Upstairs Guestroom

OK, so, here is the update to this post. It's really not finished, since we pretty much only painted, and didn't put in any finishing touches, like, shelves, pictures, knickknacks, etc. The room could also really use a dresser, but we just don't have one, so.... there. Here it is, the unveiling, such as it is.

One more before and after

This will be brief.
The downstairs guest room, before and after.

Glutton For Punishment

Can someone make me a t-shirt with that on it? That's what I am I think. We just finished the bathroom about a week ago (and still need to install a few tiles and some caulk) and last night we started painting the upstairs guest bedroom (aka, the baby's room). I don't call it that because I have a baby to put in it, but because the previous owners (who we took over for over 2 years ago, give or take) must have had a child in it. It was painted a sickly yellow. Have you ever read The Yellow Wallpaper? Well, if not, follow that link, and you will get what I mean about sickly yellow. So, its painted this yellow color, and it has a creepy border of victorian-esque teddy bears around the whole room. At about chest level. The promininent bears eyes seem to follow you. And he doesn't look happy to see you.

Well, they are gone. Last night, in preparation for my family's visit, I cleaned out the upstairs guest room, moved some furniture around, put nice new bedding on the bed, looked around and decided I couldn't handle the yellow anymore. Its been over two years.
So, last night, we begin to paint. I picked a color that had been rolling around in my head for a while, but I didn't have the balls to paint any other room that color. It's purple. The walls are a greyish purple though, and the trim is a very dark inky purple. I really quite like it. It's a color that I was rolling around in my head for a nursery too, so perhaps it won't have to be repainted if I ever get pregnant, I'll just need to add some flourishes to it.
But seriously. I hate painting. Rich claims that he just can't paint trim as well as I do, so that is ALWAYS my job. I always get to paint the trim. And thats the part I HATE! I have to be so careful.
So, I have tonight to finish it, really, since my parents arrive tomorrow night. Last night we painted the walls (but not to the edges, since I have to cut them in) and I got the window painted, and some of the baseboard. Damn. I am not looking forward to painting tonight, but I am looking forward to getting it done. Post painting shots to come.

Bathroom Renovation pt. 3 (conclusion)

OK, so its practically done. We have some finishing work (a few tiles, some caulking) and a few small items still to purchase (like the toothbrush holder, etc) but for the most part, its done. And not a moment too soon. My folks are coming down in a few weeks for the first time in about a year, so we wanted to have it done for when they got here. And so, without further ado:












Lots of blood, sweat, tears, recriminations, finger pointing, blame laying and all that, but it's so worth it. I was trying to go for a modern hotel/spa look.
So, what do you think?

What do you think of the bathroom reno?
	Looks fantastic! Great job!
	Its an improvement, but not my style.
	Are you blind? That's some serious ugly going on there
pollcode.com free polls

So frustrated I could cry

And no, oddly enough, its not TTC related.
We had to replace the shut-off valves under the sink, because they were too small for the lines from the faucet. Kinda bizarre, I thought that shit was standard, but no. So, we cannot finish the bathroom until that is done.
We had to turn off the main water line, and remove the old valves. Now, the new valves won't install properly. I don't get compression ring connections, I don't get how they work, so I can't help Rich. And he is getting frustrated as hell too, and no surprise there. He has been to the Depot about 4 times today. He's been trying to hook this up for ever.
I just want the goddamn thing done so we can put our house back in order. Its KILLING me.
If I ever write about wanting to do major renos again, please remind me how much misery this bathroom reno has gotten me.
F*ck.

You're gonna laugh

But we repainted the bathroom last night. After installing the toilet and the vanity, we had to repaint. The color that we had was just too saturated. Now we have the nice bluey-green-grey that I originally wanted. See, I wanted to not procrastinate, so when I found myself in a Canadian Tire (that's three home improvement stores mentioned in this blog now, for anyone who is counting) I picked a color that I thought was close to Mermaid Net, even though it wasn't a Behr color. Well, it was close, but not quite. So, when we were at the Depot yesterday looking for an effing adaptor for the stupid sink (another long story) and I saw the real color again, I decided we needed to repaint. Not a huge deal, just a waste of $30 and a few hours of my time. So the reno is still incomplete, and now the tank is leaking. Goddamn it. I think (hope) that its just that we didn't tighten the bolts that hold the tank to the bowl enough, but I am so scared to reef on the bolts and crack the tank. I have seen warnings of this repeatedly.

So, this blog can almost be renamed Climbing Mount Bathroom Renovation. Worry not faithful readers. We will return very soon to our regularly scheduled program of bitching and moaning about my pathetic baby-making equipment. And, as a small teaser, I almost cried yesterday when we passed by the CUTEST baby I have ever seen in the Depot.

