Category: Main Bathroom

Just Keep Tiling

Published on by Our Humble Abode18 Comments

That’s Ben’s motto these days.  We’ve had the main bathroom shower surround tiled for over a week now, but little projects keep popping up, preventing further progress.   Instead of waiting longer to share, here’s where we’re at now.

Tile from tub to ceiling makes the 8 foot ceilings feel taller and opens the space.

A functional tub is great, but the lack of grout means the boys can’t splash during their bath.

I’m in love with this tile.  It’s a nice gray/cream color with subtle pattern, but nothing that jumps out.  Our floor tile is in and has sat in the garage for a week, while our bathroom floors look like this:

In our down time, we like to relax while watching a show on Netflix or Hulu through our Play Station.  Not a single cable jack exists in this house.  Through wireless internet, the connection is terribly slow, stopping several times to load.  Finally, Ben had enough of it and rigged up a temporary fix.

Cable comes from outside, at the end of the pool room, under the deck (the original owner’s plan), into the floor in my office, up the wall and over.

And we need an actual entertainment center.  But we’ll have to finish the basement, re-roof, install the new geothermal unit, and I’m sure do several more things before an entertainment center can reach the summit of our huge to do list.

After signing closing papers yesterday morning, the boys and I ran errands, including a stop at Joann’s and TJ Maxx.  Picked up another pile of fabric and I’m half way through with this sewing endeavor.  I spied a cute golden yellow and white rug at TJ Maxx.  For $19.99, I figured I could find a home somewhere.

Right now, it’s at the French door off the deck, but I’m considering using it as a large bath mat in the main bathroom.  Not completely sure yet, but I think it’s adorable (and surprisingly soft!).

What’s at the top of your to do list?  Bathroom renovations starting soon?  Need a new roof?  Working on a painting project?  Share with us.

Move In Ready

Published on by Our Humble Abode21 Comments

On Friday, I mentioned we moved in to the mountain house, as Ben calls it.  I think a moment like that deserves a celebration of pictures.  So, here’s the mountain house, filled with our crap, I mean furniture.

The entry isn’t huge, but we have a rug and storage bench for putting on shoes.

Our old sectional, which lived in the theater room at the first house, fits in the new living room with plenty of space.

We arranged the furniture to face the television about 2 1/2 feet from the window wall.  I have high hopes for bookshelves on either side of the window and a window seat between.

Small end tables and a bookshelf turned entertainment center work for now.

Ben built that bookshelf for V’s nursery and we’ve had it in the basement for the past few years.  It is the only piece of furniture that can serve this purpose until we get a chance to build a proper entertainment center.  This also means Ben’s kick butt surround sound system is tucked away for the too small shelf.  Once we finish the bathroom, we’ve got this on our to do list.

Okay, enough of my whining.  Here’s our empty dining room.  The stool and lantern are for the deck and the chairs are there as additional seating.

Some day we’ll buy or build a large table to go in here, but that’s not a priority.  Right around the corner is my office.  I’ve got my craft and shop supplies in the lower cabinets and lots of electronics on the desk top, but it’s totally functional.

Jack has deemed this her spot, so I tossed a few towels down to keep her cozy until I can make her a little dog bed.

Then there’s the kitchen.  Oh, the kitchen.  Even though this kitchen is at least twice the size of our other kitchen, we’re quickly learning the main cabinets are poorly laid out.  Not as much storage as it appears to have.

So we’ve been stashing most kitchen stuff in the giant pantries.

That pretty French door fridge above?  I hate it.  Ben packed up all the food from the fridge and freezer at the first house on Friday.  The fridge contents fit without a problem.  However, the two drawer freezer couldn’t hold an entire box of frozen foods.  As I tried to cram everything in, getting more and more frustrated while cursing the LG designer I started crying out of annoyance.  The stress from packing while watching two little boys and unpacking had gotten the best of me.  Luckily, we have space in the utility room for a chest freezer, so Ben bought one yesterday.  Rant over.  Check out the breakfast nook we’re using as the dining room.

That large window is a great place to watch the wild life in the back yard.

Friday night we had five deer visitors, right off the back patio.

