This Caught My Eye...

Since Tom won't let me start any projects until the bathroom is finished (I did sneak in a bit of work on the wainscoting before he stopped me), I'm just going to have to appease my need to DIY by looking at what other people are doing around the 'net.

Denise at Frazzled Joy made over some drawer pulls for her master bathroom rather than buying new ones from Hobby Lobby. I like hers much better. They're chunky and rustic, and I love the crisscross detail. I'm a twine addict so I might have to steal this idea myself.

Laura over at A Nurse and a Nerd refinished her Adirondack chairs - with deck stain! So smart! Last summer I sanded, stained, and sealed our deck furniture and it's peeling already. So frustrating. I'm going to have to get myself a bucket of stain. And the chocolate shade she chose is gorgeous.

I've been trying really hard to eat healthier this year, but this cookie dough fudge recipe from Bekki at Domestic Mommyhood could make me cave. Tom eats ice cream all of the time, but I never want any - unless it's cookie dough flavour. I will never say no to that. Maybe if I cut the fudge up into tiny, little pieces it wouldn't be so bad. I have willpower...don't I?

About a month ago I hung a shelf in the front foyer to give us a place to toss our keys, coins, sunglasses, etc. as we came in the door. I'm not really happy with it - it's a little too pre-fabricated for me. I think I'd like to try something more rustic, like these shelves that Colleen from Lemon Thistle installed in her (new!) kitchen. She used Ikea brackets, but subbed in real wood boards for the pre-made shelves. Real wood for the win, every time!

Do you think dreaming about these four projects are enough to keep me happy for a while? Or maybe they're just increasing my itch to get back out to the garage and get dirty.

Bathroom Reno - Tile Is In, We're Nearing the End!

Have time for another bathroom update? Sick of my bathroom updates? Me too. (If you'd like to see it all from the start, check out these links: one, two, and three.)

We are just a couple of days away from having the tiling and shower enclosure finished. There have been some real hiccups with this job over the last few weeks. We lost three days with a combination of Canada Day and the contractor needing time off for personal matters. Then there was a miscommunication on how we wanted the shower wall tile laid and the first row plus the curb had to be removed and redone.

Then, then, we ran out of wall tile with only twelve left to put in. So much for a 10% margin of error. And the tile company didn't have any more, in any of their locations. That was a very.bad.day. However, with some pushing and begging for them to keep looking, they found that one location did have 24"x24" tiles (ours are 12"x24") in the same pattern - old stock not on the floor anymore - so we hot-footed it across the city - about 45 minutes away - and grabbed them up. The contractor will cut them in half and they'll be just like the others.

We now have all the tile we need, the last ones should be laid today, and then everything will be grouted tomorrow or Monday. Can I get an "Amen"?!

Overall it's looking pretty good. The bathroom floor is dark brown tile that imitates wood planking. The contractor didn't realize that I wanted it staggered like real wood floors and I just about had a heart attack when I saw how he planned to lay it (with the only seam being a zigzag down the centre of the room). Thank goodness he was just dry-fitting it and it wasn't installed that way.

The wall tile colour is called "Wooden Grey" and I love the wavy pattern. It's not quite a grey, not quite a brown, just somewhere in between. I want to keep taking close up pictures and just stare at them. We went with a subway tile pattern rather than stacked to give it a smoother look overall.

Once it's all done we need to paint and install the vanity and toilet. We also want to put in a new light fixture over the sink but we haven't picked anything out yet.

We're so close now, I can almost taste it! Though to be honest, am I looking forward more to having my bathroom back or to taking a vacation once it's done?

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Check out these links for the rest of the process -

Bathroom Reno - Demolition

Bathroom Reno - Plumbing and Insulation

Bathroom Reno - Shower Installation

Bathroom Reno - Reveal!

Glass Door Turned Photo Gallery

On one of our previous trips to Ikea, we picked up glass door in the As-Is section. It had no hardware or holes drilled in it yet, just a few minor scratches. I thought it would make a perfect picture frame. For $20, that's a great deal, especially if you consider the price of glass alone.

We hung it in the upstairs hallway right away, but it was some time before we filled it with photos. First I needed to decide which photos to choose. Pictures of us? Of the dogs? Vacation? Which one? I'm not great at narrowing down my options.

Then Black's Photo Centre had a 3-day sale - 75% off on oversized photos. That forced me to get my butt in gear and choose some pictures already. Each glass pane was 17" x 21", so I went with the 12" x 18" size (the next option up was 16" x 24" so that was no good). With the 75% discount it ended up being about $15 for all three pictures, including tax. Now, that's a deal! As a little side plug for Black's - you just upload the photos and within a few days (just 1 hour for smaller photos) you can go pick them up at your nearest store. I love how easy it is.

The three pictures I chose were:

They were all taken on a hike in Gravenhurst a couple of years ago. The trails are beautiful, but we don't go there nearly often enough. I absolutely adore that shot of the two dogs walking along together, like they're having a little chat. Plus, who doesn't like to look at dog butts?

I used thick poster board for matting, and cut a 3 inch border all around, making the photo area 11" x 15". Because there is no backing board like a regular picture frame would have, I had to tape the heck out of it so that it would stay in place. But from the front you would never know.

Now we have some decoration in a mostly drab hallway. The greens in the pictures really stand out and I find they attract my eye every time I walk down the hall. I still have to buff out the areas where I repaired the scratches, but the frame is looking a lot better than it did in the first picture. I'm pretty sure Tom thought I was wasting money by buying the door frame, but now that it's all done (and for less than $50 all together), he'll admit that it looks pretty nice.

Happy Canada Day!

I hope everyone is enjoying themselves while they celebrate our fantastic country!