Well, done for now. We still have designs on tiling the tub surround, but we’re ready to take a break. We’ve come a long way. Along with taking down a wall and attempting to patch it (the back wall is still not even. *sigh*), I fell in love with a vanity idea from my favorite home decorating/DIY blog. Components were ordered. I attempted to polyurethane in the kitchen when it was cold out – bad idea. I sanded. I poly’d more when it warmed up. And then, the assembly began:

I’m starting to think there may be a problem.

And, on closer inspection:

Yes, we DEFINITELY have a problem.

And so, with much yanking, disassembly, and occasional swearing, out the middle shelf came. Now, even with baskets under there, both the contents and the pipes are visible. I’m thinking I may make little curtains to cover it, but we’ll see. Regardless, the end result sink is lovely, and left us patting ourselves on the back for our awesome skeelz.

Taking a step back and having a look at our finished product:

The former “sink room” – taken from by the tub. Yay!

And the former “tub/toilet” room – taken through what used to be a wall.

On the top left, by the vent, you can see where the wall hit the ceiling. Our ceilings are the worst kind – not painted flat, not sanded/popcorn that you can buy premixed, but hand stippled with joint compound. We have the brush and the compound and have patched it, but needed a little break before we tackle attempting to get it to somewhat match the rest of the ceiling. Minor detail.

Jason took his first shower in there on Sunday night, and there was much rejoicing. This one’s (mostly) a wrap. I think I’ll do some painting next while we save for bigger things.

53 days.

Not that I’m counting or anything.

Much better than chocolate brown…one coat of paint on – 7 Apr 10

We’re finally past the non-level wall issue, walls are painted, and we have TILE!

OH! The end is NEAR! No more tripping on animals to go to the bathroom downstairs in the middle of the night. Jason and I can actually be in the bathroom at the same time! We’ve postponed tiling the tub surround – we think we’ve had enough for now.

Here’s to it NOT being another 53 days until it’s done!

Well, there’s no going back now. This isn’t much of a date night, either, as everything mostly has to go on serially. So, Jason ripped out a wall, and I followed behind occasionally with the ShopVac and tried not to scream at sudden loud noises and walls trembling. Tomorrow when it’s a little warmer & I can open the doors, I’ll polyurethane the new vanity while he rips out the floor.

Romantic evening at home!

Things we’ve learned so far about stupid construction and former owner’s crappy previous “renovation”:

1. What do you do when you accidentally order a countertop 1/2″ too long? You could send it back, but why? Just cut a hole in the wall and wedge it in. If you caulk the crap out of it, no one will figure it out until 20 years later when they try to update it.

2. If you can’t get enough nails in to secure a wall stud and have access to the other side of the wall, why not add some nails there? Nails hammered in from every direction imaginable just serve to make the wall extradoublestable and secure!

3. Got leftover pegboard? Need to level a floor? Or – just need to get rid of the pegboard? Why not cut it up and screw it into the subfloor before you put cheap laminate sticky tiles down!

4. Didn’t cut said cheap laminate sticky tiles the right size? No matter! You can caulk them to the toilet. So then, when you try and remove the toilet, you get the added efficiency of ripping out entire sections of flooring!

No matter! You have to get up pret-ty early in the morning to foil Amanda and Jason! And, I’ve been watching videos all day on how to (in about 4 different methods) patch holes of any size and shape in drywall. So, former idiot owner and construction company? Go on. Bring it.

The wall’s out and the house is still standing.

Fall cleanup mostly done – crabgrass cleaned out, new grass seed down, garden cleaned up, decision made about what to with the rock side. Just a couple of more projects and we’ll be set for winter. Of course, they’re BIG projects – replacing a section of siding, a new grill cover, and a new back door. But, in the meantime, the yard is doggie tested and approved.

I’ve had a rough week health-wise, so food and deep thoughts haven’t been high on my list. I haven’t been a total sloth, however, so I thought this would be a good time to get to cataloging some of what I HAVE been up to.

Awhile back, I finished this sweater for Alex. It took awhile to make its way to Canada, but it is now keeping this lil’ munchkin warm…at least until his next growth spurt.

Awwwww…..

I’ve also sewn a couple of Amy Butler Laptop Covers (if anyone wants to attempt this one, let me know and I’ll pass on my substantial lessons learned – what a nightmare), and spent two Saturdays making this:

Truly, the most fantabulous, perfect work bag ever. It fits my heels, my lunch, assorted purse necessities, a water bottle – all with room to spare, and organized into neat little compartments. I think I may have finally found something to get me over my 1154 Lill “problem.” I will definitely be making another one of these when this wears out.

Or, to go with everything I own.

And, finally, after much ado, we spent the majority of last weekend preparing and executing the compete gutting and reorganizing of our closet. It was worth every penny. And I got to merrily organize J’s shirt collection (he has FIFTY) into color groups, which made me so happy. We’ll see how long that lasts. Curious about the end result? Have a look.

Now, I’m going to go see about having my gut ripped out and replaced. Can they do that? Ug.

