Home Renovations!

I  got my first tour of our house in April of 2008 during a trip to Moscow with my mom and my sister.  My first impression was that it was much bigger than it looks on the outside, and that it hadn't been renovated since approximately 1972. Shag carpet, huge tiffany lamp, wall to wall wood paneling... you get the idea. I remember how exciting it was to walk through the house with Bran, knowing that in a few short months we'd be married and living there together.  We made lots of plans (the upstairs closet really would someday be a third bathroom) and even started thinking about paint colors.

When we moved into our house in June of 2008, we knew we had a lot of work ahead of us. I posted about all the work we did that first month here. I have yet to take an updated picture of the foyer, or what was the upstairs living room (and is now our bedroom).  But I do have some new pictures for you!

When we found out I was pregnant in May of 2009,we knew our little upstairs apartment would have to change to accommodate the little one.  As it was we had a teensy bedroom (with no room for a baby) and a big living room, and that was it. We decided to forgo the living room and turn it into a master bedroom, and turn our old bedroom in to the nursery.  We also decided at that time that the big upstairs closet needed to become a bathroom. 

We immediately moved all of our things out of the nursery and set up our new bedroom (which I LOVE).  Turning the old bedroom into the nursery and installing the bathroom took a little more time.  As in, 9 months. Two weeks before Emmaline was born I was painting the nursery and the bathroom still wasn't done.  Bran kept telling me I had to hold her in until it was finished, and it just so happened that they finished the new bathroom the night she was born!

NURSERY

My mom bought the glider for me, and also put my idea for the curtains into effect.  I found the purple curtain panel at goodwill for $3 and knew I wanted to turn it into a window covering for the nursery, but have no sewing skills whatsoever.  So mom took my idea and made it happen! I love how they turned out.

Then we have the changing table Bran surprised me with, complete with some cute cubbyhole boxes Karen (Bran's mom) picked up for us while she was here.  We're planning on hanging a shelf and some photos on the wall above the changing table, but haven't gotten to it yet.

The crib came from friends of ours.  I absolutely love the white crib with the yellow walls and have plans to do some stenciling on the wall above the crib.

It still needs some decorations to give it that finished feel, but I think it's a great start! 

BATHROOM

The upstairs bathroom is my favorite room in our entire house, but it definitely didn't start out that way!

This is the only before picture I have, thanks to the fact that Bran was so
excited about the demo that he had it all finished before I could get my camera out.

When we moved in we called this particular room the "weed room" thanks to the big lamp that gave off a blue ambiance, the shag carpet and the heavy duty fan. It was evidently also the massive beehive room, as the guys quickly found out.  Thankfully, the bees had evacuated the hive months before!

We designed the bathroom and picked out all the elements and fixtures, and the Antkowiaks (Bran's parents) made it happen financially.  Bran did some of the work himself (all the demolition, some framing, and some plumbing) but most of it was done by a good friend of ours who owns Anderson Construction here in Moscow.  We're thrilled with the results!

First, there is the "spa-like" tub with an all-tile surround and built in shelving on either side,

with storage cabinets below the shelves.

Then we have the toilet and little cabinet that matches the vanity and shelving.

And finally the door, vanity, and mirror! We had to play with the fixtures a bit to get everything to fit (talk about a major ceiling slant!), but with some custom wood work and a bit of imagination we did it!

The only thing left to finish is painting.  Everything is primed, and the bottom half is done, but now the slants and the ceiling need to be painted.  I'm hoping to finish it with my sister's help next week, 

and will post a few more pictures when we do it.