A bathroom for the Princesses

     I have been so busy I haven't had a chance to post the final results of the girl's bathroom. We actually just got back from vacation at the lake - much needed after the house warming party and 2 1/5 months of non stop remodeling. Here it is! The vanity is the dresser I started on when I first bought the house and I just couldn't wait to get to work on it.  It belonged to my parents and my dad's mother before that. The sit down vanity in the 'vanity knook' is from my bedroom at mine and Jonas's old house. 
     I used Valspar oil based porch and floor paint on the floor and a stencil with oil based high gloss bright white, then DuraSheen gloss floor sealer.  I absolutely love the stencils from Royal Design Studio. Their stencils are so durable and beautiful.  The oil based floor paint soaked into the concrete beautifully. This is the first time I had used it on concrete and I couldn't be happier with the results.
     I trimmed out the tub enclosure with some narrow window trim and attached it using pre-drilled holes and tub and tile caulk.  **My first solo trim job! Took me a little longer than I anticipated, but I got it! The outside wall of the enclosure where the trim is attached is practically impossible to nail through and since the tub has a curved shape I had to use more than just adhesive caulk.
       The shelves are original - I thought the polyurethane wood gave the room a more rustic look.

Wood Grain Stained Concrete!

Yep! Stained Concrete!

     I may have said this before about other projects in this house, but I am saying it again here..... This may be my favorite thing so far!  Shipp did an amazing job with the feather finish - It's amazing the  difference it makes in a room! I posted previously about this miracle stuff - Ardex feather finish.

   So, here is the feather finish (left) and with the base coat (right). Pardon the toilet hole... not sure of the technical term to use, but that's the nicest thing I can come up with (blah!). I used Valspar semi-transparent concrete stain in driftwood, which is what I used in the rest of the house.  I just rolled it on with a paint roller.

   I used Valspar semi-transparent concrete stain in ember for the darker grain top coat. I is kind of a dark cool gray with a hint of deep blue - I love this color! I picked up a graining tool from Lowes. It is a funny looking little piece of magic! I have no idea how this thing makes wood grain, but it is awesome. 

* Important tip - use Valspar mixing glaze to thicken the stain. I used an entire jar which is about 1 pint of glaze with about 1 1/2 cups of stain. I love mixing glaze because you can mix it with any paint to make it more workable for faux finishes.

   You work in small areas, 2-3 feet at a time. Spread a thin layer of glaze/stain mix then drag the tool from one end to the other rocking it slowly from back to front to back. You can add variation to this of coarse, to get the desired look. The glaze allows some working time, so if you don't like that pass, just use your brush and spread it back out and try again.

   I will warn you, this is a very tedious process. The tool is only about 2 3/4 inches wide. You have to use short passes so it does not flood the tool and make a mess. You have to wipe it off in between passes and transitions are difficult. You can blend them with the tooth edge or a cheap throw away brush works OK also. This is a small area so it wasn't too bad, it took me about an hour.

  

   I'm planning to wood grain the entire master bedroom floor because I love it so much and I just can't live without it! I don't care how long it takes!



Sneak Peak!!!

Sadly, I don't have any finished rooms to show you yet....:(  But, we are really close to being done with the master bathroom. I am so excited about it I cant wait until it's done to show it off! I finished taping and floating the drywall last night and will be able to texure the ceiling and walls today and paint tomorrow! Yay! Then grout the shower, then paint the floor... Its so close I can almost touch it. Shipp and David will be starting on the kitchen backsplash and the butcherblock countertops this week! Hopefully I will be able to spend Sunday hanging pictures in the hall and the girls' room. (no work on Saturday, we will be at the CHRIS STAPLETON CONCERT!!!!!) Then I can paint the girls' bathroom floor, I am dying to use the stencil I got for it! Lots of  'after' pictures to come!

 

 

 

 

Oh! The vanity! It needs polyurythane then it will be ready to put the sink back in and instal. I had a terrible time painting this one. The cherry wood kept bleeding through the white paint. I thought we were going to have a pink vanity there for a little while. I had to put on a thick coat of poly (after 3 coats of white chalk paint did not show any improvements) then paint it again and glaze after that. But it turned out great!

 

 

 

 AND, I found some dinning room chairs! They are really pretty and only $60 for all four! I am thinking cream chalk paint and dark wax on the wood and chalk paint and clear wax on the upholstry, maybe in different colors..... I am hoping to find two more captain dinning chairs for the ends.

Progress report

Last week was a very productive week for me, but that's about it.... my entire crew was sick! My sugar has pneumonia and is just now able to get through the day without fever. Poor Shipp has has gastroenteritis and an ear infection.  Somehow me and the girls made it out unscathed, thankfully. I did get to catch up on some painting and do some decorating. And we are finally ready to make the big move! The great thing about this move, which is totally different from any other time I have ever moved (and I've moved an awful lot in my life) is that we don't really need to pack everything carefully.  It's only going 10 miles so we can make as many trips as it takes. It's not really worth the effort to wrap and box everything neatly for such a short trip. I swear I thought we would move everything here one piece at a time according to necessity before we made it to this day....

