Bring it on, Bathroom!

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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?

Q and A: Year 2

Published on by Our Humble Abode

Happy Memorial Day!  Thank you to all who have protected and served our country.  We’re busy working on a few projects, but I wanted to pop in with a quick post today.  Let’s answer your questions!

 

Q:  How about your biggest project fail (from the distant past or more recently)?

A:  Hmm, some of my smaller failures include ombre shower curtain, wire Moooi pendant, picking light blue and all pink paint colors, and nearly everything involving a plant.  The biggest failure I can think of is the large basement bedroom at our first house.  From a function stand point, it was great.  The design wasn’t my favorite though.  Obviously design is very personal, but this room didn’t fit in with the rest of the house.  Perhaps if we stayed there longer it would have changed.  I think the reason we don’t have as many large failures is because Ben and I balance each other out in the home improvement realm.  I think pretty and he thinks practical.  Take away one person and it doesn’t work.

Q:  Your favorite project to date?

A: Hands down our first house kitchen remodel.  That whole room was such a labor of love.  Building our own cabinets took a lot of time and effort and the wood counters are divine.  Add white marble to that mix and I’m in love.

Q:  What project you’re most looking forward to at the new house (even if it’s not happening for a while).

A:  Ooh, that’s a good one.  Again, I’m going to say kitchen, despite lacking a solid plan.

 

Q:  When you want me to come visit. ;) Okay, you don’t have to answer that one. I know you want to come visit me, so I’ll just keep waiting.

A:  Anytime you’re willing to babysit or help paint.  Haha.

Q:  When are you guys gonna quit your jobs and become full-time bloggers?

A:  Ha, I quit my day job six years ago!

Q:  When did you start offering advertising on your website? How many visitors/page views was it when you decided to start offering?

A:  The first month we had more than my blog BFF Jen advertising with us was August 2011, after fifteen months of steady blogging.  At that time, we had about 400 blog subscribers (more through readers) and received just over 50,000 page views that month.  Since then we’ve more than doubled our subscribers and page views.  Our ad rates were only $15 per month, which we’ve recently increased to $20.

That’s all we’ve got.  Do you have another question for us?  We’re always happy to answer.  What did you do over the long weekend?  What are your plans for today?

Gimme a Giveaway: Simple Blooms Boutique

Published on by Our Humble Abode88 Comments

This giveaway is closed.  See who won here.

This giveaway is for the girls; babies, children, and adults alike!  Simple Blooms Boutique has cute accessories like headbands, hair clips, and brooches for all ages.

Mauve Baby Headband:

Chartreuse Girl Headband:

Gray Satin Brooch:

Chartreuse Bobby Pin Set:

I thought these girly accessories were so cute I couldn’t resist getting one for a little girl I know.  This fun gray and yellow headband will go with a cute dress for a perfectly frilly gift.

Cute girl things make me wish I had a girl.  I’ll live vicariously through others instead.

The Goods: Any two items from Simple Blooms Boutique.

To Enter:  Leave a comment, which can (but doesn’t have to) include our Just for Fun question.

Just for Fun: If you could have any flower or plant growing in your yard, what would it be?  Hydrangeas for their big clumps?  Large delicate peonies?  Dainty orchids?  Dandelions because it would mean you’ve got your own yard?

For additional entries:

1.  Add Simple Blooms Boutique to your Etsy favs, come back and leave a comment telling us what your favorite item is.

Contest Closes: Thursday, May 31st at 11:59 pm, central time.

Number of Winners: One!

Ships: Anywhere in the United States and our neighbors to the north, Canada!

Other Info: We will select the winner using random.org and announce on Friday, June 1st.  Good luck!!

Back Yard Beginnings

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I realized you haven’t seen much of our back yard.

Once at the top of the driveway, there’s a hollowed out area for a future shop, a lame set of stairs, and retaining wall.

From the driveway, the hill climbs about four feet, extending to the patio.

At the edge of the patio is a two foot tall retaining wall with steep hill above.  Plans are coming along and we’re figuring out materials and prices, but we have a general idea of what we want to change here.

Over at the far end of the house, near the pool room is a set of stone stairs to no where.

Climb up those 18(!) stairs and there’s a small plateau area mainly used by deer.

That big rock at the top left of the picture above is nearly centered on the sliding door and fountain.  I’m standing right by that rock here:

In fact, our lot is so steep you can actually walk on the pool room roof from the back and it’s easy to see over the house from this plateau.

Solar panels from the 70’s are on the roof, but they’ll have to go because they’re causing the roof to leak into the pool.  So that whole blue angled thing will go once Ben starts the big roofing project.

We love the privacy and size of the lot, but it is a challenge, in many ways.  More research and planning and we can start working.  What are your favorite low water/low maintenance plants?  I’m looking for a mix of evergreens and flowering plants.  Everything needs to survive with minimal water because Montana summers are usually dry.  Hopefully you all can give some suggestions!

Dog Bed

Published on by Our Humble Abode34 Comments

Here’s a super quick, cheap, and easy dog bed.  All you need is a set of standard pillows and pillowcases.

Sewing machine optional, but it makes this quicker.  I promise, those of you afraid of a sewing machine can do it, one straight line is all it takes.  Just pin the pillowcases together along one edge.

I put my factory sewn edges together, but it’s up to you.  Then stitch a straight line 1/2 inch from the edge, all the way down the case.  Put a pillow in each case and you’ve got a dog bed.  I bought new pillowcases for ten bucks at Target and used old pillows we already had.  If you’re buying all new supplies it would cost around $20.  Not too shabby, especially because this is super easy to wash.  Here’s Miss Priss enjoying her comfortable new spot.

If you don’t have a dog, your kids might like this for slumber parties or lounging around.  Just after I stuffed the pillows in, both V and E flopped down, staking their claim.  I might have to make another…

What kind of dog bed do you have?