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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Making Space for Baby

One of the most common questions I keep getting from people is where the baby is going to sleep. We have an extra room downstairs, but no one wanted to move downstairs and I didn't want to be schlepping up and down the stairs at all hours of the night with a baby, so I decided to set it up in our room. 

I scored a minicrib off facebook marketplace that fits well on my side of the bed. I fixed Callum's old mobile that the kids broke like a year ago and hung it above the crib. And the blanket, well I had bought that when I was pregnant with Callum, but it totally still works. A friend passed on a dock-a-tot that I plan on using in our bed, as I am sure that even though the minicrib is right next to me, the baby will still end up in our bed a lot! But, the good news is the minicrib is on wheels, so I can pull it right up against the bed if I want. 

We set up a little changing station for the baby in our closet, which the entrance is next to my side of the bed. Ian thought the dresser that I had used for Callum as a changing table was too rickety (after all, my mom picked it up on the side of the road for free!), so I stalked the Crate and Barrel warehouse until I found one. Which, if you are local and have never been, you need to check it out! It's basically a scratch and dent store for Crate and Barrel furniture. I have scored many a great deals there. We hung a piece of pegboard over the dresser, which Lowes so nicely cut to size for us. And I got one of those newfangled changing mats that doesn't require a cover and you just wipe down. I'm excited about it.

That's about it for baby. Most of my nesting urges have been put into the rest of the house, given I didn't really have much to do for baby. I've filled nail holes and touch up painted. I've hung shelves and redecorated things. So all that random hormonal energy is at least being put to good use! 

^^ I took this picture imagining doing the same one with a baby laying there...eek! I'm so excited...for the baby, not the labor and postpartum parts so much. 

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The Kids Shared Room

Connor and Isla have shared a room for a little over a year and a half. In that time, I think I rearranged their room at least three times (that I can think of) to try to maximize the space. I had their beds parallel to each other, in an L shape and lastly across from each other, trying to give them each their own space. Someone had given us a bunkbed for Connor when we lived in our last house. He slept on the bottom bunk, but with kids wanting to play on the top bunk, there were a few head to ceiling fan incidences. So, when we moved, we ditched the bunkbed and just set the bottom bunk up as a single bed for Connor. I hadn't even considered bunkbeds again until I was at my favorite store, the Crate and Barrel outlet warehouse and saw a set there. And they were much shorter than our previous bunkbeds. And it was a full over twin. Something that I again hadn't ever thought of, which I now love. Anyway, I ended up getting them at 85% off, so went for it and haven't looked back. The bunkbeds have opened the kids room up so much. And the full size bed makes it so nice for reading together, of which I love to do with the kids. For a hot minute, we thought about moving Callum in as soon as we put in the bunkbeds, but we decided to hold off until we are fully sure he is done with a crib. But it is our ultimate plan for Connor and Callum to share a room. All the new decor I added to their room when I rearranged was actually from other places in our house...after all, "they" always say to shop your own house!

^^ One fun thing with the rearrange was making the kids a little reading nook. I also framed a piece of artwork each of them had done in school this year and hung it there.

^^ This poor Ikea dresser is on its last leg, literally. We have screwed it back together from the outside so many times and one of the drawers really doesn't work anymore. I'm looking for a new one for them, but have yet to find anything I like in my price range. 

^^ Connor's frankenstein on the left and Isla's bugs on the right.

^^ Yep, Isla has two baskets of stuffed animals. And they really can't be contained in just those! 

^^ I won these adorable Christmas ornaments in a contest a few years ago. In our last house they were hanging on the kids doors, now they are over their coat hooks.

It's been a couple months now that we've had the bunkbeds and I love them. I love that the kids can't see each other at night, so don't fight at bedtime about say someone looking at the other or something like that. Plus, Callum has yet to master the ladder yet, so there's that. When that day comes though...eek!!! The last thing I want to do is hang a little shelf on the wall inside/beside the kids beds so they can each have a couple books right there in their beds, instead of spread out all over their beds.

