Let there be light.

I put the second coat of paint on the bathroom tonight. Other than deciding that painting is my least favorite thing to do, especially around things that CANNOT get paint on them, like honed marble and wood, I put the shades back on the vanity light. I've been wanting to do this since last week, and painting was just such a pain that I haven't made time for it. Tonight was the night, and now it's done. Kind of. We're still minus the mirror and painted trim, plus some of the baseboard Trevor still owes us. But one more small step forward. Wahoo!!

Disregard whatever beige-y tan color the paint looks like in the picture. It's still blue.

Extra! Extra! Heat Dish Allows Jo To Work Without Gloves!

I'd first like to apologize. This post (and probably many others) is going to have a really bad layout. I just started using my new desktop (thanks, Todd!) and everything looks pretty messed up on my new monitor. Between us, I think it's blogger's fault that it shows up differently on different monitor sizes and browsers, but whatever. It is what it is.

Anyway, we're on to the next project (kind of, I still haven't painted in the bathroom or put the light fixture up) which is my office! Over the weekend, we cleared things out and fell in love with the floor again. Yesterday, the cable guy came and, after much ado about not much of anything, hooked up our cable tv (yay, we get the CW again!! Luckily, Gossip Girl has been on vacation the past few weeks, so I didn't miss anything) and our internet. We now surf the web at 4.8 mbps. Buckle your seatbelt. AND it doesn't cut out randomly. If Charter will treat us like paying customers instead of criminals, maybe everything will be great. Keep your fingers crossed. (For those whom we haven't whined incessantly to, we had Qwest dsl, and it was slower than traffic on the 405 on Friday at 4 and about as reliable as Dan and Serena's relationship (seriously, why can't they just pull it together...)). And no, I'm not sure that's the proper way to end that sentence.

This is my newest addition to the office furniture. It's all "weathered" and "vintage," which we all know are nice words for "it really needs to be sanded and painted, but who has the time when you can call it 'weathered'." I nabbed it at Collectors Market this afternoon. Cute, huh? I needed something else for the lamp to sit on, other than a box. I don't really go in for the "cardboard can be furniture" design approach.

I also ordered the wallpaper for the office. This is a good time for me to discuss my plans for the office. Here are the main components:
-tongue-in-groove pine paneling painted white to a chair-rail height (which is 38.4 inches for our house)
-Wallpaper above the paneling. It's blue and white maps and navigational charts. Very nautical. Todd may have relegated me to one room, but it will feel like you're sailing when you're in it. I'm giving it the treatment.
-Three- or four-inch crown molding
-Built-in bookcases along the wall with the door. They'll be floor to ceiling, painted white, and also feature crown molding. I'm toying with the idea of having marble countertops on them, but we'll see how things go. I'd like to build said bookcases myself, but I kind of have to figure out how first. Trevor will more than likely help.

OOOH. I also got this today, which I have been longing for since the first time I walked past one at Costco. There is nothing more wonderful in the world. You may think I'm kidding, but that would simply mean you don't have one, or you've never walked past one at Costco. The office has many wonderful attributes, but maintaining a temperature habitable to humans (whose blood is thin from living in Southern California) is not one of them. Three cheers for the heat dish!!

I have bit hopes for the office, and maybe even bigger hopes for the yard beyond. I was working on the couch today (as in writing while sitting on the couch) and I looked out at the pool shack and the junk heap, and saw so much potential. Todd doesn't know it yet, but I'm planning on making the pool shack look like a lobster shack in Maine. Coat or two of white paint, a few lobster traps and buoys, maybe a lantern or two...it's gonna be great.

There's also great potential for beautiful raised flowerbeds. I'm thinking probably dahlias, because they'll get a lot of afternoon sun there. I can't wait to start working on the yard, but we have to get all the junk from the bathroom out first. We're thinking about burying some of the biodegradable stuff somewhere in the back 40 (which is what I've started calling the southeasterly quadrant of our lot). It just seems like a lot of wood to throw away, and I have my doubts about whether it'd really be good to roast marshmallows in the firepit over whatever fumes presumably lead-based paint gives off.

Lastly, I've been on this intensive hunt for baskets for under the vanity. Online, Michaels, Pier 1, Ross, TJ Maxx, Fred's, Bimart, I mean, there aren't that many places to check around here. Annoyingly enough, I found exactly what I was looking for at good old Target last night. I finally cleared out those boxes of bathroom stuff that were hanging out in Todd's parents' guest bathroom for months, then in our hallway for weeks. Ahh, it's good to be settling in.

What's new as of 2.23

Here's the weekly update. Lots to see!

Check out the pineapple lamps...I adore them. I topped them with a tan-ish linen-textured shade. Thought about a pale gold, but I felt like these fit better. I also think I may have solved the CFL conundrum. I got some soft white "warm tone" bulbs from Fred Meyer. Todd said he couldn't tell the difference. I think they look somewhat more pinkish than the yellowy glow of an incandescent bulb. Because I am averse to change that I have the ability to control, I don't really like the new CFLs. But I will try to get used to the new bulbs. I also heard incandescent bulbs are going to be phased out, which means I better start stockpiling in the attic.

