Alumni House Update

Guys, this house has been taking over my life. lol! I cannot believe how long it’s been since I posted an update…or posted anything for that matter! One crazy busy summer (but totally epic so I’m definitely not complaining!) while trying to demo and remodel an entire house MAY have been biting off a little bit more than I can chew. 😉 Finding time to even take pictures, much less blog about it has definitely  taken a back seat. 

If you’ve been following along on instagram, then you’ve seen some of the progress happening. Things seemed to be moving slowly at first…and now all of a sudden I feel like we are moving at warp speed! This is when things get exciting…but also get super stressful for me as all the major decisions need to be finalized.

Paint and cabinet colors, trim, hardware, door styles…if they were all that fun, it would be great…but a lot of it is no fun. There are SO many tedious decisions and things to think about…what kind of hinges on doors, where are all the light switches going and how to divide them up…dimmers? timers?

What height do you want them? How far apart do you want them spaced? So. Many. Decisions. And then I have to check and re-check and call contractors out multiple times to fix one little thing here and there…it’s all a bit overwhelming sometimes. But the end result is ALL worth it!!

I tend to do a LOT of electrical work in all of my projects. It’s expensive, but it’s one of those things that is difficult to change once the house is put back together…so if you think you want it…do it while it’s all torn apart! Trust me!

Demo, rough electrical, rough plumbing, windows, HVAC, insulation (another thing I tend to go crazy with!) and framing are all done. It’s time for drywall!!!

In the middle of all of this, I decided to renovate the basement apartment as much as I possibly could with the 3.5 weeks I’ve had between tenants. New windows, paint, lighting, a brand new walk in shower, new vanity, new fixtures, closet doors and carpet…in 20 days.

Never mind the fact that I’ve been out of town for 14 of those days and nursing a pup back from a torn ACL & surgery! Yikes!! It’s been a month folks! But, it’s ready!! I need to install the mirrors and clean her up, but she’ll be ready for move in on Saturday morning. Whoa. 

Let’s see some pictures of the progress, shall we? 😉

We furred out the wall in the kitchen. There is no insulation in this house and this wall gets all the direct heat in the summer, and things are just  kind of cold in the winter. So, a few 2″ strips gave us some room for insulation against those brick/adobe walls and will give us smooth new drywall to work with. Yes, we’ll lose a couple of inches in this already small kitchen, but it is totally worth it. Here’s what it looks like now…

Fireplace is getting a refresh too…

We removed the really bad trim work in the bedrooms and uncovered 100 years of painted over wallpaper…so many layers!! It’s cool to see that history, but scraping it all off would be terrible! So, we’re doing a new layer of drywall of the lath and plaster. It will be cleaner, easier and less expensive in the long run.

I borrowed the very small closet in the primary bedroom to use for the shower in the bathroom, so we’re adding a new closet which will be bigger and more functional.

The bathroom is a doozy. It definitely looks the worst of any room in the house, but that just means it will look even better when it’s finished! The simple addition of a 32″x32″ space gave me enough space to completely re-design the room and move everything around to make it actually work. I am most excited to step in here when it’s all done and feel the difference.

The kitchen is going to be SO much bigger and have so much more cabinet/storage space!! The fridge is getting relocated to this wall. There will be a new pantry cupboard next to it. 

It’s kind of amazing to think that all of this is going to be covered up here in the next few days and I will really get to see things like they are going to be. I’m pretty good at imagining things, but there’s something amazing about when the walls go up and you can really feel the space as it will be. SO exciting!!

Can’t wait to share the results with you soon!

Want to see more of this project and other remodel projects? Check out these posts:

Introducing the Alumni House

Alumni House Living Room Design

Alumni House Update: New Windows Are In

Midway Modern Farmhouse Home Library Design

Midway Modern Farmhouse Master Bedroom Before and After

Midway Modern Farmhouse Dining Room Before and After

Our 1987 Fixer Upper

OC Ranch Reno

I’ll be adding all the details about what I’m using for this house remodel over on my  ShopLTK page. Come shop with me on ShopLTK everyday where I share all kinds of sales, deals and fun finds daily:

Pink Peppermint Design on ShopLTK

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Have a great day!
Tammy