Tile

Hey folks, progress has been made!

We're starting to see a glimmer of the finishes on the bathroom. David is still busy at work under the house, but with any hope, that will be done by the end of the day. He laid some of the hardiboard in order to finish the toilet piping, and then laid out some tile to get an idea of how it will work with the seams. it's all very technical, so just take a look.

Bunny really liked the hardiboard. She was chasing the screwheads and rolling around on the chalky surface. I don't have the heart to tell her it's only temporary.

Also, that isn't the tile pattern we are using, or even all the colors. David grabbed what was handy, but you will see some of this again!

As for the pattern...

We realized belatedly that we didn't have exact measurements when we made this diagram months ago. You can see where we had to do a little reconfiguration. It would be nice if we could get the 5x10 to work out this smoothly, but at 5'6'' and 9'7.75'', that was hard to do with 12 inch tiles. Math is hard!

Tangents

Oh look, we're back!

We took this week off to finish the bathroom, and we've done anything but. Fear not, though! Work is being done, it's just expanded. I was really hoping to be soaking in my tub on Sunday, but I think I'll have to make due with standing in a room with 4 walls...maybe.

We've hit some setbacks, one in particular. We were missing a few pieces needed to bolt the tub to the floor. A 5 minute call later (seriously awesome customer service) and that was taken care of, but we have to wait for the shipment. Also, as people who have never taken on plumbing of this complexity, it's all a bit scary. David has had to talk himself into diving into the various parts left all week, and that in itself takes some time. Electrical has also been the focus this week. We have our new light up in the bedroom. Progress!

But the major progress we've made this week had little to do with the bathroom. The bedroom light was one. Second? Ripping up the carpet in our bonus room. I'm not sure exactly what led to this, other than our disgust with it. Four animals and carpet has never been a winning combination and we finally got tired of dealing with it. We LOVE not having it in the house anymore. But now the question is: what do we replace it with?

Normal people would have this figured out already.

So our options are concrete or cork. Thoughts? Both are great for the allergies and will keep the house clean. Both are fairly inexpensive.

Some quick pictures for perspective

We've purchased and repurposed some furniture since that last look at this room. I'll have more on that later!

Picture Update

Here they are, as promised.

Ahh, relaxation. This wasn't what I thought my first nap in the bathtub would look like. Also, I never thought the cat would join me (she's tucked into the space under my feet).

I haven't yet introduced our helper for this project. She is so knowledgeable in the ways of being a distraction.

This is something I never thought about when starting this project, and it just shows how little I know about constructing houses and their various parts. Right now, there are wires coming out of every nook and cranny, like so many tentacles. It's as if our house is alive, protesting it's unfinished state.

Close quarters, so pardon the angle. This is about the best I could do. Missing from this picture are the studs for the far wall. They are in though, so just imaging 2x6 studs, every 16 inches. 

  

The doorway leading to the bathroom sits right in front of the window overlooking the back yard. I can't get over how gorgeous it is, even from our bedroom hallway. We've taken the best views in the house all for ourselves. I would feel guilty if I didn't pay the mortgage.

Here is part of that view. I love it, even when our yard is a bit of a mess.

Things have slowed down more than we thought. Work has been busy for both of us, leaving little energy for the to-do list left on the project. We have one light up, which is exciting, since the fixtures we chose are some of my favorite parts of this whole redesign. As always, pictures to come.

Days 04-07

I have pictures and updates galore. But the breaker that the computer is plugged into has been off for the last few days, so I haven't been able to process photos yet. We've made good progress, but we did not meet our June 24th goal. We did, however, finish framing. Having the space defined brought on a surreal moment for me. Our hard work and planning was outlined. Our plans were made into a 3D sketch right before our eyes. I couldn't help but see where every fixture would sit, every angle the light would brighten. It was beautiful already, even though it was still hollow; still just framing.

I feel like I'm writing about something much more profound than some boards and wires and pipes. People do this everyday and it's just a job to them. But it's a lot more than that to me. Watching David challenge himself and succeed the way he has been is amazing. He cusses his way through each puzzle or problem, but solves it in the end. This is our first big project together, and making our way through it has been a small, yet significant journey. I'm looking forward to the end result in a lot of way that aren't necessarily obvious.

Hoping to have pictures processed tonight for an update. Thanks for following along with us!

Bathroom Days 02 and 03

We've been busy. And by we I mostly mean David. I didn't have the time to take off of work, but luckily I work for an awesome company that let me work from home. This way I didn't have to worry about commuting, and was here to lend a hand when needed around getting my actual work done. While not doing the hefty lifting, I like to think I've been an integral part of this process. Also, the wall we have up was totally a team project and I'm super proud of it.

