Lots of progress!

Lots of progress at the house equals lots of work for Nicole, and a very tired Nicole....has it really been over a month since my last post?  Oh my, how embarrassing  :{  ...in any case, here's a couple of pics of the progress. 

Pendants over the sink, and hardware on the cabinets, this is starting to look like a real kitchen!

Love our new hood, and the tile blends nicely with the craftsman style of the home! 

We had to do something with these "windows" that looked into the laundry room, we kept the same footprint and added a wine rack and shelving...now for a little stain and paint!

As if the work inside the house has not been enough, I've torn out all the grass in the front and am working on putting in a native and drought tolerant garden....yesterday, our crown jewel was delivered..."Blue" our giant Blue Agave is the newest addition to our garden family, he welcomed me with a stab to the shin the drew blood, yipes!  Will be a good burglar deterrent!

De & Re Construction Continues...

Now that the hall bath is mostly finished up (still dressing it out though, so you'll have to wait for the grand finale pics) it's time to move on to the Master Bath.  I like to think of this room as one of many of the nice little surprises in this house.  In a bungalow this size, it's somewhat rare to find a second bathroom, but it was definitely on the top of our wish list while house hunting.  It's small, but functional, and makes it nice when you have to take a late night potty break! 

To keep things within the budget, we're keeping the same footprint, but gutting most everything and updating. My very favorite thing that sold me on this bathroom were the original 20's floors, and how I was so relieved to find out that they continued to run under the long cabinet that was originally in the space!  Horray! 

The joy in the bathroom continued when Steve, my contractor took out the walls in the shower and discovered another seven inches of space!  He had to rebuild the wall there anyway, so he was able to move everything back to give us a little extra space in the shower...and since we were doing that, we just decided to keep on going with the changes (while keeping the same footprint of course).  My goal in this space is to give it some drama, make it special, even though it is small.  So we decided to open up the entire front of the shower and put in an arch.  This will make it easier to get into the shower (no more squeezing through a tiny doorway) and give the room a focal point...

The shower wall pushed back another seven inches...precious space in a small bathroom!

Still working on getting the arch, well, more arch-like...I'm obsessed with it not being too circular looking....

Oh Happy Yellow!

It seems that wherever I live, I have to have a least one yellow room....I don't intentionally set out to this way, it just seems to happen.  Perhaps it is the way it makes me just smile when I walk into the room, or the way the sunlight gleams against the perfect shade of yellow walls...I am just energized when I walk into a yellow room, it makes you want to get moving, to take on the tasks of the day!  So what better room to paint a lovely yellow than our hall bath...this perfect yellow with just a very hint of orange makes me so happy, and warms up all of the white tile and beadboard, plus, yellow is always fabulous with black and white, so I couldn't resist.  What better way to wake up and take on your day?

The traditional octagon tile with black boarder is ready for grout!

Even in the evening hour this yellow just says " 'aint I pretty" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way...

Unfortunately, I'm a little backlogged in what has been happening with the house.  For the first couple of posts, I'll just have to catch you up on what's happened, and where we're at today....

A clean slate for the hall bath...well, maybe not so clean...

  

My concept for the hall bath was to make it a functional, updated space, while still keeping a bit of the same vibe it would have had when the home was built...for the shower, we're going with simple, white subway tiles...historically accurate and money-saving!  I found a nice paisley-esque listel and some shiny black band tiles to go around the shower are to give it some interest, without making it too busy. 

I really wanted to incorporate a furniture piece for the vanity...but what type?  I narrowed it down to something less than 33 inches wide, with an open base, with some sort of small storage inside, or underneath, counter height, not too expensive, and not so nice that I was going to feel bad for cutting it up and putting it in the bathroom...so I had all the specs laid out...if I could just find the piece!  Easier said than done, after weeks and weeks of searching on two coasts, reviewing Craig's list posts, ebay, I finally found it in a thrift store, it was quite an unexpected find, an old Victrola cabinet, it was just the right size, had some cute details, and at 99-bucks, I liked the price!  I plan to paint it black and top it with the free Kohler enameled cast iron sink top that my contractor graciously donated to our cause. 

After lots of searching, the perfect piece for the bath!

Luckily the guts of this old Victrola cabinet had seen better days, so I wasn't going to be destroying an antique.  The cabinet is sturdy and has a nice beaded detail around the panels.  I'm having the left side panel removed and made into another door so they'll be a small amount of storage underneath.  

Just a little grout and the shower tile will be complete

 

 

 

While the hall bath was undergoing demolition, we thought that we might as well rip out the kitchen too...there wasn't much there to begin with, which actually meant less demolition, so out it all came! 

Out came the kitchen, and my sink for doing dishes...

My contractor remarked that this was how they did dishes on the farm when he was growing up, sure saves water!

Beginning to look like a functional space

The counter top is going to extend all the way to the windows for a bar area

I designed the kitchen in the computer before we ordered everything and it's really satisfying to see it come alive.  I want the kitchen to be bright (it's in the back of the house), with a little bit of femininity, while still harking back to the Craftsman style of the home...it's a delicate balance.  Maximizing storage was also at the top of the list, as there was none before, and it is very limited in the house overall.  We'll be building a wall in the back part of the kitchen where the refrigerator used to be so that we can add a butlers pantry and give a purpose to what is an underutilized space.

Chapter 1

After weeks of thinking in my head that it would be really fun to start a blog...I actually did!  Now, just need to think of what to write...hmmm...well, I'll start out with a link to pictures of our latest project, a 1926 bungalow in Jacksonville.  Good bones, good location, reasonable price...just needed a new kitchen, new bathrooms, and some other minor repairs....and so the adventure begins!  Find pictures of our new abode here.