Bathroom Reno Sneak Peek

I think I've teased you long enough. Honestly, I was hoping it would be done by now. So close though.

Let's remember what we started with, shall we. First reaction, no way. Second thought, hmm this could be fun. Here's my first post with our ideas.

We decided we'd take care of the painting ourselves. What were we thinking? Kidding, sort of. But I've taken on this task and I warn you, it is tedious.

The timeline so far:

• Fill all one thousand plus nail holes with wood filler, let dry
• Sand, sand, and sand some more. And wear a mask because it sure gets dusty. 
• Prime
• Find a few nail holes you missed while getting ready for bed, fill those
• Sand the trim and walls again with a high grit sand paper. I love the sand paper blocks.
• Prime again (on a Friday night).
• Paint the ceiling the following morning
• Second coat on the ceiling
• Prime the top half of the walls
• Take a break and enjoy life
• Wake up Sunday, sand again.
• Paint the board and batten (first coat)

Phew, it's been a lot of work. I have to sand once more and add one more coat of paint on the board and batten. We went with Pure White (Sherwin Williams) in an eggshell finish. I realized last week that if I used the trim paint we've been using in other rooms, the entire lower half of the wall would just be way too shiny. So back to the store we went - Sherwin Williams is running a paint and painting supply sale through October 31st so we took advantage of that. Also - in a bathroom, make sure to choose a paint that resists mold and mildew well.

Then comes the fun part, picking out the color for the top half of the walls!  I threw a few samples we already owned up on the walls - Chelsea Gray (Benjamin Moore) on the left, Greyish (Sherwin Williams) on the right. And have decided ones too dark while the other's too light. But I can't say we don't like the idea of something on the darker side...what do you think?

This project has certainly been a dream (and a major headache at times for sure). I never thought I'd have the opportunity to design my own bathroom this early into owning a home. I didn't think I'd be doing any major renovations just yet! But that's the path we've chosen, and I have learned so much from it. The house just needs a little TLC! ;) The final stages of the bathroom renovation take place this week - installing the shower glass. Then we will be able to finish the room. And I'll share the rest of the details and fixtures then. 

Stay tuned!

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Just Like New

Hello Monday. Don't you always sneak up on us. This weekend actually went by at what seems like the right speed. If that makes any sense. We were able to get things done around the house, head out to the bar to watch the Red Sox win (!!), and have family over for the Pats game Sunday. And let me just say, how ridiculous was that call?! I don't get it. Players pushing each other had no impact on the fact that the Jets kicker missed the field goal. Missed it! Ugh, how frustrating.

Anyways, end rant. 

When we moved into our new home, there was something we were seriously lacking. Furniture. Sure, we had our bedroom set and living room furniture from the city. But that's about it. And buying everything brand new was not in the cards. 

We have spent a fair amount of time searching Craigslist. Why not? Although it can take time - we've lost out on several items - it can also be totally worth it. For example, our "new" dining room table. I've mentioned it before, I know. But it's probably my favorite Craigslist find to date. 

This is embarrassing, but when we first got the table, I used pledge wipes to clean it. And that's it. Since then it's been wipe downs with a sponge. We rarely eat at it since it's just the two of us. But this weekend, baby got a good cleaning. And wow, what a difference. 

Look at that shine! 

I knew I needed to be careful. I didn't want to use anything too harsh because the table is solid wood, built at least 40 years ago. So after a little bit of online research, I went with with what I had on hand: equal parts white vinegar and Meyers all purpose cleaner, mixed with hot water. And I used a face cloth to wipe down the furniture. I had picked up the Meyers for $1 on a whim at Target one day. Best $1 spent!

I took this photo after the combo worked wonders. And yes, look at that water! Ew.

Another reason I broke out this all natural wood cleaner? J and I have inherited a few pieces of furniture from my grandparents house. We are so grateful for this! If there's anything I've learned since moving and looking at furniture, items built 40+ years ago were built to last. I have a totally new opinion of furniture sold today at some of the major name stores. So you want to sell me a veneer topped table for thousands of dollars? No thanks.

Here's a look at the bureau we brought home from my grandparents house, pre cleaning:

And all of the drawers...

Snagged that awesome mirror at my grandparents' too and am planning to hang it above the bureau.

And after cleaning:

Let me repeat myself, look at that shine!

Would you guess how old this furniture is? It's looks just like new!

