2010: 40...Fit & Fabulous

...and done...

So - FINALLY - I'm finished...just have to get some screws for the vanity door, but it's painted, tiled, and ready to be used again!!!  I am SO SO SO happy with the way the bathroom turned out, the pictures do NOT do it justice.  The total project cost us a little over $300 and six days worth of work (I figued on only three, so I guess doubling the time wasn't too terrible!) - $300 and it's like an entirely new room in the house. 

The kids really like it, which makes me feel a little better.  Here's I'm creating a "spa" room and thinking I have a 7th grade boy and 4th grade girl...really?!  But Kenzie has just been beside herself with her "new" bathroom. 

Not a bad year.  I've redone both kids rooms, the bathroom, and started painting my headboard/footboard for our bedroom.  I need a breather and then back to work on that project...but that's a doozy...that will lead to repainting the bedroom and painting the armoire and dresser black...I can't even go there right now.  Right now I'm just going to go sit in the middle of the kids bath and bask in the beauty of a finished, and yet unused, new room!

Happiness = Priceless

Exhausted...

and STILL not done...this bathroom is taking forever to finish.  The bulk of it is complete...just have to finish painting the vanity, add knobs and we're all done! :)  Here's the almost after pics...

Backerboard, tile, and thin-set...oh my!

So - here's day one of the tiling project.  OH MY...this is a lot of work people.  I love projects.  I love DIY projects above all.  But this one - WOW - this one is a lot of work and hours.  And math.  I'm so so so eternally grateful to Cal for lending himself to us all day.  For his skills as an engineer and mathmatician.  I am a day laborer.  I will cut tile pieces, go get things, run up and down the stairs all day long...get you pepsi when you're partched, but PLEASE don't make me do the math to figure out the geometry of the cuts.  Cal is a genious.  His lines were perfect every time.  Every single cut he told me to make fit like a glove.  Even in the tricky spots!  And I will say I'm proud of myself for not returning one tile to him broken needing a redo.  I cut every tile right on the first try.  Love my tile cutter! :)

So - the picture above covers where we started to where we wound up last night.  The room is still blue (read: UGLY).  The vanity is yet unpainted.  The light is still hung upside down (nice...) but the tile pattern is laid and set and ready for grouting today.  And Cal will help me with that as well.  The guy is a machine.  And I'm missing my 20 year old body.  The one who could go go go and never get tired.  I didn't appreciate my 20's as much as I should have...that's so clear to me now facing 40...

More to come.  Hopefully the next shot will be of a FINISHED bathroom.  One could only hope! :)
 

Project in Progress...

So, scratch that - the entry I just wrote that chalked today up as a get cozy, do nothin' kinda day...Frank took Kenzie on a daddy-daughter outing, Jake was at a friend's and I was left alone...on a Saturday...early...where the weather is cold and gloomy...time to start in-door projects I guess. 

A few years ago I painted my entertainment center.  Going from a light maple to distressed black.  I love it.  It's well weighted on the wall it occupies.  People comment on it when they visit.  It looks like it came out of a Pottery Barn mag.  I burned out on painting furniture soon as I finished it, which means my coffee table was left to the stained brown it was when we bought it.  And there it sat, the ugly step child of the room.  For years.  Four years.  Until this morning.  It's drying now.  I won't be able to distress it until tomorrow...but here's the project in pictures...

BEFORE:

AFTER:

There it is...the distressed materpiece!  What did you do with your cold and gray day?

Transformation...

So, Jacob informed me he was "over" Spiderman and the X-Men theme of his 6-year old bedroom.  Jake is finishing 6th grade this year.  I guess he had a point. So, out with the bunk bed, out with Spidey and Magnito and Wolverine and the bunch and in with SK8 dudes, orange and brown "urban" colors and a bed tall enough for a king...really, I'm jealous of the kids mattress!

Took a lot of work to cover that nasty lipstick, semi-gloss (seriously, my father is spining in his grave right about now) red on his walls.  Three coats of the BROWN even.  But, I like the end result.  And so does he!

Just plum tired....

I have worked non-stop this weekend.  Wedding show on Sunday and painting Kenzie's room yesterday.  All that while not feeling tip-top in the first place...but both were well worth the effort.  I think the wedding show was successful and Kenzie's room is amazing.  My friend/neighbor, Allison came to my rescue yesterday and helped me pound out both coats of sky blue (Micky Sailor from the disney line) and I handled the brown (oh my...the PERFECT shade of espresso).  Instant big girl room.  As soon as its all put back together I'll post pix...you know I will!

Update and final pics of the patio...

Well, we're taking the week "off".  Meaning, Frank's arms and back are so tired that he decided to return to work to get a break from the landscaping and we'll resume next week.  Probably a good thing as we've had serious rains here today and they should continue for the next few...then back to the 90's for the weekend.  Gotta LOVE Denver!  Anyway, here's the updated pics!  Ciao -

Drum roll please.......

Finally, some pics.  The cabinets are mostly finished! :)  I tried desperately to take a picture of the entertainment system (which until a week ago was maple, its now distressed black) but my hand kept shaking for some reason.  I'm throwing out some befores and afters of the cabinets so you can really see the difference.  Thanks for cheering me on through the whole process....

Hey, I even made my Christmas cards today!  Quite a week!

Shay

BEFORE:             AFTER: