Guest Post--Bathroom Updates

Today I am welcoming Wilbert Bail with a guest post on bathrooms.  Thanks Wilbert!

The Adventurous Bathroom

The bathroom is without a doubt one of the best rooms in the house to spend some quality time. From taking a relaxing bath to pampering ourselves, it is the place where we can escape our everyday stresses. This is why we design our bathrooms to be not only functional but also to have an aesthetic which we can enjoy. When covering our walls and floors, we often adventure ourselves in either two directions: the modern looks vs the traditional ones.

The Modern Bathroom

Modern bathrooms are mainly designed with the idea of hygiene, often being tiled with simple colours so that dirt can be made visible and easy to clean. This approach not only looks clean, it also emphasizes on the idea of luxury and modernity. This makes modern bathrooms looking great, displaying shiny mono-coloured surfaces like a sports car would. However, not everyone enjoys this look, and some of us feel compelled towards something with more personality and less shine.

The Traditional Bathroom.

Most of us who enjoy old traditional bathrooms do so because those have more charm and character than their modern counterparts. Rather than using simple coloured tiles, older bathrooms have tiles which display patterns which get repeated over the spreading of multiple tiles. Those beautiful and sometimes intricate patterns add more originality to the room as they are very eye-catching. When looking around the room, our eyes glance at those patterns to make sure they are repeated perfectly, jumping from one tile to the other. And no matter how often we use the bathroom, we always take the time to stare at those patterns because it is something our eyes and brain enjoy doing.

Being adventurous

There is nothing wrong with getting what we want. Modern and luxurious looking bathrooms will often project the idea that we are financially well-off and as such their aesthetics will evolve around status. Whilst there are merits to this approach, it is not the most original way to do things. Buying the latest luxury item is an easy thing to do when you can afford it but taking the time to find an aesthetic which corresponds to certain traits of your personality takes time and reflection. So when it comes down to researching, being adventurous and hardworking will really pay off.

Choosing the ideal floor and wall coverings

Like many life choices, choosing the right aesthetics for our bathroom is all about taking the time to look at as many different options as possible. The best way is to look at different bathrooms displayed in catalogues, websites, DIY showrooms and even friend’s houses. Places such as the ABL Tile Centre provide a great choice of bathroom floor and wall coverings, and it is especially worth checking online to see the Artisan range at ABL. Doing so, we realise that there are many different appealing floor and wall coverings to choose from, covering all colours, patterns and textures. After all, why not be adventurous and find something we really want, rather than doing what everyone else does?

 

 

Thank you for your visit!

Pam

Kitchen Backsplash Update

Recently, we had our floors refinished and painted all of those rooms.  After painting the kitchen,  we decided that we would like a new backsplash.

We brought home lots and lots of different choices.  Most were nice, but just too busy for us.  We love subway tiles and love travertine, so when we found this tile, our decision was made. 

This picture (kind of) shows the old 4" granite backsplash. 

There was lots of patching to make the walls perfectly smooth.

Some sections had too many cutouts to use the mesh pieces.  This is where each piece was individually hung on the wall.

 

It took my husband one evening during the week and the weekend and he was done.  Yes, he's a keeper!





 Our kitchen isn't very big, but is definitely workable for us.  I'm thrilled with it and so thankful for such a talented husband!

Thanks for your visit!

Pam

I am linking to the following parties:

Debbiedoo's Newbie Party with a Twist

New Kitchen Cabinets

We don't have a huge kitchen and had a desk area that we weren't really using, so we decided to do a bit of a remodel.   We really wanted more storage and I'm lucky enough to have a husband who can make just about anything!

Here's what it looked like before.  It was very nice and and good place to put some collectibles, but was not being utilized as much as it could have been.

I have an office right near the kitchen, so really didn't need a desk area right here. 

So out the desk and upper cabinet went to Habitat for Humanity's Restore for someone else to use...

And into the garage my husband went to start creating a new one.

 His favorite part of it--easy access wine storage!

Adding new crown moulding.  I am so impressed how he matched everything so well to the existing cabinets.

There's actually some extra room on the shelves right now.    I'm so happy with it.

Thanks for your visit!

Pam

Have you entered my Giveaway from MyMemories.com?

Enter HERE

I am linking to the following parties:

 

Rotate it, Rebuild it and a Roomy Kitchen is Created!

We had a lovely island, but it was too crowded in our kitchen!  The island was pushed into the kitchen too far for my taste.  I'm guessing it's because the prior owners wanted a big table in this area too.  We have a dining room, so didn't need another big table in here.   If the refrigerator door or dishwasher door was open, there was no way anyone was getting by them!  I've been told that a good distance between counters is 39".  Well, the before distance was about 28"--unacceptable! 

Over the holidays when our son was home from college, he and my husband picked up the island and rotated it 90 degrees.  OMG, it was so much better already!  I finally had room to walk around it in the kitchen!  So even though we were just 'trying it out' and my husband had every intention of rotating it back to where it was until he could build a new one, I was having none of that!  Yes, when I had to get in the drawers, they were on the opposite side of the dishwasher, but that extra room was heavenly and it was only for a couple of weeks.  Here is a picture of the old island turned the new way.

A couple of weeks ago my husband built a new base.  We decided to try our best to re-use the granite top as granite tops can get expen$ive!  Luckily it all worked out!  He also re-used a lot of the beadboard and the feet.  We now have gained an extra drawer and a pull out for the recycle bin.  We also have an area for stools.  By rotating it, we gained 14" on each side of the island!

We also added some new pendant lights, so now it's a great place to read my morning paper.

We were very lucky that the floors were finished under everything, so we didn't have to worry about refinishing them again.

Thanks for visiting!

Pam

I am linking to :

 Debbiedoo's Newbie Party

Susan's Metamorphosis Monday Party

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Pink Postcard's Transformations and Treasures Party