My boyfriend and I are renovating a condo in central Austin and I thought I’d share the process. The condo itself is 1000 square feet - two stories, two bedroom, one bathroom, and in need of some serious TLC. The previous owner had a love affair with some pretty terrible colors (well, the colors themselves would be appropriate elsewhere, but not on condo walls)…I’m really not sure how she woke up in a lime green room everyday. So we just had the walls painted a light tannish gray. It’s hard to tell in the pictures I took, but it is starting to look really nice. I apologize for my terrible iphone pictures - my real camera just broke!
The kitchen actually has a nice, albeit orange, silestone countertop, so we’re having to get creative with our color and material choices for that area. We decided on an ultra white subway tile backsplash to somewhat mute the orange-y-ness. We didn’t want anything too colorful or busy up there since it would be competing for attention with the countertop. Since we’re installing light bamboo flooring, we decided the current cabinet color was too close in appearance (yet too different), so we opted to paint them a dark color. I actually goofed on my first color choice - the gray I picked was a little too greenish - so we’re going to have to paint them even darker. I think we’re going to leave one side of the cabinets open to expose some of our neat dishes and whatnot.
Let’s talk about removing tile. It’s time-consuming. It took Ben about 2 hours to get up 20 square feet of tile in the bathroom using a jackhammer drill. Luckily, I think it will be worth the effort since we found some amazing light green penny tile that will help make the space feel very airy and spa-like (complete with waffle curtain, plush towels, candles, etc). We also bought tile for the fireplace downstairs, which will make that space look more modern (it’s to the right of the penny tile in the pic).
We had to buy all new doors and hardware since the current doors are crooked and old. I’m not looking forward to installing those, so I’ve called upon my dad and grandfather for assistance :)
Some other things we’re doing: new ceiling fans, all new lighting, wooden blinds, painting vanities and adding new hardware, new mirrors in bathroom, new showerhead, and more…
Our new couch from Macy’s arrives in early May and we’ve also purchased new faux Eames chairs (I know, I know…I couldn’t bring myself to fork over 800 bucks for a real set). I also just purchased a simple walnut dining table from Target online. Oh, and we just purchased this print (from ashleyg on etsy) to hang over the bed:
New Couch:
Tile:
Stay tuned for more updates!
