A One Day Facelift

Saturday 04.10.2010
What happens when you rid your house of lots of stuff?  You get more stuff of course!

Do you have a "Tuesday Morning" in your neighborhood?  It's a hit or miss place...sometimes I spend an hour and walk out without a thing.  This was obviously not one of those days.

And with what I found, I decided to focus on a quick facelift project in our upstairs bath. 





BEFORE

 

My dirty little secret is my messy linen closet.  So I tackled that, but what really drove me to shopping was the state of the rugs.  One small loose piece of weaving and the cats attacked it with a vengeance.  The center of two of the rugs were threadbare.  I've been reading alot of articles about the "white bathroom" - you know, very spa-like feeling.  So when I found a great deal on white linens at Tuesday Morning.  It seemed like a natural fit.

AFTER

Step 1 - empty everything out.

Which quickly fills up the floor.

Step 2: Clean, Clean, Clean. Sort, Sort, Sort.

Step 3: Re-stock.

Is this the same closet?  Let' see how long it stays neat.  Look at all those fluffy white towels.

White, indeed.  Now I'm adding pops of color for interest.

The first one makes me smile....a little painting project between Kip and our nieces.  They painted sunflowers on 5x7 cards....so now they are framed and a beautiful memory on the wall.

I will be repainting the walls soon.  Going for that spa feeling with a softer tone.  But that's for another day - because today is CROWN MOLDING DAY!

Is a project room ever done?

Saturday 02.13.10
I feel pretty comfortable claiming that the bathroom is done.  Ok, ok, so I haven't putty'd all the little nail holes and touched up the small areas of paint that were nicked as we finished the last of the installs.  I admit it.  But I'm thinking I'll wait to do that when I get all that gooky stuff out for the start of the NEXT project.  Since I know it won't be a year (more like a week) before that starts up again, I feel quite comfortable with that.

Shut up.  I do.

So what did I learn? 

1. Plumbing is no small or easy feat.  Essentially we all learned the basics in shop class, but shop class wasn't fitting new to old, and old to older, and also - if the water leaked a little, no big deal.  Here...yeah it's a big deal.
2. If Kip ever leaves me I'll require a serious handy man on call or a For Sale sign on the house and I'll be back to apartment living with a resident building manager.
3. If you don't start with a very firm budget...the money adds up fast.  And keep your receipts (which I did) because you can return all those items that didn't quite work out (even if you've opened the packages).
4. I can envision something and come pretty close to seeing the end result.
5. I learned HGTV weekend home makeovers are fallacies!  Even if you had your own resident carpenter and crew I'm doubting it all actually works out.

But mostly, I learned to know what "good enough" is when doing facelift type work and there's no reason to put off for SEVEN YEARS an ugly room makeover just because you aren't ready for the big construction investment.

Here is the final before and after.

You know, until I looked at these side by side, I really didn't realize how far we'd come!

Hence my big-ass smile.

Forget DIY....get yourself a plumber...

Thursday 02.11.10

Before

In Progress (DIY)

After (Plumber done)

Still have some finishing touches to do....but the end is in sight!

Stay tuned for more details and final reckoning of costs.

Slow Week

Wednesday 02.03.10
It's been a slow week here at the Yellow Cottage.  Tomorrow I fly off to the (hopefully) warm weather of Florida to visit family and have a nice long weekend away.  Kip, unfortunately, is stuck here at home with a major software upgrade project at his work. He will be comforted, however, by the delivery that arrived today.  His very own Mac.  Of course, my plans to start on the home office as the next project doesn't bode well for a happy setup for him.  He will likely be ousted to the upstairs guest bedroom or perhaps the dining room for a month once that is started...but first, we still have to conquer the bathroom.

So in my last entry I talked about running out of steam (and patience).  One thing I learned about starting with a small room...never consider a bathroom a small room.  Also, the concept that I would be able to do 90% of this myself and not have to drag Kip away from his own substantial projects was a fallacy. 

I'm hopeful once I move away from plumbing that I can be more independent, just seeking advice and an occasional tutorial in power tools from Kip, but the fact is we live together in this space and the simple act of prepping, cleaning/purging a space requires both our involvement.

