We're Back!!!! I know, I know where have we been?! Oh you know, just doing things around the house and having a baby. No big deal. :) Here she is, our sweet, little girl who is now 1 year old!
It's been a great couple years and not only have we have made quite a lot of changes to our lives, but to the house as well. I thought that I would start this post with our latest renovation, our upstairs bathroom. It might just be my favorite renovation thus far.
Here's a little background and some before pictures to get the ball rolling. Our house has 2 full baths, one upstairs and one downstairs (no master bath, oh so sad for Kevin and I :( ). The downstairs bath is in pretty decent shape (it is far down the list!). But, the upstairs bath moved WAY up the list when we found out that I was pregnant. About 3 years ago, I was sitting in our living room watching TV and all of a sudden I heard a rush of water behind me. I turned to look and saw dripping water. AH! Kevin had been showering upstairs and I guess it was just the time when the tub decided to retire. Unfortunately for us, the tub had a crack in it that sent the water to find the path of least resistance. Lucky for us, we had the downstairs shower that we could use in the meantime. At that point in our lives, we were stripping and staining the outside of the house (don't worry, that post is coming soon I promise). Therefore, the upstairs bath was not a priority and fell to the bottom of the list. But, with a little one on the way we knew that we were going to need a working bathtub eventually. Ready, set, go!
Here's a look at what our bathroom looked like before. Extremely outdated and needing a serious overhaul. One thing I wanted was to add double sinks, if possible and to make the most out of our cabinet. As you'll see, the bathroom is not small, but an odd shape and there is not much area to be had in the way of storage for linens and such.
What a beautiful shower, ugly and old!
Quite a bit of counter space, seems like enough for another sink?
Notice the exposed stuff to the right :(
UGLY barn style door which never really closed!
If you remember from previous posts, our house is all wood paneling. Obviously, we like the look of wood since we bought a log home, but there is such a thing as TOO MUCH. We decided to completely gut this bathroom down to the studs and put up drywall. All of our upstairs rooms have exposed beams which are beautiful, but look even more beautiful against the drywall. You'll see this in the final pictures. Here are some pictures from along the way...
Hooray! A working bathtub!
Added recessed lighting over the counter top area...we only had ONE little
light in that area before :(
I actually chose the color for our bathroom before I chose anything else...whoops! But, I'm really happy with the color that I chose. We are huge Sherwin Williams fans and I chose the sea salt color for this reno. I couldn't be happier with it. We opted to not go with a tiled tub/shower because of our needs with a child. It seemed like a better option to have a shower/tub combo that would be easy to clean, not be as slippery and then we could put our money into the custom cabinet and counter top. We opted to do a custom cabinet and counter top to maximize our space. It seemed like the best idea for the project. Unfortunately, I have no links to the tradesmen that we used for these two areas because we used local Amish. When deciding on the cabinet, Kevin had the idea of a make up area in the middle. I loved this idea (what girl wouldn't?!). It really makes for a clean, sophisticated space. I insisted on having as many drawers as possible and we agreed to not do a "false top" on the cabinet so that we would have more space within the cabinet. It couldn't have turned out better.
The counter top was one of the hardest things for us to decide. We decided to go with Corian. Both of our parents have used Corian in their houses and we liked the look and color options and the lasting effects. We decided to go with hazelnut. I was very nervous (even though I looked at images on Google) because the sample was only a 2x2 square, no kidding. I decided to go with a lighter counter top to accentuate the darkness in the floor. Props to our counter top guy. He did an amazing job fitting the counter top to our unique and difficult space. You'll see what we are talking about in the final pictures.
Lastly, the flooring. We opted not to do tile here as well. We wanted something that would be warm on our feet, but still look great. Our local carpet and tile shop, Homestead Interiors, had a groutable vinyl that was perfect for our needs. I think you'll be surprised at how much it LOOKS like tile, but is not! Bonus for us!
