The Purple Door

Darci came and helped last night. 

I'm not sure if I posted anything about my purple door in the past, but if I did you may have noticed that it looked very much like black. Also, when I painted it the furnace wasn't working. And even though this past winter has been a warm one, it was not quite summer weather. And my hands were cold. And I dropped the can of paint and spilled it everywhere. Which wasn't really a big deal because everything was getting redone still. Except the front window. But we let it dry and then my lovely husband scraped it off. 

To sum up. Purple was actually black. I threw it everywhere. And doors obviously can't be white. So I had to try again.

And this time I think they're actually purple. Darci came and painted them so I didn't waste another can of paint. So that was nice. They need another coat. But I think I really like it. That being said. I haven't gone back to look what it looks like dry.

Pretty sister painting. :)

The purple paint was really thick. I'm not sure if that's because it's exterior paint, or behr paint or what, but really really thick. It plops more than pours. I can't even think of anything to relate it to. After Dar was done painting purple, she started painting some of the interior doors with the white. It was semi frustrating, because the white paint is like normal paint, but she found it runny and ineffective. I forgot to take a picture of that.

So while Darci was painting doors purple. I was painting ceilings white. Painting white on white is difficult. It's really hard to see where you've painted. Especially in our not so well lit house. But the living room and kitchen have one coat of paint on. Yay.

And while we were painting, Josh was actually installing the flooring in Caed's room. So that's really exciting.

 It needs a swiffer... but you get the general idea.

 Close up. I'm not sure why it looks so red. I don't think it is this red.

Oh. And I filled some of the holes in the wainscoting and trim in the bathroom. Which was not hard, did not take long, and was pink. Fun! It dries white. So they say. But the pink is fun.

Pink!

Weekends

Okay okay! I won't look at anyone's doors. I'll just be and if anything catches my eye... well I'll look at that.

This weekend has consisted of lots of work on the bathroom. And lots of moving everything upstairs. Next weekend we're having a work party. A few people from the church are graciously sharing some of their time and skills with us and we'll hopefully get the basement framed and insulated. Which would be really exciting, because if that happened, as soon as our furnace gets put in (14 more days!) then we'll be ready for our energy audit and hopefully get some grant money to help pay for some of the new insulation and walls. 

For the first time ever, Saturday evening, I did more physical work then Josh. Look out world, my thighs are getting toned. I've been carrying all of our stuff from the basement, upstairs. And many a trip it has taken. I'm going to be honest. I did not pack well for this move. I slowly hauled stuff from our condo to the house for a month and then, as it was our last day in the condo, we just threw everything else (also poorly packed) into the two bedrooms in the basement. You can only imagine what this might have looked like. I mean, yes, there was a few boxes actually packed. Mostly you would walk into one of the rooms and just see... stuff, everywhere. Blankets, jackets, toys, games, food, kitchen appliances etc. I was not proud of this but the thought was "it doesn't really matter because we're going to finish the main level before the basement". If this came true I would have had time, room by room, to put stuff away nicely. This clearly did not happen. I don't even have a bathroom yet. BUT! it's getting close! So close.

So while I was running stairs, Josh was sitting in the bathroom, making it look pretty. See.

My wainscoting. I do really, really like.

Then I got tired of moving boxes and running stairs so I installed a new light fixture. It took longer then it should have and I dropped the screws and (Josh told me the technical term but I completely forget, something that starts with an 'm') the little, orange, plastic things you put on wires, so many times. It was actually more frustrating than installing the fixture in and of itself. But then I flipped the switch and there was light!

All three lights would actually work if I had more bulbs. All the light bulbs in the house have passed away in the last week. This is the last one I had.

Since we were really excited about how close we were getting we put the vanity in, just to see. Remember this - 

That was real. If you look close you can see the old light fixture too. No longer can you see that light fixture or the built in medicine cabinet or the floor boards. No, friend, it is now a little more like -

YAY! Try to ignore me in this picture. I wasn't trying to just sneak in, but I thought that the vanity should have it's beautiful tap on, and instead of actually installing it, because we wanted to get home and maybe to the playground, I held it. Also the wall is really dirty. If you dusted for finger prints I'm almost certain you would find that they all belong to one Joshua Reimer. But the wainscoting, and the vanity, and the fixture, it looks like a real room!

