10 Pretty Bathroom Features

  Now that my bathroom has been featured on Remodelaholic and Inside-Out Design- it's famous!! 
Just kidding:)
I've received a lot of questions about the decorative items and paint colors. So I've decided to write this post about the finishing touches- the pretty stuff.


1: The art.

This is leftover Piero Fornesseti wallpaper from our walk-in closet. It was very pricey so I wanted to be sure to make use of every last piece. I simple wallpapered a masonite/hard board (it's the same material as pegboard but with no holes) purchased at Reno Depot for $8. Then added the trim which is the same trim used on the walls (approximately $15). We nailed (using finishing nails) the whole thing to the wall so that it's tight against the wall. 

2. The light switch cover:

The light switch cover was collected from a friend's renovation. It was goldish in color and I sprayed it black.

3. The soap dish:

I couldn't find a soap dish I felt would pop in the room- and they were wall so pricey! And then I thought of using these sushi dishes. I purchased them in Montreal's Chinatown for about $3 each.

4. Useful little cups:

There are the matching saki cups. I use them for q-tips and cotton pads.

5. The light fixture:

This is the best find yet! I rented a dumpster to empty out the shed- which was a hoarder's paradise. I looked through a box and found some of our home's original light fixtures. Again, it was gold and I sprayed it black. My husband and I love chandelier medallions. This one is so pretty and simple. 

6. The Kleenex box:

This was an original feature of the bathroom and we kept it. It was the only thing that made it back into the bathroom. Again, I sprayed it black.

7. The sconce:

From a friend's renovation. Also, sprayed black.  A black spray can is like a little black dress. Always have one on hand:)

 8. Towel storage basket:

This black leather basket holds the extra towels. It was purchase at Home Sense for $20.

9. The storage cabinet:

Purchased at Home Sense for $100. The drawers are actually clear but I didn't like that the mess was visible (visible in the next image). So I purchased some dressy paper, cut it to size and slipped it behind the glass. Much prettier.

10. The mirrors:

The mirrors are from a store called Zone located on St. Denis boul. in Montreal. They were pricey $150 each. But they make the room shine!

Also, many have asked about the wall color. It's called Silver Strand from Behr. The ceiling and trim is painted Little Dipper from Behr.


Check out a previous post about the larger bathroom items (sinks, tub, tile, etc.).

Please don't hesitate to comment and ask questions!


Smiles,
Nancy

Mainfloor Bathroon Reveal!

THE REVEAL!!!

The sconce was a generous gift from friends who renovated their home and were kind enough to give into my pleas for their light fixtures. It was originally gold in color and I sprayed it black.

This was an original feature of the bathroom and we kept it. It was the only thing that made it back into the bathroom. Again, I sprayed it black.

Black leather basket used to keep some extra towels on hand. I drape the towels over the tub instead of having a towel rack.

The inlay that took sooo long to complete!

Now, in case you forgot how the original bathroom looked, here it is:

See previous posts about this transformation:
Goodbye pink bathroom
Inspiration and choices
Hard at work


I uploaded this transformation to DIY network's rate my space and I currently have a 4.3/5. Not too bad:)


Also, I received an email from DIY network and they might feature a short segment on my bathroom transformation!!!! Super excited!!!


Nancy


Linking to:

Mainfloor Bathroom Renovation: hard at work!

Once all our shopping and demolition was done, we got to work rebuilding the bathroom. This took us, no joke, almost 5 months. We worked on it mainly on weekends and also during the Christmas holidays (on Christmas eve, day and new years eve and day we worked on the bathroom!).   


Regarding design and layout there were many changes. We removed a linen closet from the hallway and a bedroom closet to expand the bathroom. We installed a separate shower and bathtub, heated floors under the marble tiles, double pedestal sinks, and much more.


Here are some of the steps we took: 

Cement board was placed on the floor- better than plywood for a bathroom because it's mold resistant.
Click here for detailed installation instructions.

