Powder Room 2.0

One more room scratched off the list before the New Year!  I had finally had it with the Nutella smeared walls and slowly worked my way through the Powder Room between Thanksgiving and Christmas and am finally ready to share.  Since this wasn't such a huge job I decided not to post on each stage of the project but just share some of my favorite updates - so without further ado...

Thankfully Eaphis trusted that I had an end goal in mind because there were no examples that I could show him for what I was going for.  I knew I wanted a mix of hard/soft and wanted it to have a little something special to it because this is the bathroom in the house that everyone will see.....so I had my mind set on adding a pattern above the beadboard.  The last time we tried to put wallpaper in a bathroom it was a complete DISASTER so I did the next best thing and stenciled the walls.  I am obsessed with how it came out and am already looking for what else I can stencil!!!  If you like the look, go check out Royal Design Studios...they have so many amazing patterns to choose from.  One word of advice, make sure you read the tips and I totally recommend using the paint they suggest.  I used the Creme Stencil paint to get the translucent look, but am planning on trying out the Chalk Paint in another room...makes all the difference.

I ended up building pretty much everything for this room, including the mirror (which I finished with Chalk Paint), the Shelves, and the vanity.  If you're interested on any of these plans here are the links to the tutorials that I followed - Mirror / Shelves / Vanity

I tweaked the vanity from a nightstand and added a Vessel Sink from Ikea and a cool faucet that I picked up at Home Depot.  I had very specific things that I wanted and I managed to get them all by building it myself - open storage underneath the sink, a small drawer to store the boys toothbrushes (we keep one set downstairs because sometimes it's just easier!), and a towel bar on the front which I once again made out of pipes from the hardware store.  The fact that thing sits level, has a working drawer, and functional plumbing is honestly one of my proudest accomplishments!

Once the hard stuff was done I added some final touches including these beautiful antique bird prints, some monogram towels I picked up at Target, and a new tissue box cover with fabric from Ikea.

I love that this room is done and came together so well from all of these random ideas that I had.  I tried to tie it into the guest bathroom and I think I was able to accomplish that without making them too similiar.

Oh - and I have to give one big shout out to my dad for changing out the light fixture for me.  He is my go to for quick electric work that I'm still a little too timid to take on.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season and is looking forward to 2016 as much as I am.  Me and Eaphis already have a really big project ready to kickoff as soon as it arrives....all I'll say is that it's something I've wanted to do since we moved in and I CANNOT WAIT to get started.

Top Ten Favorite Things: Countdown to XMas

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1. GOB will press the buttons on his XMas Charlie Brown books and dance and I will just watch and smile
2. Nothing like spending some time with your cousins playing dress up
3. "Wait - I have to do some push-ups before bedtime" - way to go Blake
4. XMas cookie decorating with my brother and his family....big reason why we got a bigger kitchen!
5. New FIXER UPPER episodes - Merry XMas Mommy!

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6. The god's of organization have smiled upon us - if you are looking for awesome kitchen organizing tools check out "Rev-A-Shelf"....I could OD on their products
7. My city + my boys + skating + an excellent dinner = could not ask for a better way to celebrate the holidays!
8. Watching my boys decorate the tree together
9. Watching my boys in their XMas pageants
10. New TOP CHEF episodes - Happy New Years Mommy!

Top Ten Favorite Things: Late Fall Edition

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1. Apple picking with the grandparents and the cousins - can't wait to go again next year
2. Movie night with my boys - clearly they were enthralled
3. Happy Birthday to our Cash the Dog - so dapper
4. A sparkling clean fridge - more elusive than bigfoot!
5. After going through a winter with skin that rivaled a prune splurged on some super fancy products that seem to be doing the trick

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6. Crushing my Black Friday shopping
7. Spending some 1:1 time with my Blake monster on Tuesdays
8. Wegmans PB+J Shortbread cookies.....yummmmmmm
9. Can't believe it but I can fit in a size 6 jean again!  Thank you Zumba!!!
10. Jon's response when I sent him this pic - "He's the strangest, coolest guy I know.  I love him"

Top Ten Favorite Things - Early Fall Edition

It's been quite a while since I shared my favorite things, but with Thanksgiving quickly coming up I thought what better way to start to get in the holiday spirit then to start this back up!

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1. Testing out the beautiful new walking trail in our neighborhood
2. Silly Selfies with my Silly Guy
3. Who doesn't love surprise flowers??
4. Very Proud of THIS GUY for working hard to get his dream job!
5. GOB growling at our new bear bottle opener

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6. So happy these little cuties were able to Trick or Treat together this year
7. My favorite XMas commercial so far - Petco's Guinea Pig
8. After weeks of feeling like I was extremely behind on everything - A CLEAN TO DO BOARD!
9. Very Proud of THIS GUY for being very braze while going for some (very minor!) surgery
10. A little impromptu Antique Shopping and mid-week lunch with my guy

Guest Bathroom FINAL UPDATE!

