Operation Remodel Bathroom Almost Complete

Operation Remodel Bathroom is almost complete!  I worked on the room from 10AM-1AM yesterday.   It being my first day, I did all the repairs and prepped the room.  Luckily, I was able to get 2 coats of Kilz and paint on all 4 walls and ceiling.  Yay!  I was so tired, but the rewards were great. 

Some before pictures.  The walls are a cream color with cranberry trim and accents of dark green. 

Today (day 2), I spot painted and color washed the room.  I've never color washed a room before in my life.  I debated on doing it from the get go because I'm always afraid of doing something new or different that is this big.  I'm glad I did it though.  The clerk that helped me from Lowe's reminded me about starting the color wash behind a door in the corner first, until I got the hang of it.  Well, what if you don't have a wall behind your door?  I decided to chance it  start the color wash/lime wash behind my toilet and in that corner.  I have to tell you when I first started, I was thinking to myself, WHAT THE HECK WAS I THINKING?  I just knew that it was going to look awful and it's not a professional job by no means, but I was worried concerned a GREAT deal.  I just took my cheesecloth and dabbed and rubbed down in spots, to soften it.  I didn't get the softening brush because the directions stated that you could use either the brush or cheesecloth.  Here lately, I've been keeping a supply of cheesecloth.  Don't ask me why.  While I was texturing my newly painted walls thinking oh my gosh, I'm going to have to paint all of this over, I could see some glimmer of hope.  Thinking to myself, I wanted to paint a section of the room and then I would step back and see if I love it or hate it.  I'm glad I did because I nearly stopped and was about to repaint over it.  As I kept texturing, I could see the creation and really enjoyed doing it.  I was hoping Doug wouldn't come into the room until I got most of it done, but he slipped in when I got a small section finished and came unglued and was as concerned as I was.  LOL!  I just told him to leave and come back when I got more done.  We both really like the effect the color wash leaves on your walls.  We're glad we decided to do it now and it was so simple.  It's not hard to do, but you need to go by the directions of how to color wash/lime wash.  The wash dries really fast.  You apply a LIGHT (barely touch the wall - that light) coat with a 1'x1' "X" on the wall, followed by several small "x"s all over the wall until the glaze is gone from your brush.  Like I said, the glaze dries fast, so you'll have to brush those x's.  At one point, Doug thought I was beating the wall with the brush.  LOL!  Well, it's just that I was working fast, so the white glaze would lighten up and give the effect I wanted.  When we paint the Kitchen/Dining Room/Living Room areas, I think the color wash would look great.  I'm planning on painting these rooms in warm colors.  I haven't decided on a particular color, but it will be along the line of taupe or a type of coffee.  By the way when you pick up color wash it is naturally in the color white, but you can have it tinted in another color. 

Here's a sneak peek of yesterday's finished paint job.  You'll have to over look all the reflections bouncing all over the room. 

Light from the flash bounced off the mirror some how and now I have a reflection on my new wall. 

I don't have any pictures of the color wash today, but stay tuned. . .

Tomorrow, I plan to hang up our new bathroom wares (towel rack, hand towel holder, shower curtain rod and paper holder).  I have yet to find valances/panel to hang up in the window.  Ugh!  I thought about just making them, but mom informed me that her sewing machine is not working properly because dad tried using it.  So we're on to step 3, I'll have to go with another color for the curtains.  Since there are touches of antique white/off white, surely I can find some lace curtains.  Beings that I threw away the blinds that were in the room because I dropped a piece of hardware down the vent . . . oops, our curtains are currently a piece of newspaper taped on the glass.  HAHA! 

You've heard of the saying, "when it rains it pours."  Well, it came a down pouring these past couple of days and all I could do was laugh about it.  Day before yesterday, I kept running into brick walls when I was trying to get things lined up for my paint job.  Today with me painting the bathroom, it's been hard to use the sink because of all the stuff on the counter top.  So we've been using the Kitchen sink in it's place.  I was in the process of cleaning up my mess in the bathroom and went to wash my hands in the Kitchen sink when a nice fountain was pouring down onto my feet from below.  Yep!  You guessed it.  The Kitchen pipe busted. No, let me rephrase that it disintegrated and I've got the pictures to prove it.  Doug and I began laughing as soon as he pulled it out from underneath the sink.  We couldn't believe how it just fell apart.  Lowe's here we come.  While we were there, I went ahead and picked up the bathroom wares (towel holders and paper holder).  I haven't decided on the hooks on the back of the door.  I would like to have another 3 hooks, but I may have to get 3 or 4 individual ones.  {hmm} Decisions, decisions. 

You probably can't tell, but that's a huge hole in the middle of the pipe

This part just fell off.  Doug decided to install PVC this time around.

By the end of the day, the bathroom got cleaned up and the sink was fixed, thanks to my handy wonderful husband. 

