...Siding Snafu...

   "Elisa, you're gonna want to come in here and see this," says Kevin, sporting a towel, fresh out of the shower. Um, okay....

  In our lovely master bathroom - the one we gutted and started over on when we moved in {see that post} - now features 2 nails coming through the gray, penny tile of our little shower cubbies... Thank you siding guys. Not only are a few tiles actually popped right out, but the grout is cracked and some surrounding tiles are chipped and scuffed up.

  We worked with a contractor to do our master bath remodel - Kevin is pretty handy, but moving plumbing, a shower from scratch, and moving walls? not so much - and when we asked him to install 2 cubbies in our new shower so we could stash shampoo, soaps and such he said "no problem." What he should have said was, "not on this exterior wall." We have now learned that there needs to be a minimum of 3 inches between, well, anything, and the outside of your house. Our cubby, set directly between the studs on the exterior wall, was no match for the 1.5" nails used by the siding guys. If they had ONLY nailed in, like 4" lower, they would have avoided our cute tile, and come in right in-between our two cubbies.

Here is what the cubbies were like before:

  So! Not necessarily the siding guys fault, but the company is paying for a tile expert to fix us up. Kevin was able to secure an additional sheet of our same tile from the Tile Shop, and a smaller bag of matching grout. I don't think its possible for us to do home projects without encountering the silliest of issues. *sigh* we're used to it I suppose...

The Cubby!

"The Cubby" is what we call the narrow little space that was created when we scooted walls around for the new master bathroom. The cubby lives right in between the bedroom and bath room space.

We've painted it gray to match the rest of the room - and here's where we are:

The Goal:
  - to be able to stash more/extra bathroom items, like towels, that we can't fit into the actual bathroom. + we'll have a spot for Kevin to stash things like belts, his wallet, and the other stuff that makes its way into his pockets throughout the day... and I'll do my best to make it kind of cute along the way...

The plan:
  - Fit and install shelving for storage.
  - would love to have a shelf set at the same height as the counter top in the bathroom to kind of serve as an extension of the bathroom space
  - I picked up a few wire baskets from IKEA in the As-Is area - from some closet storage system - would like to fit them in so that they slide out so we can better utilize the full depth of the cubby space.
  - a little light. We had an outlet included into the cubby space when the walls were going up so that we can add some kind of under-cabinet style lighting.

We'll keep you posted!

Master Bedroom Plan + Mykea = Cool

  We've been planning what we want to do with out new master bedroom. The master bath is complete (with exception of a light fixture and mirror still...), so it would be nice to move into the room soon. We are still living out of the guest room next door - it would be sweet to have a permanent bed (+ I have this new duvet that I've been waiting to use until we are for the fresh-start in the new room).

  We've selected a light gray for the walls of the bedroom (Sherwin Williams "Aloof Gray"), but recently decided that we need to choose an accent color to add some warmth. I'd been planning for all this gray and white, and according to Kevin it's going to "start feeling like a hospital" soon. And I agree - we don't want things getting too sterile and too 'cold' when we'd def prefer a cozy space. Accent of yellow? orange? green?

  So! the PLAN = sticking with some gray and white, but adding in some color and transforming furniture where we can, to make it unique and comfy - WHILE still being functional and with lots of storage!

 Bedroom To-Do List:
- Paint Walls Gray + New Accent color (the color we still need to select)
- Order new window treatments - I think we're going super simple with fabric honey-comb blinds. Maybe later we'll add a window panel - we'll see.
- Furniture: you know how much we love Ikea (yes, Ian, we ARE aware that there ARE other stores beside Ikea and Target...), we'd like to get a new bed frame and dresser, etc. and 'do stuff to them'. Spray Paint? Maybe. We'll see.
- Find a cool dresser for me - but NOT a dresser that is too matchy-match with the other furniture...
- Accessorize: artwork on walls, lighting, new duvet + we can't forget Finch's bed - perhaps he should get a new duvet too? hmmm..... I think I see ANOTHER new project looming...


  We have already purchased a big 'ole MALM dresser (the one with 6 drawers) to serve as Kevin's main dresser storage and holder of the bedroom TV. The main problem = that it's stark white. A big white rectangle.
 
  My first thought is to add some fun drawer pulls to alter the flat drawer fronts (although the drawers don't require them to open) - but then I found Mykea on a blog the other day. Mykea is a site, based in Amsterdam, that sells decorative decals SPECFICALLY to fit your Ikea furniture - beds, dressers, wardrobes, coffee tables, side tables, etc.

  Kevin and I have selected our favorite design, and we've ordered it up to fit the new dresser. Guess what? Big surprise: it's gray and white. Clouds!
This SHOULD be what it will look -  Before & After"

We will keep you posted on whether this turns out or not...

Plus! Here are some other pretty cool decal ideas from Mykea - would be great for transitioning kid's rooms.