Category: Room Makeovers

Room changes, step by step.

Un Homme & Une Femme

Published on by Our Humble Abode30 Comments

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?

The Chicago Blues

Published on by Our Humble Abode6 Comments

Knowing we’ll have several rounds of visitors over the summer (and in the next few weeks) we’ve pushed to get more done in the main bathroom.  Despite the vanity needing a few details, I put the first coat of Chicago Blues on.

I love it.  The swatch looked a little nuts, but in the space, it reads as a brighter navy.

A second coat will follow once Ben installs the top trim pieces, but the change and progress is welcome.  You might notice I painted the walls and ceilings.  Well, everything that I could around the patched areas.  In my mood board, I used Stone White from Ben Moore, but it looked too blue in person.  Eventually, I’ll paint the main areas Wood Smoke by Glidden, so I had the paint guy at Home Depot give me a 25% tint to flow with the rest of the house.  I figure getting a first coat on the majority will help.  Then I can prime and paint the patched areas, go over the entire room again for a seamless paint job.

Handy Sammy’s family stopped in to stay with us, so I added a few accessories to pretty it up a bit.

We’ve got more trim work to do, grouting in the shower, and painting, but we do have a functional toilet complete with toilet paper holder.

Fingers crossed Ben has time to grout the shower to get it functional for our guests.

How was your weekend?  Did you do any painting?  Maybe you installed a toilet?  We had fun chatting with family and eating dinner on the deck.

You Light Up My Life

Published on by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

Over the weekend, we enjoyed windy, gloomy weather.  No work on the roof, but Ben did some work inside.  On Saturday, we ran our usual errands, Ben washed windows, and cut the left over slab of Bubinga to fit the entertainment center.  Sunday, we had high temps in the 60’s, so we took a trip to Home Depot to get various electrical supplies.  Cooler days are better for attic work and we took advantage of it.  First, Ben ran wires for the theater speakers.

Speakers will flank the front living room window for a true theater-like experience.  The wires run from the outside wall, through the attic, and down the wall behind the entertainment center.

While he was up there, he moved the cable from the temporary place to the same box behind the tv.

Though unfinished, that is better than this:

You may have noticed the sconces are gone, too.  Ben pulled the wires completely out because we’ll never have sconces there.  Now we’ve got patching to do.

That’s all great, but I was most excited for the pendants in the main bathroom.  While painting the small linen closet, I realized just how dark that bathroom was.

Step out of the dark ages, we have created light!  Finding lights Ben and I could agree on wasn’t the easiest part of this bathroom reno.

We knew we wanted chrome pendants with hidden bulbs.  Of course the options are nearly limitless, but we also wanted something around the $50 or less price point.  One of our original choices were industrial chrome pendants for $48 each from Lowes.  Currently, the bathroom doesn’t have a ray of natural light.  We will add a Sky Tube, but Ben and I worried the downward direction of the lights wouldn’t fill up the bathroom.

Luckily, using only one rod kept the pendants high enough, giving off more light than I thought.

And we love the look.

The style of this pendant is very similar to this one from Home Depot.  Twenty dollars less each, and I like the style of the Lowes option better.

We’ve got some trim installed, but more to do.  Then filling, sanding, priming, and painting.  And grouting the tub, installing the toilet, getting the sink functional, adding functional items like hooks and such.  But we’re getting there.  I’m getting some of the finishing touches ready.  And you caught a peek at the shower curtain that inspired my revised plan.  Mood board to come soon.

What did you do over the weekend?  Have you found a cheaper version of something that you liked more than the expensive option?  That’s always fun for me.  Usually I gravitate toward the more expensive items.

You’re so Vain, Vanity

Published on by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

Our main bathroom is taking shape.  Yesterday you saw Saturday’s progress, but on Sunday, more bathroom magic happened.  Ben started working on the vanity.  After finding a remnant piece of quartz for sixty bucks, we nailed down the width of 43 inches.

With the linen closet ready to rock, we could start the vanity.  Right off the bat, Ben and I agreed we wanted an open design similar to the basement bathroom at our first house.  I even made a to scale Photoshop drawing.

Ben had 3 1/2 inch square oak posts already, so we used those for the legs.  For a modern look and sleek clean-ability (a must with two little boys!) we chose the Archer sink by Kohler.  But we had a little problem.  The sink is almost 20 inches wide, our top is 43, and our legs are 7 inches wide.  43 – 20 – 7 = 16 inches.  Divide 16 by 2 (we wanted a drawer on each side of the sink) and you get 8 inch wide drawers.  That’s the outside dimension, now take away an inch for glides and another inch for building materials and you’re left with a 6 inch drawer.  Too little space to make it worth building drawers.  Boo.  On the upside, this made building the vanity a little easier.  Instead of cutting several pieces to make openings for the drawers, Ben used 2 by 6 boards to frame up the top.

