Bathroom Vanities…Decisions, Decisions.

Okay, so I mentioned there’s this hall bathroom on the bedroom end of the house in Hooterville that desperately needs remodeling.  This is what it looked like the day we initially toured the house (a year ago this month, already!).

 

So far, the only thing I have done to it  (besides clean it) is paint the doors and trim moldings white, as I did throughout the whole house,  and I painted over the peach wall color with a couple coats of some extra white paint I had.  I just wanted to freshen it up a bit and bide some time until I could decide what I wanted to do in here, and we had the time to  make it happen.

Possible improvements:

• New bathtub

• Rip out all existing wall tile and tile only the inside of the tub area

Improvements definitely on the list:

• New toilet

• New flooring (probably wood-look vinyl planks)

• Mirror

• Lighting

• Replace pedestal sink

• NEED. MORE. STORAGE!

As you can see in the above photo, there is  lots of wasted space to the left of the sink…almost 5 feet to be exact. 

After my cabinet guy gets done with the kitchen, I had planned to have him build a floor-to-ceiling built-in storage cabinet in that corner to the left of the sink. 

 *view from the bathtub*

And for MONTHS and MONTHS I have had my heart set on ordering  this vanity base (no top) I found on the internet (after hours of searching).  I was going to paint it white, put new hardware on it, and have the cabinet guy put a black granite top on it.

Then it would look like this!  Isn’t it divine?!

photo source:  Rate My Space by user: “Colleen_Christine”

“Colleen_Christine” even had a wall plug installed in one of the cubbies so she could keep her blow dryer plugged in but out of sight.   Love this idea!

 photo source:  Rate My Space by user: “Colleen_Christine”

But…

There’s always a “but.”

Yesterday I rediscovered this photo below in my inspiration file and I started having second thoughts about my original idea of using the vanity above. 

photo source unknown

The PRACTICAL side of me thought having my cabinet guy build me a storage cabinet/vanity combo like this  might be a better choice than the free-standing vanity with the black granite top  because this one offers so much more storage.  (After living in a small house for so many years, can you tell I’m big on having ample storage?)

So dear readers and decorating enthusiasts, which would be your choice?

A storage cabinet built into the corner, perhaps similar to this…

and used in conjunction with this FREE-STANDING vanity…

 

~OR~

Just go with a more unified look of an all-in-one storage cabinet and vanity like this…

???

Then I have one other dilemma I want to pose to you for your consideration:  

What about the privacy wall?

Would you rip it out to visually open up the bathroom…

or

leave it up, more or less  keeping the bathroom divided into 2 sections?

The privacy wall does make it  somewhat cramped  back here.

 *photo taken standing in the bathtub*

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this!   If you are a lurker who has never commented before, now is not the time to be shy.  I need ideas!

Some of This & Some of That

Because no one single thing is worth devoting a whole post to,  today I wanted to share a potpourri of things that are currently going on concerning the house in Hooterville .

Regarding the slipcovers that shrunk on my new sofa…

Aaaaaak!   It STILL makes me sick to look at it.

 

Anyway, as I mentioned here, I contacted the furniture store where I bought it (Matter Brothers).   They, in turn, contacted the sofa manufacturer (Capris Furniture, Ocala, FL).   The Capris’ representative was of the opinion that for this much shrinkage to occur, I HAD to wash the slipcover in HOT water, not cold.  Yep, they actually inasmuch called me a liar disputed  that I had washed it in cold water, air dried it a little, and put it back on the sofa while it was still damp.

The bottom line:  Capris Furniture refuses to do anything to make this right so one of the owners  of Matter Brothers, Tom Matter, concurs and will not replace the slipcover either.  Incidentally, I have not  washed the chair slipcover yet but I am sure it will shrink like the sofa slipcover did. 

I wish I was confident enough in my sewing skills that  I could just make my own slipcovers like so many of the talented ladies in Blogland are doing but I’ve had only minimal sewing experience and, in all honesty, I haven’t even seen my sewing machine in about 20 years. 