Tip of the Day: You may already know this tip, but I discovered it this afternoon when I needed some paint thinner.  Not having any paint thinner in the house, I thought "why not fingernail polish remover?"  It's basically a paint thinner just in a small container.  I had some paint on my skin and little droplets on the bathroom floor.  The polish remover worked really well.  I guess, I went through about 6 cotton pads with polish remover on it.  Now, before you think "my gosh Mirya, don't you believe in drop clothes?"  Hold on.  I did use drop clothes.  I've recently discovered that I have a mild case of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), I can't stay focused on one thing for very long and then I catch myself merging over into something else.  Luckily, I'm able to slap myself back into focus.  So, I started cleaning off the paint spots and discovered that the polish remover does good to get the stubborn residue that catches in the dimples and dents in your linoleum.  Before I know it, I'm down on my hands and knees working the cotton pad in the corner crack of the floor, trying to get this dark speck out.  Ugh!  Needless to say, after the labor I've been doing around here, I had to rub my neck and shoulders down with Aspercream (scentless of course).  Ahhh! 

Great Finds

I've been trying to fit some healthy ingredients to me and my family, you've read my past posts about Whole Grain, High Fiber Diets and all that.  So, I wanted to get us some oatmeal cookies.  Well, if you like oatmeal and chocolate chips, you might like "Chips Ahoy Oatmeal Chewy Cookies"  Oh, Colton and I love them.  Doug and Katie are birds of another species.  I think Colton is going to be a lot like me when it comes to chocolate.  He loves it!  Katie and Doug both prefer vanilla over chocolate.  Colton and I just don't understand that reasoning.

Cooking Suggestions
As you know, I've been mastering pizza.  BLAHAHA!  Bottomline, you can't mess up a pizza!  Last time I made pizza with pesto, Doug remarked how he didn't like the pesto at all.  I have to admit, it gave me terrible heartburn.  So this time around, I made sure to put just marinara sauce on the pizza crust.  I substituted the ground beef for ground turkey.  We really liked the ground turkey and will be adding it a lot more to my pizza creations.  I think this one I made was a big time winner because we (Doug, Katie and I) had to go back for seconds.  The toppings included: ground turkey, ground pork sausage, crumbled bacon, sliced black olives, sliced button mushrooms, ripe diced tomatoes, diced green peppers, diced onions and lots of mozzarella and provolone cheeses on a whole wheat crust.  YUM!

Katie had to have her picture taken

Movie Time
Katie's had a hard time controlling herself from all the excitement because she found out that "Toy Story 3" is out and her grandparents have agreed to take her this weekend, if nothing happens.  The movie is suppose to be in 3D, so Doug and I were trying to explain to Katie about having to keep her glasses on throughout the whole movie.  At first, she said she could watch the movie without glasses.  After we explained the way the movie would be, she told us "but it's not real it's just a movie."  Finally, she told us that she would keep the glasses on during the movie.  We'll see if she'll do it throughout the whole movie. 

Diva
Ya know, I thought I would have a couple more years down the road before I had to deal with "The Miss Know It All."  You know her or him, if you have sons.  You have a dear sweet child, who holds on to every word that you say as the gospel.  Then before you know it "MKIA" creeps into your sweet angels life and as time marches on the "MKIA" takes over completely until they reach about 14 years old and then it morphes into "I Da Know" kid. I've probably posted about this before, but guess what?  I'm venting again.  Katie is an overall great kid and the sweetest thing you'll ever know, she just likes to keep that person locked up and I'm still trying to find where she's hiding her.  She has to have the hardest head {figuratively speaking} and will do just about anything to get a charge out of me.  What's so bad is Colton is falling right in line behind her.  What sister does; therefore, he shall do as well and she loves it.  Ugh!  When we go to Walmart, I never take the same route and all I hear from the back seat driver is "momma, do you know where you're going?  I don't think this is where Walmart's at?  Momma, are you sure?  Oh no, we're lost!"  Now, I'm sure you reading this can find lots of humor, I can too NOW.  At the moment, all I can think of is my happy place.  Like Jim Carey in "Dumb and Dumber" when they stopped off at a gas station and the truck driver arrived.  "Think of a happy place."  Yeah, it can start to get next to ya.  It's amazing, I've had my driver's license for 20 years, lived in the same town for over 30 years and never knew I was lost because I was once one of those . . . (tada) "Miss Know It All".  She doesn't limit herself to just directions to Walmart.  Oh, no!  This is a constant thing about everything, even washing my hands.  We were getting ready to eat, I washed my hands and I told her to wash hers.  She didn't see me washing mine and asked me if I washed my hands.  When I said "yes," she went as far as asking "are you sure?"  I try not to tell her where we are going.  She'll ask where we are going, but I try to tell her "just sit back and enjoy the ride."  She doesn't like it when I tell her that.  Sometimes, she aggravates me so much that I have a tendency to cave and finally tell her.  Ugh!   Lord, give me patience.