Then the gyprock (plasterboard- walls) was installed and the moldings followed by plaster work. In a bathroom use mold resistant gyp since there is a lot of moisture. Click here for gyp installation instructions and see this site for plastering tips.

Hard at work sanding the plaster. Notice the forced smile:)

We went with the Schluter Shower System, which was actually very easy for DIYers. Very important to properly prepare your shower since it is exposed to water.

Tiling the shower. If you are using natural stone you'll need to rent a wet saw. We rented it at Home Depot.

A thin coat of thinset should be placed over the heated floor wires.

Notice my pants-I'm just a tad bit messy when tiling the floor:)
The location of the inset is key. In our case, it needed to be lined up with the door and not the center of the room. It honestly took me almost two hours before I placed the first tile since the room isn't square and the inlay isn't centered in the room. Tony kept saying "Please, just lay the damn tile!" 
Tip: use thinset that is the same color as the grout that you intend to use. In case it seeps between the tile it won't show once grouted.

 

Here is a list of what we did:

Demolition, framing, soundproofing (Roxul and resilient channels) putting up gyp and concrete board, Schluder shower system, wall and crown moldings, installation of heated floor, tiling the floor and shower, painting, made the wallpaper art, sealed the tiles, and all the other little stuff! 

 What we didn't do was plumbing and electrical- these are best left to the professionals.

Next blog- the reveal!

Nancy

Renovation tips: part 1

Tony and I have learned a lot along the way- some information we wish we knew when we first started renovating.
We'd like to share this information with all renovators out there. I must warn you that none of this is fun nor pretty. Sorry!


Tip 1: Get a dumpster for demolition
If you plan on doing significant renovations (removing walls, floors, cabinets, etc) you should definitely get a dumpster. For our first renovation project we underestimated how much trash we would make renovating a 6'x7' bathroom. Since then we've been renting dumpsters on a regular basis. There are various sizes of dumpsters and the price between the different sizes isn't very significant so it's better to get a little bigger rather than smaller. 
** You don't have to throw everything in the trash. Remember that one person's trash is another person's treasure. See if you can sell light fixtures, cabinets, appliances, etc. on sites like craigslist or kijiji. What I usually do is simply leave things on my lawn with a sign saying "Please take and enjoy!". They're usually gone within a few hours.
I rent my dumpsters from Conteneurs Rouville

Tip 2: Wear protective gear
When demoing and rebuilding it is crucial that you wear protective gear. This means steel-toe shoes or boots, dust masks (if your house has the possibility of asbestos in the walls or floors who should use a respirator instead of a mask), gloves, long sleeves and pants, not shorts.
A little story: when I was demoing my downstairs kitchen (my house was a two-kitchen home) I stepped on a huge old nail sticking out from a piece of wood. I was wearing runners and the nail went right into my foot. I then spent hours at the hospital, one week out of work and off my feet- not to mention the PAIN!!!!
The next day Tony bought me a pair of pink steel-toe shoes and a pink tool belt:)


Tip 3: Be gentle
Don't go crazy with a sledgehammer or a crowbar. When demoing be gentle and careful. Turn off the power and locate where you think water lines pass. Start by cutting out a piece of the wall and then work out from there so that you can see what's behind the walls.

Tip 4: Seal off the renovation zone
No matter what you do, every nook and crevice of your house will get dusty, very dusty! However, you do want to try to control this as much as humanly possible. If there is a door in the room close it and tape the edges. If there's no door, close off the renovation zone with plastic wrap (available at home improvement stores). I find the cleaning to be the most discouraging part of renovating.

Tip 5: Insulate exterior walls
We've learned to get into the habit of insulating any exterior walls that become exposed during renovations. We use polyurethane foam insulation because the R-value per inch is higher than fiberglass or rigid foam sheet insulation and it provides a complete thermal seal. It is a little more expensive but it's worth it.
If you plan to redo the brick on the exterior of your house then you can insulate the entire house from the exterior. This is a very expensive option so if the exterior of your home doesn't need to be redone, insulating from the inside is your best bet.