Last night Kip took on the plumbing under the sink again - now with all the right parts - and managed to get very wet when the water was turned back on.  We fear, after all this DIY activity, we will still need a professional plumber to come check it out.  We think some of the pipe or the on/off valve was just too old to survive the activity of the last month and has given out.  Luckily we have a good plumber we can call, but Kip will take one more look at it first.  If he comes, we can take the opportunity to also have him look at the steam radiator in the kitchen that has a leaky connection as well.  It's always something.

I've been reading the House in Progress blog started by Jeanne and Aaron in 2003.  What they took on in that old bungalow certainly makes our house look like child's play.  I'm sure I would have given up within 30 days, but they've kept at it for 7 years....a real lesson in stick-to-itiveness.

So, I'll begin to inventory what we've done and what we've spent on the bathroom thus far.  And just as a reminder, this was a facelift job, not a true renovation or restoration effort.  At some future date we hope to re-configure the space by taking square footage from the adjoining (bed)room and closet to add a shower and at that time, we will put in a real tile floor instead of the inexpensive (but not bad looking at all!) adhesive flooring.

Going dark now....back up next week.

Out of Steam

Sunday 01.31.10
An update on the weekend list.

1.  sand and patch paint where tape pulled off finish

Done.  But it always seems there is one more touch up to do.  I think I'll be taking a tiny brush out for touchups after everything is all totally back together.

2.  cut baseboard and base of vanity cabinet to allow for flush position to wall and plumbing access.

Done.  But oh, what a production.  It's all about having the right tools and the right approach.  We thought our little dremel (advertised as the end all-be all tool) would cut through the baseboard, but alas, the baseboard was thicker than the blade could cut.  So after exhausting our in-house tool supplies, Kip ran to the Depot for some chisel tools.  He then painstakingly chiseled the cut to be a clean cut on the baseboard and then worked to jimmie the rest of the board loose.  It didn't help there was a sad lack of structure behind the baseboard as every time the hammer claw, or chisel was wedged behind the board, there was no resistance and the tool was useless.  Eventually though, Kip prevailed.  He then drilled two neat holes in the base of the vanity to allow for the hot/cold faucet connections.  I had protested that it would be impossible to perfectly drill the holes and that we should just notch out the area, but Kip insisted and he did it so well, it slipped right over the pipes. 

Beautiful job.

3.  plumbing for sink

Not done.  Let's just say, four trips to the Depot in one day (Saturday) and we are still not done.  Although we're close now.  When you take out one sink and replace it with another, stuff just doesn't fit back together.  Let's just leave it at that and leave all the other four-letter words back in the bathroom where they belong.

4.  add quarter round at joint of baseboard and floor

Done.  Kip measured and cut the miters and actually allowed me the hammer and nails to put the trim in place.  I have to admit, as with everything else, it is easier to stand back and advise how to do it better, than to actually do it, and Kip was a good man and didn't take the bait.  He stayed out of the way, let me swear my way through it, complaining all the while that we didn't have a nail gun, and I managed to get it in place and NOT smash any fingers in the process.

And here....because of #3...is where we've run out of steam...

5.  plumbing for toilet

Waiting on sink finishing.  because you can't be plumbing under the cabinet when you can't fit your  ass into the room.  Hopefully though, this plumbing will be an easier re-assembly.

6.  add new toilet seat and flush handle

I did add the new toilet seat after Kip kindly helped by hacksawing off the old one.  You never realize how the bolts disintegrate until you try to unfasten things.  Do you think the local Freecycle folks would be interested in an oak toilet seat?  I hesitate as there's something distasteful about offering a used toilet seat...

7.  pray nothing leaks

Postponed for the hookup party.

8.  add frosted film to window for privacy

Will wait until other plumbing is done to maintain the maximum of light.

9.  hang mirror

Comes after the sink and toilet are done.  But we did pull it out of the box and hold it in place - gorgeous!  And I may actually have room below the mirror and above the faucet for a small glass shelf.

10.  measure, trim, stain and install end moulding in doorway

Considering waiting for this until the flooring (intend to carpet) in adjacent room is done.

11.  consider accessories and artwork and place
 
We know one piece of art that is definitely going in, but again, must wait until everything is in place.
 
 

So what did we do today?

 
After a bit of a rough Saturday, we gave each other permission to stop....to breathe...and to not finish. I so wanted to be done with the first face-lift project by the end of January, but we've been going non-stop and I needed to remind myself that one of the things I said at the beginning:  I hope to maintain my sanity and my happy marriage.  So today, while a little work was done, it was only what we felt like doing. 
 
