Because who doesn't like an 18 month wait to see stuff.
Bedrooms!
Oh the horror show that was the rest of the house did not stop here folks. Just kept going. The rug was a lovely shade of vomit after mexican food, and covered in cat. Cat hair, cat food, cat barf, cat pee. SO NICE.Outdated electrical? Check.
One million holes per wall? Check.
Peeling paint and dirt smears? Check.
The ceilings, as in the rest of the house, were these lovely acoustical tiles. Failing in several places, with dirty brown seams. Very restful. One lovely tenant had decided that the trim needed some pizazz and painted on what looked to be glow in the dark paint that no longer glowed.
So in true my house fashion, shit got much, much, worse before becoming even slightly better. Because under the cat carpet was this:
MORE RED AND WHITE TILES!
Except here it was punctuated every three millimeters with staples and nails that had been holding down the rug pad. Where did they think that pad was going to go?!
After a mere three hours of back breaking, handnumbing scraping, hammering, and chiseling PER ROOM, I had a thing of beauty. Hahahahaha.
Just kidding, it looked even shittier:
Tar, adhesive, death. Wonderful! I cried, I drank, I covered it with paper so my floor guy could unwrap it, like a really terrible present.
Fast forward 15 gal of spackle, 3 weeks of painting, and some major floor sanding. Plus 4 new (salvaged) doors for the bedrooms and bathroom, window coverings, and new schoolhouse style lights.
Oh look, something finally livable!
Sorry these are so blurry, I'm sure my arms were not working at this point.
Why finally post this? Well the apartment will probably be coming up for rent this year and I need to remind myself that even when renovation seem impossible, it will turn out ok. Because I will need to upgrade the kitchen once more. Stage 2 of 3 will consist of new Ikea cabinets, a dishwasher, and the microwave hood installed, but as a circulating one only for this stage. I upgraded the stove this past summer and bought the microwave hood at the same time, but never installed it because I needed electrical for that. The pantry/laundry room will stay for now, as will the countertops that I painted black. I plan to do butcherblock the same as in my kitchen, so I need to wait until the wall comes down to install it. Spreading the renovation out in stages means that the apartment will be vacant for less time, and I'll be able to spread my costs out over several years.
