Progress

So this weekend, I finally worked on our master bedroom!!  It's not, by any stretch of the imagination, done.  But I'm at about the half way point at the end of this weekend.  When you consider none of it was in place when the weekend started, this is good progress.

In the photo to the left, you can see the rugs that I got from Overstock.com.  As I mentioned, I'm thrilled with these rugs.  They're cushy when you step out of bed in the morning.  In the winter, I won't be stepping on icy cold floors either.  The rugs anchor nicely on each side of the bed and I really like the pattern.  

Can you see the owl on my chest of drawers?!  I LOVE this owl!  He was a treasure that was staring at me in a store window as I was waiting in a drive through line for lunch one day.  I'm not quite done with the floral arrangement that he's holding, so I'll save that for another day, but he's really darling.  

This photo is a little dark, but you can see the correlation between the bed and the TV.  The Builder and I love to watch TV in bed.  Our kids love to come pile in bed with us to watch TV.  It was the reason we upgraded to the king size recently.  There is a large blank space to the left of the TV that we haven't decided what to do with yet.  Currently, my luggage and extra pillows are sitting in the space.  Yeah, so I need to think about that space.  You might be noticing the...TV console...under the TV.  I use that word loosely.  It's a small TV stand that's stacked on top of a box and covered with a black curtain.  It houses are U-verse box, DVD player, a Wii, and the few DVD's we own that are not cartoons, lol.  We have it mounted to the wall and that's where it will be staying (because U-verse will charge me a fortune to move it!).  The Builder has a set of plans to make a real console.  But we have other building projects to complete first.  Ultimately, I'd like it done by Christmas.  We shall see.  Oh, and the fountain.  LOVE the fountain.  Hate that it's copper now and doesn't match.  I'm thinking about how to re-work that.  Our goal is to have a reading nook there, so the fountain may be headed back into the sun room.  But that's a project for next summer, so I'm not even ready to think that far ahead yet!

Ah.  Something I'm really please with.  This pillow.  The pillow form and fabric are from Ikea.  You may or may not be aware that you can get throw pillows dirt cheap at Ikea.  I swear I think I only paid $4 each for each pillow form. They were down in the curtain and fabric section at my Ikea.  They're listed as cushions but they're not something I would think of as cushy enough to want to sit on.  I bought the fabric my drapes are made of, which they sell by the yard.  This was a simple 20" square that I added a 5/8 seam allowance. I bought a yard of the fabric and I've only done the one cushion so far. I still have plenty for a second if I choose.  I did put a zipper on my pillow cover because I wanted to be able to launder it easily.  If you're not comfortable with inserting a zipper into your pillow cover, you could really skip it without issue.  I have cats and I get a lot of cat hair in my bedroom, so I wanted to be able to launder them regularly.  

So that's it for this weekend.  I still have more to do in the room and I have all the 'stuff' to do it, I just need to find the time!  The throw pillows look wimpy on the bed right now.  I still have several more to make including the pretty purple satin pillow.  I also have the crushed satin bed skirt to make (again, super easy project!) and I need to paint the bases on the lamp.  Right now they're a brushed bronze.  I love that finish, I really do.  Except nothing is my bedroom is a brushed bronze now .  It needs to be a brushed nickel to match all the other fixtures in the room.  A coat of spray paint should fix that and will be an easy fix.  I have a feeling that the room won't really looked finished to me until The Builder gets the TV console done.  But we have a big project coming up in the living room over Labor Day weekend, and I can't plan anything else until that one is done!

The Home Stretch

So.  I got a box of fabric in this week (and if you know me, this is really nothing new, but keep reading) and it has the fabrics for my throw pillows.  And my bed skirt.  I am THRILLED.  Seeing all the fabrics together, along with the duvet that is now on my bed and the curtains has me chomping at the bit to get the room DONE. Take a look at some of these divine pillows I grabbed from my Pinterest board:

Source: kohls.com via Elona on Pinterest

 
Isn't it lovely?!  This one I plan to duplicate exactly.  I just need to stop at Joann's to get some felt (what those circles look like they are made from to me).  Hmm, or Hobby Lobby, which is right next door to my work...isn't that a scary thought!  And now that I look at it, maybe it's actually linen circles...but those would unravel easily...have to give this one a little more thought.  But, I have the gray fabric and this pillow cover itself will be simple to duplicate (and it won't cost $45!!!!) I'm making them all removable for ease of laundering.





  And let's not forget about this darling pillow I found on Etsy: 

Source: etsy.com via Elona on Pinterest

  I was originally going to buy it because I love to support Etsy and independent vendors, but I really think the purple is the wrong shade for my room :(  It has more gray undertones than what I'm looking for.  All my purples have more of a blue undertone in my room.  I think I can duplicate this pillow.  I have a luscious, purple satin fabric I got in my shipment from fabric.com that I can use, it will just take some figuring out that pretty twist in the center that might be a bit challenging.

