I Don't Need No Stinking Tape Measure!

I started the revamp of our laundry room while our place was still vacant.  I bought the supplies, but didn't really think about what other types of tools I would need to complete the job.  Like a tape measure.  Pfft.  Who needs a tape measure?

(as the font is much too small, the top arrow says '1/2 through taping I got brave enough to try cutting in', bottom arrow says 'essential beverage for DIY')

I also felt that the 'instructions' for laying out the floor all perpendicular and straight was just lay too much work.  I do not plan, I do.  Really though, I kid, I just plan for a living, and when I get home it's the last thing I want to do.  We were also working on a timeline.

So I went all willy-nilly and layed down the first tile in that back left corner you see in the picture above.  SURPRISE!  The floor/walls/baseboard was not straight.  Le Sigh.

This is what I ended up with on 1 wall, and the exact opposite occurrence on the other wall. 

So how does one lay vinyl tile in an uneven room without a measuring tape?

Step 1: Dry Fit first 3 tiles along corner of wall

Step 2: Peal off backing and line corners of tiles up PERFECTLY on those first 3 tiles.  This will provide your lines for the remainder of the project, screw it up now and you will have gaps between the tiles further along the line.

Step 3: Lay remainder of full tiles.  Again make sure you are lining everything up PERFECT

Step 4: For Partial Tiles, use the whole tile closest to the wall as a guide.  Stand the tile at an angle and mark where to make your cuts. 

Step 5: Score tile and bend from the scored side for a clean cut.  (Tip! use a factory edge from another tile to make sure your score line is straight.  Peel the backing a bit and lay on top of the tile to be cut.  This will ensure your straightedge doesn't move while scoring).

***Be sure to always use the factory edge against full tiles.  Use the cut edge against the wall, you can always hide minor mistakes with caulking later on** 

Step 6: Repeat and lay all partial tile cuts.  (Tip! Often the cut you made on Side A of the room will match the angle needed on Side B of the room, so be sure to utilize these for less work)

Step 7: Caulk line between baseboard and tile, this will hide any imperfections or mistakes you may have made in cutting.

If you have tough, non-straight cuts (around molding) you can use the paper backings to make a template for your cut.  This way you still won't need a measuring tape!

So the a few hours later and the floor was completed.  Only 1 small paint booboo while my maiden voyage was made while not using painters tape.

And doesnt this vinyl tile look 10 million times better than the sheet vinyl that was previously installed?  Not bad for about $35 in materials and supplies.

Of course we will have a full run down of the completed project after cabinets, a new light, the upholstered backsplash, countertop, shelves and art go up this weekend.

Laundry Room Project Update!

I know you are all raring for a project reveal...

The real before and after will have to come after the weekend (or maybe a little later) as we have modified our plan for more spiff-i-fi-cation.  We have a run into the city planned on Saturday, before we watch the Braves play.

This is what we started with:

Our original inspiration photo was all soft and whitewashed:

After going to Home Depot and asking for a color match on a Valspar paint, I realized the color had much less brown undertone than I originally expected.  Because of that, it did end up going a bit better with the tile we chose, however some of the original concept wouldn't quite work.

I brought my mad Paint.exe skills to the house and came up with this after Craig suggested we remedy the hideous not quite fantastic wire shelf with full-on cabinets.

I was feeling the lush chocolate and grey scheme.  Now which accent color?  We could do orange, teal or lime green.  All of which are in my fav color rotation and which I happen to have fabric for.

Back to the original mood board I went.  Too blah I decided.  We are trying to get away from BLAH in this house.  I don't want to be safe!  I worked on this moodboard to convince Craig it would be cohesive once everything was there.  After switching out the fabric swatches I was SOLD on the orange.

Don't you love that light?  Although it's a pendant, I'm hoping we can hang it high so it grazes the ceiling.  It comes in 3 different sizes, 14" 17" and 21", I'm certain at least the smallest one won't have Craig banging his head on the fixture everytime he does laundry.

