"Ohh, I looove this"

Remodeling the bathroom has sparked a plethora of designing desires in me.  I suddenly have 3,876,543 ideas for our house and things I want to do for it and buy for it.  I tend to be an impulse buyer and am trying very hard to work on that.  If I don't absolutely love something and have a specific place in the house in mind for it, I don't buy it.  it has been going pretty well surprisingly.  I love instant gratification as well, so waiting and thinking about an item for a week or more before purchasing it, has really tried my patience.  But it has helped Matt's with me. :)  Here are some things I am convinced we need right now and am craving for the house:

This "Amy Butler Vibrant Damask Rug" from Shades of Light for the living room.  Not at all my typical no pattern, solid color style, but it coordinates with all our living room colors (walls, pillows, furniture). Loooove it!

This hotchy-motchy little number is also a contender for the living room....it's MUCH less expensive than the above one, though not quite as fabulous-o.  From West Elm.  Totally different style form the one above, which is to be expected since I haven't quite figured out the exact "look" slash "aesthetic" I'm going for yet.  Little by little I'm hoping the whole house will all come together...someday. :)




This GORGEOUS little lady (Scrolled Medallion Rug), also from Shades of Light, for the master bedroom:

This Chrysanthemum throw pillow from Z Gallerie for the master bedroom:

Ahhh the Bukhara Pillow, also from Z Gallerie....I looove this pillow....but not the price tag, so I will be watching for it to go on super sale.  Probably 2 of these bad boys in yellow for the living room.  And maybe one of this grey version for the master bedroom too. :)

I have looked at this duvet cover (in white) several times over the past few months and couldn't quite make up my mind about it....until I actually looked at the enlarged pictures of it and just flipped over the gorgeous texture it offers.  In case you haven't already guessed, when I re-do the master bedroom the colors will be various shades of grey, white, and accents in a deep blue color.  My Grandma crocheted us an afghan for the bed in a deep blue, so I'm hoping to find some paint to match it...and maybe paint a dresser or something in the same shade.

These fantastic sheets from Target...pattern look familiar to anyone???  It matches our blog's background!...total freak coincidence too, I swear.

This dining table from Ikea.  I love that it can seat up to 10 people...not that we have more than 4 chairs....I hope to repaint out current dining room chairs (which were left at the house when we bought it) and reupholster them in a different fabric.

And lots and lots more....but I figure I'll save it for another time :)

~S~

"Ode to ma husband on Valentine's Day"

I love my husband.  Seriously.  He is such a wonderful wonderful husband to me.  Obviously this is an obvious statement, but he is quite simply the best part of my life.  He is such a hard worker and so willing to take my constant mind changing and critiquing without complaining like he probably should.  And so silent and not too judging/exasperated when I rattle off a new idea for the house almost everyday or mid-project decide we should go with a different floor tile.  I believe that he honestly knew exactly what he was getting himself into when he married me and then bought a house with me.  Which only makes me love him more. :)

It was my idea to house hunt from the beginning.  Matt was perfectly happy and content in our apartment in Madison, but could I be?  Of course not.  I thrive on change (hence my constant rearranging of furniture in all the places I have ever lived) and projects I can devote hours to researching.  And house hunting/buying fulfilled both of these personality annoyances traits.  Hi, my name is Steph and I am a house hunting addict.  Seriously, I still look at houses for sale almost weekly in our price range.  Even though we are not looking for a house.  And Matt will almost always look at every house link I send him (even when each one has a subject line of "looooooook!!!!!!") and will listen to me drone on and on and on and on about all the things we could do to the house....you know, the house we 100% are not going to even look at, much less purchase.