I did talk  to  a local experienced seamstress who can make replacement slipcovers for me (and she will PRE-WASH the fabric first) but it won’t be cheap and frankly, it’s an added expense that I don’t think I should have to incur for a 3 month old sofa (chair and ottoman).   I’m still thinking about that and a couple other possible options.

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As I come across things I think I can use, I pick up little odds and ends here and there for the house in Hooterville.

At Marshall’s I found an end table for the family room. It’s permanent place will likely be  next to hubby’s Lazy Boy recliner (shown in this post).  I thought the top drawer would be an ideal place to stash the TV and DVD remotes when they aren’t in use.

The lower section of the end table is a dark chocolate brown (not black as it appears in the photo).  I have not decided on a coffee table, a media console, or any other end tables yet but I thought the chocolate brown bottom and wood grained top should coordinate with just about any other wood pieces  I end up getting.

For the “pink and girly” guestroom (shown in this post), I found a soft pink coverlet and 2 matching pillow shams on eBay.  The set is from the Simply Shabby Chic line at Target.   I have  seen lots of these coverlet sets in cream or green in my local Target stores but I’ve only come across  JUST ONE  solid  PINK set.  But during a moment of insanity I passed it up and then, of course, deeply regretted it later. Don’t you just hate it when you do that?  

Needless to say,  I was happy to find one reasonably priced on eBay.  Even with shipping, I think it was a little less expensive than what I recall Target was selling it for.

At Marshall’s I found a pretty set of lace-edged pillow cases, also  for the “pink and girly” guestroom.  At Goodwill I bought a pair of white matelasse pillow shams with pink roses that were in pristine condition ($5.00 each).  Looks like they were never used.

After 35 years here, I am really, really, REALLY sad to be leaving the “My Cottage of Bliss” house (just ask my husband!) but there is a part of me that is getting somewhat anxious to get moved into the “Hooterville” house so I can put  the things I have been buying to use.  I want to putter, fluff and nest so it looks and feels like a home, instead of just a house.

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I’m still waiting for the kitchen remodel to begin.  My kitchen guy should be calling me any time within the next few weeks  to say he’s ready to  start tearing out the old kitchen and installing the new cabinets. 

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Before too long, I will be ready to start moving forward with the remodel of this  bathroom on the bedroom end of the house in Hooterville.   On the positive side, it’s a decent size with “good bones” but let’s be honest here:  it’s ugly.  I can’t even imagine why anyone would think it was attractive to use 2 different flooring materials in the same bathroom.  This bathroom also doesn’t function as well as it could.  There’s lots of wasted space and did you notice?  It doesn’t even have a mirror over the sink!

I’ve got some ideas about what I want to do in here but there are a few things I’m undecided about so I hope you will check  back because  I am planning to post more pictures soon and  ask  for your opinions/ideas.

Daughter’s Moving Day: Just Days Away!

After many months of work, Daughter’s move into her modular home on our property is finally imminent! 

When the house was trucked in and assembled in June,  there was still a list of things that had to be completed, and inspections we had to pass to make sure plumbing/septic system, electrical, and mechanical (heat & A/C) were all up to county codes.  

The  last required item on the list before she could move in was steps for the front and back doors.  The steps could be as simple or elaborate as we wanted, as long as they were  built to county safety code specifications.

We opted to have a 10 ft. x 16 ft. porch built on the front of the house.

The back door opens into the laundry/mudroom and since this is primarily a utility entrance, we chose to have just a  landing with one set of steps going toward the barns, and one set of steps  down to what will eventually be a covered carport/parking area.

 

Both the front and back door  steps passed code inspection this week and we have finally been granted a “Certificate of Occupancy.”  The Certificate of Occupancy was the “golden ticket” we have been working toward.  Without it, the  electric company would  not turn on the power.  Hopefully,  the power will be on TODAY and getting Daughter moved in  can commence!  YEAH!

