The Bathroom is Done!

The main bathroom renovation started in Dec 2010. We took the 80's style wallpaper down, to find 70's style wallpaper. We disposed of the yellow bathtub and sink, as well as the dark walnut stained particle board.  We, meaning hubby, plumbed in plumbing for a shower.

We put in the smallest jet tub that is made, but it fit the spot, barely. We had to cut some drywall away and take the toilet back out to slide the tub in.

 Then we had to figure out plumbing from the old tub to the new tub. What a nightmare!  Then we had to do the same from the old sink to the new sink. Obviously, they never match.

Drywall and patches went up. The patching, sanding, patching, sanding, and on and on.

And we (hubby) had to install plumbing for a new shower.

Installing cement backerboard is next. I think Hubby went through 3 or 4 drill bits, and the last 2 were bits made for cement board. It took forever!

Backer board is done! Ready for tiling!

Painting is done. Clean white in the closet. Bluish gray on the walls. I hope it doesn't look too blue. But it was leftover paint, and I only had to paint 2 small walls.

 The tile is done on the walls and the floor.

 The smaller tile is in the shower.

 I am so glad that it is done, grouted, and sealed!

The towel bar went in, but off center, so someone could shower and not hit their arms on the towel bar.

The jet tub is ready! Shampoo and conditioner is waiting.

I love the curved shower towel bar that Hubby got. The inner curtain is water proof, and the outer lining has a horse banner.

I just love this look!

The sink and counter is in. The cherry cabinet matches the kitchen cabinets now, and not the old, walnut stained particle board that we had for over 15 years!

This is not a picture. This is the new beveled mirror. We had a medicine cabinet up, but it seemed too old fashioned now. The little bit of meds and anticeptics and band-aids that we had went into the first drawer of the cabinet.

I love the towel and toilet paper hooks.

This is just outrageous. The hook for the towel or the bathrobe!

The tiled wall, showing how narrow the main bathroom is. This is not a large room.

The marbled, flowing design of the tile. Love it!  And it matches the shower curtain and towels perfectly. I had them picked out first, and the tile and paint had to match the towels. LOL

The smaller tiles of the shower matches the larger tile of the wall and floor tiles.

  Floor tile and design.

The cherry doors that match the bedroom doors now. They aren't trimmed out yet, but the trim is ready, stained and varnished. So the bathroom is 99% done.

 Finishing touches are in. Fluffy carpet at the toilet and sink. But small enough to show the tile.

And the horsey towel are finally up, just today!

ALL of the bathroom towels, etc were in the kid's bedroom. The room is finally ready for the grandkids! Makenzie and Caden have a room ready for them! Stuffed horses are ready! Caden wants the bed on the right, so Makenzie's bed is on the left.  Don't worry, M, you will have one of those horsey's on your bed, too! The 3rd horsey is for baby Tyler when he is bigger!

I love the horse bedding and material on the chair. The bedding matches the shower curtain!

The little bed that Tom made for our toddlers is ready for the next set of toddlers.  Tyler is next in line. All of the stuffed animals are under the bed and are ready to be bed companions and playmates.

Where did August go?

It seems like it has been forever since I've blogged on a regular basis. I've tried to keep topics going on my chat, Horses Are Our Lives (click on the name if you would like to get an invite to comment on the topics or just to follow along). I just didn't take the time to blog. So now, I'm playing catch up.
August came, with slightly cooler temps, and now the month is almost over. I have no idea where it went! I've done some riding, but not enough! That changes this week!

The first week of August, we went to get Makenzie from CO and she was here a week. That first week was also our County Fair. The weather was cool enough to take Makenzie to the fair each day and meet up with cousin Caden one day. Caden came home with us a day, and had spent the night earlier in the week. Hubby and I did just fine with 2 2 1/2 year olds!

We took Makenzie home the followingSunday.  I got to ride along beside Sara on her horses and Makenie on her Pody. I had a 4 day Centered Riding clinic in Steamboat Springs, CO.  I love camping in my horse trailer. Shaggy rode very well at the clinic. I came home with a lot more CR exercises to share with my lesson people.

We spent the weekend at Sara's and headed home. Now it's mid-August, and I've only ridden 1 horse 5 times so far.  I know I have to prepare for the fall CTR's, but still didn't ride Savannah this 3rd week of August. I'm not sure what I did. Traveled Monday, existed on Tuesday at home, and Wed through Friday is a blur.

Last week was busy. Tuesday was a hot day and Jacob, Amber, Caden and Tyler came to swim and bar-b-que.  Then I got the trailer hooked up and was ready to go to Turkey Creek for the CTR clinic. I left on Thur, 25th, and stayed over the weekend.

This past Monday, I took the day off and visited with an old friend. Caden came to spend the day, and while he was napping, I had lunch with Lisa and we sat outside on the lounge chairs. I should do that more often. But Monday was cooler with no humidity. This first day of Sept is very hot and very humid.

Caden spent the night and we took him home after lunch the next day. We came home and I laid out the tile for the bathroom floor. Wed and today, we spent tiling the bathroom. I have one more day of tiling the shower. I hope the grouting and cleaning go fast, because I'm ready for this renovation project to be over.

Today is Sept 1st! Where did August go?
(Pics to Follow soon)

The Floor is In!

