The Room of Many Colors

Look around your house. Which room has the most color in it? Don't count paintings on the wall, but look at the floor, the ceiling, the walls, the things that are fixed in the room. Go ahead, I'll wait . . .

Green marble next to ice green wall

Our new bathroom is starting to turn into a riot of green. The dark green marble tiles throughout the shower and on the floor were the first thing we picked out. We had originally chosen a dark grey limestone that was rich and velvety looking and cool to the touch, but then we saw the marble and were smitten. However, 12 x 12 marble tiles are not possible for a shower floor - think of the slippage! So we had to find something else for the floor. We ended up with a fascinating 1/4 inch mosaic tile that is mostly white with a hint of green, and some darker green squares thrown in for good measure. My favorite thing about it is the way the tiles don't follow any sort of pattern. The darker tiles are scattered randomly and it gives it a great look. 

Marble shower floor next to possible backsplash topper

After picking out the tile we had to figure out a paint color that would go with the marble but wouldn't look like we tried to match the color. There's nothing worse than having a paint that almost repeats a color but doesn't quite, so it looks as if someone tried to match and failed. We brought home so many swatches, but in the end we chose something from the "white" section of the paint store. I put the word in quotation marks because none of the paint colors are truly white. In fact there were over 30 different types of white to choose from. We picked this ice green color that seems to stay in the background and complements the tiles. It also gives the room a nice cool feeling.

Next we struggled over the granite countertop. Again, we didn't want to almost match but not quite, and this time we had to think about the texture too. Marble and granite are similar to the touch; until now I never realized that matching textures can be just as important (and just as difficult) as matching colors. I don't have a photo yet of the countertop (it's being cut for us) but I hope it works! We decided to repeat the 1/4 inch tile for the backsplash, but our contractor and our tile saleswoman both recommended we put something on top of the backsplash to "finish" it. So we had to pick out yet another piece. You can see by the photo that Darryl found something that almost seems made to go with the tiles, so we definitely got lucky there.

So, to recap, tiles, shower floor, countertop, wall, backsplash topper, ceiling (white), fixtures (polished nickel). Oh boy, I can't wait to go shopping for new towels.

Changing Expectations

Do you know what today is? It's the day our remodel was due to finish. Right now we should be celebrating with a big glass of champagne in our new room, listening to the rain on our new roof, brushing our teeth in our new bathroom. Yet here I sit on my living room floor wondering what my calendar will look like for the next month.

I can hear all of you who have been through this process snickering a little at my dismay. Cry me a river, you're thinking. Didn't you know that remodels never, ever, ever finish on time? Well yes, yes I did, but somewhere in the back of my mind I was hoping against hope that this one would be different. After all, as recently as a month ago we were right on track and everything was going according to plan. Then the dreaded bathtub incident happened and things just seemed to sloooooooow doooooooown. The bathroom tile still isn't finished, and then all the fixtures have to be installed. After that the crown molding has to go on and then the floor and the baseboard and shoe molding. Lastly, the closets and bookcases have to be built. Oh boy, that sounds like a lot when I read the list.

Does it sound like I'm complaining? I hope not. Honestly I have to say that I'm so happy with the way things are going. It seems crazy to think that a few months ago those rooms didn't even exist and now they are becoming a part of our home, each day bringing us a glimpse into what things will be like here. I have come to trust our contractor so much with the design and implementation of the rooms. It's great how he can see what things might be and work with the big picture in mind. Not only that, but he never seems to get frustrated with me when I ask the same questions over and over. And I feel that he really "gets" what Darryl and I are going for. He even commented to me that the three paint colors we chose for the  bedrooms and bathroom are almost the exact same three colors he has in his house. It made me feel good to realize that his design ideas and our design ideas are such a good match.

Next week he plans to finish tiling the bathroom, then we're all going to take a break. After that, he'll go ahead and tackle that final to-do list. Perhaps we'll be done in a month, perhaps not. But there's no hurry. I can't complain about how things are going and - with the exception of the plumbers from hell - the whole remodel process has gone so smoothly. So what's a few more weeks amongst friends?

Hi Danielle.

Soaking

I probably take a bath about once a year. I have to be really tired, really cold and fairly sick. I never quite understood the point of trying to relax when your knees are chilled and your neck is stiff and you're altogether uncomfortable. Darryl, however, enjoys laying in a tub every now and then, and he's the one who insisted we get a really nice bathtub for our new bathroom. He found a cast iron tub that's 5 1/2 feet long and over 2 feet deep. He keeps trying to convince me that it will add to the resale value if we ever sell the house, but I know that this really doesn't have anything to do with resale. He just wants this tub, that's all.

All he needs is a glass of wine and a good book!