So my powder room has been making me angry lately...angry enough to grab my crowbar.  But before I start tearing up molding (or a few hours afterwards...who's counting) I wanted to close the books on the guest bathroom blog-wise.  I've been holding off posting this (I actually did finish before GOBs bday) because I needed to make some small fixes and thought maybe I would try to finish off all of the last to-dos on my list before I shared....but after a few weeks away from it I realized that the small fixes don't bother me as much as they used to and things are more than OK enough to share a final post on this project.....so without further ado, here's what she looks like today:

 

I can't describe how cozy it feels in here and how happy it makes me!  I didn't want to bore everyone with all of the detailed step-by-steps of all of the last little projects, so here are some of the highlights.....

I ran the beadboard really high so that it cleared the outlets and also gave the medicine cabinets a built in look (these were from Home Decorators BTW and have chalkboards inside so I can harass the boys as they get older to Brush Their Teeth and Put on Deodorant).  If you're going to do beadboard in the bathroom make sure it's the PVC kind that is waterproof and rot resistant.  They just slide together so it's super easy.

 

I don't think I shared much of the other side of the room since all of the big projects happened in the shower area, but I took the opportunity to test something out that I plan to do in the whole house, which is to replace the door trim and hardware.  I LOVE how it came out!!!  It makes my other doors look like garbage (I'm talking to you Powder Room)

 

I spent a crazy amount of time thinking about what kind of shelves I wanted in here (no seriously...a CRAZY amount of time) and the winner was these pipe shelves.  The pipes are just black plumbing pipes from Lowes (spray painted with Hammered Black Spray Paint) and the wood for the shelves came from the construction sites around our house, which was great because they were already a little beat up.

 

I did get one art project in before I shared this post - I really want to put some "inspirational" sayings around the house but I want them to be special.  I stumbled on this one by Emerson on Pinterest and thought it was the perfect thing for my boys to read every day.  I need to darken up the letters more, but if it doesn't come across in the picture it says "Be Silly, Be Honest, Be Kind"

So that's it for now!  Like I said I still have some things to do (artwork, pictures, crown molding, etc). but those are small in the scope of this house and can wait until another day.  Before I go, here's one last before and after for your viewing pleasure.

Who wants to come over for Dinner?

I have a few small things to finish in the bathroom before I share a final blog on that, but wanted to knock one more project off my list before the nice weather disappears.   So while taking a much needed break from work I tackled my biggest building project and now we finally have a kitchen table that can fit my whole family for dinner!

It really wasn't that difficult but it did require all of the tool arsenal that me and my dad have been amassing and a lot of focus.  The plan itself came from one of my favorite DIY sites Shanty-2-Chic.  If you are looking for plans to build furniture yourself, or just some good inspiration I highly recommend taking a look through their site - they have lots of table plans besides this one.

I probably could have made things much easier on myself by picking something easy, but me being me I picked a plan with a pretty complicated set of table legs - I wanted to be able to fit as many chairs around this thing as possible so the "X" legs let's us do that.  I took a look at the table that inspired this one from Restoration Hardware and it said that the design was suppose to look like it was made from old railroad ties.  Oh and btw, that table was around $2500!!!  Don't like to talk money but let's just say this was CONSIDERABLY less.

I went back and forth on the stain but finally settle on a two - tone distressed effect with a dark brown tone underneath and then a gray tone on top....it kinda makes the wood look like's it's been faded in the sun.  It may have turned out a little darker then I originally wanted, but now that we've lived with it for a day I think I really like it.  Am thinking about adding lighter cushions to the benches that will eventually be on either side - good idea / bad idea?

So now we finally have a table that fits the room and can fit 10 people - which was my goal.  Glad I went for it on this one - I learned a lot of extremely good lessons and am already daydreaming about what to build next - after I finish the bathroom and build these benches of course.

 My little helper / photobomber - how young is too young to use power tools?

Look Who's 2

I think most people say "I can't believe it's already been x years" when their little one turns a year older, but for Jon and I we can't believe that it's ONLY been two years because it feels like our little GOB has been with us for much longer!!!  But it's true - today my little man turns 2 years old.