The house is still messy, but the hardwood floor is in! It is gorgeous! Tom loves the variation in the coloring of the wood. After 3 years, I have finally gotten used to it and really like them.



This is the floor before sanding and varnishing. The grain of the wood is still noticeable, but wait until you see the floor when it is varnished. The grain will just pop.


The colors of the walls go very well with the wood. I love my bluish grey walls around the windows.


The deep burgundy color just pops on the south wall. The west windows are so large that the room can handle a dark shade. The trim has lighten the rooms even more.


The stairway is painted slightly darker. I hope it hides all the scuff marks that walls seem to get! The walls appear a little bit bluer, but that is ok, as my favorite color is blue!



Today the floor is being sanded, then it will have the first of 3 coats of varnish. The 2nd coat will go on tomorrow. The floor trim will be added on Wednesday, as well as a piece of wood on top of the ½ wall. The final coat of varnish will go on Thursday.

There is a little bit of trim work needing to be finished in the master bedroom. The window seat needs to be finished with a wooden seat and trim. It will be good to have door knob on the doors too! The pocket doors, going into our bathroom, took me a little bit of work to get it to close!

Some day, hopefully soon, my house will get back in order. But after the final coat of varnish, we are to stay off the floor with furniture for 2 weeks! Then everything needs to be put back!

Living Room Hardwood Floor

The living room floor is in! It will get sanded and varnished next week.

The rest of this week, I am packing, unpacking, and setting up a vendor booth at the NE Horse Expo at the Lancaster Event Center in Lincoln.



We took racks over tonight, and tomorrow, I will get boxes and boxes of tack and clothing unpacked. And Breyer horses, and jewelry, and anything else that I can fit into 8, 10' x 10', booth area. after I survive the next 4, long days, I will post about the Expo, and about the next home renovations! Until then, pray for the mud to dry!

Continued Home Renovations

February 19, 2010

Oh my goodness. My house is tore up! A few home decorating thoughts have turned into a month project already, with no clear ending date!



What started as a continuation of our hickory hardwood floors, that we laid 3 years ago in the kitchen table area and hallway, has turned into a larger project. Now spreading into the living room/dining room area, we also spread our renovations into the bedrooms. I’m not complaining, as I am going to love how the house is going to look, when it’s all done!

Right now, new natural cherry doors hang on the bedroom and bathroom doors where old, hollow, walnut stained, dingy and dented doors had hung. And cherry doors now hang on all of the closet doors and in our 2 pocket doors in our bedroom. The light wood has already lightened up the spaces. I noticed that lightness, as when I go into my bathroom area, I look to see if I have turned 2 lights on as the area is so much brighter.

Why stop with doors? We moved on to trim work. We are lining all of the bedrooms with cherry floor trim, and framing out all of the windows, and the 1 window seat in our bedroom. We are also trimming out the living room/dining room windows.

Did I miss anything? Oh yes, we are installing a ½ wall in place of an iron railing. We were going to put in a wood railing, but we decided that with noise from watching tv downstairs traveling up an open stairway, a ½ hall will decrease some noise.



We are repairing a large hole in the dining room floor! We had a roof leak about 5 years ago, maybe longer. We had the roof repaired, discovering that it had hail damage at the time. Leaking stopped, so we didn’t look further for damage. Then when we pulled the carpet up, this is what we found, dried but damage flooring from that water. The water had come in from the garage also, getting between the 2 walls and getting the drywall and floor wet. Even though it had dried, the damage was already done. We are lucky the floor dried and only a small amount of area was damage.

March 6, 2010
Where has the last 2 ½ weeks gone? It only seems like yesterday that I started this blog, and I haven’t posted since February!

We had the weekend of the 20th and the following Monday to continue to get ready for the flooring, then we were gone to Florida the following week for Tom’s work. We came back late on Saturday, 27th, and had Sunday to recover from a very tiring working vacation. We can’t do late nights and early mornings any more!

We pushed on Monday, March 1st, to get as much done as we could. The electricians were there earlier in the day, installing 6 recessed lights in the family room, which lay below the living room. The family room had no lights, and no windows. We had 1 large doorway that brought in some light, but not nearly enough. With the upstairs room tore up, it was time for lights. And what a difference. We love our room. 6 lights, 2 lights on 1 dimmer switch and 4 lights on the other dimmer switch! Movie night will be every night! I am really pleased with the family room. With a new sectional, with 4 reclining seats, 2 of which heat up and vibrate, no one will leave that room!



Relatives from Colorado, with 3 little boys under 6, arrived at 1 in the afternoon as my contractor was building the half wall. Construction was put on hold as we visiting with Tom’s nephew and family until Thursday morning. Family was leaving as the contractor came. He finished the half wall and repaired the flooring. On Friday, we had the dry wall work started. Did you know that this is a 3 day process? Mudding, drying time and sanding, every day for 3 days. We skipped Sunday, as we all need a rest.



But, no, I didn’t rest, as the hardwood floors were going in on Monday, so that only left Saturday afternoon and Sunday to paint the living room. The ceiling was painted with bright ceiling white paint Saturday afternoon, after I came home from the store.



I started the south accent wall Sunday morning, painting it a deep burgundy. The color I had picked out for the other walls turned out to be a light baby blue, so I had Tom pick out a light blue grey to bring home. He brought 2 colors to choose from, and the one works perfectly. I love the color of the room.



Now to finish the floors!