The house is not finished yet, though. I still need to paint the floor in the girls' bathroom (which I can't do until we have another bathroom to use), stain the floor in the kitchen, master and mud/laundry room (floors are last), paint my closet (on my list this week), paint mud room/laundry room (no idea what to do yet), we have to finish the master bathroom (tile is underway), countertops  (next on list) and hang trim and base. Wow. All of the sudden I don't feel like I got as much done last week as I should have.....

I repainted the soffit in the kitchen. I don't know what I was thinking when I picked that other color!  I love the new color so much I used the extra paint in my tray to color wash the wall between the kitchen and dining area.  It's only about 3 ft wide and will eventually have the breakfast bar made of reclaimed wood attached where the lighter colored wood is. It was kind of scary to start, just knowing it wouldn't be easy to reverse if we didn't like it, but it really looks good.

I used about 3 to 1 parts satin finish latex paint (sorry, I can't remember the color, all I got was a sample) and water in my paint pan. I used a cheap brush to apply a few strokes of paint in about a 3 square foot area and rubbed it in with a wet paper towel and spread it evenly going with the grain. There is a rectangular section that needs some work where there used to be a phone mounted to the wall which left the wood lighter than the rest, and the part where the bar used to be attached and will be covered by the new bar soon. I love it!

Kitchen cabinets are painted - thank God.  Just need to rehang a few doors. I picked up some trim to try out adding to the door and drawer faces. It does need the crown at the top which will be one of the last things. 

Tile is looking amazing!

4th Quarter

We are down to the last few weeks and the end is in site! Construction in the master bathroom started last week and it is beginning to take form. Tile and sheet rock will be going up this week and the countertops for the kitchen are coming to their new home tomorrow.  I started priming the cabinets and the floor in the girl's bathroom and the hall are ready to stain. Here are some pictures of the progress so far.

Vanity and toilet will be on the right

Entrance to the shower. Adjustable height shower head (for me) and bench.

Shower will continue around the corner to the left with fixed shower head and rain head in the middle.

I'm scrambling for a vanity for this bathroom.  The dresser I was planning to use is in worse shape than I thought and will not work. I really want an awesome dresser or console, but I'm getting impatient! I'm hoping one turns up soon.

This is the girl's bathroom after the feather finish on the floor. The base coat of paint is going on tomorrow.  I cannot wait to show y'all the finished product!

This is the hall. Paint and feather finish are done. Ready for stain and trim.

Cabinets are so tedious! This weekend will be devoted to priming and painting so countertops can go in next week.

Master Suite

Master suite BEFORE

 

 

Here is the master bedroom before we started working on it. All of these projects are kind of going on at the same time. Bedrooms, bathrooms livingroom and hall are racing along while the kitchen will be last, so I am trying to decide if it is better to post the room after it is all finished or in phases together: construction/remodel/repair first, filling paneling/drywall, then texture walls, followed by painting the walls then the floors.  So here is a preview of what is probably going to be my favorite room! 

 

 

 

 

These pics are taken standing at the entrance from the hall. The door on the right goes to the carport.

Sneaky lil photo bomber

 

 This counter and sink are just inside the room - or were. We took this out. The vanity knook in the spare bedroom is kind of cool.... this one not so much. The door next to the counter is the bathroom and the other door is the closet.

The bathrooms in this house had panel board walls... like in a trailer house with wall paper already on them and strips to cover the seams.... No idea why. It looks like they started to remodel and pulled up the old vinyl on the floors and the wall paper off of the panel board then stopped. 

 

Both of the shower inserts were in good shape, but we decided to take this one out and have a locker room style walk in shower.  

This became a joke - to photo bomb mom's pictures

 Behind the bathroom door is (was) a cabinet thing. with counter top only about 8 inches from the bottom of the top cabinet.... ? It is gone now also.

I outran her this time. But instead got Pawpaw

This is during the spackling phase. I discovered after doing the girls' room that drywall spackling is better than joint compound to fill the grooves in the paneling. It is more like a paste and does not shrink near as much as drywall mud. It is a little thicker and harder to work with, but after the first coat you can add water to it and do a skim coat that is much more workable. Sanding between coats is much less messy as well - spackle causes less dust YAY!

 

 

 

This is Shipp - totally unaware that he is about to be famous HEHEHE!

 

So, we had a change of plans once we got the shower inclosure out. I say we - David and Shipp - discovered a second drain in the floor, which was probably the origional. The bathroom had been extended into the closet for the shower stall and the cabinets behind the door took the space where the tub must have been. So they decided to extend the rest of the bathroom into the closet and make the shower twice as big! Two drains, two shower heads and an additional rain head from the ceiling. I am SO EXCITED!

For this room we got out the texture sprayer. That is the way to go! Much easier and thicker than you could do with a roller. The sprayer was not as messy as I anticipated. Definately worth the $60! I sprayed the texture in this room. Here's a tip: the hopper is really heavy. Let someone help you. 

 

I had been so excited to use the paint sprayer. I sprayed this room the day after the texture and I will say that I need some practice with that thing. But I am determined to be good at it. It's just going to take me a little longer on this than most other stuff. I love the color though!