renovation

We have a bathroom!

/ Katie / 23 Comments

More accurately, we have two and a half. But the one upstairs is officially renovated and done! It still needs some finishing touches, but I’m very happy with it.

I’m so glad we chose warm, bright colors. The green felt like a bit of a risk, but the room gets so much light, I think it really works, especially with the white tile in the shower. It just looks so fresh and clean.

And we were able to install the clawfoot tub!

We’ve set it up so that we have a shower and toilet room, and then a separate little annex for the tub, a closet, and another vanity, and I think that really works, too. It’s also an example of living in a historic home – you just have to use the space you have the best that you can.

Now that this one’s done, we’ve really only got some cosmetic work left. Painting, fixing a few ceilings that look cracked and tired, finishing up with shutters and a few small items on the exterior. It’s not much, is my point. We could do more, but with Baby Girl set to make her debut in a month, we’ve got some other stuff to focus on. 😊

So, onward, as always. It’s going to be an interesting few weeks as we wait for her to get here, but at least I’ve got a nice, pretty bathroom to hang out in, in the meantime!

I can see it!

/ Katie / 15 Comments

And it’s going to be lovely.

Work on the upstairs bathroom continues, and we’re almost there!

It might be hard to tell, but we really don’t have very much left to do. And by we, I mean our contractors, because yeah, I am not skilled enough to lay tile correctly and not strong enough to carry a clawfoot tub up a very narrow set of stairs.

I’m eager for this project to be done, because next up on my list is finishing the nursery. And with less than seven weeks to go before Baby Girl is due to make her debut, it feels like we’re already cutting it close.

But, deep breaths. Everything will work out. And we’ll have a pretty new bathroom, too.

One Last Big Project!

/ Katie / 12 Comments

After some initial prep months ago…

…work on our main bathroom has officially started!

As you can see, we’ve gone from tired but functional…

…to barely controlled chaos.

I’m not mad about it. Hopefully it will only take a couple of weeks, and then we’ll have the space back and better than ever. It’s our last big project, so I’m excited and eager to see it done. We’ve had to pull back on some of what I wanted to do, since Baby Girl’s due date is getting closer and closer. I’m a little worried my tile choices will look a little plain, since we won’t be putting up wallpaper. At least not yet. But I think it’ll be fine. If nothing else, it will look bright and fresh!

I know I keep forgetting to post pictures of the downstairs bathroom, so I’ll try to do that this week. Trust me – the pink tile was the right choice.

So, onward! It’s going to be a busy week, y’all.

It’s Official: I Have the Kitchen of My Dreams

/ Katie / 26 Comments

Y’all, it’s done. The kitchen’s done, and it’s the stuff that kitchen dreams are made of.

We still need to move things back in, and the range hasn’t been hooked up yet.

But other than that, we’re all set and sorted, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. To remind you, here’s the before…

It’s so much brighter, and lighter, and I just love the butcher block countertops.

It’s so nice, I really don’t even want to cook in it.

Better get over that, though, because three-ish weeks of takeaway dinners is certainly more than enough!

Now, onward to the upstairs bathroom. We’ve got about 11 weeks until Baby Girl arrives, so here’s hoping the work goes fast!

Kitchen Things!

/ Katie / 22 Comments

Good news for a Friday: work on the kitchen has started! It’s feeling a little like barely controlled chaos at the moment.

And it’s certainly a challenge to be without countertops and other functional kitchen things for a little while.

But it’s just a temporary inconvenience, and it will be worth it in the end.

Progress is progress!

/ Katie / 12 Comments

Alas, work on our kitchen has yet to begin, but we did order our new appliances, and they look so good! We went ahead and installed the refrigerator, since ours was broken, and y’all…

…I love it so much. It’s bright and fun, and I think it’s going to look perfect in the space. We also got a new, retro-style microwave, because why not?

I’m getting sort of antsy knowing that the work hasn’t started, and we’ve still got our upstairs bathroom to finish, and Baby Girl will be here in about 16 weeks. But whatever happens, I know it will be fine. And when I do get anxious (which is a lot), Merlin reminds me to slow down.

Cats, y’all.

Our basement bathroom is also (finally) finished, so I’ll post some pictures of it soon. In the meantime, I will repeat to myself: Small steps are still steps forward. I’m grateful for progress.

Time to Write

/ Katie / 23 Comments

Things have calmed down around here after some unexpected stress in the middle of the week, so I feel like I finally have some time to sit down and really write. That’s how I’ll be spending my weekend. So, expect July’s short story on Monday – a little late, but life happens.

And in the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at our butcher block countertops!

Work on the kitchen starts next week. It’ll be a whole different kind of chaos from this week, and I can’t lie, I’m looking forward to it.

Onward, and happy creating, y’all!

So…where’s the July short story?

