Bathroom Refresh

I know the pandemic has brought out the house projects in everyone, but I am a little late to the game. I was inspired and had ideas of what I wanted to do project wise at the beginning...and have done neither of those projects, haha! But, I got a wild hair to refresh our downstairs (Connor's) bathroom a couple weeks ago and went for it. 

It started because Connor didn't really have space to store his toiletries, so I went in search of a small vanity for him. The bathroom is small, so it couldn't be anything too large. I found a vanity from IKEA that would work and went for it. My goal was to do everything in a week and I managed to do it. Let's show what I started with...

I took everything off the walls, lightly sanded the walls and gave the bathroom a fresh coat of paint. Just doing that improved things greatly. The baseboards REALLY needed it and look so much better. Then I did my feature wall. I was inspired by some wallpaper that I found...then saw the price of and decided to try my hand at painting it myself. Then we installed the new vanity, mirror and other fixtures. 

The other thing I did was get rid of the tension shower curtain we had that used to fall down and mess up the paint. I replaced with with some piping from Lowes and love the look of it.

We also got rid of the curtain and instead frosted the bottom half of the window. It looks so much cleaner (or less cluttered or something like that) in there without the curtain.

vanity - IKEA

mirror - Wayfair

towel hooks - Target

shower curtain - Target

A quick side note about Wayfair. I haven't used them before and ordered the mirror from them because at the time it was the cheapest place I could find it. It is sold at several places. It is now way more than I paid for it. It would appear they are a bit like amazon and change their prices all the time. 

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A New Master Bathroom

Remember back when I posted about us redoing our master bathroom? Yeah, it's been so long that I really didn't either. You guys, it's finally DONE. It took exactly 90 days, start to finish. Demo began on January 16th and everything was finished on April 16th. I thought that was kind of fun when I realized this. It's also kind of torturous that it happened in Ian's busy season when, you know, life isn't stressful for us or anything.

This reno took much longer than Ian or I expected. There were times I was annoyed. Times I was done being stuck at home with workers. Times I just didn't want to have to make my bed and try to keep Callum from getting all up in the workers business. But, it is finally over. And I must say, it looks more amazing that I would have imagined when we first began. Of course, that could be because the scale of this remodel took a much larger turn once demo started and we discovered a few things...like extra room to expand in to, messed up floor joists, blotched up plumbing and electrical. You get the picture. But now for the real pictures.

Here's a before, so you can remember what we were working with. I know it looks straight out of the 90's, but it was actually done only 3 years ago...glass block wall and all. And that bathroom was horribly lit, had no ventilation and the slate was impossible to clean. All it had going for it was the amazingly large shower, which I did enjoy.

And here's an after of the same view. Nice and bright. New, larger window...that isn't glued shut and stuccoed over. There are nice, bright led lights in there too. 

Another before shot. The WHOLE BATHROOM was slate. It also had a 3 foot long vanity, which was pretty dang small for Ian and I to share. We were hoping to go up to 4 feet, but actually were able to go all the way up to 5 feet.

And the same view of the new bathroom. Since we ended up having to redo everything, we were able to start with a clean slate and position the bathroom any way we wanted. I really, really wanted the window to be visible and not blocked, so that was what we had to work with. We stood in that little space many times with the contractor trying to figure how we wanted to lay things out. It felt so confusing and daunting when there were no walls or anything to figure out a scale of things with. In the end, it worked out great.

And now some more pictures of the bathroom. We picked everything out ourselves, which at times felt daunting, wondering if it would all go together in the end. We wanted something that went with the house (built in 1939) and wasn't a big fad that would quickly date itself. 

The shower glass has some sort of magic on it that frees itself of water spots. We've already used it and it totally dried clear. Talk about amazing! 

Also, the tile guys totally knocked my socks off with their attention to detail. Look how beautifully they lined up our tile in the floating drain with the rest of the shower floor. And they lined up the rest of the bathroom floor with the shower! The subway tile also seamlessly lines up around the whole bathroom, shower included. 

The quartz slab we chose for our countertop was also used for the shampoo nook in the shower and the shower ledge. That was something the counter/tile guys suggested and it turned out really nice. Also, I should mention, up until this point in life, I thought mostly all shower heads were the same. Um, no. This huge bad boy is life changing. I literally feel like I am at a spa, or a fancy hotel or something with that amazing thing. 

So there you have it, our shiny new bathroom. So light and bright. Oh, and the fan has a bluetooth speaker in it, which is totally awesome. I can now shower in peace, not hearing the fighting of the children in the other room. Talk about a win!

