I’ve been working on the house pretty much nonstop from the time I wake up until it’s time to sleep. It was too hot to sleep last night though, so when I found myself awake at 2 a.m., I started sketching.
Someone recently used one of my previous sketches as the basis for her entryway, and I’ve heard from others that have used design boards and ideas for their homes too. I’m always so pleased! If you ever implement any of these, please send photos my way because it makes my day.
I suppose if I’m going to share these occasionally (or more often?), I should come up with a better name. They’re not “sketchy” at all, it was just a quick play on words that wasn’t well thought out! Any suggestions?
I’ve either been working on the bathroom or relaxing with family in Wisconsin. Back and forth, back and forth. Work, rest, work, rest. It’s been a good balance, but I’m staying put in Oak Park and finishing up this bathroom for good.
The tub and many existing elements will stay, and all supplies (we’ll get into that in a separate post) and new pieces are from Lowe’s. There are a few variables to finalize, namely paint and the tile border design, but the overall plan is solid.
Work on the floor and prepping for paint has kept me busy, and I’ll choose the paint color towards the end. If I had to pick right now, it would be a match to the color of this dress. I’ve already painted the door (and every door on the second and third floor) black, the hallway right outside the bathroom has pink wallpaper. The plumbing fixtures are white, hardware is brass, and the floor tile will have a bit of ochre and tan. There’s a lot of room to play with colors from there!
This bathroom renovation is sponsored by Lowe’s. Thank you for making this project possible!
Oh, the plumbing issues we’ve had. At first, we thought that the trouble was limited to the drainage pipe from the bathtub on the third floor. I remember being all the way upstairs cleaning and emptying a bucket of dirty water into the tub, followed by Eleanor calling out from below “Mom, it’s raining in the bathroom!” We had to rip out the beadboard ceiling to access the pipes and fix them from below, and thought we were good. I was planning to start on this bathroom a year ago! Then plumbing problem number two hit. This one was far worse.
We were starting to notice a discolored spot at the foundation line near the back door, then discovered a puddle of water in the basement at the bottom of the plumbing stack. I thought it was an unresolved issue related to the third floor again, but the plumbers we called in explained it as an overflow issue from below. There was a hole in the ancient cast iron stack that had been slowly forming, and had the water not had that escape route it would have backed up out of the shower and out into the main floor. So yay for that not happening? The whole thing was a MESS in every sense.
Walls and ceilings were opened from the basement through the third floor. The stairway needed to be patched up. All three bathrooms are in need of some level of repair, but the second floor is taking priority. Here she is in happier times.
We’ve fixed the ceiling and the layout works well, but I’m taking the opportunity to address some of the issues that had been bugging us. The antique toilet is out and a new toilet is going in. I never loved the old one, and we especially didn’t love climbing up to fiddle with the tank every few days to keep it working (and even then, the toilet was always running).
We’re also swapping out the marble console sink. It’s so pretty, but a new pedestal sink (one with hot and cold water coming out of a single faucet and an easier surface to clean) is going to be far more practical with three kids. We’ll store the antique sink in the basement for now.
The new toilet and sink will be white with brass fixtures, and I’m thinking the walls will either be painted the same color as the wood trim and beadboard, or a shade or two lighter. I mentioned on Instagram that I was considering brown, and people balked at it being a bit… “biological.” (I think it could be amazing.)
Our antique tub is staying. It needed to scoot out temporarily so I can tile the floor, but it will go right back in with a new paint job on the outside and a new faucet. I was more nervous about moving the tub than anything else, but it came out pretty easily!
The wood floor has not fared well and I’m ready to replace it with tile. I have a mix of biscuit-colored hexagon tile and four colors of 1″ square tile for a border design. Something like so?
I’ll be sharing in real-time on Instagram as I go, especially in Stories, and of course will document everything here on the blog. I can’t wait to show you more! And my family can’t wait for me to get this thing done so we’ll have a working bathroom on the second floor again.
Great Wolf Lodge invited us to spend a day last weekend, courtesy of them, and we absolutely loved it. We swam, we mini-golfed, played the arcade games, went on a quest, swam some more… the kids were exhausted in the best way! Great Wolf Lodge has Summer Camp-in activities going on now and cute camp-themed suites to stay in, should you be looking for something fun for the family.
A little setback as I work on our bathroom has me wondering if I need to change my design. It’s one little (well, kinda big) piece of old marble! Now what?
I agreed with so much in “Smash the Wellness Industry”, but sometimes I wonder if I’m in the minority for not hating or obsessing over my body.
The new Animal Crossing game has been delayed to avoid crunch. We can be patient! It looks super cute.
Hello, perfect little summer dress (with straps wide enough to cover a regular bra). I’ve also been living in their Day Glove flats. The caramel color goes with everything.
I am in the middle of a bathroom renovation. (Finally, and there are more details to come!) On top of that, I have decided that now would also be a good time to give the guest room some attention. It’s used for sleepovers more than anything else, and it looked like this when empty.
I’ve worked on it a little at a time over the years. Furniture initially went in as part of a brand shoot while the shell of the room stayed the same. I liked the overall look, but I knew I could do more to the space.
My sister and her husband were going to buy a dresser from IKEA for their nursery, but it was out of stock. They asked if I had any ideas for something similar, and I offered ours up from the guest room. It’s now in their house with a changing pad on top. Replacing the guest room’s dresser was the kick that started the rest of the changes I’m working on.
I was offered my choice of something from Young House Love’s furniture line and there is a lot to love there, but for me that Noble Dresser is tops. To the guest room with thee! It’s wider than the previous chest, but it’s still a good size for the room and the traditional details are much more in line with my style. Those curves and fluted corner pieces! So good.
Why, yes, you may have seen me posing in front of it when I realized that I often dress to match my house. #housetwinning I promise to take more photos with me not standing in front of it as soon as the room is pulled together.
The dresser switcheroo sparked a few other changes too. The handles on the vintage nightstands always bugged me, and although cool, the mushroom lamps don’t give off enough light. And I’d been looking for a place to use my Padma kilim rug design for Dash & Albert, besides the small 3×5 I have in my closet. This is the room!
I still love the wall/ceiling color, and I’m not ripping out the carpet. The changes will be more in the furniture, accessories, and styling, and it’s a fun project to work on in between scraping wallpaper and tiling in the bathroom. I’m hot and tired, but between the two makeovers, I’m having the best time.
