a few updates to the bathroom.

this isn’t going to be a very exciting post, sorry in advance, but i have had a few requests for updates to the house, & one of the rooms that has received some attention in our first month as homeowners has been the bathroom.

here she was before (she being the bathroom of course) in all her beige glory. we have grand plans to do a total bathroom remodel (to include replacing the toilet, sink & bathtub) but for now, we are living with the space mostly how it was.

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{the blue tile on the walls of the shower & the floor are beau-ti-ful!}

a few things that had to go, however, were: the magnifying mirror next to the medicine cabinet (neither aaron nor myself have any desire to see ourselves – or our pores – on that large of a scale), the oval shower curtain rod, the metal grip bars in the shower, & the two glass shelves that flanked the entire wall on the right side of the medicine cabinet (not pictured).

so, here are the updates. {sidenote: when i took these pictures it really was bright, but i guess bright is a relative term, especially when you consider the grey-ness of seattle. i apologize for the dark photos. but at least i didn’t use the flash (apparently that is a big no-no in the photography community).}

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{former home of two glass shelves. aaron patched the wall & i painted. the two light rectangle patches are where we patched & painted. yep, paint finish fail. it is actually the same color, just a different finish & we didn’t realize until the paint was already on the wall as the paint can was incorrectly marked. so, we need to find some art or something to hang on that wall. any suggestions for bathroom art?}

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{the new shower curtain rod. the old one was oval & meant to be used with a clawfoot tub, so there was about 3/4 of the rod that was never used as it was inside the shower. aaron replaced it with this curved shower rod & it is awesome! at first i thought he was going a little overboard with the curved rod, i mean, it is a pretty small bathroom, but just those extra few inches make a world of difference. i highly recommend using a curved shower rod if you are replacing an old one.}

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{we, & by we i mean i, needed more storage space in the bathroom. i don’t feel like i have a lot of stuff, but the medicine cabinet was not going to cut it. so, i picked up this ikea cabinet. i liked that it had glass shelf space & hidden shelf space. plus, it was a great price! {sidenote: i originally put the little plastic legs on the bottom of the cabinet, but it was really unstable, & since we couldn’t attach the cabinet to the bathroom wall, because of the wainscoating & trim, we just opted not to have the legs.} until we are able to replace the sink with a vanity, this storage will work perfectly.}

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{also, i added this sign just so that we don’t end up having to replace our old sewer line sooner rather than later!}

other than hanging some art (& a clock!) & painting (our blue tiles are awesome, but do not look awesome with the yellow walls), we probably won’t be doing much to this bathroom for some time. we would love to update the fixtures (in white), add a vanity, & radiant heat in the floors {wishful thinking, i know. at least a heated towel bar?} but that will all come in time.

have you done any updates to your bathroom?

M

my weekend in pictures.

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{when it is 5 o’clock on a friday & your husband says he doesn’t want dinner for a few hours, you are glad you stock salsa in the pantry!}

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{aaron made white pizza for dinner on friday. yum-o!}

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{i like to think of saturday as homeowner’s day, as in do housework. our saturday was filled with clearing out the kitchen cabinets to sand & degloss, & trim the hedges.}

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{my saturday evening was spent with my grandmother: dinner & shopping!}

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{yep, those are our kitchen cabinets. in the basement. there are big things brewin’ at the lower house.}

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{we finally got the car washed!}

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{sunday night dinner: dinner & the avengers.}

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{the 520 bridge was closed this weekend, so we took i-90 across lake washington instead. it was a much longer drive, but we got to see downtown all lit up!}

we are in the midst of one large house project – a minor update to the kitchen – which is all-consuming. how was your weekend?

M

my long weekend in pictures.

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{on our friday morning commute, we discovered a giraffe lives in the neighborhood. apparently giraffes can live in rhodies.}

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{meeting downtown. the views were superb (as was the weather)!}

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{still enjoying my peonies!}

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{the first of many, many trips to the yard waste bin. we spent saturday cleaning up the yard. it was A LOT of work. kudos to all of you who have yards that always look neat!}

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{we saw the king tut exhibit at the pacific science center. it was a bit of a disappointment as king tut wasn’t even there, but we also saw the laser gaga show & it (partly) made up for it!}

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{sadie accompanied us on our rounds to the hardware store this weekend. she was so sweet & laid down waiting for us to go home. this was after she hoovered the popcorn remnants from the floor – thanks home depot for the free popcorn!}

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{my amazing husband converted the power in our new pantry (formerly a laundry closet). our microwave now has a new home. yay for more counter space!}

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{another painting project completed this weekend. the kitchen.}

we kept ourselves busy this weekend with homeowner-y stuff. it was a lot of work, but really worth it! this place is really starting to feel like home. our home.

there are lots of updates on the house that i have been meaning to post. i will get them up in the next few days for sure!

how was your weekend?

