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    We're two avid DIY-ers raising two rambunctious boys while tackling large and small projects, living to share our tale. All with the hope to inspire and encourage others.

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Nailed It

Well, almost nailed it.  Guess what?  We’re thisclose to finishing the main bathroom.  Over the weekend, Ben put up most of the trim.  Then he ran out.  Of course I couldn’t wait, so I filled holes and caulked all the seams I could.  It’s looking a little rough, but we’re getting there.

But nothing is ever simple with us.  That plan we had talked about a few months ago must have been forgotten, thus causing an argument or two.  First off, the door trim.  Ben cut a piece of the casement for the top, but it looked wimpy, and I insisted suggested he beef it up to five inches.  (That’s what she said.)

While annoyed, he must have agreed because he didn’t protest.  The toilet nook (doesn’t that sound cozy) was easy to agree on.

However, the vanity area had many issues.  For starters, Ben forgot that I wanted false drawers on the front of the vanity.  Sure, we could cover it with a flat piece, but I think it needs some more character and bling.  Good grief, I want to use pretty drawer pulls.

Until Ben decides he wants to work on that, we’ve still got this going on.

He cut a piece of trim to go along the side of the counter top, and I’m just not feeling it.  Just too bulky.

And I really don’t like the way the end looks against the linen closet.

Most likely we’ll add 1/4 inch thick by 3 inch wide trim instead to make a border around the closet end.  Because the walls aren’t perfectly straight, we’ve got a gap to fill at the back of the closet.

Basically, the visible side of the linen closet will have shaker style details similar to the kitchen cabinets we built for our first house.  And faux drawers to match, please.  Then we still have to cut thin strips to cap off the chair rail.

To cap it off, we’ll add crown molding, which I still have to find.  Something simple with a little bit of detail would be great.

Gotta sand down the filled areas to get ready for priming and painting.  Perhaps between scraping wallpaper off I’ll find some time.

I know Ben gets annoyed, but I’m fairly certain he likes the results, despite my uncanny ability to request changes.  Hey, I have a vision and I’m not good at compromising.  Haha.

What differences do you and your spouse have about projects?  Did you get a project almost done over the weekend?

The Sky Is Falling

Wow, it’s crazy how much we can get done on the house now without the roof demanding so much attention.  We’re currently between big projects, having just finished the roof and waiting for our windows to arrive.  Which gave Ben some time to tackle a few, slightly smaller projects, including installing the Sky Tube in the bathroom.

After some debating from everyone (you included!) we landed on centering it over the tub width wise, and centered over the shower curtain depth wise.  Ben started by tracing and cutting most of the outline of the light.  Before cutting it completely through, dumping a pile of insulation on our heads, be climbed up in the attic and moved the offending insulation.  From there, Sam cut the rest of the sheet rock left, and installed the bottom glass part of the light, screwing it into the joists above.

Ben attached the flexible duct work to the cover he had already installed while roofing and we were ready to rock.  And on an overcast, rainy day, this bathroom saw its first shred of natural light in existence.

Monumental, right?  Haha.

When the clouds parted and the sun popped out, our bathroom lit up, too.

Of course I had to hop in the shower to see what it was like with the curtain closed.  Look at all that light, without any electricity.

Ben was right, I’m glad we decided to center it over the tub.

Not only does the sky tube give great light to the tub area, but the rest of the bathroom as well.  The vanity area is light and bright.

Trust me when I say the change is dramatic.  Actually, why don’t you take a look at the before and after:

Light, bright, airy, and not at all yellow toned.  Ahh, I see the light.

How was your weekend?  Did you spend some time crossing things off the honey do list?  Or relax knowing fall is around the corner?

Finding Our Center

While the boys and I relaxed, played, ate, and shopped, Ben was still working his butt off at/on our house.  In fact, he finished the shingling on the house roof, with only the pool roof left.  While he was up there, he started determining the placement of the Sky Tube.  If you’re not familiar with a Sky Tube, it’s a small, round sky light, similarly installed like a vent.  Ben installed one in the windowless main bathroom at our first house and we loved how much brighter it made the room.

The main bathroom in the Mountain house is windowless, and very dark.  As fate would have it, Ben was looking at Craigslist for insulation and found a 14 inch wide, brand spanking new in the box Sky Tube.

But, let’s go back to our recent Sky Tube conversation.  First, take a look at the bathroom as it now stands.

Before leaving for Minnesota, Ben and I discussed the placement of the Sky Tube.  I thought centering it on the 8 foot by 8 foot room would spread the light around the best, like this:

He agreed and that was settled, right?  Wrong.  While away, Ben installed the roof part of the Sky Tube, and decided he preferred it centered on the bath tub, like it was at our first house, which would look like this:

And like this from the door:

Either placement is fine with what Ben has already done on the roof.  The flexible duct work can move to either place.  I see where he’s coming from, because when centered on the room, the Sky Tube doesn’t look centered on anything. With the shower curtain closed, the shower is slightly darker than I’d like.  And it would be nice to have the additional natural light in there, so maybe centering it over the shower is the best placement?