I would love to say I will be completing these updates this weekend.  I would really love to say that.  But I won't.  I'm going to the ASG Conference here in Houston this weekend (hooray!!!) and I have to get the rest of the shopping done for my kids for back to school.  We have a free sales tax weekend here in TX this weekend, and I will happily take the savings on the backpacks and additional items the kids still need for school :)  My goal though is to be completely done by the end of Labor Day Weekend....D.O.N.E.

STUCK!

So, I currently have 3.5 projects going, NONE of them done, and all driving me crazy.

My guest bathroom.  My goal was to have it done last month.  I finally got the frames up and the wall sconces and am VERY happy about this.  However, there is no artwork in the frames and the sconces are lacking candles.  I also need a rug around the toilet to help cut down on the hollow sound of the small room. Ugh.

The second unfinished room is my laundry room.  This one has a lot of work left to do.  We had another leak in the upstairs bathroom and the ceiling seam split again.  Double ugh!  So that has to be patched and fixed (at least we don't need all new drywall this time!).  We were meaning to buy a longer dryer cord so that we could put a longer folding counter in there.  This was necessitated last week when a power surge fried my outlet and dryer chord.  That is done (because a family of six can not go without a dryer!) but we haven't actually moved the stacked units over yet.  Which means we can't put up the counter our build the sorting units that are going underneath.  There's also no artwork or storage of any type in there right now. Sigh....

Then there's my master bedroom.  I'm actually making progress in this room!  

This is not the best photo of this rug.  In person it's lighter and very plush. It was exactly what I was looking for in my bedroom!  The entire downstairs of my home is tile.  In winter, that tile is very cold to step out onto in the morning.  It also means you track any dust or crumbs into the bed if you don't scrub your feet before you get into bed.  GROSS!  I looked at options for a big rug to go under the entire bed.  But a rug that large is expensive.  I bought two runners to go on each side of the bed and they work really well.  Ironically I saw this same idea on some show on HGTV, so I knew I was on the right track. :)  They were on sale at overstock.com this week and free shipping.  I had to get them!

Then there is my bedding.  I posted several options a few weeks ago, and I was pretty sure I was going to go with the ruffled looking option.  I've been debating going with a deep eggplant color, like the original inspiration.  But after looking at my room, and my dark furniture, I was concerned the room would end up looking too dark.  So my thought was the lighter, ruffled looking version (that was a fraction of the cost!) was going to be the best option.  I was hesitant though because the last comforter I bought online, while beautiful, was not at all soft!  The other night I was on ebay looking for something else when I came across a Vera Wang duvet cover.  It was lovely, and had one bid that seemed ridiculously low.  I checked Macy's web site.  I know what this duvet cover is selling for.  And this one is less than the one on the Walmart web site.  So I bid, expecting to be outbid instantly.  Surprisingly I wasn't!  And I ended up winning!  This is the only piece of bedding I'm going with from this collection.  I can't afford to buy any pieces from Macy's (seriously, this duvet retails for over $300 with NO shams, bed skirt, or anything else!) but I found some great pieces that will coordinate beautifully and I am beyond thrilled.  Then there are the accessories I scored at Marshall's on Friday!!  So serious headway in the room this week.  All that is left is the media consul (which has to be built), the duvet itself (can we say hello Ikea?) and throw pillows.  Lots of pretty throw pillows...

So I'm sure you're wondering what the .5 is in the 3.5 number.  That would be my master bathroom!  The Builder and I discussed that because the two rooms have no door or diver, they should flow into one another.  I already have the art pieces, but the shower curtain, towels, and some accessories, don't really coordinate with the new room colors.  I found these eggplant colored towels at World Market today and they are perfect!

Eggplant Towels

Casbah Towels

Again, the photo color is slightly off.  They're darker in person, like the eggplant color in the curtains in my bedroom.  And then I found these coordinating printed towels and I knew it would tie in perfectly with the artwork and decor I already have in the bathroom, as well as tie the two rooms together color wise.  But again, I'm not finished .  I found some fabulous curtains, but they weren't in my budget this week and I can only hope they'll still be there in two weeks when I figure my budget can afford them.  And I'm torn on the rugs.  The same tile that is in my bedroom is also in my bathroom (and kitchen, dining room, family room, etc.) and you really have to have rugs down when you get out of the shower or bath - which are are on opposite sides of the bathroom.  So do I go with black, which is practical, grey, which would add some contrast, or pull the eggplant color into the rugs as well?  Decisions decisions.  Here's what I ultimately chose for the shower curtain, which I think works much better with all the black and white decor.  I love the sparkle!  Plus it ties in the grey and the black and white.  I think the contrast in texture with the velour towels and sequins in the shower curtains works too.  Or I just watch to many design shows, lol...  Since this wasn't a room I set out to really change and it's part of the master bedroom, I'm counting it as half a room!

My goal is to have the master bedroom and bathroom put together by the end of the month.  Stay tuned!