This the reno that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends

I wish that we had undertaken this reno about 3 weeks from now, since that is when I will be in the thick of my 2ww. While the PMS combined with home improvement might have been enough to make me actually murder my husband, it sure would have killed the 2WW. The past 3 days have gone by in a blink.
Every time I think that we have overcome a huge challenge, another one comes around the bend. It's making me crazy.

• First, I thought, we'll never have the walls smooth enough to paint. Let me tell you, my standard dropped from "perfectly smooth" to "old house with character semi-smooth." Kinda like, venetian plaster, ya know?
• Then, I thought, this paint will never cover completely. And I hate to paint. Trimming in sucks (perfection level plummeted there too). But, Debbie Travis' paint ($27 a gallon at Canadian Tire) actually kinda covers like a dream. It's quality shit.
• Then I thought, this tile is never going to stick to the linoleum. Yes, we tiled over linoleum. But, so far, it's sure-as-stuck but good.
• Then, I thought, this grout is never going to go in (see post re: grout) but it did, and it looks good. Still have to wipe the haze of the tiles, but that will come.
• Then came the installation of the vanity. We had to measure and drill so many holes to first accommodate the drain pipe, and then the water supply lines. It was like a puzzle being fit together. I could see David Bowie laughing at me in the corner. [UPDATE: Perhaps the Labyrinth reference only makes sense to me. The thing is, getting this stuff done was like a series of challenges/puzzles/mazes that we had to work our way through, kinda like all the hoops that Jennifer Connelly had to jump through in Labyrinth, as David Bowie watched over her progress. At least I think thats how the movie went down] This resulted in the walls being barked quite viciously. Good thing I haven't even put away the paint yet.

And now, we install the sink top, and then the toilet. I am afeared that there isn't enough clearance between the edge of the bowl, and the edge of the vanity. This will prove to be another significant challenge, to be sure. At least Bowie has a pleasant Englishman's laugh...

The most physically challenged I have ever been (and I am awesome)

Not physically challenged as in the politically correct term for people who are "differently-abled", but as in, I have never pushed myself that far, physically. It was a challenge. You may have gleaned from my posts that I am a bit of a fattie. Yes, it's true. I think I have figured out that its not so much that I am a big eater (although I have been known to put the hurt on a pizza in my day) as much as I am not much of an exerciser. I know there are people (who some may call crazy) who challenge themselves daily, to make better time on that run, or to run farther, or to lift more, or to swim faster. I am not that person. I am a reader, not a lifter. I contemplate, I don't perspirate. Thus, making myself finish grouting that tile was a challenge. You may think, "bah, grouting tile, how hard can that be?" Well, let me tell you. It was hard. You have to mash (for lack of a better word) the grout deep into the spaces between the tile. And we picked 1-inch mosaic tile. That's a lot of spaces. About 1/4 of the way through, I said to myself "this is f*cking hard." About halfway through, I said "Crap, I don't know if I can finish this." Three-quarters of the way through, I thought, "Oh my god, if I was clinging on to the edge of a cliff for dear life, I don't think it would be as difficult as this to keep going."
But I did it. I was motivated. I want my pretty bathroom.
And now, we wait for the grout to set before we go in with the sponge to clean off the excess, and the film.

It had better be worth it.

And, tonight, and tomorrow night, and the night after that... I read.

Rona has redeemed itself (and Rich is awesome)

Well, not really. But, after looking at Lowe's, the Home Depot, and a specialty lighting store and not finding anything, we dragged our sorry asses into the Rona, because it was there, and we found it. The lighting fixture. And it was perfect. Aside from having the perfect modern, straight lines that echoed the lines of the faucet, and clean, modern, but not too severe glass globes, it was also less than $65. Perfect no? So damn pleased.
And, at this, the midway point of our bathroom renovation journey, I have to say a few things:

• the paint is a lot darker than I originally wanted, but I still like it. It's dra-ma-tic
• the walls aren't pristine, but, screw it, it's a 50-yr-old house
• I am in LOVE with the way the tiles look that we got for the floor (white, with white grout; I know, it will be a bitch to clean, but its going to look like the shit when its done)
• I HATED the laying of the tiles
• I am so excited about the cabinetry and how it's going to look against the blue walls and the white floor (it's shaping up to have a beach feel to it, and I am not fighting that. I love it. I want it to look like a resort spa just off the beach. Within my budget of course. Which is small. Really small. So don't expect too much from the after shots.)
  
