renovation – Francois et Moi

Primary Bath Design Plan (at the Treehouse!)

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 17:48:48 +0000

Introducing the Treehouse Primary Bath design project! You’ve got to see these epic before photos and the design direction we are headed in for this space! Project Introduction We are back at it today, and getting started on the Treehouse primary bath design! If you’re just tuning in, the Treehouse is my parents’ home on a lake in Minnesota. We call it the Treehouse because It’s got three big decks that overlook the lake and woods and you really feel like you’re up in the trees when you’re inside. Also, as a point of reference, do you remember the Treehouse primary bedroom that we completed 2 years ago? Well, the primary bath is right off of this bedroom. A Look at the Primary Bath ‘BEFORE’ So here’s a look at the Treehouse primary bathroom as it was built in 2002. Aside from the obvious material choices circa early 2000’s, the jets on the tub no longer work and the shower door has had some somewhat major leaking issues causing the vinyl tile to peel up and also cause some water damage to the subfloor. We’re looking forward to transforming this space into a more functional space for my parents and […]

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Francois Renovates: Upstairs Apartment

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 20:31:58 +0000

This post is part of an ongoing series, Francois Renovates. Find the other posts in this series here. As you guys are probably well aware by now, our home is a duplex. We own the whole thing, live on the main floor, and rent out the upstairs apartment. Here are the BEFORE shots of the kitchen from the seller’s listing last summer (courtesy of Zillow). That vintage metal wash basin was awesome, but it was standing alone with so much wasted space around it in this big room. Storage space in the rest of the apartment was also lacking, so we knew it was important to capitalize on the potential here, especially if we wanted to attract a good tenant. Oh, and remember the plastic faux hammered tin backsplash that kept falling down in the first floor kitchen? Same beauties were taped to the wall up here too! And now for the AFTER! Needless to say our upstairs renovation budget was quite a bit smaller than that of the first floor’s. (Remember we had just purchased our first home and were renovating the entire first floor as well.) The goal here wasn’t to completely redesign the space, but […]

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Francois Renovates: Kitchen Reveal {Before & After}

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 18:39:10 +0000

This post is part of an ongoing series, Francois Renovates. Find the other posts in this series Here, Here, Here & Here At long last, here are the Before & After details of our DIY kitchen renovation! A majority of the project wrapped up in October, but finishing up those last little details has been like pulling teeth for Ken and I. After a 3 month renovation, the last thing we felt like doing on a Saturday morning was caulking crown molding and touching up the trim paint. Alas, though, it’s finished, and ah, does it feel good. Check out the Before and After shots below! So let’s rewind back to July 2015 and look at the kitchen when we bought the home. At first glance, the fully inset cabinet doors were in great condition, and I thought we might be able to get away with a coat of paint on them. But the inside of the cabinets were a much different story. They were a spider-infested, layer-upon-painted-contact-paper mess. The North wall of the kitchen consisted solely of a refrigerator, a free-standing stove, and that’s about it! The kitchen also didn’t have a dishwasher, much counter space or task lighting […]

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Francois Renovates: Progress Update

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 00:32:42 +0000

This post is part of a larger series called Francois Renovates. Check out the other posts in the series here and here. To be honest, these past few week I’ve been experiencing a bit of DIY renovation burnout. We officially moved into our home last Monday and have been living amongst the construction debris and unpacked boxes for a few week now. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so many Subway sandwiches in such a short period of time…ever! It’s cheap, relatively healthy?, and no plate or silverware are required. I swear they see me coming and start in on my Veggie Delight on 9 Grain Wheat before I can even mutter the words. In any case, I’ve just kind of put the blinders on to the craziness at our house and have been trying to keep a good attitude about it all, because this chaos is only temporary. It’s a means to an (oh-so-fabulous) end and we really are so fortunate to be able to do this at all! So the cabinets, countertops and some of the appliances have arrived and things are starting to come together! Yahoo. I can see the light. Follow

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Francois Renovates: The Owner’s Suite Kitchen Progress

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 14:11:03 +0000

It’s been about a month since we began renovation on our 1934 Tudor duplex. Read more about the duplex here! A majority of the work has been concentrated in renovating the 1st floor owner’s suite kitchen, but we’ve also been tackling a less involved upstairs renter’s suite kitchen renovation as well as small updates to bring this frozen-in-time 1934 Tudor into the 21st century. Oh and did I mention we’re also up against a deadline to be out of our current apartment by Sept 30th? {Gulp} No pressure at all, right? In reworking the owner’s suite kitchen we went round and round on whether to open up the North kitchen wall to create one GIANT kitchen/dining/living space, but in doing so, we’d adsorb the coveted 3rd bedroom. We’re we willing to lose the 3rd bedroom that was a must-have item during our house hunt? Then there was the duplex component to consider; down the road if we decide to move on, and rent out the owner’s suite, a 3 bedroom apartment will surely rent for more than a 2 bedroom. In the end, with short term goals of starting our family here and long term rent-ability goals in mind, keeping […]

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Francois Renovates: A Duplex

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 14:45:42 +0000

On Friday, July 17th it became official; Ken and I kicked off our first home buying experience by also simultaneously becoming landlords. Yep, we bought a duplex! As you may or may not know, we’d casually been considering buying a house for several years now, only semi-seriously looking for about a year, and only “let’s-make-this-happen-now” looking for about a month before we found THE place. It became pretty clear to us this year as we hit MLS with our game faces on in May, that we were in the market for a duplex property. With this being our first purchase, we knew it probably wouldn’t be our forever home, so the idea of buying a property that could pay 1/2 our monthly mortgage in the short term, and give us a bit more financial freedom and options down the road, it was a move we couldn’t help but get excited about. The home we landed on is a 1934 Tudor-style duplex that has the appearance of a single family home from the street (a rare gem!). Then as you enter the foyer, the units split off into two. We plan to live on the first floor which has 3 bedrooms […]

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