Quick Fix

Oh, look at that!!!  Apparently I backed up my HTML coding!  YEAH ME!  Now I get to spend my weekend on more important things, like finishing some projects so I can post them!!! :)

Under Construction

My Blog that is :(  Blogger has had some update is the best guess I have and I've lost my customized template.  So, you get this ugly mess until I can sit down this weekend and figure it out.  Super fun...

Master Bedroom Dilema

When last we spoke of my master bedroom, the new King sized bed had been installed, and can I just say, it is amazingly comfortable.**Total side note here:  if you are contemplating a new bed, I can highly, highly recommend the iComfort series by Sealy.  It isn't cheap, but it is worth every penny, and all my lower back pain was gone after sleeping a week in this bed!!

So as I mentioned, we upgraded from a Queen to a King sized bed, which means all new bedding.  As you may recall, the master bedroom was primarily done.  We had bedding, drapes, furniture, even the art work.  So you would think I'd just find a similar comforter and bedding and be done, right? 

You would think wrong...

Ikea Curtains - the wall color isn't really this dark!

That was the original goal.  I even posted about it before the bed arrived.  But I found a pair of drapes at Ikea that I absolutely love.  They go with everything in the room, but change the total look of the room.  So if we're changing the look, lets make some other changes, right?  So the bed has been moved, the television has been moved (and mounted to the wall, yeah!) and all the furniture has been re-arranged.   And now I'm looking for the right duvet cover.  THAT is proving to be my Achilles heal.  In my head, I know what I want.  My color palette has changed to mocha (think froth on coffee!) grey, black, white, and plum.  I know the mocha color sounds off, but it's in the drapes and it's the color of my room, so it ends up working really well.  So I want a grey duvet and plum accent pillows.  But the shade of grey can't be too dark or too light.  It has to be just right .  Because too dark and the room looks heavy.  Too light and it will show every spot known to mankind (I'm sort of sympathizing with Goldilocks at this point...).  And I want a plum arm chair for the window, so the duvet has to be grey.  I've been to all my favorite haunts to look for the right duvet cover, but I haven't found it...yet.  But I will persevere!  

Here are some of the options that I'm considering.  The Inspiration is a beautiful plum colored duvet that I found at Bed Bath & Beyond.  However the price is WAY out of my budget(side note, who spends over $500 on bedding?!) and I think it's...too plum for my room.  


I really think I'm leaning towards option 1. This one I found online, so I can't touch it or feel it, but this time if I don't like it, I'll just send it back!  It's also a quarter of the cost of the one from BB&B, so it's a double bonus!  But the other two options are pretty too.  I just need to figure out what's going to look best with the curtains.

The New Bed

It has arrived.  The delivery men and The Builder set it up.  I have to say, no remorse as the old bed was carted out the door and put on the curb.  Now I'm working on updating my design board on Pinterest...!

Master Bedroom....Again

Today, The Builder and I went out and spent an obscene amount of money purchasing a new bed.  Why are beds SO expensive?!

The back story - We've been married 15 years this coming September, and our current bed is...15 years old this August!  He bought it for me as a wedding gift (I had a cheap double mattress with no box spring while we were dating which he refused to even contemplate sleeping on once we got married.  He had a queen sized waterbed that was not an option...) a month before we got married, and it's been our bed ever since.  About three years ago, we started realizing the bed wasn't quite as comfortable as it was when we bought it.  We were getting ready for The Move from California to Texas, and I was concerned that we would end up sleeping on the floor for a year if we didn't move our bed (The Move ate up all our savings!!) with us.  So it went in the moving truck.

You may or may not know, we've now moved three times in three years.  That was not the plan.  Including the move from CA, that stupid bed has been moved four times.  And it ways a TON!  To add insult to injury, neither of us sleep well on it anymore.  I realized this past week I can't even make it through the night without waking up.  So we started looking at beds.  My goal was to not buy one until we get back from vacation next month.  With this being Memorial Day weekend, beds are all on sale.  Don't ask me why.  I have no clue.  So with sales ad's in hand, we started researching beds.  And somehow we ended up buying one and it's being delivered on Monday.  HOORAY!!!

Except.

We upgraded to a King size bed.  Do you know what that means?  Not only did I spend an obscene amount of money but now I have to upgrade ALL our bed linens.  Including my comforter set. 

I should be saying 'oops'.  But honestly, after almost a year with our comforter, we have lost all love for it because it is SO scratchy!  I bought it online so we didn't get to "feel" the set prior to purchasing it.  I've purchased other comforters over the years online without issue.  This one, while it looks great, simply doesn't work for us.  We only have it on the bed when company is coming over or I'm taking photo's for something.  Otherwise it's wadded folded up in the corner.  Because we're a family who loves to pile on the bed, watch TV, tickle fights, even cuddle!  Thus the reason for the King size bed, and now, the new bedding!

Ideally, I'll find something that will work perfectly with what I already have.  That's the goal...

