What Ana Does

This one is on me. I went to Home Depot months ago and found the Metro Gris tile I feel in love with. It was shiny and blue/grey/black. Just perfect and lovely. And the right price. I built the entire color scheme of the room around this floor tile. All of it. Weeks later, I went on the Home Depot website and filled up my cart, double-triple checked everything, and hit BUY. Glossy in Front, Matte in Back Now, even more weeks later, the tile has arrive in the back of a huge semi truck on a palette and .... it's not the same as the tile sample I brought home from Home Depot all those months ago. *GASP!* I got these one: Metro Gris Glazed Porcelain Tile . I meant to get this one:  Metro Gris Glossy Ceramic Tile . But here's the thing: I think the mistake ACTUALLY is the better tile. First, it's obviously the same shade, "metro gris," so my room's color story is not in peril. It's pretty much the same. Also, the porcelain tile is proba...

Updating the first floor powder room, across from the laundry room, was definitely on my task list for this Spring. Mostly, replacing the single-basin vanity with a cabinet vanity. And maybe some tile. BUT ... as things go, we ran out of budget to buy a new vanity. (Maybe next year?) Nevertheless, I wanted to jazz it this week but stay on a very tight budget -- $100 max . I was thinking a new rug, light fixture and some kind of colorful statement. It all started at Target ... I walked past this leafy green peel-and-stick wallpaper ( Devine Tropical Wallpaper ) a few times before I tossed it into the cart. It's a statement for sure and on budget at $30. But would it work? First , I was very frustrated the last time I did this removable wallpaper installation ( see that post ). Second , but I totally loved it after it was all done. Third , I didn't think it would match the wall color, thus forcing me to paint that powder room -- as much as I love painting rooms, paintin...

As is tradition, Bruce comes to the bus stop every morning to drop off the girls. He's still figuring out how to walk on a leash and that it's OK to pee outside. House-training is 100% underway. But it's going to take some time.  Rest assured, he takes a very long nap after we're home.

Now that demo is underway, here's the BIG plan for the room ... I've tried to keep most of the plumbing in the same place, which saves on cost and time. There are two pipes that need to move: the right sink and the bathtub. This doesn't show the closet, which is getting new paint, consistent flooring and LED lights. I created a budget, with price estimates on all the items that we need to purchase and a total. And I'm also keeping track of actual costs, and trying to keep under that estimate total. So far, I'm sticking to it. I splurged on a few things, like the sink faucets, but most things I got on sale or for a good price. The vanities were 50% off and the light fixtures were under $30/each! Fingers crossed we stay on time AND on budget.  Related links: Follow the whole Master Bathroom transformation

Here we go ... Day 1 focused on the vanities and the trim. The demo continued for a week, as Mick (our contractor) pulled out all the builder-grade junk and rebuilt the plumbing and added space for the shower.    Look at That NEW Tub! Our future shower ...  The week went quickly and with lots of I'm still shopping ... tile, some missing faucets, and wall color.

I might be more sensitive to color than other people. I can look at a stack of white paint chips and see differences, while David just sees WHITE. Because of this, I'm pretty good when it comes to choosing wall colors. Plus, I've got a lot of experience painting rooms. (As you know.) When it comes to my master bathroom walls, I've got an idea of what I want. With grey vanities, blueish grey floor tile and lots of white subway tile, I want the walls to be white with just a bit of blue/grey, too. I picked up a hundred chips at the Home Depot and I'm starting to dig into the possibilities ... (Your computer screen might show the colors a little differently than I see them in real life.) I've got the floor and wall tile behind all the colors, and the black light fixture, too. I started by laying out each chip to see how they "read." The too beige-y or too purples were dismissed. As well as anything too dark. Which left me with what you see in the phot...

Today is  DAY 1 on the master bathroom remodel and I am READY for it! Well, I'm mentally ready. I still have to clear out our closet, choose a wall color, pickup the wall sconces, etc. I have a list. So, in honor of the beginning, I'm sharing the yucky BEFORE pictures I took when the sun was finally out (it's been that kind of Spring around here). View From the Tub -- What Is In That Corner??  Shower and Water Closet Corner Tub That We Never Use Little Linen Closet Of course you notice the obvious -- it's super ugly, crappy finishes, and beige. Right there we have reason to rip it all out. The plastic tile flooring and vanity lights are high on my "Most Annoying Thing Ever" list. The carpet tile was my way to get some style and color into the room. Then there's the vanities that are just big cabinet, no good organization possible. Two teeny drawers and a large cave-like opening where things go to get lost. The tub, which makes...

Early on, I decided I'd prefer to have "his and her" vanities in the remodeled master bathroom. Let's just say, one of us is messier than the other and having this separation is good for the marriage. OK? After investing a whole lotta time looking at all the sites and shops (I'd go down hour-long wormholes of vanities), I selected this vanity from Home Depot ( here's the link ). I got to see it in the store, which is a bonus, and liked the look and feel. Plus, look at all those drawers!!! Storage galore! When I found it, it was priced on sale for less than $700, which was well within my budget. So I thought I was done ... But the day I went to purchase all the items for the master bathroom, it was OUT OF STOCK! When you see "Out of Stock" you just have no idea when it will be back in stock, so I was back to square one. Since I was buying a whole lotta other stuff from Home Depot, I continues combing through their website and found this charm...