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Bathroom Wall Sconce Ideas

from top left:

bronze caged light // galvanized light // bronze light

chrome & glass light // bronze & brass light

caged bronze light

brass & glass light // brass & white light // brass globe light

I'm going to be honest for a minute. I know there are people that love the details. They love searching for the perfect item. They love comparing them. They love picking them out. I am not one of those people. That is one of the reasons things like our bathroom remodel stress me out. There are just so many decisions to make. The shower head, the drawer pulls, the vanity lighting...not to forget the tile, the window, the glass options for the shower, the toilet, the countertop, the vanity, and on and on and on. Just SO MANY DECISIONS. And since they all cost money, each decision feels like such a burden. I always feel like they end up not being a huge deal in the end. But I don't want to regret any decision I make. Yet I also don't want to spend hours scowering the internet for the perfect piece either.

My strategy was to find something I like on Pinterest, do a quick google search of that item, find a couple comparable options and pick one. Wall sconces for either side of our mirror were a little bit more difficult though. Partially because there are so many options out there and partially because it was the only thing Ian and I didn't see completely eye to eye on. It's actually amazing that in the whole bathroom remodel, this was the only decision we both couldn't completely agree on! But, he couldn't come up with a better option, so I ordered the ones I wanted.

Also, am I the only person that won't order something without a good return policy? There are just so many what if's when ordering so many things online from so many places and hoping they all go together. I actually found some other lights I liked that I didn't end up ordering because in the reviews people talked of the finish not looking the same as online and they didn't have a good return policy and I didn't want to be stuck with something that didn't go with the rest of the bathroom.

Besides a good return policy, I quickly realized how the prices of lights were all over the place. From uber cheap (less than $20 a light), to hundreds a light. I quickly decided to set a price of how much I wanted to spend, so I could easily rule out things because of their ridiculous price tag. This also kept be from falling in love with something far too expensive, then talking myself into it not being that expensive ;)

Anyway, after combing through the internet and looking at more vanity lighting than my brain can comprehend, I thought I would share some of the great ones I found. Also, many of them come from staple home stores like Lowes, Pottery Barn and West Elm. But I found that, of course, none of the ones I liked were available in stores. That would have been just too easy!


Our bathroom really is coming together. It's fun seeing all the little, and big, decisions we made come together to make our bathroom. It should all be done within a week, and then I'll be sharing it with you all.

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Backyard Shenanigans

^^ Pool noodle fights are pretty awesome...and since ours have been sitting out all summer, they aren't all stiff and don't hurt when you are hit. That's a mom win right there, if I've ever seen one.

What exactly does one title a post when all they want to do is go off on how they love having a usable backyard again? I'm asking for a friend, of course. 

But seriously, I forgot what it was like to have a backyard. Sure, we have enjoyed two summers of swimming, but not much else. There really wasn't a play space. Just random bushes in the middle of uneven concrete, and brick, let us not forget the brick. Oh, and while I'm at it, let us not forget the trip hazard of an electrical box that stuck out of the ground six inches and delayed our concrete work two weeks to get rid of...but two weeks that were totally worth it. 

Anyway, we got fake grass installed almost two weeks ago. All the sudden, the rest of the to do list for our backyard doesn't seem to matter because we have a place to play. It is so amazing. I honestly never thought I would love fake grass so much. I just wanted it because Ian isn't exactly a consistent mower and it looks pretty. But it is so incredibly soft and not dirty, so I have been sitting and laying on it constantly. And now that the pool net is back on the pool, the older kids can go out and play by themselves and when I am out there with Callum, I don't feel like my eyes have to be on him every nanosecond. And, all the sudden, I am reminded what it was like when we had a usable backyard. And it's pretty much pure bliss. 

So, here is where you will find us, enjoying our beautiful, soft, green fake grass for the rest of fall. Because, well, it's pretty dang awesome. 

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Our Backyard Progress

We met with a concrete guy about our backyard in April to get a quote. We liked the quote, but they were so backlogged that they didn't start until the very end of June. So, the timing of this project wasn't exactly the best, happening in the height of summer. But now that our backyard is usable again, it was totally worth it. We are redoing our backyard "ourselves"...basically had someone rip it out and put in the concrete we wanted, but still have a bunch more we are doing on our own. 

