white on white

well, we are officially on the home stretch to get my condo up on the market and sold. so all the things i've been putting off or that were (indefinitely) on the back burner are now on my weekend "to do" list.

first up: refreshing the bathroom with a fresh coat of paint. who knew that an old "white" wall could -- in fact -- be so...unwhite?!!

(for some reason only being able to see Tim's hand and the paintbrush was absolutely adorably hilarious to me)

so tim and i got to work on painting the bathroom while dad worked on the final pieces of trim.

 

oh, and who could forget my little inset "DVD" closet nook in the living room? aka: the wall we tore down long ago in hopes to reveal more exposed brick! obviously that wasn't the case, but we made the best of it and turned the demolished wall into another space for storage or decor.

that needed a few coats of paint over the raw wood and sheetrock.

a look at the completed DVD nook...

 and a before and after view of the bathroom walls and new closet (before the shelving and doors).

inside the closets

remember that time we found a hidden "trap door" in the floor? it was actually the access port to the bathroom plumbing.

well, dad -- being the thoughtful and responsible handyman he is -- decided it might be useful to make a removable access panel in the closet floor in case any issues every come up again. what a smart guy! it's tacked down by a few screws, but easy enough to remove if necessary.

meanwhile, dad has also been making progress on the new bathroom closet. our plan is to leave the upper half open shelving, and put a closet door with shelves in the lower half.

think of all the fluffy towels these shelves will be able to hold!

the next chapter

 

we're engaged!

it happened on winter solstice, a few hours before a holiday cocktail party we were throwing for all our friends. and of all places, he proposed AT my condo in front of my favorite exposed brick wall! how fitting :)

anyways, now that a wedding is on the horizon, it's time to start thinking about the next chapter. i could not be more excited, but it's bittersweet because it means saying goodbye to uptown and the place i've called home for the past 5 years. i will definitely miss this place.

a look back:

• closed on my condo on may 22, 2009 (and have been slowing fixing it up ever since)

a look forward:

• move into tim (and snoop's) house in st paul
• list my condo by september, 2014
• get it sold asap!

a white coat for all

now that all the doors are finally in, it was time to give them all a fresh (or a first) coat of white paint.

so the gang (okay, just my parents and tim) came over to help me tackle the project.

in case you don't remember, i wanted to keep a consistent flow throughout my condo, so all of my doors and trim are painted a nice, fresh white. 

all in all we painted the double-door living room closet, the hallway closet next to the bar, the bathroom door, and the new bi-fold pantry doors in the kitchen.

i absolutely LOVE how the living room closet turned out! love, love, love!

hollow core doors shouldn't be cut

 i'm planning a holiday party at my place this christmas and decided to ask dad if he had time in his busy schedule to put doors on my living room closet before the party. you know, so it would look a little less under construction.

above is the before photo...it's a nice closet, but looks really junky without a door!

if you remember, when i first bought the place it HAD a closet with a door. but after demo, rebuilding the closet, and finishing it back in 2009, it needed a new set of doors.

 dad had to do quite a bit of prep work before he even got to my house. first, he bough hollow core doors, but then realized that my closet has unique dimensions and cutting a hollow door wouldn't work. so back to the store he went.

 after getting solid doors, he then had to take the doors apart and cut exact measurements off EACH side of each door panel so the new dimensions would be evenly distributed.

 i love it! now we just need to putty up the unfinished edges and add a few coats of white paint.

swapping a curtain for a door

as much as i love my "door" curtains, i was super excited when dad brought over the bi-fold door that would be my new pantry!

i tore down my green curtain and dad got to work. it didn't take him too long, and his only question was where to mount the door handle.

who knew opening and closing a door could be so much fun!

1,322 days later

june 6, 2009: the day i purchased my new stainless steal set of appliances. 
january 18, 2013: the day all my Frigidaire appliances are officially working!

to be fair, the microwave and oven have been working all along, and the fridge was mostly working -- just not the ice cube and water spout parts -- but we got that working last month. so i was really just without a dishwasher (and trust me, i have been used to hand-washing dishes since my college years).

anyways, back to my point...that's 1,322 days i went with a brand new dishwasher just sitting there, looking pretty. i might as well have used it as a library like the old crazy lady who lived here before me did. but now i don't have to, because my awesome dad finally had time in his busy life to hook it up. thanks dad :)