Bathroom Overhaul

During my summer break, Tyler and I redid our master bathroom while his parents were visiting from Illinois. (I know, right? In-laws come to visit and we put them to work. . .) They've redone bathrooms many times before and hence have more experience than either of us combined. We decided that with their expertise guiding us, we'd get this done a lot faster than we could alone. We did it all in less than a week! And I must say that I think it looks fabulous!

Before pictures:
Our main issue with this set up were the faucets. They were so close to the back of the sink that we couldn't wash our hands! We were going to just replace the faucets, but decided that when we redid the bathroom we'd just do it then. We didn't love the countertop either. The tile was already chipped in a few places and the grout was already discoloring.


The cabinets were a huge issue. Those may look like drawers on top, but they weren't. They are just there for looks. So when it came time to unpack, we didn't have any drawers, just the under the sink cabinets. Storage was very cluttered under the sink.

Demolition:First we had to take out the toilet. This is where having a father-in-law who has redone bathrooms many times before can in very handy. What better place to put it than in the bathtub?

Next we had to remove the existing vanity. A couple of whacks with the sledgehammer and that was history.


Then we had to get rid of the tile that was on the wall. Look at me go with the crowbar! We also had to putty the areas of the wall that would still be visible with the new vanity. That is what my mother-in-law is doing. She's the putty queen!

We ran into a little setback here, when we realized that the wood underneath the floor had some water damage. We had to rip it out and replace it before continuing. Here I am sanding down the new wood floor with the existing stuff so our floor would be flat. We also had to sand down the putty that was put up the day before before we could put in the new floor.

Construction:

Next came putting down the new floor. I was surprised at how easy it was! Just put it down over the existing floor. Here we are, halfway done. It may have been simple, but I think putting down the floor was the longest part of the process. And lining up all the pieces was an exhausting task for a perfectionist like me.

After dusting/fixing minor repairs on the vanity (we got a discount because it was the display vanity!), we could put it in. The boys took over here and carried it in and had to connect the plumbing back up. I love this picture of them! Like father like son. . .


The Final Product:

Sorry this picture is so dark, the wood isn't that dark but for some reason looks that way. But here you can see our new faucets; plenty of room for us to wash our hands. :)

Before:

After:
Overall I'm really pleased with how it turned out! Too bad I can't show this off to anyone, it's not like people come over to see your master bathroom. Our next project will be the kitchen; we need more shelving/storage space. The current design isn't meant for someone with any tiny bit of food storage. :)

How Much is that Doggie in the Window?

So, Tyler and I rather impulsively adopted a dog. We had been discussing it for quite a while, but we realized that we had better act now or wait until I was finished with nursing school because this was the longest break from school I'd get to train a dog. And there is no way I was going to try to train a dog while juggling nursing school responsibilities.

We looked online and at different animal shelters to see what was out there. I originally fell in love with Charlie, a poodle-bichon frise mix. He was so gently, sweet, and cute! Unfortunately, when I visited Charlie, Tyler wasn't with me, so I didn't know how he felt about owning a poodle. (Frankly, I'm not much of a poodle fan myself, but Charlie was just plain cute!). When we went back for Tyler to meet Charlie, he had already been adopted. I was pretty sad, but we still looked at what other dogs were available for adoption. This is when we met Chloe.

We played with Chloe and found her to be a bit larger than we were looking for, our yard isn't that big and we wanted a small dog so that he/she would have ample room in our home. But we decided to get Chloe and not a moment too soon! As Tyler walked up to the counter to say that we wanted her, a lady from behind said, "Not with my permission!" As it turns out, she wanted to adopt Chloe, but she still needed to get approval from her landlord. Since we didn't need approval and we were already there and wanted her first, we got to take her home.

It's been almost a month since we've owned her, and Chloe fits in perfectly with our family! She loves to snuggle (which is what I have wanted in a pet since I was a little girl) and is quite the energetic one too! We've also found out that Chloe is a chewer, and bit through my laptop cord, hence the lack of blogging since only yesterday I got a replacement power cord. But all in all, she's our little girl! She's nearly housetrained now, rarely barks, doesn't drool, and is my shadow all day long. We love her so much!Stats:
Age - 1 year 6 months
Gender - female
Breed - the shelter says she's a soft coated Wheaten Terrier mix. I do not agree. Whatever she is, it's cute to me!
How she ended up at the animal shelter - stray dog, found on the streets
Rate of Bone Consumption - eats a 10-inch rawhide bone in one afternoon