Friday, July 30, 2010

POWDER ROOM RE-DO

I never realized when we decided to homeschool how all of those around-the-house projects that I always want to do would have to wait until summer! But thats okay - it makes me think about using my time a little more wisely. It also makes my hubby happier that I don't do quite as many of them either. He is not the handy-man type of guy, so fortunately he married a handy-woman type of lady!! But he does do this certain eye-rolling thing whenever I mention another one of my project ideas. But he has an incredibly genious mind (which I don't have) - so we make a good team. Ever since we moved into this house I have DESPISED the icky ucky white little porcelain tiles in ALL of the bathrooms. They show every little hair, dirt, dog hair - it's so gross. So - yesterday, I decided to take the matter into my own hands. It was time for a RE-DO!!! See those disgusting floors???
Photobucket
And if you look closely at the above picture, you can see how the wall is just mangled. The other side of this wall is the garage and I think it makes the drywall in the bathroom subject to lots of extreme temperature changes, which has somewhat deteriorated the drywall in there. We only have the problem on that one wall, and only the bottom half. We have NEVER been able to keep any kind of toilet paper holder on the wall in there. Either that or we have very aggressive toilet-paper-unrollers living in this house. So - that wall has been patched, and repatched, and repainted too many times. Apparently, when little girls sit on the potty next to a wall that has been patched, they feel a certain need to add their own decorations to the patches, and even create new holes - see what I mean??
Photobucket
Seriously?? I have even gone so far as to wallpaper the entire bathroom to cover the icky wall problem. Then said little girls feel the need to pick at the wallpaper when on said potty and we then have another situation. Now my girls are not necessarily the destructive type. I mean, they rarely even break a toy - so what is this about??? Maybe I need to put a magazine rack in there??
Photobucket
Introducing - the solution to both bathroom problems!!! No more nasty white floors and a permanent fix-it solution to bathroom-wall-vandalizing!!
Photobucket
Now that's about a million times better. And guess who did this wonderful little re-do?? That would be ME!! ME, MYSELF, and I!!! And I started it just 24 little hours ago. I found this wonderful tile that is a faux stone, that is able to be cut without a wet-saw, and you can grout in between them! I was just giddy with excitement. Plus, they are a wonderful shade of ....shall I say.... DIRT. Yes, I prefer to camoflauge the dirt around here. AND, you can lay them right over the existing tile. So while my big girls were off at camp - I put little Miss Boo in front of the TV for the day (which I shudder at the thought of) - but I got over the guilt pretty quickly and got to work. Anyway, she didn't end up watching much of it, she preferred to entertain herself and was actually a big help at times. Laying all the tiles and getting the cuts just right was the tricky part. I think I got up and down off that floor about 893 times. Then I got to the art of grouting. That was fun, I have to admit it.
Photobucket
Next Boo and I painted all the wainscoting and the all the trim in the bathroom. She is pretty handy with the paintbrush.
Photobucket
And then the wainscoting was put on the wall. Other than a minor crisis when the hubs decided to apply a little caulk to the corner, it was finished and looked wonderful!!
He can budget millions of dollars for multi-million dollar companies, but don't hand the man a caulk-gun. Thanks for trying dear.
Photobucket
Next on the list - a tiled kitchen backsplash!!!

8 comments:

Wendy said...

You go girl!! Bathroom looks amazing! I KNOW that the new kitchen backsplash will look amazing too! Have any interest in assisting me with crown molding throughout my downstairs? :)

Karen said...

I love it! I've never heard of a tile you don't need a wet saw for - how do you cut it? Maybe I'll use that in our bathroom! Especially if I don't have to pull up the old stuff.

Nana said...

Looks great. You did a good job. Iknow what those rolling eyes look like and Iknow where he got them from. I get that look A LOT!. I hear "your going to ruin it" and then after I finish "it looks great". It is a man thing I am sure. At least in the O'Steen men. You did good. Can't wait to see the next project. I start tomorrow on refinishing the antique vanity.

Heather O'Steen Photography said...

Thanks Wendy!! Sure wish we still lived close enough to help you with your crown molding, you know I would!!

Karen - to cut the tiles you just score them a few times and then they snap - very easy!

Nana - thanks - and yep, those men sure dread our project ideas, but they always turn out great in the end... it's just getting to the end sometimes that is the hard part! Good luck on your vanity!

WARRIOR CHIC said...

Look out HGTV! That was a great solution to the wall! You finally got to put your wainscoating somewhere! Three cheers!

Nana said...

Gives me a great idea for the floor in the laudry room. When can you come and help:)

Stephanie said...

Looks great Heather! Wish you could lend me some of that creativity!

Periwinkle Jen said...

Wow, Heather, what a difference! It looks awesome! I like your clever solutions. I'm totally inspired to come up with a plan for our ugly powder room!