All the small details I forgot about during the home reno process

Hi guys!

I really thought I had thought of everything when we put together our budget and there were several things that came up along the way that I had completely forgot about! I listed everything below and even linked everything we bought.

I forgot:

-Closet lights (with and without a pull chain)

-Door stoppers (attaches to your baseboard)

-Door stoppers (attaches to the door hinge if a baseboard isn't behind it)

-Combined Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Alarms

-Light Bulbs (all the chandelier's I bought came WITHOUT lightbulbs which is fine since I could pick the color temperature I wanted but I didn't realize. I did 5000K in the kitchen and 4000K throughout the house.

-Floor Vents (for bathrooms and laundry)

-Ceiling Vents

-4 Hole, Door Hinges (for our outdoor/indoor doors)

-Stair Brackets (for the railing to sit on)

-Pocket Door Handle (our painter had accidentally painted it)

- Valves for the washing machine

The small details I remembered to account for:

-Outlets

-Light switches

-Light plates (theres 1-gang, 2-gang, 3-gang depending on what you need)

-USB outlets

-Smart WIFI dimmers (we wanted smart ones so we could turn the lights on for our pup Misia when we're at work during the winter and it getting dark early)

-Cable insert plug

-Recessed lights

-Inside door handles

-Handles for outside doors

-Cabinet handles/pulls/knobs (for laundry and kitchen)

See below for all of them

If you have trouble viewing those on a mobile here are most of them:

You can follow all our home reno youtube videos here!

All my home reno blog posts are also here

You can find more house videos on my insta stories and vlogs

Don't forget to check out my Amazon Page that lists all my favorites on there- clothing, bathing suits, beauty products and more. Also I post a bunch of videos on my youtube channel!

xoxo ela

Our Home Reno Timeline

Hi!!

I thought I would write up this timeline and post it to give people an idea of how long it actually took us to reno our house. And also because I was taking notes on my phone to give myself an idea of when we'd be actually done! :)

You can follow all our home reno youtube videos here!

All my home reno blog posts are also here

BOUGHT OUR HOUSE

December 6th: Closed on our house

All of December and beginning of January: Had contractors come by to give us quotes

FLOOR

January 8th: Picked our floor guy (wood was ordered: 5 inch white oak)

January 13th: Demo started

January 18th: We saw samples of colors on the wood that was delivered.

January 27th: Floors were started

February 1st: Floor install was done

February 7th: Sanding completed

February 8th: We chose our final stain color (after seeing his samples)

February 13th: Floor staining was completed

Week of February 17th: Floors were covered and most doors installed after being painted.

WOODWORK

February 15th: Contractors stopped by to give me measurements for ordering material for woodwork (baseboards, door casings, paneling)

February 17th: I placed orders for baseboards, door casings, wood paneling, crown molding and a few closet doors

February 24: Delivery of all wood

Week of March 2nd: Baseboards and door casings starting to get installed on 2nd floor

Week of March 9th: Baseboards and casings installed on 1st floor

TILE

February 22nd- Ordered tile for laundry and bathroom floors

February 25th- Tile delivered

March 7th- Heated floors installed in laundry and bathroom

March 12th-13th- Tile in laundry and powder bath installed

April 30th- Backsplash for kitchen installed

Week of May 4th- Backsplash for laundry installed

ELECTRICAL

Week of March 2nd: Electrical done for adding recessed lighting in 6 rooms

PAINT

January 28th: Doors taken to painters shop to paint

Week of March 9th- 2nd floor window trim and ceilings painted.

Week of March 16th- We had to fire our painter...

Week of March 23rd- New painters started covering all floors correctly and patching walls. Windows also primed on first floor along with front and back door.

Week of March 30th- 2nd floor painted

Week of April 6th- First floor painted and brick fireplace

Week of April 12th- Wallpaper in powder bath installed

CABINETS/ LAUNDRY AND KITCHEN

March 9th- Ordered laundry cabinets

Week of April 6th- Laundry cabinets were installed

April 17th- Kitchen cabinets were installed

Week of April 20th- Laundry sink and kitchen sink installed

April 29th- Countertops were installed

Week of May 4th - Appliances installed

May 11th- Hood and floating shelves installed

FINAL TOUCHES

March 1- Ordered most lights and chandeliers

March 8- Ordered all new outlets and light switches

March 15- Ordered all recessed lights

Week of March 30th- All outlets and light switches put on on second floor

Week of April 6th- All door handles put on

Week of April 12th - Lights/chandeliers were installed

Week of April 27th- Powder bath toilet, vanity, sink installed

May 11th- Cabinet handles installed

PAPER OFF AND LIVABLE- MAY 7TH!!

We finally got the paper off the floor May 7th and cleaned the house but everything was actually completed (like the kitchen hood and oven installed) on May 11th. A long almost 5 total months.

Don't forget to follow me on instagram and check out my Amazon Page that lists all my favorites on there- clothing, bathing suits, beauty products and more. Also I post a bunch of videos on my youtube channel!

xoxo ela

All About Our Heated Floors

I didn't make this decision too early on, it was actually after we had already installed our wood floor that I realized, wow it'd be nice to have a heated floor in the laundry room next to the garage and also the powder bath on the first floor!

I found WarmlyYours which is based in Lake Zurich in Illinois and knew that this was the place to go with. I took measurements of my floors and where the big appliances like the laundry machines, toilet, sinks would be (and I mean it was like chicken scratch on a piece of paper - well actually I used instagram stories to write out the measurements on my picture of the floor and then I saved it, and no I didn't post that lol) and they totally helped me figure out the measurements and make sure I didn't put any heating elements under any appliances.

They shipped it out to me SO fast! I found an installer in my area (Chicago suburbs) through Thumbtack.com (his name is Dan Baltatu (630-915-2950) - I was going to do it myself actually but I had vents on my floor and I wasn't quite sure how to cover those so the concrete didn't pour in there but now I know how! He used a wood barrier and voila! He was great and did such a good job.

The details of how to install it:

1. First, you'll need an electrician to install the thermostat and have it run on its switch in your main electrical panel. (which Dan did too)

2. Prime the floor and make sure your sub floor is nailed down well.

3. Cover up the floor vents with a wood barrier.

4. Lay out the heating elements and staple them down (make sure your sensor is laid in between the heating cables)

5. Mix your self leveling cement and pour it down on top of the heating elements.

7. Wait for that to dry and then you can start installing your tile!

Their website has way more detailed instructions but it wasn't too overwhelming at all! I'm so happy with them and I can't wait to just lay on the floor once the tiles are on haha.

FULL VIDEO

You can follow all our home reno youtube videos here!

All my home reno blog parts are also here

I'll share a blog post on our laundry room and bath reveal once they're completely done!

You can find more house videos on my insta stories and vlog)

Don't forget to follow me on instagram and check out my Amazon Page that lists all my favorites on there- clothing, bathing suits, beauty products and more. Also I post a bunch of videos on my youtube channel!

Thanks to Warmly Yours for gifting the material.

xoxo ela