Home Improvements In Pittsburgh

Please excuse that I’m extremely behind on my blogging!! After the Titans season ended, Patrick and I headed up to Pittsburgh for a few weeks to check out the on-going renovations that were taking place at our house. In total we got two completely new bathrooms put in (one in the bottom apartment and another in the upstairs apartment where we stay) along with a new kitchen floor and fresh coats of paint! It’s exciting to see all changes take place, but it’s also an exhausting process to have to go through, especially under these living conditions…below is our living room, which was completely unlivable up until the day before we headed back to Nashville! LOL!

Along with the clutter came dust galore…

And let’s not forget the measures we took to try to keep the place clean that we had to live around…

So as you can see, we didn’t have the greatest accommodations for our time back in the Burgh – lol! I wanted to clean this floor of the house (which includes the kitchen which the doorway is pictured right above) so badly, but I knew it was useless because it would just get dirty again. I pretty much caved myself up in the 3rd floor because it made me so sad to go downstairs and see my home look like this. 

Fortunately though, the bathroom is complete now and the mess is cleaned up…WOOHOO!!!

Here’s introducing our new bathroom…kind of…we are still waiting for the washer and dryer (which will be stacked right as you walk in the door come March 13th) and we have to get a shower curtain and towels exc. Next trip to Pittsburgh it will be officially complete and we will host a “Potty Party”:-) 

WARNING: The space is kind of tight. We took out a full tub and replaced with with the stand up shower and washer and dryer so the new tenant doesn’t have to walk outside to get to the washer and dryer in the basement. 

We went with Behr “Chinese Jade” for the paint which was a total spur of the moment color choice. We initially wanted to do a sandy color, but decided to switch while going through a pamphlet for inspiration. I’m so glad we did because I’m in love with this color! Like anything else, the pictures don’t do it full justice. 

I love the mirror we selected (American Classics Decorative Beveled Mirror; Home Depot)…it matches all the white woodwork throughout the rest of the house perfectly!

We also decided to try out the new water efficient toilets (American Standard; Home Depot). There are two different flushing mechanisms for the two different things you do on the toilet lol. This photo also gives you a good look at the wainscoting. 

 Last is a picture of the tile work in the shower…All of the fixtures in the bathroom are Moen brand, style Banbury (Home Depot) and are spot resistant, score! I hate cleaning up finger prints! 

 We are very happy with the results of our bathroom, but sad that we won’t get to use for too long. We’ve decided to rent out our home come the start of this next football season. We figure it’s a shame to just let it sit there, and we might as well try to make some money off of it.

The downstairs apartment looks great as well! I especially love how the kitchen turned out! I’m pretty much in love with the new floor, and the two-toned walls turned out great as well!

My Aunt is renting this apartment and selected a chocolate brown paint (sorry I don’t know the exact name as I didn’t pick it out) for her new bathroom. She complimented it with orange towels and the two colors look great together! We did the same mirror, toilet, tile and fixtures as the upstairs bathroom in this bathroom. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo to share of this bathroom. It turned out great though! Very similar to the upstairs bathroom – minus the washer/dryer and a full tub added.

In addition to all these major updates, we also made some more minor cosmetic changes while home. Big shout out to my hubby…he surpassed all of my expectations with all the handy work he did!! I was so impressed! He fixed leaky faucets, did wiring work on outlets and lights that didn’t work to get them working again, installed a keyless entry to the door, put up a TV mount, bolted down wires to make everything look more seamless…he was constantly doing something to beautify the house! Pictures below of some of those updates…

 New faucet…we went with black to match the counter top!

Mounted TV! 

Aside from all the cleaning I put up some new curtains!

The trip home was full of headaches, but it was also full of great times with some great friends! It was so nice to see my family and friends that I have missed so much! We got to enjoy dinner out with our friends Tyler and Maggie at Eleven, then went back again later in the trip with Kim and Valerie. We love hibachi and went to Miyako with my sister Katie and Brother-In-Law, Ted, then Nakama with my other sister Kristy and soon-to-be Brother-In-Law, Adam. We did a breakfast alone at the Rusty Nail, then did dinner there with Kristy and my Aunt Donna. We ate at Max’s Allegheny Tavern with Patricks Dad’s cousins family, and got to enjoy dinner with the Simon’s, Harris’ and Grisham’s at Nikki’s Thai Kitchen. Thanks Mary for capturing this photo there! Always good times with some of my favorite people 🙂

We’re looking forward to making another trip back to Pittsburgh in the near future! To everyone there, we love and miss you everyday!
XOXO

PS…Below are some side by side comparcomparisons to before and after…

Dirty vs. Clean!

Old vs. New – LOL Sorry my friend Jaclyn is cleaning the floor in the old pic! This picture dates back to our high school years when my sister lived in this apartment and we were cleaning up after housesitting! Sorry Jaclyn, this was the only picture I had on my computer of the old kitchen! LOL! 

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