We will post 'in-progress' shots of the tiling and painting later today or tomorrow.  Once the cabinets are hung and all the other details come together we will gave yah the big Before & After.  I think it's gonna be pretty spectacular.  What do you think?

Touring the Exterior (and More)

Welcome back!  We thought we'd give you a tour of the areas of the house you haven't seen yet, like everything beyond the first floor!  As well as some to-dos we have planned for ourselves over the next little while.

First up, the Front Exterior.

While I love the greenery around our homw, it could use some manlandscaping.  Take for instance those purdy trees flanking the door.  We want them less lumpy, so we will be trying our hands at hedge clipping in the near future.

Next, a look at our Backyard.  It's our own little slice of Gerogia jungle.  I love it. so. much.  It's a bit steep in places, however it works for us and should keep us fit and firm running after little ones up and down the hill.

The Not-Sure-What-To-Call-It-Room.
We really are not yet sure what this room may turn into, it's in the basement at the back of the house and was used by the previous family as a home gym.  It's wired for sound (those white grates on the bulkhead are speakers) so we thought we could perhaps do a media or console gaming room (Wii, Xbox, Playstation etc).  Maybe they will have invented Holodecks by the time we figure it out.  In that case, it will be our Holodeck room!  I can safely say that this color will most certainly change.

The Slide Play Room
Ok, so on our first showing, I walked down the stairs, stopped aburptly and squeeled in delight when I saw this.  Full on hand flapping delight.  There is a slide (a slide!) built into the wall.  This is something I wanted to do a few years back in a split-level I owned, as there was space under the 3rd level that just seemed so wasted.  As much as I love the kitchen and the office and the trees and our view and the Master Bedroom, I honestly have to say this was the kicker for me.  You crawl through the bottom opening and there is a little lander up to the top part.  On the inside are whiteboards for all your doodling pleasure. 

Laundry Room, for the laundry bas-kets.
A sneaky 'before' of our laundry room.  Which has now had about 80% of it's initial makeover take place.  Post upcoming (once we get our machines actually hooked up).  This is a second floor laundry room, at the end of the hall from our Bedroom.  No more walking up 3 flights of stairs to do laundry, no sir.

A Nursery?

This will ultimatly become our little one's nursery (not even cooking yet, so hold off) when we get to that stage (soon-ish).  I like where the chairrail started and we will probably take it a step further and incorporate some beadboard or wainscotting.  Colors will also change.  And isn't that light fixture awesome?  It's like a little space station with hanging astronauts.  Haven't been able to figure out how to work it yet...but soon.

Other Bedrooms

The 2 other bedrooms are a bit blah right now.  This one (the larger of the 2) will more than likely become the guest bedroom until we fill the house with children.

The Master Bedroom

The bedroom is bigger than our living room was in our apartment.  How great it that?  We have the bed set up now and it look uber tiny (it's a double).  There are definatly! some plans in the works for this room.  As a preview, all new (as in new to us) furniture, new paint (something moody and saturated?), BIG art and a bold graphic rug.  Since the scale of this room is really going to let us play with bold pieces, we are going to live it up (if Craig will let me). 

We hope you enjoyed the rest of the tour!

And We're In!

After much delay (we were moving peoplel, you know how time comsuming that is) we are in and able to post!

Closing went pretty smoothly, all things considered.  We were able to meet the previous owners who were very nice and certainly reaffirmed our belief that they loved their house!

We spent the time between closing and moving in doing a quick few projects around the house (laundry room!) which you should get to see shortly once we've tidied up the last few details.

Our movers got us out and in in less than 4 hours (we did do some work) and if anyone needs movers in the Atlanta Metro area I have the boys for you!  They didn't come #1 recommended on Kudzu for nothing.

