Well…we FINALLY got around to a real renovation of the guest bathroom but it’s only because I lost my mind one Sunday night after seeing little boys crusty pee all over the toilet that made the whole room smell like an outhouse! This reno was a long time coming and we ended up going all out. I wanted to keep it as cheap as possible but after dealing with that foul tub, I found a claw foot one that I had to have which of course skyrocketed the overall cost. Tee hee! This was a total gutting from top to bottom. We had to rip down most of the sheet rock, throw away that bacteria infested jet tub and replace ALL of the Saltillo tile. Of course, with all remodels, there were some major hiccups along the way but nothing Tommy couldn’t handle and in the end, it turned out better than I expected. We decided to try some new tricks, like a faux brick wall and a concrete counter top and I think they both turned out fabulous. We probably won’t be doing another brick wall, but we will be installing more concrete counter tops – they’re awesome! I’m so happy that I don’t have to be completely embarrassed when someone comes over and needs to use the bathroom. Our renovation itch has been scratched but I’m thinking it won’t be for long. Haha! Poor Tommy! I’ll keep you posted. =)
Original vanity from 1991We had upgraded the fixture…We had repainted a little while ago and added cabinet but I still wasn’t satisfied. Plus, it always smelled like pee. Ugh.Getting everything ready. They just can’t resist the cameraLet the demolition begin. This was around 4 or 5pm on a Sunday afternoon and it was completely spontaneous. Tommy was NOT thrilled. Hahaha!Making sure they have all the proper gear…Ok they SHOULD have gloves, but no one lost a finger so it’s ok…My true loves…Ripping out drywall to a stud…Ok…fast forward to 2 days later. We removed all the tile which actually wasn’t too bad thanks to our good friends Martha and Chuck who told us about a tool we could rent at Home Depot to make it faster. We got it all out in a couple of hours! And of course, Grandpa’s Caliche Killer saved the day again. Tommy had to hammer out the concrete surrounding the pipe because when he ripped the tub out the pipe was completely destroyed. FUN!Sink pipes. You can see black mold down in the corner. Charming.Working on the plumbing for the new tub…Moving the sink pipesPutting in new drywallFilling in the hole with the new drain and concrete…Turd #2 and his goofy smileDrywall almost done
Taping and mudding the seamsI just wanted you all to know that I helped too. By taking pictures…Mud, mud…And more mud
So…I wanted a contrasting wall in the bathroom to kind of offset the white ones…thinking we were going to have white walls. My initial thought was to buy faux copper panels like the ones we put in the laundry room but when we priced it out, it was more that we wanted to pay. (Be quiet, B!!) After thinking for a while, I realized we could just rip the wall out completely and expose the exterior brick wall like we have in our kitchen and it would look awesome! However, Tommy informed me that there is a water heater closet behind this wall so we couldn’t get to the exposed brick. I had my heart set on this option and wasn’t giving up so easily so I decided that we would “make” our own adobe brick, because…of course I did. How you ask? Well, I watched a crap ton of youtube videos and read a couple blogs and decided this was the option we were going with. Tommy was NOT amused. However…he will be the first to tell you that he loves the way it turned out. I love it too and think it adds a lot of character to this room. It doesn’t look like what I intended because it is way too clean and pretty to be real adobe brick, but it works for this space and gives it a ton of charm.
Started with a blank white wall…Using a paint brush to give the wall a texture that mimics sandy grout…After texturing it, we painted it this base color which was meant to be the grout so we wouldn’t have to paint it in, but it ended up being a completely useless step and waste of time. We had to paint in the grout anyway. So if any of you out there do something like this, just start with a plain white wall and save some paint.Putting on the tape. You’ll see…Graph paper??Aha! Our brick template!Slathering on the mudMaking it nice and thick. This step was kind of stressful. Being the first time we ever did something like this, we had no clue how it would go.Taking off the tape…Our faux bricks!You can see the dimension here…Not amused…Touching up some spots…Our outside wall inspiration. We put this picture into the color app and it spit out 5 or 6 colors to choose from. We ended up using 4. You see what you think…Here we go!
