Before & After Photos of my House Renovation

One year ago today I picked up the keys to my new house.

After pulling off the world’s fastest home purchase (real estate lawyer and bank’s words,) then the world’s fastest move, I lived on an air mattress for a couple months because it was a 3-season house that I winterized while living in it (it occurred to me while typing this I’ve slept on it 1/3 of a year.)

Let’s take a tour! First stop is the guest room.

I made the comforter set, I love sewing. And welded that guy.

In we go to the freshly painted crisp whiteness. I argue with everyone: no I don’t want colour in here. I am the colour.

Best joke of the renovation:

With 2 friends, walking into a hardware store that sells paint, “Careful Keri, there’s colour in here.”

Let’s take the tour upstairs and work our way down.

My office. Where the words come from.

Here’s an old closeup of my lanyard collection.

Typing Before & After on these photo collages is so satisfying holy crap.

The mirror makes all the difference eh, creates the illusion of space. Remember when it fell off the wall?

Most conflicting compliment of the renovation:

Checked out your blog, it looks like a home renovation show.

Good because means my documenting skills are sharp, bad because omg I run a home and decorating blog now? Ugh. Gonna create a DIY tag and smother myself with it.

Bathroom. Grey walls! Deviated from all-white, that’s huge for me.

When the electrician asked where to install the lights:

Me: eye level
Him: your eyes? That’s shorter than most, what about your guests?
Me: don’t care, my house, everything is to be my size

Can’t believe how much I’m now into infrastructure, and things like hot water tanks. Remember how gross the old one was? Remember all the insane things discovered during this project?

Minimalism always and forever.

Bedroom. Note the grey wall behind the headboard.

That’s not the best bed I ever made though, this one is.

We’ll conclude the tour with the kitchen.

Pendent lights are so classy eh.

Will conclude the tour with this.

Traded my old table for that one, it belonged to my neighbour. I was describing my dream table and he said wait, I have one in my shop basement. Come ON.

Took a year, but I have home owning under control now.

It was a steep learning curve though. Had no idea what I’d got myself into. Didn’t even have a plant, now I own trees.

Probably the best part are the neighbours that came with the house.

Finally, I’m pleased to report that with this post, the blog tag renovation is now closed, and it’s back to regularly scheduled programming here – Cars, Security and a Peek into my Life.

 

 

Follow the Recommended Light Bulb Watts

It’s a sign the renovation is complete when the lights are hung from the ceiling. Today mine went up, a moment I’ve waited for for 8 months.

Went to the store, bought the wrong 25 watt bulbs, couldn’t handle more waiting, so used what I had on hand – the 40 watts.

Was upstairs organizing when I had a doubting thought, so I texted my electrician.

When that giant no came in I hurried to switch it all off. My electrician doesn’t use hyperbole. The guest room smelled faintly of burning.

The moment was so anti-climactic omg.

Max means max. 25 means 25.

He brought me these ones wow, never seen such fancy bulbs, they’re LEDs.

LEDs consume less energy to produce more light,
and will last 15+ years.

Now we know.

 

 

Painting is the Dullest Trade I Learned

KeriBlog_paints

I primed the baseboards and this mirror, and that was all I lasted. Of all the new construction skills I learned this past month, painting is the dullest.

However!

Fresh paint sure adds polish to a room, once the trim was finished my whole house crisped up beautifully.

There’s a life metaphor in here somewhere… the most boring task has the most impact…

Maybe the best #ThisWeeksFlowers yet. Top 3 for sure. They’re from my own garden.

Blog tag = Animated Gifs (45)

 

 

Completed the Cleaning Stage of this Renovation

Took all weekend. Not being dramatic, 25 hours anyway.

Saturday night there was even an impromptu neighbour party in my backyard. I’d sail out, dump out another bucket of water, top up drinks, top up the bucket and leave to scrub.

Good timing from Krud Kutter, they’d sent me their lineup of products to test. Non-toxic, biodegradable, and you can spray it on plants and pets.  I’ve never cared about pouring chemicals down the sink, but now that I’m on a septic, I care.

Below is which type is used for what. It’s kind’ve confusing (and not alphabetical?) so here: yellow for tough stuff and laundry, red for everything else, and purple removes sticky residue like stickers and roofing tar.

Hired my kid worker for an afternoon, and we observed it cut grease well, especially where I dropped a stick of butter on the deck.

Kept it old school though for the wood floors – vinegar and drop of dish soap.  Remember when I had to clean like this last fall? What I didn’t tell you was about the chemical burns on my hands. House is same level of clean this time, but without that. So I threw out all the chemical cleaners. Am I a hippie now?

If it wasn’t so annoying, the coverage that drywall dust
can achieve would be impressive.

Still no real furniture, stuff everywhere, just gotta dance it out.

Every item inside the house, every piece of furniture, scrubbed. Every window and screen. Every felt pad replaced. Every drawer emptied, washed and re-stocked. Every furniture bolt tightened. Ceilings dusted. Walls washed. Purged a couple car loads of nonsense.

It’s been like having 3 jobs this past month. Let’s take a little break.

Okay back up, shouldn’t have sat down.

Keep going, going….. DONE.

All that’s left is the fun part – push everything into place and decorate.

And then create a Before/After photo series, which I think about constantly.

***

No money was exchanged for this post.

Krud Krutter sent me their products, it was timely so I tested them, then typed my impression. This is a beta test of my latest idea.

 

 

Guys the Renovation is Complete!

Painter finished today, new bathroom mirror glued to the wall, now all I have to do is mop the floors – easy I love cleaning – and tomorrow my furniture gets moved back in BOOM. Most excited for my couch, haven’t had a place to sit in over a month.

That also means back to regular programming here, cars and security. Thanks for your patience during all this, coming for car posts and finding renovation stuff is anti-climactic, I know.

I also pledge to buy a new phone omg this photo quality is garbage eh. iPhone 6 ahoy! And I’m not getting black for the first time ever, choosing gold.

Have a great weekend and TTY Monday!

xo Keri