It was chilly over the weekend, so Ben built a fire and we roasted marshmallows right in the family room.

Figuring out a layout for this room was tricky.  We have several traffic patterns; one from the stairs, another from the hall, and a third to the sliding door.  This works best, keeping everything centered on the fireplace and windows.  Too bad we don’t have close enough outlets to plug-in the lamps.

I’ve moved my books from the old office into the guest bedroom.  The pile on the bed is my sewing machine and 20 yards of fabric for curtains.

We’re still working on the main bathroom, so we’ll share pictures soon.  Floor tile has been delayed and should be here tomorrow.  The boys’ bedroom layout is very similar to their old room, just a few feet wider.  Here’s V’s side, complete with a dresser due to the lack of organization systems in this house.

E’s side is so bare right now, but he does have a faux Jack to keep him company.

The last bedroom, our bedroom.  We sold our bed to the buyer and we’re using the old guest bed for a while.  Ben hates the headboard covering the window.

I finished painting the closet over the weekend and put our clothes away.  Instead of a pile of clothes, we’ve got a stack of empty bins.  Wahoo!

Ugly master bathroom with an awesome steam shower.  Still ugly despite a few accessories.  I guess putting lipstick on a pig doesn’t make it pretty.

You want to see something that really isn’t pretty (and kind of stresses me out)?  The basement.

It’s funny because we’ve gained square footage over the last house, but we’re desperately lacking built-in storage.  Not to mention we’ve lost two bedrooms (hence the mattresses) and practically two bathrooms.  The main bath is under construction and the basement bath is just gross, leaving us with the master bath.  Eventually we’ll get there, but I think the basement will look like this for a while.

Ben and Handy Sammy hauled over the washer and dryer, too.  The plug for the dryer isn’t the same as the outlet though.

So that’s how we’re living in the new house.  I’ve off to pack up the few remaining things at the old house and then I’ve got some sewing to do.  Mama needs black out curtains in hopes of getting the boys to sleep past 6:30.

What did you do over the weekend?  Do you have a sewing project in your near future?  How about a move?

Tub Thumping

Published on by Our Humble Abode15 Comments

Before we can officially move into the new house, I’ve required a working bath tub.

See, we pulled out the claw foot tub and we’ve replaced it with a five foot jetted tub and shower combo.

Which also required removing the small half wall and building a new floor to ceiling wall.

The plumbing runs through the new wall, and a Hardie Backer surround, tub to ceiling.  Ben taped and filled the seams and we’re waiting for it to dry.

We also gained a little bit of space for the toilet.  A claw foot tub plus a wide half wall in an eight foot square room is a tight fit.  Now a five foot tub with a standard wall gives the cramped toilet space a few more valuable inches.

In other bathroom news, we picked up our shower tile and a remnant for our vanity counter today.  Hopefully Ben can start (and finish) the shower surround tomorrow.  But here’s the counter:

The counter is a 45 inch by 25 inch piece of white quartz.  I love that it is light and will allow me to paint the vanity any color I want.  Ben got it for 60 bucks, which is about $400 cheaper than the quote we got from the other granite supplier in town.  Score!

Even better, this granite place has piles of damaged materials.  Ben saw a few pieces of Carrera marble in the heap, so he asked about it.  The company is trying to get rid of these and the employee said Ben could take anything he wanted, free.

Those babies are sitting in the garage, waiting for Ben to cut them down to fit our end tables.  He sure knows the way to my heart.

In other new house news, I hung a few pictures.  Mostly because I don’t want to look at the epileptic seizure inducing wall paper.  And because I have about 10 boxes of art at my disposal.

We were able to sell the old bathroom vanity on Craigslist, and now we’re trying to pawn this enormous wooden pergola on someone.  No clue of its original purpose, but it’s in our yard and we want it out of there.

We met another neighbor yesterday; Rocky, the rock chuck.

That’s the latest progress.  Bring on the bath tub so we can move our beds over!  Tell me, what kind of counters do you have in your bathroom?  Have you scored any free things lately?

Make Light of the Situation

Published on by Our Humble Abode16 Comments

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.

You’re Tearing Up My Heart?

Published on by Our Humble Abode26 Comments

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.