Why all this fuss with insulation? In Montreal, and I'm sure many other areas, many older homes (before the mid-1970s) are actually not insulated. By insulating you will greatly decrease your heating costs in the winter and your cooling costs in the summer. My personal experience is that the rooms I've had insulated with spray foam barely need to be heated in our horribly cold winter's.


Here are some suggested sites relating to polyurethane spray foam insulation
Spray Foam Insulation- The Intelligent Choice YouTube video showing the spray foam insulation process
Why is Polyurethane Foam so effective? Explains the benefits of spray foam
Spray foams insulation Wikipedia article explaining spray foam.

Insulating our main-floor bathroom

I been using Isolation Rolland Belise to spray foam my home.

Tip 6: Soundproofing
Another thing we've learned to include in our renovations is soundproofing. Above my main floor bathroom is my tenants bathroom which has their washer and dryer. Before soundproofing the room we used to hear the washing machine running and we also heard the vibrations of the machines.
To soundproof we used was Roxsul Safe and Sound which is also fire rated. This is installed between the joists so as to muffle sound. Also, we used resistant channels to hang the gyp rock. The reason being that a great deal of sound is actually impact (walking, dropping things, etc.). The impact sounds travel through the wood to the screws and past the gyp rock. With resistant channels the gyp is suspended and therefore the sound doesn't travel.
Soundproofing, especially in a revenue home such as ours, provides more comfort for both us and the tenants. They don't have to walk on eggshells and we don't have to hear them. We both win!


Here are some suggested sites relating to soundproofing with Roxul Safe and Sound and resilient channels
Cool Tools Looks at Roxul Youtube video looks at how effective it is for fire rating
Income Property- Fire and Soundproofing Youtube video briefly shows how to install Roxul
Roxul Installation instructions Roxul website instructions
How to install resilient channels Instructions for installing resilient channels


Roxul is available at most home improvement centers.
Resilient channels are available at Home Depot (haven't seen them at Rona or Reno)


*** The companies listed above are the one's that I've used and that I feel provided a great service. I am not receiving any compensation for this.

Smiles,
Nancy

Doilies reinterpreted

Doilies were prized possessions in my mothers home. She is from the Azores and women there would (pr-1960s) make these by hand  and sell them to earn some money. At my mother's house we had them placed on all the tables and consoles. When I got married I inherited some of these little beauties but I honestly can't see myself placing them on tables.

So for years they've been in a drawer in my dinning room, which is a total shame. Last week I decide to create a wall art piece that would show off some of my dollies.

Pretty doilies make great wall art.

How to do this:


1. I purchased a 30"x40" framed canvas at Omer Deserre (any other art store should also sell these) for $15.

2. I purchase 1.5 meters of fabric (I picked a royal blue fabric)

3. Lay the frame down on the fabric and cut the fabric so that it raps around the frame by about 2 inches on each side. At this point iron your fabric.

4. Staple the fabric tightly around the frame. Remember to fold the corners as you would a gift to minimize bunching.

5. Decide on the pacement of your doilies and pin them in place.

6. Using a needle and threat the same color as your doilies sew the edges of the doilies in place. This takes a little bit of patience.

Looks like snowflakes, don't they?

My doilies are now sitting pretty in our home office. Haven't made up my mind if I should hang it vertically or horizontally.

Smiles,
Nancy


This project was included in the DIY project parade features on DIY Showoff. Thanks!


Linking to:

Goodbye pink bathroom: renovating our mainfloor bathroom

Last week I blogged about our first renovation project in 2007 which was the basement bathroom. We waited 3 years before we decided to jump into renovating our main floor bathroom. We knew the cost would be sky high and the work would be crazy!

Let me first show you what the bathroom looked like:

Could there be any more pink in this room???