We did a little packing and clean-up yesterday evening and prepared for a weekend without any water.  You know, you just don't nptice how much water you use when you don't have it, though the only thing I'm really missing is a shower, and we are gonna take a quick trip over to the apartment to finish up cleaning and take a much needed desired shower.

I promise we do have an upstairs floor, it just doesn't get photgraphed much.  :)

Kitchen! In all it's messy, cluttered glory.

And now for the room where the living is done...

No cable for us.  :( 



Craig trying to figure out the cable and internet situation so we can avoid unpacking boxes.

This may have been one of the reasons we were able to unload in 45 minutes.  Instructions: All boxes in Dining Room.  Looks like so many less in here!

Not sure if my desk will go here....

Or here.

Oh look!  A room in sore need of decorating! That light has GOT to go.

And in case you want to have a look at that uber purdy floor, here's a close up, how'd my foot manage to photobomb?

So that's all for now.  Gotta go game unpack.  Thanks for being so patient with us.

Rad Crash Pad

We will be sorry to leave our apartment behind, it has been so good to us.  We've had great memories here and it will be hard to say goodbye.  But say goodbye we must, as our new home is calling.

In the meantime, some parting shots of our semi-temporary home in the ATL.

Our teeny, yet functional foyer.  We added the cute little wrought iron coathooks as I'm really bad at hanging up anything.  Got them onsale for $4 a piece at Pier 1 in early November.  (Doesn't look like they are selling them anymore, but these would work just as well.)

I fell in love with the mirror at HomeGoods and had to have.  It's so intricate and makes the small dark space a little brighter.  You could go with this larger Pottery Barn version, or hunt down your own like ours!

Living Room is so aptly named, especially in a quaintly sized crash pad like our own.  We could have painted the walls (the property management company is utterly awesome like that) but we knew it wouldn't be long before we had our mitts on our new home so we nixed the idea.

Sources!  Couch is from Pier One (found here) and officially the second thing we ever bought (while still living 3200 miles apart), bookshelves, curtains and pewter grey armchairs are found at Target (here), Trunk Table found at Crate and Barrel (found here).  That mirrored sidetable is also from Target (I got it for like $30 at the time due to discounting) and Craig is still adamant it is 'growing on him'.

Lamps were on clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond (no longer sold) and the painting on the back wall is an original la Renee also from HomeGoods.

A quick word on those pewter armchairs.  They are super comfy, in fact I use one as a computer chair and both Craig and I sit for hours working or gaming.  They fluctuate in price, and we've seen them as low as $89 each with free shipping.

From the other side showing our wooded view (something we also fell in love with at our new place).  Art from HomeGoods, accessories from WorldMarket, Micheal's and the trees outside.



And the laundry area peaking through.  Tried to gussy them up as much as possible, not that these handsome guys need it.  (They need names...hmm....Sven and Joprik?)  I've had that fabric forever, it's a damask in dark grey and bright chartreuse coloring, so awesome.  It will certainly have a fabulous home sometime soon.  Oh yeah, and pictures on top of a Laundry Pair?  Not such a good idea.  We broke the glass in both frames.  Forgive the orphan lamp, this was before I obtained my desk.

So that's it for now ladies and gentleman.  Soon you will see these furnishings in a new setting!  Closing today!  Can't wait!  Updates soon.

Saga of Sticky Tile

So most people wouldn't stress about flooring.  Or the lack of one's chosen flooring.  They'd just suck it up and go with Plan B.

Not I.  I am not she.

I've used vinyl tile in many applications previous to The New House (we really gotta name him), in bathrooms, foyers, kitchens, etc.  It's a good material if you are:

a) looking for something quick
b) looking for something cheap
c) know it is going to be an interim solution

Vinyl tile turned up our choice as we needed something that ticked all 3.  We will eventually be reno-ing the laundry room and hall bathroom, however in the meantime, I need not bad 1990s builders grade lino.  You dig?

