The Craftsman Bungalow Renovation, Summer 2020
Good morning and Happy June!
If you follow my stories, you know that I have been steadily working on my home since the second week of Sheltering at home here in the beautiful state of CA (which was around March 23rd), and before that for about a month straight in December.
I did take a break and go to AZ for two weeks in April, so there have been respites in the workload (thank goodness). Home renovations of any scale are tiring physically, especially when you do it yourself. But, as my Dad and I get close to finishing the Master Bath renovation, and completely Painting the Interior of my house, the level of fulfillment makes it all truly, worthwhile; I still have to paint the laundry room and the kitchen, which I'm dreading- they both have an exceptional amount of trim work.
Burn-out is real, but I also want to finish the Major components of this Renovation.
The Major Components are:
1) Whole Interior of House is Painted; this includes trim which my house has tons of trim in ever single room (aka...Double or Triple the work and actual painting time). Think taping off, think higher level attention to detail so the paint actually looks good on trim work. Each piece of trim was painted twice, maybe even three times... it's a lot.
2) Finish the Master Bathroom Renovation. Very close but still several major things to do, i.e. Install Frameless shower, install toilet, install vanity, sinks and backsplash to sink (Vanity installed as of last night 5/31/20), and a couple of other things, too.
I predict completely done by mid June, fingers crossed. **Remember we started tearing out the bathroom back in February, and all work was done my me, my Dad and a small portion by my brother; then all the tiling was done by a Tradesman...that started in May.
Tearing out the whole bathroom, including that flooring, and replacing everything. Also, there was a cast iron bathtub that was sledgehammered out by my 76 year old Dad. He's literally a super hero. **notice all the wood rot, which was in the floor joists as well. We had to sister in 3 joist, which was a crazy process ( very long joists, pulled through my bedroom window).
3) Have former bedroom turned into Office (that was accomplished back In January, and then a lovely surprise was renovating the third bedroom and my hallway).
So we are so close! It feels amazing.
And if you are new to my page and blog, the quick backstory is my brother lived with me for two years while going through a divorce. I had a deep seated desire to reclaim the house, and make it my own so to speak. I am close to fulfilling that promise to myself.
I knew once he moved out, I wanted to turn his bedroom into an office, document the process for Instagram and here on the blog. And, I wanted to show a DIY renovation, which is how I've been brought up + also to show you how doable it is.
Please e-mail with any home renovation questions. Also, I will be rolling out PDF's on How To's...insert Paint, remove windows and Glaze, etc. I am currently developing all of these PDF's which will be released before the end of 2020.
Brother's former bedroom during renovations from December 2019...
As you can see it was a mess + very old beige/yellow paint throughout.
My new Office and the gorgeous West facing view! Very proud of this transformation.
The floors were truly a mess and Ryan, the floor refinisher, did an amazing job. If you live in San Diego and need someone, e-mail me.
Take away:
All you need is tenacity + a lot of patience.
I've been taught those in spades- it's just a lifestyle to me (I've been doing it my whole life). And, take this small nugget away: you can do most anything better than someone you will hire: and benefit you'll save money- and get the results you want. I know all of the painting looks pretty darn good, because I did it, and I checked the parts my Dad did (don't tell him that):). I'll never have to be disappointed with quality of workmanship because I did it.
I hope this inspires you to pick up a paint brush, or learn how to glaze your own windows.
Moving forward:
I will be handling lots of other small projects, and put them on my "official" to do list for this summer. I feel proud of what we've done since December.
Stay tuned for all the Small Projects I've tackled, and will still be tackling. I'm realizing everything is about efficiency + having a schedule for your house sort of like your twice yearly visit to the dentist..it's all maintenance!
Hint: I'll be tackling window cleaning, interior + exterior and also cleaning my vinyl shades. Worthwhile but a pain. Windows get dirty as do shades and they need to remain clean to make them last longer (shades), and windows for aesthetics.
In this series, I'll be covering the small projects List next week!
The Pandemic has been hard but I'm thankful it pushed me to do all of the This... which was desperately needed in the house.
My house is my sanctuary and it needs constant love, attention + care which has been a joy to do! Interior design, home + its concept, Architecture...all of it are true passions for me- it's where I find joy.
Til next week,
Jennifer
professional photos shot by Julia Badei, @studiobijou on IG