I was beyond impressed with this almost all natural cleaner (Meyers' ingredients are at least 98% naturally derived, according to their website) so I just had to share. I will certainly be using it more often. Already have on the sideboard we recently picked up from Craigslist! But that's a story for another day. 

I couldn't stop myself Saturday. I found myself scrubbing all of the kitchen cabinets with this mix too. I love that the house didn't reek of chemicals nor are surfaces we eat off of covered in anything toxic. 

What do you use for all natural cleaners?

White vinegar has so many amazing uses. I use it when washing towels and cleaning our hardwood floors too!

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Number Cruncher

Yes, that's me. I spend my weekdays doing accounting work for a private company and my nights and weekends crunching numbers for our household. It's not a chore to me, it's what I like to do.

I've contemplated putting together a post on the time value of money. What is that? It's what the pros use to calculate any loan you might have - mortgage, car loan, etc. It's the amortization schedule of payments - principal and interest - they show you. And it is an incredibly helpful tool to know how to use. I'd be lying if I said it was super complex. If you have any interest in a post like this please let me know. I would be thrilled to throw a little number knowledge at ya! Nerd alert.

Anyways, I'm getting sidetracked. And I have one more sidenote before I get to the meat of this post. I happened to catch this opinion post on CNN and just had to share it. My favorite quote from it being,

"Competence, meanwhile belongs to the women, particularly in the usually macho world of global finance. Over in Europe, Merkel was re-elected on the basis of her deft handling of the eurozone crisis, and in the United States, monetary policy was entrusted to [Janet] Yellen. Making the victory extra sweet for women, she was chosen instead of Lawrence Summers, who will forever be remembered for saying women aren't that good at math."

Oh yes. We aren't very good at math at all. Let me ask you a question, Beyonce. Who runs the world? Girls.

So, back to regularly scheduled post. While getting rooms painted and furnished is really important, sometimes it's the little projects that make our new house feel more like a home. Pictures definitely do this. I've mentioned these Etsy pictures before. It all started with the artichoke, I had to have it in my house.

I knew I wanted to hang all four pictures in a row, evenly spaced apart. What does that require? Math! This was not a gallery wall I could wing, unlike the bedroom one I put together the weekend before. This was in a high traffic area and needed to be perfect.

I started by measuring the length of the bar unit the frames would be hung above (which was actually 71.5 inches), as well as the distance to the crown molding. Then, I measured the frames, which were 13x16. Four 13" frames would take up 52 inches. My original calculation above gave 5 inches between the frames but I decided that was too much and went with 4 inches instead. The outside frames were hung 3.75 inches in from the edges of the Besta (IKEA) unit and voila, 4 level, evenly spread out frames. (Don't be fooled, there are a few extra nail holes behind a couple of the frames...)

Next up in crunching numbers over here, finding the best deal. We were down to two rooms that still needed rugs, the dining room and living room. Columbus Day sales meant it was time to rip the bandaid off and finish a few home purchases. I've done my best to browse rug sales almost weekly, hoping I'd find something I love for pennies. If you've researched rugs, you know that they don't come cheap. But knowing what's a good price to pay is definitely valuable knowledge.

I started my living room rug selection not quite sure what direction I wanted to go in. Masculine, with a den feeling? Or light and airy? Well, then I came across this rug, asked Jay what he thought, to which he replied yes (shocked is an understatement), and my decision was made. Especially since we have a white haired pup. Light for the win!

I decided it was worth checking one of my favorite sites for this same rug. I've definitely seen it before and wanted to make sure I paid the best price.

Well Joss & Main had it, but the closest size was more than the Overstock price. That's settled.

And here she is! Not the greatest photo, but it was dark out and the living room needs the most work. And now I have lots of incentive to get things together - thinking cream walls and maybe a navy contrast wall. Maybe? That would be very bold for me but I love the idea of it.

An 8x10 wool rug for less than $300? Now that is a steal!

Where do you check for online home decor deals?

Any site that wants to give me a great price and free shipping is right up my alley. I've spent a fair amount of time on the following sites while attempting to decorate our new home: Overstock, Joss & Main, One Kings Lane, Target, Etsy, Home Depot


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Window Reflections: Looking Back

Although we've been spending our free weekends working on our new home, there are times where we stop and think what the heck did we get done? Because even the littlest projects seem to take time. I love when someone who's seen this home since the beginning stops by and notices how far it has come. Because living in it, sometimes it's hard to remember where we started. Even though we see it everyday, or maybe because.

