Category: house

We woke up a bit after eight today to the third morning in a row of sunlight streaming into our bedroom. This is such a novel, wonderful experience. Since moving into the house, we’ve had only a handful of days that any direct sunlight made it into the room, but between taking the trees down, the clouds disappearing for a few days, and the angle of the sun at this time of year, the light is amazing and lasts for about two hours. What a great way to wake up! (So much better than this!)

This photo was taken from our closet, partly to show the sunlight, and partly to show our “new” mirror:

The wall of our closet has been so empty since we moved the shoe closet over a year ago. The craigslist cabinet helped, but when we deconstructed the old bathroom, I kept the mirror and painted the frame black. I was afraid that glossy black would be too much of a contrast with all of the pale, blond shelving, so I found paint that matched the wood and used the mouths of old jars to stamp circles. I’m very pleased with how in came out. Here was the mirror in its prior incarnation:

I love its new look and spot!

Kevin finished painting the bathroom last week, and I’d been mentally debating the color. It looked so much darker and just *yellower* than I’d been envisioning.

Above the tub (which we’ll be having refinished – white instead of that flat blue):

We took down the towel bars and face plates:

See? Isn’t that yellow? Qualms aside, since it didn’t seem worth repainting in a paler shade, I pulled down the blue tape, moved our heavy duty floor lights, and was amazed at the difference. We have our lovely yellow back. The blue tape must have just struck some sort of chord that made the yellow look supersaturated. I was also really pleased to see that the yellow coexists with our existing vinyl flooring without making it look dingy. Replacing the vinyl (and therefore moving the toilet) wasn’t ever on the docket, but I was concerned about that color combo.

We mounted the medicine cabinet – so pretty, and such a challenge as its interior is the exact width of the drill.

We had one of the best craigslist experiences ever. The old vanity had been sitting in our hallway for many weeks, so I decided to list it, the matching wall cabinet, and the matching medicine cabinet in the Craigslist free section. Within an hour I’d gotten an email from people hoping to take it away that night, and two hours later, it was gone. We were giddy when they drove away. The couple was cute – they’re getting married this spring and hoping to sell both of their 1BD places to move somewhere bigger. Since the market’s soft, they’re doing as many DIY cosmetic improvements as possible and they were delighted with the new bathroom set. I’m glad it’s going to such a good cause – I hope they find buyers.

Once the old vanity was gone, Kevin did a ton of work with the sawzall to cut holes in the back of the new vanity cabinet and cut a piece of plywood for the counter to rest on. He glued it all together, we got the vanity in position and screwed into the wall, and he started working on the plumbing and the backsplash as the clock ticked past midnight. Here was the progress right before I headed for bed:

We still need a light fixture, but otherwise we are so close to being done. 🙂 And after many months of having a vanity in the middle of the fishroom, we can’t believe how spacious that room seems without it. The walk from the bedroom to the kitchen used to require dodging two vanities, and now the path is so clean and empty. 🙂

A fun mail day: the first package I’ve ever received from Mexico.

We were mystified at first, and then realized it was the bird prints from Etsy that our sisters gave us for Christmas!! They’re so lovely. Here they are gracing our coffee table, where they’ll stay until the bathroom wall is ready for them.

It shouldn’t be too much longer. Kevin has been spending impressive amounts of time priming, texturing, and repriming the bathroom walls. (He’s even getting up early to work on it before work, so that he can keep the schedule tight. Dedication.) A mid-conversation photo of him and the gleaming white textured walls.

This weekend, we finally chose a paint color, and we can’t wait to see how it looks up on the walls.

So the birds shouldn’t have to wait too long!

The sky from the backyard at 4:14 PM:

We still have a long way to go until the days are a reasonable length again, but it’s heartening to know that the amount of daylight will increase steadily for the next five and a half months.

In other news, Kevin got the horrid light fixture down and patched the walls!

There are still several rounds of spackle to go, but it’s already a vast improvement.

And the gramma is now swimming around the tank, though he cuts his explorations short the moment that he realizes someone else is in the room. This was his hiding spot for the first few days, tucked up against the bottom of the tank next to this big piece of PVC.

He’s since found a much less visible spot, so I’m glad that I got this picture even if it’s not the best angle.

Kevin did good work this afternoon removing the old vanity from the bathroom!

It’s so nice to have it gone. There’s an older layer of vinyl flooring underneath, but it can stay an archeological curiosity, since the new vanity will cover it completely. Whew. (The state of the floor was one of the great unknowns, since replacing it would necessitate moving the toilet, which wasn’t on the list. It’s a huge relief that there wasn’t some terrible problem lurking under there.) So now, a bit more wall repair (probably about five days worth, with the spackling x3, texturing, and primer coat), then we can paint our yet-undecided color, and put up the new vanity, mirror, and medicine cabinet!! If we’re speedy, it will probably be a 2-3 week project? Fingers crossed.