Mistake #2 - Bathroom Floor

The floor in the bathroom had been an issue from the start, first we had to decide what the material was that was on there currently and if it was safe to rip up then figure out what was underneath it and if it was in good enough shape to leave down or if it too had to be replaced. The tile that I picked out for the bathroom was absolutely perfect, like all other decision with this project I knew the minute I saw it that I wanted it. It was a beautiful ¼” hexagonal tile in white with black in there. This tile wasn't completely period appropriate (c 1942) but it was very close and more importantly it was something that I really loved.



Tile is much thinner than we had originally anticipated

 We ended up having to rip the floor down to bare beams and went back and forth on what size backer board to use in there, our gut told us to use the thicker one but there was the worry that would be a small weird lip between the bathroom floor and hallway plus I wanted to put down radiant heat in that room which required a mat with coils to go down under the tile. I won't even tell you how many times I was sent back to Home Depot to exchange the backerboard for the other size, ok I will tell you 3 seperare times plus that stuff is heavy to be pulling in and out of the car and into the store and then from the store back  into the car, etc.. and it was 15 degrees outside that night, not that that really has anything to do with anything I just wanted to complain. We ended up using the thinner backer board against our better judgment and trying to make up the difference by using more thinset to build it up. We were about halfway done with the floor when we realized that this wasn’t going to work, between the thinset being so thick and the coils of the heating mat the small tiles  did not dry evenly. 

What we found when the floor was taken up



New backerboard is put down

  The decision was made to rip out what we had done already and start over. This required another trip back to Home Depot to purchase more backer board (the correct size this time), we had to throw away the heating coil, and wait almost 2 weeks for more tile to come in, of course it was special order from the east coast and ran into some weather delays.

2nd time is a charm

The 2^nd time it went in beautifully and looks wonderful, I was however informed by the Forman that the radiant heat wasn’t going to work and if I wanted heat in there that he would buy me a small radiator. I’m glad I decided to stay with the tile and I will absolutely appreciate how even the floor is every time I walk on it. Plus as long as I am trying to be positive about this experience the delay in the bathroom gave me some extra time and I was able to strip the kitchen cabinets down to bare wood before re-painting them.

Finished Project



Nordstrom vs. Home Deopt

I have been asked several times to be a guest blogger for The Shanty , a great little store up in Newport WA and was reminded again today. While I love the idea of being a guest blogger and Lord knows I love The Shanty I find myself resisting. I haven’t opened a fashion magazine since the beginning of October, read when the house stuff really started to get underway, and I haven’t shopped online or in a store for anything other than toys (Christmas is just a few weeks away) and house stuff. Once I realized that I started looking back over my own blog and while only in actual existence for a couple of months (I have been blogging in my head for almost a year now) I see that I have done very little fashion related blogs on here and definitely nothing that could be counted as cutting edge or even on trend.

Just one more reason that I am looking forward to getting this house done, I can get back to what I am most comfortable with, shopping at Nordstrom instead of Home Depot.

Mint Condition

As previously mentioned my favorite colors are Red & Black and when I first started looking at color schemes for the new house certain things were a given, like the kitchen floors would be black and white checkerboard, my bedroom would be cream with a dramatic dark wall, A’s room would be shades of blue but the bathroom was a bit of a dilemma. I knew I wanted to inject some color and make the room seem as large as possible while staying true to the homes original bones. I wanted it to seem luxurious without feeling too girly. As our previous bathroom was all done in a yellow and blue duck theme I decided that while I did like the ducks it was time for our bathroom to grow up a little.

Moen Moentrol "Monticello"

My first decision was to pick the shower hardware, my plumber recommended a certain line from Moen so that helped me narrow my decision down among just those 20 or so options. I choose this great set because it has clean lines while still seeming modern and classic all at once, I did have to order this special porcelain handle which I think will totally complete the look.

Porcelain Handle for Moen "Monticello"

The inside of the shower was a given as well, I knew from the start that I wanted 3x6 white subway tile with some kind of colored liner tile towards the top. When I found the green glass linear tile I knew almost instantly that that’s what I wanted and while some of my helpers weren’t quite as convinced as I was once it was completed everybody agreed that it looks awesome.


The floors were a challenge at first only because I couldn’t find anything that I loved but after lots of research and shopping around I came across this at Home Depot and knew instantly that this was what I wanted.

White Metro Hex Tile

Luckily the tub was in great shape so nothing needed to be done with that, the toilet as previously discussed had to go and I was able to find a great pedestal sink on Craigslist that has perfect lines for the bathroom.  The medicine cabinet also had to go, it was small and the mirror wasn’t in very good condition, luckily I was able to find this one at Lowes that had great reviews and was only $38 so it was definitely in my price range.

The walls originally had pink plastic tile on them and while I did like them I did not want to live with them forever so they did have to go. Once they were removed they was so much glue residue that it would have been nearly impossible to smooth the wall down enough to paint it and have it look nice so I decided to put up wood paneling bead board which was super easy and while we are still in the process of putting up the last of the moldings it already looks very polished and well put together.

The finishing touch was the paint for the walls, it was decided that I would paint 3 of the walls, the 3 without the shower on them, and I choose Sherwin Williams  "Mint Condition" ” for this. It is a very nice light almost sea foam color with great saturation without making you look sickly in the mirror. I tested out a patch on the wall on Thursday and came back on Friday to see how it looked  once it dried and was very pleased to see that the results were amazing.

While it still isn’t completely done it is really starting to feel like it’s coming together and every day gets us closer to the finished project.