A Remodel "Before"

As faithful followers know, I live in a 1968 ranch style home.  While our house is warm and dry and I am very thankful for that, 1968 ranch style homes are pretty plain jane. 

We moved here in February of 1998, just a couple of weeks after our baby's second birthday.  Wow!  She really doesn't remember living anywhere but here.  Our son was just getting ready to turn 5 when we moved here.  He doesn't really remember much about life before Down On The Farm either!

If you recall, last year we remodeled our bathroom.  Click HERE for the details. We have two bathrooms, but we don't have a "master bathroom."  The bathroom we remodeled last year is the bathroom next to our master bedroom, but it doesn't adjoin our bedroom.  Really, what that means is the door to the bathroom is in the hallway, not inside our bedroom.  I am VERY HAPPY with how the remodel turned out.  We didn't spent a lot, and truly got a lot of BANG FOR THE BUCK.  Two sinks are MUCH better than one, especially when I share that bathroom with a 16 year old daughter! 

I'm really into "bang for the buck."  I don't want to spend a lot of money remodeling our house.  Our house is in the middle of our farm and we will never sell it.  Eventually, we I would like to build a new house over on another farm to get away from the turkey barns, get away from driving through cow manure on the road, and get  away from living on a gravel road and my car being always dusty or muddy.  But that's another post for another time.  So when I say I'm "remodeling" it really means I'm trying to spend as little as I can, and use what I have, only make it BETTER.

I hear people talk about remodeling and spending $10,000 on their bathroom, or $30,000 on their kitchen.  WHAT??? 

So if you are interested in what remodeling on a BUDGET looks like, keep reading.  Here is a picture of our other bathroom, the bathroom we are remodeling now.  This is the bathroom just off the laundry room.  And really, I don't have a "laundry room."  The washer and dryer are behind the door when you open the back door to our house.  So far the ugly wallpaper border has been removed (see the white at the top).  That mirror is going to get a frame, and the light fixture will be replaced. 

Sorry this is so dark!  Backlit!!

This is looking toward the shower.  That shower curtain is GOING!  The sink is to my left as you are looking at the shower.

The big problem with this area is the floor.  The toilet has been leaking for awhile, and the floor between the toilet and the shower is very "soft."  Which means the underlayment is rotten and will have to be removed.  So we have hired someone to tear out the two layers of old vinyl, replace the underlayment, and install a new vinyl floor.

Yes, I would like to have a tile floor instead of vinyl.  However, my handsome husband walks into our house several times a day to use this bathroom, and he doesn't always take off his boots.  And his boots aren't just covered in grass clippings.  They are caked in cow manure, turkey manure, mud, all sorts of lovely things that are then transferred to this floor.  I need a floor I can BLEACH, so for us, for now, vinyl is the practical choice.  When we build a new house, I will have a separate area the farmer can use so he isn't tracking up my pretty floor.  But again, that's years down the road.

So far we have purchased a bag of floor patch for $15.00.  We purchased 6 sheets of underlayment at $20 each ($120.00).  We purchased a new exhaust fan for the bathroom ($115).  The new fan has much more suction power and is MUCH QUIETER than the old fan that is 44 years old.  The old fan SQUEALS when it runs, and makes a lot of noise.  It also doesn't have much suction power.  And, the new fan has a light!  Woo hoo!!!  We also purchased a new light fixture for the wall ($59).  The old light has 3 lights on it, but only 2 work.  So now we will have a light in the ceiling and three working lights above the sink. Hallelujah!!!

I have tentatively picked some vinyl, but want to look one more place before I decide for sure.  I will go with something fairly neutral.  This is a relatively small area, so nothing too crazy. Nothing too expensive. 

While we're at it, I'm doing a little updating to our master bedroom.  We painted last summer, and got new carpet.  We also had an electrician install a wire so we could have a light in the middle of the room.

For some strange reason, the folks who built our house in 1968 installed THESE beauties in the master bedroom.

And as you can see, they hang about two feet from the wall??  Really?  I mean why would you do this??  This makes no sense to me. 

So we are going to be taking these babies down from the side of the room, and installing THIS BEAUTY in the middle of the room!  You may be wondering why we have waited a year to get a new light fixture.  Well, so am I.  I have no excuse.  But now that I've decided to do it, I can't WAIT!!!

I love it!  Overstock.com, $109 and FREE SHIPPING!!!!  I can't WAIT to see that light hanging from the ceiling.  I have also purchased some new pillows to go on our bed.  I will do a post just on the changes to the bedroom, but wanted to give you a sneak peek!

I am so excited to get the new floor, and the plan is to have everything done before Thanksgiving.  So stay tuned and I'll keep you updated!  I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!