1/2 Bath Makeover.

When we built our little cottage in the big woods a

few years ago, we felt our 1/2 bath had no personality.

With high ceilings and wood floors, it felt like it was

just a cold, noisy and uninviting room. It had to change.

We spent a lot of time looking at other 1/2 baths to find

some inspiration. One day, we came across a photo of

a 1/2 bath in the U.K. in a tiny little "chocolate box"

cottage and that was it! We finally had some great ideas.

To make this small room seem less tall and more cozy,

we found a beautiful wallpaper that took forever to arrive.

But the wait was worth it. Then we experimented with

board and batten in our lower level. Another revelation!

Last week, with the weather turning to cold and snow,

we got the wallpaper up, the taping done, the cabinet out,

and drop cloths to protect the wood floors. Painted the

lower walls a soft white, then it was time to measure it all.

We installed the board and batten, then added another

coat of paint. Re~painted the sink cabinet, installed the

hardward and put the plumbing back. Took out the tape,

washed the floor and it was all finally done. Well, almost.

We still need to put some trim on top of the long top

boards and hang some lovely art work on the walls. We

are so in love with this little room now. It's warm and so

inviting. It's almost time to have guests over for dinner!

What do you think of our little 1/2 bath makeover?

~ Chy

Pretty Windows.

I love pretty windows. Today, our our

bedroom windows, the oval ones. we can

see light snow falling from the dark sky.

Ugh. It was so sunny and warm yesterday!

This popped up on my feed this morning.

I've tucked it away for future reference if

we get to build again down the road. For

now, survival is all that's on our mind. But

I think it's okay to keep hope in our hearts

and how I do that is a bit of dreaming here

and there. I dream of a claw foot tub and

that window is amazing to showcase this

sweet bath. If we end up staying here down

the road we might reno our bathroom. Ideas!

~ Chy

JPC #20: Bathroom.

A quiet serene spot in our house.
Perfect for long, hot, bubbly baths.

Bathroom Chatter!

Hi everyone!

More decisions are on our plate this week. Last night, we finalized the roof selection (twilight grey) with our builder and today he is sourcing out the siding quotes as we have 2 different options: vinyl or hardie plank. We know the latter is more expensive but we don't know at this point by how much and he didn't either, so we wait for a number from him before we decide. Right now, in terms of color, we're stuck on either a dark sage green, a heritage blue or a butter yellow. That one is taking some time and many great debates! Our trim will be white, the roof dark grey, the shutters black, the front door black, the windows white and the stone grey/black. If only we could figure out the siding color! We're almost done picking out the flooring and the wood trim work going inside as well as outside the house is pretty easy to select now.

Today, it's time to talk about the bathroom. Bathroom chatter, shall we say? Our plan calls for a bathtub, tucked under the window, with a lovely arch above the unit. A row or two of ceramic tiles to match the floor, kind of like what you see below. To the left of the tub will be a one unit shower for two, acrylic, with ceramic tile at the top and a glass door. We were worried it would be too dark, even with a pot light, so our builder found another solution and we're waiting for a quote.

This unit is all one piece and the 2 sides of the shower would be ceramic tile all the way to the ceiling, with glass on the front and the side that separates the tub from the shower. The tub would then have ceramic tile like the one above. A bit more "spa like" than the first option, which means it will be a bit more costly than the first. We have a new bathroom that is all tile and really like the look and the "spa like" feel that we currently enjoy. But this would be an upgrade, so a cost we need to consider.

It would look like this. A bit lighter as we have a nice big window above the tub. But the shower wouldn't be so dark. I like it but still not my favorite.

Here's what we've talked about many times over the years. A claw foot tub! We would still have the separate shower, like in the first option. I'm quite willing to suck up my concern about the shower being dark if I can have this baby. We would get a credit for the original tub and then we could buy this unit. Fits in our budget nicely. The only change is we'd need more ceramic tile to go up the walls so there is adequate coverage of tiling for water drips. But so worth the extra dollars to have our bathroom look more authentic to the Victorian style. 

So that's my bathroom chatter for the day. Hopefully, we'll have some numbers to work with later so we can make these decisions quickly. Then it's on to cabinets and paint colors. It's all coming together. Now we just need fall to hold off for a while so the build can be done and we can move before the snow flies!

Have you ever moved in 

the winter months with snow?