Tuesday, April 29, 2014

#ugliestbathroomreno Reveal!

You guys!! It's #ugliestbathroomreno reveal day! I feel so badly for having made you wait so long. (I've gotten a few emails:) To be honest, it's really not even completely done but I'm sharing it anyway. More on that another day but for today, let's celebrate a "pretty much finished" bathroom renovation! So exciting!



We are enjoying it so much that we've almost forgotten what it used to be like. Well almost. The life without a toilet and showering at our parent's houses for weeks is still quite fresh in my mind. If you've forgotten, here's a little reminder.



It was bad. I've had some friends and readers swear that their bathroom is worse and I'll take your word for it. However, we personally like to believe that we held the title of tiniest, ugliest and least functional, all rolled into one little ball of bathroom horror.



So first of all, the footprint. If you recall, the bathtub was to your immediate left as you came into the room with the toilet and pedestal sink adjacent to it. The space was tiny, which meant that when you sat on the toilet, your knees were knocking on the tub. Not ideal. After tearing out the whole bathroom (walls, ceiling and even floor joists!) and discovering it was a possibility, we decided to flip the sink and tub.



This decision meant that we had room for a full vanity instead of a pedestal sink. Thank goodness because we had some serious storage issues. We ended up going with the Ikea Godmorgon/Bravikan combination and hung it floating on the wall instead of using the legs. This makes it super easy to clean underneath and adds to that feeling of spaciousness that we were after. It's amazing how much storage the two full drawers offer, which means no clutter in the bathroom (ie. happy Jane).



In an effort to make the bathroom appear as large as possible, I ordered a custom cut mirror with a polished edge that goes from the counter to the ceiling. Two simple chrome wall sconces flank either side. I love having the flattering light of the sconces compared to the long florescent bulb that used to run along the top of our old mirror. I swear, we got a whole lot better looking with the change!


Flipping the sink and bathtub also meant that we now have a window in the shower. We know this is not exactly ideal but it didn't hinder our decision because we knew the footprint change made so much more sense. In fact, everyone who sees the new space assumes we borrowed space from another room. Nope same ole' tiny little bathroom!

Can I just tell you though, how much I love having a window in the shower? I rarely need to turn on the light to shower. We do, however, leave the shower curtain open all the time to let the light flood in and that means there is no hiding a dirty shower. We added a custom cut privacy film to the lower part of the window so the neighbors don't get a little show:)


We did most of the work on the bathroom ourselves (that means Steph) but did leave the tiling to a professional. We went with a simple white subway tile with white grout on the walls and a hexagon marble tile with platinum grout on the floor. I think the floor is my favorite thing the room, especially since we put in-floor heat. Such a luxury!

 

Our tiler put a niche for our shampoo bottles in the wall that is hidden by the shower curtain. This means there are no bottles littering the side of the tub, which can look messy and is a pain with you are soaking in the tub.


He also put two marble sills. One in the niche and one as the window sill. Both are angled slightly to allow water run-off. These were his suggestion and one I am incredibly grateful for. They really tie the floor and wall tiles together.





I chose a relatively simple, low profile shower system and matching sink faucet. The shower system has a rain head and a detachable shower head, with is great for cleaning and rinsing conditioner out of your hair. An absolute necessity that had to be explained to Steph, but he now enjoys.


The toilet was a bit of a splurge but its lean profile fits so perfectly in the space. The pedestal base is a dream to clean, compared to what we once had. Plus, it's a pretty cool looking toilet if you ask me. Worth it.


I hung the custom shower curtain almost to the ceiling and it fall to just an inch from the floor. Once again, the goal was to create the illusion of space. It's actually hard to believe that the ceilings are only standard height. The shower curtain combined with the mirror and the crisp white walls make everything appear much larger and higher than they are.



So there you have it! I, for one, am thrilled with the end result. I mean, seriously, you saw the before, right? Who wouldn't. It was a lot of work though and I learned an awful lot about how disruptive a renovation can be to your home and life. If we were to do it again, I'd do some things differently, regarding the process. Live and learn, I guess. I don't think I would change anything about the finished product.

There is still no overhead light, the curtain rod is a cheapo, the trim and door have yet to be painted, the towel rod and hooks aren't hung and I'd like a shelf over the toilet to put a small vase and an art print. That's quite a list! But right now we are on to other things... Oops:) Always the way!