I checked out Armstrong.  Maker of all vinyl tile I had previously used.  Fell in LURVE with Armstrong Fairfax Peat.  No problem right?  I'd head down to the Home Depot and pick me up some vinyl love.

No can do.

I guess Canadians have a bit more of a love for vinyl tile.  Maybe it's the snow and ice?

Calgary's Home Depots are filled with aisle after aisle of choice.  My trip to Home Depot went a little something like this:

1st lap around the store: Hmmm...gotta be here somewhere, wouldn't it be in flooring?
2nd lap around the store: I wonder if it's in the kitchen cabinet section....
3rd lap around the store: Maybe I should ask someone, oh wait there it is.  Is this it?  10 choices?  WTH!??

10 choices.  Who does that?  And 8 of them were fugly.

And for the record, this is the absolute first time I have ever encountered a smaller selection of items in any American store as compared to it's Canadian counterpoint.  (Hockey Skates don't count)

I went home defeated.  Life was ruined, what ever was I going to do?  TO THE INTERNET!  There are a million and one flooring stores online that offer discounted flooring options like hardwood, and engineered hardwood and laminate and ....... not vinyl tile.  Serious, 4 hours later and I was still looking.

Oh I could find all kinds of styles that would make me rather have plywood floors that were fine for other applications, but nothing that quite cut the mustard.

Many days and trips to Home Depot, Ace, Local Flooring Places and Desperate Google Searches later I tried the one location of Lowes I hadn't been to yet.  It was near work, I needed to get out of the office on my lunch break.

And I found IT!  (OK well maybe not IT, but at least something I was enough happy with to finally decide upon).  And there was one left.  Not one case, not one box, but one single tile.  *sigh  That does seem to be my luck.

 And so the saga continues....

Where Clothes Get Clean

The Laundry Room will, by necessity, be our first project.  The lino in there makes me toss and turn at night is just not all that, and I'd rather not have to lift our front loaders out just to re-do the floor.

So, as our house will be empty til the weekend, the laundry room will be re-floored, painted and spiff-i-fied this week.

Pinterest is decor crack, I warn you now.  It is impossible not to be inspired when you have beautiful images of tile and paint and furnishings that are hand-picked by like minded individuals with a penchant for design.  So to get inspired for the laundry room I went a-browsing.

Sans picture of laundry room (sorry none in the listing pics) I shall describe what we have to work with.  A 6" x 6" box at the end of the upstairs hall, no window and I believe (maybe?) it has a double cabinet above the hook-ups.  I honestly can't remember, so I'm making plans for both cabinet-ed and cabinet-less room.

First....the inspiration (vis pinterest).

Liking the airiness and old-world charm.  The off-white cream and powder grey look so classic.  Tick off the warmth check box for the organic materials (baskets, wood flooring, woven rug, upholstered linen chair)

I think I can work with this in a budget friendly manner. 

Here is my spin:

Going to go with a vinyl floor (more on that odessey to come) and a grey-brown color on the wall.  We would love a counter top above the washer and dryer, thinking a pre-fab butcher board piece from IKEA, stained dark to give us some contrast.  The fabric will be used in place of back splash, to give some dimension and texture to the room.  The accent color is still up in the air, though if there are cabinets above the hook-ups we will go with the grey-blue in the inspiration pic.

Moar Floorplan!

We will have a more detailed follow-up to come (picture before photos + empty photos + mock-ups + more floorplans).  Just to give you an idea of the space and what we are working with as we count down to closing (tomorrow!!!).

1st Floor Layout

Forgive my horrid Paint floor plan.  I could have created one with floorplanner.com but that would involve work, perish the thought.  There will be a spiffy floor plan for the detailed post upcoming.

As you can see, we have a traditional lay out with great flow between rooms and not too much open concept.  I've lived in open concept before, and it just doesn't do it for me.  Dishes sitting on the counter doesn't look good up close, or from across the room while you are trying to pay attention to Iron Chef.

