Construction:
Today is our 8th day of construction, and everything is moving along pretty well. So far, the room has been totally gutted down to the framing, re-framed with some new walls, electrical and plumbing added and modified, re-insulated, sheetrocked, and by the end of tomorrow we will have the texture sanded. Which means by Monday, we will be ready for painting. Everything was on schedule and right on with my most current "budget" until sheetrocking.... We're now a couple days over schedule and my sheetrock allowance is coming in at twice what I planned.... I have actually been dead on with everything else, which is good, but I was surprised to be so off on this one. It makes me a little growlie, but honestly, if this is the "surprise/low point" of the project, where I'm really off, and there is always at least one of those points, then I'll be happy.
After sheetrocking is done, the dust production goes down immensely, so that will be nice. We currently have a thin layer of dust coating the entire house, despite closing as many doors as I could, and running an air filter most of the time. Oh well, it's construction, dust and mess come with the territory. I know how it goes and don't get too worked up about it. Besides, I am planning a little splurge for cleaning services soon. I have decided to hire a lady to come in for a couple days and do a major top to bottom, thorough cleaning throughout the whole house. I honestly wonder if it's ever been done in this house, and that is not something I want to take on myself, especially with this belly! Just to give you an idea of this house's size: to do the floors only, vacuum and mop, takes close to 6-7 hours for one person. Erik and I keep the place picked up for the most part, and we aren't messy people, but we would need to spend all weekend, every weekend cleaning if we wanted this place really "clean." Yeah, not exactly how we want to spend our last days of childless life. Needless to say, we've adapted to the New Mexico dust that settles on everything and permeates this leaky house, through the super high quality, single pane, aluminum windows. No, seriously, most of them are held together with packing tape and caulking. I think there are approximately 3 windows in this 6 bedroom house that are not broken. Someday in the future, we will drop the $30k necessary to replace the massive amounts of glass in this place, but for now we're just focusing on creating a functional, pretty bathroom. You know, the fun project that makes you feel fuzzy inside.
Here is a video I shot of the bathroom. Because I only have a point-and-shoot camera, without a wide angle lens, the photos of such a small space are pretty much useless. I could have narrated, but hearing my voice on film makes me cringe, so no narration for you.
Here is your video summary: I walk into the "Master Suite," to the right is the nursery, to the left is our bedroom. Walk into the bath and to the left, with the cement board, is where the jetted tub/shower goes. To the right is the area where the "makeup area" will be. Past the shower is the double sink area, and behind that is the little half wall that separates the toilet cubicle from the rest of the space.
Last week I did all my shopping and choosing of products for the bathroom, and actually got everything ordered. Everything should start arriving today, tomorrow, and into next week. Then the fun part begins, the room gets put back together, but in a new and schmancy way!
I've had some people interested in what products we are using, so I've attached a slew of pictures for you to see what we've chosen. I've also decided to offer some Designer/Contractor product tips I've developed over my years in the business. See, if you just trudge through my endless babble, I'll teach you some stuff for free and make your time visiting my blog all worthwhile! OK, even if you learn nothing, please don't tell me, because I can't believe I've spent so much time on this today....
Here is the flooring: 7"x36" planks of pre-sealed cork, mounted on a T&G (Tongue and Groove) particle board substrate.
Tip: Cork is a "green product" due to it's abundance and rapid renewal. As a flooring it is both easy to install, very cozy beneath the feet, it's non-absorbent, and doesn't stain, hence the reason it's used for wine bottles! It has a nice "give" to it, and has good acoustic properties. It is not super durable, so it can get dented, scratched and chipped if abused, as with a softer wood flooring such as pine. It is available in a wide selection of colors. As with wood flooring, the darker colors can be fairly tough to maintain in a large space, especially in an area where dust is an issue. We chose it for it's color, it's coziness, and the fact that the cons should not come into play because we are doing it in a bathroom, where there shouldn't be dust, and it won't be subject to abuse like a living room.
Not a great picture, but it gives you an OK idea of what our cabinets will look like (even though it's too pale and washed out). Clear maple, 2 1/2" shaker style frames with a drop panel and a 5 piece drawer (the drawer has 4 pieces of a frame, and the panel in the middle, hence the title). We will have two lavatory bases (construction speak for bathroom sink bottom cabinets) and a drawer stack, two medicine cabinets, and a "makeup" area with two 18" wide drawer stacks flanking a 4 foot knee space and an upper linen cabinet. Should be a decent amount of storage, even with kids and their stuff, and we'll have quite a bit of counterspace. We wanted a very "clean" look, but wanted to have good contrast between our materials. Our floors and counters are very different shades and will create some nice depth once everything is installed.
This is the tile we are using as an accent in our shower/tub surround and as our backsplashes. I wish I could find an image of our field tile online, but no luck so far. What we are using is an 18x18" contemporary porcelain that has a mix of browns, with some hints of grays and blues, in a kind of brushed leather look. They will look really good with these accent tiles. The paint color will be a pale gray with a hint of blue which will pick up on the grays and blues in the tiles, and contrast nicely with all the browns and the stark whites of the fixtures (ie: the tub, toilet and lavatories).