A Tale of Two Rooms

Bathroom Decor

In the beginning there was a house.  It was a good house.  It had lovely tile, a large kitchen, and a open concept style that made it feel spacious.  All the rooms had good paint colors and it had an updated look even thought it was over 10 years old.

Every room that is, except the guest bathroom and the laundry room.  These two sad little rooms had not been updated.  They had their plain, off white walls and builders grade cabinets.  The bathroom had the original faucet fixture, even though the other two bathrooms had been updated and modernized.  The laundry room was small and dark, with an 80's fluorescent light box and a plain shelf for storage.  And while both rooms had the lovely tile, that was the only thing that been upgraded.

Then there was a family.  A fairly large family by today's standards.  They liked the house and the size was an improvement from where they had been living, and they quickly moved in.  They loved many of the features in the house.  They did not, however, love the guest bath or the laundry room.  And being a fairly large family, they knew both rooms would get used frequently.  So the bathroom upstairs sprang a leak, causing the ceiling in the laundry room to need a repair, they decided to do a "minor" update with a little paint too.  And maybe a new faucet.  And maybe a new light fixture.

Of course, it wasn't that simple...

What we budgeted for:

Paint - $34

Light Fixture for the Laundry Rm - $50

Bathroom Faucet - $30

Ceiling tape to repair the Laundry Rm. ceiling - $6

1 sheet of drywall to patch the broken ceiling - $10

Total = $131

What we also spent:

Mud to redo the bathroom wall - free (we already had it)

lumber for the mirror and frames - $18

new mirror to replace the mirror that was cut to the wrong size - $25

mis. hardware to put frames together - $12

Unfinished Laundry Room!

new soap dispenser - $9

toilet paper holder - $6

new counter top for laundry room - $40

frame work for laundry room $20

built in shelving for laundry room - $20

art work for bathroom - $8

bathroom sconces - $18

decorative items - $ 20

Sub Total - $196

Grand Total = $327

So now these sad little rooms will have an update.  And for $163.50 a room, even though it was more than we originally budgeted for, I still think we did a good job!

Confessions

Confession # 1 - My guest bathroom still isn't don't.  It's the bane of my existence now.  The faucet is in, the frames for the mirror and the art work are done, and the decorative shelf is done.  But The Builder had a glass mishap.  He cut the mirror the wrong size.  You know how the shoemakers kids always went barefoot?  Yep, the Glaziers wife can never get a mirror hung.  Mirrors are almost a bad word for me anymore...

Confessions # 2 - I'm crazy about glass.  I love the stuff.  I think it must have something to do with being a Glaziers daughter, sister, aunt, and wife (in case you aren't following, my dad, brother, nephew, and hubby are all Glaziers).  So when I go into home decor stores like Home Goods, I'm almost always instantly drawn to the menagerie of glass items.  Look how pretty they are!  Yes, I could have taken them all home and probably found a place...eventually...for them.  I'm such a fan of glass, I've even convince friends to join in my silent obsession (my best friend M reads this and she is the owner of a Clarity Trio set which she readily admits she never uses and bought on whim when at a candle party with me, oops!  Sorry M!) when I find really good deals that I don't need.  Anyway, tonight I didn't go for any of these lovely tall pieces.  In fact, I actually picked something low profile and simple in the glassware section tonight.  But more on that later

Sea Turtle

Confession # 3 - I'm still not 100% sure on how I'm styling the guest bathroom.  I keep changing my mind on what it should look like.  I've officially ruled out red.  I like the pale blue walls with the silver, white, and natural tones.  Unfortunately, I think the red pops of color, even in small doses, would be too much in this small space.  I found these beautiful (non-glass!) pieces tonight too, that I really love.  I'm really leaning towards the seahorse.  He's made from driftwood, and I think it's an absolutely beautiful piece.  I need to measure the base to make sure he'll fit on the shelf The Builder made last weekend (yes, he was really really busy with building projects for me, thus the reason we aren't actually done with the powder room).  I had no idea this was something I was looking for until saw it.  There's a matching sea turtle too (which reminds me of my best friend, who has one for each of her children tattooed on her back, which I love the meaning behind!) but I think it's too big for my bathroom.  Isn't it pretty though?!  But I really think he'll be staying at the store...

Confession # 4 - Well, I don't actually have one.  But here's a sneak peak at what I bought tonight.  It's going on top of my toilet, just like you see it here.  Simple.  Clean.  Perfect.

Surviving Saturday

It's a holiday weekend, and of course I have a ton of stuff to do.  Like make the cheesecake for Easter dinner tomorrow (this is my recipe blog).  Finish the spring cleaning on my kitchen (which is currently completely torn apart - The Builder felt the need to help speed things along...enough said).  Boil eggs for my kids to dye.  Oh, and laundry would be nice since I don't plan to work on it Easter Sunday!

But I have this powder room that is in a barely usable state, and it's driving me crazy!

