Interim Planning

Tim asked me my favorite question this morning, "What would you like me to do today?"  He's on hiatus from the south wing bathroom until the tub is refinished and needs a small project in the meantime.

Our son leaves for college in August and we never got around to getting his bedroom "done" for him since we've been here.  I feel bad about that, although his only complaint has been that we're using his second room as a storage room and he hasn't been able to use it for his weaving.  At this point, he says that since he doesn't spend much time in his room anyhow, he's okay that we just ignore it.  Mostly.  He's still a bit miffed about the weaving.

Our daughter, however, isn't so complacent.  She's a freshman in high school and does spend most of her time in her room.  She's had grand plans for her bedroom since before we moved here.  We gave her a budget and a couple years ago bought the comforter and sheet set she wanted for it.  Up until a few months ago, she'd been diligently saving it for when we got around to doing her room.  She finally gave up and started using it.  If you remember, she started stripping wallpaper in her first room once we moved here, then decided to change rooms and started stripping wallpaper in that room, too.  Then it got too hard for her.

So - my suggested project to Tim today was to finish stripping the wallpaper in her room and start renovating it.  This may very well be the first room that we actually do aesthetics in!

Here is a picture of our daughter's "new" bedding up against the "old" wallpaper.  It's tough to see the wallpaper because of all her wall-stuff, but if you look closely you can see the flower-print.  It's the same wallpaper that's in the "pink" room in the north wing.  The flower-print is fairly large, so works well in the guest room in the north wing, because it's a large room (and if you remember, the only problem with that room is that it's... well.. pink.)

Our daughter's room, however, is made up of two very, very small rooms.  The front room is the bedroom from the original house and the back room is what was added on during what we think was the first addition, probably within 5 - 10 years of the original house.  The large flower print simply overwhelmed both rooms, so has to go.  Well, that, and it just isn't the style for a teenage girl...

The bedding, as you can see, is bright, colorful and jaunty.  Very much like our daughter.

Tim is working in the back room today, from where our daughter had already peeled off all of the top layer of wallpaper and had started to scrub the bottom layer off.  Tim is making quick work of it.   Fortunately, the walls were primed properly and the wallpaper is scrubbing off easily.  Granted, "easily" is all relative!

While working above the doorway between the two rooms (where the addition joins) he found evidence of plaster damage from an old leak.  This is the second place in the house that we've found this.  In both cases the leak no longer exists (and probably hasn't existed for decades), but the plaster was never fixed properly.  This one is in MUCH better shape than the problem in the pine room in the north wing, so should be easier to fix.

We're not sure what color we'll be painting the walls, yet, but that step is a little ways off.  I'm sure our daughter will change her mind several times between now and then!

Cut And Dry

We have run into a very small snag with the tub in the southwing bathroom.  The tub is old enough that the drain and overflow are integral with the tub.  They are also pretty gross (because they're old).   Instead of just removing them, they actually have to be cut out - before the tub gets refinished.  Tim was afraid to cut them out himself because he's never done it before and didn't want to crack the tub.  So - he called our plumber.

Our plumber has now moved up into management, so he doesn't actually do the work anymore.  We're a little sad about that, but he came over this morning anyhow to get an idea of what exactly needed to be done.  He confirmed what Tim thought - the drains need to be cut out and that while it's not difficult, it does require practice and the right tools.  Tim has neither.  So, we'll be scheduling that little piece of surgery before February 23rd - we hope.

Tub Refinishing

Not a large post today, but did want to tell you that Tim scheduled to have the tub refinished on February 23rd.  I've been hearing very positive feedback about tub refinishing, so I'm hoping we've made the right decision.  I guess we'll know in about a month!  In the meantime, Tim finished up the transitions in both the bathrooms and they look fabulous.

This weekend is Tim's birthday, so I'm not expecting him to get anything done.  In fact, I have a few surprises planned for him, instead!!  (Happy Birthday, Tim!)

Kitchen Planning

I haven't been completely idle.  I've spent the last 2 weeks deep scrubbing the kitchen, thanks to Mr. Dead Rodent.  I finally found the right tool to get the finger grease from decades of use on the kitchen cabinets and the walls beside the oven off.  Yes, some of the cabinet wood is a bit "worn", but I don't mind -- at least I now know it's clean.  When we first moved in my mom and I used every cleaner we could think of - de-greasers, Goo-Gone, vinegar, baking soda... the list goes on.  I won't tell you what I finally used, because it's a bit embarrassing, but it's now, finally, clean.

As I deep-cleaned, rearranged, organized, etc., I kept a running list of small repairs that the kitchen needed.  As Tim was waiting for something to dry or set-up, he came in and knocked a couple of those repairs off the list.  The kitchen is finally beginning to come together.  I still need a new floor, sink, counter, faucet and bright yellow paint with blue accents; but overall, it's a room I may be able to spend some more time in now. 

Doesn't everything just gleam?!  Mr. Dead Rodent is only a faint memory in the area of the cabinet by the 'fridge...

Another thing I did, based on an idea I saw on Home MadeSimple, was make a What's For Dinner Menu Planner.  Over the last week I've had everybody in the family tell me what their favorite recipes and meals are and wrote them down.  I also went through my four most used cookbooks, in which I keep notes, and wrote down the favorites from those.  I included the cookbook title and page number.