The moment we've been waiting for...

Yesterday afternoon at approximately 5:15 marked a very important moment in our home's renovation history. What happened? Well, the toilet flushed in the downstairs bathroom. Also, the sink and shower were turned on. It was great. Have a look around:



I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would appreciate having a bathroom so much. Of course, there was a great supporting cast in this tension-wrought drama. I'd like to my dear husband Todd, for handling the situation with grace and..err...innovation, and insisting on heated floors. I'd like to thank my in-laws for letting us use their shower. I'd like to thank the Pottery Barn designers for inspiring the idea, and the good people at Home Depot on North Phoenix Road, Mack from McKenzie's Creations, Stonetech, and myself for making it happen relatively on budget.

And most importantly, great thanks and accolades go to Trevor from Trevor Bruce Construction for spectacular craftsmanship, attention to detail, problem solving, and long hours, and also to Eric, for being an awesome friend and giving up a Saturday to get the plumbing in place and coming back two more times to get everything else installed and looking beautiful. Oh, and Jim from Precision Electric, who installed our lights, added a circuit for the bathroom, and hooked up the floor-heating mat. Without the people who know what they're doing, we probably would still have a small, drafty room that looked like the inside of a shack. Anyway, I know you really came for the pictures, so with no further ado...




There's still have some detail work to do, putting silicon caulk around the edges of the tile, the window and the backsplash, putting up and painting the rest of the trim, cleaning a bit... I got a new color of blue (which is so light it looks like white on the brush) and it looks really good. That's the color in the video. It's Behr Airy. Definitely an improvement over that other color.

I was planning on putting the blog on hiatus for a few weeks because I am starting to get a bit tired of having such a mess of projects always going on, but I can't really do that at this point. Why? Since bathroom renovation is all but finished, I have to tackle my office now. Work has been pretty busy lately, and working on the couch isn't the greatest since I use two computers and an extra monitor and it gets really cluttered. So this weekend, I am hoping to clear out the office and get going on that phase of renovation. Stay tuned for the plan in the office -- it's gonna be GREAT! I think after the office is done, we'll have at least a month before we start on the kitchen, hopefully more.

Last weekend, Home Depot had Behr paint on sale for Presidents' Day, so we bought a five-gallon drum of Swiss Coffee (off-white) and a giant thing of primer with plans of painting the upstairs. Something has to be done about it, and since we're not ready to do a full-scale job of ripping out everything, putting in new drywall, etc. we thought we'd paint and put new carpeting in, so it's at least decent if people come visit.

Also, sorry for the idiotic layout. Blogspot is not letting me rearrange the pictures how I want, and it's making me really mad, so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. Grr.

Weekly update...

Here's the update....and it's old (that's right, I cheated by backdating the post!!).  So I'm going to take more pictures and post those in a current post.  

Reasons why I love the fireplace

Todd and I got hit with a nasty cold a few days ago, and it reminded me why I don't normally get sick. (Because it sucks.) I've been having trouble forming coherent sentences, so I bought stuff (which requires little verbal aptitude, only the understanding of credit card usage) and got in Trevor's way instead of blogging. And sat by the fire while I attempted to work. I'm telling you, there's very little, if anything, that beats this when it is raining, snowing, or some combination of the two.

On Tuesday, the two pieces of furniture we've been waiting for arrived. We ordered them on Christmas Eve from Garrison's in Medford (which I love. I'm a big fan of good customer service, and they are the greatest. Even their delivery guys were polite and friendly.) One piece was a matching end table (its other half was has been lonely) and the other is this amazing teak console that I was enchanted by from the moment I read the little story that accompanied the floor model in the store. Apparently, India is redoing its rail system, and some enterprising individual has purchased all of the old teak railroad ties and is making furniture out of them. Cool, huh? (I know it's a little gimmicky, but it's still a beautiful piece.) It's behind the couch in this picture, with my nickel lamp on it. Just as a refresher, here's what it looked like before.

On the note of bathroom progress, the floor is down and grouted as of this morning, the walls are primed, the tile in the shower is sealed (apparently you have to spray a sealer on the grout so water doesn't soak in), and Mack of McKenzie's Creations installed our gorgeous 35" vanity yesterday. This is one knockoff that's worlds better than the original. The green on the walls was supposed to turn out a lot more sage-y than it did, and we're going to switch to a light blue. It'll be somewhere in the spectrum between ice blue and sky blue, and it should look great with the marble. And it won't make the whole bathroom glow green, like it does at the moment.  I can't believe that I'm going to get to use it every day, and I'm utterly stunned that it used to be a cramped, icky little room. So different! When it's all done, I'll post a comparison.

Trevor took the hunk of marble for the vanity top to cut it to size, cut the sink hole in it, and hone the top of it. I have hopes that a honed (matte finish) vanity and a polished (shiny) floor won't look too weird together. Then we just have to have Eric come back to finish up the plumbing, and our buddies from Precision Electric come hook up the electricity, and we'll be in business. Oh, and put the toilet back. Minor detail.  

I was going to post a bunch of bathroom pictures, but blogger is not cooperating and won't upload anything at the moment.  Stay tuned, I guess.

