the boy's bathroom

I mentioned in a previous post that I like to show the entire storyline of a project. I give the good, the bad and the ugly. Be prepared for a whole lot of ugly. I consider it all part of the journey in buying and renovating an old home.

You have to have very realistic expectations with older homes. We were lucky with our home in that the stonework on the outside was drop-dead gorgeous. We also had the original woddwork throughout. But that is about where the fairytale ended. Inside, everything was ugly, ugly, ugly. The new home people have an easier job with before and afters. A little bit of paint, and they are good to go.

Old homes? We require months of plaster, electrical, painting, staining, screaming, praying, etc. But the finished product is hopefully worth the work. And we get a bigger sense of pride in a job well done, right?

(This is what we tell ourselves so we don't give up, curl into a little ball and cry.)

Like I said before, get ready for a whole lot of ugly...

The upstairs bathroom is shared by the three oldest boys. The youngest is still taking baths in our bathroom, but the rest like showers. For awhile, we ignored the ugliness of the bathroom. As long as it was functioning, it was not a high priority project.

Now?

Houston... we have a problem...

The bathroom is having some plumbing issues. Somewhere, water was leaking down into the kitchen ceiling. (The previous owners, instead of fixing the issue, drywalled over the damaged plaster in the kitchen). The water was coming through the ceiling and down our cabinets. Not good. We had to act now before we were facing un-repairable damage.

Let's take a short tour...

Behind this door lurks something scary...


Opening the door...

A rusty medicine cabinet. Burgundy-mauve sink.


A matching tub...

Floor to ceiling tile, complete with roses! Just what boys really like!
And a poorly constructed linen closet.

The only part I like is the old-school shower rod that hangs from the ceiling.

This room has officially been tore out. Gutted. Steven began work on the plumbing this week and has found some very serious issues. Of course, the project is not as simple as we hoped it would be. He has to remove a great deal of old corroded plumbing.

And I should add that I underestimated how fun it would be to share my bathroom with 4 little boys. Yuck.

The boys, however, are excited about their new bathroom project. Everything has been purchased and is awaiting installation... once Daddy gets all that plumbing figured out. We are prepared to hear a lot of colorful language over the next week. Yikes!

fireplace re-do part six: the problem with the sconces

I am happy to report that the work is closing on the fireplace re-do. Steven has finished painting the wood. He is getting ready to clean up the bricks & mortar, which entails a lot of quality time with a grinder and flap wheel. Once that is all smoothed out, he can prime and paint to match the wood. After that, just staining remains.

He finished the wiring, added outlets for electrical, cable and HDMI, as well as installing the sconces.

The sconces... ugh. Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE the sconces. They look rather lovely here:

The troubles don't start until we light them up... Don't see the problem?


How about a close up? Right one:


Left one:

Apparently, some of the sconces have flowers etched into the globe, and some don't. I didn't realize this when I bought them. The problem is, I got them from IKEA when I was on a project in Sacramento. My assignment now is no where near an IKEA. The closest one to my house is in Chicago. (I live in Kansas).

Yeah. We are kind of hosed. If anyone is going to IKEA and could pick up another sconce (with the floral etched shade), I would be happy to Paypal you!!!

Until then, we have mismatched sconces, which is sort of a bummer.

fireplace re-do part five: TV cubby and cabinet doors

The construction phase of the living room is complete! Now we have a ton of sanding, painting, staining and wiring. (With just a smidge of plaster and trim repair).

We put the TV in for a test fit, and I couldn't resist snapping a picture... Sorry the lamp is blocking the right-hand side. It is chaos now, trying to keep the new furniture from being covered in sawdust and paint. The TV fits snug as a bug:

We used a tilting mount bracket for the flat panel TV, so we can fine-tune the viewing angle later on. It really is a big fireplace -- look how it dwarfs that step ladder!

Also, the doors were built and installed on the cabinets. (Note that the ice box latches have not been installed yet. We were just fitting everything up. We have to take them off anyway to paint).
Since the doors don't have a solid center to keep them sturdy, we will need to work a bit harder to keep our doors square. Even just the added weight of the paint can send them crooked. We will be installed some magnets to help, but we expect that we might need to make minor adjustments in the future. We are willing to accept the trade-off since we want remotes to work for the components we will store inside.

