I am the home improvement goddess...
I have undertaken the slow task of renovating my house. I've lived here for just over 10 yrs and slowly but surely, I have begun.
Last year I redid Rach's room. She wanted an ocean... so an ocean she got. The walls are pale blue and the trim is navy blue. I took out the bifold closet door which takes up half the room when open anyways and put in a springloaded shower curtain rod and hung a shower curtain covered in fish as her closet door. The blinds are navy blue, her bedding is all shades of blue, some with dolphins and whales, some just plain. There are dolphin posters and ceramic fish and dolphins on the wall and there is dolphin everything everywhere. Its a beautiful creation.
Then the bathroom.... I do solemnly declare I will never.. ever.. ever undertake replacing a floor like this again. The lino had peeled up around the bathtub which had caused the particle board along the edge to rot. Off I go thinking I can do this... and pull up the lino... and then cut with a circular saw from the edge of the vanity to the wall. My intentions were to just go from the vanity to the tub (which does encompass the toilet) and replace that particle board and then put down new tile floor. Upon cutting the wood and having a crowbar handy to pull it up... it wasn't that easy. If I EVER find the builder of this house, I am going to rip off his arm and beat him with the bloody end. He made a squiggle with the glue but didn't spread it and then just put the particle board down so that when it expanded, it expanded in a squiggle. I would have been ok with this... I think... if he had not stapled every inch and a half.. I may have been mildly ok with that if he had gone the same fucking direction with the staples!!!! What should have taken me a couple of hours, took 3 of us 9 hrs. We made up new swear words.
So after all is said and done, caulking around tub pulled, new row of tiles above existing in the shower added, new floor in, and walls scrubbed clean I began the redecorating process.
I primed the tiles around the tub with a special tile mildew resistant primer. I then painted the tiles around the tub with melamine paint (boat paint) which had me high for days. The melamine is a beautiful navy blue. In my bathroom, there are two short walls (length of the tub basically) and two long walls - approx 20ft. The one long wall has a window, the toilet and the vanity on it, the facing wall has a towel rack and the door. The short wall above the shower tiles and the other short wall (has a built in oak medicine chest) were painted a butter yellow and then faux finished with a gold rub latex paint with sparkly bits in it... and the wall with the medicine chest, I also rubber stamped in gold, stars n moons n suns. The two longer walls were painted navy blue. Between the counter top and the window sill, I did a row of rubber stamped suns, and on the opposing wall, random stars n moons and suns. I spray painted all the fixtures (draw pulls, cupboard door handles, towel rack, toilet paper holder) gold and then spray varnished them. In the tub, there were random tiles that had very cheezy 80s flower motif on them which the embossing showed through the melamine. So with special tile paint, I rubber stamped the suns on those tiles and then heated with a blow dryer to make them "dishwasher safe". Shower curtain, bathmat and a couple of towels all with the stars moon sun motif on them, a couple of ceramic suns on the wall above the mirror... and voila, the perfect girly bathroom.
Now the kitchen... today, I just finished, after several months of opportunity and time, stripping, sanding and staining the cupboards. The dining area was done in the fall and its in various shades of olive green with a 16ft high feature wall with gold, darker olive and beige brush strokes all over it. The cupboards are a spice colour and when all finished, it should look like Nouvea Italia or something like that *laugh*.
The living room is next. Its about 300 sq feet of room with a 16 ft back wall. I know what I would like to do... finances will dictate if it will. I would like to turn that back wall again into a feature wall using venetian plaster in a coffee colour and then the rest of the room needs a coat of paint, probably in a lighter coffee colour. We'll see how that goes.
Since I've drivelled about my home improvement tasks, its now 1am and I need to shower again to get rid of the stains on my hands... it looks like I've been involved in some serious murdering *laugh*
Last year I redid Rach's room. She wanted an ocean... so an ocean she got. The walls are pale blue and the trim is navy blue. I took out the bifold closet door which takes up half the room when open anyways and put in a springloaded shower curtain rod and hung a shower curtain covered in fish as her closet door. The blinds are navy blue, her bedding is all shades of blue, some with dolphins and whales, some just plain. There are dolphin posters and ceramic fish and dolphins on the wall and there is dolphin everything everywhere. Its a beautiful creation.
Then the bathroom.... I do solemnly declare I will never.. ever.. ever undertake replacing a floor like this again. The lino had peeled up around the bathtub which had caused the particle board along the edge to rot. Off I go thinking I can do this... and pull up the lino... and then cut with a circular saw from the edge of the vanity to the wall. My intentions were to just go from the vanity to the tub (which does encompass the toilet) and replace that particle board and then put down new tile floor. Upon cutting the wood and having a crowbar handy to pull it up... it wasn't that easy. If I EVER find the builder of this house, I am going to rip off his arm and beat him with the bloody end. He made a squiggle with the glue but didn't spread it and then just put the particle board down so that when it expanded, it expanded in a squiggle. I would have been ok with this... I think... if he had not stapled every inch and a half.. I may have been mildly ok with that if he had gone the same fucking direction with the staples!!!! What should have taken me a couple of hours, took 3 of us 9 hrs. We made up new swear words.
So after all is said and done, caulking around tub pulled, new row of tiles above existing in the shower added, new floor in, and walls scrubbed clean I began the redecorating process.
I primed the tiles around the tub with a special tile mildew resistant primer. I then painted the tiles around the tub with melamine paint (boat paint) which had me high for days. The melamine is a beautiful navy blue. In my bathroom, there are two short walls (length of the tub basically) and two long walls - approx 20ft. The one long wall has a window, the toilet and the vanity on it, the facing wall has a towel rack and the door. The short wall above the shower tiles and the other short wall (has a built in oak medicine chest) were painted a butter yellow and then faux finished with a gold rub latex paint with sparkly bits in it... and the wall with the medicine chest, I also rubber stamped in gold, stars n moons n suns. The two longer walls were painted navy blue. Between the counter top and the window sill, I did a row of rubber stamped suns, and on the opposing wall, random stars n moons and suns. I spray painted all the fixtures (draw pulls, cupboard door handles, towel rack, toilet paper holder) gold and then spray varnished them. In the tub, there were random tiles that had very cheezy 80s flower motif on them which the embossing showed through the melamine. So with special tile paint, I rubber stamped the suns on those tiles and then heated with a blow dryer to make them "dishwasher safe". Shower curtain, bathmat and a couple of towels all with the stars moon sun motif on them, a couple of ceramic suns on the wall above the mirror... and voila, the perfect girly bathroom.
Now the kitchen... today, I just finished, after several months of opportunity and time, stripping, sanding and staining the cupboards. The dining area was done in the fall and its in various shades of olive green with a 16ft high feature wall with gold, darker olive and beige brush strokes all over it. The cupboards are a spice colour and when all finished, it should look like Nouvea Italia or something like that *laugh*.
The living room is next. Its about 300 sq feet of room with a 16 ft back wall. I know what I would like to do... finances will dictate if it will. I would like to turn that back wall again into a feature wall using venetian plaster in a coffee colour and then the rest of the room needs a coat of paint, probably in a lighter coffee colour. We'll see how that goes.
Since I've drivelled about my home improvement tasks, its now 1am and I need to shower again to get rid of the stains on my hands... it looks like I've been involved in some serious murdering *laugh*
posted by Kristin at 1/24/2005 01:05:00 AM
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