hang with me folks...

Okay, here is the trouble...the house computer is actually out of the house, along with all of my photos. So, please hang with me folks...I am about to reveal the most amazing bathroom tile EVER...I am not kidding, Home Depot better start reimbersing me for all the revenue they will be making off of my referral and tile discovery. Everyone loves the charming microtile, vintage homes feature in such publications as, This Old House (see below...)

(example)

...but if anyone has ever gone on the tile hunt, they will quickly discover that these "charming" tiles are not so charming when you go to price them out. Besides, trying to locate a retailer, they are very expensive (think $20 sq/ft or more.) So, somehow my computer google search was growing exhausted of my constant "vintage hexagonal tile" search...and on one late mysterious evening, the stars were aligned and my search retrieved this miraculous find. The most adorable, perfect mix of old and new penny-rounds I HAVE EVER SEEN...

($jack-pot$)

...it is like candy isn't it? They actually do resemble those candy covered sweethearts you can get at the movie theatre. I swear, I have feelings towards this tile similar to that I have for 8 week old puppies and anything dollhouse miniature. The best part is, that they are less than $6 a sq ft, (plus they come in different colors, such as cobalt blue and metallic gold! Merola Tile has actually expanded their offering since our purchase...I am planning our final bathroom remodel in my head as I type. METALLIC GOLD!? Should I dare?...)

Anyhoo, take note, Home Depot does not sell this in their stores, so you have to order it online. To avoid shipping charges, I recommend going to your nearest store. They can "special order" it, you just have to go pick it up....so WORTH avoiding the INSANE shipping charges associated with 50 or more lbs of ceramic boxes!

We decided to use this tile for a "rug" effect. We paired the micro tile with some 12x24 grey marble tile we also purchased super-dooper cheap at a local tile warehouse here in K-town. So far I am very pleased with our creativity...

(for some reason you can see the tile marks...it doesn't look like that in person)

(Check out our new mack-daddy tub, THAT I did not get a deal on, unfortunately)

(**Quick Flashback - this is the accompanying ebay vanity that will go in this room...)

Unfortunately, those are the only pics I have available to me at the moment...More tiling pics in the near future!! By the way, we are getting our Master Suite hardwoods refinished tomorrow...I will definitely update with pics of that part of our house soon...It is an amazing metamorphosis. I can't wait to share! Until then, enjoy The Hills tonight my friends, (I don't care what perezhilton.com says, there is NO FREAKIN' WAY those girls can act THAT WELL...no way freakin' way.)

Coffee Break...

Pj & I attended our friend Ian's first birthday party, I thought I would post some pics from the partee as a breather from the construction chaos!

Ian's Hungry Caterpillar Cookies, he was happy to share them with us

Scout tried to go for mine, good thing I have quick reflexes...

Dad, where's the cake, you said there would be cake, I don't see the cake...

um, seriously...where is my cccAAAAAKKKKKKEEEEEEEE???

Yom, yom, yom ,yom, yom, yom. I think Ian loved his cake.

It was great seeing everybody, I feel like I have been out of the loop! Everyones' children are growing by leaps and bounds. Anya's mom was even here from the Ukraina for 6 months, and I didn't see her once, ugh. Luckily, I got to see her dad, Boris at the party. I don't speak Russian and he doesn't speak English...but friendships can break language barriers, right?

Anya's Dad, Boris and the James family littl-est, Virginia

The James family biggest, Anastastia

The James family craziest, Russ

Catching up with Alison, Gary & baby Maizie. She is getting so big!

Needless to say, everyone had a wonderful time. Ian mentioned it was the best birthday party he had ever had! Kudos to Nick and Britt for the delicious "sliders" and snacks!

"Before & After" Marathon...Dwnstrs 1/2 Bath

I am coming to realize very quickly, that I am enjoying the sound of my own voice way more than expected...I think the site needs less talkin' & more action. With that said, here is a plethora of before and in progress pics...

1/2 BATH

View from hallway before...

Upclose into the soon to be gone kitchenette... ...Kitchenette and back pantry walls gone.
...View of 1/2 bath from its neighboring full bath, and the drywall is up, awaiting pedestal sink and toilet (which I also sniffed out an awesome bargain for, my beautiful new TOTO sink/toilets from, Homeclick.com. Bonus* They had FREE shipping!) I heart them.

Here's the faucet that we chose for our beautiful new sink...

and here is the lightning (shoot, I couldn't find our exact one, but here is one similar...)

Finally, we decided on this marble tile flooring from Lowes (less than $3 sq/ft baby!)...

