Our Upstairs Bathroom Remodel

Hello again! If you have been missing our home improvement posts as of late then you're in luck! Did you know that we remodeled our upstairs bathroom earlier this year. Sorry this is another old blog post that I am just finishing. Because our Airbnb "business" has been going well, we decided that the best thing to do was reinvest that money back into our home by remodeling our upstairs bathroom.

Before the remodel, we had a clunky pedestal sink and a clawfoot tub without a shower head, making our bathroom a very non-functional full bath. We figured that we should make that bathroom more useful, and as a result we turned it into the guest bathroom and charged more money for our Airbnb room. 

Our contractor wasted no time in getting started. After some debate, we figured the most cost effective thing for our renovation was to keep the clawfoot tub instead of squeezing a brand new shower enclosure in the small space. Anyways, if you know my tastes, I kind of liked the charm of the clawfoot tub ;) We also decided to regrout the existing tile. I decided that we should go with gray grout because I thought it wouldn't look so dirty compared to the existing white grout...

They also had to replace some of the loose tiles as well...

We ordered our shower conversion kit though Amazon and luckily it came in once piece!

Although we had originally wanted to keep our floor tile, it turned out to be in poorer condition than was expected.  At the recommendation or our contractor, we decided to have it replaced. Our contractor said that the floor tiles ripped off so easily that it seemed like it "wanted" to get removed, LOL.  In other words, the previous owners didn't install the old tile properly.

Before and after.

In order to replace the floor tile, they had to remove the tub...

So they put it in my closet room! And when they moved the clawfoot tub that's when we realized it was missing a foot! We worried that we wouldn't be able to use it, but since it was on the side that was propped up against the wall our contractor assured us that it would still be stable (with a make-shift wooden foot that wouldn't be seen ;) ).

We replaced the marble threshold since the original one had some chips in it.

Then it came time install the showerhead!

As you can see, it's comprised of multiple pieces that all connect. Here are some photos that show the showerhead, from the tub spout all the way to the curtain rods that connect to the wall. 

Lastly, we got a teeny apartment-size corner sink. We got a corner sink a long time ago at Community Forklift; however, we couldn't use it when it came time for the renovation.  It turned out that the corner sink we initially bought was too big for the space. Luckily, we found an awesome substitute with this sink pictured below.  This corner sink, although small, does the job! 

Now it was time for the finishing touches! Our contractor refreshed the yellow paint that was on the walls. I liked yellow for this small bathroom because I thought that it made it look bright and happy.  I didn't want to pick any colors that would make that room look any smaller. With the yellow paint, I figured that gray would be a great compliment. 

As for wall art, I didn't want to put any thing valuable on the walls because it's a space that is bound to get damp. Since moisture ruins art, I figured that I would put up something cost effective (i.e. "free"). I had snagged this poster from a local bar (the Brixton) a couple years ago. It was advertising its Triple Crown viewing party specials, and because this is "My Old Kentucky Home in DC" I pulled it off the wall of the Brixton's bathroom and rolled it up for safe keeping. I knew it would come in handy in the future! 

I also grabbed this African mask from our guest room and put it in the bathroom. Nothing is better than accessorizing with what you already have :)

Since there is nowhere to store shampoos and whatnot not in the tub, I bought a shower caddy that fits in the corner. I had to get some shower liners of course, but I still need to cut them down a little bit because they are a little long! I also got a pretty gray and white shower curtain to match the motif.

Voila!

Wow, I can't believe it took us almost four years for us to remodel the upstairs bathroom, but I am glad we finally did it. Next on our list is the downstairs bathroom. Stay tuned!

You Down With AirBnB?

Yeah you know me!

*sung to the tune of "O.P.P." by Naughty by Nature*

As the title indicates, Justin and I are "down" with AirBnB as we are hosts on this home/room sharing website. AirBnB stands for Air(mattress) Bed and Breakfast. Created as an alternative to expensive hotels, hosts on this website can rent out sofas, rooms and entire homes. Basically, as hosts on this website we open our home to travelers by renting a room out in our house (Yes complete strangers! Dun-dun-dun!). DC real estate blog, Urban Turf, provides a great primer on AirBnB here.

