Master Bath Reveal

It's finally done.

The bathroom we've waited for for 2 1/2 years.

We live in a different state than all of our extended family. Which means, when anyone comes to visit they are staying in our home. And with one [you read that right] bathroom, it just wasn't as "hospitable" around here as we would have hoped.

Throw in the fact that the current bathroom is pretty much caving in, but a remodel would mean showering at friends' houses and running to the nearest convenient store for a toilet... It was time for a master bath!

Boy did I have fun designing this room! It used to be our "cloffice" (Closet/Office) so we were literally starting with nothing! I loved dreaming up anything and everything, while working with the challenge of 2 fully windowed walls. 

That's right. Windows in the bathroom. 90% of the reason I loved this house when we bought it was the huge, beautifully trimmed, original windows. And I just couldn't bear the thought of REMOVING any of them. So, we made it work!

Here are some pictures of the "cloffice" after clearing things out for our biggest Demo Day yet.
 

After taking out the floors and drywall behind the shower we had the plumbing roughed in, then  started with the tile. I knew we wanted to do white hex floors because we have the original white hex in our existing bathroom and I wanted this one to fit the period of the rest of the house.

For the shower, I wanted to match the muted tones and compliment the antique white walls and greige trim that has become the color palate for the bedrooms. But, because of the size of the room I wanted it to have a little more dimension than the popular white subway. So, Carerra Marble Subway it was! [Also: Please check out the cherubs on that wallpaper. I resisted the urge to pull some off and from them.]

So, while this was going on in the bathroom, I was scouring Craigs List for a vanity...

Which I then painted navy, removed the top, rebuilt the supports, and had a countertop installed. (All while A was out of town. That's right. I mastered the Sawzall.) 

Now, we had to paint and have the fixtures installed. I couldn't resist pairing some brushed gold (or champagne bronze, or 100 other  names because every company is so creative) with that navy, despite the risk of looking a little "80's reno". WOW am I glad we made the choice to go with gold!!!

Next, we installed blinds, mirrors, and cut the drawers to fit around the plumbing. Originally I wanted mirrors that hung from the ceiling, but our sinks sit back on the vanity because of the lip at the front and we didn't want the mirror to block space over the sink. A ended up engineering a bracket system, and they turned out amazing!

Then the shower door got here, the hardware showed up... and we can finally say it's FINISHED*!!!!

(*Is any project really ever "done"?)

Drumroll please....

Until the next one...

One year later

You know what's harder than refurbishing a house by yourself? Remembering to blog about refurbishing a house by yourself.

Life lately:

(window glazing, pane replacing, storm window donating)

(trim sanding, plaster repairing, wall painting)

(Fence designing, inventive constructing, dog out-smarting)

(Weed wacking, shrub removing, brush dumping)

(rod spraying, curtain barganing, privacy gaining)

(light hunting, re-wiring, fixture hanging)

Along with loving, laughing, and friend making. Because those are the things that make a house a home.

(Ok... that photo was not at our house, but you get the idea.)

What have you been up to at your house? We want to see it! Link up in the comments.

To an early resolution of blog posting,

Knock, Knock

Mr. and I were very anxious to make a change that was noticeable. Something that said to our neighbors, "we are here and we are turning this place around!" So they'd be happy we moved in. Maybe offer to help us move heavy things. 

After a little bit of pinning, lots of walking the dogs through the neighborhood while gathering ideas from other homes, and a door full of paint swatches for a week, we settled on making our big statement by painting our front door yellow. "Soft Duckling" to be exact. I know Mr. loved that. 

Before:

But the problem was, our door was so BORING. So we had three options:

1. Purchase a new door at Lowe's (womp, womp)

2. Search every scrap place we could find until we came across just the right one (who knows how long that will take)

3. Make some changes to our boring door to make it better (we have a winner!)

We did a little research on "craftsman doors" and decided on a look we liked. So, we started with another trip to Lowes. (Not sponsored, but I'm pretty brand loyal if you're interested... Just saying.) 

Materials:

• One sheet of beadboard (or wainscot). It was cheaper to get the white one, so we did that and it worked great. Also, they are huge. Still trying to decide what to make out of the extra.
• Two pieces of chair rail moulding, with a groove on the inside (picture below). If you think you might mis-cut, go ahead and save yourself a trip and get three (learn from my mistakes, people).

• Circular Saw
• Miter Saw (or, if you are like the Mr. and don't have one of these yet use your circular saw, electric sander, and a WHOLE BUNCH of patience)
• Finish Nails
• Nail Gun
• Wood Filler

How To:

• After sanding and priming the door, measure and draw the rectangle for your embellishment. If adding a kick plate, you will want to allow for at least 6 inches. We also included two inches above and below the kick plate-- so I started my rectangle at 11 inches above the bottom of the door. Our measurements were 32"x23.25".
  
  
  
  
  
• Measure these dimensions MINUS the width of the lip of your trim (probably .25") on the back (smooth side) of your beadboard. I measured 21.75"x23". And maybe if you let your Mr. buy a cool new saw with a laser he will cut it for you.

• Using your nail gun, attach the beadboard to your door. You will see Mr. using a scrap as his guide to make sure all of the nails are far enough back to be hidden by the trim. Great idea, hubs!

• Measure your trim to the original length (2 pieces at 29.5", 2 pieces at 23.25"). Miter each edge to 45 degrees. If they are not exact, don't sweat it! We'll fix that later.
• Attach these to the border, nailing on the thinnest part of the trim. You will want to lay it out first and leave the pieces there as you attach each one to make sure there are no major gaps.

(The sides in this picture have not been finished or nailed yet, but you get the idea)

• When everything has been attached, use your wood filler to fill in any gaps or nail holes. It will look rough at first but that is okay! We will smooth it out once it is dry.

 

• Now, if you are anything like me this is the worst part! Watching wood filler dry. Wait according to the directions on your wood filler. Fortunately, I had other projects to occupy my time. More on that later.
• When everything is dry (WOO!) use a light grit sandpaper to stand the wood filler by hand. Don't go crazy or you'll take too much off and have to wait all over again. Not that I would know. You just want to sand enough so that it is smooth with the trim and will not show once the door has been painted.
• Prime the new addition to your door, then paint the whole thing. Use a foam brush to get in the crevices of the beadboard.

Voila! 

So much better! I can't wait to see it against some freshly painted trim...

 Happy door-dazzling!

Have you done anything to your front door? We love that curb appeal! Link in the comments so we can check it out!