Never-Ending Projects

This is my happy place. Ranch wife, ranch mama. Raising cows and a feral ranch baby on the shores of the Laramie River. Have you ever started a home improvement project and then realize months down the line that it wasn’t as quick and easy as you thought it would be? I can say, with certainty, that we are just making it to the other side of one of these never-ending renovations. The ranch house was built in 1978 by my husband’s amazingly talented grandmother. She had a vision and made it a reality in the most magical valley in southeast Wyoming! My husband owned and ran a construction company and at one point in his life, was a carpenter, and I know that once you are a carpenter, you are always a carpenter! Since my husband moved into this house after his grandparents died, he has done improvements here and there, but there are still a couple spaces that have not been refreshed for almost 50 years.

One of these spaces is the guest bathroom. Which is also my bathroom and will be the kiddos bathroom when they are older. My husband has his own bathroom, the tiny ensuite off our bedroom, but it's too small for 2 people and only has a shower stall. He has done improvements in that bathroom over the years, but the guest bedroom stood untouched. It was time to give it a facelift. This project started off with me wanting a new tub since our baby is getting big enough that she will be having baths in there soon. I love that we can do most projects on our own, but sometimes that can be cumbersome. What started as a weekend project has lasted over 2 months. It turns out, the whole house was built around the tub in that guest bathroom. We had to saw the old tub in half to get it out of the cubby it was in. Once we did that, it became apparent that we would have to take out the tile, dry wall and even shave the studs to get the new tub in the space!! Talk about a tight fit! Since we had to take away the tile and drywall, we made the decision to continue with giving the rest of the bathroom a face lift. I’m sure my husband was thrilled when I kept having new ideas!

I’ve always loved doing home improvement projects and I absolutely love decorating any new and improved space. I watch a lot of home renovation shows and I feel like I always take ideas from what I see on these shows! I leave the construction side of things to my hubby, because, let's face it, he is a natural, but I get to be the one to choose the colors and the décor! Once the tub was in, we decided to put in new hickory flooring, which turned out gorgeous! Add in a brand-new toilet, some awesome bead board, new drywall and paint on the walls and vanity and a fresh and wonderful bathroom started to take form!

One of my favorite parts of this renovation, was making sure we kept some of the old and mixed it with some of the new. There was tile on the walls that my husband's grandmother picked out and that she loved. My husband, of course, didn't like it, but I felt like we had to keep it alive in some way. I had my husband rebuild the built-in shelves and we put some of the tile we carefully took off the walls as the backing for the shelves. Once the built in was finished, we added some trim everywhere, medicine cabinets, a new mirror and other shelving and finished off with linens and voila…a beautiful country bathroom was finished!

During this time, so much ranch work was pushed aside as we focused on trying to get this bathroom up and going again. That makes everything a bit more stressful than it has to be and I was so thankful when all the pieces and parts were functional! Now it’s a mad rush to get back in the swing of ranch work and get caught up on all of that! So, while we do that…I’d love to hear your stories about the never-ending home improvement projects you have experienced! The good, the bad and the ugly! Or your tips and tricks for avoiding it! Ranch work wasn't the only thing that was put on hold during this time...I barely found myself in the kitchen! I will bring some recipes next blog!! This is the Laramie River Ranch Wife, signing off… from my happy place.