As discussed in the Urban Turf article, we had to get some licenses in order to rent out a room legally in the District (it varies by state). I also made sure we got the proper inspections done because that was the only way that Justin would let us participate--we had to be fully compliant with the DC laws of course. ;)

Click to see our listing

With our prime location in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, DC, we get a ton of inquires! We received so many inquiries that we have to decline some of them for various reasons (e.g.: Justin's exam week in school, family visiting, etc.) After all, we do want some time for ourselves every now and then. ;) We even get inquires about intern housing for the summer, but we aren't quite ready to host a young 20-something in our home for three months quite yet. ;)

Yes, there are some cons to this process, but to me they are minor. You have to sacrifice some of your privacy and obviously share your space. The language barrier between some of our guests got to Justin more than it did to me. Of course on the pro side we have gotten to meet some interesting people from all over the world, and everyone for the most part has been really nice! Additionally, I can't leave out the monetary benefit. For the few months that we have been doing AirBnB, we have earned enough money to remodel our upstairs bathroom. So if you ask me, I think the trade-off is worth it.

"But, Joanne! What about if they wreck your place or steal something?"

First off, we don't host guests without us being home ourselves. Thankfully, Airbnb has a really good insurance policy in those types of instances, and guests have to be verified though the website. As hosts, we are in no way obligated to accept every inquiry to stay in our home. As a general rule, if it doesn't feel right (listen to your gut feeling!) then don't do it!

It's pretty cool that this is a worldwide thing. Although hosting might not be an option for less metropolitan areas, I did see listings in Louisville, KY for Kentucky Derby weekend, with prices around $500/room (!!).

So what do you think? Is this something that you would do?  Of course, if you are our friend or family you get to stay with us for free! ;)

Did you miss me?

Do you miss me? Now that I'm gone! LOL, for some reason my blog title made me think of this song.

Anyone remember it? I loved me some Jocelyn Enriquez back in the day and even owned the CD! #freestyle

Wow, it's been a minute since I last posted. Since I had some time in the midst of the crazy holiday season, I figured I would update you on some of the awesome things I've been up to since my last post (in October, eek!)

Well...

• Justin and I hosted out very first Friendsgiving! And had an awesome Thanksgiving with my family, too!
• I ate at a bunch of delicious places...
• We did some stuff around the house! Got our floors upstairs refinished and got an energy audit of our house, too!

These next couple weeks I'll be updating you on some things that happened in the past, some unfinished posts, and other miscellany. We'll just call them the "lost files." For some reason or another, these are topics I just never got around to writing or posting until now.

Yes, it's old news, but it's new news to you, right? Stay tuned!

Weekend Review: Getting our Move On

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that we were taking on a new home improvement at our house. After a wanting to do it for a while, we decided to refinish the hardwoods on our second floor. We've been wanting to redo our floors since this post about our tax refund from last year. After reflecting on that post, I think it is kind of interesting that we have now tackled two out of the three things on that list--the wrought iron fence and the floors. All that is left is the backyard, but hopefully that'll come soon. ;) I promise that I'll give you a full detailed post on the whole refinishing process (a process that I like to call "hardwood hell") but it'll have to wait since we aren't quite done and I want to give the whole process a full review...sorry! What a tease! In the meantime, I'll update you all on how we'd be living for the past few weeks.

 

Everything we couldn't pack, we had to move downstairs...

 

With us being exiled from the upstairs we set up camp in the living room with the aero mattress. After a couple days it was getting really uncomfortable. I apologize to any guests we have made sleep on it or any guests than may sleep on it in the future. I realize it sucks and we need to get a proper guest bed sometime soon...

 



 

Our clothes in suitcases and laundry hamper in the dining room. #hollalivinginsqualor

 

 

Despite all of the crap on the first floor, that didn't prevent us from doing stuff around the house. I spotted this mirror for under $30 at Homegoods. What a steal!