Look at this sink fixture.  Let me assure you, it has NEVER been replaced.  When The Builder pulled it out this morning, the plumbers putty that they use to secure it was not adhering anymore.  It was cracked and icky.  This is a "mix it" faucet, installed by most builders because it's cheap and does the job.  The Builder calls it a "fix it" faucet because, in his words, "it sucks!"  You know, this is the type of faucet where you can never get just the right temperature on the water.  It's either to hot or to cold.  It's also just plain ugly, and the only one in the house on a sink (I have one on my master tub, but that's another issue...)

Then there's the sink itself.  I already share with you that I am not a fan of the clam shell sink. While I do appreciate that caulk does get old and allow water to leak through the edge, this is simply an ugly sink in my opinion.  To make matters worse, this one is really scratched up.  Someone came in with appliance paint at some point and sprayed just scratches.  Ahem.  If you're going to do something, take the time to do it right!!!  As I type speak, The Builder has removed the faucet fixture, the drain stopper, and taped off the freshly painted walls.  We are using appliance paint to repaint the sink, but we are repainting the entire sink.  That meant The Builder we had to sand out all the scratches and the uneven paint first.  Yes, it's a pain.  I would have loved to have just put down a quick coat and called it good.  But the goal is to NOT move again any time soon, and this is my home, even if I don't own it, so it's worth doing it right!

This is a close up of the bottom of the sink.  You can see the discoloration from the paint, all the scratches, and the sink stop that's also corroded and ugly.  Thankfully the new sink fixture came with a replacement piece too.  So when the paint is dry and the new fixtures are installed, this will really look good.

On a side note, if you decide to refinish a sink or an appliance, make sure you have good ventilation.  This paint has obnoxious fumes!  But it will be worth it when it's completed!

More to come soon...

Then There Was the Yard...

his post should be about my guest bathroom being finished.  I've written most of the post.  I know what it's supposed to say.  Except that would mean that I finished the bathroom this weekend.

And I didn't.  Well, at least not yet...

Instead, The Builder and I got up bright and early 8:45am and after a quick stop at Starbucks, headed to Home Depot.  The goal was to get the ceiling paint and the lumber for the projects he was going to make to complete the bathroom this weekend.  And we did get the paint (which is going up as I type) but we sort of got...sidetracked.  That's very easy for me us to do at Home Depot.

You see, this is the sad, sad state of my yard:

nd this is actually better than it was.  When we first moved in, it was late summer.  Our landlord had a gardener come in and mow and chop down the weeds, but the lawn was half dead because the house had been vacant for two months.  There were a LOT of weeds.  But it looked...acceptable for the most part.  And so the yard went dormant for the winter and we sort of just let it go.  I mean, it's been mowed several times.  But it kept just looking shaggy and overgrown.  The weed whacker we bought when we moved in was stolen after a little over a month after we bought it, and as I said, the grass was dormant, so it wasn't a huge issue.  Only now the grass is very much growing again!  And so are all the weeds.  My house is the blight of the neighborhood, in my opinion, and that drives me crazy.  

Friday night, while stopping at the mall to pick up something, we ran in to Sears to see if they had any edgers on sale. The Builder found one at a price he felt was acceptable, so we bought it.  Those photo's you see are actually better than it was because he couldn't wait to try it out Friday night, lol.  Still, everything looks shaggy and unkempt to me.  The weeds growing under the palm trees make it almost appear that there isn't another planter box in the middle of the yard.  My neighbors both have neatly trimmed yards, which I think makes my yard look even worse.  I don't want to be that neighbor.

So this morning, in addition to the much needed ceiling paint, we picked up some weed and feed fertilizer, two rose bushes, a package of calla lilly bulbs, and some weed killer (to keep the weeds from growing in the middle of the side walk).  Here's The Builder fitting the landscaping cloth down and the first couple of bags of mulch:

Thankfully, we did already have the mulch, so our trip was a smidgen more cost effective than it could have been.  We bought 10 bags in preparation for this project.  And apparently we still need a few more.  Oops.

And this is after we're mostly done!!

t really does look so much better.  The middle photo is the view we see when we open the front door.  And now there will be a nicer view when we sit in the kitchen at eat at the bistro table (the bay window is in our kitchen).  I have a couple of minor things to do, including planting some Calla Lilly bulbs in the upper flower bed, and two rose bushes we bought to flank the front of the garage, but overall this is done!  We did a good weed and feed too, so in a few weeks, the yard should look more lush and green.

A successful Saturday project!

Chugging Along

texturing

OK, we made really good progress on the powder room today!!  The Builder got the texturing done (yeah) and it looks pretty good.  I'm not posting big photo's because, well, it's just texture. Not terribly exciting and not really something that photographs well.  Suffice it to say, it's done.  And that enabled him to get the painting done as well. No that the project went off without a hitch. Because it didn't.

After the texture was done, The Builder started cutting in for the painting.  I say started. He cut in the entire bathroom.  And THAT'S when we he realized....Houston, we have a problem.

