Vanity Doors

Yesterday I mentioned that I had been doing a lot of work on the bathroom vanity. Here are some pictures of what need to be done. After I sanded the top coat of paint off  the doors, I used wood putty to fill the holes where the old pulls were:

On the back side of the doors there was also a hole for the pull as well as holes for the hinges.

These doors were most likely original to the house, meaning they are 40+ years old. Over time, the edges of the doors had really worn down- there were all kind of dings in them, and overall when you ran your hand across them they did not feel smooth at all. I went around the edges that had the worst dings and put a thin layer of wood putty along them.

Most of them still need another light coat as well as another sanding, but the doors are looking a million times better than when I started with them. I’ll be able to start priming them this weekend and maybe even get some paint on them if things go well.

Tile Refinishing

After getting a few quotes on getting the pink tile refinished, we decided to bite the bullet and have it done. We had a small freak-out where we briefly considered the idea of just gutting the bathroom, but then we both quickly realized how time consuming that could be and how much we did not want to take on another project like that right now. We chose our colors last week and have around two more weeks before the job is started.

For the walls we are going with a white/off-white to match the existing shower and tub color(seen here). The floors are typically done in a stonefleck pattern, and we wanted this so that everything wouldn’t be so white and also so that dirt wouldn’t show as easily. We chose the color Oyster White which looks pretty similar to our new countertop.

While we’re waiting I’ve been sanding down the doors and drawers of the vanity and filling all of the holes with wood putty. The last paint job was done really poorly, and with the orbit sander the paint has just flown off in chunks. I’ve also had to spend time smoothing out the edges of all the doors with wood putty since most of them have a lot of dents and nicks in them. And, as always we’re still plugging away at the shoe molding and hopefully will be able to start caulking this weekend.

Jewelry Board

I had seen this idea on another blog a long time ago(I can’t even remember exactly where), but I do remember thinking it was an awesome idea. There wasn’t a tutorial to go along with the one I saw, but the basic idea was to use a wood board, fabric, and drawer knobs and pulls to display your necklaces and earrings.

We used a large wooden board covered in fabric and ribbon to hold the place cards at our wedding, and since we hadn’t gotten around to throwing it away, I knew it would be perfect to re-use for this project.

I removed the ribbon, foam, and fabric from the board. The foam I saved to use again for this project. The piece of wood we had was 48×24

We sawed the board in half to get a 24×24 square. I used a yard of fabric that was on sale at Joanne’s fabric for 6.99/yd.

After ironing the fabric, I wrapped the board in the foam and the fabric and stapled everything in place.

This is the point where we messed up and had to start over. We thought that if we cut a small hole in the fabric and foam where we wanted the knobs and pulls to screw in, that we could then drill through the wood with the fabric in place. The drill twisted the fabric up, pulled the foam, and created large holes that couldn’t be covered. I ended up venturing back to Joanne’s and getting another yard of fabric while Justin disassembled the board and drilled the holes for the knobs and pulls without anything covering the wood. Once I got back, we re-wrapped the board in foam and the new material. Then we were able to use an exacto knife to cut out holes in the fabric where the holes were already drilled in the board. We screwed the pulls and knobs into those holes. For now I went with two pulls and three knobs, but you could use as many as you like, or could even add more later on.

I went ahead and put a few pieces on the board to see how it would look before we hung it up.

We used a self-leveling picture hanger to attach the board to the wall. Source

Once the backer piece was on the wall and level we just slid the board onto it. I actually like the new fabric a lot better, so having to start over ended up not being a big deal at all.

It makes mornings so much easier to see my options and to be able to just grab a necklace rather than spend 10 minutes untangling them just to see what I have. The whole project would have easily taken less than an hour if we hadn’t messed up the first yard of material, and was less than $30.

Cost breakdown:

Board: free(reused)

Foam: free(reused)

Material: $12 for both yards thanks to a big sale at Joanne’s Fabrics and some coupons

Hanging Hardware: $10.88

Three Knobs + Two Pulls: $10

New Bathroom Counter

We spent the weekend before last removing the old sink ,counter, and toilet from our pink bathroom.

The sink came out really easily. Once we removed the clips from under it, it actually just fell out, narrowly missing Justin’s hand.

The counter was also a lot easier to get out than we had imagined, and we didn’t crack a single tile in the process. We used a pry bar and moulding pry bar to work around the counter and pop most of the nails up. Then we beat the underside of the counter with a rubber mallet, and the whole top just popped off. Once it was off we sanded down the entire vanity with the orbit sander, making sure to have it attached to the shop vac and removing all dust immediately. The house is so old that there is a pretty good chance the paint had some lead in it, so we wanted to be safe about that.

We took out the toilet to make sanding the side of the vanity next to it easy. We were left with this wonderful stain on the tile behind where the toilet had been.

The toilet that was here is actually in good shape minus the seat. We plant to move it to our third bathroom and get a new seat for it, and then install a new toilet in this room.

All this was in preparation for the new counter and sink which were installed last week. The color of the counter is an oatmeal, although I still think the pictures are making it look yellow. The sink is white.

We also picked up this faucet from Lowe’s to use in here (source). We also have a Delta faucet in our kitchen and love it.