 

 

So of course I put Justin to working in hanging it since it's his most favorite thing to do. ;) 

  

 

I also thought I would be a good time to hang these wall sconces that we got for our wedding shower many years ago.

 

  

 

Voila! Again not properly styled, but deal with it. We got some cute candles to go with our sconces. I'll have to show you in a different post. :)

 

 

Justin replacing the ceiling fan light. The honey-do list never ends does it?

 

 

Random picture of Derby grinning ear to ear! #nobraces

 

  

We also helped our friends move into their new place. Will the couch fit?

  

 

The Sanchezes (Sancheeses? ;) taking a break!

 

 

 

All of us awaiting our reward for assisting in the move--Taylor Gourmet!

 

 

After moving, since we were in the neighborhood, we figured we might as well stop by Union Market. It has been open for about a year now and we hadn't checked it out yet.

 

 

One of the butchers was selling oxtail. I had never seen it in its whole form. Kinda weird but my mouth was still watering from the thought of kare kare (aka: Filipino oxtail stew in a peanut sauce)...

 

 

A shot of the inside. Definitely room for growth (I love me some Reading Terminal Market!) but still a good addition to the neighborhood and city!

 

 

I was in an ice cream kind of mood but a  cupcake from Curbside Cupcakes will suffice.

 

Our weekend was jam packed! That's a review of my busy weekend in a nutshell! Sorry for the lame-o conclusion...I figured I needed to say something in order to finish this old a$$ post!

Our New/Old Dining Chairs

Once upon a time (okay, honestly one year ago) I saw this ad on Craigslist for some free Parsons chairs. I thought they would be perfect for our dining room, but after picking them up I found out that they were a bit worse for the wear.  There was a reason why they were free.

As you can see, the prior owners tried to reupholster these chairs themselves, attempting to change it from a flowery pattern to a red microfiber fabric...

 

But alas, they gave up on their project and put them on Craigslist for some sucker like me for someone to pick them up.

Because these chairs still had a good shape, I thought they could still be salvageable. I couldn't pay someone to reupholster them because the cost to reupholster them professionally would cost as much as getting new chairs.

I knew I couldn't reupholster them myself because I definitely don't know my way around a staple gun. I figured the next best thing would be to find some nice, yet affordable slipcovers for the chairs. After all, as long as you cover them, you won't know what all is going on underneath the slipcover, right? After deciding to go with slipcovers, I couldn't find any affordable Parson chair slipcovers that I liked.  It appeared nothing was within my budget. Not finding the right slipcovers put this project on the back burner until I found these:

JCPenney's had these cotton canvas slipcovers on sale for 50% off (Down to $10.99 from $22)! At about $44 for all four chairs I knew I had to nab them. I figured I could see if they worked and return them if they didn't.

As soon as the slipcovers came in the mail, we pulled the Parsons chairs out from the basement.  After being put away for so long, we had to clean them. First, we started off the cleaning marathon by steaming them. Hopefully it killed all the bacteria that might have been lurking inside while in storage.

Then we had to Febreeze them to get the musty smell out. Next we had to polish the chair legs as they were a little dusty.

Lastly, I had to steam the wrinkles out of each slipcover because they had deep creases in them due to the packaging. I love our garment steamer! Although Justin is more of an iron person, the garment steamer is always my go to...and was especially helpful for this particular task.Ta da!



Yes, I know these aren't "quality" pieces per se, but I think they'll do for now. I like these chairs more than the chairs that we had before.   Despite my taste for our "new" pieces of dining room furniture, we're still keeping our old chairs. You never know when you'll need the extra seating for any guests that decide to stop by (i.e.: Super Bowl)! I can't bring myself to buy any new furniture (read: expensive and non-craigslist) as I'm not sure what our future may bring, in regards to what size will be our "forever house", etc. The size of a particular space has a lot to do what what type of furniture you'll put in it, so for now, I'm fine with my piecemeal Parsons chairs. ;)