About that screen material... I have gotten a few questions about the metal material on the doors. The pieces are flat aluminum panels -- they are sold in varying sizes but plan to cut them down dor a custom look. I bought them at Home Depot, they are sold at a few places online. (Google: Steelmaster aluminum sheets.) We picked the pattern called "Lincane" since it looks like old speaker grill. They have a few other really nice patterns as well. We chose black, but it also comes in brass and nickel.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xjl/R-100249610/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Here is an inside shot of a door. The doors are simply mitered 1 x 2s.

I picked up a sample of the new wall color today. It's one of the new Martha Stewart colors at Home Depot. I can't wait to check out the quality of the paint. Added bonus: it's low-VOC paint!

fireplace re-do part four: the chunky mantel

I couldn't help myself... I just had to see what the shelves and fireplace would look like with some paint. So, after taping the shelves (they will be stained), we slapped a coat of Kilz primer and two coats of Benjamin Moore's "Collection's Item" on the record shelves. The color is a bit more creamy than the picture shows. More like the back of the cabinet color. I really like the color and am eager to see the project done!

In the last post, you saw the framing go up. Next the OSB went up:


And then tongue-and-groove pine planks. With the custom cabinets and shelves, the tongue-and-groove is a bit dressier than sheets of beadboard paneling. I can't afford to do a whole room in it, but just a fireplace is within the budget:



For a finishing touch, we chose 1x2s to cover the seams all the way around:


The mantel is much more chunky now! More layers of molding were added until we got the beefcake look that we wanted:

And here is where we are at now:

Next up, cabinet doors, finishing the TV built-in, pointing the grout and paint-a-rama.

fireplace re-do part three: record shelves

Some bloggers chose to reveal the project at the very end with a big TA - DA!!! But because we believe in DIY and showing how you can tackle things, I like to show incremental progress.

That said, here is where the living room fireplace is now:


The record cases are installed on top of the cabinet. (Each shelf holds 150 records, times 12 shelves.) The mantel work has begun. And the framing for the chimney is started. (The rectangle in the middle is where the TV will go).

We had theorized that the beams looked like they were detaching from the ceiling... this proved to be true. The beams were reattached and a few missing trim pieces will be replaced:


The top of the record case will be trimmed out a bit. The top was notched out to accomodate our existing crown molding. This will look so nice when finished out. I decided to stain all the shelves and paint the rest:

Here is the beginning of the mantel. This mantel is being built up in layers with different decorative molding pieces. It has a ways to go, but I think it will look great when done. It will actually get a few more layers. I decided a big chunky mantel was needed since the chimney was so tall. A small mantel wouldn't have stood out:

Next up, making the cabinet doors. We will be using 1 x 2s and some decorative metal sheets. Instead of knobs, I ordered ice box latches for a period look.

The top of the chimney will be covered in planks, TV bracket installed, wiring ran, sconces installed, wood filling, sanding, painting, etc etc etc...

Stay tuned...

fireplace re-do part two: custom cabinets

For the fireplace, I know vaguely what I want... Cabinets to store components in, as well as board games and such. Shelves that go all the way to the ceiling for our record collection. Cleaning up and painting the brickwork. Creating a mantle. Boxing in the chimney with planks, and creating a built-in for the flat panel TV.

I didn't do any detailed drawings. I wasn't sure how the angles and lines would come together... so we are flying by the seat of our pants on this one.

This is the space for the cabinet and shelves:

Yesterday, the cabinet was built. Stock cabinets at the hardware store didn't have the right dimensions, and we didn't want to have to cobble something together. Custom was the only way to go, in this case. My requirements were simple -- it couldn't have a toekick, because early cabinets went straight to the floor without a kick space. It needed to include two functional vents (just like we did in Bowie's room), since there was an existing vent there.

So here is what we have so far: (Obviously, doors are yet to come).

To make the shelves a bit chunkier, decorative molding was added:

I really am a sucker for a mitered corner. The counter of the cabinet wraps around into the fireplace. It makes for a nice finishing touch:

I ordered icebox latches for the doors. Also, the doors will not be solid wood. Since we are using the space for components and will want the remotes to work, I chose decorative metal screens for the centers of the doors.

