Remodel Remorse

John and I bought the little beach bungalow for a song and were encouraged by the layout and funk of the place. With open beam ceilings, a 2/2 main house layout and a separate 2-car garage with a guest room and bath added to the back, the lot was large and the location was entirely too perfect to pass up. We chose this house for the lifestyle change and the challenge. The lure of do-it-yourself ing this little outdated beauty into a goldmine was definitely the draw. We moved in and immediately began simultaneously removing the overgrown front yard while refreshing Shelby's dark, old bathroom. This all began in September...The bathroom was projected to be a one month job. Painting the cabinets, replacing the faucet and shower head, installing wainscoting, putting in some lights and a fan, painting the walls and the humdinger: tearing up the 3 layers of 1970s era linoleum to replace it with some tile. Hah!

As you can see in the pic, we painted the honeyed wood cabinets white, the walls were done a pinkish beige to match the porcelain tub and sink (which we opted not to replace). This is John's first attempt at laying tile and he banged it out in about 2 weekends. The tile was a Home Depot special, as was fixtures and lighting and a mirror. I think we spent around $1000 overall. It took us just over 3 months to "do it ourselves". It's functional except for the following: The fan is not vented to the outside (it just blows into the rafters-great for mold!), the cabinet doors never close properly since I hung them myself, and the lights we installed above the sink have all exposed wiring inside the cabinet-just don't look!
The moral of the story? If you can afford it, have someone do the work so it's done right and done quickly. If not, keep your wits and your patience about you. Or do what you can manage and have someone else do the electrical and hang your cabinet doors. :) Lesson learned.