Bathroom Remodel- Mixing the Old With the New For a Refreshing Update

 Not sure what is going on with blogger this morning, but after almost an hour I've gotten the photos up, whew! So, this is what our bathroom looked like initially, although there was trim around the window and the bath cabinet had a door. You can see we had no shower, just a hand held. Believe it or not, the tub is a claw foot, minus the feet, that someone surrounded with plywood. Gross looking, I know.

 

Here is the rest of the bathroom, minus the corner cabinet. Tiny, with a small vanity and no real storage space. 

 Here is the bathroom partly stripped. No sheet rock, it originally had Masonite paneling.

 

Here is the new bathroom, my view from the living room. 

 I didn't really plan the bird theme over the toilet, it just happened.... lol. Our new toilet has a much smaller tank than the old one, but it has great flush power and is a true water saver. The towel rack is a vintage glass rod one with chrome brackets that I painted metallic bronze.

 A vintage Avon bird dish is perfect for matches, and the White Shoulders powder box is a q-tip holder.

 

 Due to lack of towel rack space I put vintage style hooks on the back of the door.

 Okay, I wondered where this photo went. This is a painting I did, seemed to fit, and completes the bird theme. Swans are perfect for a bathroom. Reminds me of the pink and white swan tile grandma had in her bathroom.

 Another view of the corner. The plate I've had for years. It turned out to be a nice compliment to the gold towels and bronze fixtures.

 I am loving the bronze faucet with the two lever handles! Much easier to manipulate than the twist on style, or the pull out style. The color is perfect, and we don't have to worry about water spots. See my pedestal soap dish? One of my re-dos that works great for keeping the soap mess off the counter top. So nice to have a counter top to get messy if I want to. ;-)

 The blue and white tin is my makeup holder, and the vintage light globe is my cotton ball dispenser.

 Cottonwood harvested in Imnaha, gorgeous canyon country here in Wallowa County. I was one of the lucky ones that my contractor shared this gorgeous wood with.

 A nice deep tub, with a pretty and functional fiberglass surround replaced the old claw foot. As much as I wanted to use the old tub, I have to admit, this is very nice! Anyone want to buy an old cast iron tub?  You can't really see it, but we got a very nice shower head that has a pull out center for spraying those hard to reach places. I'm so loving that! It will also be a life saver as we get older.

That little cabinet door is a toilet paper/magazine cubby. Works for me as we don't have much elbow room and it makes great storage. Here and there you may have caught a glimpse of the Hickory wood flooring. Gorgeous!

I wondered where the light photo went, sheesh blogger is giving me fits today! My vanity light with milk glass covers, it matches all the vintage pieces so wonderfully! I think I have the only one left in the state.... lol. All in all we are so thrilled with the way this remodel turned out. It's better than I had envisioned, thanks to the touches that my contractor added, such as the nice crown molding, and the Cottonwood on the vanity and storage cubby. Not bad for my first bath design, if I do say so myself.

Home Decorating

Wouldn't it be nice of stores such as Walmart would carry a certain line of curtains or other such items for more than one year or so? All is not lost though, I took some sheers I had in the bedroom and created a window treatment that is not only unique but versatile. The sheers were 84" long but I wanted them to just come to the bottom window sill so I folded them over the rod and made measurements so that I could create a rod pocket in each with a top ruffle. After sewing the pocket and ruffle I hung them up on the rods, and brought each fold over corner up to the center of the rod and attached them with a what is called a "yo yo" that has a button in each center. I made tie with the yo yos on them as well. I can slip the ties off when we just want the sheers to hang for more privacy, or put them on to let the sun shine in.

The walls are bare right now and we need to get the floors done, but there are two projects before the floors. We are so pleased with the color and the way the windows look! We get so many compliments on this little place and the colors we've chosen so far, and believe me, if my friends didn't like it, they would let me know....lol. The next project is a deck outside to cover the hole in front of the house created for drainage as well as to meet codes. This fall we hope to get started on the bathroom. Yay! It's so fun to have a little place to fix up!

Home remodeling tips on painting a room

Home remodeling can be so satisfying but there are things to know if you are getting ready to paint. These are some tips I found while getting ready to paint some rooms in our Oregon home.
1.    Begin by washing down your walls with a soft cellulose sponge using warm water and a mild dish washing soap.
    2.    Use blue painter's tape to mask off any trim work in the room.
    3.    Apply primer to the walls in an even coat, and allow to dry completely.
    4.    Roll on the paint in a "W" shape (a new one for me), in a 3x3 foot section, never lifting the roller. Repeat over and over until that whole section is filled in with color. Allow the first coat to dry completely, then apply a second coat the same way.
    5.    Remove the painters tape and stand back to admire your work--streak free!!

free!!
Here's a tip for assuring you always get the right paint color if you have to repaint or touch up your room: slide the paint swatch with the name and formula behind your light switch to keep it safe.

Finally Done!

Beautiful scenery, but the house?! What initially started as prep for a new coat of paint....
turned into a home remodel. This little house was built in the 1950's and had no dining area among other things. After we discovered that the siding was thrashed, I received a wonderful windfall thanks to my grandparents. So we told a contractor that we wanted a bay window look dining area added on. He sent our ideas to an engineer and came back with a plan to add 8 feet on the most of the front of the house, which not only gave us the new dining area, but a nice wide entry with 5 foot long closet.
So here's the finished remodel on the outside, paint and all. We are so happy with the result! The contractor says that he gets lots of compliments and we do as well.
We have been so blessed with this little home. Not only did we get it before real estate went sky high, we have been able to pay for all remodel work out of pocket. We wouldn't have done it as soon otherwise though, as we don't believe in going into debt.
So now, on to leveling some floors, a bathroom remodel and then putting in all new flooring downstairs. Oh and a wrap around deck out front, and so on it goes.... I guess I'd better get back to work, huh?!
As an aside, I did get the new addition painted on the inside, but forgot to take photos. I will though after we get it all decorated. This has been so much more fun thanks to my wonderful husband who backs me on all my ideas, projects, and endeavors. I am truly blessed!