Small Bathroom Makeover

After four days of being couped up in the house, we were able to get out and do some grocery shopping (along with the rest of McKinney!)

The day was too beautiful to be locked up working on the small bathroom, so I didn't get the new handles put on the doors or the original shower bar put back, but I did get the mirror hung and the towel hooks put up.

The mirror "frame" is from an old dresser...minus the dresser.  I like the look it creates in an otherwise "generic" new home bath.  I can also remove it whenever I move and take it with me, and there's still the original mirror underneath.

The Shower curtain is made from drapery weight fabric embellished with trim and western style silver buttons.  Very simple.

I already had the red, white and blue towels for the grand kids, but I want to add in black, along with the red and white.

Peter put up the three towel holders.  He made sure that one was low enough for our little guy to hang up his own towel. (He'll be excited about that!)

So, the last few things to complete: 

1. polish the marble sink top and make it shiny new again

2. install the new knobs for the doors

3. finish the switch plate covers 

4. hang the freshly painted shower curtain bar

I'm still deciding about my choices for the floor...any thoughts? 

I found this small light awhile back in Oklahoma, and knowing I was going to make this bathroom black and white...I got it so the grand kids would have a night light for their bathroom.

Once I check off my "To Do" list for this room I'm ready to move on to the next project.  (I'm actually already plotting it out, but I can't say it too loud!  Peter likes to think we're done...ha! NEVER!)

Till tomorrow...

debi

P.S.  Just a reminder of what this bathroom looked like before...

Small Bathroom Makeover

WELL...4 days of snow and ice has kept me house bound.  I know, I know...the rest of the world is "mocking" but we are not prepared for this kind of weather.  We have trucks that throw sand on the roadways, no snow plows! (Although Amarillo sent us some snow plows to help keep the roadways clear for the Super Bowl!)

Anyway...with so much time at home, I'm all about finishing the upstairs bath.

When last I left you I showed you the awful job the contractor did behind the light fixture.

They cut the first big hole, but it came out on the wrong side of the stud, so they cut across the sheet rock, made another hole and shoved in all the wiring!

Lovely!

I purchased a fairly small light fixture, so once my husband cut a proper hole to house the electrical box there was no way my small light fixture was going to cover the whole mess.

Plan B...Peter took an unfinished drawer front (we have many in the garage...just for such emergencies! :>} )

He drilled a hole in the center of the drawer front, painted the whole piece black to match the fixture, and then attached the electrical box to the piece.

Once he hung it up and attached the light fixture on top of the drawer front it looked like a Plan A decision!

The total for the light fixture and the three globes (courtesy of Re-Store - the Habitat for Humanity Store) was less than $15.00.  The globes were only $1.00 each.  This absolutely fit my budget!

The painting is finished and all the touch ups for the cabinets and walls is completed. 

(This is how the light fixture looks in the light of day!)

I still need to add the electrical covers, but they're on the work table to "decorate."

I painted the final coat on the tin.  My last step is to wipe on a "color" to highlight the design.  I have to decide whether I want to wipe on an antique stain color, or use a stencil brush to lightly brush on a permanent ink color.  I have a test piece I'll work on tomorrow before I make my decision.

With all the cold weather this week, the frame for the mirror did not dry completely, so hopefully I can hang that tomorrow.

Since I've had so MANY free days this week, it just seemed natural that I NEEDED to pull up the flooring in this bathroom!

It has been well used by many "girls" and really needed to be "refreshed".  I don't think ANYTHING can refresh this floor!

Anyway, I think pulling up the flooring is my "final" answer.  It really didn't take too much muscle.  Seems the floor was only being held down in a few spots with the glue.  I was surprised how easily it pulled up from the sub-flooring.

It actually looks better without the old linoleum...but now another decision...paint the floor, lay down new flooring, or lay down tile?

I'm thinking my first step will be to sand and seal the floor.  I want to paint my own design on this floor.  (That choice would be FREE!)  However, if I don't like how it looks, I can always go to Plan B...pay for flooring (no matter what type of flooring I choose!)

Until I can make a final decision on the floor, I put this comfy rug down for the grand kids (since they use this bathroom.)

Hopefully tomorrow we'll be all thawed out, and I'll get the rest of the bathroom put together. 

Till tomorrow,

debi

Makeovers & Computer Issues

Last week lasted FOREVER! I was barely able to use my computer due to various issues...but thankfully it has been repaired. I had to move most of my pictures off to an external hard drive (slow process) but success was achieved and things appear to be back to normal.

The room makeover continued to progress (despite computer issues). Here is a picture of the final outcome of the dining room. The curtains were cleaned and rehung. Here is the fireplace located in the dining room. The two colors on the walls works well together and Miss Janice will place her tea cups on the wire hangers on each side. The very last thing to do is hang art on the walls...and we'll probably finish that this week.Here is a closer view of the floor as you enter the new living room. I placed a band of dark around the perimeter of the room so it flows into the existing floors.And this is now looking into the new living room from the dining room. The walls in the living room are painted the same color as the dining room, only in reverse (the raspberry is the accent color on the fireplace wall).And now...looking back into the dining room. I believe Miss Janice is enjoying her new digs! Of course, no rest for the weary! December 6 and 7 is our big Christmas Open House. McKinney Cowgirls Market will be showcasing our latest creations and Miss Janice's house is the "preferred" location. So that meant this last Saturday we had to begin the decorating process to get the house in order for our show!

