40 bags in 40 days - the continuing saga

I will not bore you with every area I clean over the next 40 days. Also, I have stopped following my list in numerical order and have started picking the spaces I want to do that day. Some days that means I do none. Other days I do 2 or 3 things, like my church binder, the paper basket on my desk, and my bag. 

{before}

{after}

Today I worked on the master bathroom. I took one bag out of there.

There used to be a table here on the landing of the stairs. 

It had no particular purpose, and I thought it would be nice to have a place to sit and get ready, so I moved it up to the bathroom.

I also picked up a new picture frame and bath mat from Winners, they add a little more color to this room. 

I still need to get a photo for the frame.

While I was doing this, the boys were doing this -

Seems marble works aren't just for marbles!

(if anyone knows how I can get my videos onto my blog without going through youtube, please let me know! I don't love having to do that.)

2 blogs into 1

I have been feeling the need to simply my life. Managing 2 blogs is too much. I have also been feeling the desire to post less about our home and the projects we are doing. I love it, I hope I always will, but priorities have changed and I need to focus my efforts else where. So for now I will only be posting on our family blog. We have been doing some renovations around here but they are not cosmetic, they are internal. We don't know what this means or where it may take our family! But we do have quite a few loose ends to tie up and unfinished projects to complete.
One of them being the master bathroom......

{before}

This bathroom took longer than I ever expected it would, but I was very patient where I normally am not.
I usually make due with "good enough" and then when I find "just perfect" I always wish I had taken my time.
We have a couple of minor things left to do, but for the most part we are done.

{after}

 Darren was not at all excited when I told him that I wanted to paint the walls all white. He now thinks it turned out really nice - why does he still doubt, silly boy!

(I must admit if I were to be honest I had my concerns as well. We had never done board and batten all the way to the ceiling before, and white at that. I almost talked myself out of it several times. In the end I am glad that I stuck to my original vision. It is so bright and clean.)

I have a couple of black and white photos that Shannon took of us when she was here that I want to frame and hang on this blank wall. But that will have to wait until the next time I get over to Ikea. It is a long and expensive trip for $20 picture frames. But I will get there.... someday...

bathroom update

This room is just taking FOREVER! But in the end I am grateful. I have been able to really think and re-think my choices which have changed, again and again. It is coming along though. And I hope that we will be completely done in a couple of weeks.

We ordered a faucet from ebay for 1/3 of the price as the same 1 here. It always makes me nervous though because I don't get to see it in person before purchase. 

It arrived. And it is just what I hoped it would be.

We now have the sink and the faucet. I have 2/3 of the room painted. Darren put up the light and started building the new cabinet. I hung the mirror. Things are slowly, very, very slowly getting checked off the list. 

 I had my sister-in-law {thank you Shannon} pick me up a light from Lowes in the States, but that was 1 of the things I changed my mind on and it will now be used for another project I have on my to-do list!
The light below I found at Home Depot. Can I just tell you how much I love this new light. I searched high and low, here and there and EVERYWHERE for a light I liked at a decent price.

disclaimer: I know when someone is sharing a renovation of their home on their blog I am always so excited to see the end result. I have by no means meant to build up this bathroom to be something super special. It is and always will be just a bathroom, but a bathroom that is a little more us than was here before.

change in course

We started reno's on our bathroom and soon after realized that we were going in the wrong direction. We want to spend as little money as possible, but if we are going to do this we might as well be happy with the end results. So we had to stop and re-think. This has taken weeks. I have never had such trouble with a room before. I think it is because the fixtures in a bathroom are pretty permanent. It is not quite like re-painting a room if you don't like the color. If I don't like the cabinet, or the sink, or the faucet that I buy and install, I am out a lot more than $30. 

I thought that I had finally figured it all out for a 2nd time and began again. Then I started to panic, what if I don't like it when it is all done?, or what if it doesn't come together like it does in my mind?

{Below are some pictures I have used for inspiration}

I think I want a vanity like this...

{source unknown}

or maybe something like this...

{source: Ana White}

1 of these....

walls like this...

{source unknown}

a sink like this (already purchased)...

{source unknown}

and a faucet like this.

I, even I,  am having my doubts. I love all white bathrooms in pictures, but will I love it in reality?

Sincerely, Creatively Confused.

Master Bath

Since the bedroom is pretty much done, we have started on the master bathroom. We are going to be spending as little money as possible and working with almost everything we already have. But if I could I would.........

{I tried really hard to source pictures this time and had no luck. Thank you to all for your inspiration.}

I started with this armoire which use to be in the school room. 

I am needing more book shelves in there instead and more storage in the bathroom. 

So out it went. I gave it a fresh coat of paint and some new knobs. I used the leftover paint from the master bedroom walls (free). 

It looks much fresher and brighter.

 {before}

{during}

 {after}