Laundry was finished. 
 
 

 
A gallery image system was hung in Kip's studio.  (Isn't his work gorgeous?)
 
 

 
The quarter round trim was nailed in place.  (pay no attention to the corners, I still have to work the wood putty magic) 
 

 
The wood switchplate was painted, cut to fit, and installed. 
 

 
An apple cake was baked.   (Kiki - this is for you!)
 

 
A pot of chili is bubbling on the stove. 
 

 
And it's okay that the toilet is still sitting next to my desk and the water in the bathroom is still turned off. 
 

 
For today, it's enough.

I AM.....

Friday 01.29.10
Last night, as I spent a lovely night out with friends and colleagues, I was sipping my cosmo and enjoying a yummy crab and potato croquette, when my blackberry buzzed.

From: Kip
Subject: I AM....

Message:  A 12x12 adhesive tile GOD!

I have to agree.

Weekend list:

1. sand and patch paint where tape pulled off finish
2. cut baseboard and base of vanity cabinet to allow for flush position to wall and plumbing access.
3. plumbing for sink
4. add quarter round at joint of baseboard and floor
5. plumbing for toilet
6. add new toilet seat and flush handle
7. pray nothing leaks
8. add frosted film to window for privacy
9. hang mirror
10. measure, trim, stain and install end moulding in doorway
11. consider accessories and artwork and place

Done??? We'll see.

The Advantage of Incompetence

Wednesday 01.27.10
So last night I attempted my first ever peel and stick flooring.  They make it look SOOOOO easy on TV.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love/hate HGTV?  I believe that the length of time since I took a geometry class is the fatal flaw.  I'm having a real difficulty understanding negative space, area measurements, and probably the pythagorean theory.  Luckily, the tiles only cost about $0.88 per square, because I killed the first four I tried to measure and cut to fit. 

Remember how I said we were going to break all the rules on the directions provided?  We thought we were being brilliant in not starting at the center of the room as they suggested.  You see, I measured to the center and then began dry-fitting it all and realized I was going to have to make a ton of minute (less than 3 inch strip) cuts all around the borders since the room is only about 4.5' x 4.5'.  Instead, we determined to start at the doorway and move back to the back wall and make all the cuts fall behind/under the toilet and sink vanity.  Brilliant right?  Well yes, but...no.  The reason they want you to start from the middle with full tiles is so the bulk of the floor is done BEFORE you start making any cuts.  But since we wanted to start from the doorjamb, the first row was going to require some cutting to get it in.  The door jamb opening would be full size tiles, but the adjacent tiles would require some cutting to accommodate the kick moulding.  (Make sense?  I know it is a visual thing, and I was too pissed off last night to take pictures and too lazy today.)  Trust me though....I just wasn't up to the task.

When Kip arrived home expecting the floor to be mostly complete and found me hiding under a blanket, watching TV and answering questions with grunts or monosyllabic words at best, he deduced we had an issue.  To my credit, it is the first time in this process I've shown distress or temper.  On the other hand, it's only the first project and only about 3 weeks into this year-long program, so it could be a long and bumpy ride.

So, what, you say, is the advantage to my demonstrated incompetence in measuring and cutting tiles?  While I'm working a little late at the office tonight, Kip is working on the floor.  I struggled with letting it go this way, because you see, this is supposed to be my project and if you know me, you know, while I'm a generous person, still....it's all about me.  ;-)  In this case, that means I want to be the one accomplishing the tasks and reaping the benefits.  I want to stand in this room when it is done (or sit as the function of the room is primarily about that) and say, "Damn girl....nice job."

But sometimes, you just have to say Uncle.  And let it go.

I'm headed home now, and we'll see how my much more competent and loving husband has done on my night off.

...small victories and tiny defeats...and a sneak peak

My ambitions to continue painting on Saturday ensuring Sunday would be for reassembling the room was proven unrealistic.  After a very long work week, a night of disturbed sleep, a long day at class, I came home feeling like I was in a state of jetlag.   I actually did consider it.  I stood in the unfinished, unlit room knowing what delaying the painting would mean for Sunday, but I just couldn't do it.  And truly, I shouldn't do it, because I knew it would result in a dropped paint tray, a major mistake, or something similarly disastrous that my patience would not be able to handle.

So instead, I laid down on the couch and promptly fell into a deep druglike sleep. 

