Patio Potting Bench

     Thank goodness for cooler weather! I have been so excited to start on the outside of the house, but it has been way too hot. I just couldn't wait anymore for cooler temperatures when I did this project and I have been inside in the air conditioner every since!  We got exterior paint last weekend and are planning to start that project first week of November...... Yay! 

     This is maybe one of my favorite projects! Because I planned and built it by myself! Okay, besides the plumbing- my honey did that. And he helped me sand the countertop boards some just because it took forever and he is such a gentleman....(sigh).  I looked at a drawing from pinterest to get a general idea of how it should look. Then I got out my tape measure, pencil and graph paper and drew out the dimensions. I measured the height and length of the window behind it and decided how tall I wanted the counter and put those measurements in place in the drawing. Then, I just went to work. I used 2x4's for everything except the horizontal surfaces. 

     

The counter top is some recycled tongue and groove wood that we pulled out of my dad's house. It is very old and most of the boards are bowed. I had a hard time getting them screwed down in some places. I found some chalky spray paint in some really cool colors and I got a little carried away with it I guess... I couldn't decide which one I liked the most lol.  Cutting the hole for the sink was the hardest part.  I traced the bottom of the tub where I wanted it and used a jig saw to cut out the circle. Actually I started the hole with a drill and a large drill bit just so I could get the jig saw blade in. Getting the hole right for the tub was the hardest part. David and I both cut on it and wrestled with it and cut some more. Eventually it came together. 

     Cut a hole in the tub (also a bit of a pain in the a#&), hole for the hose and some screw in hooks and it was ready for the master plumber! The water is supplied from a water hose that originates just around the corner. I tried out a few different ones and eventually decided on a metal fitting with a 45 degree curve to point the sprayer down into the sink.  There is a sink on the other side of the wall behind the bench so we just tied the drain into that one, worked out great. 

Retiring the Recessed Florescent Light

It's been a while since I posted anything - maybe because I haven't been finishing many projects now that I don't have a deadline anymore post housewarming/birthday party..... I have been bouncing around from project to project not really getting very far on anything. This is the last project we completed about a month ago. I love it so much! It is really hard to take a picture of a light fixture where you can see it for the 4 super intense light bulbs when you have to have the light on to see it in the first place! Anyhow, here it is. 

finished kitchen recessed light

Here is the back story on this light.  The ceiling already had the recessed 4 ft by 4 ft light box (I guess you call it) with 2 florescent lights inside. Whoever put it in did a good job. The sheet rock was completely finished and textured with that oh so lovely glitter popcorn throughout. When we started talking about what to do with it the guys (David and Shipp) asked me if we were just going to cover it with sheet rock and go on with our lives. This is what it looked like before:

First of all I knew there was no way I could make the new drywall match the rest of the ceiling and even though we are going to remove the popcorn texture at some point we are not ready to do it now (because we would have to do the kitchen, dinning and living room at the same time - there is no threshold between these rooms) and I could not live with the ceiling not all matching. I also had a feeling I could find something cool to do here. I did some Pinterest searching and found this awesome trimmed out-tin tile-can light thing. I thought it would add some really cool detail to just a regular light fixture without adding a crazy light fixture. 

David did all of the work on this besides the painting. Bless his heart, he worked in the attic cutting through studs and beams for the can lights and wiring them in for a little over a day! Then the trim...... It was a doozy to say the least. The vertical walls of the recessed area were not square to the horizontal parts. He had to shim the base layer of trim so the corners would work without a case of caulk. We ended up using 1 inch thick pine lining the vertical side walls with 5 inch base first, then crown molding on the inside corners, then a decorative outside corner piece.  I got the tiles from Wayfair for super cheap. They are faux copper finish which will go really well with the chandelier that I found for above the sink - one day when it gets put in...... David did a great job and I just love it so much!  

