the big move

We have pretty rad neighbors. Last weekend, they gifted us their shed. With a little engineering and muscle and teamwork, we successfully transplanted it from their yard to our yard.

Humans working together: Sometimes it works out pretty great.

foyer eyes only

Things have stalled a bit while we are taking our time getting around to finishing the baseboards and quarter round in the family room (see previous post). Between drama clubs and consignment sales, there's been a whole lot of other on our plates as of late. However, I thought it might be apropos to this now-primarily-home-renovation interweb journal to share a few snapshots of what we affectionately refer to as our foyer.

The preceding has been a photographic depiction of myself armed with little more than a heat-blasting gun and a handful of Superego eps in my earbuds whilst obliterating the textured purple paint from our foyer walls, circa Fall 2016. What follows is a much more recent view of the same location...

After making some repairs to the mixture of plaster and gypsum walls, we threw some fresh paint all over everything. Notice that the floorboards have been sanded free of the old finish. They lie in wait of fresh espresso and polyurethane (on deck for spring break '17). I'd been collecting those clipboards on the wall for the last couple of years hoping to find such a place in our home to make use of them. At long last, all of my hopes and dreams have come to fruition.

Finally, I'll throw in a couple of glimpses of another corner of the foyer. While the after shot is very much a work-in-progress, it gives an idea of how drastically our foyer's tone differs from when we first took a tour of our future home in May 2013...

Stray observations: door with top hinge barely hanging on; disgusting carpet; weird window shutter; hospital waiting room wallpaper; domestic ghosts (as seen in lower lefthand corner); nothing desirable whatsoever...

...until Fall 2016...

Mmmmm... so crispy!

Until next time, party people.

family rooms made fabulous

It's been quite some time since our last update on the ole Rockey home renovation. That most def doesn't mean that we've not been busy (notice the double negatives? we've been busy). There's been quite a bit of work on the first floor since finishing our upstairs bathroom a year ago. Hopefully, there will be more on that soon. Until then, enjoy some before/after shots of our nearly completed family room.

angle one...

same angle in May 2013...

aaaaaaand angle two...

same angle in May 2013...

There. That should hold you over for awhile!

Now get outside and enjoy yourself.

the bathroom renovation, part two: the laundry side

When we purchased Rockey Manor way back in the summer of Twenty Thirteen, we had a dream of transforming this room that had been divided into a less-than-darling kitchenette/bathroom. Our dream was a large family bathroom that would also serve as laundry central.

That pantry(?) to the right was gutted to make room for our future washer and dryer...

Things get worse before they get better (no doy).

With all of the electric wiring and plumbing to be installed and rerouted behind those walls, we ended up tearing out most of the plaster on the walls to make things easyish on ourselves.

Check those new hot and cold supplies for our future wash basin...

After all electric and water lines were in place, we put up fresh gypsum on all the walls.

Nice gams, flyboy.

Here's a shot of the finishing stages of the drywall...

and another...

aaaaaand one more featuring an upside down tub...

Whew. Exhausting. 

After we got the walls all dolled up in fresh paint, we cleaned up some baseboards salvaged from our lovely neighbors' home...

We also hung the mirror that IKEA no longer sells, but that we purchased off the wall of mirrors leading to their second floor bathrooms... 

Here's the washer and dryer nestled in all snug into their little nook...

Boy, this post is getting ridiculously tedious. I'm starting to think that a simple "before" and "after" pic would have been more than sufficient. But, alas, I have already uploaded all of these images of minute details and must march forward.

How about pics of a couple secondhand pieces we picked up...

Like this metal cart we found at Midland Antiques in charming downtown Indianapolis...

And this, one of two porcelain chain lamps we found for just a few bones on the eBay...

And finally, let's step back to take a look at that aforementioned "after" shot...

Wow!

Good grief, it took us longer than necessary to get there. But don't you feel like you really got to know our new bathroom on an uncomfortably intimate level? Because if we haven't accomplished that, then what the hell good is a blog anyhow? 

Am I right?

I'm right.

You're welcome.

Well, it took so long getting around to posting about the bathroom that it's probably about time we peeked in on the dining room.