So here we are at Sunday and after a half day of school I came home and got back to business, bathroom facelift business, that is.  Today I put the 2nd coat on the walls and the beadboard.  After accidentally painting two stripes of the wall color onto the beadboard (my excuse - low light in the room today) I quickly adjusted, wiped down the panels and started again.  If this is the kind of mistake I could make in daylight after a full night's sleep, I can only imagine what I might have done last night.  And I can now officially say I am THRILLED with the paint colors we chose...THRILLED I say.  I was less than thrilled when pulling the painter's tape off took some of the base coats, but it is nothing a little patchwork can't correct.

Working in low light has been a challenge in that room (as evidenced by my painting error this afternoon), but with the painting completed we could replace the light fixture.  Also, Kip had finished his shopping and cutting the mitered corners on the chair rail.  Today, adding that railing was the tipping point.  So while we didn't get as far as I had hoped, we got far enough to see the finish line. 

In our next work session we'll finish the flooring.  We started dry fitting some tiles tonight.  The tiles must be at room temperature for 24 hours before installing and we had them in a very cold garage.  We're going to ignore some of the other installation directions (I'll explain later) but after a long weekend of school and painting, I was ok with sitting down and doing a little blogging instead of risking having the tiles come unstuck due to temperature issues.

But just to keep you up to date, here are some sneak peak photos.

We were so excited to see the results coming together we started planning our next project. 

We must be certifiably insane.

Bit by Bit

Today I was able to be at home (since I put in about 50 hours already this week) and I took advantage of the found time.  I finally put some color on the walls and the room is looking less like a colorless cube and more like a developing space. 

Have you noticed how the paint chips never quite give you the feeling of how the actual color will work.  I don't mean to infer that the color is different.  It is actually a perfect match to the chip.  But the feeling can't really be accurate until you stand in the room with the walls painted and surrounding you.  Even then, so many elements are missing.  The furniture...or in this case, the "facilities"are not in place, the accessories, the window treatment, everything that builds to make the space a home.

So as I was saying, the colors are not necessarily what I expected, but luckily I love them.  I think the space will become what I hoped.  Progress remains slow, but we are getting there bit by bit.  There are just so many hours in the day.

Much of tomorrow is lost due to my class schedule, but Kip will help out with a shopping run.  With the colors on the wall we were able to choose between our two flooring options so Kip will pick up the tiles (peel & stick, but still tiles), also the sink cabinet we selected and the mirror.  With any luck, Sunday afternoon after school we can add the trim, do the floor, and maybe move the toilet and sink into place.  Kip has warned me not to get too ambitious about our day as he anticipates some plumbing complications could arise...so like I said, bit by bit.

If it takes this long to do a bathroom while we balance our other obligations, I can't imagine how long the bedroom might take...

Post Script:  Hurrah!!!  HGTV back on Cablevision.  It was running all day today and I was thrilled to see so many before and afters, envious of the in-house carpenter/handyman assistance, and ticked at their seeming ability to finish major home improvement projects in time elapsed weekends.

Progress? Yes...but oh the waiting

So the bathroom is making me crazy progress.

There are a limited number of hours in every day, and most of my hours seem to be spent waiting for paint to dry. There is a reason people say, "It's like watching paint dry." It is not a rewarding way to spend time.

It is important to me to do this right...and as proved by my continuous refusals of help from Kip - to do it myself. As much as possible. This week he took on the spackling/sanding job and yesterday the not insignificant role of removing the toilet and the sink from the room. I never could have done that without him. As he was hefting the toilet out and moving it across the room, to sit in a lovely position immediately to my left he grunted out, "Make sure you give me credit on your blog...write about me like the father in (no caps) a christmas story." My mind immediately went to the father in (title caps) A Christmas Story - shouting out obscenities as he worked on the furnace, yelling at the neighbor's dog, and shrieking "Frageeelayy - it must be Italian." Yeah, it was kind of like that. But truly, he was a monumentous help.

Today, it was all about talking one another off the ledge. We both awoke with a case of the "Sundays" - essentially dreading the week ahead of us, feeling a need to accomplish something, while simultaneously yearning to just kick back and watch tv and eat popcorn all day. I have schoolwork waiting, paint drying, an incredibly busy work week ahead, and a toilet sitting next to my desk. Sigh.

