DIY Sarah

Craft, Decor, Art, Garden, and Dessert

Bathroom Update

It’s been slow but steady progress on the master bathroom. The emergency gas engineer came last week and checked for the hot water supply only to find and fix the broken line. The only thing taking time is the tiling of the bathroom. There is SO MUCH tile in that room.  I’m to the point where I never want to see another subway tile in my life!

IMG_3657.JPG

I had really hoped to get the shower finished last week before my impromptu trip to Austin for a Girl’s Weekend with my sister and our super good childhood friend Alex. Alas, it was not to be. Should have called the experts at Superior Shower Door & More, really. After I realized I didn’t have enough tile to finish, I lost steam and didn’t manage to even finish the “easy” parts.

I’ve got that top of the short side of the shower and all the edging around the curb to do. I’m not looking forward to that edging but once I get going, hopefully it won’t take long.

On the plus side, the toilet is in and functional!
IMG_3669.JPG

It’s an ugly toilet but it fits under the window. whohoo! Also, it ran really bad when we first installed it and Stefan took it apart and fixed it while I was off gallivanting in Austin, also we added Air Conditioning trough the bathroom.

  • It’s good advice to arrange for 3-5 free quotes when shopping for a new AC unit, because service call fees will get expensive
  • Each contractor will bring new information and generate new questions for you.
  • Reinterview your two favorites and negotiate the best price
  • A lot of factors go into a proper air conditioning system replacement, so make sure you get all of the facts through several interviews before hiring residential air conditioning services.
  • This Process will guarantee you to get the best deal!

Stefan also installed the medicine cabinets! We had the position all figured out but he still had to cut the holes in the drywall and cut the holes in the studs and the boxes themselves so that I could have these handy tooth-brush charging outlets in my medicine cabinets!

IMG_3661.JPG

Here is Stefan preparing the Right cabinet
IMG_3663.JPG

and here is the final product with the light above. I love those lights!

IMG_3670.JPG

I haven’t tossed the mirrors in either but it’s still under construction and the fewer times I have to clean those mirrors in my life, the better!

There’s still a bit of electric to do and a lot of cleaning but other than that, we’re waiting on tile. I’d like to get the tile done before the sinks go in since the sink area is my workshop for tiling but I’ve got to keep Stefan busy and he’s itching to get those sinks in!

Just a few more pictures to give you a sense of how much tiling I’ve done this past month.

IMG_3659.JPG
IMG_3666.JPG
IMG_3668.JPG
IMG_3671.JPG

SO MUCH TILE! I’m excited to be done with it and then I remember I’m doing white subway on the backsplash too, I definitely need to visit the bathroom showroom again! Luckily that will be a relatively quick job.

Sarah

my Closet!

The closet is installed and filled with clothes. What an exciting day!

First we set up the “T” I told you all about in my closet design post many many months ago. The post is HERE for those of you who don’t keep all of my house plans in your head.

The gist was:


for the window wall and

for the far wall of the room.

with the basic floor-plan looking something like:

Here’s the T being installed.

IMG_3626.JPG

We used big brackets to attach it to the wall and connected it to the vertical unit to help hold the weight and pull all the seams nice and tight.

IMG_3629.JPG

There is a gap around the back since the vertical unit can’t be pushed flush against the wall because of the baseboard so the vertical unit has to be there to help hold everything up though I think without this gap, you could mount one of these shelves on the wall.

IMG_3630.JPG

Vector was of course there to share in the excitement and make sure the job went according to plan.

IMG_3632.JPG

After the T was up, we installed some brackets to hold the ends of the clothes rods.

IMG_3635.JPG

We attached the upper ones to the underside of the T just for good measure.
IMG_3637.JPG

Vector again did quality control and stability testing.

IMG_3639.JPG

Next came the rods. We cut them to length by hand with a hack saw. Note to future closet installers, don’t buy the smallest hack saw at the store and its always preferred a Custom Closet than one from the mall. That was a chore but Stefan bore it well. After cutting them to length and attaching closet-rod end-covers, we attached them to the brackets to keep them from falling out.

IMG_3642.JPG

IMG_3645.JPG

And then it was time to fill…

IMG_3646.JPG

Here’s the long storage.
IMG_3648.JPG

Always a project with all that molding ready to be hung!
Here is the short storage.
IMG_3649.JPG

And to refresh your memory, the laundry is on the other side of this room. AND, guess what! It works! We finished the last bit of plumbing and electrical this weekend. I’ve already run a couple loads!

