Basement Remodel: Light at the End of the Tunnel

It's been another week of progress around here, and things are looking much different!

Recessed Lighting

• We now have receptacles for six recessed lights in the basement!
• Hopefully they don't look like this once it's all said and done
• I also noticed while taking photos for this post that they drywalled over one of the lights!

 

Other Electrical

• We moved the patio light upstairs to be centered between the sliding doors
• We added a light downstairs
• The kids bathroom upstairs had the vent fan and light on the same switch, so you were forced to use the fan at all times.  We had the fan put on its own switch.  Silence is golden!

 

Sliding doors fixed

• The door guys came out and fixed the issue with the handles being different heights
• The doors being 1/2" different is not easy to fix, and was a result of all the water damage, so it looks like we're simply stuck with that issue.

 

Drywall

• Drywall is on the ceiling, water damaged walls, and places where we demoed walls
• It's looking like a real room!

 

Plumbing

• There used to be a rigged-up method for watering the plants on the upper deck.  It was a 2" plastic hose threaded through the deck and attached with a 2x4 to the house.  It looked really amateur.
• The plumber put a real pipe in the exterior wall of the house and added a real spigot on the upper deck.  Once the siding guys come through, it'll all be pretty and perfect!

 

Waterproofing and windproofing

• New insulation went into the water damaged wall
• New doors and windows were sealed with special tape and foam to keep the water out

You might also be interested in these posts:

Basement Remodel: Getting Started
Save money on your remodel by doing your own demo
Basement Remodel: Imperfect Progress

Bonnie Projects

Refinished Porch Light

Now that the yard is pretty and the front door is all spiffed up, the porch light is looking a little sad in comparison.

Nope, it's not dirty or faded, it's actually painted to look like this.

My first thought was to just replace it.  I collected up a number of pretty sconces on a pinterest board, but at $30 - $300, I wasn't chomping at the bit to just order one.

The current fixture happens to have this cool feature where it only comes on in the dark, so I can turn it on when I leave for work, and it'll welcome me home if I come home after dark 12 hours later, without wasting electricity all day.  Only the fancy models have this feature, so then we'd be in the $150 - $300 range.  Yikes.

I figured if we were going to replace it anyways, it might be OK to try refinishing it, with the potential of ruining it.

Tommy flipped the breaker and removed the fixture from the house.  I taped over all the electric parts, like the wires and the daylight sensor.

I bought this cool spray paint from the hardware store (Rustoleum Hammered Paint and Primer) - they do something fancy to it where it creates a hammered texture.  Not only does this forgive any dents or wear and tear on the item (that high gloss paint would highlight), but it looks pretty cool, too.  It was $8, so on the high end for spray paint, but cheap-o for a new light fixture.

I didn't have to, but I primed the fixture first.  (Before buying the spray paint - I didn't realize I wouldn't need it)

Then I sprayed three coats of the hammered finish spray paint, which ended up being the entire can.

 

I let it dry for a while, then discovered the underside needed a few extra spritzes.  I had to wait 48 hours from the first spray session, so this added days to the project.  (If you spray a second coat between 1 and 48 hours after the first coat, it can cause wrinkles in the paint)

It came out SO WELL!  The black makes the fixture contrast well with the brick on the house, and ties it in with the handrail.

 

 

 

Eight bucks for a brand new looking fixture sure beats $30 - $300!  Plus, the whole project took about 20 minutes of hands-on time.  Drying time added more hours, but that's OK with me.

Bonnie Projects

Half Bath Reveal

There's nothing like impending parties of 20+ guests at your home to get you working on those home improvement projects that have been dragging along!

Our half bath is the only bathroom on the main level of our house, so it's the one our short-term guests tend to use.  It's just off the foyer and kitchen, and if the door is open, it's the first thing you see as you enter the house.

It was also the worst-looking room in our entire house!  I'm not sure if you're ready for this before photo.  The wallpaper is so crazy you can't even see the word "before".

Honestly, I'm not even sure what the worst part was - the wallpaper, mirrored cabinet, glittery sink, or Asian mirror and shelf.  What you can't see here was the ugly light fixture and the goldenrod yellow trim and door.

Our friends ripped the wallpaper down the first weekend we were in the house (love you guys!!!).  But we kind of lost steam there.  Let's see some close-ups of the details.

We did some research and discovered that vanities like ours are actually quite pricey (like $1000+)!  Tommy's grandmother really likes it, so we're gifting it to her.  I'm glad it'll have a loving home.

A few weeks ago we were up at the hardware store to buy random stuff, and kind of got carried away on a shopping spree, mostly for this bathroom.  They even had to call in the lift to get the vanity for us.

