Flip Plans: Bathroom

I'll be the first to admit, my plans for the bathroom aren't nearly as exciting as my kitchen plans (which I'm super excited to implement btw).  The bathroom is a much smaller space, so I have to be a little calmer.  You can rest assured, however, I will have some fun with brighter accessories when it comes to staging.

The shower is getting a fantastic white subway tile treatment much like Clark did.  It's a small space, but I'm trying to make it look as large and luxurious as possible (on the smallest budget- challenge accepted!).  Since I'm having a contractor put together this space, I'll need to get on top of buying all these pretty materials- chop chop!

I'm absolutely loving this bathroom via The Marion House Book- it incorporates a lot of my vision for the room & I found it AFTER I made all the decisions.  Great minds think alike.

plan sources: mirrors/sconces/vanity/drawer pull/floor tile

Salvaged Tile Art

Last week when I was brute-forcing the bathroom floor out, I was hit with inspiration in the form of concrete chunks.... that's not too odd is it?

In my demo delirium (I've decided that's a thing) I looked at these pieces and fell in love with the modern art that smashing a floor created.  I thought it might be a bit too crazy to frame a chunk of concrete (not to mention HEAVY), so I salvaged some individual tiles that were intact and had a bit of fun.

The lighting seems to have been a bit funky in my house/I probably had the camera setting wrong while doing this project, but the real color of the tiles is closest to the smashy pictures above.

I got a shadow box frame from Michael's (with a coupon naturally) and started experimenting with tile patterns.  Once I settled on a placement, the tiles got glued directly to the frame's black fabric backing.

The entire project was complete in just a matter of minutes.

Who knew tiles saved from the dumpster could be so pretty?

Before gifting it to our real estate agent for all her hard work in helping us find Frankie (thanks again Amy!), I attempted to get a better picture of the shadow box on the picture ledge in my office.  The colors are better, but it's a bit shadowy.  I guess my photography skills were on vacation during this project.

I don't know about you, but projects like this (even with the bad photography) just make me smile.  What was last week considered ugly and dated in the form of a floor is now an abstract piece of art with a history.

Have you salvaged materials from a renovation and given them a new life?  I'd love to hear about it!

Frankie: Week 2

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I learn to navigate through the business of flipping houses.  Check out other posts about Frankie the Fliphouse HERE. My entire body is sore.  Wielding a sledge hammer for a week straight will do that to you, I suppose.  Also, demoing bathroom walls is the bane of my existence.  Next house, I'm contracting that out!  But enough griping from me, you want to see Frankie!

As I alluded to with my whining, lots more demo happened this week.  LOTS.  Enough to practically fill the 20 yd dumpster in the driveway.

My goal is to have demo done by Monday.  It may or may not be attainable.  That's up to the bathroom.

Let's stop in the kitchen first.

The kitchen has less cabinets and appliances than it did last week.  The remaining cabinets are patiently waiting for the plumber to come cap off the strange pipes running through them.

The week started off pretty good when metal scrappers knocked at the door (after noticing the dumpster) and offered to take any unwanted metal and appliances (!).  My ears perked up with that one and I practically shoved the fridge and stove at them.  Saves me from having to pay for haul-away!

Now for the bathroom....

The floor had to go.  I was contemplating saving it, however it didn't continue under the old rotten custom-sized vanity.  My options were keep the floor and build a new custom vanity, or the cheaper option of replacing the floor and get a standard vanity.  No brainer.  There was only one obstacle: the tile was set into over an inch of concrete.

Figuring out how to get this up was actually a fun challenge.  (yes apparently my definition of 'fun' is rather twisted)  With the exception of where the toilet sits, Mr. Floor is no more.  Strong like bull!  And my muscles were angry.  Very angry.  I'm shocked they even let me get out of bed the next day.

The bathroom walls have been the most annoying part of this demo.  Since the previous owner took down tile, badly spackled over the left-over adhesive, then painted over that, the only way to smooth out the walls was with the sledge hammer (if you catch my drift).

I'm still battling with the corners.  They had/have metal mesh embedded in between 2 layers of cement board.  I'm taking suggestions if you've dealt with this in the past.

Hopefully I can beat the remaining wall board into submission today.  They're stubborn buggers.

At least the basement demo has been much easier, although just as messy.

I'm still debating my plans for the basement.  They'll definitely include painting floor and walls, but the ceiling is still up in the air.  (The bad pun was unintentional, but made me giggle.... demo makes me punchy).

...Anyway, do I paint the exposed rafters, install some kind of acoustic ceiling, or just leave it alone?  It's a bright, heated, huge, basement- the possibilities are endless!

Other less photogenic accomplishments this week:

-Purchasing appliances

-Replacing the flush valve in the basement bathroom's toilet (its a glamorous job I have)

-Picking out most of the remaining finishes

-Hiring a contractor & a window installer

-Baby steps in the curb appeal department: removing the dated awning over the picture window, scraping flaking paint from the railings, and choosing a fantastic color for the front door.

There's a light at the end of this demo tunnel!  Until then, I'll be the one with the dust mask and goggles, covered head to toe in demo dust.  Care to join?