Bathroom: Complete Gut & Remodeled With a Modern Look
When we decided to move back to Michigan, we knew we would be purchasing a fixer-upper. What we didn’t know, was just how much work we’d have to put into that fixer-upper. One of the main rooms that needed a complete remodel was the bathroom. It was a disaster in there when we purchased the house.
What we didn’t realize when we purchased the house was just how bad it really was. We didn’t want to spend the extra money on an inspection, which we do regret. Had we gotten the inspection, we would have known just how bad the house really was. Would we have still purchased the house? It is possible. We didn’t have a lot of options or a lot of extra time.
Bathroom: Complete Gut and Remodeled With a Modern Look
Besides the bathroom being super dirty and almost pieced together, there was a lot of repairs that needed to be done. The toilet was hanging on, barely, and scared me every time I sat on it. It felt like it was either going to tip over or fall through the floor. The flange was no longer attached to the floor, so it was literally just hanging in the air. We quickly fixed that by adding a ¾" piece of plywood under the toilet and adding a flange extender. This was just a temporary fix, but it worked for us until we decided to do a complete remodel.
Bathroom Remodeling
When we got down to it, the entire bathroom needed to be completely remodeled. OK, so we didn’t take out the walls, floor, and ceiling. But everything else was either removed or repaired.
Bath Tub
There was water damage around the tub. This wouldn’t normally be too bad, but the damage went all the way to the subfloor, which meant we could actually see into the basement while standing in front of the tub.
Walls
There was tile up most of the walls, originally. However, it had been previously removed by one of the previous owners. They did a horrible job at removing the tiles. The grout was still on the walls and you could see the tile spots. Some areas they had tried to cover up where the tiles sat and never smoothed it out.
Sink
The bathroom sink was not only not attached to any of the drain plumbing, but I don’t think it wasn’t even an actual bathroom cabinet. It did have a bathroom style sink on it though.
Cabinets turned laundry area
Cabinets galore! Almost one entire wall in the bathroom was nothing but cabinets. This was a great space for storage, however, they weren’t designed very nice and one of the cabinets used to be a laundry shoot. That meant that there was a whole in the floor leading to the basement. Thankfully you couldn’t see the hole because the cabinet was still there, but it made that cabinet useless.
We decided to remove all of the cabinets and put the washer and dryer in the bathroom. Yes, now the room is fuller, but it is much better than having to go to the basement to do your laundry. Also, the bathroom is huge and we still have plenty of room. Since this picture was taken, we’ve added another shelf just above the washer and dryer. The bottom shelf we use for all the laundry products and the top shelf (the one in the picture) is used for our linens and toiletries.
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Hardwood Floors: Why We Decided to NOT Refinish Them
When we first started to talk about how we were going to remodel the house, we had a big decision. Would we refinish the hardwood floors or cover them? It was something that we thought about for a long time. In fact, we didn’t make our final decision until we were about 2 years into our renovating. That’s right, we had already started renovating many areas throughout the house before we made our final decision.
Hardwood Floors: Why We Decided to NOT Refinish Them
We decided against refinishing the hardwood floors throughout the entire main level of the house. This was because it was going to be more work than we really wanted to put into the house. Had we had the time to think about this before moving in, we probably would have done the repairs and refinished them. However, because we were living in the house and it would have been such a mess, we decided to just cover them.
Everyone we talked to was against us covering up the beautiful hardwood floors. We didn’t want to, but we knew that we had to. There were spots that were rotted out from water damage. Gouges in many spots of the floors. There were even spots where you could tell they had been refinished in the past and the sanding wasn’t done properly.
Bathroom & Kitchen Floors
Hardwood floor in kitchen after removing linoleum
Originally, we were just going to put waterproof flooring over the hardwood floors in the kitchen and bathroom because those were the two rooms that had the most damage to them. In fact, we wouldn’t have been able to refinish the bathroom floors without some major work because there were several spots that were rotted out to the subfloor.
Damaged Hardwood Floor in Bathroom
Living Room, Dining Room, & Bedrooms
We went back and forth for about 2 years before we finally made the decision to not refinish the hardwood floors in the rest of the main living area. We were talking about putting carpet in the bedrooms and not the living room and dining room. Then we thought about carpeting all four rooms. Even the entire upstairs has hardwood floors, even though they are done with refurbished hardwood flooring and they are buckled in many spots.
Hardwood Floors in the upstairs
In the end, we decided on using the same vinyl waterproof flooring throughout the entire main level of the house.
Before & After: Damaged hardwood floor in water damaged room and then covered floor.
It made the flooring uniform throughout the entire house. It also made it so that we didn’t have to hire anyone to do the work. Since I had already done the floor in the kitchen and I did the flooring in the bath house we built in Hawai'i, I knew I could do the job.
Would you have kept the hardwood floors, or cover them up like we did? Let me know in the comments.
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Use a Bullet Journal to Schedule Your Time Better
Did you know that one of the most common reasons people start bullet journals is to schedule their time properly. You might be someone that always has so much going on. You tend to miss appointments or feel like you are supposed to be doing something.
A bullet journal is a great way to get a better handle on your schedule. It just might make sure you never miss an appointment again.