Are you ready?! Here it is! Below are the final pictures and a video at the end. We hope that you've enjoyed reading this post. I promise, more to come. Until next time :)
We're back! I know, I know...it's been awhile. I'm not sure what happened, but this winter was busy, busy (along with long and COLD!). But, we managed to finish one of our inside projects. When we first moved into our house, one of the areas that bothered Kevin and I was the back entryway. We use this entryway to come into our house a lot...our front door leads straight into the house and there is no place to put shoes and coats. Which is why coming in and out of the back entryway makes the most sense. But, the back entry had some U-g-L-y linoleum flooring and some random hardwood area that did not match the hardwood in the kitchen. Check it out...
Looking into the entryway from the kitchen.
Look at that beautiful floor ;)
Close up of the floor and the rusty, old vent.
One other thing that drove us crazy about this space was the fact that the "flooring" did not stretch to the basement door. So....as you can imagine we have been doing the taking our shoes off and then putting them back on again to run down to the basement. Here is what I mean...
The hardwood that does not match...
The basement door is on the right...first doorknob
that you see.
Now you have an idea of what we were working with and why it so desperately needed some TLC. Next step-figure out what color and type of tile we wanted. We went back and forth and back and forth again, before settling on a ceramic tile that had dark and light shades of gray, blue and tan. Another big shout out to Homestead Interiors for providing us with our beautiful tile.
As I've told you before, Kevin is a research king. He does his homework before he starts any job. This was the first time he has ever tiled. Also, I am happy to report that I did help with some phases of this project! :) But, the first thing that needed to be done was the demo. This was a quick demo...rip out the old flooring and be done. Check it out!
Then, Kevin cut new plywood for the floors...looking better already!
Next, it was time for the Ditra. We chose to use the Ditra after much thought because it would provide a barrier between the plywood flooring and the tile. It provides protection from water and allows the tile more room to "give". The Ditra ended up creating a bit more work and extended the time it took for Kevin to actually lay the tile, but it was worth the heartache. We were able to purchase the Ditra from the good ole' Home Depot. Surprise, surprise :) Where else would we spend our paychecks?! It is also important to note that the Ditra requires a special "Ditra set" or mortar to adhere it to the surface of the floor. Unfortunately for us, the only store that had it was in Youngstown. Thankfully, Y-town is not that far from us. Here is Kevin putting the Ditra down.
Rambo had to make sure that Kevin was
doing everything correctly. :)
Next step: TILES! As a first time tiler (or I should say "tiler helper", if that's even a title!), I thought the actual laying of the tile would be quick, lickety split. Not so much. Because we decided to use the Ditra set, it meant that Kevin had to be very conscious of the levels of the tiles since the Ditra has the grooves in it. Lets just say, it took over a week for all of the tiles to be placed.
Almost there!
We decided before placing the tile to buy a small wet saw, from....can you guess?! Yep, Home Depot. Looking back, it probably would have been easier to buy a bigger wet saw...but we didn't want to spend the money on something we would probably only use once. The small one did just fine, but again required us to put in a little extra time when cutting the tiles.
Here it is, everything down! But, not finished yet.
Looking good!
Looking toward the kitchen, the basement
door is on the left. Hooray for being able to keep
our shoes on!
View looking from the kitchen
Oh yes, and before we get to grouting...our site supervisor checking in on our progress.
Rambo R. Ray, Site Supervisor
Finally! It was time to grout. We decided to go with a light gray grout, as opposed to a cream, white or charcoal gray. I was afraid that the first two colors would just show the dirt and that the other would be too dark against our already darker tiles. Now, this was where I came in! I fully participated in grouting the tile. We were a true team on this one. Kevin would place the grout in and I would wipe away the excess with my sponge :) Of course, there is no photographic evidence of my participation...so I guess you'll have to take me at my word.
Grout: looks darker than it is when dry
Kevin working hard
All grouted...enter Trisha to swipe and clean!
I also decided it was completely necessary to revive this back entry with a new bench with storage and an awesome coat rack. Kevin and I had found a coat rack online that we liked about a year ago. But, this coat rack cost $233?!?! For this.....---->
Yeah, our thoughts exactly. So, Kevin set to work making one for our new space. Here was his version, for all of $25....----->
Beautiful!