I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful little brother for Blake.   When you're having a super stressed out day, 5 minutes of snuggle time with GOB can put happiness back into your soul and make you feel like there's someone out there who just wants to make you feel better.  He continues to make us all crack up as he grows into a fiercely independent, fearless explorer who definitely marches to his own drummer and keeps a perpetual smile on his face.  I love this little guy more than I can say and am so lucky that he is my son.

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY TO MY GRAYSON

 

Guest Bathroom Update Round 5

I'm going to call this the 1/2 way point and give a big sigh of relief that the hard part is over!  6 weeks later and we have a working shower again - TA DA

I really fell in love with the over-sized white subway tile / black grout combo after lots of "Fixer Upper" marathons.  Once I got into the rhythm the tile went up super quick;  the nice thing about the wall tile is that I could use pre-mixed mastic so I could work on it at night and not have to worry about mixing a new batch each time.   In addition to the subway tile, I used a tip I picked up from Nicole Curtis and used a different tile for the shower niche so that I didn't have to worry about matching up lines.  Truth be told - I ended up doing the sides of the niche twice after some trial and error but I think it came out really great.

I was feeling really good and pumped about my progress - and then came the GROUT!!!  Grouting is the worst job ever in the best of circumstances - it's messy, it's hot, it stinks, and it's hard + you have to work really fast to make sure it doesn't dry up.  It's like playing the underwater level in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Nintendo game....super hard to begin with and then you add a timer - pure nightmare.  On top of all of that - I don't know what I was thinking with BLACK GROUT!!!  Holy Hell it's like spreading Tar all over your walls as well as your tub, sinks, and entire body.  If you ever think about doing black grout just know what you're in for and seal off EVERYTHING....here's the shower in what I call it's Moody Teenager Phase:

Thankfully - it got a lot better!  I don't know why it never dawned on me until I was up on a ladder with a scouring pad - but you have absolutely no margin of error when you go with such a contrasting color combo.   It took a lot of muscle and inspection - but the haze eventually came off and the tile came out pretty and white.

The last major step was caulking....I usually find caulking very theraputic....but Black Caulk comes with the same stress as Black Grout.  After a rocky start, I ended up taping off absolutely every caulk line that I did and that made all of the difference.  Just had to share the detail pic below because I think it's a thing of beauty

I think this is a great time to take a moment and post a little before and after:

BEFORE

AFTER - BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE

What a difference.....

My goal is to get the rest of the trim done before GOBs big #2 bday party which is in (EEK!) two weeks.  I'm already getting into a pretty good groove there though so I'm pretty confident I can get it done with a few late nights.

Quick look at the checklist - almost to the fun decorating parts!!

• Stain the Vanity and add Hardware
• Remove Shower Tile / Add Shower Niche
• Replace the Shower Tile
• Replace Shower Fixtures
• New Shower Rod and Curtain
• Remove Floor TIle
• Replace Floor Tile
• Add Beadboard and Trim
• Replace Door Trim
• Paint
• Replace Sink Fixtures
• Replace Light Fixture
• Add Medicine Cabinets
• Add Shelves / Hooks / and Accessories

Guest Bathroom Update Round 4

Ahhhhh - now that feels better

Just a quick update on this amazingly beautiful Saturday night.  I already had the floor tile in when I wrote the last post, but with Eaphis' help we got the toilet back in today so we now have a part way functioning bathroom....hooray!!  The boys can stop using mine!!

To me, tearing up and laying down the floor was the biggest obstacle that I had to get around in this whole project, so now that that's done I feel like I'm on easy street.  I laid out and cut all of the tile beforehand, which took a couple of days, but once that was done I was able to get it all set, grouted, and tidied up pretty quick.

Of course it always helps to have a cute assistant to help you clean.

I am so in love with these floors....it's amazing how much cozier and warmer the bathroom feels just by getting rid of those dirty white tiles.   My biggest worry was that I wouldn't get them to lay straight - but I think they're pretty damn close to perfect if I do say so myself!

If you look close you can see the beginnings of the beadboard/trim and the glimmer of tile on the shower wall (yay!).  I actually feel like I'm ahead of the arbitrary schedule that exists only in my mind so I'm going to celebrate with some Bluberry Wine and some Buffy.

Now for the checklist - so close, yet so far.............

• Stain the Vanity and add Hardware
• Remove Shower Tile / Add Shower Niche
• Replace the Shower Tile
• Replace Shower Fixtures
• New Shower Rod and Curtain
• Remove Floor TIle
• Replace Floor Tile
• Add Beadboard and Trim
• Replace Door Trim
• Paint
• Replace Sink Fixtures
• Replace Light Fixture
• Add Medicine Cabinets
• Add Shelves / Hooks / and Accessories

Guest Bathroom Update Round 3

HOLY HELL THAT WAS HARD!!!

