Author: ModFruGal

Let’s Get This Potty Started….

I have 3 bathrooms to renovate.  A big draw in buying this place was the condition of the baths-they may be ugly but are fully functional, thus buying us a bit of time.

Doesn’t it seem like a conspiracy when the one thing you didn’t want to deal with rudely forces itself on you like the flu?  The upstairs toilet is leaking.  There is NO way I’m ready to redo that whole bathroom yet because there are walls to be moved, so let’s just focus on potty replacement as our band-aid. That 70’s tile isn’t really all that bad, and the kids don’t seem to mind having only an 18 inch wide walkway by their sinks….really!  I’m sick of plunging anyway.

I’m down to 3 contenders.  The Toto Aquia Dual Flush, the Kohler Persuade Dual Flush and the Jacuzzi Espree.  The Espree is not dual flush, but a high efficiency flush. That plumbing guru Terry Love and his fans say this is a no brainer…Toto all the way.  I am put off by the…ahem…skidmark problem reported by Toto users.  They don’t seem to mind though….they say…”just keep a brush handy..best toilet ever!” Dedicated following.  I’ll admit my cheap and impatient side has me seduced by the NOW availability (Lowes) of the Espree. The other 2 are mail order only where I live.  Whatever we choose will be installed by my fabulous crafty counterpart.

Kitchen Remodel

The kitchen has finally reached a semi-photographable milestone.  There’s still trim to lay, painting and some minor finishing touches – but it’s basically done.

To give a bit of background, we recently purchased a 1977 modern home that hadn’t seen a lot of love in the past 35 years.  The kitchen had to be gutted -  the sink had been leaking for years, and the use of space made the kitchen feel a lot smaller than it really was.  We closed on a Friday and started the kitchen demo that night.  We knew it would be tough to live kitchen-less with kids, so we hoped to minimize down time.

I haven’t added up every last Lowe’s receipt, but, to put a number to it, we completed this job for $16k.  While not cheap, (we had hoped to keep it well under $15k), it’s not too bad for a full gut and redo with ALL new appliances.

We did everything ourselves except the flooring and the backsplash tiling – I know – why not?  The flooring was a continuation from the adjacent rooms, that were getting an upgrade from green shag, and the tiling was a simple combination of exhaustion and a need for precision with the tiles we chose.  We gave in!  Additional info on the tile we chose has been covered in this post.

Although we live more than 3 hours from an Ikea, Pricing cabinets made it very obvious that with truck rental and hotel costs, we were still saving immensely by doing an Ikea Kitchen.  To illustrate this point, we were quoted $14k for ONLY the base cabinets of Kraft Maid Venecia from Home Depot/Expo.  All of our cabinets, including uppers, and the desk area not shown here, cost $7k. The counter top material is quartz ordered/installed through the now defunct Expo-just in time!

We removed the soffits and 2 small walls that crowded the pass through area between the ovens and the fridge.  We also made the tough decision to install only one oven in order to maximize the open feeling and gain counter space.  We enjoy cooking together, so that’s why we placed the oven offset from the cooktop.  While one person cooks at the stove, the other can access the oven without anyone having to step out of the way – a decision I still stand by as it works great for us.

Utby feet from Ikea seemed like a good idea to show off the new floors rather than using toe kick plates.  As I clean under there and chase rolling grapes, I’m not so sure it was that practical, but I still love the look.

The Original Kitchen
Before with Soffits
Before Fridge Area
Rotten Floor at Sink
Demo in Progress
Finished Floor
Typical Renovation Mess
Finally Usable
Breakfast Bar
Backsplash at Sink
As of Yesterday

Mod Mood Lighting

Just seen (and purchased) at Target.  No dragonflies or flowers here…cool, retro string lights for the garden at $12.99.  I couldn’t find them on the website, so more poor photos from me – sorry!   A nice thing about these is the transferability -  the cylinders are easy to pop off and attach to another string. If you had a white ceiling, you could put these on a white string of lights in seconds.  These will look great on my future patio with the 70’s plastic chairs I just bought at last week’s flea market.  Upon completion of that backbreaking project, I’ll post results.

Tiffin Time

Finally, we have a swank carry bag for the classic tiffin.  Let’s face it – the golden rule of frugality is to cook for yourself.  I love the fact that the tiffin has become hip and swank in recent years – those colored melamine ones – too cute.  The problem is keeping it upright in your bag because you don’t likely have a free hand to clutch it to your chest during your commute.  Uncommon Goods now has a cute tiffin ensemble package that comes with a shoulder carrier and a bamboo utensil set.  $50 may seem steep, but remember, that’s probably only 4 days of eating lunch out.

$50 from Uncommon Goods
$50 from Uncommon Goods