Vanity Repair!

You remember that old dresser that I bought to turn into a vanity....well...I worked today on removing the "gunk" on that had built up under the mirror over the years.  Was hoping that I could just blend the new finish into the old....but I'm not so sure that's going to be possible now.  Imagine that, lol! 

I sure thought the sink hole I cut was a little more even, lol.

Here's a reminder of what we started with:

We're going to use the mirror in the 1/2 bath.  See where the mirror frame is though...that's where all of the old finish was really thick.  We'll see how it turns out.

GROUTED Tub Surround!! DONE!!

Well, we FINALLY grouted the tub surround  :)  We used Spectralock and let me just say...you've gotta work pretty quickly when you use that stuff.  It's an epoxy grout...never needs to be sealed..resists stains, mold & mildew...so hopefully it was worth it.  It wasn't cheap either...I think we spent $100 on grout alone!!

I had to have Kade do the "up high" parts again...he's so lucky that he's tall  :)

Here I am cleaning up the grout haze before it's too late.

DONE!!  Now I've just got to paint around the top and caulk the edges & corners!!

Wow, I am so glad that we've got that done! (and I'm so glad that I decided I wanted hardwood floor int he bathroom with my clawfoot tub, lol!!)

A Whirlwind Day

Today I went on a whirlwind trip to look for another vanity.  I'm worrying now about the sewing base, and am afraid it's not going to be able to be fixed.  (Ya think I worry a little??)  Well, I didn't find anything at all to use for a vanity...but I did spy this cute little table.  We're going to need one in the basement to put a lamp on...so I figured I might as well find out how much it is.  No price sticker anywhere....so they had to call the person that had that booth...

her response...$45!!  WHAT...I'll take it!!  :)

So now it's my cute little table.  Haven't decided yet if I'm going to leave it chippy or strip it down to the bare wood.  Hmmm...something to WORRY about, lol.

I thought this detail was just so cute...and I couldn't believe it was in such good shape for $45!

In that same booth they had this cute old metal bread box...$30.

It's in great shape too (I need to remember that booth!!)

I'm ready to start decorating...and I MEAN NOW!!!

So here's the tile that I grouted last night...I like it...it's very calm.  I think it will look awesome with that dresser/vanity that I'm working on.

 

We had some visitors tonight too...eating apples...I'm glad SOMETHING is eating them, cause we're not.  Next year we'll have to figure out what to do with them.  I think the trees are just past their prime and need to be replaced  :(

A Flooring Filled Day

So I'm still not entirely sold on the flooring for the laundry/mudroom/1/2 bath.  Ugh!  There's just something about it.  So today I went to town...ran errands...visited Lowes & Home Depot (imagine that) and then went on to do some shopping for some different tile.  While I didn't have any luck (so I guess I'm using what we've already got) I did find a great deal on some Travertine.  I've got to call them and tell them that I want it....hopefully they've still got it.  I think it will work perfectly in our basement bathroom.  I'm a little concerned that travertine is just too fancy for a basement bath...but since our actual family room is down there I think it will be ok.

I think it'll be pretty, and work really nicely with the vintage cabinet & sink that we're using for our vanity.

After I got back from errands and Kade got home from work we went straight to grouting.  I hope it turns out ok.  I get myself worked up about every project that we do, lol.

I think Bisque was the grout color that we chose.

Done...cleaned up...and ready to install a toilet!!!

Let's make that a priority!!  :)

Kade sat in a couple of the cabinets for the mudroom while I was grouting.  I'm going to love this.  He said tonight that this was what he was most excited about!  That makes me smile!

Before we stopped for the evening I had Kade hook up an option for the "over the island" lights...the other one he had to just hold up there...which one do you like best?  I think I like the big one.  I've got 2 other options for that spot...but these are the ones I've wanted from the get go...so they're probably going to win out in the end  :)

Cabinets!!

Oh my gosh...the kitchen cabinets have arrived!!  SOOOO EXCITING!!!  We've GOT to get the flooring done now so we can get them installed!!  We ordered our cabinets from Hickory Street Cabinets in Troy, IL.  I HIGHLY recommend them.  They are awesome!!

Floor Tile

Thank goodness I talked Kade into laying out and cutting the floor tiles BEFORE we put the mortar down!!  As usual...this took us FOREVER to do!  It took us 7 hours today to lay out the pattern, get it all cut to fit, and actually lay 4 of the 6 rows!  I like it though...and I really like that we didn't just do a straight square pattern.  I think we're going to do the same pattern in the clutter room too, just in a much darker tile.

Still not sure how I feel about the Ditra.  Guess we'll see how it treats our tiles over the next few years.

Another shot for Bran

Oh yeah...and I forgot to mention...we're taking part in a surpise party tomorrow for a VERY good friend of our family, so Mom, Sara and I had to finish icing the cupcakes before we could go to bed.

