Tiling...

The preparation for tiling the laundry room and both bathrooms has commenced.

Last year I won and auction at a lumber supply company going out of business. I got 41 boxes of glossy white tile for $82. Its retail value was around $1,000.00.

We decided the white tile would go in the laundry room. However, after pricing the really nice tiles, borders and sets, we decided that the white tiles would also go in the bathrooms! The only problem is...the tiles are white and glossy. Kind of boring, actually. So how could we liven them up?

When we renovated a bathroom about 15 years ago, we put a tile mural on the wall. We decided to do this again. Part of the reason that house sold so quickly was because of the tile mural or so the new owners said.

I searched high and low on the Internet for a pretty mural. There are dozens. I started looking at custom tiles done for other people. Then I had this bright idea...what if WE did custom tiles? The search was on.

As my readers, family and friends know, this house will have a Western/Southwestern feel to it. I found some photographs of our trip to Mesa Verde and our trip to Hovenweep in Utah. Hovenweep is an ancient Native American ruin. The pictures are stunning.

CafePress.com allows you to create your own custom tiles. I decided that I'd make single 4.24 X 4.25 tiles of the prettier photos of Hovenweep. After much agonizing, I selected 8 photos. After about 5 hours of practice, reading and some not-so-nice words, I figured out how to transfer the photos to the website in proper format for the company.

I also plan to have a company that makes murals do a 12 tile mural of one photo. Below is one of the more stunning photos - the sky is blue AND a pale, glorious turquoise! Not sure if its visible but that's a marmot on top of the high peak - we weren't close enough to really tell, but we're almost certain (grin).

Sheetrock!

The sheetrockers came today. They worked six hours and got the ceilings and walls up in record time. Richard and I did cleanup. It took US two hours. I now have walls to go with my functioning toilet! (None of the other bathroom stuff functions, however).



The living area with the new walls.



A shot looking towards the kitchen area from the front door.



This is my bedroom. The sheet acts as a privacy barrier to the bathroom until we can get the door installed.

Me and the Pedestal Sink...

Okay - I told this story to someone else and they said I have to post it.

See, a couple months ago I saw a pedestal sink that was perfect for my bathrooms. I wanted one with a backsplash and surface area for a soap dispenser and maybe a candle. I found one in a small family lumber company in town. Problem was the company that made it sold to another company and there was no matching toilet or bathtub. No problem I'd just get one at another place, right? Wrong.

Each company that makes bathroom fixtures makes them different colors of white so you have to buy THEIR products if you want it all to match!

What to do?

I learned from one of the clerks in the plumbing department that there are some off brands that will match...but you better have something to compare it to before you buy or you'll be running all over returning toilets.

So, I went into the little family lumber company in our little local town...told them my dilemma. I batted my eyes (I have lizard eyes so I can't bat my lashes...lizard eyes - pale blonde, barely there lashes, I look like a lizard without makeup, but I digress...) smiled big (I can bare 28 teeth in a smile) and asked sweetly if I could take their display pedestal and go around to various stores to see if I could match up a toilet and bathtub.

Being the trustful small-towners they were, they immediately dismantled the sink, handed over the pedestal and let me have my wicked way!

I then trotted through a couple stores and like the Statue Of Liberty, I held my pedestal aloft where the display toilets were and rather than lighting a torch, I simply...compared colors. (Both companies display their toilets and tubs high on the walls about 6 feet up).

I found matching bathtubs at Home Depot and matching toilets at Lowes.

I then trotted back to the little family lumber yard and gave back their pedestal, thanking them kindly for the service.

I also bought two pedestal sinks from them.

The interesting thing is whenever I go in there now, if Becky is with me, they talk to HER about what I want...just in case the crazy lady goes off on a pedestal hunt again.

What can I say? Shopping's always an adventure around here.

Here's a picture of the pedestal...and the sink under the wires. I'll post photos later when its installed so you can see why I liked it so much.