We spent our Saturday afternoon filling nail holes, priming, and painting the window trim in our master bedroom. A job I've procrastinated for months. And while we were happy to have it done, it seemed kind of menial and routine. In order to feel a bit more satisfied with our work, I looked back at a few photos of where we started. Umm, I kind of forget how bad it was at first. Shall we take a trip down memory lane?

Before

In Progress

Today

Like I said, looking back, part of me cannot believe what a wreck the bedroom we bought was! But I've really loved being able to make all the decisions, as stressful as it can be at times. And I'm so impressed with J's carpentry skills. Seriously. So thankful. Obviously there's still a lot left to do, like finishing the nightstands...but we'll get there. And I'll keep looking back at the before photos for inspiration to keep going. Somedays it's needed.

Wrote this post, signed onto Pinterest, found this quote.....perfect timing?

via Pinterest

How was your weekend? 

Do tell!

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House Updates: A Sneak Peek

I owe you an overall house update but life has been too busy lately. And so therefore, I haven't taken any updated photos yet. Hopefully I can get my act together soon, but for now let's focus on some new details around here.

I have been doing my very best to only buy good deals. But not to buy something just because it's a good deal. It has to be something I love for one hell of a steal. With so many rooms to fill, I need to stretch our dollars as far as possible. Otherwise, we'll only have one finished room and a whole bunch of empty spaces for the next year or two while I save up.

After searching high and low for a shade option for our master bedroom, I went with these. We have 4 windows in our bedroom and they are 3 different sizes. So I had to find something that came in all 3 sizes because I didn't want to pay the higher prices for the cut to size ones. Like I said, deals only. So bamboo shades it was for us. (Plus, this post really swung my decision towards the look of bamboo).

Thank you Autumn for your amazing affordable finds series. I bought this steal of a mirror and also found great prices on curtains for our bedroom. I haven't decided where to hang the mirror yet but either way, Kirklands for the win!

I've given myself a [small] budget to finalize our family room. It's the room that's has been closest to "finished" so I've decided to get 'er done. I will definitely post a before & after and source list but let's just say that Target's Threshold and Nate Berkus lines are a godsend. Here are a few close-ups of the layers I've added to our family room.

I painted our dining room this weekend. And it feels so good to have another room cleanly painted. After many failed samples painted all over the walls I decided to just wing it. I knew the color I was going to go for, now just to find it and get it in the right hue. We have low ceilings here, so I realized when testing out paints that I needed to go lighter than I imagined, and to trust that it would look slightly darker in our space. Have you ever actually sat at the table you find within the paint section? That was me Saturday. I took my time, looked at many colors, reviewed them with a piece of white paper behind them, and eventually made a decision on the spot. Benjamin Moore Soft Fern for the win. Bye bye yellow!

Now I cannot wait to get the kitchen painted.

How was your weekend?

Even though we had no actual plans, we were insanely busy this weekend. And it felt really good. We got our long training run in, the dining room got painted, the lawn is raked clean of moss and seeded, the pool's closed, and some of the front beds are weeded. Our backs are now aching and we're exhausted but it feels great to have gotten so much done.

Happy Monday!

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Bathroom Reno: Lighting

Thanks to a weekend jam packed with getting things done and enjoying the last few days of summer, I took yesterday off from blogging. I hope you got to enjoy the close to perfect weather we had this weekend. I may have spent an hour or so floating around our pool yesterday afternoon, completely and utterly relaxed. It was just so nice out!

What allowed me to feel so relaxed yesterday and not guilty for taking a bit of me time? We fit our training run in Saturday morning, got a bunch of errands done, and even finally finished unpacking the office. Ahh, it felt good. It always feels good to get something accomplished, doesn't it?

Lets get back on track, shall we? With the tile ordered (and in!), the vanity on its way, and the electrical work done this weekend, it's time to choose lighting. Vanity lighting specifically. We've decided to go with two separate vanity mirrors so that we can install side lighting. (These pictures here and here were very helpful).

I failed to mention above but Saturday we also ordered all of the bathroom fixtures. First of all, I am in love with everything that we ordered which I guess is most important. But what a racket! I understand that every fixture is its own expense but seriously, I need to order 5 separate pieces for the shower head/hose?! And another 4 for the temperature gage and to be able to turn the water on/off. They seriously get you.

