McBerkoBlog

I hated this bathroom so much. The drop ceiling, the vinyl wood parquet floor tiles, the plastic sheeted fake tile walls. It was very exciting to destroy it. Our original plan was to keep the sink and toilet where they were, but swap out the tub for a smaller shower in the corner. Once everything was gone, we realized we had enough room for the sink on the same back wall rather than across from the toilet. We weren't positive if we had enough room, until the shower base and sink base were delivered this week. Now, I'm thinking this is definitely the way to go. There's so much more space to move than before (it was tight when I was pregnant)! Here are some shots of the bathroom, pre-demo: The after-demo pic below is the view through the doorway (same as the shot above), with the shower and sink bases roughly in place. On the far left, the newspaper template shows the actual toilet measurements. The blue tape on the wall is where we think the beadboard will end (same height a...

Ripping out the downstairs bath tomorrow - woohoo!!!!

Quite the transformation with the new color scheme! Since our house is located in a historic district, the colors had to be approved by the historic district commission.  Front Door After The colors and products used here are (not affiliate links): Door - Sherwin Williams Cajun Red ( link , a pretty red-orange in real life, looks slightly more brown here) Siding - Sherwin Williams Rookwood Blue Green ( link ) Trim (white) - Sherwin Williams Pure White ( link ) Trim (teal) - Sherwin Williams Still Water ( link ) Porch floor - Sherwin Williams Pewter Tankard ( link ) Brick foundation (not shown) - Sherwin Williams Rookwood Dark Brown ( link ) Mailbox - Ecco E4 in Bronze ( link , available via Amazon and elsewhere) Similar Craftsman-style Door With Dentil Shelf ( link ) Front Door Before

Few more pics of the entryway (/temporary bike storage). PS - I'm on the hunt for curtains for the front window, so let me know if you see something that will look good with the tan/black/red scheme.

Like most other rooms - out with paneling, carpet, and acoustic ceiling tiles; in with new walls, ceiling, floor, built-in bookshelves and coat/hat/bag nook.

It is so funny looking at the original pics of this place. I almost can't remember all the old acoustic tile ceilings and the carpet.

After going through old posts today, I realized how many "after" pics we are missing. I guess they're not completely "after" since they don't have crown molding and aren't decorated yet, but it's close enough for me! The future office is currently serving as a baby play and nap room. The plan is for an L-shaped desk where the pack-n-play is, with some reading chairs on the right. One of these years I may get around to sewing some cushions for the window seats, but I wouldn't blame you for putting money against it. Before we moved in:

And the winner was... Pete Gafner!! This was Uncle Pete's first beer taste-off, and he won with 8 of 10 correct, edging past my 7. The rest of the pack was far behind. Craig, Amy, and Bill, all former winners, were nowhere close. Bill claimed his cold affected his palate. Several people got one or zero right. This clearly means we all need to practice a lot before the next contest. Dad, Eric, Joe, and Emily, I expect better scores from you next time around! For those of you who haven't participated, the beer contest works like this: A list of 10 beers is posted for everyone to see. You get a mini-pour (2-3 oz) of each beer, one at a time. You have to finish that beer before the next one is served, so you don't have the chance to compare them against each other. (This is not about drunkenness, by the way - it takes a long time to go through all 10 rounds.) For each beer, you write down which of the 10 you think it is, rate it on a 1-to-10 scale, comment about why you liked/d...

Today is our 11th wedding anniverary, and Bill kindly spent it installing our fabulous new front door. It took nearly 2 months to get it delivered (don't buy custom doors from Lowes, y'all), but it looks great. I was worried that something would go badly with the install given that nothing in our house is normal or square. You'd think I'd have learned by now that Bill will always figure it out. After we get some paint on the door, I'll post pics of the final result.

After 11 days of work by 4-5 guys/day, the exterior paint is done! The pictures don't quite represent the colors (at least on my computer) - the accent color on the sashes, top, and columns is a muted dark teal, but you get the idea. A bit different from the original . New front door, porch light, mailbox, and house numbers are still on order.