Master Bathroom Transformation (Step One)

I've put off posting, not because I haven't been working on anything, but because I've had so many projects going that I haven't been able to complete anything. I figure, though, since I did name this blog "A Home in Process," I better keep it real and show you the reality of my "not yet completed" world.

For today, I'm excited to share my progress on our Master Bathroom, as well as my ideas for completing it (someday!).

Here are a few before pictures:

(We're moving these up to the kids rooms- BONUS FREEBIE!!!)

Great built-in linen closet

Now I walked into this house with a LONG list of to-do's. I'll start by sharing what I have done so far and then elaborate on what I'm still working on.

The first thing on the list was updating the outdated 80's cabinets. I decided to give this chalk paint that I had been hearing so much about a try. 

No need to sand, count me in! 

You can purchase the real deal from Annie Sloan, but I chose to use a recipe I found here. (It's pretty fool proof) 

2 parts flat paint to 1 part calcium carbonate 

I'm not one for measuring precisely or following recipes to a T so I kinda winged it. I did notice that this particular brand wasn't quite as fine as I wanted and I had some trouble always getting the chalk mixed in well. What seemed to help was adding the calcium carbonate into the bowl first with a tiny bit of water, mix well, and then add in the paint. 

It's important to note that this stuff dries fast so only mix a little at a time. I needed 2-3 coats to completely cover the honey oak. Below shows the coverage after 1 coat.

Once I had the coverage I wanted I did a quick sanding to ensure everything was smooth and then added some light distressing with 150 grit sandpaper. Guys, this stuff sands like a dream. You just basically buff the areas you want to distress. No elbow grease at all here.

Next, I wanted to bring out the detail more with a mocha glaze. I made the huge mistake of glazing directly over the chalk paint. 

"You can do it," they say. 

"It'll be fine," they say. 

Do not trust Pinterest, they are lying to you.

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos so you'll just have to trust me. The chalk paint sucked up that glaze and there was no wiping it off... Thankfully I had only done the backs of 2 doors before I realized it was not looking the way I had hoped. 2 more coats of chalk paint and I was on my way again. 

After some more internet research (who to trust??), I made another costly mistake. I needed to get a layer of finish on before glazing to prevent the chalk paint from sucking up the glaze. Let's pretend I chose right and I'll finish out the tutorial. 

So, after 1 layer of polyacrylic had dried, I added the glaze.

(1 part paint: 4 parts glaze)

I poured a sample size container in with a quart of glaze. This made a TON. I will have enough mocha glaze to last the rest of my life. You really don't need much. Just brush it into the indentions and wipe off any extra.

After 1 more coat of polyacrylic, this is a close up of the final product:

Isn't it purdy?? I just love it! It's exactly what I was going for.

I swapped out the pulls for these Oil Rubbed Bronze (ORB) ones. 

I looked into purchasing ORB hinges, but good golly, at 8 bucks a pop it was going to cost a fortune.

I settled for spray painting with the Rust-Oleum ORB Metallic Spray Paint. It has rubbed off a little from opening and closing, but I can always fork over the $$ later if it bugs me too much.

Here's a full vanity:

And (below) a close up with my beautiful new rug (Target, holla!) as well as the gorgeous tile we have picked out to redo the floor.

*Target tip- If they carry the item in-store, go online (through ebates.com) and stack up as many coupons as you can. Choose in-store pickup and in an hour or 2 (sometimes much less) you'll get an email that it's ready to pick up from Guest Service. You get all the online savings, but you get to have it right away! : ) 

  

This wood-look porcelain tile looks even better in person. We installed a different color in our last house right before we sold and I knew I wanted to put it somewhere in our new house as well. All the pretty of wood, without the worries of water damage.  

Josh, also replaced both sick faucets for me. <3 <3 <3

The bathroom linen closet 

(from way up high standing on the toilet with my cell phone ; )

I need a wide angle lens...

The next photo showcases the lovely half-burnt-out chrome light fixtures. I'm thinking to bust out some more of the good 'ol spray paint and change out the shades, but we'll see... 

Oh and don't miss the new towel rings (also installed by said husband)

Above you can see my attempt at finding right wall color. I ended up having this mixed 50% lighter but I haven't painted yet. 

Next you will see my first completed vanity, in all it's horrible glory...

It looks so much worse in person even.

So remember how I said I figured out I needed to put a layer of finish on before the glaze? Well, my first attempt I used polyurethane. 

At first it looked great! So I finished my entire vanity...

Fast forward one week and it was this patchy, uneven, yellow mess. Yuck...

SO... lesson learned: If you are wanting to apply a finish to any white, light or any other color that you would not like to appear yellow, do NOT use polyurethane!

So instead of being done, I have a vanity that I get to start over on : / 

Hopefully, I save at least one person this headache...

So, what's left?

1. Have Josh build out the ugly posts to look more craftsman. 
2. Prime and paint the trim (Glidden Marshmellow White)
3. Restain doors with General Finishes Dark Walnut Gel Stain (I've used this on another project and L-O-V-E it!!)
4. Replace doorknobs with ORB as I go
5. Paint the walls with my custom 50% shade of Glidden Grey Leaf in Eggshell
6. Figure out what I'm doing with the lighting

At this point I will be at a relatively livable point with the bathroom.