While upgrading the girls' bedroom with paint and a few furniture swaps, we fixed up their walk-in closets, too. How? We changed the bifold doors to French doors!  Why? The bifold mechanism kept falling off the track and it was incredibly frustrating. In fact, I pulled off Alice's doors after several failed attempts to get it back on the track. And not too gently, if you know what I mean. 😡 No Mortise Hinge To change them into French doors, I read a few DIYs on Pinterest and tried two different hinge solutions. Spoiler: The no-mortise hinge worked the best. The Bifold to French Door How-To: Before taking the doors down, I made pencil marks on the door frame and the door at the same height. This was so when the door went back on, it would be at the right spot. I detached the door from the frame and track then removed all the hardware, including separating the doors. (Bye-bye bifold!) I did a quick paint job and added a second hole for the other door pull. While t...

In the spirit of changing up the way we live in this house since being in Paris, we decided to hang the TV above the fireplace, thereby reorienting the entire family room. Or did we?? First, we set the TV on the mantle and moved the sofa, to test the experience. We decided the TV wasn't too high and it wasn't like we were craning our neck to watch our shows and movies. Next, we asked the electrician to add an outlet above the fireplace, so we could minimize the cords that hang down. Ideally, there would be no wires visible. Then, we hung the TV and I started to think about what we can hang around the TV. I was thinking the records we have hanging in the living room. And we stared at those wires hanging off the right. And that made us unhappy. We just couldn't figure out a way to hide that pesky coaxial cable wire! Everything else we were able to hide. And that was a dealbreaker. So until we cut the cable TV cord (which we're not ready to do yet) or when ...

Our shipment finally arrived from Paris and I'd been so excited about getting it, but also stressed about where everything was going to go once it got here. And boy was I right to be stressed. Because there is so so much stuff to find a home for. And it's spawning so many little house projects. Just a hundred things to do. Moving In ... Again We always unpack the boxes as quickly as they come in, so we don't have a mountain of boxes to deal with at the end of the day. So, a lot of things got piled on tables and the floor. Plus, I've got a puppy pen in the family room, so we're lacking some important space. Last, we have no room in our kitchen for anything. So the additional FULL kitchen of supplies that arrived drove us totally nuts. What to do with all this stuff?! Sadly, though, this puts an end (officially) to our Paris adventure. Seeing the things we used in Paris makes if feel like it's really all over. It's done. And it's making me sa...

Included on my laundry room task list is this little closet. It's behind the room's door (pulled off to paint) and once had a bifold door on it which we removed because the space was too tight. It's too dinky to be a coat closet, anyway. In the past, this closet was dedicated to our dog. We had a crate and basket of accessories, etc. And we'd like to use it for that again. I thought instead of an ugly crate, I can install a baby gate in this doorway and use that as a crate. But I wanted to make the wall a little easier to clean, and add more shelving. Here's the before ... First, after I built all those shelves for the pantry , I had all this confidence to build more. So I added two built in shelves. (I may even add more!) Then I did research on removable wallpaper, which is similar to contact paper. It's wipeable and can be a pretty accent. So I added this paper I  got from Target  to the plan. (Though, I did look at Spoonflower shop on Etsy f...

Our master bathroom is a major eyesore. Builder-grade everything, Hollywood lights, vinyl tile, etc. I'll post some updated photos soon. While we were in France, I started to planning the remodel. ( My bathroom Pinterest board here .) The remodel is an absolute priority -- so the contractor who did our basement got one of my first calls after arriving home and a start date is now set. The time is NOW to finalize the finishes and even start shopping. YIPPEEE!  After all the research here's the final shop board for our MASTER BATHROOM ... Sources Coming Soon Lots of grays and white. Lots of black fixtures. Moody and lovely! The floor tile was probably the easiest and most important, because everything starts with the floor. It's also a big expense. I went to Floor & Decor, Home Depot, and Loews and brought home a few tiles that fit my budget (under $2/sq ft). It became pretty obvious which was our favorite -- it's a moody blue-grey tile with tiny lines...

After a week with seven puppies we were sure happy to wave bye-bye to them. They were cute and cuddly but the POOP. And the barking. They were getting loud. I'm proud to say they all got adopted in just a few hours on Saturday. Including this little guy ... he's all ours! We thought he was prefect for us because he seemed the most interested in us, he almost always used the potty pads, and wasn't one of the loud aggressive guys in the pen. He also seemed thoughtful about the house. And he's just so cute! We named him BRUCE WAYNE BANNER SPRINGSTEEN and he's been doing pretty well. We've given him more freedom around the house and he's chewing just about everything. I've got a puppy book and I'm reading as much as I can. It's not easy. But we're all pitching in and hoping we can raise him right. ;) Related links: More about our dogs