The Red Murder Bathroom

Let me start by saying, no there wasn’t actually a murder in our red murder bathroom (at least that we know of) BUT it certainly looked like there could have been.

The funny thing about our house, prior to renovations, was that it was completely washed out. All of the beautiful wood work, painted white. The walls, painted white. The stairs, painted white. Literally everything that could have been painted in our house, was painted and it was white. So, everything was completely washed out and there was no depth to it.

The ONE room that the previous owners decided would look nice with some color was the En-Suite-and the color they chose was a bright red. Why they decided this would be a good idea, is beyond my comprehension. Going from completely washed out white everywhere to a bright red bathroom, definitely jumps out! There is no denying that it was a bold choice, but not a good one. That Red Murder Bathroom, had to go! No doubt!

Seriously, who designed this room? AND ACTUALLY thought it was a good idea? The only thing that could be worse is if there was carpet on the floor!

So we said “goodbye” to the red walls, clogged toilet, medicine cabinet and leaky sink!

And “hello” to exposed brick and a clean slate to work with!

Let the reconstruction begin! We decided to keep the bathtub. It was in fairly good shape and is a super durable cast iron tub, that just needed a little TLC.  As for everything else in the bathroom, we tore out.

We decided to go with a grey floor tile and white subway tile for around the tub. Austin hadn’t done any tiling work before, and took on the challenge. He did all the tile work in the bathroom himself!

And he SLAYED it! The tile worked perfectly in this bathroom. The bright tile scaling the majority of the wall, made for a bigger look in such a small bathroom. The darker floor adds depths to the room, and the grey/green walls give the room a calming finish, definitely a different vibe from the red murder bathroom in it’s previous life.

The En-Suite bathroom was one of the first projects in our house that we have completed. We are super happy with the final product! Stay tuned for a blog where we will “price out” the cost of this bathroom and show some more final product pictures!

Keep the Reno’s Comin’
Austin & Devina Griffth
Griffith House Projects

 

 

Demo Day(s)

With any great renovation, comes a great deal of demolition, and that was no different for our project. One demo day definitely does not suffice for the amount of demolition that needed to be done in our house.

Since our house was built in 1900, we have the not so lucky privilege of lath & plaster. The cracks, bumps and bruises of these walls definitely needed more that just a tune up, most of the lath and plaster needed to be taken down and the house was practically stripped to its bare bones. Beautiful bones may I add.

Yes, beautiful indeed. Our house was crafted with complete precision by the original builder. There is 100yr old pine supporting the walls and held together by 3 inch long nails. Of course, along the years, not so crafty people have done some serious damage to our house-closing off glorious large rooms with temporary walls, building in bathrooms in the smallest of corners, and re-structuring the entire floor plan of this once beautifully designed home. Most of these alterations, we have demolished, as we try our hardest to restore the original inspiration of this house.

Removing a temporary wall between the dining room and main entrance

Opening up the wall that once had pocket doors

Removing the stinky awkward bathroom off of the kitchen

Removing the awkward bathroom off the kitchen to become a grand pantry

Removing a semi-dividing wall between the side entrance and living room

The semi-diving wall is gone!

Another semi-dividing wall in the master bedroom

Semi-dividing wall in the master bedroom demolished

The pictures above only partially show some of the awkward structures that were added in our house that we removed.
The pictures below are some of the “bare bones” of the house.

We have loved getting down to the bones of the house and finding treasures we didn’t expect to find! The next blog will be about some of the neat things we have come across through our demolition and unfolding of more of the history of our house!

Until then, keep the reno’s coming!
Austin & Devina Griffith
Griffith House Projects

7 Plagues Conclusion

I hope you haven’t found the last handful of blogs too stressful as you have read about some of the misfortune we have had throughout this last year. There were quite a handful of hurdles to cross in the first year of owning our house, and still some are evolving now, even as I write this conclusion to the “7 Plagues Series”, I wonder if perhaps there should be an 8th added. But for now, we look at the big obstacles that we faced, but still carried on.

Austin and I love this house so much, and we have just kept pushing through it, even with each obstacle we face. We stand together through it all and know that we have dealt with almost everything in the book and are still in it for the long haul.

We bought our house with a mission. To use it to the glory of God. Our house is on the corner of a street, and we believe that God will use it as a beacon. It has been vacant for many years, the history of the house is uncertain, and the people in the neighbored struggle. We know that there is a spiritual battle as well as the physical, so every small or big thing that comes up with our house, is a fight that the devil wants us to lose.

So, we face each obstacle with the strength of Christ and with each other, to carry on and never give up.

To God be the Glory and to all the obstacles in our path we say ““Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”

Keep the Reno’s Comin’
Austin & Devina Griffith
Griffith House Projects