What Ana Does

Completely forgot to post the final bathroom pictures. We're so pleased about the way it turned out. And the room feels so much larger First, this might be the most important view. It's what I see from bed while I'm reading at night. Before it was super ugly, especially when I put paint samples up on the wall. And the terrible tile around the huge tub and all the junk we put on it. Isn't this dreamy?!  And here's the tub accent wall with the new light, ledge and the gleaming shiplap painted with water-friendly paint.   Before I forget, the paint color on the shiplap is SW Fleur de Sal and wall is SW Greek Villa . The floor is a cheap porcelain tile and this star tile is from Home Depot.  The blue tile in the shower is the one thing I would change. I love the dark blue but if I had another go, I'd pick the denim color I looked at. OR a white tile to really brighten the room.  On the other hand, I'm so glad I used the same vanity and mirror/lights. I'm so...

 Surprise! We're renovating our bathroom!  At the beginning of August, we noticed a wet seam in the ceiling of the kitchen. We assumed it had something to do with the kitchen renovation last year, so we called our contractor to come out and take a peek. Lo and behold our toilet in the primary bathroom, just above, was slowly leaking.  Gross. To sum up, we got the mold remediation guys involved, submitted a claim with our insurance company and hired our buddy General Contractor Bruce ... and now we're renovating the bathroom.  Look, in the back of my mind, while I'm falling asleep at night or while strolling through Pinterest, I have thought about what I'd do when the time came to redo that bathroom. When we moved in, it has been "updated" with grey & white matte tile and marble hex tile. But the bathtub takes up 80% of the bathroom and the tile was never sealed, so it grows dirt/mold like no tomorrow. And it's painted an offending beige and you know h...

In our master bathroom, I went from this long, crazy counter that was never organized to a small one that's all mine. So, I really spent time selecting and curating the most important things that I use and want displayed in my own little space. The Top of the Vanity I love having everything I need RIGHT THERE and it looks pretty and organized. A personal goal of mine for this remodel. And all the other bottles and things I don't want to see everyday has been tucked away in labeled bins inside the cabinet. (Yup ... I got out the label maker.) Starting from the top, going clockwise: Tom's of Maine toothpaste | bamboo toothbrush | Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleanser (use it almost every night) | Burt's Bees Night Cream (super moisturizing) | little wood clock | Beautycounter Overnight Resurfacing Peel (also almost every night) | WM Apothecary Hand Soap | jade roller (every morning to de-puff) | yellow hand towel | Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume | handmade...

Shower glass, REAL shower glass, takes time and money. Slightly more than I was expecting. And defiantly more time than I had budgeted. So, it's three weeks after the contractor wrapped up his last tasks that the glass finally got installed. I called two different companies and only one had the matte black metal channels I wanted to match the other finishes in the bathroom. And the prices were similar, as was the timelines: 3 week minimum. Who knew?! First, a little stroll down memory lane with a BEFORE picture of our dingy shower. The location of the shower didn't move one bit. Width-wise, it's about the same. But it did grow longer once that huge tub was removed. Everything in This Shower Was Plastic And You Can See the Deck of the Tub on the Right Then the construction phase, with the half walls framed out .. And finally the finished picture WITH the glorious glass! Finished Shower with Glass Walls Brighter and more modern. Hooray!  Our favorite par...

This is the type of post I really appreciate when I look at all my favorite DIY blogs. Because, you see these great renovations and wonder: "Cool! I wonder where they got that {fill in the blank}?" It's so much easier to shop what other people actually bought and installed, instead of scrolling through lists and lists of lamps and reading comments, etc. Happy shopping! Shower and Tub View The Shopping List:   Grey Floor Tile | Shower Faucet and Dial | Subway Tile | Hex Tile  |  Freestanding Bathtub | Bathtub Faucet The Vanities Wall The Shopping List:   Dove Grey Vanities | Gooseneck Vanity Lights | Round Mirrors | Black Matte Faucets | Small Clock | Toilet  (in water closet) In The Closet The Shopping List: Wall-Mounted Shoe Storage   Paint Colors: Walls are Halation from Behr , water closet is Forever Denim from Behr , and pop-of-color yellow in the linen closet is Behr's Hawaiian Pineapple  (all purchased at Home...

This is the view walking into the master bathroom from our bedroom. Notice the Door Opens the WRONG Way AND the Light Switch OUTSIDE the Room Related posts: Need a reminder of what this space looked like? See the BEFORE pictures More Bathroom posts

Other than everything being SUPER UGLY, here are the FIVE big things we finally solved with our master bathroom remodel: The bathroom door swung the wrong way! It went into the wall, instead of into the room. It was exactly opposite of every other door in this house. And it drove my logical mind crazy.  The light switch was outside the bathroom. Why? Weird and illogical.  The bathtub was too large, took up too much space, and was too deep to ever be filled high enough with warm water to use the jets.  There was only ONE outlet in the entire space.  All the lighting was problamatic. The vanity lights were extremely cheap strip "hollywood" lights that got soo hot, they scorched the ceiling. And the closet was so dark, we never knew what we looked like. The vanities has no organizable storage. They were just two LARGE cabinets. It was impossible to organize and thus became a huge dumping ground.  Before Grout, Mirrors Ordered Before Grout More A...

Work continues in our master bathroom. We're in our fourth week and it's looking good that we'll be close to done by Friday. Fingers are crossed. Here are some in-progress pictures ... Floor Done and Grouted The Shower Gets Enclosed The Start of Subway Tile  Before Paint ...  After Two Coats of Wall Paint It's been so fun to watch this all come together. Related posts: Need a reminder of what this space looked like? See the BEFORE pictures More Bathroom posts

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...

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

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...

You know what I'm talking about ... those rugs you get and toss on the floor in your bathroom or office or living room. And, if you're like me, you don't get the under-pads so the rugs move constantly (or you DO get the pads and they don't work ... argh!). And then there was that one time we washed a bathroom rug and it fell apart and broke our washing machine and I'm pretty sure we had to replace it. The rug AND the washing machine. See, my loathing of these scatter rugs runs deep. This week I've been spending a bit more time in my kids' bathroom than usual (we had company) and the two scatter rugs in there -- that I found on sale at who-remembers-where? store -- are just a mess. And I'm pretty sure I haven't decently washed them in an embarrassingly long time (because of the unfortunate washing machine incident mentioned above). They don't match (charming!) and I'm pretty sure they are not made for bathrooms. Total fail. So guess wh...

Our master bathroom is begging for a remodel. But unless I win the lottery or dig up a few thousand dollars in my garden, it's not going to happen. The floors are ugly beige (beige!) tiles, the counters are ugly, we have enormous mirrors with the hollywood lights above them. And all the fixtures are builder-grade. Blah. But last week I took a good look at the mismatched bathmats on the floor and decided if I was going to put any money in this bathroom, that would be the biggest bang for my buck. I did some comparison shopping and decided the fewer rugs I could do, the better. The floor space is kinda large, so there's much ground to cover. And I wanted something low-pile and brightly-colored. Okay -- so after some browsing, I decided on Flor carpet tiles. Again. They're just so AWESOME! They have rubber on the bottom, so the squares don't slip. Configurable, so I could make some decisions on how to install. Great color choices. Made from recycled material. Mold re...