Anyway, house hunting was my undertaking, which I took forcefully and giddily.  Matt sat back and let me obsess over neighborhood stats, square footage, and potential projects.  I saw 20+ houses on my own without him (which I think was probably on purpose, now that I think about it) and Matt came out the for our last day of tours (little to our knowledge) and we found our house!  He totally saw all the little problems, that my frantic excited eyes did not (steeeep driveway, steep backyard, backyard needs work, updating kitchen and baths, etc...) and gave in and gave me what I wanted....our house.  :)

He is also great for these awesome amazing facts as well (it is Valentine's Day after all...prepare to drown in his wonderfulness:

• Cutting the grass....Matt will work a 100 hour week in the blistering sun, on 1 hour of sleep a night for 6 days straight....and come home and cut the grass on Friday night.  And use the weedwacker to trim by the driveway and around trees.
• Bringing in the garbage cans.  I realize this sounds stupid, but you have no idea how relieved I am every Friday night when I come home form work and don't see any cans at the end of our driveway.
• Eat whatever I cook for dinner.  He may give me a weird look, or drown the food in ketchup, but he will eat whatever I make, with little to no complaints.  Even when we have taco salad 3 times in a week....3 weeks in a row.
• Remodeling our bathroom with no experience.  You should see the effing shower tile!  Hello Mr. Professional Carpenter.  Who are you and where did you hide my husband?  Seriously, he should go into business doing this full time.
• His job.  Matt works on the road (which he will always remind me if I get too demanding or try to get him out of the house on weekends in the summer) and from February through Late November he works anywhere from 60-100+ hours a week.  Almost every week for almost the entire year.  And he still will do all the above with minimal (if any) complaining. 
• He insists we go on a big vacation every January...and up to Door County every summer.

Ok, that's enough puke-tastic Matt bragging....are you even still reading?

~S~

"Drywall-er, I hardly know her"

We have walls!  We have walls!  We have walls! :)  Matt completed (with a little help from our friend Adam) getting the drywall up...and we have walls again!  It honestly was almost as easy as measuring, cutting, and screwing the pieces in....only of course our 40+ year old house does not have level/straight walls, so that only added to the anticipation of how everything would fit together.

And.....


Walls!!!!!! :)  So, once the walls (Walls!) were up and done, we were ready for the next step: mud and tape.  Matt did all of this while I was busy reading a book one Saturday...me probably oblivious to his hard working self.  And then just like that (or it seemed to me) he was done with it all!  Isn't he great? :)  And for once there were no surprises or problems....everything went smoothly (knock on wood).  After you normally mud drywall seams, you would have to sand it down, so your seams don't show up after you paint, but since we are going to be covering the shower area with tile, we didn't need to sand anything (yet).

If you're wondering whyy the above picture is all spotty/full of little glares, (no it's not a bunch of little ghosts/spirits buzzing around.....or is it......more on that another time) but actually drywall dust then floated up into the air and down onto the camera, but it's all cleaned up now.

Stay tuned for tile!!!!!

Oh, and for the record....We realize that we don't 100% know what we're doing at every moment, or the exact terminology, but we're learning more every day and with each task we take on.  Think happy renovating thoughts for us! :)

~S~

"For the record..."

We have received a few "What was wrong with your bathroom to begin with" questions from people.  Here's the gist:

The bathtub was atrocious.  Not only was it old and stained to begin with, but it was also extremely narrow and short.  And by extremely, I mean EXTREMELY.  Now, I am not a bath person, never have been, probably never will be.  The idea of soaking in hot water/filth has never appealed to me.  On the rare occasions when I try to take a bath, I always end up showering right afterwards.  Oh yeah, the narrow tub.  Back on topic.

Reason 1: The narrow tub

The tub was so narrow (how narrow was it?!), I could barely lay down in it without my shoulders touching the sides.  Now, those of you who have met Matt will know he is the definition of broad shoulders.  So when he took his lovely shower/baths, he would have to lay awkwardly on his side in order to fit in the tub.  And if Matt had his way (and we didn't have to pay for our water) he would probably take 3 or more shower/baths a day.  And cramming himself into a little tub was just not cutting it.

Reason 2: There's a hole in my bathtub, dear Liza, dear Liza...
On the inside on the tub, there was a finger sized gouged hole.  This would not allow us to ever take a bath with water deeper than 3-4 inches.  Our shower curtain liner covered it, so we didn't have to worry about water leaking down into our floor/walls while showering, but if a bath were to ever take place or be desired in the future, something would have to be done.  Now, we realize that holes in tubs can be fixed, but given Reason 1, we figured a new tub was where it's at.

Reason 3: Where there's a tub, there's tile
We knew the in order to replace our tub, we were going to have to rip out and replace the floor tile.  The way our bathroom flooring was done (and most is done I think), made it impossible to get the tub out without busting up the tile.  We were not able to replace just a few of the ceramic tiles, we would have to replace them all.  So, in order to get a new tub, we would need a new floor.

