Excited to be sharing another peek at the DIY Duplex renovation that we have been working on for the last few months. A little background, we started the demo on this two unit (upper and lower) house at the beginning of the Summer with the plan to do a total DIY renovation on it, then rent it for a bit, with the possibility of Airbnbing in the future. The house was built in 1890, and it had some original trim and baseboard that we wanted to preserve, but sadly no original hardwood floors. Also the laminate that was installed in the lower level was starting to buckle and peel. Even worse, when we pulled it up, we found it was installed OVER carpet! So all the flooring on both floors needed to go. I had used LifeProof Luxury Rigid Vinyl flooring from The Home Depot in the mudroom at our house and absolutely LOVED the product. It was super easy to install and has held up great with the pups who are walking and running on it all day, plus since it’s in our backyard entry it sees a ton of dirt, rain soaked boots, and muddy paws and still looks perfect because it’s completely waterproof, scratch-resistant and stain-resistant. I knew I wanted to use it in the duplex because the durability is PERFECT for renters. (Can we give a big shout out to Big Papi for being the perfect pup model to show how great these floors are for dogs!!!)
We have the top floor completely done and love how it turned out! I picked a light grayish, tan flooring called LifeProof Beacon Oak Light. It’s perfect for the DIYer, it just snaps into place, and has an underlayment already attached so you can install it right over concrete, tile, vinyl, and wood. It took my hub about two days to install 550 square feet, which included a living room, office, laundry room, and hallway, which equaled a lot of cuts and working around doorways. But he breezed through it because the planks are so easy to cut and click into place!
There are a few different ways to lay/finish the flooring, . If you are working with a newer home, head over to The Home Depot’s tutorial here, if you are updating the flooring in an 100+ year old house like we are, here is our process! Steps after the break! (more…)
We are in week 3 of the One Room Challenge, and the theme of this week was troubleshooting! First, let’s start with the paint color. I was debating between Behr Chimney and Midnight Blue, and leaning towards Midnight Blue…but there was a mix up and I accidentally got Midnight Show which was too bright, so the decision was made for me, and I am SO HAPPY because I am IN LOVE with how Chimney looks on the beadboard!! I was nervous it was going to be too dark, but it is the perfect deep blue. I used Behr Marquee in a Matte finish because I did not want any shine, and it looks so rich. The diffused light through the new window keeps the space from looking too dark.
Another change up: I was feeling the bathroom was missing that WOW factor, and I’ve really loved putting wallpaper in past bathrooms like this one and this one above, so decided this room would not be complete without wallpaper! I am not sharing the wallpaper design *quite* yet, because I have something fun in mind 😉 STAY TUNED! The upper part of the walls were a mess, part of it was textured, and we had to patch a bunch of holes, so the next fix was skim coating the walls. We are actually skim coating a couple of the rooms in the duplex and are learning the best techniques for walls that we will painted and walls that will get wallpapered. Stay tuned because I will have a DIY post on that after I put up the wallpaper!! After we got the beadboard on the back wall painted, it was time to move in the tub, this beautiful, AMAZING TUB! You are only seeing part of it in this picture, it actually come in two pieces, an inner and outer shell, which was SO nice considering this bathroom is on the second floor. The tub is new from Sterling, a Kohler brand, and it fits perfectly! I can’t wait until we get the deck mount faucet installed, yay, yay, YAY! Once the tub was in, we tried placing the vanity…and it just was not right. I love the Tresham vanity, and it looks so sleek with the black top, but it was just blocking too much of tub, and felt heavy in the space. I picked it because I really wanted storage in the bathroom, but it just was not working, so time to troubleshoot! The plan right now is to change it to a pedestal sink or a console sink, and then come up with some DIY storage solutions. What do you all think?! Now we are at a bit of a stand still because we need the vanity to figure out plumbing, so the rest of the beadboard wall is on hold. And before we set the tub and add the chair-rail, I need the wallpaper (we will have to move the tub to get a ladder in place to hang the wallpaper. It’s a lot of moving parts, but we have a couple more weeks to finish. Everyone cross your fingers that we can get this done with all these changes!
And make sure you check in on all the other ORC participates!
It’s Week 2 of the One Room Challenge, and SO MUCH has happened since last week!! The hub has been working his buns off and laid this GORGEOUS marble chevron tile. I am in LOOOOVE. It honestly looks more beautiful than I even imagined. It’s the Siberian Pearl Chevron Marble Wall and Floor Tile from The Tile Shop, it makes me want to tear out all the tile at my house and replace it with this, ha!Can you even believe this is the same bathroom I show you last week? If you are looking for everything that is happening during the in-between, make sure to following along on @ISPYDIY Stories. The first thing that we tackled after demo was the window. I found this tempered window at Home Depot, and KNEW it would make a huge impact in the bathroom. It lets in so much light, while providing privacy with the frosted glass, and I love the patterned detail, I could not recommend it more! Also thanks for the paint input last week, I have it narrowed down to Behr’s Midnight Blue and Chimney, which are both dark blues, and now that the window is in, I am confident the room can handle a bold, dark color.
The tile install went super smoothly, and we started by dry laying the sections. Since they are on mesh sheets and can be a bit irregular, you need to play around a bit to make sure everything fits nicely together, and all the cut for the plumbing could be made before mortar. Next up, grout! Next up, installing the Paintable Bead board Panel. The plan is to install it 5 feet from the floor, topping it off with chair rail, and a chunky baseboard at the bottom. First, adhere it to the wall with Power Grab, and secure the bead board with a nail gun. Let me know if you want me to take pics of the whole process and I can put together a tutorial post! And make sure you check in on all the other ORC participates!
It’s Week 2 of the One Room Challenge, and SO MUCH has happened since 
Can you even believe this is the same bathroom I show you
The tile install went super smoothly, and we started by dry laying the sections. Since they are on mesh sheets and can be a bit irregular, you need to play around a bit to make sure everything fits nicely together, and all the cut for the plumbing could be made before mortar. Next up, grout!
Next up, installing the 
