The Annex Renovation

NOW FOR THE TOUR
Quinn calls our new place the annex since it is secretly hidden above his work, we can't cook or make noise at certain times, and you have to get to it from inside the office... you know, the annex, like Anne Frank. Luckily Miep Gies doesn't have to ration her food stamps to support us; however. I've been to the real annex in Europe and I have to say that after our difficult renovation, our new apartment is a step up.

Drum roll please... we started in February and finished last week (July). There was swearing, throwing, gnashing of teeth, tears, major expenditures, hideous surprises, and a significant amount of sleep and blood loss. We still have a few projects to go but with the kid coming any minute, I figure I better post what we've done so far or you may never catch a glimpse of what has been occupying our nights for the last 6 months.

ENTRY WAY BEFORE:

The biggest problems in this space were the pink ceiling, walls, and molding, a trashed carpet, and that awful faux stained glass window. We also had to figure out how to maximize the function of this space since we'll be here for 24 months and need to get storage out of every square foot.

ENTRY WAY AFTER:

A last minute decision left us with green walls. We had to repaint the ceiling grey to offset the limeness but once our stuff was in and pictures were hung, we ended up liking the color. We also painted all the trim and doors a high-gloss white. We intsalled 3 new light fixtures, new silver hardware, traded out the light/plug covers, and added some bang for our buck in the furniture department with this antique dresser, cedar chest, a coat hanger, and a new shag rug. Plus, I finally had the artwork of my study abroad in Spain framed. I had to carry it home on my lap over 32 hours of flights and layovers! Check out the awesome SGU temple picture I made too! Still to go: Clothes drying racks on the slanted wall in the laundry.

(We also extended our living space out into the mud room/mock porch with these sweet shoe shelves that Q sanded down.)

BEDROOM BEFORE:

Broken closet doors and racks had to go, a veto of the pink paint, and a better layout really helped this space. What is up with all the mirrors? We kept asking ourselves about the million mirrors on every wall and then we'd take them down and discover a hole or something hideous behind them. The best part about this room was the built in dresser.

BEDROOM AFTER:
Compared to the other rooms, this one required the least work. We didn't even have to strip wallpaper (thank the Lord). We tore down some outdated blackout curtains, painted the entire room in light grey, and Q built out the closet with new shelving. We also completed the room with a new California King bed, over sized dresser, and nightstand. You would not believe the steals of deals I got on these pieces. I'll just mention that we got a brand spankin' new C. king pillow-top mattress for under $150 and my Pottery Barn bedding set has been waiting for a proper bed since 2006. New plug/light covers and silver hardware was added. Still to go: We have some art to hang and we need to install the closet curtain doors and window treatments. There is also NO LIGHTING at all in this space so we are having an electrician install a large light on the ceiling.

BATHROOM BEFORE:
Talk about renovation. We approached the bathroom with trepidation but after digging in, the final result is so SOOOO wow factor. Don't these before pics make you cringe?!

BATHROOM AFTER:
Q killed it in the bathroom. We stripped the wallpaper and ripped out the moldy carpet (seriously WHO ON EARTH puts carpet in a bathroom?!?!). We also demo-ed a pointless vanity in the shower room nook and discovered an unfinished wall that had to be dry-walled and repaired. Then Q added some built-in shelves for laundry and linen storage. We painted the walls yellow, ceilings light grey, and re-painted the cabinets and molding white with a moisture resillient finish. Q had to level the floor and add a sub-floor before he installed a new tile floor (WOW!). He reinstalled the toilet and replaced broken faucets on the tub and sink. We hung way cute birdie towel racks and I reupholstered and painted some old stools. We recalked the entire shower, tub, and bar and installed new light fixtures. The hardware was changed out for silver and we replaced the light/plug covers. Whew! (Isn't my mason jar soap dispenser fun?)

(This is my ingenious solution for laundry- no more sorting-we sort as we go, plus- did you spot out mickey mantle?)