• I am really hoping that I am not going to look like a total douche with no taste when I finally post pictures of the "after", because I am looking at it through rose-coloured goggles
  
• My husband is the greatest man alive.

See, I started laying the tiles, but after putting waaaay too much mortar under the first set, and having this muddy grey ooze smeared all over my beautiful white tiles, I started to freak out. I am a perfectionist, and it was not shaping up to be perfect at all. So, Rich, being the knight in shining armor that he is, finished the tiling job. And then cleaned up after too.
Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if I had shit shit shit luck for the rest of my life, because I used up all of my good luck chips scoring Richie. He has no idea how grateful I am that he asked me, in a drunken stupor, for my number, that night at the bar. Yeah, yeah, we met at a bar. What of it?
For so many more reasons than laying tile, he is an honest-ta-ga blessing.
The tile is setting in its mortar right now, and as of 6pm tomorrow night, I can grout it, and then we can start installing the toilet and vanity. It seems like it is all on track to be done for Monday. Fingers crossed.

Lowe's rocks my world!

We have an older house that we are renovating. And, like Frank the Tank, we often have big day[s] tomorrow at the Home Depot. I should really shop at the Rona, since its Canadian owned and operated, but, they don't have the selection that the Depot has, and they also aren't really that close to us. The Depot is quite close by.

However, as we drove around Hamilton today, going to our favourite discount flooring store, we drove past a Lowe's. I think its the first in the Hamilton area. I thought, what the hell, we need a big tub to mix our mortar in, lets swing by. It's right on the way. So, we pull up, and I feel a little Canadian guilt. It looks just like any other hardware store in the summer. Brand-new BBQs lined up like soldiers in Summer's Army, racks of hanging plants. Typical. Then, we go inside.

(Cue choirs of angels singing).

The selection is fan-frickin-tastic. SO many more bathroom vanities, bathroom fixtures, bathroom ANYTHING than the Depot. More choices in Lighting too (although we didn't find what we wanted) Just so much MORE to choose from. Not so long ago, I was looking for shelving for the kitchen. Wanted some nice brackets. Couldn't find them anywhere. Guess what Lowe's had? TONS of them. Gorgeous.
Just off the paint section, my heart broke a little (in a good way) at the selection of kids room décor that they had. Precious little jeweled tie-backs for a girls room, coordinated curtains.
The house numbers they had? Beautiful, again. Huge selection.
I have also scoured the stores for a nice mailbox, something a little different. Couldn't find anything anywhere. UNTIL LOWE'S! We are going back as soon as we recover from the financial outlay for the bathroom, and getting new numbers and a new mailbox. Gorgeous.
Just awesomeness all around.
And THEN, the pièce de résistance...

Salespeople to help us.

You don't have to run around, looking for an "associate" who isn't besieged by 12 other customers. There's these little buttons you press, and an über-pleasant automated voice says "Associate to Decorative Lighting/Paint/Millwork/etc."
It was awesome.
Then, I was spontaneously asked if I needed help by an "associate" as I caught her eye for the briefest of moments.
It was like the purest, most beautiful experience at a home improvement store that I have ever had.

The prices seemed pretty on par with other places. Although, I know that I am still OK with the fact that we bought our vanity and sink at IKEA. Saved a bundle there.
So, I am a bad, bad Canadian, but hey, I like finding what I need easily.

Ah, Lowe's. I love you almost as much as I hate my uterus.
I don't mean it uterus. You just frustrate me sometimes

Bathroom Renovation pt. 2

OK, this is it. This weekend is it. We have 4 days wide open, and we need to get this shit done. Here are some shots of the before. That wallpaper goes all the way to the ceiling. As in, ON the ceiling. This is the before we even moved in:



















We have some big plans for this space. Actually, not really. My style is pretty understated, and not too flashy. Not to mention, we plan on selling one day, and need it to be kinda neutral.
Check back here on Tuesday for updated shots. It might not be completely done (ie, staged) but the majority of it should be done. Walls painted, floor installed, toiled in, vanity installed, light fixtures installed. All that jazz.

I will be very disappointed in us if we don't get it done.

I think this is the sink cabinet we are going to go with at the moment (we changed our minds since the last bathroom reno post), but this other one is an option too.
















What do you think? I like the color of the darker on better, but I don't like that it has cut outs instead of handles. Its a tough decision.

This Just In: home improvements can put a strain on a marriage

I'm not going to come out of this post looking like the good guy. And that's OK. This is me, warts and all.

To the right of the office where I sit at this very moment, is the bathroom. And emanating from that bathroom is the sound of aggressive sanding and indignant grunting, and the smell of drywall putty dust.

