Let the Renovating Begin

It has been so long since my last post that I wasn't even sure how to log in and make this post. The bookmark saved it for me, and now I can get this back on track. Between moving in, travel (whee!) and the holidays, there was not much time to do anything of any significance. But now I am on the job with a vengeance. First project at hand is the half-bath in the entryway - the one commonly known by the universal euphemism of "powder room". This dreadful little penalty box was ill-conceived, boring, cramped - for crying out loud, you can't even open the door all the way: it bangs into the sink when it swings into the bathroom. The linoleum is pretty disgusting, and the medicine cabinet is absolutely disgusting. And the looong, loooooong flushing time on the toilet is getting on my nerves. It is clear that nothing in the room can be salvaged. It all. must. go.
And so on a stormy afternoon a few days ago, it all went into the garage. Then I pulled up the linoleum. The good news was that it was very easy to pull up. And, hmmm. Look at that subfloor. OSB board. That is not going to be a good substrate for tile. I imagine that is why the linoleum was not really stuck to the subfloor.

Looks like it will be time to call in some assistance from a carpenter, because i think it needs to be plywood or something a little more solid. Well, in the meantime, I patched the walls and prepped them for painting and tiling. That was enough to fill the rest of the day. I went to the hardware store and bought myself a 1/4 sheet palm sander to take the gloss off the paint on the wall to be tiled. And then I began to realize why professional painters get such better results than I ever have - this is an outstanding way to smooth out the areas you patch with joint compound on big areas or the other kinds of patch stuff on the small spots. So I went a bit crazy sanding all over the other walls, too. Now I can't wait to see how the paint will look. My tile is on order, due in any day now, so I will try to get that subfloor in ASAP.