Pinteresting: Cleaning Bathroom Grout

The longer I live in my house, the more I like my bathroom. I love the old tiles and since it's small, that just means less for me to clean! One of the first things I had to do before moving in was a deep cleaning. The bathroom floors and walls were pretty disgusting and I knew it would look so much better if only the grout wasn't so dingy. 

I mean, just look at those hexagon tiles! (What can I say? I'm a fan of this shape.) 

I headed over to Pinterest to see what I could use to give this grout a makeover. 

Attempt #1: Bleach pen

The only bleach pen I could find was the Tilex Tile and Grout pen with Bleach. I bought 2 pens and that was barely enough for half the tub. I let the solution stay for 10-15 minutes before rinsing it off. 

This didn't really do anything. The tiles were clean, but the grout wasn't any whiter. I think it was because the solution just dripped off the wall tiles. This may have worked better on floor tiles where the solution could penetrate the grout and not run off of them. I couldn't test this theory since I didn't have any more grout pens to use. 

Attempt #2: Baking Soda and Hydrogen Peroxide Paste

Hey, if it whitens teeth, it should work on grout, right? Plus, it would stick to the grout, which would solve one of the issues the grout pen had.

I made a paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide (3:1 ratio), slathered it on the wall tile, and let it sit  for more than an hour.

Huge mess. No results. Tile was clean, but the grout was still dark. 

Attempt #3: Toilet Cleaner 

Ladies & Gentlemen, we have a winner! 

It whitens toilets, clings, and has bleach. Sounds good so far! Plus it's super easy and fast to apply and doesn't cost too much. It took 2 bottles to cover all the tile on the walls and the floor. 

The excess cleaner pooled on the floor, so I just threw on some rubber gloves and spread it around. 

I did all this in the evening, after a long day of working on the house, so I was not in the mood to stay longer just to clean. So I let it sit overnight. 

The next day, I took a cleaning brush and a little bit of water, scrubbed the tiles, and wiped everything clean with a damp cloth. 

Just look at those gorgeous tiles! It's like a brand new floor! Now I'm not embarrassed to have people use my bathroom.

Hopefully the tiles will never look that gross again, but if they do, I know what to do!

DIY: Closet Shelves

The only downfall of my master bedroom: this tiny closet! Compared to the size of the bedroom & the closets (yes, that's plural) in the smaller bedroom, it's criminal!

Offenses: 

- Barely deep enough to fit a hanger. 

- Long, Unreachable space to the right of the door.

- Only one hanging bar. 

Initially I thought I could just get by with storing all my clothes in one of the spare bedroom closets, but I'll be honest...it's annoying going back and forth between bedrooms! Especially when the full length mirror and my shoes are in the master bedroom. It's just not conducive to the dressing process! (Although, having to decide on what to wear in a different room than I actually change in HAS prevented me from leaving piles of rejected outfits on the bed or floor...)

Master Closet Makeover

Step #1: 

Cut 1x2s to fit the depth of the shelf. 

Drill pilot holes. 

Realize that you don't have countersink drill bits or long enough screws and are too lazy to go to the store. 

McGuyver it and drill over pilot holes with a larger drill bit (but not all the way through) so the short screws can do the trick.

Step #2:

Fit into the narrow closet space and screw 1x2s into wall at the desired shelf heights.

Level and anchors are your friends.

Step #3: 

Measure the size of the shelf. 

Using a circular saw, cut shelves from 1/2" plywood. 

Paint shelves and ledges. 

Forget to take photos of this step.

Step #4:

Place shelves on the ledges. 

Make use of the weird space in the closet! 

Dining Room - Before

Dining room, you are so spacious! Look how open you are! Your large wooden window lets in so much light! 

Hello there, sexy grapes & vine.

Do I detect a Tuscan accent? You're so classy! 

How's it going, plaid fabric in the dry bar. 

I sure do love those thumbtacks holding you up. It's so nice seeing the Irish and Italian decor getting along so well. 

Poor toile fabric - Mr. Plaid is hiding all your glory. 

Psst - he told me it was because the trumpet yielding cherubs made him nervous. 

Little does he know that hiding you is doing more harm than good. 

Don't blink.*

*Confused? (It's a Doctor Who reference...)

Living Room Progress

Here's my living room before any work was done: 

- Beige walls (blah)

- Pea green ceiling (eww)

- Dindgy crown moulding and baseboards (ick)

- Curtain rods screwed into the window trim (Really?!)

- Mock fireplace (Space waster that would only be used for hanging Christmas stockings.)

First order of business was to remove the mantle. Thank you Jason - who picked up a crow bar and just went at it! 

I didn't realize until my final walk-through before closing that there was an electrical outlet on the mantle. So this buddy just hung out for a couple weeks until my electrician could cut the power and snip the wires.