Obviously, we still need to finish the siding, bringing  it down to ground level  to enclose all that open space underneath the house, but having the siding finished  was not required to obtain the Certificate of Occupancy so it is a project that is on the “To Do” list (as well as painting or staining the handrails and spindles, the covered parking area, landscaping, grass etc.).

Daughter is taking some of her riding students to participate in an out-of-town  horse show this weekend so if the electricity does, indeed, get turned on, I’ll probably spend some time over the next day or two cleaning up the construction dust, vacuuming the carpet, mopping the tile etc., for her so she can start moving in the first of next week.  I know she’s anxious to get into her very first home.

More Laundry Room Progress

Waaaay back in May, I posted some photos of new storage cabinets we installed in the ginormous laundry room at the house in Hooterville and said I anticipated having the third wall of cabinets done and ready to share “within the next few weeks.”

Sheeesh!  What I SHOULD have said was “within the next few MONTHS”! 

How did I forget that since buying the house/farm last October, it seems like we have at least 2 dozen projects in the works at any given time?   “Urgent Need”  seems to play a big part in which projects get completed, and which ones drag on and on.  Invariably, if we start one thing, something else pops up that ends up having a higher priority level.  The laundry room is one of those projects that keeps getting neglected for other things.

You can see the initial phase of the laundry room here.

This is the “before” photo of the 3rd wall I wanted to put cabinets on. 

When the cabinets were installed, we were left with the hot water heater sandwiched in the corner so the next dilemma became how to conceal it but still leave it easily accessible if it should require temperature adjustment, repairs or replacement.

The partial “wall” in the photo below got me thinking about how we could create something similar to hide the hot water heater.  (Don’t you love this laundry area?)

 photo source:  Ballard Designs catalog

After walking around the home improvement store looking at possibilities, my hubby and I decided…

2 hollow core doors…

turned at right angles to each other and slid between the cabinet and a 2 x 4 mounted to the wall provided an easy and inexpensive solution.

 

Just a couple of screws (covered with plastic caps) hold the doors together and in the event we need to get to the hot water heater, we simply remove the caps and screws, and slide each lightweight door out. 

The cabinet to the left of the hot water heater enclosure is free-standing so it can also be pulled out of the way if an even  larger space is needed to  access  the hot water heater.

The guy who is doing my kitchen remodel had a piece of  black and gray laminate left over from his own laundry room that I really liked so he used it for the countertop here in my laundry room (and gave me a great deal on it).

There is still quite a bit of work to be done here…

 

but I’m happy with the progress so far!

Sad, Mad & and Just Plain Sick

UPDATE:  I contacted the furniture store where I purchased the sofa and unfortunately, I do not have good news.  I will try to post a more detailed update early next week.

In the meantime, I would recommend any of my Florida readers who might be shopping for furniture AVOID the following :

Matter Brothers Furniture, Ft. Myers, Naples, Pinellas Park and Tarpon Springs, Florida

and any  furniture manufactured by

Capris Furniture, Ocala, Florida.

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Remember my NEW slip  covered sofa?

It was time to wash the slip cover and since it was the first washing, I was very careful.  I washed it in cold water, air dried it until it was just damp, put it back on and…

UH OH!

IT SHRUNK!

A lot.

It’s now about 4 inches too short to Velcro closed in the back.

It seems to have shrunk the most horizontally.  It reminds me of a lady wearing a dress that’s at least 2 sizes too small. 

Stretched to the max and the back corner pleats don’t even fall at the corners anymore.

 

Not good.

Not good at all.

I’m sad, mad and just plain sick over this. 

Good-bye Summer

Labor Day weekend.  It’s sort of the unofficial end of summer.  How can summer be almost over already when it seems like it's barely begun?

   

Saying good-bye to summer always puts me in a bit of a melancholy mood.  Summer is my favorite season.  In a perfect world, I’d be living in a cute little beach cottage and it would be summer all year long.

 

But, as the old saying goes, “All good things must come to an end.”