Rustic Chic Master Bath

     Well, after the post about the wagon wheel chandelier David and I decided we would call this decor style "rustic chic" or even "rustic glam".....!!! Lots of repurposed things, vintage flare, wood, wrought or cast iron, grey tones and cool neutrals with a twist of teal, turquoise, bling, sparkle, and fabulous! Since we live in the country - I mean WAY out in the country - but we are not ranchers and we do not have horses or cows. Our style is rustic without the horse/cowboy theme. I'm not sure if someone else has already defined this term or if this term has already been claimed, but from now on this is what I am going to call it. Rustic chic. Yep, perfect. I am finally ready to post about a finished room! Both of the bathrooms are complete - even down to the caulking the trim.

This is the first wood grained stained concrete floor. I just finished doing the entire master bedroom, so I'll be posting about that soon! Here is the post on how I did this.

This is my bathroom! I love it! The vanity is the one I found on a local classifieds site and repainted. It was already repurposed into a bathroom vanity so it needed only paint. We did cut the legs off to make it more comfortable for me to reach - it was pretty tall for a cabinet.  I used a paint roller to roll orange peel texutre after I taped and floated the drywall. The walls are Valspar satin finish in dover grey.

The floor!!!! Was purely an experiment at first. I used Valspar semi transparent concrete stain in driftwood for the base color and emory for the grain color, then a gloss finish sealer for concrete floors.

I am in love with this door! We knew we would have to have a custom cut door for this shower because the entrance is so big. I kind of got a crazy idea to do a barn door style shower door. I asked around and looked on the web and couldn't find very much information about it, only pictures. So I called a local glass installer, Paul Holmes, and asked if he could do it. He said he had never done one, but would like to try it. So I purchased the hardware from amazon. It is just wood barn door style hardware. I think I paid about $135 for it. (the glass hardware is crazy expensive!) We took it to the installer so he could see where he would need to drill holes in the glass once he recieved it in the size we wanted. The handle is also for a wood barn door. We used 1/8 in tempered glass. I am very pleased with how it turned out. Eventually there will also be a sliding barn door into this bathroom as well as the master closet.

This shower is HUGE, y'all! It is 4 ft by 6 ft straight in from the door to the wall, then another 4ft by 8ft back to the left. Three shower heads - one handheld on an adjustable track. This one shares a valve with the rain head on the ceiling. Then a seperate fixed height shower head. Two drains, a bench (specific height built for me) and two built in cubby compartments. I like to just hang out in there sometimes. If you can't find me that's where I'll be.....

These shelves are opposite the vanity. I stained them with rustoleum stain in ebony mixed with minwax weathered oak. The boards are just rough cut cedar from the local hardware store. We used just ripped down 1 by 2 scrap wood for the supports since this will be more decorative than heavy storage.






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!



A Little Something I Did This Weekend

This little darling here! I bet it took me two weeks of intense searching and 10 minutes of work to put this together and it may be one of my favorite things so far. The wagon wheel light fixture was already hanging in the dinning area when we bought the house, but without bulb covers and covered in dust. I thought about painting it, color washing it or just taking it down. The blue mason jars were a Christmas gift from my amazing mother in love. I tried them without the burlap and it just seemed to be missing something. I found the burlap garland on Etsy and I looked into making them myself, but I decided I have enough projects right now and for less than $20 they were definitely worth it!




I added some adorable burlap roses and chandelier crystals hanging from twine to give it some rustic GLAM!

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!

Paint, Paint, PAINT!!!!

This week has been fairly uneventful. My entire crew is sick! David has pneumonia and Shipp has gastroenteritis. So, I have had all week to catch up on painting..... I have been painting like crazy! I finished the kitchen cabinets and I really like the color.  I used Valspar cabinet enamel semi gloss in canvas tan.  They are going to look amazing with the doors trimmed out and glazed! I hate painting cabinets. It is so tedious! So the kitchen is ready for counter tops, back splash,  cabinet trim and feather finish on the floor. 

My wheels are turning with ideas for this kitchen! I primed the inside of the long run of cabinets (bottom right) thinking I would paint the insides. Then I decided that was going to be entirely too much work and maybe the insides didn't look so bad after all. They will eventually have to be painted, but I can live with it for a while. I may decide to paint them some variation of teal green or gray.... Possibly glass in the doors or maybe take the doors off on top cabinets and display some awesome glassware. I think I counted 50 cabinet knobs. Yeah, 50. That's probably going to happen in stages! 

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.