It was our goal to get as close as possible to having the Master Bedroom and Bathroom completely finished before moving in. All-in-all, we did pretty good. We figured what couldn't be managed on Sunday morning could definitely wait until after we were all moved in. So, off to the wedding we went, happy with our progress and excited about the plans for Sunday's move.

Mindy & Dani - Just Hitched

The New Mr. & Mrs. Marchant

Mindy & Dani - Nacho Average Couple

Travis & I at the Reception

On Sunday morning, we woke at the crack of dawn, loaded our cars with as much stuff as we could possibly cram into them, and headed to the new house. Cooper and Cody were very curious but keenly aware that we were going somewhere and they were determined that they were not getting left behind.

Cody was in the car for an hour before we actually pulled out. He wasn't taking any chances.



Cooper holding down the only square footage left in the bed of the truck.

I spent most of the morning cleaning. Mrs. Charmin and Mr. Keith joined me around noon. Travis teamed up with Rick and they made one big trip to haul the rest of the furniture to the new house.

This is where the day took a downhill turn. I'm in the middle of mopping the floors when Travis calls to let me know that my worst moving nightmare had just come true -- our media console and our headboard took a leap off the trailer and gave themselves a little road-rash makeover. Not the news I wanted to hear. And here is a little story why: Over the summer, I had unplugged a Glade Oil plug-in and set it on said media console. It leaked oil onto the top surface during the night and it ate through the varnish by the next morning. No big deal. We paid a hefty price for an extended warranty when we bought the bedroom furniture to cover accidents just like this. I file a claim and the insurance company sends a repair man out to attempt to repair the damage. The repair man is unable repair the damage and deems the console irrepairable. The insurance company gives us the option of a cash settlement or delivery of a replacement piece. Since the cash settlement was a third of what we paid for the piece, we decided on the replacement. With this settlement, the coverage on the media console was dropped. This all happened two weeks ago. Two weeks. Our media console has been uninsured for two weeks when it takes a little skid down Hwy 176.

 Fortunately, the headboard is still covered but only until November when the extended warranty expires. 

So here's a look at our furniture with it's new distressed patina:

 Oh well. Sh*t happens, right?

I'll admit it took a few tantrums for me to arrive at this conclusion but I'm there now and I'm moving on.

Back to the brighter side of the day.

It was a certain someone's 26th birthday on Sunday and while we did not give him a proper celebration, we did take a 20 minute break to have some pizza, cake and ice cream. He has since told me that because his birthday pretty much sucked, we will be treating this entire week like everyday is his birthday, so feel free to wish him a Happy Birthday any day between now and next Monday. He's not a diva, though. Nope, not him.

Happy Birthday, Honey!

We had some really great help on Sunday that we owe a huge thanks to --

Rick, Dean, Hanna, Mr. Keith & Mrs. Charmin, Debbie & Phill. Thanks so much for lending a helping hand. It would not have happened without you guys.

We moved about 98% of our belongings and got our Master Bedroom and Bathroom settled enough to sleep and shower in. We will be living out of boxes for a while but at least we're headed in the right direction.

All of our belongings crammed into the Living and Dining Rooms
(And Coop, doing what he does best -- stealing your stuff and running around the house with it)



Stay tuned for a peak into the progress made on our Master Suite.

Labor (literally, LABOR) Day Weekened

So much happened this weekend that I'm not sure I can even re-hash it all but I'll do my best.We started the weekend off by heading over for a few hours on Friday evening after work. That evening we painted the bedroom and started painting the closet.



The Bedroom paint in Progress.





The closet after mudding, sanding, and priming the patches in the dry wall.



On Saturday morning, my Mom and Dad came over again to help me finish cleaning the kitchen. We finished the other half of the kitchen cabinets, scrubbed the sink, cleaned out behind and beneath the refridgerator, and wiped down all the walls in the kitchen, pantry, and laundry rooms while Travis worked on spackling, sanding, and caulking the Master Bathroom.

Mom and Dad clocked out about 4pm and I went back to, you guessed it, painting. Travis and I painted for a few hours until he ran out of paint.

So, we packed up at about 6:30pm, ran home, showered, then took a little late night trip to Lowe's and Home Depot to buy more paint and two new toilets. This was probably the silliest part of our weekend because while we were staring at toilets and comparing their sleek designs and flushing capabilities, Lowe's was turning out its lights and doing security sweeps. They literally ran us out of there. (Only the two of us would go to Lowe's at 10:30 at night to buy a set of new toilets. And it is either the pure absurdity of that or the lack of sleep and physical exhaustion that makes that very funny to me.)

Sunday morning was much the same -- painting, painting, and more painting.

 If you are wondering what in the world requires so much painting, you should know that Travis and I take our painting pretty seriously. We prime with Kilz and then we paint at least three coats of high-gloss white trim paint on the baseboards, door frames, window frames, and crown molding. We allow it to dry thoroughly and then we tape it all off using Scott's Blue Painter's tape. Then we edge the molding with the flat enamel wall color paint with at least two coats and then we roll the rest of the wall with two coats. It is quite a process but we do it right. And it looks great when we are finished, if I may say so myself. But we do not skip steps and we do not cut corners, thus making painting quite a job.

We did getaway on Sunday long enough to celebrate Travis's Nana's 75th Birthday. She is such a joy and with all the trials she's been through it is truly a blessing that she is happy and healthy at the age of 75.

On Monday, we had more helpers. Mrs. Charmin and Mr. Keith came over to help clean the guest bathroom and install our new toilets.



Mrs. Charmin can work miracles when it comes to cleaning!

Yay for new toilets that actually flush! I'm sorry I had to do it, haha. 

Along the way, we uncovered some unexpected and downright scary finds which grossed us out and set us back time wise. Here are just a few of those discoveries and what we did to fix them.

Eww!!

More eww!!

Ah, so much better.

 With this nasty find, Travis cut a few pieces of luan and covered the back wall and bottom of the cabinet and caulked all the cracks. Then I painted it with a few thick coats of Kilz. The issue that had caused this water damage had been remedied years ago but the previous owner obviously did not feel the need to fix the actual damage.

Surprise...look what we found behind the dressing room mirror.

And wha-lah!

A good scrubbing and a few layers of Kilz and paint fixed that little problem right up.

A few other odds and ends got done this weekend too but when and between what tasks, I could not tell you. Looking back the weekend is a complete blur.

Closet light fixture Before.



Closet light fixtures Now.

As for Cooper and Cody, staying out of the paint proved to be an impossible task.

There's only a few things left to do to finish up the Master Bedroom and Bathroom makeover before we can move in. We've set this coming Sunday as our goal for making that move. Cross your fingers (and your toes) that we make it.

I think we can, I think we can, I think we can!!