Kitchen today before & after

click on the to make them bigger

Window Seeds

Yesterday we installed a few custom cut pieces of glass to make a herb garden in the kitchen window. What you are seeing is Tomatoes and peppers however, waiting in the nursery to go into the ground on April 21st. We figure if we are not done with the house we will have food in the garden. If we are done with the house there will be food in the garden for the new owners. We also installed baseboard trim in half the house.

The old back yard

Here is a shot of the beautifully landscaped backyard before we got our hands on it.

Before & After

Just looking through old pictures this morning and wanted to show a few before and afters.

Sleeping in the Bedroom

So we now have a closet in the bedroom and get this...a bed in the bedroom. In some countries people actually sleep in their bedrooms (not the living room) and they keep their clothing in a closet in the bedroom. Wow we are really living large now. For Christmas we got a down comforter and the nice sheets so this is all icing on a pretty good cake.

Bedroom Flooring, Paint and switch plate covers too!

Today we finished the painting in the bedroom, started the flooring and hope to move in there on Monday night.

Hall is done..well sort of.

Today we finished up the hall between the bath and bedroom. We were going to put carpeting down on the floor there, but having someone install it and dealing with workmen is not my idea of a good time so I ripped up the flooring from the kitchen back and reinstalled it having the wood go into the hall way and now it will seamlessly go into the bedroom as well. The trim still needs to be put up in the entire house. The final coat of mud will be put on the bedroom tonight. At least I hope it is the final coat. After the bedroom is painted and the wood floor goes in we will do the trim in the house saving the back porch into a bedroom transformation for last.

No Built in

We thought it best to leave the built in out of the project as the cost we may not recoup in the selling process. So I put a sheet of dry wall up there. Also today I finished framing up the closet in the bedroom. It will only be 60" wide, but the second bedroom will also have a closet. I ripped up all the bad flooring and patched it with new wood. Today I set new plywood on the bedroom floor. Things are really cooking now. I thought it would take about two weeks to complete this bedroom. It has been almost a month since I started the tear out to get to this point. I sure hope the final room of the house goes faster. I guess if a guy doesn't have to rip out a bathroom before he builds a bedroom maybe it goes faster.

Directions

So here is where everything sits this morning. It will be so nice to get the porch done into the 2nd bedroom. We are use to the redneck wind sock hanging in the door way however. The back room has no insulation at all so the pink blanket puffs up depending which way the wind blows. Last summer it was like an oven in there, so we hung the blanket to keep the cold out this winter.

Bathroom lights are in

So after a time of ordering lights and not getting them we finally found these lights and they arrived yesterday. I put them right in away as it makes getting ready easier in the morning if you can see.

First Coat of Mud on the walls

Today I was able to finally get the first coat of mud on the walls in the bedroom. Kristine's birthday was Saturday so we went bike riding and took the dog for a walk. I was going to fly her to Paris for the day but we decided to put the money into the house. ;) Hopefully I will be posting a painted bedroom this weekend.

Redneck Central Vacuum Cleaner System

The Redneck central vacuum cleaner system. Call now and you to can be one of the first to own this new invention. Why mess with dust pans when you can just sweep everything into your new redneck central vacuum system. Easy to install. Just send me $500 and I will get your install sometime in the future. Call today!

Bye Bye Plumbing Wall

So the dry wall is almost complete in the bedroom. The plumbing wall is behind all that showing. The bedroom is wired up and have just a few more sheets of dry wall to hang. Then it's off to mudding the walls, ceiling and installing a 1-4 sub floor over all the floor. Then find a carpet, install it and move the bedroom in there so we will have living room. So now when guest come over we do not have to make the bed. :)
The other day my wife made this meal. Just a regular meal for her. It looked so nice I just had to photograph it.

You hate to brag

Because I didn't have anything to do with the weather but look at the next 4 days. We are going for a walk!

61° F | 43° F


67° F | 52° F


68° F | 49° F


63° F | 49° F

The Bedroom door is in

Today I built a wall and put the bedroom door in. Now all I have to do is build out the walls ceiling and drywall them.

This reminds me so much of my wife.

Click here and watch this little movie.

