Thursday, June 30, 2011

Fan of Sea Fans

A couple of months ago, during one of our fairly regular stops at Home Goods, Mom and I spotted something VERY exciting.  Sea fans!




Well, not that exact sea fan, but 3 different pairs of matching sea fans. !!  I've been looking for sea fans to frame for a couple of years now (I could have ordered some online, but never found the right ones for the right price), so you can imagine my excitement when they were just sitting on the shelf.  Mom bought two large white/beige-colored fans, and I got two smaller yellow ones for just $5.99 each!


We finally went to Ikea to get frames this past weekend.  We also picked up some fabric for the background of our frames while we were there.



As soon as we bought them, I knew right away that I wanted to hang them on either side of the window in our breakfast nook.  Our pendant light has a similar accent color in it, so I was hoping it would work perfectly.  After replacing the mats with fabric-wrapped poster board, I just stuck the sea fans in what looked like the middle of the frame, put it all back together, and voila!


So much better than the bare naked walls (as seen below, obviously in the winter). 


I love it.  Eventually we'll do something to the long wall on the right, too... maybe a white plate wall?  My (very) long-term plan is to try to do a banquette under the bay windows and move the table and light over, and have some type of sideboard/buffet along the wall on the right.  We'll see! 

sea fan picture from mexfish.com

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Bathroom Reno

Happy Summer!  Obviously, I have a hard time posting when school is in session, but now that we are out for the summer, I am back! 

As I mentioned in the last post, much of our "reno energy" has gone towards Mom & Dad's house in the last few months.  They finished their addition & kitchen, with just the exterior left to complete.  In February, Dad went on a 5-day retreat and true to form, Mom was dying to do some sort of house project while he was gone (she loves to surprise him!)  She recruited Stephen to help her renovate their old bathroom, now that they have a second full bath.  


Yea, it was rough.  The terrible lighting doesn't help, but it was bad.  It was pretty much impossible to describe the color of those tiles.

Although we knew it was a bit of a lofty undertaking (we knew it wasn't quite possible to finish it in just a few days, when Stephen and Mom both still had to work every day), she figured they would give it a shot and see what they could do!  

Stephen and his dad spent the first day just doing demo.  It was a mess!  They ripped out the tile that was on ALL of the walls, as well as the concrete and metal mesh that was behind it (the real pain).  The floor was just as fun to rip out, and that was finished on the second day.    


Ripping out the tile was easy; it was ripping out this stuff that was tough and time-consuming!


After he replaced some rotten boards in the floor, Stephen spent the next couple days putting in a new tub, installing cement board for the shower tile, and putting in green board (sheetrock) where the walls were tiled, as well as where there was a doorway into my old bedroom.  That entrance really wasn't needed, so they got rid of it!  Mom helped with the demo, and worked on painting the linen closet and its shelves, as well as picking out the new tile and fixtures. 

They also needed to change how the baseboard heat was configured in the room, so Stephen spent a lot of time running new lines for that (I'm sure there were other things involved, too, I just don't know what they are!)  He also got the shower tile finished before Dad came home from his trip, but he still came home to a mess!  I won't say he was thrilled at the surprise, but he jumped right in to help finish it up, and after a few more days of work from all of them, it was done!


Apologies for the terrible lighting (I will learn how to white balance), but you can tell what an improvement it is!  The floor tile is mostly brown (not nearly as green as it looks in the photo), and the wall color is a little lighter than it appears.  The new vanity is just like the one Young House Love did in their new bathroom last year.


Before: the door on the left went into my old bedroom.


After: no more door!  So much better.  Mom & Dad's house now officially feels brand new!

 
Designed by Lena