Go. It all MUST GO.

I didn’t wear 1/2 of it. Another 1/4 I hated how I looked in it, but couldn’t bear to part with it just in case.

I can’t stare at it anymore. Three overflowing dressers. One large walk-in closet. Not all mine, but STILL.

In a bizarre coincidence, my latest favoritest blog find Reachel posted on Wednesday about closet cleansing. Good lord, inthenameofallthatisholy, it is a SIGN!

Saturday night, after Handy Hubs hung our third pass at living room blinds*, we adjourned to the bedroom.

For closet cleaning, silly. Don’t think like that!

Five lawn and leaf garbage bags – the big ones! FULL! One box of “wait 6 months and see if I miss it.” Two garbage bags of stained and unrepairable. 2 for me, 1 for him tubs of off-season clothes for the attic.**

We are one step closer to being able to get rid of J’s broken old dresser (1.5 drawers left), and now I can sit down to map out a better system to organize what we do have. Even better, I know what I need. It’s pretty bad – I have next to no winter tops. Casual OR business. How did I miss that? What have I been wearing, exactly?

As we looked upon the closet and its long line of empty hangers with a feeling of satisfaction, we decided to hang cabinets in the laundry room. No time like the present to organizeorganizeorganize!

I feel so much better now.

* Every set of blinds we’ve gotten have ended up being virtually see-through at night. I just loved that wooden roman shade look, but there’s nothing I love more than the thought of everyone driving by seeing exactly what we’re doing. And now that we have the TV on the wall, it’s really a break-in risk. So, I gave up. White wood blinds it is.

** I don’t know when I decided that I needed everything accessible RIGHT NOW. When I was little, summer only really arrived when my Mom changed out our drawers. The excitement of shorts! Oh, the unexpected reunion with favorite t-shirts! And then, the same again in fall. There will be another purge come summer, I think. But, there is certainly no reason for me to need immediate access to all of my tank tops.

When our pet sitter broke the toilet in the second floor hall bathroom – MY bathroom, as the master bath is really small – we knew that this was going to probably be the next one on the list. When the toilet stopped flushing completely, our plans were accelerated a bit.

What to do in here? Since I was very young, I’ve loved everything French. I spent 7 years studying the language, and swore I would go there before I turned 30. When I was 13, my family went to Disney World, and at Epcot, I found a copy of one of my favorite Impressionist paintings (y’all knew I wanted to be a ballerina, too, right?). All these years I’ve dragged it with me in a frame, waiting for something. Inspiration. OK – yeah, it’s a bathroom, but what more fun little space to go over the top?

So – the before:

Add some elbow grease – mostly Handy Hubs with his increasingly fantastic tiling skills – and what do you get?

Just perfect. It’s like a little spa. And when I wake up and drag my weary body to the shower in the morning, I will gaze up at a chandelier.

Awesome. I’m a lucky girl to have THE Handy Hubs. Hmm….what next?

Lots going on around here, this week. It all had to do with a bathroom, so I thought I would wait until I had a “Wow” to post.

Yesterday, we got our “Wow.” We ate celebratory pizza, flipping the light on and gazing at it every time we walked by into the kitchen to grab another slice. I gave it an offering of flowers this morning.

I would be remiss to not post the nastiness from whence it came:

You will certainly recall my happiness a few weeks back at the beauty of our new sink and faucet. Here’s Handy Hubs, hard at work hacking a hole in our wall:

Rightfully so, J was pretty proud of his tiling prowess, and I only took a little bit of help from family and friends to decide on a color.

During the week, J finished the tiling. I spackled and sanded. And sanded. And spackled more. And sanded. Saturday, J grouted. Yesterday morning, I painted. Yesterday afternoon, we put it all together, stood back, and admired.

Is it wrong to love a bathroom this much?

If it’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.

We’re finally painting the kitchen next weekend, but J’s already talking about tiling another bathroom, and taking out a wall in a third, and….and….

Success!!

Spackle Goddess has her work cut out for her, but one large hole and one 2×4 crossbeam later, we have a beautiful new, NOT GREEN sink! It makes the bathroom look so much more spacious. Never mind the floor and toilet – those will happen shortly.

Handy Hubs has done it again.

I do have this water thing, and I KNOW I said I don’t watch faucets – but…..this is one of those fancy-schmancy waterfall faucets. So, um…..maybe I like to watch this faucet just a little.

When we cleaned out the little pond, I knew I would love it. Watching it mature slightly over the past month or so and seeing Walter move back in and make it his home has really been a joy. I just can’t get enough of it. I love hearing the fountain running in the morning, and we love playing “Catch Walter” – where is he? Can we see him and get good pictures before he hops back in the pond?

We now have two sides to the yard, divided by the walkway – one side of green grass and the pond, the other, well….belongs to the dogs. Our initial plan was to seed one side, then add the other and walk the dogs, but, frankly, I think we may just leave it. We DO have dogs, and with a small yard, it’s tough to hide. But – I do now have my little place of beauty.

Blocked off from prying paws with green chicken wire.