Oh yeah...and then there was the perseids meteor shower tonight as well, ha ha.  I was already up late, so I figured I might as well go watch for some shooting stars.  Sara (my sister) and I went up to the new house and just laid down int he driveway.  Finally we've had a little break in the weather...cause we were FREEZING!  Above is the pic I took when I was trying to take a pic of myself!  Look in the top 1/3rd of the pic...it's the shooting star that Sara asked me if I saw when I forgot to flip the camera to take my pic, lol, guess I got to see it after all.

Berrrrrr it was cold.  Hoodie & Jeans, Skull & Crossbones Snuggy....perfect weather!!

Now to bed I must go...we've got lots to do in the morning!

Something We've Been Waiting For

FLOORING!!!  Well...why is it that NOTHING can go as planned??  We gave the delivery company 4 out of 5 days that they COULD deliver the flooring...and they wanted to do it on the ONE day that we weren't available. UGH!!  SO....Harmans to the rescue again!!  Mike and I went to Litchfield this afternoon and picked up the flooring at the delivery company's building.  To top it off....the guys all came after work and helped carry all of the flooring into the house....So...a special thanks to Mike, Mark, Jeffie and Johnny Harman and Al Dugan!!  With the 5 of them and Kade they got it moved in in no time at all!

There's Mike out there giving the guy some instruction.

 Mike lending a helping hand

Jeffie

The Home Depot delivery guy....

wait....what's he doing here??

Oh wait...that's just Mark, lol.

He's way better than any Home Depot delivery guy :)

SOME of the new floor.  We had 72 boxes total...

at 70lbs per box.  And the best part, I didn't even have to carry one of them  :)

I had to open a box just to get a look at what we've got...oh man...I LOVE IT!

Look at the gorgeous antique look.  Can't wait till it's installed!

After the guys left Kade and I got busy and we got the Ditra installed as promised :)  It went in a lot easier than I thought it would.

 

And we got to install the final bullnose tiles with the mortar we used laying the Ditra!

FINALLY....THE TUB SURROUND IS TILED!!

Now I'm going to start worrying about the grout, ha ha!

Prep Work

Tonight we didn't get much done (seems we have a lot of evenings like that!)  We did get the Ditra cut for the bathroom floor though.  Tomorrow night we'll get that put down.  This stuff is so weird.  It's a tile underlayment, you spread out mortar, push this down into it, then you tile right over the top...just like you'd normally lay the tile.  Now I'm nervous about putting down the floor tile, lol.

There's Kade cutting the vent hole in the Ditra.

You just lay it edge to edge...and tile...you don't even have to wait for the mortar to dry underneath.

A little something for Bran.

Tomorrow the hardwood floor is suppose to be delivered...YEAH!!  Can't wait to get that installed (and yes, we're planning on installing that too, WHAT is wrong with us??)

MORE Tub Surround

Seriously...we thought we'd get to finish the tub surround today...but no such luck.  We were SOOOOO close though.  I got the tiles all cleaned up though...got the extra mortar out from in between, etc.  What a mess I made!

Look at how serious I am, lol.  Very determined.

The ALMOST finished product.

Seriously....3 Bullnose tiles short....so we didn't put the rest of it up.  We'll make ANOTHER trip to Lowes for tile and then get it finished up when we have everything we need.  Who figured up our supplies list??  I don't THINK it was me  ;)

More Tub Surround

We worked some more on the tub surround today.  Why is this taking so long??  Are we the slowest tilers EVER??  (I'm thinking the answer to that is YES!)

 

I had to have Kade help me with the "up high" areas...my arms were already tired, plus I can barely reach that high, lol.  I'm not even short...so maybe we made it too tall?

Look, I do exist...and I do actually work!

Had to have Kade snap a pic today as he was sitting in the hallway waiting on me to tell him what I needed.

Still not done...but close...It got a little too late so we decided to save the last wall for another day.

Here's a little closeup of the pattern...what you can't tell is that the dark tile is actually brown glass.  I just LOVE how this is turning out!

Tiled Tub Surround...the beginning

Started the tub surround today!  Talk about nerve wracking...lol...why do I let everything stress me out soooo badly??  I guess it's because I just don't want to screw it up.  I think it looks pretty good so far.  This is the first tub surround that I've tiled, so it's a new experience for me.  I did do the backsplash in our current kitchen though...I guess it's KIND of similar...just a whole lot smaller!!

 Had to stop at this point because I really felt like the mortar was a bit dry.  I'll work on it some more tomorrow when we've got more time.  I think I might be able to handle this  :)

More RedGard

Today I finished the RedGard for the tub surround (that means we're THAT much closer to tiling, yikes!)  I'm not gonna lie...the stuff is kinda stinky...but it's not terrible bad.

1st REAL coat at full strength...

After it dried...RED

 

I actually did 3 coats at full strenght...I figured if 2 was good, then 3 was better, lol.  Hopefully that is true with RedGard.  I just didn't feel like the coating was as thick as it should be.  I applied the full strength coats with a 3/4" nap roller.  While all this was drying I decided it was time to cut the whole in the old dresser for the sink.

 

That looks just right!  I left a pretty good edge to support the sink bowl...didn't want to take any chances.  Now I've just got to fix where the old finish is all gummed up where the old mirror was.  Mabye later  :)