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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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A Surprise Visitor

On Sunday, while we were working in the backyard, someone came to our gate and yelled for us. Ian walked to the fence and asked if he could help the guy and he responded, "I grew up in this house, can I at least see the backyard?" Ian opened the gate and the nicest man came into our backyard.

He moved into the house when he was 8 years old and lived here until he went to college. He lived here in the 50's and 60's. He even went to the same elementary school our kids go to! He was tearing up in the backyard telling us some of his memories and I decided to do something way out of character for me. I invited him in to the house. You may be thinking, "that isn't a big deal Jessica." But it was for me because the house was a bit of a mess. Dirty dishes in the sink and on the counter. Stuff at the bottom of the stairs that I had carried down earlier in the day to move to the garage. A roll of paper towels that Isla decided to unroll all over the house. You know, the usual! But it was so worth it for me to swallow my pride and watch this guy's eyes light up. Not just his eyes, but his stories. He is a pianist and he showed us where his piano sat at which window he looked out at...practicing all those years before heading off to music school in New York City. He told us which room was his, it's Callum's room now. He told us that the weird random cut out in our hall wall was where their telephone was. He was excited to see the coat closet was still a coat closet. He really was the sweetest man.

As we were walking him out the front door, our neighbors were outside and he quickly ran across the street to talk to them and was promptly ushered in their house. Apparently his good friend grew up there and I am guessing since the people that currently live there, her grandparents built the house, I am guessing that "friend" was either her dad or an uncle.

One of the things I truly love about living in an old house, besides all the quirks and character, is the fact that there is a history to the house. Getting a glimpse into a bit of the history of a past occupant was truly a treat for me.

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The Reno Life

Ian has made mention in past home renovations that I become on edge and seem stressed out. And I'm like, I don't know what you are talking about!!! (insert sarcasm here) What's there to be stressed about?! I mean who cares not knowing exactly when people are coming and going from your house? People that don't seem to care about locking the door, and shutting said door seems optional at times. Then there is the mess. The mess that seems to make it to every inch of the house. And let us not forget the keeping the kids out of the way. That's like the hardest one when the construction area is like a piece of candy drawing the kids in. And I can kiss nap time goodbye! 

I actually found a plunger sitting right next to our bed the other day. Our bed. The place where we lay our heads at night to sleep. The place that is supposed to be a refuge. And, I must not leave out that they set said plunger not just next to our bed, but on our WOOL RUG without anything between said rug and dirty plunger. Face palm. Puke face. I shouldn't even have to mention this, but you just know it was a man that placed the plunger there. I certainly wouldn't and wouldn't think most women would. But I am sure my husband is reading this right now thinking, "What's the big deal Jess?!" Which, for his sake, I should be sure to point out it was one of the construction guys that put it there, not Ian.

But it will all be worth it in the end. Right? It always is. But my goodness it is stressful, messy and difficult while going on. Not to mention we have never tackled a project of this size and money so I feel all anxious about every decision, fearing I may hate it in the end. Oh house projects, I love you, but I totally hate you. Frenemies. We must be frenemies. 

So lets look back at my room, when there wasn't a plunger sitting next to my bed...don't worry, it didn't sit there over night. You can see the bedside lights Ian got me for Christmas. And get a glimpse of said defiled rug that I still love...because it's grey and huge and pretty. And my newest house plant baby right next to my bed. 

In a few short weeks (hopefully!) I will be staring at a pretty new bathroom attached to my room and not thinking about dirty plungers next to my bed.  Also, I now realize we have an oddly large amount of pictures of ourselves in our room. I guess there's no mistaking who the inhabitants of the room are!

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A bathroom reno

If you had asked me, this glass block goodness that is our master bathroom would have been the last bathroom in our house we touched. Why? Well, it was fully functional and in the master bedroom, so really didn't affect anyone except Ian and I. Never mind the fact that apparently slate is the WORST thing in the world to clean. I scrubbed and scrubbed, tried various products and nothing would clean it. Come to find out, that's how slate is. But no one except Ian or I saw it, so it wasn't the end of the world. Enter November.

