Bathroom Reveal

Well, several months back my husband and I decided to re-do our bathroom.  It was time.  See for yourself.

The floor was dirty and disgusting and beyond the point that you could clean it.  The color of the tiles and the tub, can you say ugly?  The sink was scratched and dirty.  Don't get me started on the heater.  I've mentioned it here.  Let's not go there today, okay?

We tried to work with it and made a few minor adjustments.

It helped, but not with the floor problem.  Underneath one of the rugs we were missing floor tiles, so needless to say, when the time was right we tore it apart.

Sadly, we said good-bye to the old cast iron turqoisey-aqua tub, tiles and floor.  Okay, it wasn't sad.  However, living without a bathroom is never pleasant.  Especially if it's the "girls" bathroom of the home and during construction all girls have to use the "boys" bathroom.  Use your imagination on that one.

So, after several months, it is finally completed.  Can I get a woo-hoo?!!!!  Andy worked on this when his time allowed.  I certainly wish it went faster, but he did the best he could. 

I am very happy with how it turned out.  Instead of replacing the drywall where the old tile was, we decided to use a bead-board to cover over it.

It's so fresh and clean.  I would still like to add to this wall a picture of some sort and possibly a towel rack.  It's just so nice and crisp that I'm not in a big hurry to put holes in the wall.

Here is my sparkly white brand new tub.

I've already had the privelege of a good soak.  I'm enjoying it immensely.

I love taking showers now.  No more sharing the boys shower.

We had quite a time trying to find a vanity that would work in this space.  We actually wanted a smaller one in length than what was previously there.  It did not allow a lot of space between the toilet and vanity.  Andy finally found a used one on Craigslist.  It wasn't exactly what I was looking for but the price was right.

We just topped it with a one-piece granite top from Lowe's.

This shows you just how much space we have now between the vanity and sink.

Much better.  And oh, did you notice the new heater?  No more rust and pee stains.  Hallelujah.  I decided to add a little more storage space and was quite pleased when I found this at my favorite little primitive shop in town.  And, for only $25.

While the bathroom was under construction, we had the mirror resting in the hallway.  Well, with 2 boys running around you can imagine what happened.  It broke.  It turned out to be ok.  We ended up having to cut it to fit with the new size vanity.  Andy built a frame for it, and we painted it to match the vanity and storage cabinet.

I think it looks great.  We just recycled the old light, but unfortunately had to replace the glass shades because somebody (I won't mention who) managed to break one.  That turned out to be the biggest fiasco of the whole project.  I won't tell you how many trips I took to Lowe's and Home Depot to finally find some that would fit.

One more before and after. 




Before

After

So, what do you think?  Did we do okay?

I'm back!!!

Yay!  I am so excited to tell you that I am back.  Back here at learning as we go.  There are a couple of factors to my decision to return here.  First one being, I had too much trouble getting my new blog working on blogger and didn't really care for blogging at wordpress.  Because of that I sort of lost the desire to continue blogging.  But the truth is, I've missed blogging.  Which leads me to my second reason...I miss writing.  Or is this talking?  Journaling?  Typing random thoughts?  Whatever it is I have missed it.  And for whatever reason this feels like home.  This little special blog of mine. 
So, here I am.  I'm back and hopefully here to stay.  There will be posts coming, so please, if I haven't lost you yet, come on back.  Soon.  I think I've officially lost it.  : )

Saying goodbye, and starting a new adventure.

Hello to anyone who happens to be popping in at learning as we go.  I've a bit of an announcement to share with you.  I've decided to stop blogging.  Wait, before you leave you must know that I'm starting a new blog.  I am really excited about it.  It's a blog I feel a little more comfortable with and because of that I will probably be a little better about posting.

If you know me at all, then you know how much I love to make my house a home, and how much I love to decorate and all things that pertain to simplifying life and home.  It's a bit of a work in progress, so I hope that you will bear with me as I get it up and going.  The blog that is.  I am so excited about it, and I can't wait to really get started.

So, look for me at www.thisprimitivehome.blogspot.com.  Say hello and let me know you've stopped by.  I'm starting the blog with the December Photo Project.  What fun.

Just want to say goodbye from learning as we go and thank you for all of your support and reading through some of my "thoughts."  I'm far from done sharing, just done sharing here...I think.  : )  It's really not a good-bye, just a sideways good-bye.  See ya.