She is so beautiful

How to cut a hole in the wall

It is in, we are through the other side.

Remember when you were a kid

My wife has to work today and yesterday it took me a lot longer than expected to get a light hung in the studio, so I never was able to knock a hole in the wall. Well today with my bride working away I decided to draw a bit on the walls. Now I know taking a marker and drawing on the walls isn't something you are suppose to do but I wanted you to see which way things are in relation to the dining room. Plus all you kids out there while Mom & Dad are away let your creative juices flow and draw a bit on the walls. Perhaps copy what I did, or make a sign that points to your bedroom, because when you are finished you will be spending a bit of time there I imagine. :)

One of those before and after shots

Fix this old house

Just for fun. It's a movie, click on the little arrow below the foot to play.

A hole in the wall

Today I want to put a new door way into a wall. Here is the front and back views of the wall before the hole.

Redneck Bathtub Removal...Day or Night 3 days a week.

This morning I had to remove the old bathtub. The thing is about 200lbs so I didn't want to drag it through the house, messing everything up. So I dropped her in the basement, which has outside stairs going to it. The basement is also our redneck dumpster service as you can see. Don't ask me how the bathtub made it all the way over there, it just sort of bounced just missing the water heater. So for all of you needing your cast iron bathtub removed don't hesitate to call. I might show up and then again I might not. I know you will be happy with the service and if ya ain't it's yer fault! You might have a plumber, an electrician and maybe the fire department at the job site just in case you mess up.

Birthday Tear Out

So today I have taken out a few walls and opened up the space that is going to be the bedroom. I still need to take the cast iron tub and closet on the side out.

bye bye old bathroom

Friday night, something so cool happened. We showered in our new bathroom. We also used our new sink and our new toilet. The toilet is the best part as all we have to do is push the lever and everything goes away. Before with the old one we would run the kitchen sink, a little bit of the tub, hold the lever down for about 20 seconds, jiggle it and then come back a few minutes later to make sure the thing stopped running. The new toilet is done in less then three seconds. Now what will we do with all this new found time. :) Pictures of the new bath will follow shortly once I finish the built in wall cabinets. My wife found the perfect shower curtain, towels and rug for the bath. She just puts things together so well. On top of all this excitement we started the demo of the old bath, hall and closet. That little hall closet was the only closet in the whole house. Right now the back porch, the future second bedroom is a walk in closet for us. Tearing off old plaster is kind of fun. Everything is being torn out, the walls, closet and such. The space will then be big enough for a master bedroom. Before my wife gets home today I would like it to be all the way torn out so off I go. It's my birthday too! I am building us a bedroom for my birthday, which is really kind of cool.

A sink and toilet

Grouted up the tile yesterday and put toilet & sink in this morning. How about them apples!

Flooring too!

We just put the floor down. So nice.

some paint on the walls

Things are progressing nicely in the bath. We put some paint on the walls this morning. I can't wait to install the fixtures.

Tile has begun

Today the tile has begun in the bath. Hopefully it will go fast.

Franklin TN

Last night we returned from a visit to Franklin, TN. Pictured here is my wife and her awesome children, granddaughter, Boo Boo and me. It was a nice break in our Summer Vacation in Missouri to get to see everyone.

Bathroom Faucet found

The other day we found the perfect bathroom faucet. Because the sink we have is an 8" faucet base, the faucets were over $100. So we came across this one well under that price and it will go with the cottage look we are doing. At least that is the hope. As the bathroom progresses we will find out.

Here is our Bedroom or is it our Living room?

While the bathroom and bedroom is being built we have been using the living room as our bedroom. It is a little strange to sit with friends in our living room, but so far no one has complained to much. My wife is such an awesome cook that when people come over they couldn't complain anyways because they have full mouths, enjoying her wonderful food.

To help pay for the remodel.....

I have found these ducks that work for bread crust. They are helping us pay for the work on the house. Here they are in action. Shhhhh, don't tell nobody!

Bathroom colors

Today we found the flooring, tile and paint color for the bathroom. It is a bummer that I cannot get the color right in the photograph but it is white, sorta light green and brown. Also this past weekend my bride was huggin Boo Boo so I just had to share this photograph.