Really, the placement is only a few feet apart, so it’s not the biggest deal.  But I’m wondering, which do you prefer?  Centered on the room? Or over the bath tub?

Other than a small hole to mark the location for Ben to find in the attic, we haven’t done anything in the bathroom for it yet.

So that’s the latest debate.  What have you been debating over recently?  Which rug to buy?  Where to hang something?  Let’s share so everyone can vent and feel better.

Un Homme & Une Femme

As I mentioned yesterday, the main bathroom isn’t finished, but that’s not stopping me from working on finishing touches.  I could resist making art for the back wall.  A large piece of art at that.  For bathrooms, I try to stay away from anything with eyes, because that just seems creepy to me.  Who wants to feel watched while doing your private business anyway?  So, I thought up bathroom appropriate art, but nothing felt perfect.  I didn’t want anything frilly.  Nothing too fancy.  Nothing to compete with the patterned shower curtain.  But something bold, simple, and most importantly, fun.  Then, it came to me.  Why not make an over sized version of the classic man/woman signs to mark commercial bathrooms?  It’s bold.  It’s simple.  It’s fun.  And bonus, it was easy to make. 

 

I started with a 2 foot by 3 foot frame I had sitting in the basement.  For my background, I painted a large piece of paper I had on hand navy blue.  An internet search gave me photos of the signs, so I made a design in Photoshop, printed it to plain paper, and used the designs as a template.  Then, I cut a man and a woman from card stock.  A few piece of rolled tape on the back held my people in place.  Popping it in the frame instantly made it look more chic and cheeky than the standard bathroom sign.

It certainly adds a dose of fun to the bathroom.  Best of all, it cost me under five bucks for materials!

Would it be too much to hang one of each of these vases over the toilet?

In other breaking bathroom news, Ben grouted the shower.  Crisp white grout is nice to see.  Once we, ah hem, Ben installs the faucet set, we can shower in here.  Yippee skippy. 

One of these days, I should wash that mirror.

So there ya have it, cheap, funny, eyeless bathroom art.  What do you think?  Too commercial feeling?  Just the right amount of kitsch to add personality to the space?  What do you have on your bathroom walls?

Coral Crush

Our main bathroom remodel still isn’t done, so most people aren’t using it, but that doesn’t mean I can’t work on storage.  Being drawerless in the bathroom, wait, that came out wrong.  Without drawers in the vanity, I have to get creative with hidden storage.  So, I took to Pinterest to see what fun I could come up with.  I saw neat tutorials to make soft sided fabric bins, creative hard sided boxes, and even considered a rope covered box.  Ultimately, I decided to combine a few ideas to make something perfectly suited for our bathroom.  So, I started by cutting a large box to fit inside our small linen closet because I couldn’t find a pre-made box to fit the same.

Of course, cardboard boxes are ugly.  Luckily, I’ve been hoarding fabric lately, so I pulled out a yard of light gray duck cloth.  I didn’t have a long enough piece to completely wrap around the box, so I cut one strip 12 inches wide along the long end of the fabric.  To cover the back, I cut another small 15 inch wide by 12 inch tall strip to piece together.  With my long strip taped in place, I marked the corners.

Using those small marks, I sewed the smaller piece to make a box slip cover.

Because I was feeling lazy, I used Gorilla tape to hold the fabric in place along the underside and around the top edges.

It seemed too boring, so I dug through my paint stash until I found a bottle of coral acrylic paint.  How ’bout some stripes?  After measuring and marking two-inch wide strips, I taped off my edges.

And used a sponge brush and pouncing motion to paint near the edges and filled in the middle.

Pulling off the tape is such a fun part of painting.  Especially when the lines are crisp.  I had some rope on hand, so I marked two holes to create a handle.  Using a screw, I rotated through the fabric and cardboard to make the pilot holes.  Stuffing a pen through widened the holes enough to get the rope through.  Simple knots on each end hold the rope in place.

Now I’ll have to find a white or gray vinyl to line the inside.  Right now, it holds bath toys and we’ve got room for other ugly junk.

I’m really surprised at how sturdy it seems, but we’ll see how it holds up over time.  I think I’ll add fabric to the bottom so the shelf doesn’t get scuffed up when it’s pulled in and out.  Gotta hunt down a good-looking clothes hamper and maybe a few wire baskets.  Or maybe I’ll get all DIY on the hampers arse and make something myself.  Who knows.  Until then, tell me about your bathroom storage situation.  Do you prefer drawers, cabinets, boxes, open shelves?

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