 

Good-bye Summer.   ::sniff sniff::

Kitchen Remodel: Phase I

My new kitchen appliances have arrived and a few days ago, I met with my kitchen remodeler to finalize plans for the kitchen renovation at the house in Hooterville. 

The existing kitchen will be completely gutted.  Besides being really  ugly and ORANGE,  it’s  very poorly constructed.  

Obviously this was a DIY project by a very inexperienced DIY-er.

I also wanted some of the appliances relocated because the kitchen just doesn’t function well with the current configuration.

The kitchen renovation planning process has been very difficult for me.   Although I feel comfortable with the cabinet guy I selected to do the renovation, he and the others I consulted about the job basically relied on me to tell them what I wanted rather than them using their experience to come up with a plan.  It was a  task I have not felt completely comfortable or qualified to take on.   In my current house, we’ve done a couple cosmetic makeovers through the years which included re-facing the existing cabinets and installing new countertops but  planning a complete cabinet rip-out with some redesigning elements thrown in  has been a bit daunting.   When it’s all said and done, I hope I got it right.  Even now, as I look at the diagrams of the proposed changes while I write this post, I’m second-guessing some of my decisions.

So here’s the plan:

That hideous home-made  light over the island and the ceiling beams are DEFINITELY coming down.  The beams make the 8 ft. ceiling look and feel  much lower.  The refrigerator will be relocated to another wall.  The main traffic flow through the kitchen is right along the sink wall and when the refrigerator or freezer door is open, there is not enough room to get around it.

 

The new upper cabinets going on the wall in the photo above will be shifted to the right and will include a built-in wall oven, as shown below.

 

The stove and microwave will no longer be on this wall.  The refrigerator will be relocated to the left of the current stove, as depicted in the diagram below.   In this new location, the refrigerator will be  right by  another doorway… the doorway to  the formal dining room.  However,  I don’t anticipate the formal dining room being used much except maybe  at the holidays, so traffic flow through that doorway will be minimal.  

The diagrams show an island but after much deliberation, I have decided to eliminate it.  Later on, I might try adding  a small free-standing island but after working around the island in the existing kitchen, I’ve come to the conclusion that an island is just not very workable or practical  in a kitchen of this size and layout.

A smooth cook top will be inserted into the counter top on the family room side of the kitchen and a short wall (not shown in the drawing) will be built on the back side of this bank of cabinets to divide it from the family room.  It will extend approximately four inches above the countertop to create a backsplash which will prevent cooking spills and splatters from migrating over into the family room.   There will be pull-out drawers underneath the cook top for pots and pans.  The corner bottom cabinet will have a lazy Susan/carousel to maximize every inch of storage space in that deep corner.

 

In the diagram below you can see there is a pantry  sketched in where the refrigerator was originally located.  However, in the final kitchen plans, I  asked that the pantry be moved to the right side of the dishwasher, which will give me more counter space to the left of the sink. 

The cabinets will be white with raised panel doors.

The countertops will be LG Hi-Macs solid surface in a mottled dark charcoal gray and black color called “Graphite Granite” (G103).

I haven’t decided 100% on a backsplash material yet.   I am leaning heavily toward using the Graham & Brown Super Fresco paintable bead board wallpaper that everyone across Blogland has been using and loving, including me.  I used it here, here and here  (see note at end of post).  However,  I’m also considering white subway tiles.

The flooring will be the same laminate I have in the foyer, sun porch and breakfast room at the house in Hooterville …

Columbia Cachet Clic in Carmelized Claro Walnut.

Tear out of the existing cabinets and installation of the new ones will begin in 3 to 5 weeks.

**Note regarding the Graham & Brown Super Fresco bead board wallpaper:  

I just realized  HomeDepot.com does not appear to be carrying this bead board wallpaper anymore!  I did find it can still be ordered through Rhoda’s Open Sky shop but it says stock is low so if you’ve been **thinking** about trying it, I wouldn’t wait any longer.  I hope it hasn’t been discontinued by the company!  Horrors!