The more long term plan includes:

1. Ripping out the UGLY, yellowy paneled shower 
2. Tearing up the boring white tile and carpet in front of the tub and replacing with my pretty wood look tiles
3. Beadboard ceiling in the vanity area and crown moulding
4. Framing out the mirrors and vanity lights (along these lines)
5. 

And that's just in one bathroom!

Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing my progress on our bathroom. 

I have another nearly finished (enough) project to share, hopefully very soon!

*The chalk paint color is Glidden Elegant Ivory Cream

*The glaze is mixed with Glidden Monterey Cliffs

It's Finally Spring!!

The creeping phlox I just had to plant and surprise lilies popping out in the front planter

Now that spring has sprung, I'm turning my attention outdoors. When you buy a house in December, it's kind of a gamble what's gonna come up in the spring. One of the first areas I've begun tackling is this berm at the back of the property. 

We just love the beautiful spruce and bald cypress trees. To the left are a couple of rose bushes that are starting to green up. We would like to plant another tree behind the rose bushes next to the spruce. Anyone have any ideas??

Let me tell you, I was just eaten up over the lack of maintenance of this beautiful landscaping. There is a ring of large landscape rocks surrounding the berm. Over 50%, probably 75%, of the rocks were completely covered over with grass. The mulch had eroded, composted, seeded and grown a thick layer of sod. Covering those beautiful rocks! How many years did that take? You can see my pile of sod near the rose bushes as I've been making my way around the berm. Ughh...

Just off the patio is a ~1500 gallon pond with a little waterfall. As with everything else, it needs some tending to bring it back up to snuff. I'm interested to see what all the landscaping around it will turn out to be. We have a little bullfrog friend that croaks for us all night. It feels like we got our home in the country after all : ) I've been using barley hay bales to try to treat the green algae that's been growing since it started warming up. We've also talked about fish or algae eaters. We'll see how adventurous we get!


Then we get around to the back side. Gross! Just an empty hill and a big eyesore of a waterpump. Josh has mentioned building a stone "well" around the back of the pump to better camouflage it. I'm thinking maybe terraced planters below that. I'd love input or ideas! I just cannot handle it staying like this. The kids think it's a running hill and I know it's just going to turn into a weedy mess.

So that's where we're at so far for the outside! I'd love to hear your ideas!

My Personal Carpenter and Jack of all Trades

I'd just like to take a minute and brag on my hubby right now. Not only does he have a brilliant engineering mind, but he can also fix anything. Well, almost anything anyway.

Just recently our dryer decided to quick working. With a wet load in it. And another in the washer... It was a scramble to get everything dried at the laundromat before they closed (it was 30 degrees outside so I couldn't exactly line dry...) but the next day he was able to diagnose the issue, pick up the part and get everything put back together with hardly a blip in the never-ending stream of laundry that 4 kids produce.

He hardly bats an eyelash anymore when I say "Josh, come look at this picture. Can you build me that?" or "This thing doesn't exist in real life but I must simply have it. Can you go to Home Depot and use your engineering magic to make it happen?"

The new house had this useless shelving:

(cell phone pic when we looked at the house)

*Note to home sellers: Please don't leave your garage full of trash when you move. Literal bags of trash...

We lived with an unusable garage through the winter but the first warm weekend, BAM! He knocked this baby out! The garage has a ways to go still (yes, that is fiberboard printed with a wood paneling design), but it is SO much more functional now! We had to take advantage of all that height! We're still working on bike storage, but I'm thinking maybe under the dream playground I've been pinteresting. 

This is the latest project he's been working on (between dealing with electricians so our house doesn't burn down- thankfully it is now fixed).

The old gate was basically inoperable. Both of the posts broke off from the concrete during the demo so that made for alot of fun getting the concrete out... He started off doing a slanted top rail with the slope, but we thought the stair step looked better. We're planning on adding a row of square picture frame detail on the top of the gate and then capping the posts with solar lights. You can get a little glimpse of the beautiful flagstone and river rock path that has settled terribly and has been painfully neglected. I can't wait to get it looking pretty again, but since we're (hopefully!) getting Google Fiber installed soon and all the utilities come in at the corner to the right there, I'm guessing it's probably going to get alot worse before it gets better. 

Those are just a few of the things I've kept my talented hubby busy with over the last couple months since we moved in. 

Thanks for always saying yes to my crazy ideas, hunny. I love you!

Here we go!

While I have no intention of becoming a "blogger," I've been chewing on this idea for awhile and finally decided to just go for it. Honestly, the hardest part was coming up with a name that wasn't already taken! (Hello, if you haven't blogged in 10 YEARS go ahead and free up the domain for somebody else to use!)

We recently moved and I am finding myself feeling overwhelmed with running my household as well as renovating it. I have so many ideas swirling around in my head (and pinterest boards mocking me) that I thought this outlet might allow me to organize my thoughts as well as record the fact that I actually am making progress!

So, if you're game, follow along as I tackle this 80's house one project at a time, or maybe a few simultaneously ; )