While all of our fixtures were ordered in polished chrome, our taste is fairly transitional. The shower design may be somewhat modern, but I was really drawn to the more classic faucets and rustic vanities. So the question is, what do I do for lighting? I'm considering straying away from a polished chrome light fixture. There is going to be a whole lot of shiny metal in the bathroom between the double sinks and double shower heads. Potentially even from the mirror hardware (also getting ordered asap).

Here are a few lighting options I'm considering between:

Vanity Lighting by talkative-tlc

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Decision to be made soon! 

Would you mix and match metals? Or go with all the same?

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How to Dry Fresh Herbs

A few weeks ago I shared my experience with growing fresh herbs (here). Well, why not dry some fresh herbs too?

At the end of June, I came home from a bachelorette party to find a gallon ziploc bag of fresh herbs on my counter. Oregano, to be exact. I turned to J and said, "What the heck do I do with this?!" Uh, you dry it Trace. Right. Let's blame that on the late night.

Fresh herbs tend to grow in such abundance it's hard to keep up with them! So I was happy to take some off my in-laws hands. I had a fairly good idea of what I needed to do to dry the oregano but a google search never hurts. I used this site for reference.

You'll need a paper bag or two and twine to air out the herbs. Note that this method is good for oregano, but not great for a high moisture herb like basil.

After making sure the herbs were clean, I tied bunches of 4-6 branches together with the twine. 

I ended up with 5 bunches which I split up between two paper bags so that none were touching. I poked holes on the 4 sides of each bag for extra ventilation and then stuck the bags in our office for a couple weeks to dry. Forget they're there (kinda like I did), and let them completely dry out.

After a couple weeks they should look like this.

After removing the dried leaves from the branches I quickly realized I needed to add a step in. The dried leaves were just too big to be used a seasoning.

A quick turn through the Magic Bullet certainly did the trick.

I picked these spice jars up during a recent visit to the Crate & Barrel Outlet. A real steal at $2.

And viola! Enough fresh dried oregano to last the year. And I just love that it came from a local garden.

I think I'm going to need to check out the process for drying out basil next. It seems to grow like weeds so why not save some of it for the off season?

Question: Have you grown any herbs this summer? What's your favorite recipe to use fresh herbs in? I don't know about you, but I am a huge fan of caprese salad with fresh basil. 

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Master Bathroom Renovation - the Before, the Details

Today is the start of our big, huge, most expensive project we'll do on this house for a long time, master bathroom renovation! Confession - I'm totally freaking out!!

Yes, I have a million ideas swirling through my head and have a very good sense of what I want, but now it needs to be definite. What we choose cannot be undone. Gah! I can be very indecisive at times, lots of what ifs, so this project is major. It's not just painting the walls and wanting to repaint. No, I cannot change the layout, the tile choice, the vanity options, the fixtures, etc once they're installed. They will be here for good.

Here's what we are working with right now. I was having a hard time visualizing the size of the shower we'll be putting in so I taped off both the size of the standard tub shower, and the size of the larger shower we've decided to go with.

And here's a very simple amateur drawing of the plans... the shower and vanity will run along the same wall

Lastly, here's what we're thinking for tiles...

• 12x24 Dark Grey floor tiles
• 2x2 Dark Grey shower floor tiles
• 8x20 White/Grey shower wall tiles

We've decided to use porcelain for the tiles. All of them. I absolutely love the look of marble, but really didn't want to have to worry about maintaining it, nor was the price tag all that fun to calculate. Thankfully you can find porcelain in a variety of textures and shades these days to imitate the finer stones. I think we had a similar approach in our tile decisions as Lindsey did here. She's much better at explaining it than I am (and so much more experienced than us!).

Originally, I wanted a lighter shower floor which is why there are various smaller tiles on the left side of the picture above. But then I saw this bathroom renovation and changed my mind completely. I loved the cleaner look of using the same floor tile throughout. I realized that the bathroom could look very cramped very easily if I add in too many colors, patterns, textures, etc so we'll keep the tile simple.

I spent some time yesterday walking around The Tile Shop, and while I wasn't super impressed with their selection (honestly, I spent the whole time comparing what they had to what I'd already picked out and couldn't find anything I liked better - huge relief, going with my original selection) I so appreciated the numerous bathrooms you could walk through for inspiration. It really does help to see what your tile selection could potentially look like. Plus, they just might have been the nicest sales persons ever. Here's one I found using similar colors to us...