Tip: Cabinet hardware is a great element you can use to define your style in a space, both with the form and the color. It is also something that you can use to tie together other elements in your space such as lighting, bath accessories (ie: towel bars, robe hooks, tp holders, etc.), or faucets. Changing it is also an affordable, quick way to update a space. I always tell my clients that hardware and lighting are like jewelry, once you get the rest of your space designed, then you get to accessorize. Do you want to go elegant, understated, glitzy or whimsical? It's incredibly personal, but a fun way to put your personality into a space.There are essentially 3 options for cabinet hardware:
1. Pulls are handles that your fingers can slide under or through. There is an enormous variety of pulls out there. Everything from very contemporary wire pulls to very traditional bin pulls, with everything in between.
2. Knobs are one of your other options and often, a client will choose to put knobs on their doors and pulls on their drawers.
3. The other option is to use no hardware at all. If you are working with a custom cabinet maker, this is something you can consider, because they can create a recess in the door/drawer for you to grab onto.
Note: when ordering replacement pulls, measure the distance between the holes. If you have 3", you will know that you need to find 3" center hardware.
These are the cabinet pulls that Erik chose. They're pretty long, so they'll make a strong statement once they're installed. We also decided to go with something that didn't have anything sticking out, like this, that would catch on our clothes, which bugs both of us.
Here is our bath accessory series. They're not the greatest design since sliced bread, but the price point is so killer, I can't justify anything else.
Our lights: There will be a two light bath-bar over each medicine cabinet and then two sconces (single light) flanking the mirror over the makeup area counter.
Tip: If ever possible, have your bathroom lighting flanking your mirror and face. The more even cross lighting is much more flattering than down lighting. Also, take into consideration the colors you put on the walls where you spend time looking at yourself in a mirror. If you don't look good in a yellow shirt, don't put yellow on your bathroom walls. It will reflect on you in the mirror, make you look older and accentuate those details that you are trying to hide. When color consulting, I often look in peoples' closets to see what colors they are attracted to and look good in, then use that and their existing elements as sources for inspiration.
Note: notice the curved piece behind the glass, which somewhat mimics the form of our cabinet hardware. It's a minor detail, but those types of things are often what set a professional job apart from an amateur.
These two shelves will go in between our medicine cabinets on the wall.
Due to our brutal hard water, and the lack of a softener, I decided to go with brushed nickel for the faucets. I've found that it holds up well with the water spots and soap scum, and definitely saves time and heartache in the long run. I would have loved to do a oil rubbed bronze look in this bathroom with all my metal, but the maintenance would have driven me crazy. Someday, we'll have a softener, and I'll have that option. Right now, I decided that I would go with brushed nickel and black which will be both attractive, modern, and functional. The faucet styles are not mine or Erik's favorite, but due to price point and a valve feature on the shower, I felt it was somewhere we needed to compromise style and cost. They may not be the perfect match, but I am confident it'll all look good in the end.
Pregnancy!
Wow, I'm at 36 weeks and officially able to have my baby at home now. This past weekend Erik swore I grew a couple inches, and got more "pokey" in shape. This picture was taken pretty late at night and I had already pulled my hair out of my hat and put on my PJ's, but at least it's something.
Our little guy has been quite active, especially at night. He pretty much hangs out in the same spot, with his back on my right side and he kicks a lot on the left. Erik loves feeling him moving around and gets all excited when he can distinguish body parts, he says, "There he is!" a lot. A LOT, but it's OK, cuz it makes me smile to see him so excited.I'm feeling pretty good I think. I really can't wait for the heartburn to be done. The burning sensation sucks and sleeping while sitting up is really not very fun, not to mention the constant burping and taste of bile in my mouth. I am out of breath if I have to answer a question with more than 5 words, so I constantly sound like I'm in the middle of a workout, but it's really just that I have a person's butt jammed up into my lungs right now. My back is pretty sore, as are my legs, but luckily I have the luxury of not having to work on someone else's schedule or pace, so I can make adjustments during my day. I've gotten quite a bit of a double chin (no, I will not post a picture of that) but somehow my butt is still ridiculously flat, even if it has gotten wider. Erik told me that he's signed us up for a leg lift class after I've given birth, because I will eventually need something to hold up my pants besides elastic bands and suspenders.
Our nursery was pretty much done a few days ago. I had my new countertop in and our decal on the wall (see above), but then... the decal started peeling, and my countertop needed to be removed so it could get a curved corner and a new wood top to cover up the white melamine. Now it's back to being a work in progress. Other than those two issues, it's really cute and cozy in there, especially since Eli and Erik brought up a loveseat from downstairs. I have ordered a glider and it will be another cozy spot for me to nurse. I have to think of such things considering I'm about to be an all-you-can-eat buffet for the next how ever many months. Comfortable seating will be critical to my sanity, because I already know that sleep and showering are just going to be occasional luxuries.
People keep asking me if I'm ready. It's a funny question, because how can you be? I have this totally vague notion of what labor and parenting will be like, but really how can you ever be ready? You just adapt, right? I suppose if I had any say in how things might progress, I would say, the baby will wait a few more weeks for construction to proceed and hopefully get damn near close to done. I will somehow get more motivated to practice yoga and my hypnobirthing techniques. I will hire a fabulous cleaning lady who will scour this house top to bottom and make it smell clean and delicious, all at a fabulous bargin. Once all that is done, then I will give birth, here, at home, with my family and Shembi (my best friend) in attendence in a short and sweet way with no complications. That is what I feel ready for. Anything besides that is going to take some on the spot adapting, but I would like to think I'm ready for that too. Afterall, this is life, and I'm about to be a parent, isn't parenting all about adapting and learning on the spot? When are you ever ready?