When I was choosing paint colors, I wanted to make sure that I go the right color.  So I did something I rarely do, and I bought a sample size first to test on the wall.  Once I was sure I loved it, I took it back to Home Depot and told the guy it was exactly what I wanted, but in a satin paint.  While this bathroom doesn't have a shower, it's still a bathroom, and a satin is what is needed.  So I happily paid for my paint and went home. That was last weekend.  Due to the wallpaper issue, we hadn't had a chance to even open the can of paint until the texture was done.  And then it took getting all the cut in work done to realize that the guy had mixed up FLAT paint!!!  In case you aren't aware, they don't offer the sample sized in anything other than flat paint. So even though I told him satin, we were chatting, and he chose the wrong paint.  And really, it's just as much my fault because I didn't think to even look at the can to verify that it was indeed a satin paint. So today we took it back to Home Depot, where they very nicely swapped it out for the correct finish.  And here is what it looks like as of this evening:

Yes, I am really loving the color!!  We're not even close to being done in here yet.  The Builder has agreed to my idea of cutting down the existing mirror to fit it into a frame. We may end up buying molding and making a custom frame, because I'm afraid that the size I want may not be available in a ready made frame.  And I want a floating shelf under it to put some decorative items on it.

I also am going to change out that sink fixture, as I mentioned previously.  It really looks horrible now that the bathroom has been refreshed.  

I'm also considering updating the artwork.  I love the lighthouse picture that was in there, but the frame won't match at all. I could paint out the frame, which ultimately is what I would like to do.  However, then the picture won't look right.  It appears to be a matted picture, but it's not.  So the cream mat of the picture with a white frame doesn't excite me.

I am also seriously considering embroidering some personalize towels for this this room. I have an embroidery machine that I haven't used in forever.  It's time to put that baby back into use!  I think maybe I drool over the Pottery Barn catalogs a little too much sometimes, but since I already have the machine, it doesn't seem like a stretch to use it!  I can see pretty white towels with a letter E embroider on them...I have a thing about E's.

We have a church picnic we're going to tomorrow, so I'm not sure how much time we'll have to finish up the odd's and ends to make it a working bathroom again. Certainly the mirror won't be done, and we found out today we need some new parts for the toilet, joy, but with the paint done, I really feel like the big things are out of the way!  

Surprised Aren't Always Good...

As I mentioned earlier, The Builder and my two oldest boys were off at Boy Scout survival camp this past weekend, and I was going to use this 'free' time as my chance to re-do my downstairs guest bathroom. AKA - the powder room.  Now this is a SMALL room.  If this was my house, there would be a number of things I would change, starting with the vanity, changing out the mirror, and swapping the light fixture.  Not to mention having the door swing out so that you can come all the way into the bathroom and shot the door without fear that the doorknob will hit you someplace uncomfortable...as it does now.  Yes, that's as far as you can open the door before it hits the toilet.  Who does that?!  I would dearly love to have the door swing out, only then it's blocking the walk way to the laundry room if the door isn't kept closed all the time.  There is no winning situation on this door.  I think a pocket door would have been the most practical and maybe we'll talk to our landlords one day about making the change.  But for now, this is what we live with

You may have noticed that there is no toilet paper holder.  There was when we first moved in.  It was white and plastic and it was attached to the wall with command adhesive strips.  Yes, I kid you not, that's what they used to anchor it to the wall!  While this guest powder room doesn't get a lot of use - I really save it for guests because I have little boys who "miss" and even though they've been taught to clean up after the miss, knowing and doing is sometimes two different things and I want a bathroom that I know is clean and safe for guests at all times - it gets enough use that the toilet paper holder fell off the wall around Christmas time.  It has a lot to do with the horrible texture in the bathroom that the command adhesive strips couldn't adhere to. This whole house has a really rough texture on the walls.  But again, that's another post. Suffice it to say I've been very uninspired with this room due to the size.

This is the builders grade cabinet, stock mirror and original sink. I point this out because this is the only room in the entire house that I thought had never had an update done to it.  That sink is a mess.  Someone tried to paint out the scratches with appliance paint that were in the bottom of the sink.  The faucet is a calcium pock marked mess, and the scallop molded sink is hideous.  Thank you 1980 something for creating horrible sinks!  Again, I'm reluctant to make any significant changes because the house isn't mine. I've got great landlords, and they seem to welcome any improvements I'm willing to pay for and do the work for, but I'm not at that part yet.  I'm at the part where I'm willing to repaint and update the faucet only and learn to live with it for now.

Which brings me to my next...issue.