Sources:
floor and wall tiles - Home Depot
wall sconces - Kent Building Supplies
mirror - City Glass
Hand towel - West Elm
Bath Mat - Target
bathroom accessories (soap dispenser/tray) - Target
Paint - Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace

Mother's Day Gift Ideas.

April is quickly coming to a close which means that, believe it or not, Mother's Day is right around the corner (May 11th)! It's time to start thinking about unique gifts for those special moms in your life. Personally, I find that Mother's Day always seems to sneak up on me and I'm left scrambling, trying to find something for my mom that lets her know how special she is to me. (She's a gem:) This year, I hope to be much more organized!

Today I'm partnering with UncommonGoods to bring you some thoughtful gift ideas for those special moms. Their site offers an amazing variety of gifts for all moms, no matter their interests. I could spend hours looking through them all! From succulent and herb garden kits, foodie collections, books and so much more, you are bound to find something perfect for the occasion.

What I found especially unique, was the selection of jewelry. You can shop all the selections here but I really love how wonderfully personal these pieces are.



The I am.. Pendant can be customized to read whatever you like. Choose any word you think best describes your mother (loving, thoughtful, inspiring). I think she'd feel pretty special!



The Personalized  Love Birch Cuff is incredibly unique.
The initials of all her children would be so lovely.


Mother of one? two? three? or four? The Mother Nestling Birds Necklace is perfect! Too bad my mom would need five little birdies. I'm the baby so I'd be the one left out!

Be sure to head over to UncommonGoods and check out all the great Mother's Day gift ideas. You're sure to find something that will show your mom some love!

*This post was sponsored by UncommonGoods.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Making Changes.

 
So it's official. My style has changed. I've finally come to grips with it. I love my home, I really do but it will be six years in May and while it's finally starting to feel somewhat "finished", I want to do it all over again. (see where it all started here and how it looks today here)
No that doesn't mean we are moving, although I briefly considered it. Instead, it just means I'm redecorating! At first, I resisted. I mean, it seems ridiculous to start changing things that are perfectly fine the way they are. And yes, Stephane thinks I'm crazy.. a sickness he calls it. But it's my passion. I live and breathe interiors. Who I am and likely will always be.. always changing things. It makes me happy!
It first started when we finally finished the bathroom renovation (or I should say almost finished because I have yet to share it all.. I know I'm absolutely terrible for holding out on you all) and I would stand in the hallway and look into our fresh white space and feel that it didn't quite match the rest of our house. I wanted the feeling that I had in that room, everywhere else.
our current living room
I'm not really doing the whole house. I'm mostly just concentrating on the living room for now. It really isn't that big of an undertaking. The couch is staying but we are getting new chairs which is pretty exciting. The ones we have now have seen better days and desperately need to be replaced. They are back ordered until June so more on those at a later date. I'm also on the hunt for a teak cabinet to replace the painted one we currently have.

 our current living room
The walls are going to be repainted a crisp white, which I've wanted to do for a while now. I'm undecided about the wallpaper so will likely leave it for a while and see. The chevron rug is going upstairs to the den, since Beaufort peed on the one that is in there now. Shocking really. He's not a pee in the house kind of dog but it's gross nonetheless. The rug will be replaced with the one I originally wanted from Rugs USA but was out of stock at the time. That is if I can bring myself to pay the crazy shipping charge to Canada.. remember when they used the ship for free? Oh, the good ole days.
Everything is coming off the walls and I'll be starting fresh. I don't really have a plan for that part just yet but that's all part of the fun.
While very different, I find all of these rooms inspiring and I keep coming back to them for inspiration. Along with a million other that I've been pinning on Pinterest.



 


I hope you'll check in on my progress although it's a busy time of year at school so it will likely be summer before I get around to painting! In the meantime, I promise to share the bathroom and progress on our latest project.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Scenes from the weekend.

How great is a long weekend? Especially one that lasts four whole days. Although ours was relatively quiet, it was wonderful just the same. A dinner out with friends, two family dinners and a leftovers meant that we didn't even have to do any cooking. However, that, combined with lots of chocolate treats, means that I need to get back in to a healthy routine this week. So. much. food.

While we really relaxed, we did manage to get some things done around the house. Sunday was sunny and warm so I spent a couple of hours cleaning out the gardens and raking leaves. It certainly looks a million times better but doesn't quite feel like spring around here just yet. I'll be happy to see things green up a little more.

