Well guys, even MLS is confirming condo #2 is officially ours!

We started work on Wednesday (and by we I mean Chris and our buddy Blake) and started the little bit of demo there was still to do.

Like opening up this wall.
Nothing crazy drastic, but opening up the space just a couple more feet definitely helps with the flow.

We also remeasured the kitchen so I could go and finalize our kitchen lay out for cabinets,

Sorry for the impromptu shot Blake #reallife #ticketstothegunshow #ladiesheissingle

That's actually a little pantry.
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Which as I sit here writing this, am debating getting rid of. Why is this just now dawning on me?  To build out the doors, shelves, drywall, etc, it actually might make more sense to take it out, move the fridge down (which would have been where that little ladder is behind Blake) and add some more storage cabinets with pretty quartz countertops... ... ...

hmmm interesting.  May have to run that by Chris.  It would definitely open up the space and in such a TINY kitchen, it could really use it... decisions, decisions.... anyway, stay posted on that decision.

Turning around, we face the living room and need to decide how many can lights we are going to use.

Photographers note: warn Blake before every picture...

We decided to go with 6 lights and thanked the demo Gods again for giving us a place thats already gutted.  Chris can get those installed in a day.

Regarding the bathroom;

We had toyed with the idea of making a walk-in shower, but Chris reminded me of the one bummer regarding the bathroom; the dropped ceiling, which makes it REALLY short in here (thanks AC unit) and just wouldn't have the space to do it properly.

That plus the added cost of the pluming, adding a little pony wall between the shower and the toilet, and then having to pay for the shower glass which is MUCHO expensive, a walk-in shower just isn't in the cards.

So tub it is... at least we will get to move the shower head up to give it some height.

heaven forbid you want to clean anything higher than your armpits.  Were people in the 70's just 6" shorter than the are now?

I also got to make a run to one of my favorite "play places", Lumber Liquidators.

We had a great experience with them and their pricing with condo #1 so it was a no brainer to go back.  PLUS a vast majority of their flooring (at least the laminate that we were interested in) come with pad already included.  Easy and saves us a step, yes please.

True, we did have about 200 sq ft of the flooring from condo #1 left over, but I think we are going to save that for another project.  This place was talking more "warm wood" to me than "trendy grey" flooring.

This is the first guy I saw and boom, I was in love.

Still has some grey tones to it, but I love the wide plank and the textural warmth to it.

Plus, did you see the price???
Umm yes please!

True the pad isn't attached on this one, but FREE PADDING is just as good!  Chris gave me a budget to keep it under $2 a sq foot so I was THRILLED with this find!

I took a couple samples back to the condo just to double check...
First one: too yellow
Second one: I like, but probably not for this project.  Just a tad too grey
Third: The most expensive, by nearly $1 more than the original one I liked, so that one was vetoed.
Fourth: The Super Sale one is our winner.

Plus I think it looks good with our bathroom tile (which it will meet in a transition to the bathroom) and the kitchen backsplash.
See how it reads a little darker in that pic? I think its really versatile and the "wood grain" variance will look great throughout the condo.

We will need 800sq ft, even though the condo is around 750sq ft, for cuts and stuff and you can always return boxes you don't open.

$1.29 x 800sq ft = $1,032.00

If we were hiring someone to install this, it would probably be 3x that cost.  Hooray for handy husband-man!

So thats it for right now!

Not much else to report... other than we went shopping with our plumber (who lets us walk Home Depot with him and buy the supplies he needs.  Saves us the up-charge!) and were hit with this fun bill on our first day... just on plumbing supplies.

sorry for the heart... didn't want the internet to see our credit card information

Money adds up quick on these things.  Our budget is $20,000 so we'll see how we do.  I'll keep y'all updated!