I've been a little busy.

You will pardon my lack of blogging as of late.  Some of it comes down to a sort of writers block, some to lack of things to say but mainly to lack of time.  I am not someone who can handle too many things at once, so the more important things take precedence over blogging.

We were out of town last weekend for a trip to the beach.  It was wonderful except for the $80 ticket my husband got for speeding through Delaware.  Though it was a little annoying she was actually generous and only charged him with a lesser speed than the actual.  *Note to self:  send in the payment.*  Ugh!

Was on my way to one of my cleaning jobs last week and I got hit by a deer.  Yep, you read that right, I got hit by a deer.  I was braking to avoid hitting one, when a second ran out and ran right into the back of my car.  I am so glad it didn't do any damage.  Only damage was to my emotions.  What a nerve-racking moment.  Do you ever wonder why silly things like those happen?  Strange.

Anyway, I've done a few small projects around my home that I've shown on my blog.  Well, we just embarked on a big project just last week.  We are knee deep in renovating my bathroom.  Who knew that one small room could create such havoc.  But I must say it is worth it.  My bathroom has been a mess since we moved into this house.  Clean, but a mess.  Mainly the floor.  The tiles were coming loose and the grout was looking a little...gross.

I will show you what we started with.  The first picture shows what the room looked like when we bought the house.  I must disclose to you that the tub (which is hard to see) was actually the turquoisey minty color.  Though very clean and in relatively good condition, the color was just not my thing.

I decided to put a band-aid on it until it was time to renovate, so here is the most recent photo of our bathroom.

As you can see, I did my best to work with what was there.  I removed the wallpaper and freshened up the walls and vanity with paint.  I placed those two rugs on the floor to hide the loose floor tiles.  What you can't see in this picture is the pee stained rusted out floor heater right by the toilet.  It was nas. Tee.  Nasty.  (Did I just write the word toilet on my blog?)

Anyway, since the majority of this renovation would fall on my husband it was up to him when he wanted to get started.  Well, he wanted to get started and I was in full agreement.  So, we are down to one bathroom.  One woman sharing a bathroom with 3 boys and a dog.  It's proving to be a challenge at times, but we'll get through it.  (No, my dog doesn't use the bathroom to do her business, her food and water bowl is in there.)
Not to mention the fact that my washer and dryer are also in that bathroom. 

Well, here is what my bathroom looks like now.

Nice huh?  Well, you will see I like to keep my rooms decorated during renovating.  ; )  Why not?  Makes me like to go in there.

I will keep you posted as to how things are going.  Aside from the toilet lid getting busted everything has been going smoothly.  I only hope it continues that way.  I can't wait to get to the putting it back together part.  Soon.

Guest posting today!

Happy Monday morning.  It happens to be an absolutely beautiful (perfect) day here!  I love Monday's.  There's just something about getting a chance to start over with a new week.  And we get to do that 52 times a year.  Just remembering the quote from "Anne of Green Gables." 

**Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it."

Love that.  I hope you'll use your Monday as a fresh start.  And don't worry, if you blow it, you always get a fresh start tomorrow, or the next Monday!!

***Today I have the priveledge of guest posting on my dear friend Bevy's blog.  I feel so honored.  I hope you'll pop on over and read what I have to say about anxiety.  Anxiety can be a dark topic, but nevertheless it's a real issue for me.  I hope you'll feel encouraged.  Say Hi to Bevy and be entered to win a giveaway!!!

To read my guest post go here. 

Thanks for stopping by!!

A little home improvement

I just wanted to show you what I've been up to as of late.

Last Saturday I had a whole day all to myself so I took advantage of that time and decided to paint my kitchen cabinets.  It's only phase one of the whole kitchen makeover, but so far I'm pleased with the results.

To get a real appreciation I'll show you a picture of what the kitchen looked like before.  This is what it looked like when we bought the house.

This next picture shows what it looked like after we took out the prison bars and painted the walls.

That's about how it has stayed since we moved in.  It's not that I hated the blue, it just wasn't the color I chose, nor would it really be a color I would choose.  And after living here for over two years, the paint was beginning to chip and the cabinets were getting a little on the dirty side.  So, I decided it was time to change.  And with no one around it was the perfect opportunity.

