Month: April 2012

Make Light of the Situation

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On Saturday, we made had a bathroom shopping spree at Home Depot, spurred by a coupon and a great need for a tub.

Four carts total including: three Kohler Highline toilets, one American Standard jetted five-foot tub, 12 sheets of concrete board, a stack of two by fours, a sink and tub faucet (Kohler Mistos) and a Rheem tankless water heater.  Our coupon took $200 off (that was the max) and we got another $300 off because Ben found the same water heater online for about $150 less than Home Depot’s price.  Remember, Home Depot has a ‘meet and beat’ policy.  So they matched the online price and beat it by 10%.  We love that policy.

I mentioned here that I was trying to talk Ben into my lighting plan.  Well, he has agreed to it.  What is that plan?  I want to use pendants in place of sconces in the bathroom.  Yes, I said pendants.  So we looked at HD’s options, seeing two things I like.  This Home Decorators bubble pendant for $70 each.

And this cylindrical glass pendant for $80 each.

While I liked the style, I’d like to stay under 100 bucks for both pendants.  Then I looked at Lowes, where I found a few more options.  I really wanted to use these pendants in the kitchen, and quite like them for a bathroom.  At $41 each, we’re under budget, but Ben has a requirement of using standard sized bulbs so we’re not on a wild light bulb hunt when we need replacements.  Too bad these are tiny little bulbs.

I do like this ORB cylinder pendant for $48.  Similar to the one above, but I like that the bulb is concealed.  We prefer to use CFL bulbs to cut down on consumption, but they’re not pretty.

The style is great, but we’ve got chrome faucets and other chrome accents.  Too bad this only comes in ORB.  I’m still considering it though.

I also like this polished nickel pendant for $48.  It’s chrome, a mix of traditional/industrial style, and takes a standard bulb.  However, I’m concerned this won’t give adequate lighting.

Right now, the only light in the bathroom is from two small sconces.  We bought a Sky Tube to add natural light, but we probably won’t have an overhead light in the ceiling.  So, what to do?

Do you have similar lights?  Are they bright enough?  Which style do you prefer?  Are you on board with pendants in place of sconces?  I’m excited for it.

Gimme a Giveaway Winner: Chasing Alila & Design Samples

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Last Friday we asked what you were ‘chasing’ or planning.  Until last week, we were chasing our new house.  Not that we’ve closed, we’re chasing moving into it and closing on our first house.  The winner of the Chasing Alila giveaway, Wendy, is chasing after a new job and house.  Good luck, Wendy!

Now, let’s talk design samples.  I borrowed the sample board from the tile shop to see which colors looked best in our bathroom.  Like I thought, I want Cebu Aqua on the floors with charcoal gray grout (to hide dirt from little feet) and Cebu Moka with white grout for the shower surround.  While I think the Silver is pretty, it’s just too dark for dim our space.

I haven’t landed on a paint color for the bathroom yet.  Maybe a pale gray?  Perhaps a very light tint of the vanity color?  What I do know is the color I want for the main areas.  Wood Smoke by Glidden.

It was my second choice for the living room at our first house.  And it looks perfect in here, on the sample.

Not terribly dark, but not pale.  I grabbed a few dark gray swatches too, to see what I thought of those.  Seal Gray (also Glidden) is no darker than the red accent wall, but it’s too dark to paint the entire living and dining rooms with.  No accent walls either.

However, I do want a dark color for the master bedroom.  The current blue is both dark and ugly, but I don’t mind the dark.  The room is bright enough with sunlight streaming in through those south and east windows.  Especially once we add a king bed with white bedding, pale floor to ceiling curtains (maybe white with detailing?  maybe a different light color?), and white trim and doors.

Dragonfly by Ben Moore (left) is my first choice for the moody blue-green.  If we’re playing it safe, I’d choose Caribbean Teal (the middle color on the right strip).  Basically it’s a darker version of the color we have in the kitchen and dining rooms at our first house.

In this house, I don’t want to play it safe.  I want to go with my first choice, even if it might look terrible on four walls.  It’s only paint and can easily be changed, so why not take a chance, right?

And really, anything is better than the current poor coverage blue.  Eek to those sconces, too.

When I ask V what color he wants his new room, half of the time he’ll say green.  The other half he says yellow.  Green is his favorite color, but I think he wants yellow because that’s what his other room is.  I think I’ll split the difference with a yellow-green.  I prefer Refined Tan, an Ace Hardware color (on the bottom left).  It might be a tad bright, but I like the general color.

Perhaps I’ll get a 75% tint.  Or maybe I’ll get full color and temper it with other neutrals.  I already have a plan for curtains.

All I know is I like it and so does V.  Ben said he doesn’t care either way.  Sadly, we can’t paint either of these bedrooms right away because we (ahh hem, Ben) has popcorn ceiling to scrape off.  I’m sure the walls will get dirty in that process and I’m too lazy to paint the walls twice.  So not looking forward to painting those heavily textured walls in our bedroom.

What do you all think?  Do you have a favorite yellow-green color?  Which blue would you choose?  Do you prefer light or dark colors in a bedroom?

You’re Tearing Up My Heart?

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Actually, he’s tearing up my pool.  And bathroom.  Of course the ‘he’ I’m referring to is Ben.  The day after closing on the new house, Ben decided to tear out the pool liner to see what we’ll have to fix.