To secure the boards, Ben drilled long screws to hole the boards to each other and the studs in the wall.

But not before making sure every part was level several times.

Then Ben nailed the legs to the cross boards, using filler pieces where our floor isn’t completely level.

Tile floors don’t work to hold the leg bases down, but shelves stabilize nicely.  Knowing we won’t have drawers, I adjusted my plans to include two shelves instead.

For maximum stability and strength, Ben cut plywood (not MDF) to size and notched out the post corners.  To cover the ugly plywood edge and add even more rigidity, he tacked on an oak face.  We shouldn’t have to worry about the boys using the shelves as a step stool.  In our humble opinions, the easiest and sturdiest way to support shelves is with cleats; thin pieces if wood which the shelf rests on.  Ben added two short ones to each leg and a long piece along the back wall.

One shelf down, one to go.  Through the power vested in me the internet, I give thee a second shelf.

And a peek at the counter and sink.  Oh look, here’s another.

And I snapped a ton of pictures of the cutting and polishing process for those requesting a granite post.  Check back for that tomorrow.  After a weekend of work, this is what we accomplished.

And a little action at the tub.  Ugly framing covered and a pretty granite sill on top.

Have you ever built a vanity?  Do you prefer the look of an open style or the option to tuck items away in a cabinet?  Who’s excited for the stone cutting post?

Bring it on, Bathroom!

Published on by Our Humble Abode24 Comments

Over the long weekend, Ben decided he was going to get serious work done on the house.  Perhaps start tearing off solar panels and cedar shakes to get ready for roofing?  Mother Nature had a different idea.

On Saturday morning we woke up to a few inches of sloshy, wet snow.  Never in my life have I seen snow on Memorial weekend!  Bad weather turned our attention back to the main bathroom.  Before we could get working, we needed to run errands.  Costco for the week’s groceries, an auto store to get a new car battery for Handy Sammy, and Home Depot for lumber, plywood, sink, and new faucet.  Errands caused us to get a late start, but we did get something done before building.  Grouting the floor tiles.

Ben likes grouting because it is the mindless part of tiling.  Mix, spread over tiles, let it sit a few minutes, wipe off.  It’s like Staples ‘Easy Button’ of the tile project.

One thing to keep in mind when you’ve got small grout lines: wipe off the excess grout in a circular motion.  When cleaning in a circular pattern, it’s nearly impossible to remove too much grout.

Use an old, wet rag to wipe, rinsing occasionally, re-wiping until the tiles are clean.

A slight haze stays on the tile, and that’s okay.  Wait until the grout has completely dried to clean thoroughly.

For cleaning reasons, we decided to use a medium gray grout, Pearl Gray on the floors.  In our first house we used white and it did get a little dingy in main areas.

The long weekend started off with a few sheets of 1/4 inch MDF to cover the glued bead board mess of yore.

Turns out the 8 foot square bathroom comes in handy for this.  No seams, just 36 inch tall pieces nailed to the studs.  Covers the ugly mess quickly, and this room can benefit from bright white trim.  Ben drilled holes to fit around the sink plumbing.

And we’re ready for a linen closet.  Measuring and marking made building easier.

We’re already short on space.  To make the most of the layout, we decided to skip building a 2 by 4 wall.  Instead, Ben built the closet just like he did our fridge surround in our kitchen remodel.  A few strips secured to the wall and ceiling, then a piece of MDF to act as the wall.

See how rough the framing strips look?

Not anymore.  Strips of 1/2 inch MDF cover everything for a beefy, finished look.  And the shelves keep the vanity edge wall from shifting.

The bath tub got a little action, too.  Ben framed up the support wall in preparation for a granite sill.  Still no grout in there.  More trim work to happen, then grout.

In our first house, we had trim treatments in every room.  Yes, it’s very pretty, but also time consuming.  More finish work and more cleaning.  But I don’t know if I want the wall panels in the bathroom to look as plain and flat.  So, I worked on a few trim designs in Photoshop to see what I thought.  Here’s an idea I tossed to Ben.  The back wall, straight ahead of the entrance.

Looking at the vanity wall:

The entrance wall:

And the tub wall.

We discussed the hexagon idea and nixed it.  We’ll live with the plain, easy to clean walls.  But you got a peek at the vanity design.  Similar to the basement vanity at our first house, but smaller.  Ben made a few changes because we didn’t have enough material for the legs.  You’ll get to see that tomorrow.

How was your long weekend?  Did you get work done?  Or spend time with family?