The wall is lovely and scary at the same time. There is no going back now. There wasn't really going back before either, what with the bathtub in our sitting room. But this is much more real. There are screws in the floor (along with the aforementioned hole). The room is now definitively divided. I can't wait to add more.

That was all yesterday's work. Doesn't seem like much, but we are quickly learning everything takes about 5 times longer than you think it will. Especially when you have never done it (or haven't done it in a really long time). Today wasn't much different in the time department, but David will tell you (hopefully in a blog post!) that it was infinitely harder. Not only did he hang all the new pipe in the newer end of the house (the bonus room), but he also drilled and jackhammered multiple holes in the foundation where the original house and the bonus room meet. It shook the whole house and sounded like the sky was falling. But 5 hours later, he emerged once again, victorious. House: 0 David: 1

Bathroom Day 01

There has been a hiatus, but we are back now. Today was the first official day of the bathroom renovation. The goal? To have The Perfect Bathroom done by Sunday, July 24th. Please wish us good luck and God(or your chosen deity)speed.

It always strikes me as odd that the first few days of any construction looks like nothing. The only signs that David did any work today is the hole in the floor, which in an other circumstance would be a Bad Sign. But it's actually a very good sign. Progress was made today.

It was hard won for sure. This week is David's vacation. And he spent the first day doing something he truly hates; he went under the house.

David is a Man's man. He can chug beer and throw a punch with the best of them. He fells trees and shoots guns and I find this all sexy and awesome. But there is one thing he cannot stand doing, and that is going under the house. It is smelly and dirty and dark. I don't blame him for his hatred of this task. What keeps the manliness in it is that he does it so I don't have to.

I wish I could say it's the last he'll be seeing of the underside of our dwelling. Unfortunately, he'll have to do it at least another time or two before we see the end of this project. We also have to lay down some traps for some less than welcome inhabitants. Apparently, the term Rat City still applies.

learning how to blog

It was brought to my attention that my comment settings were a bit restrictive. I think I've fixed it now so that you don't have to be a registered user to actually comment.

In regards to the giveaway post, keep in mind I will need to get in touch with you somehow, so if you are anonymous, we'll have to work that out somehow. It's all a learning process.

Happy commenting!

i love lamp

I don't think it's any secret that I've become a little obsessed with the lighting in my house. I want it to make an impact and bring my 1950's rambler into the modern era as well as give it some personality. We've already started this process by picking up some great ceiling mounts for the bedroom and bathroom. But ever since we rearranged our bonus room, I've noticed that it is sorely lacking in lights. All we have are terribly placed 1980's pot lights and a table lamp. It works okay for the middle of the room, but the corner where I like to read is as dark as a cave.

This is where you come in, dear readers. I need some help figuring out what to do with this corner. We will be changing the pot lights in the ceiling to something sleeker when we open up the ceiling to rewire, but until then I need something with some personality. Something that fits in with the industrial/slightly modern/vintage/comfortable thing we're doing with our house (get all that?). So in the comments, give me some ideas; pictures, descriptions, whatever. Be creative.

Your incentive for this sharing of your genius? A special gift from csn lighting! I have one special promo code to give away to the person with the best idea. So take a look at the dreary image below and  help me out! Use the website above for inspiration (I've done this before with csn. Their website is vast and has something to fit every taste. And no they aren't paying me to say this.). I'll pick a winner Thursday night, March 3rd.

Some rules and such? Hmm. One entry per person, but feel free to comment all you want. Inspire each other! This special promo code does not apply to international fees. Only one winner will be picked. But who knows? Maybe this will lead to more giveaways! Best rule of all: Have some fun. Looking forward to hearing from you!

and we're off

I'll just warn you now, this is going to be underwhelming. But I am so excited to see bare wall and nails and a mess in my bonus room. A mess!

Husband is almost done getting the wood and paper off the wall. He's been very busy so this has been over the course of a few days, but I think he's made good progress. Until the bathtub is in, there is no huge rush anyway.

Now I realize I might sound super lazy, considering everything that's been done so far has been done by Husband. But there is something you should know about him. He really likes doing things his own way, which typically means doing it himself. Since we've been together for 10 years, I've learned how to handle these situations. I make myself completely available should be need an extra hand, and he in turn is sure to ask for that hand if he happens to need it. It works for us, even though I end up doing a lot less work than he does. Luckily, because we are both aware that this is how he works, there are no hard feelings.

I suspect that part of his reasoning for wanting to do things solo is that I'm extremely clumsy. I have been known to smack things into other things and cause a bit of a ruckus. I try really hard not to do this for the wellbeing of our house and its inhabitants, inanimate and otherwise. I'm sometimes successful, but mostly not.