Use a Bullet Journal to Schedule Your Time Better
Create To-Do Lists Every Day
Using to-do lists is an excellent way to know what to expect each day. This can help you better schedule your time. If you don’t write down what you need to do each day, it is not only easy to forget things. However, spending too much time on one task, then fail to get everything done by the end of the day.
Start off each day by sitting down with your bullet journal and writing absolutely everything to be done that day, from appointments and going to work, to what you are cooking or chores that need to be done. Nothing is too menial of a task to put on your to-do list.
Use Weekly Calendar Layouts
Instead of just sticking with the standard monthly calendars, also use a weekly calendar layout. The reason why this is useful is because it offers a larger space for writing notes and lists.
This is not usually for a detailed daily to-do list, but has some general notes of things you need to jot down or remind yourself about that day. Where the monthly calendar might just list your symbols for things happening that day, the weekly calendar entries can include some words and phrases as well.
Include All Appointments and Tasks
Of course in order to schedule your time with your bullet journal, you should be adding all appointments and tasks. Try to make it a point to open up your journal when a new appointment is made.
Sure you probably have it on your phone calendar, but you should also have it in your journal. That way, you have multiple reminders and a reference for when you are working on your to-do list each day.
Add Cleaning and General Household Chores
If you have a hard time keeping up with your household duties, then a bullet journal can help you become more organized in this area. Make a list of all household chores to be done on a monthly basis, then break them up into what needs to be done weekly and daily.
If you have other members of your household that will be helping with them, you can assign certain chores for that as well.
Let me know if you have any additional tips to schedule your time better.
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The Emotional Benefits of a Bullet Journal
I’ve already talked about how bullet journals help with finances and to-do lists. Did you know that they can also help improve your mental and emotional state? Journaling helps with everything from mental stress to disorders like anxiety and depression. Here are some of the different emotional benefits you can get from keeping a bullet journal.
The Emotional Benefits of a Bullet Journal
Stress Relief
First of all, you can get a lot of relief from your stress when you have a bullet journal. This includes relieving different types of stress, such as work stress, financials tress, emotional stress, or even relationship stress.
By having all of your schedules and appointments in one place, you aren’t constantly worried that you are going to miss something. When you have a way to better plan for the future and track your expenses, it helps with financial and work stress you are struggling with.
Looking through your diary entries and mood changes can let you know what the biggest issues are for you. Especially, if your stress can’t yet be identified.
Help With Anxiety
If you struggle with any form of anxiety, whether it is constant worry, generalized anxiety disorder, or severe panic attacks, you know that it can come on suddenly and without warning.
However, it is possible that there are certain events or situations that are leading to the anxiety. Just know, it isn’t always quite as random as you thought. By having the bullet journal and recording your moods and daily lifestyle, you can actually pinpoint what tends to cause the panic attacks.
It might be when you have work stress or when you are around a particular person who seems to draw out the anxiety in you. It can also be due to certain foods or drinking a lot of alcohol or caffeine.
Finding Your Depression Triggers
Depression is also something that may happen at any time, but can also be triggered by someone or something. Some people have situational depression, where there is something that usually occurs to cause all of those depressive moods and feelings.
This is another thing you can determine by recording as much of your life as possible in a bullet journal. This journal is yours and should be private. It allows you to feel free to record any emotions or feelings that you find necessary. Look back on it often to see if there are any patterns.
Have you found any additional emotional benefits from keeping a journal? Let me know in the comments!
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The Benefits of Keeping a Bullet Journal
Most, if not all, girls growing up have a journal of some sort. Some probably have more than one. We know from early on that keeping a journal can be beneficial. But what are the benefits of keeping a journal? Bullet journals can provide an easy way to track your thoughts, feelings, appointments, and so much more.
Benefits of Keeping a Bullet Journal
You Can Reduce Stress and Anxiety
First of all, if you struggle with a lot of stress and anxiety on a regular basis, the bullet journal can help with that. You are able to record your moods and behavior changes, which help you to determine triggers for your anxiety and panic attacks.
Since you aren’t missing appointments or schedules and become more focused on a daily basis, you can also find great stress relief.
It Helps Keep You Organized
You can also become a more organized person with the help of a bullet journal. Perhaps you remember to get to work on time and bring your kids to their dentist appointments, but you tend to forget about your daily fitness regimen or don’t feel organized enough for meal planning. The bullet journal can help with these tasks and much more.
The Journal Replaces Your Traditional Planner
Planners are great, but there tend to be some limitations with the store-bought varieties. They aren’t very customizable, so you are forced to use whatever calendar layouts and note pages are provided to you. This limits you to how much you can include on each page and what sections there are.
With a bullet journal, it replaces your planner and includes absolutely anything and everything that you find important.
You Get More Information About Your Personal Goals
Bullet journals can give you a better idea of what your personal goals are and what is required to reach those goals. You will start including lists, aspirations, and bucket lists. This, when looking back on it, really gives you a good idea of what you want out of life and what tasks you need to do in order to achieve them.
You Can Track Your Regular Habits
When you enter detailed information in your bullet journal about your daily life, you will then be able to track your regular habits.
For example, if you have a food and exercise log section, it lets you see what you are eating on a regular basis, how often you eat out, and what areas of your fitness routine need work.
You can also track your moods and resulting anxiety or stress, or track your daily expenses to see where you might be able to cut back.
Do you know of other benefits that keeping a journal have? Let me know in the comments.
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