As I reminded Kip that without a lot of progress being made today (and by that I mean returning the bathroom to working order, it would mean our housekeeper would arrive on Thursday to a disaster zone. Kip's response, "This is what a house under construction will be like this year." Reading between the lines I hear, "Your project, remember??"

So, what's next? Well the last coat of primer on the beadboard is drying. After three coats it still has a slighly orange (wood) cast, but I believe two coats of the linen white paint will cover it. The ceiling paint is on and drying - and I'm a little ticked that the manufacturer's label of flat white was wrong as it is actually glossy white. And no - there truly is no returning it as it has been in the basement for years.

Because the ceiling paint won't truly be set until an overnight drying, I can't tape it off to paint the walls. I mean, I could, but I've had experience with pulling paint off with the tape and you never quite get the patchwork right. So, after grumbling for a bit as the realization hit that there will be no big reveal of a new room this weekend I determined my to-do list. Dig out the semi-gloss trim paint and do the window sill and trim. Get the sawhorses up and lay out the moulding and sand, prime and paint that in the basement. Paint the door and the baseboard if the primer dries enough. Then, schoolwork! and maybe some popcorn.

So, I'm off to make some more progress...and will try to measure (and take credit for the accomplishment of) how many steps it actually takes to get this little 5x5 room done properly. Home shows be damned...I don't believe anymore you can do over a room in a weekend and have it done well.

$146.07 - Bathroom Remodel Begins

Tonight Kip and I hit Lowes.

And can I just say - I never quite got that Lowes-T advertising campaign? I finally asked, "What is this Lowes - T campaign about..." Kip wisely suppressed his regular shit-eating grin and said, "Um...I think they are trying to say lowest?" Ok, so I'm not always the sharpest tool in the shed.

For the first time ever I think, I was totally prepared with a vision, a quest, a vision-quest of types. I had a list, I had measurements of nearly everything we might need, I had concepts and coordination. I was a design star.

I was SURE I wanted a pedestal sink, like this.



Which was perfectly respectable....but then we saw this...and we both went, "hmmmm".



And then we began looking at accessories...fun.



And check out this cool mirror.



We progressed around the floor to lighting, flooring, moulding/trim, paints, toilet seats...and while we did the room started to come together. Tonight was the little things - the light ($12.98), the faucet ($89.00), the toilet seat ($19.98 - goodbye oak wood!), and 3 different floor tile samples ($2.88). Later this week, we'll return for the sink cabinet, the accessories, the paint, the moulding. And the remodel truly begins.

Close your eyes and imagine colors called Crisp Linen, Roasted Garlic, and Thunderstorm with travertine floor (ok it's peel and stick, but still), some brushed nickel accessories and lighting, 4" moulding chair rail, and cherry cabinet with farmhouse style sink.

You're drooling right?

Keep your fingers crossed that it looks as good in reality as it does in my busy little brain.

The Half (Bad) Bathroom

In the 1950's a half bath was added to the house. I am thankful for it every time we have guests as I grew up in a one bath home and when you start to add occupants - even temporary ones - the very delicate balance of bathroom timeshare is quickly upset.




However, this bathroom needs a lot of help.


When we first moved in I determined not to spend any money on this room as I had plans to make it into 3/4 bath (with shower stall) since a full bath seemed infeasible. Since this room is on our first floor - separated from the dining room by a glass paned door - we use the adjacent room (supposedly a 3rd bedroom) for an office.


This room also has the largest closet in the house - a source of total amusement to us both. This double-door closet even has a cedar lining, totally wasted on the paper, cameras, musical instruments, computer ware, games, wrapping paper, etc. that fill it.


I had hoped that with a little reconfiguring of the floor plan I might keep a mid-sized closet and gain a shower stall and still have a room that could measure out as a small guest room or a home office in the appraiser's eye, so stay tuned for some drawings. But in the meantime, and since a construction budget with plumbing is not in my plans for this year, it's time to think up a facelift.


Half Bath Project #1: Wallpaper...my god the Wallpaper



I'm going to research the best way to rid my walls of this pattern immediately. From watching HGTV (and have I mentioned how pissed I am at cablevision that HGTV is not on anymore?...giving them to the end of the month and then FIOS it is!), I know I need to score the paper and use a solution (I think it is half water half soap - but I'm checking) and then scrape, scrape, scrape. I think it may be kind of cathartic.

After that...we'll move on to shopping for a new pedestal sink...stay tuned.