Found out the tiles were attached to brick. Thankfully, there was plaster behind the brick, so there wouldn't need to be any major plaster repairs.

Jason brought his big sledgehammer (my dinky rubber one wasn't cutting it) and removed the brick and tile from the wall. My dad came another day and removed the tile from the floor. 

See you later dangling electric cord! 

I spackled the wall and patched the floor with oak plywood. (This photo was taken prior to staining the plywood to match.) I could have hired someone to patch the floor with planks, but that might have required refinishing the rest of the wood floor - a repair that was just not in my budget. Besides, I plan on putting my couch where the fireplace was, so no one will even notice. The plywood is held down by a few screws, so it will be super easy to remove if I want to do a proper patch in the future.

Here's the living room now:

- Black accent wall (You can't even tell there was a fireplace!)

- Light grey walls

- Painted ceiling, window trim, baseboards, and crown moulding a clean, crisp white

Working Like a Mad (Wo)man

In the 5 days since closing, I have been working on the house non-stop.

I naively thought I could have the house cleaned and prepped to start painting by Monday! Ha! Those plans derailed pretty quickly. 

Mom and Dad helped with some cleaning which took a lot longer than expected. The stove alone took most of Friday evening. I was on my hands and knees for a few days cleaning the wood floors and baseboards. After they were cleaned, I taped them off and covered them with paper and drop cloths. Not only will they (hopefully) stay clean, they are prepped for painting. 

At the final walk-through, I discovered a window pane in the living room was broken. 

There were still shards of glass on the window sill, so I think this happened while the previous owner was moving out. We also discovered that there was water damage on the walls near some windows. Upon further inspection, a lot if the windows had gaps in the caulking. The forecast was showing rain in a few days, so window repairs got bumped to the top of my To Do list. Thanks to a This Old House tutorial, I was able to reglaze the window myself on Sunday. Mom, Dad, and I spent Saturday, Sunday, and a little of Monday removing old caulk around all the windows and doors, replacing some rotted trim, and re-caulking. Just in time! The rain started yesterday and there were downpours and flash flood warnings today! All the repairs held up - no new water damage!

Phyllis, Jason, and the kids came over to see the house for the first time on Saturday. While they were here, I mentioned that I wanted to take down the mock fireplace. Jason picked up a crowbar and started taking it down! Hooray! He did it a lot faster than I would have, I'm sure! 

I'm going to remove the rest of it next week after getting an electrician to remove the outlet that had been on the top of the mantle. (Another surprise that I found during my walk-through.)

Jason came by Sunday (I think...the days are all blending together!) and cut down a large crape myrtle that had branches rubbing against the siding and was blocking the AC unit. He also cut down this tree that was blocking the kitchen window and rubbing against the roof. 

I trimmed the Magnolia tree and Japanese Maple so I could get to the front window to do the reglazing. I also pulled down some of the ivy on the side of the house so we could re-caulk the windows. Ivy looks cool, but it is a pain! It has grown underneath the siding (an issue noted in the inspection) and it is just a breeding ground for insects and spiders. Ick! I plan on removing it all over time.

I trimmed up some vegetation in the backyard that was leaning on electrical wires and blocking windows. 

Yesterday and today consisted of painting prep - caulking trim, detaching kitchen cabinet doors, and plastering cracks and holes in the walls. 

Needless to say, I took of work Monday through Wednesday! Today is the first day I haven't worked on the house for 12 hours. I kept it an easy 9 hour day. :) It's hard work and I'm feeling pain in the weirdest places (the joints of my toes?!), but I'm enjoying it. I love working with my hands and turning this house into my home. I'm so thankful for all my family's help! I can't imagine how long it would have taken to do all this work alone! 

Looking forward to posting some before and after shots on here when the different projects are complete!

Removing Glass Doors From the Tub

Here's what the bathroom looked like at the inspection. 

I am not planning on any large bathroom renovations any time soon. Although there are some changes I would make to the bathroom in the future, it is just fine for the time being. The tiles are in  pretty good condition (Original? Quite possibly.) and I can deal with the non-existent counter space until I have the funds for an overhaul. 

Two things that absolutely needed to be done right away:

- Clean the dingy tiled walls and floor 

- Remove the ugly 80's glass doors.

 

My awesome dad took the shower doors off for me while I was cleaning the disgustingness that was the stove. (No pictures of the science experiment looking food particles...I prefer to keep my dinner in my stomach.)

The removal was fairly simple. He detached the doors first. Then he removed the handful of screws holding the frame in place. After scoring the caulk, the frame lifted off. Scraping the old gross caulking off the tub was the tough part. 

Removing the doors just opens up the space so much. It's a pretty tiny bathroom, so I'll take whatever space I can get!