I thought it would be SO easy just to slap a coat of paint on.  I found a lovely color of Behr that would add just a little color but keep the room light so as not to make a small room seem smaller.  Off Shore Mist is the paint name, and it's one with the primer in it as well.  I figure this would be my best bet since I'm not sure on the quality of the paint in this room (there was a lot of leftover Walmart brand paint - which they don't make anymore - in the garage when we moved in, that they said we could touch up with if we needed, bleck) as there are rooms that have some streaky coats from cheap paint that is too thin that no one bothered to go back and touch up.  So here's a small sample of what it looks like:

I like it!  Soft and subtle, and my pops of red from all of my light house accessories will look really nice.  I'm going for a light and airy feeling since there is no natural light in this bathroom.  I'm even changing out the light bulbs to daylight  CFL's which give a much nice natural light feel.

So all was good and well after my little test corner.  I taped off my counters and around the door to prepare for painting.  Then I unscrewed the plates on the light switch and electrical outlets because I hate when people paint around them. It was then that I noticed a little remnant of wall paper behind those covers. So apparently I was wrong. This bathroom had had an update to do away with the silver and white something wallpaper that had been installed at one point.  So I figured I'd just peel those little scraps of wallpaper off because I didn't want to leave them behind. And low and behold, the WHOLE WALL stripped off!! Instead of stripping the wallpaper off, they put a rough texture into the paint and simply painted over the whole thing.  OMG!!! Which left me with this hot mess:

Seriously?!

So I had to wait for The Builder to come home so that he could mud the wall and pick of orange peel texture before I could even think about starting to paint.  He was mildly annoyed with me only because he said I should have never peeled off the wallpaper when I saw those tiny little scraps behind the outlet covers.  So he re-muded  the wall that evening for me (because I'm loved and he knew that this would drive me crazy every time I look at it - which it still is!!) and even knocked down all of the rough texture, which I am eternally grateful for.  As you can see, we are not going to strip the whole powder room.  If we ever bought the house, and yes, I would love to buy this house, it's something that we would consider then.  But one step at a time.  Now we have to get the texture on, and then finally I can get back to the painting that I want to do!  I found a beautiful small bathroom on another blog that I read that was the color palette inspiration for my bathroom, so I know what direction I'm going with this room. I'm still working on talking the builder into taking down that mirror and cutting it to fit a frame that we can hang on the wall, but that hasn't been 100% approved yet.  And I want a new faucet.  I don't think I can live with that hideous faucet once the room is repainted and pretty again. And yes, I did buy a new toilet paper holder that will not require command adhesive strips to attach it to the wall!!

More to come...

Kitchen Update

You may remember this photo that I posted back a month or so ago when I got the bistro set for the kitchen.  I posted then that this was not a finished project, but it was one more step to being a finished project.

A couple of weeks ago The Builder finally made me a curtain rod for the bay window.  I kept meaning to post them, but I think most people know how it can be when you have a family and time gets away from you.

the connector piece

The Builder made the curtain rod from electrical conduit that I bought at my local Home Depot (seriously, I love this stupid store and I should buy stock so I can at least re-coup some of my investment!). Because of the size of the window, we ended up with three 6 ft. lengths. They were out of the 8 ft. and I wanted this project done, so it was worth it to me.  In the end this worked our really well, because we were able to bend two pieces to match perfectly that curve, and then cut the third piece to the specific size for the middle piece.  I used connectors found in the same dept. to connect the 3 pieces together.  This was all galvanized conduit. I temporarily considered leaving it as is because all the fixtures in the house have a nickel finish.  But the galvanized conduit really isn't a nickel finish, so I decided to buy a can of black spray paint to get the wrought iron look that I had wanted all along.  I was able to purchase brackets to hold the curtain rod at Home Depot as well and I even snagged the last two they had in black, hooray!  They were actually the most expensive portion of this project, at $4 a pair.  I realistically needed 3 brackets, but since we had four, we put them up for the stability.  The silver screw you see in the photo?  Yeah, I took a sharpie and colored it black.  I learned about coloring things black with a Sharpie from my kids. Enough said on that!!

The curtains I kept going back and forth on.  I wanted black curtains with a red floral print.  The kitchen is supposed to have a French Country feel to it.  In my head, I know what those curtains are supposed to look like. However, I haven't been able to find them anywhere, and not for a lack of trying.  I seriously contemplated making them (side note - through all four of my pregnancies, the minute I was pregnant I had an overwhelming desire to sew up new curtains for the entire house. It was a bizarre side effect of pregnancy, and one that I haven't had ever again since we had our fourth child).  I haven't given up on finding the curtains I see in my head, and I wouldn't hesitate to sew up a set if I found the right fabric (although my husband might start having heart palpitations at the thought since we are very done have kids!).  But I had a set of red, fully lined curtains from the office at our old house and they are very nice curtains, so I went with them.  The valance over the kitchen window is red as well, and although the two fabrics are completely different because they're the same color and not together, it isn't noticeable.

Here are some pictures of the overall kitchen:

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Alright, I've made some headway with my project over the last two weeks, and will post the photo's this evening when my house is quiet (2 of my kid-lets are doing a survival with The Builder and Boy Scouts this weekend).