Okay, enough of the 1/2 bath...all of the action is in the full bathrooms where my favorite tile in the world will be placed.

eBay takes over the world and A dedication to Marty Roberts

Honestly, I have no clue how anyone stays in business with eBay around...the perfect answer to supply/demand economics, it's beautiful. I say this after several months of searching for the perrrrr-fect vanities for our bthrm remodels. I rummaged through numerous websites, retail sites, home depots & lowes'...to great disappointment. I came to realize that VANITIES ARE EXPENSIVE, a lot of money for the cr*pola these places were selling. I decided to hit up eBay, I am not a huge eBay shopper and it always occurs to me as a last resort - Boy, was I mistaken. Check out these beauts...(I was able to purchase them for about 25% the price they were listed for on "a store that will remain unnamed" website.

Vanity for Full Bath Downstairs

Vanity for Master Bath UpstairsI am not going to lie, I paid quite a bit for shipping but we still paid less than purchasing stock cabinetry, countertops, faucets...etc. Also - always have someone there to help you carry the items in! The FedEx man arrived on a rainy, cold & dreary day with 600lbs of marble and wooden palettes to great dismay when I answered the door in my pajamas, slippers, steaming cup o' joe...and NO muscles in sight. Fortunately, the delivery gods were looking down opon me and had delivered me the son of Titan himself. This delivery man was like that Atlas statue (see below)...he should be used on FedEx commercials, seriously. Mr. Roberts ended up lifting these wooden pallets himself, up two flights of stairs onto our front porch. I have never seen anything like it. We of course ended up tipping him for his efforts, (he certainly went way beyond his job description.) To make him an even BETTER employee, he came by the day after and left us a "thank-you" note inviting us to join his church. Can you even believe that? Marty Roberts, this post is dedicated to you.

On to the interior

Whew, after one sole entry, I am already exhausted with the blog responsibilities...I am thinking of blog content with everything I do now..."Should I bring a camera to our friend's bday party today?", "Do I want to blog about my upcoming weekend with old friends...better bring the camera", "Should I go back to the very beginning of our renovation project or just start from the present?"...ITS EXHAUSTING!...like a monthly status report for work, or better yet, for those like me who kept a diary when we were young. I always felt the need to catch the invisible entity of "the diary" up on my life in-between my 6 month disappearances from writing...so much so that I became too tired to actually write about what I originally intended to, geesh...pure exhaustion I tell ya. Anyhoo, I have learned from my past mistakes and decided to start from the present with the renovation...with the inclusion of past tid-bits only when relevant. (man - I am already growing weary.) With that said...

...after three years of tearing out plaster/lathe, restoring old windows, enlarging and framing in a master suite, demo-ing existing bathrooms and a kitchenette, dealing with knob-and-tube electric (in some cases with live wires dangerously dangling from bedroom ceilings)...we hired a contractor for the major bathroom work...VERY EXCITING! We are adding a bath upstairs for the previously mentioned master suite, a half and full bath downstairs, as well as the addition of a mudroom in the formally used pantry.

We are hoping once these major portions are completed we can move out of what we like to call our "life room". I am sure anyone who has undergone what we are executing is intimately familiar with this room. It consists of your bed, television, couch, a place for bills, phone chargers, computer and anything else you might deem "essential" to daily living. This room is the homeowners' only saving grace in the house, a place where construction is NOT ALLOWED, the only place that is somewhat clean and organized, the only place where electric is readily flowing, the only space where one can escape the chaos surrounding them...this room is what we call the "life room".

(BEFORE Pics: Downstairs Full Bath)

As you can see from the above diagram, the 1st floor bath is pretty tight. We are extending the length of the bath into what used to the "kitchenette" for the addition of a luxurious jacuzzi tub, the old "kitchenette" space is being repurposed into a smaller much needed half bath, and the back pantry area will be a new mudroom...finally time to move the laundry out of the kitchen and into a more convenient space...needless to say, reinforced flooring, so our our entire house doesn't shake-n-roll during the spin cycle.)

Okay, I'm a novice in formatting pics in blogs, it just took me 2 hours to put in those 3 pictures...I am not kidding. I will have to wait until tomorrow before revealing our decorating and redesign photos...(see, like I said earlier, utter exhaustion.)

I leave you with this simple diy-er's conundrum (provided by one of Pj's recent rants), "How can one take a piece of carpentry off, sand it and when one goes to put the darn thing back in its original place, HOW CAN IT BE TOO LONG?" One of life's little mysteries.