The following things in the bathroom will be new:

• Bathtub
• Bathtub and sink fixtures/faucets
• Marble tile in Greecian White on the shower walls (now, this sounds all fancy and expensive, but we got it at Home Depot and though online it says it is $5.99/sq ft, we actually paid something like $3.49/sq ft)
• One of these totally amazing/awesome/fantastic tiles from Nonn's Flooring on the floor!!!  Here's a sneak peak of the winner....can you guess which one we picked?

• Vertical stripe of glass tile in the tub area (Matt is almost done with this...looks soooo good!)
• Painting the bathroom walls and ceiling (stay tuned!)
• Painting the vanity(maybe)...right now I'm thinking a medium/dark grey color...Matt does not agree, so we'll see.  I also like a rich espresso too...hmmmmm...or maybe we'll leave it white...
• Replace the vanity top (maybe...).  We found an amazing deal on a Kohler under-mount bathroom sink on clearance at Home Depot a couple weeks ago...it was originally $90 or so and we got it for $36.  However, now we may save it for the downstairs bathroom (possible future remodel) and get something else instead.
• Add shelves to the bathroom linen closet.  We have 3 very good sized linen closets all within a 6 foot radius upstairs, so we had never used the bathroom one (and it never had shelves in it anyway), but I have a very cool project in mind for this closet too.  :)
• Possibly new light fixtures by the sink/mirror
• Make a frame for the mirror...we will most likely take the smaller mirror from the downstairs bathroom, build and frame for it and use that upstairs.

The following things will stay the same:

• Toilet
• Bathroom layout
• The vanity (though it's getting a coat of paint....maybe)

So there you have it....our reasoning behind the bathroom remodel and everything we hope to do to it.  Any questions or comments on any of the ideas or changes??

Oh, and for the record....We realize that we don't 100% know what we're doing at every moment, or the exact terminology, but we're learning more every day and with each task we take on.  Think happy renovating thoughts for us! :)

~S~

"You can't piss off the plow guy!"

So, this is what our driveway looks like in normal Summer (aka preferred) weather:

And this is what we woke up to and worked on this morning.....this is after 75 minutes of snow blowing and shoveling:

Not a happy camper and to be honest, he looks a bit like a killer....Now this snow fall may not look so bad, but the entire driveway was drifted over, some of it almost up to my waist, the rest of it over my knees.  And for those of you who have been to our house...our driveway is practically a 45 degree angle, not an easy snow removing time.  And of course after we finish it all....the lovely city plow comes flying by and plows us in....and then did it again 20 minutes later.  GD city plow.  Here's another picture for your enjoyment:



And here's our neighbor's car....hopefully she wasn't digging it out for too long... : /

And here are some cute puppies playing in the blizzard :)

Quite the handsome guy, no? :)

And here's our ferocious little beast :)

Who loves Wisconsin?!  Not I...Though I do love/hate my 4 wheel drive for getting me to work this morning.

~S~

"Uggghh"

Things have somewhat slowed down as far as the bathroom goes....meaning, we haven't really done a whole heck of a lot the past couple weeks.  Once all the drywall around the tub/shower area was ripped out and the tub pulled out, Matt and I soon realized that the new tub was about, oh a minuscule fraction of an inch too big for the existing tub area....of course.  So Matt pulled out a handy dandy filer and filed down the studs on the walls at the back of the tub.  Once this was done and the tub pushed into "place," we paused our excitement as Matt saw that the new drain piping (ugh, remember that story?) did not match up with the hole in the tub....like another fraction of an inch.  Soooo, out came our new best friend, the file.  Matt filed and cut into the studs along the length of the tub a tiny little bit and after calling in some reinforcements (thanks Adam!) the new tub and drain were connected, in place, and Matt was temporarily a happy man.  Until we then looked around and realized all the work we still had ahead of ourselves : /

I forgot to get a picture once the tub was pushed into place, but I think you get the idea.  Next on the list...drywalling the shower walls...

Oh, and for the record....We realize that we don't 100% know what we're doing at every moment, or the exact terminology, but we're learning more every day and with each task we take on.  Think happy renovating thoughts for us! :)

~S~