And another bathroom that caught my eye...

And I'm really liking the dark grey cabinets here...that is the next decision!

And here's one I found which kinda/sorta shows you what it looks like to use the same tile for the bathroom floor and shower floor - just using different sizes.

When you're picking tile for the shower floor, you need to pick a tile that is 2x2 or smaller. This is because the shower floor needs to be pitched towards the drain. It really wouldn't be good to have standing water in your shower, so being able to adjust the pitch of the floor is necessary. And smaller tile works best (bigger tiles would just end up cracking - not good). But the less grout to clean, the better really (in my opinion) so we'll stick with the larger tiles for the bathroom floor and the smaller tiles only within the shower portion. Plus, if you haven't looked at tiles before, I warn you - small tiles can be crazy expensive!

Now that the demo has started, here's what's in the line-up for our bathroom renovation:

• Demo current space - repair ceiling, open up the walls for plumbing and electricity, move current door frame over to make room for a vanity
• Bring in a plumber to fit for pipes - pipes will connect through the guest bathroom (which is through the far wall on in the pictures above). We are purposelly going with this layout so that a) we don't need to pull pipes up through the kitchen ($$$$) and b) there are no pipes along the exterior wall (very risky in the New England winters...)
• Bring in electrician to wire for new lighting, fan/vent system
• Order tiles for bathroom floor, shower floor, shower walls
• Order custom shower glass for interior shower wall, door, pony wall on vanity side
• Order double sink vanity and decide on countertop material
• Order sink and shower fixtures (currently thinking rain shower head like this, and hand held)
• Order a toilet (I'll let J handle that....maybe...)
• Decide on overhead or side lighting around vanity
• Pick out paint color for walls
• Accessorize!

If I'm missing anything major in my list above, well that's why we've hired a contractor for this job. Ha! We've decided to let the pro's handle this bathroom since there is just so much work to do. And J and I plan to tackle a guest bathroom reno later this year since it already has a footprint to follow/upgrade. But this won't happen until our master bathroom is fully functional (and will be the only full bathroom while we reno the guest bathroom). 

I'll keep you posted along the way. I can't believe it's actually/finally happening!

Happy Monday!

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Fresh herbs, take 1

When we moved at the very end of May I told myself no garden. Not this year. There was just way too much to do and I knew a garden wouldn't survive. Plus, we were late to the game in planting.

But there's nothing like fresh herbs really. And during an afternoon trip to the Christmas Tree Shop, I found myself drawn to the cutest little herb pots. At $2.99 a piece, I figured why not. Yes, it was 3 weeks into June and who knew how quickly they'd grow. But I decided to give it a go. And even better, when I went to pay, they rang in at $.75 each! Now that just cannot be beat.

There were 4 options to purchase - Chives, Parsley, Basil, and Cilantro. I went with the first 3, I am one of those people who just cannot stand Cilantro. So no, I wouldn't be growing it for just J. Gross.

I followed the instructions as recommended - grabbing a bowl to mix the soil and measuring out the specified water needed.

The jars came with a soil pod within them. This was the craziest thing! It would literally quadruple in size once water hit it. I made sure to take a video when prepping the second jar but for some reason I cannot get it to upload for the life of me. :(

Once the soil was done growing I mixed it up well, added 80% of it back into the jar, dumped in the envelope of seeds, covered with the remaining soil, and crossed my fingers.

Something I've never done before but found incredibly helpful with these herbs - watering using a spray bottle. I keep it right next to the sink (where these are growing) and spray daily. This keeps you from over watering, and has really worked well for the parsley and basil. Sadly, the chives didn't take as well.

In just under a month the herbs have far surpassed my expectations. Maybe I do have a green thumb!? Next step, I'll be transplanting the basil into a bigger pot. As you can see in the photo above, it has outgrown it's baby jar. I cannot wait to use these fresh herbs when prepping meals.

How about you, do you have a green thumb? What is your favorite plant to tend to? What is the easiest? My mom will be giving us a few perennials to add to our yard and I am SO afraid I won't be able to keep them alive. Any tips are greatly appreciated!

Oh, and stay tuned! This post is take 1 for a reason. More herb stories to come. :)

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