Disclaimer:  This is not our stuff.  These are the listing photos with previous owner's posessions, don't you be commenting about the decor.

Upon entrance into the foyer we can see down the hall to the kitchen and nook area, to the right  through french doors into the office and to the left we have the staircase up to the 2nd floor (bad feng shui I know).  If you look down you will see one of the selling points of this house.  Lovely Travertine floors.  *Gush

The Office has excellent light and great wall space for bookshelves and desks and art.  Since Craig and I spend so much time online, we wanted a spacious, inviting room to game and surf.

Through the Office we enter the Dining Room, which upon measurement will comfortably accommodate an 8-person table.  We plan to paint and liven it up, but for now the focal of the room is the view to the backyard (more on that later).

The piece de resistance is next up.  When we first started looking at houses, we really didn't think we would find a house with a kitchen like this in our price range.  We weren't scared of remodelling if the right house came along without the right kitchen, but let's just say when we saw this kitchen it was love at first sight.

Our kitchen is all dark stained walnut magnificent glory.  I think I want to date the fridge, but I already have a husband (maybe some late-night rendezvouses are in order?).  We have ample counter space and an island workspace.  A nook area rounds out the center of the universe.

Finally, the tour of the ground floor ends in the Living Room.  The wall-type line on the floor plan above is really a half wall that gives some definition to the living space.  We have a fireplace against the outside wall and a large (8+ foot) picture window overlooking our personal bit of North Georgia forestland.  Our saved listing pics make me remember this space smaller than it is, but the furniture of the previous family was pretty oversized.  I think we will be pretty happy in here.

And that's it for the ground floor.  More pictures, floorplans and project ideas to come.

History of a Home

Every home has it's past.  Some are long, some are short.  Our home is just starting it's new history with us, however it had family before we came along.

Our home is a little over 16 years old (it's younger than me?!) and we are the third owners.  It's most recent family boasted at least 1 little person and a carpenter for occupants!  We know that it received a post-birth face lift to the floors (travertine) and the kitchen (droolable prettiness).  Some things are original and we'll share a list of our to-dos in an upcoming post.

Currently our home shares it's cul-de-sac with only 1 neighbour.  There are 3 houses, ours, the neighbour to our right and a house currently for sale in foreclosure.  Hopefully another DIY-inclined family moves in so we can share tips and tricks!

The floor plan of our home is pretty popular in our neighbourhood, and it's traditional non-open concept layout (these are common throughout the South) so we are hoping to make the most of our generous room sizes and a flow that really works for us.

Who are these Crazy Cats?

Renee (The Impulsive One) and Craig (The Voice of Restraint)

I am Renee, he is the love of my life, Craig and we have a pretty crazy story.

I grew up in Canada (I would consider Calgary my hometown, though my childhood was spent in Edmonton, Vancouver and Kelowna) and Craig is from Savannah, Ga.   We met in Stormwind (well, really the lighthouse in Westfall).  Yup, these people that you are reading met on World of Warcraft.

After long months of chatting, finally sharing our real names (we are cautious like that) and discovering we had fallen in love, we decided to meet.  In Vegas.

Ah, city of sin.  City of amazing food.

I can tell you walking up the jetway at McCarran was the single most terrifying thing either one of us has ever done.  It was worth it though.  So very, very worth it.

We fell head over heels and within the week knew we wanted to share our lives together.  Unfortunately we were from different countries, making it a little more difficult than relocating to one or the other city.

To Savannah, To Savannah again, To Calgary (in February!) while waiting for immigration to be processed (thank you VisaJourney.com!) and finally FINALLY we were together forever in May 2010. 

We married in August 2010 and moved from Savannah to Atlanta in September to pursue new career opportunities.  Our apartment has been great to us, however it is time to move on.  Thus, this blog.  To chronicle the adventures of these aspiring DIY-ers on their successes and failures in the road of life.