HOORAY! WE DID IT! There were some points during this project when I thought it may never be finished. But, all in all it turned out fantastic. As always, we learned a lot from our project. First, something will always go wrong...no matter how hard you try to avoid it. Leveling your tile is key, even if it takes forever. Last but, not least always be patient. We are fixing up this good ole' log cabin one project at a time. Slowly, but surely. :)
Stay tuned soon for the beginning of a project that has taken us over a year (and counting!) to complete.
Happy fall! It's my favorite season of the year. Isn't it wonderful to walk outside in the evenings and smell the crisp, fall scent of leaves? :) Mmmmmm....I just love it. Here's a little look at how fall is showing its colors in our backyard.
Now, I know. It's been awhile. And for that, I sincerely apologize. But, I have to say that it has made me feel pretty excited that some of you have asked me when my next post is coming! That means people are actually reading! Woo hoo! Although this is my favorite time of year, it is always a busy time of year too. As most of you know, I am a Speech-Language Pathologist that works at a school for children with autism. Since the school year just began, my days have been chalk full of IEPs, making new materials, meetings and all of that fun stuff. I am currently in the midst of writing 5 IEPS (3 down as of today and 2 to go!), so life has felt crazy. On top of my regular work, Kevin and I have been busy visiting friends and celebrating birthdays (Happy 30th Birthday to Dan Buckley!). Oh! And I forgot the most exciting thing that has happened in the past month. My mom and I took a trip to California to visit my dear sister Angela, my brother-in-law Chris and our niece and nephews (the always spunky Des, Wes and Penny).
Wes, Penny and Des
Kevin, me, Ang and Chris at a wedding
We saw the Hollywood sign!
And even had a celebrity sighting! Mario Lopez
and Maria Menunos shooting Extra!
But, back to the house! Are you ready to see what we did with the first floor bath? Although this bathroom is small, it took quite a bit of intricate work (all by Kevin, of course). Personally, I was not involved with this project other than a few decorating details at the end. This was a full on Kevin episode and he deserves ALL the credit.
Lets start by explaining what needed to be fixed. The walls in our house are tongue and groove, there is no drywall. So, when the previous owners built our home it was apparent that they decided to finish a lot of the inside structure themselves. Also, we have beautiful log beams that run across the ceiling of our first floor. With that being said, tongue and groove walls and the log ceiling beams can create a tricky puzzle. When we moved in, the walls of the bathroom did not completely run up to the ceiling. In fact, there was another piece of tongue and groove tacked on that went to the bottom of the log ceiling beams. Basically, the bathroom was not very private. Which in the case of a bathroom is a problem.
Kevin set out to make the bathroom usable. He put his carpentry skills to the test and it turned out great. Take a look below and see the beautiful work that Kevin did.
Before from the inside of the bathroom. Look
up!
Before from the inside again.
After! Isn't it great? Ok, this may be one of those
things that only Kevin and I appreciate :) But, Kevin did an
amazing job. Check out the beautiful rope detail!
All Kevin's idea!
Before
After
Before: Notice, no light, paneling missing
on the right and a whole lot of nothing
at the top!
Before: Now, this is where I come in!!!! I had been
searching high and low for something to store linens.
This space is small, so it was a difficult task. But, thanks
to my wonderful Aunt Nancy I found it! Amazingly, she
gave us this piece of furniture. And to make it even better,
it actually belonged to my grandmother before. :)
After! Kevin moved the light to the center of the wall, we bought a light (obviously!), Kevin added some beautiful trim and rope accents on the left and we decided to add a little hook on the right to hang your robe or towel.
Before
After: Kevin added trim and the rope accents on the far corner by the sink and I added blinds and curtains (thanks to my mom for the help! I am admittedly, terrible with curtains.) :)
Last, but not least, the shower curtain and the door. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the original door, but it was an ugly "barn" like door with a latch. We ordered this door from Mentor Lumber and Kevin stained it and hung it.
Now presenting, my first attempt at a video!!!! Even though I just walked you through all the pictures, there is something fun about watching a video. It's like really being on HGTV, but Log Blog style. Pardon my voice, I'm just getting over a cold.
I think that's it! We hope you like the bathroom transformation. Stay tuned for our next installment! :)
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