It was so pretty!!Time to do the grout…See, I helped.We spent about two days just painting this ONE wall.Working on the finishing touches…All done! Not too shabby aye??Time to tile!Tommy working hardWilliam reading “The day the Crayons Quit” to us while we worked. Such a sweetie.All donePainting the walls. I wasn’t sure what color I wanted but threw this one up and loved it.After paint, comes groutDried and ready for the epoxy coat…This stuff was cool. A very nice sealer…
Putting on the second coatPutting the feet on our new tub! These were originally chrome colored but Tommy spray painted them and they looked amazing.Drilling the holes to install the brackets that would hold the tub down. One of the great things about this tub is that because it’s fiberglass it only weighs 30 pounds! It was so easy to maneuver in and out unlike a legitimate claw foot tub that weighs upwards of 800 pounds!
Getting it perfect was kind of a cluster…
Putting in the hardware…The oil rubbed bronze option made it MUCH more expensive but I think it looks much nicer…Up goes the shower head…Halo…We saved the old toiletTub, toilet and towel bars in!
The next big undertaking was our concrete counter top for the vanity. We’ve never made one but our good friends showed us the ones they made and we absolutely loved them. I wanted something that would be rustic and imperfect…and we definitely got that! Tommy and I were both happy with the final product and because it was custom made, it fit like a glove and really tied the room together. (Name that movie..)
Concrete mold made of melamine with sink cutout. It was made foam and wrapped in tinfoil for easy removal
Pipe cutoutMetal wire for stabilityRebar around the outside even though in hindsight Tommy said it was probably a little overkillConcrete poured. The first batch was a little too thick and the second batch was a little too runny! Haha! Well…you only learn through mistakesWe left this in the mold for about 7 days to let it cure and kept it wet with a spray bottle the whole timeHere’s what came out of our concrete mold. Because the first batch was too thick it was hard to get all the bubbles to the surface…but again, it’s imperfections made it so cool.Staining it
Putting on the second coat…
Sink, vanity and countertop installed! The backsplash had to come a week later because of Tommy’s trip to see his dad in MT…Backsplash up…Time to grout…Messy
And that’s a wrap folks! The only thing left is the shower curtain but I’m not taking a picture of something so boring. Bahahaha!
A couple weeks ago, I was complaining about not having a project to do around the house. We’re ALWAYS doing something and to have NOTHING to do makes me anxious and irritated. Sooooo, I told Tommy we needed to start a project ASAP that was cheap and one we could finish quick. He just shook his head and said, “If you can come up with one, let me know.” So I suggested we re-do our wet bar in the kitchen. We aren’t big drinkers, and we had decided a while ago that when we got around to it, we’d turn it into a coffee bar. The area is nice and served us well when we first moved in…it was our only sink while we were ripping the kitchen apart. I wasn’t sure what my vision for it was but then it came to me a couple months ago when we bought a chair from Tres Amigos. They had some talavera tile that I fell in love with and after not being able to convince Tommy to put it in our shower, he compromised and said we could tile the bar with it. So we went and bought all the tile there, which was a screaming deal at 50% off! I found the sink and the mini fridge on craigslist (Yes, mom. Haha!) and the fixture on ebay. Now we’re not completely finished – we want to resurface the cabinets and add new hardware but the big stuff is done. I’m so happy with the way it turned out! What would I do without my amazing husband?? Happy coffee drinking! Yay! =)
The original design. So boring and vanilla. I was ready for some COLOR!Old sink…it was constantly leaking.Original cabinets. Again, our plan is to refinish them to a blonde with dark knots.Taking off the top after removing the sink…Top off…now time to remove one of the cabinets…we’ll be putting a mini fridge in it’s place. =)Cabinet gone…Putting the new top on…Tres Amigos didn’t sell bullnose tiles so Tommy had to cut them at an angle to create a nice edge…It was hard because the glaze kept chipping…Tile going down…The tile I fell in love with…How freaking cool is that?So bright! I love it.Finishing the edge tile…Putting up the backsplash…Time for grout…