Small decisions...

We drove to Osage Beach yesterday to the new Home Depot. The painting fiasco continues as the Springfield Home Depot still has not restocked (even though we've been told they've restocked twice) the base paint needed to finish our trim. We've driven to Springfield 3 times now to get the paint right. We gave up and went to the HD in Osage Beach. While there we found the perfect shower/bathtub fixtures so I'm happy.

Richard and Pa worked on leveling the area to the east of the house. The recent rains have shown where water pools and makes mud pits, so it is something that needs to be addressed. In addition, they used the tractor to push down the ashes of the burn pile, leaving nitrogen rich soil all over!

We'll be planting grass for erosion control.

Painting and other projects...

Richard painted the east and north sides of the house over the past week.

I wanted a specific pedestal sink for both bathrooms and only one place had it. Unfortunately, they didn't carry the matching toilet or bathtub. We had to make a couple trips around town to find matching toilets and tubs. I also got all my towel bars, robe hooks and tissue paper holders.

Sears delivered my stove, dishwasher and microwave/convection oven/rangehood (its all one unit).

The place is starting to come together. I'm hoping we can move in sometime in mid-October.



That's Richard on the porch carrying out the bathtub box. That's the plumber and his truck on the ground. He is installing the bathtubs and other plumbing today. We don't know how far he'll be going but supposedly he'll be installing a working toilet in the near future, too. For those of you who've ever used an RV bathroom, you know what a blessing this will be. I'm tired of 3 minute showers and cleaning tanks.

The Great Paint Fiasco...

So - we toodled off to Springfield (nearest Home Depot) to buy paint. The reason we went so far is because in the renovations of the house in Texas we knew HD's Behr brand paint is simply the best.

We had chosen the colors based on sample quarts of paint we brought home. We did a test patch on the house to check colors.

HD was having a massive paint sale so everyone and his brother was there to buy paint. We gave the harried and somewhat frustrated clerk our card and asked for Exterior satin - 5 gallons of one color, 3 gallons of another color. The second color of paint had a fancy name (Applesauce Cake)which is a pale cinnamon brown. When we returned to get the paint, the 3 gallons were YELLOW. Apparently, there is a color also called "Applesauce" which is yellow. The guy agrees to re-mix the 3 gallons of paint.

We drove home and Richard started painting. He was doing the trim by starting high and working his way down. Two hours after he started he came off the ladder to check his work.

The trim color, Applesauce Cake, perfectly matches the house color (Sunset Beige)!

We take old and new colors and brushed some on the paint sticks we were given. Sure enough, the trim color is a shade off of the house color. The original trim color is MUCH darker.

So we hop in the car for a return trip to Springfield to return the wrong color mix.

An hour out, the check engine light comes on in the 4Runner. This is NOT good. It may not be bad. Toyota has an issue with that check engine light - its a diagnostic tool for something as simple as a dirty air filter to something as dramatic as throwing a rod. However, as owners, we don't have the magic diagnostic computer that tells us if this is a minor problem or a major problem. We turn around and go home.

We checked the time, estimated our chances, threw the paint cans in the Corolla and took off again. We arrived at HD in Springfield 10 minutes before closing.

The problem was that the clerk had mixed the trim paint in an accent color white instead of a base color white. Because of the paint sale, they only had one can of base coat left! ACK! The clerk mixed that for us and gave us a note to give to her supervisor on Thursday. That's re-stock day. We have to return to Springfield to get the other two gallons.

Cost of paint: $215.35
Cost of 1 1/2 tanks of gas $ 45.00
for two round trips to HD
1/2 tank gas future trip +$ 15.00
__________
TOTAL $275.35

Rebate on paint - $ 40.00
___________

TOTAL $235.35

The paint cost us $25 MORE than the sale. Sigh.

Anyway, Richard is painting the trim and it looks GREAT. I guess I can't complain too much. I'll post pictures later when he is further along.