Well, the main level will not be complete by next weekend, but maybe, jjjust maybe one room will be.

Curtain doors

I have found my calling! Grout. Doing grout is wonderful. Plus I'm really good at it. You would be too! I didn't even mind having to wash the floor four times within an hour. First you wash the floor. Then you slap on some goo, otherwise known as grout. You use this cool spreader thing (it's technical term might actually be "grout spreader" but I can't be sure). It looks tough, but it's really foam on the bottom. And then you spread, and it fills your spaces, and it looks really nice. It spreads really nice too. Like soft butter on toast. 

Then we wait. 

Wash the floor three more times, and viola, your tile looks finished and pretty. The only part I didn't find thrilling was the cold water I had to wash the floor with. We don't have and sinks or basically any running water except the main, and it's c-c-c-cold. Regardless - worth it!

My really pretty, getting so close to being done, bathroom.

This is actually a picture I got online. The one with the handle is my favorite!!

So while I'm doing all the fun jobs like painting trim and wainscoting and grouting tile (in my defense I also started hauling stuff upstairs so we can finish the basement next weekend and not have to be worried about that anymore) my lovely husband is doing all the 'bleh' jobs. Like cutting tile around round bathtubs. Oh yes friends, it looks beautiful and I am so excited to use it, but this bathtub was not easy to tile around. Because even with a tile saw (thanks again Kendra!) rounded cuts and tile are not like the pink and blue smartie... so not getting married.

It looks so good though, because Josh is amazing, and I'm picky and made him redo anything I didn't like. I'm nice like that. Aside from professional grouter, I would make a first class supervisor. 

He also sanded the finished drywall in one of the bedrooms and cleaned it out. I suppose the next couple of nights will be about moving our junk upstairs. Whoo....

Thanks once again wonderful husband!

Oh, and we bought doors last night. They have to be shipped, so we won't have them for a bit. It's because I wanted the pretty ones. And I'm spoiled. But I've mentioned that. Silly me getting all into doors. I didn't even notice doors before this little project. Now I can tell you that in the show parenthood two of the families houses have the doors I got and oh yes, I will be looking at your doors next time I come over. Unless I come over when we're done this project, because then I won't be looking for inspiration and how you did what and, hey, maybe I should get light fixtures like that... (I've returned and bought three different fixtures for the kitchen already.)

Door I could have just picked up and gone home with. 

 Door I really, really wanted.

They were on sale. So I did it. I'm really excited. And when we finally get a toilet installed and I still don't have door I will happily say "Dear pretty bathroom, I shall hang a curtain in your doorway and I will be ok with everyone hearing what's about to be done."

Tiling

I'm going to be honest with you. I don't think I'm cut out for home renovation. Oh yes, I'm capable. I can do most things. Perhaps not well, maybe not fast, but they'll get done. At first I don't even mind it. However, half way through a job it seems much less exciting. Mudding, even painting. Yes, the first coat on the first wall is very rewarding. After that, it's just work. 

Now Josh. He would do this for a living. I believe I told him one day that maybe we could flip houses. I said this because he wanted to. This was a silly thing to say. I mean I probably would if he wanted, but I shouldn't have actually admitted to it. Now there is a seed planted, "she'll maybe flip houses with me." Which is as good as "we're definitely flipping houses someday" in his head. 

I do enjoy picking stuff out. I could do the job of an interior decorator. I can shop for pretty light fixtures, pick out paint colors, and furniture. Even doors and trim I enjoy looking at. I mean I'm not saying I'm good at this either, but at least I enjoy it. No I am not planning on being on becoming an interior decorator, but the idea of spending another persons money on pretty things is very intriguing. 

