Oil based paint is the devil

Sarah, my friend since 1st grade, visited me this week and we made huge strides forward in paiting the rest of my house.

We learned some important lessons:

1. Sometimes things look worse before they start to look better.
So much white, yuck! Which leads me to....

2. Oil-based primer is BAD. It does not come off. Ever. I still have some in my hair, not to mention my arms, legs, and hands.

3. Paint colors sometimes look nicer when they're dry. I think this is gorgeous. It was not so gorgeous while it was wet....
A white chair rail dividing the two colors is soon to come.

4. Even though painting with white is awful and painting cabinets is even more awful, it's important to remember to keep the big picture in mind.
5. Friends are AMAZING!

All moved in and moving forward in making it mine!

The "master" bath...it's tiny, but cute. And, I got to have my dream of having a purple room!
My sweet new patio furniture! I've got a ceiling fan outside too, so it's somewhat bearable in the heat of Texas summer. Maybe almost would be a better word than bearable. I'm looking forward to October.


This is Steve's room. It looks a little different now because he decided he wanted a bigger bed, moved the dresser into his closet, and added some more furniture.
I'll put up more photos as soon as I'm no longer embarrassed about the state my house is in....

Before and Afters

Well, stage one of the renovations is done! Everything looks so great; I don't think I could be any happier. Projects for the future: painting the walls and kitchen cabinets, and bathroom updates!

Kitchen

Dining Room

Living Room

Laundry

Floors and a Finished Kitchen!

EVERYTHING is set to be finished by tomorrow afternoon. Exciting! See below for the latest updates...

I love the floors--they really update the place. I also like how the color of the fireplace doesn't look as strange next to the dark wood as it did next to tan carpet...

The kitchen is looking pretty great, too. Don't you think?

Another Big Step Forward...

Progress in the Kitchen

I stopped by the condo on Friday to get an update on the progress made this week. They've been working primarily in the kitchen, which should be completely finished by the end of the weekend. I'll probably stop by on Sunday to check it out. Until then, check out how it's looking so far...

First thing's first, the rotten wood is all gone! It's been removed, replaced with new wood, and covered with fresh concrete. It looks a little bit better than before!

Here's a close-up of the granite tile.

From this photo, you can start to picture how it's going to look when it's all put together. The sink is new too. The old one was pretty rusted out. Since I had to replace it anyway, I also added two inches in depth. I'm hoping I won't make as big of a mess when I wash big things like mixing bowls now. :)

Finally, these are the materials going into the backsplash. There's going to be a ribbon of black glass running through the tumbled stone. The grout won't look so stark when it's all put together, or so I've been promised

Check back on Sunday or Monday to see the finished kitchen!

Ups and Downs

As always, start by looking at pictures of the condo before renovations started if this is your first visit to my blog.

Yesterday I stopped by to talk to Josh, the contractor doing the work on the condo. We decided to replace some of the cabinet walls that had sustained some water damage. When they moved the refrigerator, we discovered the floor had suffered from water damage as well. So, that is being ripped out and new materials will be put into place before the kitchen tile is installed. When this work is finished, they'll be able to move onto the fun stuff--installing the granite countertops, stone backsplash, and new flooring. It was a bit of a setback, but not a huge problem. The kitchen will be in better shape than ever before.

On the bright side, Benny and Alice have finished removing the popcorn texture from the ceilings. They just finished painting them this week. They've also removed the mirrors from above the fireplace and retextured the space in the same style as the walls and ceilings. It looks awesome. Both of these renovations went a long way towards getting the 80s out of the condo. :) I'm so glad I decided to do this.

I'll be stopping by again next week, as soon as some more significant progress has been made on the floor and in the kitchen. Look for new pictures then! And....I still don't have a roommate. Pass the word along to anyone you know moving to the great city of Austin. Newly renovated, wonderful neighborhood, furnished; you can't do much better!