Tile Style!

It's official! We have tile! I finally feel that this bathroom is an actual bathroom, not a construction site!  I have been showing off this amazing tile job to everyone who will look.  I am incredibly proud of Matt and his persistence with this.  He has a little bit of experience laying tile, so I wasn't worried about about the actual process of it.  I was terrified that the colors weren't going to go well together, and that it would look cheap or ugly.  I originally wanted a subway tile throughout the whole shower, but Matt really felt that I wasn't going to like it when it was done.  I am so happy he talked me out of it, because I really could not be happier with the way it looks!



He has the patience of a saint!




I cannot get over how pretty it looks!




The accent pieces look a lot darker here than they are in real life


We went with a basic white marble floor tile, a white marble wall tile, and a glass tile accent piece, all of which are from Home Depot

The floor is the Greecian White Marble in 12x12
The shower walls are White Marble by Daltile in  x12
Accent pieces are MS Keystone 12x12 Gray and White interlocking tile. 

Overall, I am very pleased with everything! The floor tile is a bit less gray and white than I was hoping for. I understood that going with a marble, there was going to be imperfections in the tile.  I just wish there was a bit more gray infused.  I can't really get a good picture of the floor, so I will have that in the next post. 

The wall tile in the shower looks amazing with the accent pieces.  Matt picked out the accent tile and it is the perfect match.  This tile really gives the exact look I was wanting.  We are going to be painting the walls Benjamin Moore "Palladian Blue" and I cannot wait!

The "finishing touches" post is next!

Walls!

We finally have walls again! I never thought I would be so happy to see drywall! The whole drywall process was such a pain.  If I never have to hang drywall again, I will be thrilled!

Since the bathroom was the original to the house, the walls were made of plaster, and we could not find a regular sheet of drywall that would be thick enough to blend in perfectly, so we had to put in a 1/2in sheet of drywall, with a 5/8ths inch green board drywall on the outer, which was a close to the thickness of the wall that we could get.  Since it wasn't perfect, we had to use a lot more mud than we were hoping to, but they blended together well!

 

We used the corner tape with mud to help blend the walls together, and it worked out well. This was obviously the before picture, but that was how big of a gap was left between the plaster walls and the drywall.  

 

 Here is another view of the walls with the tape in place, and how it came together.  We also got a new toilet put in place. It was a Glacier Bay duo flush energy efficient toilet that I couldn't get enough of! I loved the modern edge that this brought to the room. It's funny how something as simple as a toilet can make such a HUGE difference.  

                                                        Yes, the floor is disgusting! 

 

The electrical work was oddly enough, one of the easiest things for us to do.  We did not have an outlets in this room, as there was only one in the mirror before.  Luckily, Matt has a friend who has experience with electrical work and this was such an easy fix and makes a huge difference.  They are standard GFI outlets to stick with our village codes.  

Well this is where we are at in the process now, and things are really coming together! I cannot wait to show you all the tile and paint colors we have picked out, and see how it all comes together!

   

Bathroom Renovation Part 1

Well, it has officially started! We have started the bathroom renovation process! Lemme tell ya, I had this brilliant idea to save some money and paint the tiles and vanity, but that mess deserves it's own post! be on the lookout for that hot mess!


The first step was to shut off the water and disconnect the plumbing to make sure we didn't really screw anything up.

 

We then took off the vanity top to remove the actual vanity.  We then started to remove the glue off of the tiles (this was while I was still on my "Paint the tile" kick), so ultimately this step is unnecessary.  

After we removed the vanity, we starting taking off all of the tiles!  Hello, white tile spoiler!! I truly had an awesome time while removing the tile!   I'm a freak-what can I say!  I loved how such a minor thing was so "permanant".

I did have a total diva moment when a tile scratched my arm pretty bad and I started bleeding...

I tell ya, Matt is so amazing.  He worked a 12 hour day, and then came home to do the bathroom for another 4 hours.  I could never do it!  He never ceases to amaze me.  

 

This would be what the room looks like without all of that horrible tile.  We were really hoping that less glue was going to be stuck on the wall, and that we could remove it to simply sand and paint over... yeah. That isn't going to happen.  This glue is on there.  Like, forever.  This means we have to do all new drywall, which we were trying to avoid like the plague!

 And this, my friends, is what my bathroom ended up looking like! Wowzers... This is the moment I started panicking.  There was NO going back... What if my ideas backfire and I'm left with an ugly room? What if we screw something major up, and end up costing us a fortune! I mean, neither of us have done anything close to this before!  This picture scares me.

Now that we are at the point of no return, I am feeling the pressure.  I really doing my research to be sure that we are picking everything that is both cost effective and appealing.   Hopefully everything will turn out well!

Operation Bathroom

It's time to get this bathroom renovation started!  Before we move into the house, we need to have the bathroom done, since it's our only one! I have crazy visions for this bathroom.  It is my goal to take it from "grandma" salmon pink to a "spa like" oasis.  If there is one thing I love- it is a crisp, clean and fresh feel throughout a house, and I am starting here! 

This is our starting point and what we have to work with

Really bad lighting, but there is a beautiful arch in the shower!

I feel that this room has a ton of potential and can really be a beautiful place!  We are on a limited budget, but I am hopeful that we will be able to make this a really enjoyable place! 

Wish me luck!!! 

Emily

House Tour!

Is there a better way to introduce you all to my home with anything other than a house tour?!?! I didn't think so!  Keep in mind that these are all the initial pictures that were taken during things such as the inspection and day of closing.  I thought the best way to show you the space we are working with is by showing the blank canvas pictures.  We also have another bedroom, an attic and basement that I haven't photographed, as well as the back yard.  As soon as I get these, Ill update this post.  As time progresses, I will show each room in more detail and the things we are doing to renovate and decorate!  I hope you enjoy this quick little spin around my casa!

The front of our house

View from the front door

View of living room from entry way

 

Another view of the living room

View of the dining room from entry way

                                                 

View into kitchen from dining room

View of kitchen

Another kitchen view

Bathroom- Sorry for the bad lighting!

Bathroom

Bedroom

As I'm sure you can see, this is a small house.  But- it's mine and I love it!  We have some amazing plans and I cannot wait to show you all of the changes!

1950's Cape Cod

Hi! I'm Emily, and welcome to This Cozy Cape Cod!  This blog is about, you guessed it-- our new home!

I wanted to start this blog to track the changes that we are making to our 1950's cape cod.  We are only the second owners of this home, so there are MANY updates to be made!  Oh, and when I say "we", I am referring to my other half and partner in crime, Matt.

A bit of background on us: We are a young couple who made a choice to never live in an apartment after a rough year long lease.  We decided to save our pennies for a down payment, and what do you know, 9 months after I graduated college, we bought our home!  Yes, that took a lot of babysitting and 3 part time jobs through college and finally a full time job to save for.  Matt was lucky enough to have a secure job through all of this, which is really the reason it was possible.  I can't take all of the credit now! 

At last but not least, you will probably see full blog posts on my pup, Missy!  She is our 3 year old Siberian Husky!  We have some plans for her around the house too!  



I hope you enjoy watching the changes that take place to our new home!