Beadboard on the ceiling!

My vision is sllllowly coming together. Originally I thought I wanted the beadboard to be horizontal on the ceiling. I figured that the horizontal lines would draw your eye lengthwise making the room seem longer. Well...we encountered that old house CHARM again. It seems that there is about a 4 inch change from one side of the room to the other, so the horizontal beadboard would have made the slope look very obvious. So, we decided to go vertical with our beadboard. In the end I don't think the direction mattered too much...the beadboard looks amazing. I'm soo excited to see it completely finished!




Now that I've updated the blog...I'm off to go paint for the rest of the day. Wish me luck!

Tiling almost completed...grout still to be done

A quick post to show you the almost completed shower (grout still to be done). Isn't Jon amazing!? He also told me that because I was so accommodating by selecting a cheaper tile, we will be able to afford a custom frameless glass shower door from Portland Glass. Yay!

The Trojan Strikes Again

The only way we are able to make this project fit within our budget is because we are willing to do a lot of the work ourselves. The shower falls in that "work we do" column on our master plan. Last week (the first week back from vacation) was literally hellish at work. It took me 5 days to catch up on my email. And I made all these grand plans to update my blog, paint, tile, etc at night after getting home from work. That plan fell apart rather quickly...as I got home way late and promptly began drinking to medicate the stress away (healthy...I know).

Jon, always the efficiency master, actually followed through with his grand plans. In fact, I believe our contractors are ready to hire him. Jon had never tiled anything before. But somehow...he just knew how to do it. So, we went tile shopping...and I choose white ceramic subway tile. I think it has a clean, vintage feel. I wasn't really thinking about how many cuts in the tile my poor husband would have to make.

You might remember that we also needed to choose a solid surface for the seat in our shower. After finding out how expensive even remnant granite can be, we decided on Glacier White Corian. My parents have Corian counter tops and showers in their gorgeous house in Pennsylvania, so I knew from experience that it would look great. It's also incredibly easy to work with. You can even cut and sand it at home (you need a graphite blade for your saw). It is quite cost effective, but classy. The perfect combination.

Oh yah...and I forgot that he had to cut and install all of the water resistant cement board. You would think that wouldn't be too difficult, but because the angles in our old house are never exactly 90 degrees, he had quite a challenge.

Here are photos of the Trojan at work:


I wasn't exactly sitting around while he was doing all of this. I primed the whole bathroom and sealed the beadboard for our bedroom ceiling with Kilz. Somehow...he always seems to get more done.

The Progress We Returned To

When we got back from Wyoming, I was expecting major progress. And, there was progress...just not major progress. Apparently, we missed the most humid week of the summer. Hurricane Danny, I think, brought a ton of tropical moisture up to Maine...and our drywaller said that the putty couldn't dry overnight. It was taking double the time to dry, so of course, everything else got behind as well.

Nevertheless, it was really exciting to see walls! Our contractors also lined our shower with Ice and Water Shield (more to put their minds at ease I think, since they have never done a custom shower quite like ours!).

This is the view from our bathroom door, looking at the bedroom and existing closet.

This is from the other side. Looking at the bathroom door and new closet.

This is the side of the bathroom where the toilet will be and the double sink.

Here's the shower complete with ice and water shield...and the thin plastic sheeting on the seat, which is just another layer of water shield.

Updates galore...starting with The Prison Windows

Well...yet again...way too much time has passed between blog posts. And too much has been accomplished for one post. This will be the first of a few updates on the progress.

My last update was on August 12th, a few days before we left for a week in Wyoming. The day before we left...I came home to a major problem. I'd like to name it the Prison Window Experiment.

You'll remember that we added a window to our shed dormer creating a total of 3 windows (+ 2 skylights) in the new bedroom. We also added a window to the gable end of the house, where our new master bath will be. The windows couldn't be too large given the eave constraints of our room. I also lost my battle for wood windows. They were too expensive. So after major pouting on my part, I caved in and accepted vinyl. I figured that at least they wouldn't need painting.

So, it was Friday, August 14th. I drove in the driveway...and looked up. All I saw was windows that I didn't like. I rushed in the back door, flew up the stairs and immediately started a temper tantrum...complete with yelling and stomping of my feet. Exactly what I did as a little girl....of around 5 years old.

It's hard to describe the windows. Basically...they were 12 panes over 12 panes. They looked like windows in a jail. Now, I should have taken a deep breath and thought positively. But instead...I jumped to the conclusion that we'd have to pay out our ass to get them changed. Then I started yelling again. Not really at anyone...just yelling to yell. Then I opened a beer.

I tried to calm myself down and thought, well...I just won't spend a lot on vacation so I can pay for new windows. I tried to let it go.

On Monday, Jon got up early and received a call from our contractors. They gave us the best news ever. They said, "Oh yah...our buyer made a mistake. Aren't those windows awful? Yah...we're planning on replacing them. We just wanted to get the place water tight and secure before you left."

Deep sigh of relief. Here's a photo of our prison- the windows are half open: