Room Renovations Archives - Page 2 of 4

I’m starting this post with an “after” pic because we are so pleased with the results of this project! It just took WAY longer than we thought to complete (keep reading to find out why). This vanity replaces a very decorative vanity (pictured below), which was purchased by the previous homeowners. Aside from not liking the style of the original we were puzzled by how to use it properly in the space because it didn’t have any drawers. We struggled to find places to put things like toothbrushes and hair brushes, so decided it was an easy first update to this new home of ours.

This update came with several challenges: First, there is a floor vent beneath the vanity, meaning any replacement would need to be free-standing, unless we wanted to re-route the vent. Second, the space is an odd size for the most-popular sizes available at the big box stores (44″ wide would be perfect, but the most common sizes are 36″ 42″ and 48″. With these challenges in mind, we decided to piece something together on our own. We started by finding a vanity bottom that met our needs. We ended up finding exactly what we were looking for and ordered it online from Home Depot:

The vanity is part of the Cambridge collection by Ariel. It’s 42″ wide, 34.5″ tall and 21.5″ deep. We wanted something sturdy, which we got thanks to the hardwood design, and it also came with soft-closing doors and drawers, which was an added perk.

With the vanity bottom in place, we painted the walls and did a little plumbing to replace the rusty supply lines. The walls are now “Mineral” by Behr in a satin finish (we used the color in multiple rooms in our Apple Valley home). The vanity top was a granite remnant found at The Pinske Edge here in Rochester, MN. This is our second granite counter they have made for us from remnants at their business. We love the pattern, as you can tell because we used something nearly identical in a previous project at our first house. Unfortunately, the customization process meant our bathroom sink was out of commission for more than a month. The company needed the new vanity bottom in place and mounted to take accurate measurements, which is understandable. Then, after several weeks of waiting, the granite they brought out for installation had been miss-measured and the sink sat too far forward. We had to pick out another remnant, get another set of measurements taken, then wait another full week to get it installed. In the end, it was worth it, because we ended up changing our mind about the granite color and going with what you see below. We are very happy with The Pinske Edge and would hire them again without hesitation.

The faucet is Moen Lindor brushed nickel. We like the design and this may be the second time we’ve purchased this particular one.

Finally, we updated the mirror, installing a simple builder’s grade 36″x 42″ which we might frame in down the road.

With the new white cabinet, the softer grey/beige color on the walls, the space feels so much brighter and much more “us” – we’re very happy with the results. The next update you can expect to see in this space will be white doors and trim. Thanks for reading!
-Mike

The finished garage in this new home was one of the things that I was most excited about. After nearly 10 years in an unfinished space, I was eager to have a bright, insulated space to work on projects.

Days after moving in, I somehow managed to talk Sara into getting a heater for the garage. To me, it seemed like a no-brainer: The wall was already insulated and the floor had a drain, where melting snow from our vehicles could go. Several companies gave us estimates for installing a heater. We went with the lowest bid and the company installed a Reznor 45,000 BTU natural gas heater.

While the walls of the garage were insulated, previous owners overlooked the ceiling. I hired an insulation company to blow in the roughly 500 sq/ft. of insulation needed.

I’m so happy with the heater. On my first few tests, it had no trouble heating the space by about 20 degrees in a matter of minutes. I plan to leave it off during the summer, and keep it set to around 55 degrees during the cold months.

My next project in the garage was storage. I installed some shelving and found a home for my work bench and tools. Additionally, after we replaced the kitchen appliances, I put the older stainless steel fridge in the garage.

The final garage project I’ll discuss in this post is the updated staircase into the house. This upgrade came after I struggled to get into the house with an armful of groceries. I wanted a larger space to stand on when opening the door into the house and also wanted to build shelves for shoe storage.