Anyway, here are some closeups of the wall. So far the process has been fairly painless. It seems the part that takes the longest is organizing the wood as it comes down. We plan on using it in other places throughout the house, since we like it and reusing is green and all that.

And lastly, Husband is ever the improviser. His tools are out in the shed in a giant toolbox, and we don't have a smaller one in the house for him to use (why don't we have one? We should remedy that). So to keep things within reach, he has repurposed the cat tree (that they never use) as his tool box. Genius!

I totally married him for his brain, and not his butt.

Okay maybe a little bit for his butt.

Lost and Found

Over the weekend, my husband started tearing off the wall covering where our bathroom will be built. Two of the walls are covered with old barn siding that is over a layer of roofing paper. The paper is black and was used to create a dark backdrop for the wood to pop against. It's a unique look that we both fell in love with when we first saw the house, although it has proven difficult to decorate around using our own tastes. I'm a modern girl. I love clean lines and shiny finishes. My husband is a traditionalist with a bit of contemporary mixed in. But we both love vintage industrial touches, including wood and metal. The wood seems like a perfect start, but it hasn't been up until now.

We've rearranged what remains of the bonus room and added some more modern touches to it, and it looks fantastic. Now, this coupled with all the hard work my husband did would amount to a few in-progress pictures. Where are those pictures, you ask? Not taken yet, because I can't find my camera. It's somewhere around here, on some surface or other, possibly buried amongst some papers I haven't put away yet. It's that messiness I've told you about. It rears it's head on a regular basis.

So I'll have those progress pictures for you as soon as my camera shows it's face. It shouldn't take too long. As soon as my husband reads this post (because I'll invariably forget to ask him to help me find the camera), he'll find it, probably in a shoebox or under the mail.

love of home

I am a Seattle resident through-and-through. I love my city in all it's rainy glory. I love when the sun pops out in the afternoon after a miserly morning and the streets glisten and steam. I love being able to see Puget Sound from just about any vantage point. I love wandering Pike Place Market and the piers and taking pictures like I'm a tourist. I do this on a fairly regular basis, and I'm hoping to amass a good collection of photos to decorate the walls of my house. I want to bring the city that I love into the house that I love. David and I have already collected some vintage maps of the area from Metsker's for the bonus room, so adding my own photography of present day Seattle seems like a good way to tie all the rooms together.

I'm hoping to feature some of the photos I've decided on for decorating each room. I have a few I've taken while camping, and of my first successful attempt at a garden. I don't think of myself as a seasoned photographer, but I feel like I have a pretty decent eye, and I'm eager to learn more. I hope you enjoy these snippets, and I'm very open to opinions on which photos would work best as prints.

bathtub dreams

I don't know what your plans for your tax refund are (or payment, but that's pretty straight forward...), but I am buying a gorgeous bathtub from here. baths of distinction is no lie. These bathtubs are amazing. I think I could live in one and be perfectly happy.

What's most distinctive about them, you ask? They are true to their era, nicely made, and the price could not be better. And I would know. I spent what felt like decades (read: a week or two) trying to find a tub just like the ones you will fall in love with at that link, and they are all at least twice the price of the perfect shower combo, double ended beauty available at the website. However, they are not cheap, and this is why we had to wait for our refund in order to afford it. Are there other things we could do with this money? More practical things? Absolutely. But I'm not well known for my practicality.

This tub is extremely important right now, not only because I'm in love with it, but also because we need it to get the bathroom/bedroom renovation going. So far, we have a big pile of lumber where the bathroom will be, and our bedroom furniture in the bonus room. It's been fun living like a college kid in a studio apartment, but I'm totally over it. Come on tax refund!

Limbo

Things hit a big stand still this week, but don't give up on me. There will be more to come this weekend! And once our tax refund makes it's way here, the bathroom will really start moving. I'm excited to share it all with you, so hang in there.

In the mean time...puppies! 

Light it up

I've recently felt as though my life needed a major uplift. I found myself gazing in my closet and hating everything in it. My kitchen makes me want to scream from it's drabness, and the light throughout the house is, to put it mildly, blah.

So with the help of my mother (love you!), my wardrobe got a big update and I found myself almost giddy last night from the thought of wearing my new creamy, grey, high-waisted sweater with dark wash trouser jeans (I look fab today). Also, the fact that my closet is this clean and roomy is a miracle. Look at the lower bin: it's empty! I have space to fill!

The kitchen is still in progress, so no images there, but what I'm most excited about is the email I just got. My new lighting for our bedroom has shipped and is on it's way to my loving embrace.