Anyway, I did say I was going to tile. And I did. Start. It's not finished. 

Dad and I put in the in-floor heating on Saturday. It was actually pretty easy. A bunch of reading instructions (because I'm a girl and I do things like that.) Some quick math, which wasn't as quick as it should have been considering it was pretty simple multiplying and dividing. Then down it went. It felt like it took very little time, though I didn't actually time it. Albeit I didn't have anything to do with actually hooking it up to the thermostat part, I left the electrical for dad, but I still think it went fast. I felt accomplished. 

Dutifully reading the instructions in my big wonderful bath tub.

In-floor heating!

Pretty thermostat. Thanks dad!

Then the water proofing membrane, because Holmes insists we make it right.

Dad mixing mortar. 

Josh spreading mortar.

No, this is not the color of the floor. Hello water proof.

That had to dry for 24 hours, which turned into 48 hours. Then tiling. We had a really nice friend lend us a tile saw. Which is wonderful. (Thanks Kendra!) I forgot to take a picture. So Josh cut and I spread and together we started to tile the bathroom. Then Josh (my brother) took over and we did maybe half of it. Then it was supper time.

Tiling lost its glamor after 5 tiles. They make it look easy on tv. It is not as easy as they make it look. My second tile was too high, but I couldn't fix it entirely. I declared it "Good enough!" for two reasons. First, it was being very stubborn and you can't lift the suckers up once they're down, the really suction. Second, it will be covered by the vanity. I'll know forever there is a tile that is too high, but know one else will. My third tile has a sunken corner. The fourth tile Josh destroyed while trying to cut a hole for the toilet. It got a little better after that.

Also disappointing- it's not like paint or trim or kitchen cupboards. Tile does not immediately look pretty. The grout is apparently extremely important to the esthetics of the tile flood. So you're laying the beautiful tile, and it is beautiful but instead it looks dirty and messy and just not really that nice. We also picked out 24 x 12. We thought it would look awesome. (It probably will.) But it's heavy. So we're laying ugly tile, they're not spacing easily, it's messy, your hands are caked in mortar and it was decided that we won't do tile again. Except on the kitchen back splash... and probably if we flip houses. But it felt better saying it.

The laying of the first tile.

Josh helping, cause he wanted to try tiling.

A glimpse of what it will kind of look like finished. Man pictures really improve what the house looks like...

We did do more then work on the bathroom. I'll tell you about it tomorrow. (Or maybe the next day.)

Bathroom

I have one coat of paint in the bathroom. It's really dark. I know it's going to look good with the wainscoting and the white shelving and probably a white cupboard of some sort, but right now it's just... dark. It looks almost black, maybe I should use a flash when I take a picture. But I'm scared to put it up, because I don't want you to not like it. Mostly I really want it to look ok so I don't have to repaint, and I keep telling myself it's fine. I've only painted one wall and the bathroom and I'm already tired of it... bleh. If I just left the drywall and mud unpainted could we call it modern??

Maybe I'll post a picture tomorrow.

(Josh has also been hard at work, doing lots. Like lots lots. Both bedrooms have been demoed and uninsulated and re-insulated. Drywall has been replaced. My island is framed and the living room is in the process of getting demoed, uninsulated and re-insulated. And I suppose I could post pictures of it, but they're not fun. In the pictures defense I would rather look at drywall then be anywhere near it. The same goes for insulation. I liked mudding for about 5 minutes. That was it. Now it's tedious and awful and messy and I don't really know what I'm doing. Also sanding it down was not a job meant for wimps... which I might be... you can decide for yourself, but after sanding two bathroom walls (it is not a big bathroom) my arms felt like noodles. I sat on the unfinished kitchen floor and watched Josh work for the rest of that evening. He finished it for me... it probably didn't take him long.)

Oh because pictures make blogs cool, here is the tap I think is neat for the bathroom. The one I actually got isn't quite as neat, but I'm thinking about taking it back so I can order this one... it's a little cheaper too. There isn't much to think about it seems.

The bathroom tap I'm going to order.