June 2010 – Page 3

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Published on June 17, 2010March 26, 2013 by Our Humble Abode2 Comments

You’ve seen the good, you’ve seen the bad before pictures, but you haven’t seen the truly ugly. Well, I think it’s time… Use caution, this isn’t pretty.

Yep, our laundry room is in need of some love. We have heard that it’s a bad idea to completely finish a utility room, just in case of an emergency. With that said, we plan to add some closet doors to hide the back wall and the left side, where our geothermal and storage tank are. The tile will extend into the laundry area from the main basement. We will sheet rock that small area, to make it look good if the door is open. When all of that is done, we’ll get some new, good lookin’ appliances. But, for now, we have an ugly room…

Giveaway Feature!

Published on June 16, 2010May 25, 2011 by Our Humble AbodeLeave a comment

Customized Stationary (my shop) and IHeart Organizing have teamed up for a giveaway! One lucky winner will receive a custom set of stationery or an 8 by 10 print of their choice. For more details, go over to IHeart Organizing.

If you’d like to buy custom stationery, visit customizedstationary.etsy.com. Visit ourhumbleabowed.etsy.com for custom prints and artwork. If you have custom art ideas, but can’t make it yourself, shoot me an e-mail at ourhumbleabowed@gmail.com to see if we can make it together.

Good Things, Martha

Published on June 16, 2010September 9, 2010 by Our Humble Abode3 Comments

I’m here to show off some more recent finds.

I ordered a new light fixture from CB2 and stumbled upon this little cutie for $9.95:

It was just too cute to pass up. And the shipping cost was the same for both. Win-win.

I also found this great entry rug at Ross for

…wait for it…$10.99. It has the rubber backing we need to prevent sliding and damage to the hardwood beneath. I love the added pattern and the colors are great for our space (and hiding dirt).

I’ll share my really great deal soon. Here’s a teaser-dining chairs.

What about you? Any great finds recently?

Lighten and Brighten Up!

Published on June 15, 2010September 9, 2010 by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

I love light and bright rooms, don’t we all? I have compiled a list of changes we have made to make our house brighter.

1. Add a sky tube to a dark, windowless room, like our main bathroom.

2. Mirrors! The mirrors in both of our upstairs bathrooms extend to or close to the ceilings. The large mirrors reflect light while making the space feel larger.

3. Our new dining light fixture makes our space feel brighter because the shade is white. The old fixture was oil rubbed bronze, so it felt darker.

4. When Ben replaced all of our windows, he enlarged some of the windows. All three bedroom windows are now 1 foot closer to the floors. The added light does make a huge difference. Ben also made a smart decision by making egress windows in our basement. All of the basement windows were the smaller of the two shown below. Not only are the bedrooms more functional, livable bedrooms, but the light is great. It doesn’t seem as much like a basement.

5. Our new front door has a window. At first, I hated the idea, due to lack of privacy-I liked to look out our peep-hole at the people on the other side, knowing they couldn’t see me. Now, they know I’m on the other side of the door-not answering… Any who, I love the light this little window lets in. The new back door is almost entirely glass, too. I love it, lack of privacy and all.

The full glass back door floods the staircase and basement landing with light.

6. Lamps-duh! We all know they add light, but a lamp in a dark corner can make a world of difference.

Master Bathroom Reno, Take 2

Published on June 14, 2010September 9, 2010 by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

After we replaced the old furnace with our new geothermal heating and cooling unit, we were able to remove the ductwork raceway in our master bathroom.

Without the wall for the ductwork, we had enough room to move our toilet and add a 5 foot bathtub/shower.

With a new floor plan, we started to re-remodel our master bathroom.

The first item to go was the small shower stall. You can see into our kitchen through that vertical hole.

The toilet and vanity soon followed. Ben moved the toilet plumbing and we got to work rebuilding. We had some sheet rock to patch after tearing down the wall, so that was the first change. Then Ben installed our new bathtub and we built a wall at the end.

We decided to make the end wall a 3/4 tall wall to keep the shower light and bright.

Once our wall was built, we installed out 12 inch square white marble surround. This is a square lay pattern with glass tile accents. I love that the marble extends to the ceiling.

More marble and grainte soon followed. Ben did a wonderful job installing our absolute black granite and white marble checker board floor. It definitely makes a statement while being classic.

We let the tile set before grouting with an unsanded white grout. Sanded grout would have scratched the marble. To keep with the rest of the house, we installed the same trim pattern we used in our master bedroom. Unfortunately, we could not completely install the trim at this point becuase we had to move our electrical panel first.