Miss Linda arrived early to begin the process (of course Miss Janice already had Mike drag the tree down from the attic and she had begun the process of toting all the boxes of decorations downstairs.)Some of our "usual" helpers were there to decorate the tree!And Miss Linda brought extra help - her daughter - to help us. She was fascinated by the bubble lights! Some helpers quickly learned they could supervise others...

...while some just enjoyed the whole process! There were plenty of jobs to accomplish before we could call it a day...

but in the end...the finished product looked wonderful.

We still have some nooks and crannies to decorate and all our products to "merchandise"...but we'll be ready for our first ever McKinney Cowgirls Market!

Projects & more makeover

I was at Miss Janice's Monday evening and today working on her room makeover...however, I won't be posting pictures. She is currently out of town and I wouldn't want to ruin her surprise when she returns. SO...until she can spy with her own eyes the transformation of her rooms...I'll hold off posting pictures. I will let you know that most of the furniture is in place -and I did some "shopping" throughout the rest of her house to fill in some spots I thought needed a little "something." (That will peak her curiosity when she reads this...so she'll have to wait with the rest of you!)

BUT...I have been working on some other projects in my "down time"! To begin with I'm working on a collage' currently. I have some more to do, but here is the beginnings of the canvas with the initial back ground colors laid over the picture. I'll be offering the collage' class to the GriefShare group again this year. It was such a blessing last year and they decided they wanted to do it again.I've been working on this German embroidery for awhile. I have the "Gute Morgan" yet to finish. I used an old "ruined" damask tablecloth for my background. I cut away all the good that could be saved and saved the blue border to hopefully use on the finished pillow shams. This has not been a rush job, just work when I feel the spirit leading. Hopefully I will finish it this year!I have many new tablecloths and vintage fabrics that are ready to be re-purposed into new, useful items. All of these have holes, or "blemishes" that cannot be removed. This only forces creative license to work around all the imperfections. I can't wait to get started (but first...finish the room makeovers!)I save every scrap from my vintage fabrics and I've been working on smaller apron versions that can be hung on your Christmas Tree. I currently don't have any trees pulled out from storage, so my thread holder for my embroidery machine works just fine!On a recent outing I found this wonderful jar full of red buttons. I've already been able to use a couple on an apron and on a purse that needed a finishing touch! I have plenty more small aprons to sew...I also found a bolt of Valentine fabric while I was out. I've been working on some Valentine ideas (never too early to start.)I found this frame at a recent yard sale for pennies compared to a new one. I've been looking for something I could showcase these doll clothes. My grandmother made these when I was 7 for a Shirley Temple doll. The white corduroy coat is fully lined and the dress has a sash and very small snaps on the back. The hand work is beautiful. Perfect stitches - even on the little pockets and the rick rack.And last, but not least...I recently re-surfaced the walls in my guest bath. I used a smooth stucco and troweled it on the walls. I found a stencil I really liked and also troweled it onto the stencil around the top of the walls. Once completed I mixed painted the wall a solid beige, then rubbed red diluted with glaze. The nooks and crannies in the wall and the stencil edges took the red and held the color as I worked around the room. It's a pretty small room, so didn't take too long. I really like the over all affect! Well...hopefully my next blog will show the completed pictures of Miss Janice's new living room and dining room. I really like how the two flow together...oh...I might give too much away!

SO...till next time!!!

More Floor Makeover

It's always best to start off reading the directions. Make sure we all know what we're doing and what we can expect.

Is this the Feng Shei of shaking a can. Almost looks like "can yoga." Ashley is at peace with the can!

I don't know what she's telling me, but I better listen. She's serious. (Note for those who whine about getting blogged about! Here I am...but I didn't sign a "face waiver" so...no face time!)

We being in the corner so we have a way of escape. Start with the dark and we'll come back with the lighter color.

Painting is such a relaxing time. Don't know about you, but I enjoy it. We decide to stay together and paint the edge then the diamonds so we can share the can of stain.

The "usual" suspects were there to help us, but we also had Stephanie's help with the baby today...and someone to document our progress.

Lunch break! Time for a little R & R and some taco's (or some kind of Mexican food.) Stephanie had some challenges watching Austin...but she survived...

She even took them for a little walk. Time away from the "smell" is good. The floor had some dry time during lunch, so now time to pull up the tape! Maybe we could start the world's largest tape ball? Maybe Miss Janice wants to re-use this? (She can un-stick it and do whatever she wants with it. Me? I'm done with it!)
Looking good. We'll head home for awhile and take a nap!

Back for round "vatever"! Guess I haven't been counting. We didn't have any "helpers" to document this process - so here is the finished floor. Still one more coat - the polyurethane. That will have to wait until the floor has a lot more drying time. The dark is still a little tacky.
What do you think? I like the over all design!We thought we'd have a little "front porch" time...but needed some refreshments from John Green (but he was busy at a wedding!) Oh well. I had time to swing with the kids - and they love that!
Austin's done in for the day...can't keep his eyes open. Time to clean up and create a "cat proof" door lock...hopefully they'll stay out for the night!
Until tomorrow - and hopefully...all will be completed (this room, that is!)