Hey Guys! We did a Thing! So a few of you *might* already be following along on social media as we began the remodeling of our 1968 home in San Antonio. TX. We were not doing a DIY, we were hiring this puppy out (or so we thought). We mapped out a plan for the remodel and construction, hired a contractor and got started. Some 7 weeks into our 3 week remodel (yeah you read that right) we had to fire our contractor and gut out quite a bit he “finished”. This is where the DIY portion unexpectedly began.
I am going to bounce back in time and recap just some of our story in a future post but for now I wanted to post a teaser. We started on what was once the laundry/pantry/hot water heater room. A total of less than 50 sq ft and expanded it to 113 sq ft and made it the MUD room/Pantry/Laundry room and it is awesome! Anyone else have a multi purpose room because they have a small house?! The entire design was laid out by Jonathan Ivy & I which was scary because we have never done this before. 50% of the actual construction was done by Jonathan Ivy & I. And the decorating has been done by my designer Kaitlyn with Farmhouse Market and myself. AND SHE IS FREAKING AMAZING YALL!
Our 1968 Fixer Upper
Before photos for your enjoyment:
The above photos are what the house looked like when we bought it. No pantry really, just the cabinets in the 1st photo on the right opened to a couple shelves. This whole space had no AC or heat in it which made it hot and humid in the summer and freezing *Texas* cold in the winter. Then on the other side of the laundry wall was garage storage that had a sink. This is where my master re-lay out plan inspiration came from. I wanted a sink in the laundry space but that never worked out HOWEVER I can't wait to show you where I did put a sink and very near by. Eeekkk!
Why We Fired Our Contractor
Below are just a few of the mistakes taking place by our then contractor that we fired and ended up (unplanned) finishing the room ourselves. This turned into such a blessing because now we are on the DIY Remodeling bandwagon. Just look how messy their work was.
This is finished texture 
This is finished construction 
This is a finished wall 
too close to add plate cover 
Look at the bottom of cabinet 
Like WHAT?!? kind of transition is this 
they use bondo to “fix” everything
DIY Remodeling
We experienced bad texturing, misaligned corners, gaps in craftsmanship and much much more! So rather than continue to fight the battle, we fired our contractor and proceeded to try to hire another. Well, we couldn't find anyone who would come in and clean up the mess! We interviewed 20+ contractors with no luck so we decided to finish this space on our own. After all, we had been babysitting this contractor for months now. We literally were WORKING along side him to keep mistakes from happening. NOBODY KNEW THIS PROJECT BETTER THAN US AT THIS POINT.
How we became Construction Foremen
In the blog posts to come we will share how we build shelves, laid tile, hung barn doors, stripped 6+ layers of paint off a vintage door, and much more! Stay tune to our little adventure here to get Tips, Tricks and Stores we found great deals and products at. We have partnered with some amazing companies like Sinkology, Farmhouse Market, and more to bring this vision to completion. Final photos are coming soon of this 3 in 1 space!
One of the very 1st things I did for this project is create sketches of what was in my head. Anyone can (and should) do this. As you can see…I'm not artist BUT these sketches allowed anyone working on my home to know exactly where we were headed. 1st the Simple Remodel Sketch and 2nd the more complex Remodeling Sketch.
I do these sketches for every room and every project. I'm about to start working on one for my backyard because one day I hope to overhaul it. Check out my whole home sketch below. I took the original blue prints, white out and multi colored pens and pencils and got to work! Anyone can do this!
If you aren't already follow along on IG & Facebook. We post alot of tips and behind the scenes there. In our IG saved stories you can relive our contractor nightmare. As well as already see how we laid our tile floor in the 3 in 1 room! Join us!
To see the Final Photos click the button below!!!!
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