Bathroom Update

Recently, my husband (“the hubs”) and I updated our upstairs bathroom.  We have a house with one bathroom and it works for us for now, but maybe someday we will add another one.  The bathroom was a pretty mocha color and that’s probably why we haven’t updated it since we moved in.  The one thing that I disliked most about the bathroom was the vanity light fixture.  The flowers just did not work for me.   Here are some “before” pictures:  (I apologize for the quality, but I think that I was so excited about the changes that I was not focused on getting good pictures!)

The bathroom when we first moved in.

For my redesign, I chose a Sherwin Williams Tradewind  gray blue.   I was trying to find a color that would work with the maroon tile that we inherited with the house.  When the hubs had just finished re-painting it, I had a panicked moment when I realized that I picked my grandma’s favorite blue color which she used for EVERYTHING.  Not my favorite shade of blue, but I can tell you after a few weeks, I really do love the color.

We painted all the woodwork and the vanity white and I love the clean look it gives with the beige and blue. We replace the base trim and painted it white.  As for the vanity light, I’m really excited about how it turned out!  I used my favorite spray paint: oil rubbed bronze on that tacky gold light fixture and bought new globes.  It was so simple to make the light fixture look infinitely

better!  

UP NEXT:  The best part!  Out hunting for new décor for the bathroom –  and do not worry! –  I will keep you updated on all the great details.

Bring a little warmth.

Nothing like preparing for winter before the snow really hits.

Which leads me to a project that my husband and I recently worked on – insulating our house.  The hubby and I started this project a summer ago.  We were able to insulate parts of our house with recycled insulation which we blew into the house from the outside.  We bought all the insulation from a big box hardware store and could rent the machine that blows the insulation for free.  We went as green as we could and it was not a big cost difference.   We assembled a small army to help in the summer when we started this project two summers ago.  It took three days in the hot summer sun but it was worth the heating cost savings.  We blew the insulation in from the outside of the house.  By removing one shingle and drilling a small hole, we stuck the hose in and away we went.  This process took several holes, about every three feet or so and we had to do it to both levels of our house. Buying a home that was built in the 1920s means that the insulation could not be updated any other way.

So this bring us to the crawl space in our upstairs closet.  After last winter, we noticed that this room (our office) was COLD and still needed some work.  The plan was to line the crawl space with fiberglass insulation, so we rented the machine and blew in some new insulation again.

Probably the most entertaining part of this project was when my husband attempted to squeeze himself into the tiny crawl space.  After he gets all the way down the long, narrow and dark crawl space,  it dawns on me that we have no flashlights!  And I can’t get the darn machine to turned on!!   So, hubby had to pull himself out of the crawl space to help me with the machine, and so we took the opportunity to run to the store and treat him to a brand new head lamp!  And that head lamp is the best tool!

So after 14 bags we now have another space fully insulated.    It is a simple project, but it does take some time and planning.   Small areas can be done in a day.

Some simple projects to help our pretty house make it through the winter.  Projects on the horizon: the bathroom.  I think a fresh coat of paint and a little updating is next!

IKEA

Well, after the holidays and two rounds of illness, I can finally say I’m back.  My head has been swirling with things I need to write about.  Maybe that explains that last bout of sickness, a major migraine.  I am happy to be back at my blog again and to tell everyone about our latest projects.

During my hiatus from the blog, Sean (the hubs) and I made a trip to IKEA.   We needed some new storage options for our home.  We looked at several options by starting at World Market but the color and the look is not what we were looking for.

  Another option we looked at was Pottery Barn but that was well beyond our budget.  But it did have the look we were going for.

  After researching and discussing what we wanted, we settled on IKEA.  It had the white look and the many options we wanted.

Being the planner, my husband had the great idea to download the catalog and circle everything we would want to see in person.  We also signed up for IKEA Family which gives discounts to members.  It turns out that our IKEA Family Card paid off by providing us with some free breakfast and coffee at the store and discounts off of our purchases. The discounts offered change each month and  items available  are posted on the Ikea website.

Here are some pictures of our IKEA finds and I will update the pics as I fill the bookshelves.

I also looked at another slipcover for our couch.  But IKEA does not have the color that would go with our living room.  It got me thinking: do people make IKEA slipcovers?   With some internet searching, I found this great website with many good IKEA center ideas  just click here:  Shelter Pop

After looking around, I got the idea of dyeing the natural slip cover.  So I think this means that I am now on the hunt for a cheap IKEA slipcover in case the whole project goes wrong.   See how one project can inspire many more?