I plan on painting the cabinet the same color as the fireplace bricks and staining the counter top to much the trim in living room.

Pottery Barn tables... for half the price!

With the fireplace work in full swing, demo and dust everywhere... it is the perfect time to buy furniture, right?

Let's just say I get a little impatient.

I am on the look out for accent chairs -- preferably in the pink persuasion... But am still honing in. Our new Chloe sofas should be arriving this weekend. But what I really wanted to share with you is another bargain find!

This is the "Rhys Side Table" from Pottery Barn, for $399:



I ordered the "Norwich Two Drawer Side Table" from Overstock for $182.99:

Two tables for the price of one? Hells yeah! Also, Overstock has knock offs of the media, console and coffee tables. After assembling them, and having to move them around, Steven can assure you they are heavy duty! Very heavy. After studying the ones at PB and these, the only difference I see if the little label holder on the PB ones. And you can pick up label holders for a couple bucks online.

fireplace re-do part one

We are all about child labor here at the Cottage of Stone. When you find adult contractors that will work for milk and cookies, let us know!

Seriously, our kids actually ask to help out on our house projects, so we try to include them whenever we can. Because Bowie's room and the dining room are half-way done, I felt it was a logical time to start tearing apart the living room again. (What!?!) I don't know... I just get brilliant ideas that don't always follow a great timeline...

Since Bowie (and his crib, toys, chairs, etc) will be vacating the living room soon, I wanted to take the opportunity to get the living room presentable. Nothing like having to apologize to guests every time someone new comes over. (Sorry about the mess, we are renovating every single room in our house at the same time!!!)

We knew that we wanted to put shelves in the living room to organize our large vinyl record collection. And the fireplace has been sitting half-way demoed for over a year. So it was time to kick it in gear again.

Here is what we started with:


I never understood why they put up the ugly paneled wall. So much space wasted. And I do not miss the lighthouse wallpaper!

Pulling out the boxed-in wall and cheap-o mantel (we put it for free on Craigslist) and some paint left us with this:


I am not a fan of the brass doors. So out they came:


Looking better, but we are not even close yet...


Cleaning out the ashes and grates revealed a neat trapdoor in the fireplace. This dumps down to the massive clean-out in the basement.


We wanted to salvage the granite and donate it to Habitat ReStore, but it wouldn't come off in one piece. Steven had to pry it off in pieces.


Emery helped Steven remove the side pieces.


I think even this is a massive improvement!


Next comes up the floor piece. Steven used a prybar...


While I used a hammer to break it up...


Which left us with this:


Which will lead to some of this:

Stay tuned!

construction is complete in Bowie's room...

View from Bowie's window

Springtime is here at the Cottage of Stone, and more items are getting crossed off Steven's honey-do list. (Of course, new ones are being added daily!) Great progress has been made in Bowie's room since the last update. In fact, construction has been completed! While there is a long list of things remaining to be done in his room, the walls and ceiling are finished!

Let's take a tour!


When asked what his favorite thing in his room was, Bowie said, "Mine!" I think he means he loves it all. But he did point up and say, "Shelf!" when asked again. I think the shelf really made the room. Really, it is part of the old ceiling framing that we kept in place. (It shows how much we raised the ceiling!) We added an outlet on top of the shelf that will be used for lighting.


This is the closet we kept. It is a very large closet, so Bowie will have plenty of room for his ever-expanding wardrobe.


A peak at the ceiling above his shelf. I love the beam work. I think it will look even better after we paint!

Bowie's second favorite thing is the bookcase wall. He already likes to arrange his toys on the shelves. I like that these will grow along with him, giving him space for books and such later on.


The yellow cable hanging down is the electrical for his gyro ceiling fan. I am ordering the sloped ceiling adapter and longer downrod this week. And Steven has some thinking to do on how he plans to hide the modern control unit. We feel it would ruin the look of the room and want to rely on the pushbutton switches for the lighting in the room.


And another shot of the view from Bowie's window. I didn't Photoshop or retouch this photo at all. I guess it was the natural lighting (2:00 here) that gave it the dreamy pastel tones. So pretty.