I'm so impatient for these pieces. Who knew lighting could be so exciting. Rejuvenation, that's who. I love this store. I want to live in it. It inhabits an old mechanics shop in Sodo and they kept all the old beams and this enormous crane hangs from the ceiling. And there are hundreds of lights. They feature one-of-a-kind antiques and reproductions that are gorgeous. The period basics are a great place to start, but I seriously fell in love with the Industrial section and plan on talking my husband into one of the gas-style fixtures for our dining room. Unless I fall in love with another fixture before then...

Love can be such a fickle thing.

In perspective

Today is one of those days when I miss summer. a lot. I wish I could go outside and not see my back yard full of mud. I want to see the rhododendrons in bloom and the grass growing too long from so much sunshine.

However, it's also a day that I'm eternally grateful that I live in the PNW. The weather here is distinctive, but manageable. The rain can become monotonous, but rarely causes the kind of havoc that half the country is dealing with right now. I could be buried in two feet of snow.

But I'm not. What I am, though, is stuck with a bunch of lumber in my bonus room and a project on hiatus because going under the house right now would be unpleasant. and yucky. I just need a relatively cold day (to keep the bugs at bay) that has come after a bit of a dry spell (to keep the mud at bay). Is that so much to ask? 

Yes. Yes it is.

to my husband

You will always be this to me.

Truly, Madly, Deeply Hold my Hand

I'm cleaning the house today. I'm one of those people who is a neat freak inside my head, but I can't seem to make that image of myself actually come to fruition. I'm messy, I have pack rat tendencies, and I'm terrible at putting things back where I found them. I desperately want to be obsessed with vacuuming and organizing though. This is slightly depressing, but when I was younger I used to lay in bed at night and wish that I'd wake up thin. Now I lay in bed at night and wish that I'd wake up tidy. Deep down inside, I know that's about as possible as that childhood dream. If only I could come to terms with my messiness the way I have with my body.

Anyway, all this cleaning talk leads me to these days when I wake up with every intention of scrubbing my house clean. To keep the pep in my step, I turned on the 90's channel and went to work. Now, this might tell you a bit too much about my poor taste in music, but I loved the 90's. I was born in 1984, so I grew up during the last decade of the 20th century, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. It's making me think back to junior high with fond memories (even though it wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Catholic school can be brutal). This nostalgic feeling isn't discriminatory. Even thinking back to the last few summers makes me feel warm inside on this rainy Saturday. I want to sit in front of a fire, drink a beer (or 7...what?), and think about happy things. Not cleaning the dust bunnies from under my sideboard. Hootie and the Blowfish and Savage Garden can croon to me in either scenario though.

Paved with good intentions

Despite the fact that my husband made this list of things to do:

• Build walls for bathroom
• Do everything else for bathroom
• Finish touches to bedroom
• Pull barn siding off of wall (more to come on this...)
• Build new camp at property, including fire pit cover and cabin
• Move washer and dryer into new laundry room
• Build new laundry room
• Install garage door (that we have yet to buy)

I also have taken on the task of reorganizing our kitchen. The list above is going to cost us most of the money we have and then some. So instead of a new kitchen (which I would do dirty things for), I spent a small chunk of change on general organization items.

It all started with this article on lifehacker. It was inspiring. I suddenly had the answer to my kitchen woes. I'm still not sure of the logistics, and who knows if all the crap I bought is even going to be useful. But I've got good intentions and gumption on my side. What could go wrong?

Our adversaries

There are two very prominent things keeping us from making much progress in these beginning stages of our home renovations, and they each have 4 legs. They are Hurricane Pickles and Tornado Stella. Each one causes havoc in her own unique way. Stella has a knack for instigating wrestlemania in the middle of a work space. She can also hypnotize you with her little t-rex eyes.

Exhibit A

Then there is Pickles. Her attention span correlates directly to the proximity of treats and/or squirrels. The farther the distance, the less the attention span. She also happens to be a chronic licker of any appendage within reach, as well as a bodily fluid maker, of which is the entire point of this post. She left a surprise on the bed this morning for my dear husband to find, when I had every intention of posting about our progress on the work in there thus far. But I lack any means to punish her for this, because like her crony, she gazes at me and my heart melts.

Exhibit B

Yea, good luck getting your brain back. I think it just died of squee. You're welcome.

Where it all begins

It only seems appropriate that I introduce our first project with the namesake of this space. The lumber. It will never be seen once the walls are up, but I know that each board was meticulously chosen. It's hardly the most interesting thing I'll write about (great way to start things off, eh?). But it's important. It's the foundation with which this all begins.