Here is what we started with:

The placement of the pool isn't the best, being right by the house, but we are working with what we have ;) The week before the concrete people came to start, I decided I wanted to add concrete squares in the back to go around our seating/dining area that will eventually be covered. We designed our backyard ourselves and tore out most the plants because we wanted something we will realistically maintain. You can't tell from this picture, but the entire back of the backyard had a grey concrete slab that housed a pool house, which was torn down before we bought the house. Also, there was a electrical box for the pool light sticking up about 6 inches out of the ground between the two chairs on the far end of the pool. I only mention this because getting rid of it became a pain in the butt...but a pain I am oh-so-glad we dealt with. 

Progress:

^^ We went out and spray painted our plan the night before work began. You should know I am horrible at painting straight lines, so it was a good thing these guys were professionals and made it look great in the end. 

^^ I was literally peeing my pants when they were jackhammering right next to the pool. I kept thinking of all that could go wrong and what a disaster it would be. Alas, all was good. 

^^ Our backyard got stuck in this state for a couple weeks. That annoying pool light box (which you can see sticking out of the dirt straight behind the pool light) I mentioned earlier caused quite the snafu. Our pool still had the original light and electrical wire, so the electrician recommended replacing that and also updating the way it was hooked up to the house (new code rules these days). But we discovered that standard pool lights come with a 30 foot wire and we needed 60 feet. So, we had to wait to order it. Then we had to partially drain the pool to install it. Blah, blah, blah. But, we not no longer have a tripping hazard (and eye sore) sticking out of the ground, so that's good. 

Finished concrete:

^^ Since I failed to mention this earlier, over on the right of this picture is our back house. Before having the concrete poured, we installed a french door, allowing much more natural light in the back house and also making a larger step into the back house when the concrete was poured. 

^^ The rectangle slab in the back of the yard will eventually have some sort of structure over it, but that is a year or two down the road. It will also have a table for us to eat at. The dirt spot on the left will eventually have (fake) grass on it to play on. 

Here are some things we still have left to do:

* Clean out and level the planters

* Paint the fence. We are thinking some sort of grey...our favorite color, haha!

* Run a drip system for plants and electrical system for uplighting in the planters. 

* Plant drought tolerant and low maintenance plants in the planters every couple feet. 

* Fill in the planters and in between the square concrete with rock. 

* Build a fence (think a half fence) around the grass area. 

* Put in fake grass in the grass area.

Father down the road, we would like to build a structure over the eating area that would also have electricity in it...we loved our outdoor fans at our last house! We would also like to string outdoor lights across the backyard. Also, we would like to add several inches of horizontal wood to the top of our fence, giving us more privacy and making it feel a little more modern. But this is where we are for today. 

The progress of the backyard already makes me smile so much. It isn't overgrown anymore. All the concrete matches. Oh, and we widended the steps going into our house and it makes me smile every time I open the door that there is no longer a drop off right there on the side. It's the little things, right?!

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Our Front Yard

We are in the middle of completely redoing our backyard. Like EVERYTHING up to the edge of the pool has been ripped out and is being redone. Anyway, in the middle of all that, Ian asked our concrete guy about adding on a walkway in the front yard and since it was super reasonable, we went for it. We had the flagstone taken out (and now have the yellow spots on our grass to prove that they sat there for two days) and replaced with 3 foot by 3 foot concrete squares. My favorite part of this is that we now have a true path over to our driveway where we park...you can see the front of my car stopped right at that path ;)

Here is what the front of the house looked like when we bought it.

Since moving in, we ripped out all the plants planted on the driveway side and replaced them with plants that make sense. I say "we", but what I really mean is my aunt and uncle showed up one afternoon in May with all the plants and did all the work while the kids and I sort of helped. You can't tell from a picture, but we also installed a small led can light in the arch above our front door, allowing us the privilege of now actually being able to see the key hole without getting out our cell phones to use as light to find it. And lastly, the walkway we just put in. Since this picture is in full sun, here is one from when the house was listed by the buyers

Did you know you can see all the photos associated with your house in the last several years on realtor.com? Well, because of that, we got to see what our house looked like before it was renovated in 2014. Here's the front of the house from then.

I just realized when I downloaded this picture that the house used to have a shake roof. They really changed a lot about the house when it was redone. And the tree on the right has grown a ton in just 3+ years! Anyway, here are a couple move photos of our new front walkway.

I really like it and am glad we made the last minute decision to do it. And Ian and I managed to place all that rock in half an hour. It was way easier than I expected. Also, in case you are wondering, I have no clue who put those pink flamingos in my front yard. They were just there one day when I came home. But the joke is on whoever put them there because I totally like them!

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