We removed the vanity next.  It came out pretty easily, but is now in our dining room.  Maybe it'll make a cool place to chill champagne?  Maybe we can get it out of here before the parties!

We also tried out about a million paint swatches, in every color from chocolate brown to orange to beige.  In the end, we went with Rainwashed by Sherwin Williams, the same color from the living room.  We like the color, it matches this level of the house, and we had an extra gallon hanging out.

Once we got the walls free of wallpaper glue and had them smoothed (we hired a handyman to do the drywall - given the time crunch we couldn't learn to do it ourselves), the painting and vanity installation went really smoothly - nothing too interesting to report.

The vent cover was black, and really dirty.  We initially shopped for a new one, but it was a weird size.  We ended up sanding it a bit, running it through the dishwasher, priming and painting it.  Good as new!  I love when we can reuse stuff instead of throwing it away.

The big problems started when we tried to install the new faucet and light fixtures.

It turns out that whoever redid this bathroom last time wasn't an expert.  The light fixture was installed using improper and unsafe methods, and the sink drain used a pipe size they don't even carry at the hardware store.  Tommy tried his best, but since it's water and electricity, we ended up calling in the experts.  They were perplexed as well, and I'm pretty sure they wish they had charged us more!

We topped it all off with a round mirror and hand towel holder!  Ready for the big reveal?

We are THRILLED with the outcome!!!  We almost walked out of our house at the showing because of this bathroom.  We love how clean and updated it feels, and the style perfectly reflects us.

As always, this project isn't quite done yet!  The toilet is a cream color that doesn't match.  It seems impractical to replace a functioning toilet, but when it goes, we'll get something in white.  I'd also like to hang some art on the blank walls.

But for now, I love love love this project!!!  Let's see a before and after again.

Interested in a buying guide?  The vanity, towel ring, faucet, and lighting are from Home Depot.  The mirror is available at IKEA.  I didn't think I'd like the slightly rustic patina of the mirror, but now that it's in the space I much prefer it to something plain.

How'd we come in budget and time-wise?  Thanks to the surprises of the plumbing and electric being weird, we spent more time and money than planned hiring the pros to get it working.  We were a little surprised at the cost of decent-looking faucets and lighting, but felt like we made up for it with the inexpensive vanity (with top included!) and mirror.  Overall, we're 100% happy with the results, and it got done before the big parties!!!

Foyer Update: Color and light

With all the guests we're expecting soon (28 for Christmas dinner and another 30 two weeks later for a party), we wanted to make sure our home was welcoming.  What's the first room a guest sees?  The foyer!

Is gold striped wallpaper and gold painted doors your style?  Sadly, it was not ours.

Foyer, move-in day

When we first moved in, some of our beloved friends helped us out and tore down the gold striped wallpaper adorning our foyer.  Surprise!  It was pink underneath!

We spent the next few months scrubbing glue off the walls, and more or less got distracted doing other stuff around the house.

Then we realized it was already December!  The current state of the foyer was decidedly unwelcoming.  Pink walls covered in glue, caramel doors, and a light fixture anyone over 6 feet tall banged their head on.  Yuck.

We started with the light fixture.  Nothing like a bruised head to welcome you to a home!  I browsed a lot online, and we visiting the lighting department of Home Depot at least five times.  In the end, we just went with an inexpensive boob light.  At two for $22, the price was phenomenal.  It still held two bulbs, cast a white light, and sat close to the ceiling.  Some of the fancier ones did the same stuff, but none of them really spoke to us.  So boob light it was!

Nice improvement, huh?  Tall folks and those appreciating soft white light will both appreciate this upgrade.

Now for those walls.  In the glue removal process we damaged the walls a bit.  We ended up calling in a pro to float the walls.  (I tried doing it myself, but the hubs thought maybe I should practice my mudding in a less public area of the house).  The guy said they were the worst walls he had ever seen, but he did a great job.

We decided to use a light grey for the walls, and white for the trim.  We chose a grey that didn't seem to have strong undertones of any particular color, and decided on March Wind by Sherwin Williams.

I love love love the Emerald paint by Sherwin Williams.  In one coat, it covered up all that pink and gold mess.  It's washable, which is great for a narrow foyer like this.  It's also zero-VOC, so it won't offgas carcinogens for the next ten years.  Clean, healthy, happy.  This paint is honestly my favorite home product of the year.

Let's see what the foyer is looking like now!

Fresh clean neutral paint, and a light fixture that puts out pretty white light and won't knock anyone in the head.  Much more welcoming!  Let's see a few more angles.

 

Holiday monogram wreath

One more before and after?

We love the new look!  We're almost done with the foyer now.  We did all the hard stuff, now I just need to shop!

• Organize coat closet (done!)
• Replace light fixture
• Paint trim
• Paint walls
• Replace rug
• Add art/photos