I was cleaning the kids playroom one day in November when I noticed a leak. Whomp, whomp, whomp. We called a plumber. He wanted to rip into all the walls to find out the problem. Awesome. But it was a Friday afternoon and he didn't have time. The next week another plumber from the same company came out. This guy was awesome. In fact, he was the same guy that came out to our last house when our lawn was covered in poo. So basically, he's seen me through some dark times, haha! Anyway, he didn't want to rip into walls, but instead take time to measure, look in crawl spaces, etc to figure out the problem. And the problem ended up being that glass block goodness of a shower.

Now here's the thing, the shower could be fixed without redoing the whole bathroom. BUT, they were going to have to tear out the entire glass block wall, the floor of the shower and three feet up the shower wall. A new shower was no brainer. And, well, the floor of the bathroom should match the shower. And now that we are at it, the existing vanity wouldn't match the tile we picked out. And it just keeps going and going and going.

Picking out tile has been, well, a process. I never knew I had expensive taste until every sample I touched at the tile store was like five times the price of our budget. Then there's trying to find tiles that go together. One's that aren't to matchy matchy, but complement each other well. Let's not forget people's opinions. Those were enough for me to cover my ears and hum. So.much.advice. In the end, we went with what we liked. White subway tile with dark grout for the walls and large almost black hexagon tiles with dark grot for the floor. We still have to figure out some of the other details, but at least the big choices have been made.

So today I sit here, listening to them rip out my entire bathroom, down to the studs. There may even be a possibility of expanding the bathroom, but we are playing that one by ear...though it would be awesome if it works out.

In the mean time, I am over here feeling nervous that I fully like the choices we are making, because a whole new bathroom is quite pricy and I am stuck with it either way! Given we live in a 1939 tutor style house, I wanted something that went with the style of the house, was bright and clean (our last bathroom was a bit of a cave) and something that wouldn't be out of style next week. So here's some of my inspiration for our bathroom.

photo 1 // photo 2 // photo 3

One thing I know for sure is my bathroom has to be functional. I saw so many amazing bathrooms on pinterest with zero storage, or cute sinks that are totally not practical for everyday. And since our bathroom is small, it has to pack a punch. We have to have enough storage for our everyday essentials, not to mention room to move. With five of us currently sharing one bathroom, I now know the importance of space and storage first hand!

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Our Christmas Decor

I kind of can't believe Christmas is only a week away. I don't know why it's snuck up on me this year. I am normally so on top of this season. I don't know if it's the warm weather, the fact that the kids have to be in school right up until Christmas or all the fall birthdays, but something has me feeling a bit out of sorts. 

No matter how I feel about it, I still decorated the day after thanksgiving. I love Christmas that much that I always decorate right away. In fact, funny story. We pulled out our old tree (had it for 13 years) and maybe 1/8 of the lights worked...whomp, whomp, whomp. So we went out in the black friday chaos to hunt down a new tree. Basically Ian would circle the parking lot while I ran in and found the perfect tree...it took a couple stores, but I am really happy with the one we picked! 

My Christmas decor style has changed a lot over the years. It started with cheap things bought at kmart our first Christmas. It then transitioned when I worked at Pottery Barn for three years. Alas, many of those Pottery Barn decorations have just become unpractical with children as the years have gone on. So, this year, I gifted my aunt with a bunch of the decorations. I was just happy that they were going to someone who would appreciate and enjoy them. 

Besides the tree, I really haven't bought any new decorations. I would like to get a new tree skirt. I've probably said that for the past three years, but I haven't found the perfect one at a price I'm willing to pay, so I am still holding out. I do have to say, I love all the homemade decor that has made it into our rotation from the kids school projects over the years. Those pieces make me smile the most...especially the ones involving pictures! 

^^ The little people in our house keep rearranging our stockings. I've given up trying to keep them in order because the reality is, it really doesn't matter. 

^^ The 24 Christmas books that I collected from thrift stores six years ago are still going strong. There are actually now more than 24 and I didn't wrap them for advent like in years past. But the kids, especially Isla, still really enjoy reading them. 

The glow of the Christmas tree at night will always be one of my favorite things. I just enjoy the warmth that the lights and all the decor bring to our house at Christmas. Now to get my butt into gear and start wrapping presents!!!

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