SECOND BEDROOM BEFORE:

We needed to create two separate areas in this room- a space for the kid and a space for a spare bed and dresser. It actually fit better than I thought it would after we went with a different layout than planned. Removing the closet doors in exchange for a curtained closure also allowed more space. Let me just add that when I look at these before pictures I marvel to think we finished it at all. We had to recruit Meg and her little fingers and ability to bend down to get the final layers of paper off the wall. It took FOREVER!

SECOND BEDROOM AFTER:

We debated whether or not to make this the master but Q won and the second bedroom is now a baby hot spot. Don't you love my Robert Marbles? I've been eying them for 3 years and finally broke down and splurged on them at the SGU Art Festival this year. In this room the wall paper was the biggest issue. There were three layers, some of which dated pre-60's, all stuck to plaster. We tried everything to get them off and finally a combo of steamer, H20, and endless hours of elbow grease with no shortcuts enables us a blank pallet for some grey tones of paint and primer. Q built out the closets and added base board. We also installed lighting/fixtures, new vents and light/plug covers, and painted the molding and doors a glossy white. We switched out all gold hardware for silver and added our furniture. Still to go: We are trying to figure out how to hang the magnet board over the bed without it falling through the plaster. We need to add the curtain closet doors/closures and get some book shelves on the wall by the bed.

KITCHEN BEFORE:
This was a ghastly pink in every direction and had carpet to boot. Yuck. The wallpaper was a wretched nightmare from Dante's inferno. The stuff came off an inch at a time if you were lucky and even then it took chunks of plaster with it. This place is so old that the plaster walls were awful to work with not just when it came to removing wallpaper- every time we went to put a nail in, we'd drill a hole straight through to the next room. Ug. We also had to rebuild a huge hole in the wall where an old broken intercom used was perched.

KITCHEN AFTER:
This room took the longest time and the most amount of blood. Our landlord thinks the old oak cabinets are gorgeous so despite multiple attempts, we were banned from touching them (we wanted to paint them white). Nearly everything else got a face lift. We ripped out the gross moldy carpet (who puts carpet in a kitchen?) and installed laminate flooring. Quinn built in some much needed shelving units on either side of the windows. We tore down old scalloped valences and built new ones, removed the black out curtains, added a backslash with molding, new hardware throughout (silver instead of gold/brass), and patched up several holes hidden behind weird mirrors. We also had everything from molding to ceiling to walls to doors to built-ins painted a light grey. Still to go: We are deciding if we want window treatments or not and we have to drill some cord feeds for our new computer which is currently in the mail. I also have some modern potted herbs to place on the window seat. I love my illegal one-of-a kind SLC Olympic painting in this space. Great story if you're interested.

(I've never had a pantry so I'm super stoked about this one)

LIVING ROOM BEFORE:
We call this "the Saloon" because of the 70's wood. Our landlord calls it "beautiful knotty pine" and won't let us touch the stuff. When we sarcastically suggested adding saloon doors he looked confused and then showed us a spare set he had resting in storage. Arg.

LIVING ROOM AFTER:
This room got the least amount of work because we aren't allowed to do anything to the "beautiful knotty pine." We took down several mirrors and some crazy old wall paper, patched some holes, painted three walls anyway without asking, added light fixtures, switched out the drapes, and sectioned this long room into two areas for dining and media. Add in our stuff and our mega collection of NYC art and voila! Still to go: B &W portrait collages on the slanted walls and about 500 more books that are being stored in my classroom to go on the built in dresser by the table.

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT-
This marks the end of us living without our stuff (which we have done most of our marriage). I even ripped off several tags on things we received for our wedding 7 years ago because we've been living in weird places this whole time. We still have a bit to go until we get a real house (24 months exactly) but Q and I agree we did it right... at least for us. We traveled like crazy, lived in New York, and collected a lot of real cool stuff along the way. Thank heavens we didn't settle down earlier or we might be having even worse panic attacks than we are now. Oh- and now that we are official members of the do-it-yourself club, we've decided not to renew our membership for quite some time!