Ch-ch-ch-changes

That’s right–changes are a’happening at the Bunches’ household. We closed on ~~the holy house~~ our home last Friday and since then we’ve been renovating maniacs! MANIACS! And what did we accomplish with all of that mania?! Sadly, not much. 😦 The problem is that the house is just so big (I know, I know–woe is us) that everything seems to take much longer. I had the foolish notion that we’d be able to paint every room in the house this past weekend. Guess who was wrong? Mark it on your calendar kids–Mrs. B is admitting that she erred! (We all know this day doesn’t come very often.)

BUT, we did get the house basically ready for paint–we washed all the walls, removed all the face plates and random hardware, and patched any wall holes with putty. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but trust me–it was. Removing the face plates was a feet unto itself. Those suckers had been painted to the wall hundreds of times–it was like cracking cement getting them off!

I had to use a hammer and screwdriver to chisel them off. Which, of course, meant that they all broke during the removal. So just one more thing to add to the ever growing Home Depot/Lowe’s list: a hundred face plates. (I know you think I’m exaggerating and being dramatic and all, but the house is seriously wired for electricity! There are seven outlets in the Master Bedroom alone.)

Oh, and there were also some random face plates on the wall like this one in the Master Bedroom:

I wasn’t sure what I would find behind there . . . maybe a little mini TV from the 1960s? Wouldn’t that be awesome?! Unfortunately, it was not to be . . .

Nope, just an antenna line. But kind of cool in its utter randomness, right? No? Okay. Moving on.

We took a break from all the washing and chiseling to tackle a little project I’d been dying to take on ever since we first saw the house: removing the retro potty privacy screen in the master bath. Not sure what I’m talking about? Well, let me take you back . . . we first saw it here:

(BTW–that’s not an alien warship on our ceiling. It’s a crazy big vent/heater. Or at least I think it is. If little aliens come out of it, though, y’all will be the first to know. But back to the issue at hand . . . ) Yep, the potty privacy screen (P.P.S. for short)–it’s that weird thing siting on the counter. Now, I love the pattern and all its retro-ness, but I’m not loving its location or function. I mean, seriously–how much privacy is that thing really even providing?

I can see you . . .

It had to go. And since it sort of swayed a little when you touched it, I thought it would be a cinch to take off. My guess was that it was only attached via some type of adhesive to the counter top.

So I used a blade to try and cut through it:

And then voila! It just popped right off. Oh no–wait. That’s what would’ve happened if I’d had any idea what I was doing and this wasn’t my first home reno project ever (not counting painting). Of course it wasn’t that easy! Nope–there wasn’t any adhesive. So using a blade to cut through some dried-up paint didn’t magically make the screen fall off the counter. No siree bob. That sucker was nailed to both the countertop AND the wall! And since the nails were painted over a hundred times (a la the face plates), there was no way to try and pry the nails out. Nope, my only option was to use brute strength. And since I’m married to Mr. B, that means I have regular access to copious amounts of brute strength. So I called Mr. B in, and he pulled, and he pulled, and he tore that screen down!

Phew–that was hard. Just check out the holes left in the counter:

Ick–right? And the wall highlighted the many shades of blue that have been painted here in the past (this was taken after I had patched the holes) . . .

Let’s take one last look at the before shot in all its potty faux-privacy glory:

And here’s the after:

Ahh. Much better.

And since we’re in the master bath, how about a tour? There’s a jacuzzi tub (this is probably the most recent addition to the house) and separate shower on the right side:

(Despite how it looks in the picture, that little seat in there isn’t dirty–it’s actually a grey and white marble seat. Just had to clarify.) The shower door will be one of our next demo projects in there since it’s broken (it doesn’t shut, as evidenced in the full picture above). We’re going to replace it with a shower curtain instead since at some point down the road we’ll probably be redoing the bathroom altogether, so there’s no sense putting in a new shower door.

The bathroom also has its own linen closet next to the entrance:

OH, and the piece de resistance? Why, the blue toilet of course!

Lovely, eh? I’ve deemed it unusable. Not because it doesn’t work or anything, but mostly just because it has a squishy seat. Do squishy toilet seats gross anyone else out? They totally give me the heebie-jeebies. Yeah, and the rusted-out heater cover is pretty hot too. But no worries–both the toilet and the heater cover will be getting replaced this weekend.

So there you have it–progress! Kinda. Sort of. Baby steps okay?!

We did manage to get some painting done, and I’ll share some before and after pics soon. We’ve also had lots of contractors running around and they’ve been kicking butt on the garage wall (they finished it yesterday–pictures of the whole process coming soon) and the patio. Here’s a teaser pic to keep you interested . . . the patio before: