Happy six months baby Harry!
Shhhhh.. Don't tell the others, but I think you are the best baby, Ever. And I should know, I've had a lot, of babies.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Fantastic Bathtastic
I fell in love with our house the first time we set foot in it. It was way too dark, full of stained wood paneling, dark walls, and smelled faintly of dog, covered up by a smothering floral potpourri. Attractive, yes? But it was all about my favorite word.. potential. I could see it, I could envision it, and I wanted to be the one to bring this 1985 classic into the modern world.
The master bath had potential oozing from every corner. It even had an extra, "catch all" room connected to it, which some day I was convinced Candice Olsen would come and turn into a fantastic walk in closet, after she added a jetted tub and 10 faucet shower. That was until I realized that she only deals with jobs containing a six figure budget, and found out we would be having a baby.. instead of a bathtub. Turns out you do have to throw out one in order to keep the other.
So the catch all room actually caught Harry and his crib, and my bathtastic plans were scaled down to some paint, a new sink, and some DIY wainscoting.
Much to Kevin's scowling eyebrows, I learned how to master the Table Saw, the Chop Saw, and the Jig saw, all during nap time. I put on my safety goggles, prayed that I would keep all my limbs, and went to work. I have realized that I am bent towards more creative work than mathematical measurements, and the lesson of measure twice, cut once, probably should be listed to.
Kev came in on the tail end and rescued me from my hatred of geometry, as he cut and mounted the final top trim. But all in all I have to say that I was surprisingly proud of my basic carpentry skills, although I'm not going to buy my own saws, just yet.
Here are the after photos. I forgot to take any before shots. The coloring is a bit off.. as I am realizing that a key factor to many designers work must be a good camera to show it off. This is the best I could do with the lighting that ours would capture.
The master bath had potential oozing from every corner. It even had an extra, "catch all" room connected to it, which some day I was convinced Candice Olsen would come and turn into a fantastic walk in closet, after she added a jetted tub and 10 faucet shower. That was until I realized that she only deals with jobs containing a six figure budget, and found out we would be having a baby.. instead of a bathtub. Turns out you do have to throw out one in order to keep the other.
So the catch all room actually caught Harry and his crib, and my bathtastic plans were scaled down to some paint, a new sink, and some DIY wainscoting.
Much to Kevin's scowling eyebrows, I learned how to master the Table Saw, the Chop Saw, and the Jig saw, all during nap time. I put on my safety goggles, prayed that I would keep all my limbs, and went to work. I have realized that I am bent towards more creative work than mathematical measurements, and the lesson of measure twice, cut once, probably should be listed to.
Kev came in on the tail end and rescued me from my hatred of geometry, as he cut and mounted the final top trim. But all in all I have to say that I was surprisingly proud of my basic carpentry skills, although I'm not going to buy my own saws, just yet.
Here are the after photos. I forgot to take any before shots. The coloring is a bit off.. as I am realizing that a key factor to many designers work must be a good camera to show it off. This is the best I could do with the lighting that ours would capture.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Oh, Snap.
I'm feeling a bit snappy.. (if you know me, you know how I love to yell out a good, OH SNAP! when something great happens). Not saved the world great, or Rick Santorum won the primary, great.. but great as in I just figured out how to get the Pottery Barn look for way less money in my bathroom, Great. Any woman who likes design will understand. (Or at least my sisters will).
In my search to revamp my bathroom, I fell in love with a way too expensive, supposedly "reclaimed" wood ladder/ towel rack. Sold at Pottery Barn for around $270 big ones. And because my towels, and my bathroom, for that matter, do not in any way call for such lavish accommodations, I thought my luck had run out, and the dream had died.
But with a renewed determination that I could, in fact, create a rustic ladder of my own, I picked up the phone, called every antique store within a 10 mile radius (it's a small town.. that about covers it).. and found my treasure. When it passed the, My Grandpa would call me crazy for paying them for this piece of junk, test... I knew it was perfect, and it was coming home with me.
And after stuffing it in the car with four car seats, some questions on whether or not Mommy was going to climb it, and a bit of sanding and staining; this $38, genuine, reclaimed ladder is a spitting image, yet far cry from the over priced Pottery Barn one that we all know was manufactured in a warehouse and scuffed up by some minimum wage factory dude.
So here's the comparison pictures. I don't have the gorgeous stand alone tub like the magazine.. but now we do at least have the same old wood to hang our towels on. And mine leaves me extra money to buy soap. Oh, Snap.
In my search to revamp my bathroom, I fell in love with a way too expensive, supposedly "reclaimed" wood ladder/ towel rack. Sold at Pottery Barn for around $270 big ones. And because my towels, and my bathroom, for that matter, do not in any way call for such lavish accommodations, I thought my luck had run out, and the dream had died.
But with a renewed determination that I could, in fact, create a rustic ladder of my own, I picked up the phone, called every antique store within a 10 mile radius (it's a small town.. that about covers it).. and found my treasure. When it passed the, My Grandpa would call me crazy for paying them for this piece of junk, test... I knew it was perfect, and it was coming home with me.
And after stuffing it in the car with four car seats, some questions on whether or not Mommy was going to climb it, and a bit of sanding and staining; this $38, genuine, reclaimed ladder is a spitting image, yet far cry from the over priced Pottery Barn one that we all know was manufactured in a warehouse and scuffed up by some minimum wage factory dude.
So here's the comparison pictures. I don't have the gorgeous stand alone tub like the magazine.. but now we do at least have the same old wood to hang our towels on. And mine leaves me extra money to buy soap. Oh, Snap.
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