Extreme Makeover: Boat Edition

After living on our boat for almost a year, we finally decided we can't stand the interior anymore. As my step-mom would say, "It's fine." And it is - if you like 1970s yellowing off-white paint and grungy tan tiles. But we're ready to truly make the boat look nice, both inside and out. We're not talking a full-blown remodel - at least, not the type of remodeling that includes granite counters and all-new kitchen appliances. I'm still a grad student, which brings down our average income considerably!

However, we decided it was time to at least replace the tile with new laminate countertops (surprisingly inexpensive) and paint the walls white (one of the bonuses of living in a relatively small space - not much square footage to paint).

We're starting in the master bathroom. Our plan is to complete the bathroom and see how much time and money it takes. If it's not too outrageous, we'll move on to the master stateroom.



We shopped for tools and paint at Lowes today, and tonight we took our frustration at the idiotic Lowes employees out on our bathroom tile.


No turning back now!

With a hammer and chisel, the tiles just pop right out. It's surprisingly gratifying. The bathroom is so small that removing tiles is a one-person job, and Tom and I were both fighting for the opportunity. In all honesty, partly it's because we enjoyed it, but also because we know that the next step - removing the gunk underneath the tiles - is gonna be hard. ("No way, that's your job! I popped out the tiles, you're the one who has to remove the cement adhesive!")


In just under 45 minutes, you can do a lot of damage!

One thing that kills us about this boat: originally, all of the walls were a beautiful dark wood. The previous owners decided it was best to cover this wood with a number of ugly materials, such as tiles, paint, and horrendous wallpaper.






In the words of Nancy Kerrigan, Why? WHY?

-Jessi