Part of the reason it took me so long to paint them was because I struggled with what color I wanted.  My dream was to paint them black.  Oh I love that, but with black appliances I thought that would be way to much.  I also thought about doing a colonial burgundy, but again I wasn't sure if it would be too dark.  So, I opted for a colonial green.  Green isn't one of my favorite colors, but it's definitely one that I'm okay with.  Better than the blue anyway.

So, here's how they turned out.

Since I took the photos, I've already changed out the curtains and added some decorations to the cabinet sides at the window.  I'll show an prettier picture when the kitchen is cleaned up and ready. 

Well, like I said, it's just phase one.  We want to install a new backsplash.  I'm thinking brick.  Also, we want to install a new counter top.  We have a portable dishwasher (you can kind of see it in the photo above) but I would like to have one installed when we replace the counters.  All of this takes time and money.  Both a precious thing these days.

So, what do you think?  Should I have gone with black or burgundy?

Once upon a time

Once upon a time there was a prince and a princess.  On a certain day in the merry month of September this happy couple discussed who would take the "good" chariot.  The prince decided to let the princess have it and she was ever so grateful. 

He on the other hand would suffer because of this decision.  You see, the chariot that the prince had to take was considerably older and didn't have the special features of the princess' chariot.  One such feature it was lacking was that of a reminder when the prince would leave his lights on.  **Who knew a chariot had lights.  ; ]

On this merry day, the prince drove his chariot to work and left the lights on.  Because of this the chariot had a dead battery.  However, the prince will not discover this until about 6 pm when it is time to leave.

The princess, being the sweet woman she was, was preparing for her prince a lovely dinner.  Her happy children whistling tunes while setting the family dinner table.  In concern for her prince she placed a call only to discover his battery was dead.

**Okay, so part of that paragraph may not be entirely true.**  Side note, this is the fourth time the prince has had a dead battery.  **Another side note, the prince received a birthday gift from the princess' mother containing a device that would jump start the prince's chariot without using another chariot.  Did the prince have it with him on this merry day?**  No.

So, the prince had to go find help for his chariot.  When he calls his precious princess he then informs her that not only was his battery dead, but now his keys were locked inside his chariot.

The princess realizes the predicament her prince is in and must abruptly end her dinner, leaving the half eaten plates and food on the counter.  She heads to her chariot with her children in tow.  And of course, the extra keys to the prince's chariot, oh, and the special device to jump the battery.

The children had homework that night and school the next day and the princess realizes that the children can not go along.  So, she turns to her mother for help.  Dropping the keys and device with the princess' mom, the decision is made that she would go save the prince and the princess would take care of the children.

**Side note, the princess mom has a gps, but it is in the chariot that is being repaired at the mechanics.**

So, she heads off into the night to save the prince.  But by this time, the prince had hitched a ride in a co-workers chariot to his home to wait for help.  A short time later, the princess checks in with the prince and learns that he is now with the princess' mom and heading to revive his chariot.

Ah, all is well, or so she thinks.  The princess had just sat down at the table to reload on her dinner and help her children with their homework when the prince calls.  He needed help because they were lost.  The princess being the sweet wife she is digs up a map (on google) and becomes her prince's gps, guiding them along to their destination.

However, what the princess doesn't realize is that the destination on the map was incorrect.  And so, for thirty minutes she sends them in the complete opposite direction.  Once the error was discovered, the prince and the princess' mom refueled her chariot and headed back in the direction of the prince's chariot.

It seemed that all was well at this point.  And it was, however, by now it was after 9 pm.  The prince would arrive to find his chariot.  Get it started and drive home.  He will arrive at 10:15.

Upon entering his castle, the prince falls to the couch in exhaustion, where he will sleep the entire night. 

And they lived happily ever after...

The moral of the story is, make sure you have an extra set of keys hidden somewhere on your chariot.  And, if you turn on your chariot lights, please remember to turn them off.  If you receive a gift from your prince/princess' mom, always have it with you.  And make sure you always have a map in the glove box of your chariot. 

**This story may or may not have been true.  It may or may not have happened to me and my husband.  He may or may not have woken the next morning and in a series of events managed to lose his keys and throw them away all within five minutes.  We may or may not live happily ever after!!!