You see... we are updating our bathroom. And we are doing it ourselves. We are smart capable people, and we have access to the internet. We can do anything. We remodeled our kitchen by ourselves*, so we can handle the bathroom.

Right?

Well, technically, yes.

The thing is. I am a bit of a perfectionist, especially when it comes to home repairs. I mean, this mess of wood, brick and glass is an investment. I want a good return on that investment. I know what I see when I go to open houses, and I know what people are going to see when they eventually come see ours†. My long-suffering husband (and I say this with only a smidge of sarcasm, because it can be hard to deal with a perfectionist, I admit this. it IS hard to be me sometimes.) doesn't see things the same way I do.
The walls in our bathroom were in bad shape. Especially once we chipped off all the old tile that was on there previously, leaving behind gobs of mastic. I suggested that we take it down to the studs, throw up new drywall, and then go from there.
My husband disagreed. He wanted to just putty the shit out of it and then sand it smooth. I did not win that argument, and he has spent a large part of a lot of evenings and weekends puttying and sanding the walls. Today he tells me that we are near to priming. Very exciting. I can't wait to paint. I have picked a brilly color, "Mermaid Net" from Behr. (The color isn't quite true on the monitor; trust me, gorgeous)
He knows I am a perfectionist, so he wanted me to look at it before we prime....

A Tragedy in One Act:

• E: walks into bathroom to survey the handiwork
• R: waits nervously in living room
• E: (says sweetly) "Do you mind if I use a pencil to mark the places that need work?"
• R: (says sourly, with a bitter twist to his pretty mouth) "Yeah, sure."
• E: marks a few blatantly obvious imperfections on the walls, leaving a LOT unmarked, because they will probably be behind cabinetry/toilet anyway
• R: walks into bathroom and exclaims "What the fuck is this??? What the FUCK is this?? Arrows? You used arrows."
  
• E: "Listen, you wanted to do it the hard way, so we are doing it the hard way, but I am not going to let it look like shit."
• R: gives E a vicious cut-eye, and storms into bathroom
• E: goes into office to post to blog

I know, I am a big meanie. Posting on the internet while my poor husband sweats in the bathroom. But hey, if we had done it the way I wanted to, there would have been a lot less tears.
I just heard deep, try-not-to-kill-her-because-prison-is-no-fun breaths coming from the bathroom.


*Home Depot installed our cabinets though. Great job HD.
† Although we aren't selling any time soon.

Bathroom Renovation

So, when we bought this place about 3 years ago, our first priority was the kitchen. It was a freakin disaster. It was in the kind of shape that I imagine Mama Texas-Chainsaw- Massacre's kitchen was in. Not in the streaked- with-the-blood-of- innocents kind of disaster, just really badly maintained. I mean, she couldn't keep an immaculate modern appointed kitchen when she was busy helping her homicidal family kill the oversexed teenagers that wandered in their vicinity. Her priorities were skewed, if you ask me. At any rate, the kitchen took almost a year to finish completely. And to be honest, there is still some finishing that needs to be done. But, I have curtains up in there, decorative crap on top of the shelves, under-cabinet lighting, its not bad.
What you see here is the after, but I think (I hope) you already knew that. For my first home renovation, I am pretty darned happy with the way that it all turned out. And, for anyone thats ever wondered what the f*cking point of a blog is, well, it just got me to clean up my kitchen. It had to be clean for the after shots. So, Kitchen is done-ish. We've moved on to the bathroom now, in case you'd forgotten since we moved passed the title of this post.

After we did the kitchen, I told myself that any more majo renos would be done by a contractor. But, here we are 2 years and a bit later, and we are tackling the bathroom. Our original plan was to rip it all out to the studs and start over. Since we've decided to move though, we've scaled back the plan. We have a hideous mauve sink and tub. We can't really easily replace the tub, so we are going to have to drop what I think is way too much money to get bathfitters in here to cover it. Once that's done though, it really won't be that tough to do the rest. We've already taken out the toilet and the vanity. Rich is, at this very moment, sanding the walls and readying them for plastering. We have to cover them with drywall compound so they can be smooth again. They were covered in tiles. We only left tiles around the tub. They are a weird oyster color, so I won't find anything to match them, but I think I have worked out a new color scheme that should work. More on that later. Gotta love the mauve eh? The wall paper used to be a busy flowered pattern of mauve flowers on a white background. The ceiling was papered. Why... So, this is the before. And I'll be sure to post the Afters Later.

What do you think of the proposed color scheme? Thats the actual vanity we plan to buy.