Getting There...

Slowly, but surely, the bathroom is starting to look like a real room again. For the record, let me just say I do not know how people totally renovate houses themselves. I used to dream of buying an old farmhouse and totally fixing it up. No more. This little project is about to do me in and I'm not even doing any of the work!

Since I've posted last, the guys were able to put down new sub flooring, lay the DUROCK flooring, knock down the old wall over the shower and re sheetrock that wall.

Then they got to start working on what I think is the fun stuff! The tub went in and they started tiling the shower walls. We are putting white subway tile around the shower. The tile hasn't been grouted yet, but this gives you a basic idea...

Our vanity area currently looks like this while we are waiting for our countertops to be installed:

Which brings me to this little public service announcement:

Always give yourself plenty of time to plan all of the details of a project BEFORE you dive into the work.

I have been collecting pictures for months for ideas for the bathroom because I knew at some point we were going to have to renovate it. However, Will announced (the week before Christmas) that he was taking several days off to do the bathroom and I needed to pick out what I wanted to have it ready for him. In my excited rush to get everything done, I failed to consult all of my old files and totally forgot I had this idea for the vanity.

I love the idea of refurbishing an old dresser to use for the sink vanity. If I had had a clearer head, I would have started searching Craigslist for a piece like this:

image via Life in the Fun Lane

And would have paired it with two over mount sinks that I always find when I visit the ReStore in town. A dresser like this usually goes for around $50 - $100 on Craigslist and the sinks are usually around $10 - $20 a piece at the Restore. At the most, our total would have been around $140. Instead, we went with the cultured marble countertops for $400.

Bummer.

At least I know we'll be redoing the master bath sometime in the near future. Maybe I can incorporate this idea into that bath's design.

Anna Cate loves helping her daddy and Boula (aka my dad) in the bathroom. They have patiently allowed her to "work" alongside them. I passed by the door the other day during a lunch break and saw her tiny hammer and little pink tape measure laying beside their big boy tools. Sweet girl.

And speaking of sweet girls...

These two monkeys have become roomies.

My plan has always been to let them share a room when Caroline moved into a big girl bed. My sister and I shared a room until I was 5, but even once we were in our own rooms, she would end up right back in the bed with me most weekend mornings. We've been up a lot lately with Anna Cate in the middle of the night because she is scared of the dark and wants to come sleep on our floor. That is not a habit I'd love for her to start, so I tried putting the girls together in one room so AC didn't feel alone and it has surprisingly been working out great!

I tried to pull together their stuff with similar colors so the room didn't look too mismatched. It is definitely a hodge podge look, and a little bit on the pastel side, but it is certainly cozy and inviting and the two of them are loving it.

And speaking of moving things around, my old sewing room became the new playroom several months ago and I haven't taken the time to set up my sewing stuff in a new place yet. It has all been sitting in a massive pile of messiness since August.

One of my Christmas presents this year was a sewing book and I fell in love with this idea of using an armoire to create your own little sewing "room".

Before I saw it, I had already promised Will no new projects until March. I have a corner hutch in the kitchen that I found on Craigslist that needs to be painted and a chair from Goodwill that needs to be upholstered. I keep meaning to get to them, but other things pop up.

Ahem.

SO, instead of finding a used computer armoire to convert to a sewing room, I just made do with a bookcase in the corner of one of our spare bedrooms.

With limited space on the bookcase, it forced me to clean out my sewing supplies and now everything is neat, orderly, and I know what I have and where it is.

This it totally unrelated, but before I go, let me leave you with these pictures.

We now have enough hair for PIGTAILS!!! What is it about pigtails that makes those chubby cheeks even more irresistible ? And does she not look JUST like a little Will, except for the hair?

These are for you Steph, because I know how much you love the "lady of a thousand looks." Enjoy!