After doing some research, we decided to get a few estimates on having the wall and floor tile professionally re-glazed. While I know I could do it, I also know it would likely be a project that would take a few months. If someone else can do it in a week for a decent price, that is the route we are going to go. I am still going to paint the vanity white and then re-paint the walls. Once the tile is white, we’ll need some color to get rid of the hospital feel in this room.

Small Kitchen Changes

We are making more progress on the kitchen everyday, but we’ve gotten to the point now where everything is detail and finishing work and therefore doesn’t look like much to the naked eye.
I’ve finished filling all the nail holes in the trim work with putty and sanding them all. We are the point now where we need to caulk the trim and then it is ready to be painted.

 

We also finished spackling the holes left behind by the old light fixtures in the kitchen. We still need to sand them down before we are ready to paint. It’s hard to even tell in this picture, but there is a circular spot to the top left of the new light that was the hole of the other fixture.

I finished painting the corner between the kitchen and laundry room

Once that was done, we trimmed that doorway, and did the putty and sanding thing on all the nail holes.

When this doorway was done it marked the first time in 5 years that there was not a single exposed beam or stud in this house! Definitely reason to celebrate!

Finished Parlor(Almost…)

We are so close to being done with the parlor! I’ve gone back and sanded all the trim work and put putty in any of the holes that needed it again + sanded those again. The brackets for the couch came  and we removed the saw and canvas from the room. Of course we just moved all that to the dining room and now that room looks like a construction zone. But, all we have left is to get some curtains for this room as well as a new end table, and eventually some bar stools although I don’t really consider that part of finishing this room since they will be functionally more of the kitchen. Here is what the room looks like all put together

Here’s a before picture for comparison

Pretty incredible, huh?

We’ve been looking at a LOT of curtains, but really nothing has caught our eye yet. I am now planning on looking at fabrics this weekend in hopes of making curtains for this room. I have my eye the Brother XL2600I sewing machine, seen here from Target’s website.

It seems like a good fit for a novice sewer. I did sew a few simple things in high school, but my sewing days ended when I sewed over my fingernail and decided it wasn’t fun anymore. Does anyone have suggestions for sewing machines they love or ones that might be good for someone new to sewing? I’m just looking to make basic curtains and throw pillows for now.

A Few Finished Projects

Over the weekend I was able to finish up a few projects that I have previously mentioned. First, the artwork we ordered came in and I put that in the frames. I also matted any prints that needed a mat, and have now filled all the large frames.

View from front door:

View from living room:

I also finished the console table and put it back together. You can actually see it in the first picture above. This is what it looks like from the kitchen

And here is a closer look. We currently have some shoes in the totes, but so far it is really helping to cut down on the clutter in the dining room. It also gives a nice splash of color to the room.

Console Table Progress

I haven’t forgotten about the console table I blogged about a while back. I’ve been working on it in my free time, once or twice a week. After taking the table apart, I sanded the sheen off with 180 grit sand paper. Then I applied a thin coat of primer, being sure to brush all the way from one side to the other to avoid multiple brush strokes in the paint. After the coat of primer I took some 320 grit sand paper and lightly sanded the entire table down. Then, I applied a second coat of primer and repeated the sanding process.

Next it was time to paint. I used the same technique as with the primer, putting a thin coat of paint on each piece and making sure to use large brush strokes. After one coat of paint I have this

A pretty dramatic difference from what I started with. While we were at Target over the weekend we ordered some totes to go in the shelves.

My vision is to put shoes, running gear such as my garmin and road ID, and other odds and ends we frequently take out of the house in the totes. Right now we tend to come in the door and drop our shoes in the kitchen letting them pile up until one of us gets fed up enough to put them all away.

New Couch…Finally

Over the weekend the sectional we purchased at the end of March was finally delivered. Unfortunately it didn’t come with any brackets to secure the two pieces together and with our hardwood floors we know it will slide around a lot. We ordered some brackets to install under the couch to secure it together. We also picked up the blue pillows at Target over the weekend. I’m planning to get a sewing machine soon and hope to make some pillows and curtains, but for now these were what we were looking for at a good price. We still need to get curtains for this room, but we haven’t seen any that we like in person yet. This weekend we’re going to do some more shopping and hopefully we can find some then.

Here’s a peek at what the room looks like. Obviously we need to remove the saw and drop cloth and put the ottoman back in the room.

Pink Counter and Sink

Now that the kitchen is winding down to a lot of finishing work that doesn’t require us to work non-stop every weekend, I’ve started working on our pink bathroom. If you ever read this post, you remember that we spent a lot of timing sanding, spackling, and painting the walls in here after we took off the wall paper. While that made a huge difference, the plan had always been to do something about the rest of the pink. The to-do list:

replace the counter top and sink

re-paint the vanity and add new hardware

patch the cracked and chipped tiles

paint the pink tiles white

re-paint the walls to add some color

First up is the counter top and sink. We are using the same company that did our kitchen counter tops(Solid Surfaces for anyone in SC). Here is what the countertop currently looks like

We have chosen an offwhite specked color for the counter and a white for the sink bowl. They both look more offwhite or brownish than they really are.

Counter

Sink

The new top is being templated right now and will be installed next week. This weekend we’ll be removing the old top, while trying our best not to damage the tile, and buying a new faucet.