Naturally, V was the site supervisor.  That boy sure does love construction.  It makes sense I guess, look at what we spend so much of our time doing.

When we first looked at the house, the pool was half filled with stagnant green water.  There’s still a little left in this picture.  Fortunately you can’t see the huge centipedes or the dead mouse.  How about we look at a room without dead critters?  Here’s the main bathroom, before Ben got in there.

Yes, it’s updated, but not to our lifestyle or taste.  This is the bathroom the boys and guests will use.  Because of that, we need a tub and a shower.  We want to lighten it up, too, both with natural light in the form of a Sky Tube and lightning the walls.  Dark bead board + minimal light = dungeon.

While the vanity might look pretty, it certainly doesn’t have much function for the size.  Don’t even get me started on the lights.

While we have another house to live in with bath tubs, we decided to get started on this monster right away.  Ben pulled the fixtures first.  We plan to Craigslist the vanity and hope to reuse the claw foot tub in the master bathroom.  Has anyone painted the exterior of a claw foot tub?  I’d love to hear your experiences.

Back to the subject, the main bathroom.  After taking out the large pieces, Ben tore off the bead board, which was held in place not only by nails, but glue too.  Looks like this house will have a trim treatment after all!  Floors, gone.  Tub, sitting in the pool room.

With the vanity and mirror down, we discovered the lighting situation.  Plugged in sconces, anyone?

Yesterday morning, the boys and I looked around for tile, both for the floor and the shower surround.  I think we’ve made a decision.  Here it is:

That’s the large sample to show the design, but we’re thinking of going with a lighter color to brighten the room.

Maybe the middle color for the floors with dark grout and the top color for the shower with white grout.  I haven’t the slightest idea as to why the middle is called Aqua…  These tiles are a true body tile (the same color through) and come in a 12 inch by 24 inch.  Get this, they’re under $4 a square foot.  Sweet.

After considering different layouts, we’ve decided to keep the same plan.

We’ll build an open vanity, similar to the basement vanity at our first house, but we’ll have a small linen closet at the end for more storage.  I’d like to paint the vanity a fun color, hence the blue/green.

The rest of the room is so neutral, and with a leggy vanity, it’s not much color anyway.  And I love the color Jenny used on her entry console (Behr’s Billiards Table).  Worst case scenario, I repaint if we don’t like it, right?

What do you think of the new house plan?  Can you tell we want to do something a different from our first house?  This house should be a little more modern, dramatic, and bold.  A bright painted vanity fits the bill.  Oh, and I’m trying to talk Ben info killer lighting.  More info as we get there.

Planning it Out

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I tried my best to explain the new house layout with descriptions and pictures, but a floor plan is worth 1000 words.  Even if that floor plan is my hand drawn, not to scale mess.  The upper level is almost self-sufficient, only the laundry room is in the basement to keep a household functioning.

The entry is a split level and all living spaces branch off from there.  Bedrooms and bathrooms are to the right, over the garage below.  And here’s the (wonky, not especially accurate) drawing of the basement.  Garages take up about half of the lower level.  Ben wants to knock down the walls between the storage rooms (at the top) and the garage to gain enough space to store two cars and his boat.

I didn’t know what to call the large, red-carpeted space in the basement, so it’s now the bonus room.  And here’s the pool room configuration, roughly.

So many doors in there!  Three out to the deck, one off the wet bar leading to the back patio, and another from the house, right next to my office.  The half bath backs up to the kitchen, accessible from the pool room.

Again, nothing is to scale, so things look off.  The boys bedroom isn’t that long and skinny, the kitchen isn’t that big, but it should help figure out which room is where.  When I find the time, I’d like to do a video tour, if you’d be interested…

Our Humble Sponsors: April

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Wahoo, our internet is connected again.  On to regular scheduled programming.  This month has gone by quickly.  Strike that, this year has gone by quickly.  We’re happy to have great sponsors at Our Humble A{Bowe}d and it’s time to share the love.

Apartment B is a great shop specializing in graphic and patterned window shades.

How fun is this Nautical Stripe shade?

And this Knife, Fork, and Spoon shade is adorable.

Their graphic shades include typographic maps and this London Bus Roll shade.

Scissors, Paper, Mouse is a little Australian based shop is filled with cute and colorful prints like You’re So My Type.

Absolutely Nuts About You is a cute little love note.

Of course, there are plenty more designs to choose from, so stop by the shop and show Yasmin some love.

Joseph Thompson Woodworks is another Etsy shop with cool kitchen gear.

This small end grain board is a perfect addition to any kitchen, adding function and style.

Of course we love the coasters, too.  This black walnut set is a new addition.

E-Meals, is an online meal planning site designed to save you loads of time and oodles of money.

E-Meals offers a variety of meal plan options including vegetarian, gluten-free, and low carb.

S and S Babee is continuing to support us, too.

S and S Babee is a small shop with hand sewn baby goodies. Jenna takes custom orders, so if you’re looking for something, give her a holler.

Last but not least, my blog bud Jen at IHeart Organizing is showing us some love.

Jen has re-released her all-inclusive Household Binder Kit, complete with three cover sheets and customized pages.

Don’t need a whole kit? Jen offers single pages, too, so stop in the shop and browse through the options.

Interested in advertising with Our Humble A{Bowe}d? Here’s some info to get you started.