Steph tackled the removal of the wallpaper in the bedroom. What a job. Glad it was him and not me. Soon he'll be able to start on the built-ins but the walls are not in great shape under that paper so that may throw a wrench into the timeline. Old houses are always full of surprises!



I've been slowly repainting all the trim in the house. I started in the kitchen and moved into the hallways. It had been six years and was starting to look a little banged up. I also decided to go with a brighter white. Previously, I had ICI Natural White and now I'm transitioning over the BM Chantilly Lace. It's not the most rewarding of jobs considering no one has noticed but to me, it feels so fresh and clean. Worth it to me!
 
 
I used the leftover paint to cover up the large canvas painting that hung in the living room. Some will be surprised because I got lots compliments on the print. I really just didn't like it that much anymore and really, it was not a real painting but a copy and had no real texture in person. In other words.. it looked cheap:) I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it but I have a few ideas that may or may or may not include some gold paint.
 
 

 
Beaufort slept the weekend away, save for a couple of runs and walks and a day at Grammy and Grampy's.
 

He also got lots of treats and kisses.  Of course.
 

It wasn't all messy projects! What's Easter without a pretty bouquet of tulips? They bloomed beautifully all weekend, reminding us that spring is near!


I hope you all had a great Easter weekend with your loved ones and that it's feeling spring-like where you are.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Next up.

With the bathroom wrapped up, we are onto our next project. It's off to a slow start but the important thing is that it's started.


Wallpaper removal is far from fun and of course, it's not coming off particularly easily. Darn old houses. Or really, does it ever?

My parents picked me up a couple of these Ikea beauties yesterday so they will be making an appearance in the space.

Any guesses as to what we are up to? Here is another clue. Oh good fun!

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Poufs!

I bought a pouf!


Actually I bought two of them... 

I've wanted a tan leather Moroccan pouf for my living room for a few years now, ever since I saw them in every magazine and on some my favorite blogs. For some reason, I never took the plunge and bought myself one. 
 
I'm slowly attempting to create a new look for the living room and despite the fact that it's not going to happen overnight, the little things, like these poufs are a step in that direction.

I ordered them from this Etsy shop. You never know what you are going to get when you order online so it's a bit if a risk but the reviews sound good so I'm fairly confident. They are all handmade so there is bound to be some differences but I hope they match in size and color. That would be a bummer.

I'll let you know how it works out. Can't wait to receive them!

Friday, April 4, 2014

Link Love.


How is it already April?


  • We recently had five snow days in a row from school. I made a few batches of the Pioneer Woman Oatmeal Crispies freezer dough. I highly recommend making some asap.




Did you know cauliflower is apparently the "new kale"? Weird.
That makes three posts this week! Am I back?
Have a fantastic weekend!

Thursday, April 3, 2014

DIY: Copper Centerpiece.

I've totally jumped on the metallic bandwagon. I'm all over gold, bronze and copper in home décor, after years of wanting anything and everything silver, silver, and only silver. I'm certainly not rushing out to change out all the hardware in my house but I love the mixing of metal and have added quite a few of these metals through accessories throughout.

In the fall, I was the event designer for a styled wedding shoot. I shared some photos from the shoot here and it was also featured on Wedding Chicks. One of my favorite elements from the shoot was a little diy project that Steph and I whipped up to bring in the copper details I was desperately trying to incorporate.



We had some copper plumbing pieces around the house and we picked up a few more from the hardware store. We pieced long pipes together and created a six foot long narrow rectangle.

The Ts that joined the pipes just happen to be the perfect size to hold a taper candle. How lucky for us! Starting to see where we are going with this?

 
 Here is a shot of the copper pipes as I'm setting up at the shoot venue. The shoot was in a restored barn and we used picnic tables for the table setting. I laid out the tweed runners and set the "candle holder" on top.
 
 
After a little straightening it was ready to be styled.
 


 
It was really simple to put together. We really only had to cut a couple of the pipes. Luckily for us, where the candles were placed worked perfectly with the set up of the table.
  



There is certainly a lot going on but I love how it added that little extra shine and detail to the table, peeking out here and there.

 

I took it all apart after the shoot and have considered making a much smaller version for my table at home. I would recommend gluing the pieces if it was going to be used regularly. I wanted to be able to take it apart so we did not, which made for a wiggly twisty candle holder that needed lots of adjustments during the shoot.