Weekly update, AND, fun alternative uses for your SUV (don't watch, Dad)

Although we went to Eugene on Saturday to see Randi, who was in the state, and Tim, who lives there, we still managed to cover a lot of ground this week. Here's what's new around here, as of this evening.


I'm still going to hang curtains in the kitchen (finally got sick of being on display for everyone who drives past, and who knew mini-blinds were so complicated?! Seriously.) but that's all for this week.

We are loving having the log lighter in the fireplace. It's glorious, not having to mess with kindling and newspaper and all that. Having a stove that works is nice, too. It was very nice to look at, but I don't really go in for stainless steel art.

In other news, as mentioned in the video, we had another failed attempt at hanging our front door. We are going to have to take this up with the guys at Pacific Door and Sash, because again, while it's really nice to look at in my living room, I didn't buy it to sit there. Kind of. The problem is that our old door is 36" exactly. The new six-panel steel door is 35.75" so it obviously leaves a gap. The shims they gave us to theoretically make it work didn't work, so...yeah. Back to the drawing board, for them, that is.

Also as mentioned in the video, we did some work outside today (after having a very irritating experience with the blinds that were supposed to go in the kitchen.) Here's me, ripping a dead rhododendron out of the ground:

After we finished that, we tackled a really hideous bushy shrubby thing that I have been waiting to get rid of since we bought the place. There are two segments of this. You'll see why.



After a trip to Bimart, here's what happened. I'm pretty sure that I'm now an Oregonian, after this display. My drivers license may have indicated that for over a year now, but this is proof.



I know that stupid plant doesn't look that big, but the root base that we managed to yank out was a little more than two feet in diameter, and there's still stuff left in the ground. And the rope pictured was around 3/4" thick.

Sort of after

Well, folks, I'm excited to present you with something of an "after" shot of the bathroom. Trevor grouted the tile last night, and it took another step toward being finished.  Here's the video:



And here are some pictures:
I was out and about yesterday, and used the fact that I had to drive past my favorite antique/resale store as an excuse to take a quick look around. My rationalization was rewarded with this! It's a nickel lamp with a nickel shade, and it has this great weathered quality about it. I looked at it in the store and thought "I would keep this forever," (cue Todd groaning) so I bought it. It's going to look great on the teak console that should be arriving today or tomorrow. Again, please disregard the shade of red the wall appears to be.  It's not accurate.

After having a good chuckle with a few people about this, I thought I'd make a note of it here. Back in November, and even more so in the months before we bought the house, I really, honestly believed that Todd and I would restore this house on our own. And mostly I'd be doing the work, because Todd has a job. Like, I thought I'd just throw in the office door and window one afternoon. In a week or so, I imagined I'd be done gutting and redoing the bathroom.

I was OUT OF MY MIND. I don't know exactly what possessed me to think these things. It has taken Trevor, a hardworking professional who not only has all the tools he needs to do things but actually KNOWS what he's doing, at least two weeks to get to this point in the bathroom. I also thought I was going to do the fireplace (ask Todd; I set a budget of approximately $200 for materials and told him I'd do it in a weekend, though I secretly thought it would take about four hours). Never mind the fact that the most experience with brick I'd ever had was sitting on the brick hearth my parents' fireplace has.

We couldn't even put up the crown molding in our bedroom without Trevor's help. If there was a distinct point that I lost Todd's belief in my remodeling fantasies, it was when he watched, looking incredulous in a pained sort of way, as Trevor did the work on the molding in about 15 minutes that it had taken us (and I kid you not about this) six hours to do on our own. Anyway, I think I was suffering from temporary insanity or something. HAH!!

Late weekly update

I got a new sd card for the camera (2 gigs for $10...so cheap now!) so we are back on track for updates. Just in time, too, because you almost missed a lot! Sorry for the shaky camera work.



Trevor's been busily working on the bathroom. I've helped with tiling the past few days. It's kind of fun; sometimes I wonder if I missed my calling in life as a construction worker or something. My dad's on his annual weeklong serving/construction trip to the Dominican Republic this week, and I've been thinking of him and the team and the trips I took in high school to work. I guess the taste of hard labor worked for me, because six years after my last trip (!) I'm still at it.

I really have to call our plumber to install the gas log lighter in the fireplace. I really suck at starting fires (I admit it), and consequently I've been using my garden clippers to take branches off the Christmas tree, which is conveniently situated on the front porch. They're still kind of green, being only a month after Christmas, so they're super-crackly still. I make a nice nest, put a log on top, then light the whole shebang with a blowtorch. It lights a nice, hot fire. For about three seconds. I'm sure it's coating the inside of the chimney with creosote. But nobody's telling me not to do it, and it's pretty fun.

As you can probably tell, I don't have all that much to say at the moment. I said most of it in the video, so you should check that out. And we really would like feedback on the paint choices for the bathroom, so feel free...

Bad news!

So, I was just about to start filming our weekly update, and memory card in the camera died! That sucks, because we did a lot this week, and there's a fire in the fireplace and it looks all cozy. More news when I get a new card. Boo!