Work in Progress

Ok, so the phrase “work in progress” can be a bit deceiving, because as I write this (or if you ask my husband), our renovation is done.

I say it’s done “for now”…

I guess if you think about it on a grander scale, we are all works in progress, aren’t we? Ok, ok, I’ll keep this light.

Mold. Mold started it all. We found mold in the master bath. So instead of just replacing the shower as it was (it was not very functional for us anyway) we listened when the mold expert said, “if you were ever going to remodel this bathroom, now’s the time”. Wink, wink.  Ok, so he didn’t wink. That would have been creepy. But you get the idea. And we were off…

And one thing led to another (like a broken washing machine) and we ended up making a few changes in a few areas around the house.

I have to say, I have heard a ton of horror stories regarding renovations. We had a very smooth experience, and for that, I thank our contractor, Oscar Gerardo with Gerardo Construction. Honestly, no problems at all!!

 So, without further ado, here’s what we done did:

Laundry Room Mini Makeover. My amazing hubby just did the small changes in here. The fab personalized laundry sign is from Dawn’s Painting (on Etsy). And side note, if you think a renovation has to be gut it or nothing, I was so pleased with just adding a few shelves and storage items- it really did make the laundry room feel updated.

Which led to…a Kid’s Shoe Area. (It’s right outside the laundry room, so it only makes sense, right??) The fab benches were handmade by Bacon Square Farm, and the corrugated metal letters were from Lingbeek Designs (both on Etsy). We don’t have space for a designated mud room or similar area, so I just took advantage of unused space and having their shoes separated, yet consolidated in one place has been amazing!!!

Family Room Medium Makeover (because having tile installed with kids around is no joke). The simple shelf additions match the ones in the laundry room (from Hobby Lobby) and add so much character to the room!

I also added new bar stools. Ok, so totally not anything that had to be done as part of this reno, but just squeezed them into the mix since they were close to our newly tiled family room. They have been great and are from Target.

And the piece de resistance- Total Master Bathroom Makeover!! The before was just a basic, builder grade, master bath. We aren’t the original owners of the home.

Now, I seriously want to hang out in the bathroom ALL OF THE TIME! It’s just so pretty. Nobody will miss me, right?? And yes, I was the designer. Hope you like it.  And if you don’t, don’t tell me, I may cry.

I’m now ready to re-do the other 2 bathrooms, but I believe the words, “cool your jets, lady”, were spoken by my husband. Sigh. Honestly though, I wonder if renovations are like pregnancy and childbirth?? Do we downplay the process and think, yeah, I can totally do this again right now?? Like living in a house during even our smaller reno was really difficult with kids. There is junk everywhere, even when the guys did their best to keep it to a minimum. And the layers of dust that keep coming are unbelievable. The “I want things in my home clean” side of me was a bit cray-cray during all of this. But, it wasn’t that bad, was it??

Stair Makeover. After the workmen had to go up and down my stairs to get to the mast bath a million times, I decided that was the best excuse to get rid of the carpet on the stairs. Anyone else done this? It’s been super fabulous!!! I do not miss the carpet one little bit. I love how they turned out!! Also, we got all the flooring for all areas that we updated at Floor & Decor.

So for now, our Team Dahl Renovation is complete. But stay tuned…

Do you have any crazy renovation stories? I’d love to hear.

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