[ooh, cliffhanger]

SaveSave

the bathroom renovation, part one: the shower side

Greeting, family, friends, and internet trolls! I'm about to fill your eyeholes with images of the recently (mostly) completed bathroom renovation at Rockey Manor. It's going to be intense. If you need some time to prepare yourself, THIS SHOULD GET YOU IN THE MOOD.

And away we go.

For almost three years, our little family has learned to perform all bathroom related tasks in a less-than-stress-free bathroom that has been in varying stages of decay. This decay includes but is certainly not limited to the rotting wood floor that the toilet sits precariously upon. At the time of this writing, the toilet patron casualty total is still zero.

Seeing as how aesthetics are currently a non-concern in the garbage bathroom, Baby Jane and I began writing messages on the wall facing the toilet (see above pic). We try to find little ways to make the best of a kinda crappy situation (pun absolutely intended).

Now let's take a look at the major overhaul that's been going on upstairs while we've been sharing a bathroom with CAVE CRICKETS on the first floor.

When we first took a gander at our soon-to-be home/project, the first space we toured on the second floor was this kitchenette. This once-single room had had its doorway opened up to the ceiling and been divided in to a kitchenette and very narrow "bathing closet". We assume that the door used for the bathroom portion of this space once served as the door to the hallway. We would, in due time, return that door to it's rightful place. Stay tuned for more on that door situation.

Upon stepping inside the aforementioned "bathing closet" we would find this faux "crumbling" plastered chimney next to a compressed board basin cabinet and winterized commode. 

On the other end of this narrow space was the diminutive bathing tub you see pictured below...

Yikes. This tub seriously wouldn't accommodate anyone larger than an eleven-year-old child.

Once we acquired ownership of our home, the first order of business was to beat the everliving hell out of it. We ripped out any walls that weren't part of the original structure including the one you no longer see here...

The bathing closet and former kitchenette have at long last been joined in holy matrimony and become one!

Hmmm...

Oh boy.

We pulled up all of the flooring that had been laid over the original wood floorboards and discarded all the old fixtures...

Hey. See that corner on the right where the tiny baby shower used to be? You could totally look right through the floor into the kitchen...

Hi there, sexy.

While we patiently demolished our future bathing room, our future bathing tub (donated by our more-than-generous neighbors) sat on our formerly enclosed front porch. It was a good place to sit and ponder on what the hell we were thinking when we signed up for this insane adventure.

We decided that the floor on the "bathing end" of the bathroom would be tiled. We pulled up the floorboards and prepared to install new sub-flooring by enlisting our old pal Mr Hummel to help us add some much needed structural support...

Look at him go.

It's like that level is an extension of his very being. Also notice that the plaster has been removed from the chimney. So chic, you freak.

After constructing a wall, floor, and bench for our walk-in shower, we talked Mr Hummel into returning to help us pour the concrete.

With the concrete poured and cement board screwed down to the floors and shower walls, we were ready to get tiling. Of course we knew that our efforts would need the guidance and steady hand of this master tile setter...

He's got those tiny, nimble fingers for those hard-to-reach corners.

Look, gang! 

We've got the makings of what appears to be a shower...

Moving on to the floor where our tub and toilet will sit...

MJ cutting tile like a boss...

Once all the tile was set, i shook off the dust from my once-fine-tuned grouting skills... 

Keep trying, fun boy.

One last pic before the final reveal...

Sub-floor space presented various opportunities for some creative plumbing solutions. 

Needless to say, we rose to the occasion. So far nothing seems to be crawling back up through the drain attached to that PVC monstrosity.

And now for the final reveal.

Before...

...aaaaaaaaaaaand...

After...

Before...

...aaaaaaaaaaaand...

After...

Before...

Ugh!

...aaaaaaaaaaaand...

After...

Who wouldn't wanna poop in that corner?

Stay tuned for 

Part Two: The Laundry Side

(and for more on the aforementioned "door situation")

a little bit off the top (slow and steady wins the race)

The monstrous maple who once encroached upon our roof and sprinkled our gutters with tiny helicopters has been scalped significantly. The results are startling. We thought it the perfect opportunity to compare the current street view with one from last summer.

Whoa.

Carry on.