Moving Faster

Green marble on the sides of the shower

There's a little poem I learned when I was young that goes like this:

When at first you shake the bottle,
None'll come, and then the lot'll.

It's about ketchup.

For the last couple of weeks I felt as if things were moving pretty slowly around here. The painting took a while (apparently it doesn't dry as fast in the cold, damp air we have had around here lately) and the problems with the first tub brought things grinding to a halt in the bathroom. But over the last couple of days it seems like the ketchup is pouring out of the bottle finally. The shower tiles are going on and we're so happy with them. They are almost too nice - it looks like the bathroom of some other people, not us! I love how the veins in the marble go in all different directions; it makes for such an interesting pattern that looks just as nice from a distance as it does up close. The new tub is in and it's just right. At first I was a little concerned that a 5 1/2 foot tub that is 24 inches deep would be a little overwhelming. Now I'm glad we got such a large one because it matches the size of the shower so well.

Ceiling fan in the spare bedroom

The other big news from today is that the electrical work is all done. The light switches are in, the switch plates are on, the bathroom fan is working, the solar panel is up and running and the ceiling fans are installed. It's great to be able to walk around the addition and turn on lights, as opposed to hauling around the work light to see what was going on.

Ceiling fan in the master bedroom

For some reason, it was a lot harder to choose ceiling fans than we had thought it would be. We went to the lamp store four different times. The first one we purchased had a halogen bulb in it (yes, we should have checked first, I know) and we have had problems with those in the past, so we returned the fan. The next one we chose came in two different finishes. We wanted the base of one style with the blades of the other, but of course that wasn't possible (we're so difficult!). We finally found one we loved for our bedroom, but couldn't find one that was right for the spare room. So we looked at the home improvement stores as we were shopping for various other things, and finally found something we both liked. It looks a little modern in the photo, but up close it has a sort of retro feel to it, which makes it blend nicely with the existing fans. As for the one in our master bedroom, I'm not sure what style you'd call it; we just think it's cool.

Now I'm getting greedy of course. I want the ketchup to keep pouring out of the bottle. I don't want to wait for it any more.

Living With It

For those of you who have ever given birth, you'll recognize this feeling. After the baby is born, when you look into her eyes for the first time, when you feel her breath rising up and down as she sleeps on your chest, you forget all about the pain of labor and you think how perfect everything is. Then when you find out you're pregnant again, the imminent labor pains are the farthest thing from your mind; all you think about is meeting your perfect, beautiful baby. I have heard the theory that women are prepared to have more than one child just because our brains block out all the pain and only let in the happiness. Because let's face it, if we remembered every second of body-wrenching, sweat-inducing, muscle-torturing contractions, we might not be so willing to go through it all again.

So it must be with remodeling. When I look at the craziness that has been my house for the past four months, the constant dust, the lack of running water at random times, the frustration of dealing with things that you have absolutely no control over, I wonder how anyone ever chooses to go through a project like this. Yet I'm guessing that in a month from now, when everything is pretty much done, I'll forget all of that and instead enjoy the pleasure that the new rooms will bring us all.

Bookcases, end tables and teapots, oh my!

Everyone who has been through a remodel has told me how lucky I am that we're only working on the back of the house and so the rest of the living space won't be affected. Ha ha ha. True, we haven't had to give up the kitchen, we could still take showers whenever we wanted (almost), and we weren't turfed out of our bedrooms. But to say we haven't been affected wouldn't be true at all, as I realize every night when I go to bed and negotiate the two bookcases that are stuck in my bedroom. Not to mention the times when I have stubbed my toe on the china hutch that is shoved between the bedroom door and the closet door, making it an obstacle course every time I make the bed. Then there are the two end tables stacked on top of each other in the corner, forcing us to move the laundry hamper, and creating mountains of dirty clothes on the floor. (OK, that last part isn't strictly the remodel's fault. There are always dirty clothes on the floor - I live with a teenager!)

The china hutch does double duty as a storage
space for all our important documents

In the living room, I haven't seen the surface of my coffee tables in months. Darryl has decided that it's the perfect spot for every receipt, every bill, every contract that relates to the remodel. They're spread across the table like huge piles of oversize confetti, randomly scattered in absolutely no order (although he claims he can find everything at a moment's notice). Today I tried dusting around the paper but gave up pretty quickly when I realized I was just moving the dust from one spot to another. Did you know how hard it is to clean the surface of a piece of paper?

So I wait anxiously for the time when all of this will be a blur, when the discomfort is forgotten, the stubbed toe pain is a memory, and the drop-cloths are long put away. The time when the contractors are gone, the furniture is in place and my house is my own. Not long now.

Somewhere under here is a coffee table