IMG_3650.JPG

Vector is terrified of the laundry. Here is is in full crouching tiger position watching it intently.
Untitled

I am SOOO excited to have my closet together and so far I love my Samsung washer and dryer. It’s definitely time to do a full wardrobe overhaul to match my closet overhaul! I already have a big bag of clothes to donate and I haven’t even started the trying-on phase.

There’s still work to be done in this room including some more shelves around the top of the room, trim, baseboard, finding a new light fixture, finishing the laundry base, etc but It’s finally functional which is such a great mile-stone.

Sarah

    Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. Shoe Storage in the Closet | DIY Sarah | Craft, Decor, Art, Garden, and Dessert

    […] refresh your memory, this post gives a good overview of the […]

Bookcase in the Master Office

One thing I’ve been dying to get going on is the master office.  It gets so much sun and is such a cute space.  We are also in desperate need of a bookcase since I keep buying cool vintage books.

I picked up a Billy bookcase at Ikea last Thursday and got to assembling it.  I covered the back in a large fabric remnant I found at my good discount fabric store.  You may recognize it as the fabric I’m planning on using for curtains in the dining room.

IMG_3609.JPG

After the bookcase was up and running, it’s time to fill it. Oh man I had so much fun on Friday. I love staging bookshelves!

IMG_3610.JPG

IMG_3614.JPG

IMG_3615.JPG

This is the vintage copies of classic novels shelf:
IMG_3617.JPG

Reference works:
IMG_3618.JPG

And a super cool picnic basket on top.
IMG_3619.JPG

You can tell I’ve got more to go. I’ve got plenty of empty space to fill and a I have a pair of glass doors that I pulled off my old Billy bookcase. The doors last forever but the bookcase tends to only survive two moves before it falls apart. Luckily replacing a billy bookcase is easy peasy!

Sarah

  1. 8/28/2013 | 4:39 pm Permalink

    Your fabric lined shelf is fabulous adds to the vintage feel!!! Thank you for the much needed inspiration!! I just got 2 shelves and was wondering what else to do–besides paint them white!

    • 9/11/2013 | 3:38 pm Permalink

      I’ve also cut foam-board and covered it for the same effect. That works particularly well for built-ins and fixed-shelf bookcases. it’s also much easier to change whenever the mood strikes!

      I’m glad you like the inspiration. I’m a big fan myself 🙂

Hardwood Floors, Bed, and Mattress

If you haven’t taken a look at round 1 of the hardware floor reveal, check out my earlier posts: Sanding and Poly and the one before that: Patching the Hardwood Floors.

I mentioned in my Florida Post that last week was a whirlwind.  The flooring guy came at about 10am on Monday.  He buffed, vacuumed, and put the final coat of Polyurathane down.  Tuesday evening, after a day in bed, I felt well enough to move the bed into the room and since if took me a while choosing the right mattress Wednesday we had a  mattress delivered,

Untitled

It’s a foam mattress we were able to get, I got to decorate my very first room in the new house!
IMG_3591.JPG
IMG_3596.JPG
IMG_3598.JPG
IMG_3594.JPG

The drapes are sheers from Ikea that I cut to size and hung on the centers of the old roller shades that were in the room. The hangers from the shades were already there so I figured I might as well use them!

The green fabric on the throw pillows is what I’m planning on using for the drapes around the large window to make it fill out the wall behind the bed. But, have you ever thought of having the same hotel pillows in your own home? You should consider getting the best hotel pillow for 2020 and sleep as comfortable as you always wished you did.

Notice that there is electricity in the room. Stefan knocked that out Thursday evening while I was sewing pillow cases and curtains. The bedding is Lauren by Ralph Lauren that I’ve had since before we bought the house. I love the colors.

The bed side table we bought for $10 at an estate sale a few weeks ago and I painted it with leftover cream porch paint.

The chair is a craigslist find in Houston ages ago. I have 3 more just like it!

The room is hardly finished. It’s still a bit sterile for my tastes and when you lay in the bed, you can see what’s missing. At least here I won’t have to kill bed bugs. That was a nightmare that I had to endure for months at my previous place.

IMG_3602.JPG

The trim on the door to the bathroom hasn’t been put up and there is a big open spot on the wall for a TV. But, check out this light fixture:
IMG_3604.JPG

Yep, dangling bare bulb is all the rage there days…right?

If you take a peek in the ajoining office area, you’ll see there’s still work to be done.

IMG_3597.JPG

But, we’re well on our way to a completed bedroom!

Sarah

P.S. Check out the new Contractors page where you can find info on all the nice people we’ve hired.