Clean area after grout is down…looks so good!You can see how the veins in the tile showed up after the grout. I LOVE the look of it. Really adds to the rustic-ness of it. Is that even a word? Mom? Maria?This is the cutout in the cabinets. Tommy put in an outlet for the fridge.Then he had to cut off most of the support piece of wood because the fridge wouldn’t fit. By the way, I found the most excellent fridge…it fit like a freaking glove. Yes I am awesome…duh.Ta-daaaaaaaa!It’s paint time baby! It was hard deciding on a complementary color but in the end I wanted bold…and here it was. =)Hooking up the new lights underneath the top cabinet…Time for the sink…Hooking up the drain…Now for the faucet…Love.And here is our new bar…Lights on…I love it!!! =)
Well, I am just full of posts lately, huh? =) My husband is amazing, if you didn’t already know…When we first moved into the house, the block wall around the back yard had openings with no gates. We knew we wanted to get them up as soon as possible to keep the kids in and the critters out. After almost a year, Tommy finally got to them – he learned how to weld so he could do them himself (of course!) and they turned out absolutely beautiful! Are you surprised though? No way – everything that he makes is amazing. =)
This is the little one in the back corner of the yard. It was his first time ever using a welder…came out pretty nice aye? =)Big front gate – He had a hell of a time with this one. We think the people who owned the house originally put in the block wall because the tops of the brick on either side aren’t level which made the gate design tricky.Would you believe that he rusted it in 2 hours? Yeah, I couldn’t either…So beautiful!!! Great job Tommy!
Hey everyone! Well once again life happened, and we have been so freaking busy our heads are spinning. I can’t believe it’s already March! This year is flying by – it’s insane how fast it’s going. Our year started off with a bang! A banging of our heads against the wall. We found a foundation leak in our laundry room when we got back from our Christmas break at my moms house. We ended up having to tear up the tile and concrete to get to the leak and then couldn’t repair it for two days. It was ridiculous. We did most of the work on New Years Eve and didn’t finish fixing the pipe until New Years Day evening. Long story short, it was horrendous. But Tommy finally fixed it and in the process we decided to make lemonade out of lemons and remodeled the laundry room. There’s always a silver lining. =) Needless to say, we are happy it’s done and I love the final results. The funniest thing ever was when Grandpa came over and saw it and said completely exasperated, “ARE YOU GOING TO RENT SPACE OUT IN HERE!!??” Hahahaha! That’s how nice it is. 😉
Our year has been going well so far. I have so much to catch you all up on…but it will take time. Please have patience and know that I am trying my best! Just to update you on the fam – Henry is a brain at school – he loves it and is doing very well. William is the terror of the household. He pretty much destroys whatever he touches so we are constantly having to keep and eye on him which is exhausting. Tommy is working his butt off at Raytheon like always and has taken on some new projects around the house. His new passion is welding and he was able to fashion a gate for us on the back of our property which is beautiful. I’ll take some pictures for you guys. I’m always surprised at what talent he has. I don’t know why though…he has proven himself to be amazing at anything he picks up. How lucky am I!? I’ve been busy with a new home business I started. I love it but it takes up a lot of my time. It’s going to do great things for us in the future though and I’m so excited to get my momentum going! We’ve been faithfully climbing at the rock gym and I have picked up running on Tues/Thursdays. Our neighborhood is so gorgeous and it is perfect for running around in. It has also been good at de-stressing me. =) Anyway, that’s what’s new with us! Hope you are all well. Hugs and kisses to all of you and I will try and keep you all better updated. Talk soon!
Hole dug up to expose leaky pipe…you can see how our laundry room is pretty vanilla…Closer look at hole…this was such a mess!!Hole in guest room that was unnecessary…it’s a long story. 🙁Ok, painting walls a different color. I wanted some life in this laundry room…cuz I’m constantly doing freaking laundry!!!We got a new cabinet. Didn’t have one previously. Just two dilapidated shelves.
Putting up my favorite part…these are plastic faux copper panels from Home Depot.Beautiful!Panels, cabinet and shelves up!All done!! Well, except for a skylight that we will put in eventually. 😉