Over the last few weeks I've begun the heavy lifting part of my bathroom redo beginning with DEMO TIME

Before I started each part of this, I gave myself a little pep talk and then began to swing away (telling myself that if I really messed up I could always hire a contractor).

First the shower came down - once I got the rythm of this it actually wasn't that bad....even though I slowly discovered that I would have to replace all of the backer-board because none of it was installed properly....even that went up without much of a problem.  I even got my nifty little niche in - no problems....easy street

And then - I started to try to take up the floor.............and the floodgates opened!!! What I thought was going to be a one day project, ended up taking 3 days.  At least I think I developed some good biceps muscles (at least in my right arm) but I spent those three days covered in dust, cursing every piece of flying tile, and thinking I had made a HUGE mistake.  But - when the dust settled (literally), and I put in the brand new backboard and vaccumed up all the remnants of the old - I was pretty damn proud of myself.

I don't know if I would ever take on pulling up a tile floor again - in fact I couldn't even bring myself to write this post until my new tile was sitting happily and snuggly on the floor (next time folks!) - but I came out the other side a much more confident DIYer.

Next post things will start to look a lot prettier I promise (Take a look at the Current project spot for a sneak peek!)

• Stain the Vanity and add Hardware
• Remove Shower Tile / Add Shower Niche
• Replace the Shower Tile
• Replace Shower Fixtures
• New Shower Rod and Curtain
• Remove Floor TIle
• Replace Floor Tile
• Add Beadboard and Trim
• Replace Door Trim
• Paint
• Replace Sink Fixtures
• Replace Light Fixture
• Add Medicine Cabinets
• Add Shelves / Hooks / and Accessories

Top Ten Favorite Things - Mid-Summer Round Up

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1. Lots of pool time - posted the good pic on facebook but I like this "outake"
2. Crayola trip #2 - can't believe how big this guy is getting
3. Farm CoOp - such a nice break to take the afternoons and get to pick beautiful flowers and veggies
4. Blake's 4th bday....the rain held out and we had another amazing party
5. Crayola trip #1 - can't believe how big this guy thinks he is

Bottom Row
6. After much anxiety, GOBs surgery day went by very smoothly and happy to report haven't had any ear problems for the last two weeks...fingers crossed!
7. Lots of backyard dance party time
8. Taking my boys to their first DCI show...Blake made it through 3 corps...shooting for 5 next year
9. First trip to Dorney Park in FOREVER and cannot wait to go back....this guy could have stayed at the water park all day
10. GIRLS NIGHT OUT! Love getting a night out of the house, but love these girls more

First official building project..............

I have taken the next step towards learning how to build actual, usable, 3D things!  I had wanted a set of really basic/classic white planters for the front porch since we moved it, but I was never able to easily find what I was looking for.  So once I officially crossed the line into cheapskate territory and started searching for any and all things I could DIY - I came across these plans for exactly what I was looking for and PRESTO!

Well, beforehand I got my hands on these two amazing babies which made the PRESTO so much easier

I just picked up two hanging baskets from Home Depot tonight so I could finally share them (we'll see how long I can keep these alive....I have already brought down some unkillable succulents with my black thumb).

I also decided to make a small change to my blog so I can keep my "avid" readers up to date on what else I have going on since I usually can't help but have less than 3 projects floating around at once so be sure to check out the right hand column for sneak peaks of my works in progress ---------------->

And check back tomorrow for a roundup of my favorite things that me and the boys have done so far this summer!!

Happy 4th Birthday Blake!!

I am now the mother of a 4 year old - that seems crazy!!!  I didn't seem like such a big deal until I started to say it out loud, but for some reason the jump from 3 - 4 feels incredibly huge.

As I'm sure anyone who has just gone through a Year 3 with their own child will understand, it's been a year of huge ups, and huge downs - but today and going forward I want to just focus on the ups...so here goes -

In the last year you've learned how to swim all by yourself;  you've learned to play soccer, basketball, and baseball;  you've made new friends and started to come out of your shell;  you continue to amaze me with your knowledge - just the other day you told me that "Charlotte is a spider" and "Wilbur is a Pig";  you've invented dance moves, helped Pappy plant a vegetable garden, and learned that you can have fun playing with your brother.  You continue to melt my heart with every "I love you" and make me laugh everyday.  For all of those reasons and more - I am incredibly proud of you and so happy that I have your smile to light up my life.

Happy Birthday to my Favorite 4 year Old!

I love you Blake

And for fun, here's some of my favorite party ideas from Blake's Hot Wheels Bday