I'm also headed down tonight, unbeknownst to The Builder, and buying paint for the powder room, and most likely, the laundry room (same color).  My powder room is pathetic.  There is no guest quality to it at all and it does not match the rest of the house.  I'd seriously gone back to considering beadboard wallpaper, since I have been admiring it on all the other blogs that I read, but my walls are pretty texturized (yep, ick) and I don't think it would go on well. I certainly don't want to scrape off half the texture to put it up.  I just don't think that would make my landlord happy!  So a paint update it is. 

I'm thinking I need to work on the kids bathroom upstairs as well.  Paint?  Art work?  Not sure.  But the shower curtain all by it's lonesome is not really a decorated space.  In the last bathroom I let the bright color speak for the space.  This bathroom has a lot of natural light in the afternoon, and I'm afraid that such a bright color is just too bright.  Plus, I don't want to have to paint over that bright green.  So I think artwork and some decorative items are called for.

More later!

Catching up

No post in three weeks. UGH!

Week 1 - just normal family activity.  While there was a lot I wanted to get accomplished, I don't intend to kill myself in the process, thank you very much.

Week 2 - I had high hopes for this weekend! My husband and two oldest boys were off at camp, so I planned to get a lot done in their absence.  But then my baby was sick with a fever and a bad cold, and he just wanted me to lay with him.  And since it was a weekend, there was no way I was going to not spend time with him! :)

Week 3 - what's that saying about the best laid plans...?  So I had a fantastic "to-do" list for this past weekend.  I was going to knock out 2-3 projects, price a 3rd, and finish up some miscellaneous stuff.  But Saturday my hubby The Builder got called away to work (you know, something that pays the bills and for my projects!).  And then he ended up tweaking a muscle in his back.  Nothing serious, but painful enough to keep him on the sofa all day Sunday.  So no projects completed.  And all my "to-do's" needed some brute strength for assistance, lol.

Soooo, here's what's in the works:

First, I need to finish the ceiling in my laundry room.  We had a leak upstairs in the bathroom and it ruined the ceiling my laundry room.  Not fun, but relatively easy to re-do and I got to update the horrible florescent light box that was the light (rental house, so normally I don't get any options to update light fixtures, although this was the only ugly one in the house, so still not a huge complaint).  

Now the laundry room itself is a problem for me.  It's a very small box.  No windows for natural light.  It barely fits my HE machines with their pedestals.  While I really like the pedestals because they save me from bending over a billion times while doing laundry, I don't actually find them to be practical.  What on earth do you put in them?!

Heidi's Laundry Room.

So I was reading one of my many favorite blogs, Home By Heidi when I came across her post about her laundry room.  She had similar space issues (I think I actually have a slightly smaller space by about a foot) but look at what she did with her machines:

WOW!  I know logically that my machines stack.  I do.  But I guess I never contemplated what it would do for the space!  Now her final space has beautiful built in cabinets, which will not be an option for me in a rental home.  But what I do plan to add is a counter to fold laundry, as well as the space under the counter to store the baskets that the kids bring down and I use for sorting while I'm doing laundry.  To that extent, I'm contemplating another design by Ana White for her Laundry Basket Dresser.  Here's a quick peak at what it looks like:

I won't be using this exact design, my hubby The Builder will need to make some modifications because I have hampers that I use to sort laundry (there are 6 of us, we have a LOT of laundry!).  But then again this may work better for folding and sorting, with each family member having a spot for their clean things when they're folded.  I'll have to give that some more thought.

The Ceiling 

Of course, this now falls in line behind all the other projects that have been put on the back burner.  And really, I can't do anything until I get the ceiling finished.  But as you can see here, I'm in desperate need of space!  Both the washer and dryer doors hit another door, and then there's the cat box in between - NOT a good spot if laundry falls.  Plus the shelf that's there now doesn't have a space to hang up clothes on a hanger.  As you can see in these sad photo's of my laundry room.  Poor Holly Golightly, I'm sure she would not approve of being stuck in this room!  I'm thinking a fresh coat of paint may be in order too.  I really wish I could change the color to add some oomph, but that's one of the drawbacks of a rental property.  I'd love to do some bead board!!  But I'll leave that be.

Yes, cat litter is stored on top of the machine

I lock the dead bolt when I'm doing
laundry so no one accidently opens the
door while I'm doing laundry!

In case you forgot, I still need a media center for my living room, a floating shelf for each boy, picture frames painted, a curtain rod made for my bay window, and subway art for my master bath.  And I'm thinking about recovering my dining room chair seats. Because I'm crazy it seems....

That's it, the whole space from side to side...

But now that I know there's hope, and I have room to store my pedestals elsewhere, I'm thinking that some serious changes are in the works!  Maybe not this coming weekend, since my hubby The Builder still needs to take it easy until his back is all better, but this is definitely my spring project and should be done by the end of the month!  It is the saddest room in the house, although followed closely by the room directly in front of it, the powder room.  But that's another post for another time.  One major project at a time!