I am very well aware of the Save the Pink Bathroom movement and after seeing the site I actually, to my husbands horror, thought of how I could make it work. Also, the historian in me felt that the 1960s bathroom belonged in a museum and that it would be a shame to get rid of it. BUT, it was in such bad condition that it was honestly gross! It looks a lot better in the pictures. There was sooo much mold in the grout of the walls and floors. There were silver fish (humidity bugs) crawling in the flooring (nasty!). The cabinetry was falling apart. The tub was permanently dirty. And much of the plumbing needed to be changed. So the demolition began in October 2010.


The night before the demo, dressed in my most 1960s inspired outfit with my pets in hand, I enjoyed posing in my Mamie Pink bathroom.

 

And two days later it looked like this:

And so the rebuilding process began. Notice my forced smile- this is heavy work! But luckily I have my pink steel-toe construction shoes to keep me stylish. It took us almost 5 months to put it back together. 

Check back soon as I describe the rebuilding process.

Nancy

Backyard relaxation

Deciding what to do with our backyard has not been easy. Every year we add a piece to the puzzle- which I believe is almost finished.

When we bought the house in July 2007, the entire yard was used as a garden. This is very common in St. Leonard. Many residents are of Italian origin and their yards are filled with tomato and zucchini plants. 

In May of 2008 we had an extension added onto the basement which also doubled as the balcony outside the kitchen. We really wanted a space for a dinning area outside the kitchen so this balcony was the perfect solution (initially there was only a staircase leading down to the yard). Also, Tony desperately wanted a wine cellar so the basement extension became the wine cellar. 

Digging the extension

All dug up. The window on the left became the entrance into the extension.

Men hard at work!

Almost done. The opening in the brick wall on the left was a very narrow exit door from the basement. Tony jokingly call it the door for the chickens- implying that only chickens could fit through the door.

All done. This image was taken this year but you can see the result. The size is 12'x14'.

We spent the summer of 2008 enjoying the balcony but we did nothing, and I mean nothing, to the yard. So it looked kind of like this:

This is not my yard but this is what it looked like. It was overgrown and crazy. My poor neighbors!

Then during the summer of 2009 we graded (sloped) the soil and laid sod. The grading was torture! The ground was so heavy and compacted after the construction of the extension. We (Tony, myself, my friend Vanessa, and a few poor souls who unsuspectingly passed by for a visit) used shovels and buckets and carried the soil to a dumpster we rented for the project located at the front of the house. I can't even begin to tell you the pain I felt after three days of shoveling and carrying buckets of heavy clay-like soil! 

After the pain and agony of grading the soil, we finally laid sod. Here was the end result:

Tony hard at work tilling the soil.

Two of the three gardening plots.  Each plot was separated by a strip of grass to allow us to work in the garden without stepping in the dirt. (My neighbor was building a shed- that's the wood structure across the fence)

The third gardening plot. The tree is actually a fig tree.

Me enjoying the view of the yard.

Over the course of the summers of 2009 and 2010 we realized that the three garden plots were too much for us handle. We aren't quite the gardeners we thought we were. Oh, well.


So this year we cut back on one plot and we bought a.....

SPA! Oh, ya baby! 

This is where I spend my mornings, afternoons, evenings and nights. It's amazing I get anything done at all! Just kidding:)

I grew up with an in-ground pool and really missed having a relaxation space in my yard. Because we don't have the space for a decent size pool we decided on a spa. After months of research we decided to purchase a Beachcomber hot tub. Beachcombers are made in Canada and are ideal for Canadian climates. They have, as far as I can tell from my research, the best insulation which will minimize the costs in the winter- we plan on using it all winter long. We also felt they were the most comfortable and loved the fact that you can choose different types of jets- I don't like the strong pointed jets, I actually find them painful.

We went with the 360 model. Considering it's mainly  Tony and I, we didn't think it was necessary to break the bank for the more expensive models.

If you're looking for a spa I strongly recommend this consumer review site. 

Do you have an outdoor relaxation spa, pool or anything else? If so, I'd love to hear about it.

Well, I'm getting into the spa so we'll chat soon,
Nancy