DIY Deep End

It's funny. You spend all this time searching for a new home that will meet all of your needs and the first thing you do once you sign on that dotted line is make a list of all changes that you need to make once you move in.

That's us. Handy Man and I no sooner walked out of the title company's doors and I headed right to the local big box home improvement store to buy paint. We had a whole game plan that first weekend. Our must do list of projects before we moved in.

1) Tear out three of the four - I am not exaggerating -hideous tiled sections in the master bedroom.

2) Paint kids' rooms

3) Paint master bedroom before Monday (we closed on a Friday)

4) New carpet in master bedroom

5) Paint hideous orange/red master bathroom.

6) Unload all our crap

The guys were in charge of the master bedroom demo and I was in charge of painting... there was a lot of painting.

There really is only one way to demo tile - or anything for that matter - just dig right in and start breaking stuff. My father-in-law took the honors of making the first swing with the sledge hammer. Tile chards went flying.

This tear out was weighing heavy on the guys' minds. They had three days to get it all out before the carpet company came. With carpet scheduled, our timeline depended on how much of a hassle this tear out would be.

No sooner did I get my paint supplies situated and was ready to start prepping the oak wood trim I was painting over, I was called to the master bedroom. The guys were almost half way done with the main bedroom area.

It was to our advantage that the previous owners had obviously not hired professionals for this job. The tiles came up with little effort.

Some friends of ours (and now new neighbors), Mike and Audrey, stopped by to bring us a tall ladder for painting the vaulted ceilings. They were amazed at how easy the tile was going. With a twinkle in his eye, Mike asked if he could "break one." I chuckled and said, "Have at it!" I went back to my painting.

Mike and Audrey nestled right in to the walk-in closet. Mike hammered away at the tile and Audrey disposed of the pieces.

I was ever so grateful for the help, but I scolded them non the less. They didn't need to be chipping out tile for us. Retired, I think Mike enjoyed the opportunity for the project.

Eventually Mike and Audrey met Handy Man and my father-in-law in the middle.

In just two hours, all of the tile was gone. The guys were flabbergasted. They had anticipated it taking them all back-breaking weekend to tear out the tile. A little final chipping at some of the left over globs of grout, the master bedroom was ready for carpet - on day one.

I, on the other hand, was barely getting started. I sent the guys outside to start working on unloading the trailer.

Painting...

The weekend agenda included prepping and painting over the old oak trim, painting the ceilings in all of the bedrooms, painting Mr Blue Eyes' room the same color as the last house (since it matches his bedding of course) and giving our Brown Eyed Girl a very purple room.

Throughout our home buying adventures, one thing has remained the same. Our Brown Eyed Girl wanted a purple room in her new house. Purple is her favorite color. While we searched for the perfect shade of purple, I leaned towards the paler shades while my Brown Eyed Girl went right for the deepest grape color she could find.

Regardless, I got to make the final choice. However, I couldn't help but remember my own youth. My sister and I were always aloud to choose the color we wanted our rooms. However, my parents would then choose the lightest possible shade of that color and that was what you would get. Unless you were looking down at the white baseboards, you couldn't tell what color your room was.

Handy Man and I both agreed - it's just paint. I wasn't willing to cave on the dark grape, but we did let her pick a darker purple.

I'll admit I was a little shocked at first at the contrast of the purple. Either way, I knew my Purple Princess THE Tangled would adore it.

This was a before picture, oak trim and all.

And after...

I really liked how her dark furniture looked with the purple. I couldn't wait to show my Brown Eyed Girl her new room.

While I inhaled paint fumes, Handy Man worked on unloading the trailer. 

He also worked on a few miscellaneous items that needed addressed right away. Like...

... setting up the new flat screen TV and positioning the couch - which was not going to stay there. Priorities.

He also fixed a couple of leaks under the sinks, fixed the tub drain, re-caulked all the bathtubs, replaced the 1978 ceiling fans and a few other honey-do's.

By Sunday, the kids' rooms were all done. I moved into the master bedroom. My wonderful mom came over and helped me by painting our walk-in-closet.

Sunday was also the first day that the kids came over to the new house. My Brown Eyed Girl wanted to jump tight in and start painting. With a brush in hand and a firm warning to be careful, she dug right in helping Grandma.

Thank goodness we didn't have to worry about spills and flooring.

I also got new baseboards thanks to Handy Man.

While we all worked, Mr Blue Eyes wandered around, just watching. I don't think he knew quite what to think.

Of all the projects, the walk-in closet ended up being the biggest pain in our rumps - well at least for my mom. Can you believe it took her 8 hours to paint this little room? But all those shelves...

She could hardly lift her arm above her head the next morning to apply her deodorant.But God bless her because I would have never gotten it all done in time for the new carpet.

While she slaved away in a poorly ventilated closet, I turned this...

... into this!

Okay, so I can't take credit for the carpet guys' work. The results were so much more relaxing than the old red southwestern tile.

While Handy Man and I assembled beds and arranged dressers in the bedrooms, the two greatest moms put together the kitchen for us. Wiped down the the cabinets. Cut to fit and applied new shelf paper and liners. Emptied box after box.

Saints!

By the time the bedrooms were all set up and the curtains were hung, I was fresh out of brush strokes. I put off the master bathroom for another day. I did manage to make one last small improvement to the kids' bathroom - out with the old and in with the new.

Amazing what just a new shower curtain can do for a bathroom.

Our DIY home improvements have not ended here. The list is growing every day.

Landscaping projects. Retaining walls. Raised flower beds. Handmade patio seating. Painting the family room & kitchen. Finishing the basement including adding a 4th bedroom. Addition to the barn. Fencing work. Sprinkler system. Refinish the deck. Play house for the kids... The list goes on!

We can't wait.