/ Katie / 9 Comments

Alas, here we are at the end of another month, and while I’ve got a pretty good start, I just don’t have a good enough finished short story to post today. Why? Well…

Our refrigerator broke over the weekend, and suddenly, I had this brilliant (read: crazy) idea that here was our opportunity to replace ALL of our appliances with the retro-style, bright white stuff we’ve been ogling for years. The problem? Money. (Usually money when it comes to renovations, right?) Luckily, I think we found a good option, but it’s been stressing us both out, me and Graham, since Saturday. I expect we’ll get everything ordered by tonight though. And I promise to post pictures when things arrive.

Also, I started working on our baby registry over the weekend. I am. So. Lost. I’ve got a checklist I’m working from, and I’ve gotten advice from lots of very wise people who’ve done this before, but I just feel so intimidated by everything we need to get, and by how many choices we have. It’s just…a lot. It’s a lot. It’s worth it, and for a few minutes, it was even a little bit fun. And I know I’ll be relieved when it’s done and shared, because people have been asking, and it’s so nice and very appreciated that they’re thinking of us, and I feel like I’m behind. One thing at a time, right?

And now that we’re past 20 weeks, though I don’t think I’ve ever been so grateful and happy in my life, I’m also anxious in a whole new way. Like, we’re over halfway there. She’s going to be here in no time. And if something goes wrong (God, I hope nothing goes wrong), it’s going to shatter me. I’m not thinking fatalistically. I’m actually very excited and feeling like everything will be fine, but anxiety isn’t rational, and those fears just creep in without warning. Often at the worst times. Like today. When I’m trying to finish this short story.

Anyway, if you’ve been reading this long, I suppose I just really wanted to give an update and share that July’s short story will be a little late. I want it to be good, not just to exist, and to do that, with how scattered my brain clearly is, I just need more time. Expect it on Wednesday, which means two short stories in August!

I’ll end (it’s past time…this has gotten pretty wordy, hasn’t it?), I’ll just say that I’m so grateful that these are my problems. They are good problems, and I know that. I am privileged to have this kind of stress in my life. This is just a moment, and it will pass. So, onward. The future is bright and happy and filled with very cool new appliances and a beautiful baby girl, and it’s so close.  

A Tale of Two Bathtubs

/ Katie / 14 Comments

For as long as I’ve known they existed, which is basically my whole life, I have always wanted a clawfoot tub. I think they’re so pretty, so classic, and most importantly, a very comfy way to take a nice, relaxing bubble bath.

I was ecstatic when we first looked at our house and it already had one. We made plans to move it to our main bathroom upstairs…

…which we’ve now expanded and prepped for its weight.

Clawfoot tubs are heavy, y’all, and we thought that reinforcing the floor would be our biggest issue.

How naïve we were.

See, somewhere along the line in its lifetime, the bowl of our clawfoot tub got painted with standard white house paint. You can paint a clawfoot any color you’d like on the outside, but they’re meant to have a porcelain finish on the inside, which is durable and shiny. Not sure why someone painted ours the way they did, but we figured we’d deal with it. No big issue, right?

Wrong.

After weeks of trying to rent a sandblaster for an afternoon in order to remove the white paint – a seemingly impossible task that was coming in at estimates around $300 – and then receiving a quote for $600 to have that work done for us, we finally gave up. We decided to just buy a clawfoot tub that we found for $350 from a very nice older gentleman in West Virginia.

Does it feel dumb to buy a tub when we already have one? Yes. Yes, it does. But when it’s a lower price? And all we have to do is drive an hour? No, no it doesn’t.

So a couple of weeks ago we took a small road trip and picked up a new (old) clawfoot tub, which is in great shape and only needs a good cleaning. The tub we’ve already got? We’re giving it to a creative friend for a gardening project, which I’m sure will be beautiful.

For now, both tubs are sitting in our garage. Soon enough, though, we’ll have the bathroom of my dreams, complete with the tub I’ve always wanted.

Renovations are crazy.

Choices, Choices (Or, The Great Backsplash Dilemma of 2023)

/ Katie / 11 Comments

Well, just as I suspected we would, we went for it. We chose butcher block for the kitchen countertops. Specifically, a beautiful, oiled cherry. It just felt right. It’s going to look incredible next to the blue cabinets, and will really pop against the bright white we’re going to put on the walls.

The questions now is: What about a backsplash?

This is NOT the thing I thought we’d have the most trouble with. But here we are, and I’ve got no idea what would look best, and what would look right and not piece-y and would blend well, in our small kitchen.

A simple white subway tile? I don’t hate it, but we’re using that style in the master bathroom, and I feel like you definitely don’t want bathroom vibes in a kitchen.

Something more colorful? Great idea! But it’s going to look really busy in such a confined space.

Pressed tin? Yeah, it just doesn’t look…correct.

Just go without it? I actually would be totally fine with this, and I think it would look great, but butcher block requires some kind of backsplash, since it needs to expand and contract and can’t sit flush with the wall. Didn’t know that before. Do know that now.

We’re at a loss. And we’re up to our necks in tile samples. I know we’ll figure it out, but man, I just really wasn’t anticipating putting so much thought into this. The good news is, this is the last thing we really have to choose. I shouldn’t complain.

So, onward. Another day, another decision. What would you do?