Yesterday I bought a magnetic/dry erase board and extra magnets.  I typed in all the recipe names (and cookbook info if necessary) and printed it all out on card stock.  I cut the card stock into individual "cards" and the kids selected 6 recipes at random for the week (one day is for leftovers or pizza night). Then, each kid picked a random day of the week to cook.  The thought/hope is that they'll learn how to cook, not based on what they like or already know, but by being challenged by the randomness of it all.  It should encompass most things.  I hope.

I decided to try this out for several reasons... first, we eat out too much.  Second, we don't eat healthy enough and finally - my son leaves for college in August.  While he can make an awesome omelet and knows his way around a mac and cheese box, he needs to be a bit more kitchen savvy than that.

It begins tomorrow... let's see how it works!

New Look and More

I'm setting up a blog for a friend of mine and thought it was time to update the look of this blog.  When I started this blog back in 2007, the skin choices were limited.  Blogger has now greatly expanded their choices and I thought this wallpaper was much more appropriate to the style of the house and of the blog.  I hope you like it.  I may be playing around with it a bit more.

While I've been playing on the computer, Tim has been hard at work in the bathroom. The wall behind and around the medicine cabinet is finished and painted.  He hasn't installed the medicine cabinet, yet, but I expect that will go in tonight. 

He finished painting the chair rail for behind the sink and installed it.  All he has to do there is caulk it.  I'm very happy with the look of it.  It's very "finished" looking, if that makes sense!

Tim also spent a good part of yesterday building the new transitions for the doorways from the bedrooms into the south wing bathroom.  The height difference between the bedroom floors and the bathroom floor in the south wing isn't as big as the difference is in the north wing, so the transitions were a little easier to put together. 

As before, he's using the reclaimed wood from the oak flooring we found under the tile in the north wing bathroom to build the transitions.  Here (above) he's grouting the transition against the tile floor.  I think the look is very clean and will keep folks from tripping over the floor!

As I'm typing, he went back into the north wing bathroom to finally permanently install the transitions in that bathroom.  If you remember, we had them dry-fitted to see if we were going to like them.  Since we liked them, it is probably time (after well over a year) to permanently install them.  He's also patching the grout work between the shower enclosure and the neighboring wood closet.  The original grout the contractor put in has pulled away from the wood. 

I haven't been idly sitting at the computer.  I'll post tomorrow on my kitchen escapades!

Chair Rail vs Sink

One of the problems with the sink we purchased is that it extends up beyond the chair rail that Tim had already installed.  He removed it before he began installing the support system behind the wall.  Unfortunately, he damaged it while removing it.

After Tim finished all the sink plumbing over the weekend, he "scribed" (is that the term I want?) the back of the sink, then transferred that to the chair rail.  He cut it to fit and dry fit it.  Once he saw that it was going to work, he fixed the nail holes from before and re-primed it.  One side was damaged enough that he had to do a completely new one.

On the left is how it will fit to the back of the sink.  Once that gets caulked, it should look great.  I actually think that having it fitted to the curve of the back of the sink will be different enough to make it look  -- well - more retro.  Maybe I'm deluding myself. 

The Fancy Car

Tim's work schedule kicked up a notch again, so he won't be able to get back to this little project until Friday.  Hey - that's why he drives the fancy car (with 190K miles on it). 

I'm hoping he gets a lot of the bathroom finished by the end of this weekend.  We've decided to take on a pseudo-border.  She is somebody that Tim worked with in a previous job who was just hired by his current organization.  She lives out of state and needs to sell her condo before she can move here.  In the meantime, she commutes to the corporate office here for about four days a month.  Staying here saves her money on hotel bills.  Since she's staying adjacent to the only full working bathroom in the house, we need this second bathroom finished... quickly!

It's Sinking In

Don't judge my titles.  It gets tough to come up with new ones all the time.

Tim spent yesterday doing some last minute spackling and sink-prep.

Today he installed the sink.  The wall clips in the picture on the left are to support the sink basin.  They anchor the sink to the wall to keep it from toppling off the base.

Tim then pre-drilled the holes that will hold the bolts to keep the sink from tipping side to side.

After setting the basin on top of the pedestal, he connected the water to the faucet and fitted the drain pipe to the sink drain.

Then came his least favorite part... seeing if it leaked (right).  It did.  Not very much, but enough.  A couple of minor adjustments and all is well -- no leaks. (below)

The water is running well, the pipes and drains don't leak, the sink sits level and centered and it all looks good.

Tim is now stenciling around the top of the sink basin to transfer onto the chair rail.  It will have to be molded around the curved sink top.  Keep your fingers crossed, this will be somewhat intricate work, I'm afraid.  I may leave the building for when he cuts that out...

While I was sitting in the tub taking pictures, I realized just how nice the opposite wall really looked.  I'm loving the color combination with the floor.  Definitely the 1930s retro look I was going for.  For a small bathroom, this should have some panache!

I'm now trying to decide what artwork to use.  I found four great pictures online that fit the color scheme and the era perfectly.  They are tastefully done partial nudes, so I have to consider them carefully.  My other thought is to find the pictures online that I used as inspiration for this bathroom remodel, print them off and display them.  I just really like the prints.