Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Finishing touches (but no shower door)

Just a quick update, mostly on the decor front. I have oiled the soapstone counter; put out the hand towel holder made from a vintage lamp (found on Etsy); and filled the empty wall space between the vanity and window with an old apple picking ladder I found at a local antique shop. The ladder was bare wood mixed with faded red paint when we found it, so I dry brushed it with leftover flat white ceiling paint. Some of the wood still shows through but it is definitely a better match now for the rest of the room. We have the hardware for the pocket doors but it has not yet been installed. Thanks to my parents for the excellent towels and bath mats!

Oiled soapstone and hand towel holder

Ladder means plenty of room to hang extra towels

New curtains are semi-sheer with a faint stripe, heavy enough for privacy (and made in the USA)

Love this train rack over the tub

Double towel rack next to shower. We chose black and white towels for this room, but just black towels for the boys.

When the door comes, the glass will be lightly frosted (in white).

View from hallway


Because we changed the size of the the WC, the window had to be switched out for a smaller one. This necessitated replacing some of the siding on the exterior of the house as well. Earlier this week they started this work and found a bit of a surprise (though in hindsight it does make sense symmetrically):

Here you can see the original wood siding (yellow) and a hidden window!

This window on the right was apparently covered up in a previous renovation, probably by the 2nd owners. It's filled with insulation. We had no idea it was there! It will be covered by a board before the siding goes back up.
 As our siding is quite old, they could not find an exact match; when the weather warms up a bit a coat of paint should blend it in quite well.

So to be 100% finished we still need:

--steam shower door in master bath
--pocket door hardware installed
--soapstone backsplash in powder room
--siding painted

Thanks for reading!



Thursday, January 30, 2014

Details large and small

While the master steam shower doors are still not in yet, lots of other details large and small are being attended to. Powder room is just waiting on a marble backsplash (made from a remnant of the old master bath countertop---just about the only section that didn't have a crack on the underside!); boys bathroom still needs an adjustment on the glass shower door, but is essentially complete.

As usual, I have photos---please excuse any construction stuff in the background and I also apologize for the ever-present layer of dust.

The AC return was moved from in front of the powder room door to the side here

New floorboards, I may put a small rug here
We changed the door swing out into the hallway because of tub placement, seems to work just fine

New soaking tub

A good combination of modern and vintage lines

A train rack will go on this wall to hold towels and my robe

Nice hand-held shower. That button just below it opens AND closes the drain stopper
Closet hallway with new pocket door separating from master bedroom

Soapstone counters from Bucks County, mirrors are cabinets

New sinks and cross handle faucets

Water closet, also with pocket door

Lower half hold steam generator for shower, upper half for storage

Toilet and new window (smaller than the old one)
So that's where we are in the master bath---pretty close to the end! Hopefully in the next week or so I will have final pictures for you-----but don't hold me to it!

Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Peacock Feathers and Calypso Blue

Greetings and Happy New Year! Sorry it has been awhile, but I have some good photos and a lot of progress to share.

The boys' bathroom is 99% complete---the Cambrian Black counter tops will be installed later this week and then all will be complete! We finally got our awesome 3 foot Kohler Brockway sink and cabinet delivered and it looks as great as I hoped it would. (Sorry about the bad lighting in these photos but I think you get the idea):

You can also see our new built-in cupboard in the mirror; there are about 5 or 5 pullout drawers in there.

The faucets come with the sink and are a mixture of stainless and chrome finishes; all other fixtures and knobs are chrome.

Now two can brush teeth at the same time!

The master has progressed much quicker than we expected, given the size of the room and the fact that it was a total gut job. Bathtub and toilet need to be installed and we are waiting on the glass doors for the steam shower. There are, as usual, other little detail jobs that also need to be completed, but those are the big ones.

Kind of hard to see but these are the new linen closets; used to be open shelves. Now the left side is for hanging clothes and the right side has adjustable shelves. Upper portion is just a big open cabinet for comforters, etc.

Revealed chimney. Cabinets were built by Amish craftsmen who don't use electricity or telephones (except 30 minutes per day!). They even needed a driver bring them and the cabinets on installation day!

The mirrors next to the chimney are actually medicine cabinets! The color on the top of the wall is Benjamin Moore Peacock Feathers; cabinet is Calypso Blue. I don't remember the color on the bottom part of the wall---oops.

With all the color on the walls we kept it simple in the shower---white subway tile, a black hex border on the floor (there are black hex triangles scattered on the main floor, sorry they are not visible), and soapstone on the bench and shower entry.

Large shower head; you can also see the controls for the steam shower lower left. Also jets in the middle.

Another view-- near the floor you can see where the steam will come out.

Hopefully I'll have more to post soon---thanks for reading!