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!
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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!
At Charlotte’s House | Design Addict Mom | Erika Ward Interiors | Erin Kestenbaum | Girl & Grey
Gray Malin | Hommeboys | I Spy DIY | Jewel Marlowe | The Learner Observer | Making it Lovely
Nicole White Designs | Old Brand New | Oscar Bravo Home | Place of My Taste | The Rath Project
Room for Tuesday | SG Style | Undecorated Home | Veronica Solomon | Media BH&G | TM by ORC
Ahhhh! So Excited! I am participating in the One Room Challenge as a Featured Designer! For those that are new to the ORC, a handful of bloggers all completely renovate a room over 5 weeks, documenting the process with a post every Wednesday, starting NOW! Today lets start by looking at the room we are renovating, it’s quite the doozy! This is the upstairs bathroom at the duplex that we are currently fixing up, and needs to be totally gutted, so I figured this would be the perfect room for this challenge! Not going to lie, I am *a little* nervous with the tight timeline, because anyone who has done a renovation know that SOMETHING will go wrong, but fingers crossed the the hub and I can pull it off!
I wish I could say the pea green color was the most offensive thing in the bathroom….everything has to go! But I love this space, because it’s a really good size, and has tall ceilings, which gives me room to have some fun with the design. And I know you will ask “What is that pipe for?”, I believe it was some sort of makeshift laundry situation.
We already started on demo, and are figuring out if we can rearrange the layout to include a corner shower and a freestanding tub (I have to put a tub in every bathroom I can fit one in!) Check out the plan below!
These mock ups make me SOOOOO excited!!! I have big dreams of getting a huge window installed! A freestanding tub! Marble floors! And a rich paint color! I am also pushing myself to break the rules I thought I never would, like combining black and navy AND black and brown. Has anyone else totally avoided that in the past? Things may change as the process goes on, and I need you all to help me make decisions quickly. So the first one is: What paint color should I pick? I tested out the below colors. Should I stick with the deep blue? Or try one with a little more green in it? Leave a comment with your pick!
Behr Paint (left to right): Thermal, Midnight in NYC, Weathered Moss, Heritage Park, Chimney, Midnight Blue, City Rain
And make sure to check out all the other participates below!
At Charlotte’s House | Design Addict Mom | Erika Ward Interiors | Erin Kestenbaum | Girl & Grey
Gray Malin | Hommeboys | I Spy DIY | Jewel Marlowe | The Learner Observer | Making it Lovely
Nicole White Designs | Old Brand New | Oscar Bravo Home | Place of My Taste | The Rath Project
Room for Tuesday | SG Style | Undecorated Home | Veronica Solomon | Media BH&G | TM by ORC