M

please mr. postman.

we have been working like crazy on the house – a never-ending project & it’s only been a few weeks!

this project was an easy one, but made a huge difference in the curb appeal of our house.

{sidenote: i apologize that you can’t see the house numbers as the impact of the change isn’t really the same in these pictures as it is in real life; we want to maintain some privacy for protection since this is the internet after all.}

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{before: old black metal numbers. old black metal mailbox.}

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{after: new shiny silver numbers. new shiny silver mailbox.}

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{i think this mailbox is my favorite update so far!}

source list:

what do you think of our mini-facelift?

M

my weekend in pictures.

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{picked up some free paint samples from benjamin moore.}

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{snacked at the french bakery. made me miss eating fresh pastries in paris last spring!}

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{friday was still hot-tea-drinking weather.}

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{friday night dinner & a movie.}

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{hello new closet! you still aren’t quite big enough, but we will have to make it work…}

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{sadie enjoyed snuggling on the couch this weekend.}

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{bought our first lawnmower!}

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{happy cinco de mayo! we ordered in pizza, that’s still festive, right?}

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{watched born to be wild on the xbox. those baby orangutans & elephants are so darn cute!}

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{spring = green tea.}

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{sadie’s new game is to find all the sunny spots in the house & yard.}

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{trying out the doggles on sadie. she didn’t love them.}

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{we bought a hanging fuchsia for our back deck. so gorgeous!}

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{we stocked up on produce at the local stand just a few blocks away!}

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{nursed my knee injury. nothing crazy, just rammed it into the bed post on saturday which only aggravated the hit it took when i slipped down the stairs on friday… yep, i am a total klutz.}

our first full weekend as homeowners & we only made two trips to the hardware store! how was your weekend?

M

pictures of our new abode.

finally! {that is what you are thinking, right?}

i thought it would be nice to have an on-going record of the state of the house {especially since projects have happened, or are happening as we speak!} for blog readers, but also for posterity. i will likely be posting about individual projects, but i will also be uploading pictures (likely after more major projects) to the House Tour page, so be sure to check there for picture updates!

i uploaded some pictures of the house that we took during a walk-thru with the seller & the evening that we closed, so the house is nice & clean & empty! {sidenote: there are many, many things that we would like to change/update, but those things take time & money, so we all have to be patient, myself included! we do love the overall character of the house & any update just adds to its charm!}

if you are interested in seeing pictures of the house, {c’mon, you know you’ve been dying to see it!} then scroll up to the top of the webpage & click on the House Tour page.

house tour page

{where the new House Tour page will live.}

did we pick a good one? thoughts?

M

my weekend in pictures: moving edition.

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{boxes ready to move!}

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{the desk at the escrow office where we signed our names about 67,888 times, approximately.}

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{the key to our house!}

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{sadie pretty much wants to be near someone (me) all the time. and preferably also touching.}

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{uhaul for the move.}

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{our rhodie is bloomin’ in the backyard. it is so gorgeous!}

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{sadie staking out her yard.}

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{happy, happy birthday to my dear friend sascha! sorry we couldn’t stay for karaoke & dancing.}

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{thanks dave for expertly packing our uhaul!}

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{first dinner at the new house was chicken mole at the local mexican restaurant.}

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{we lost some of the bed hardware during the move & “camped out” on the living room floor with the mattress. aaron & i hated it. sadie LOVED it!}

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{one of may boxes we unpacked this weekend!}

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{i couldn’t find the coffeemaker, so made coffee with the french press. also, a sneak peak at our awesome kitchen tile.}

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{we took our first of many, many trips to lowe’s.}

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{unpacked the cookies to put in the cookie jar. you can see where my priorities were when unpacking the kitchen!}

well, after a few trips back & forth to the new house & lots of help from our local family & friends, we are officially in our new house (as of saturday evening!) we want to give a big (huge) shout-out to everyone who stopped by to help: ben & sarah, dave, marcus, andy & hailey, nick & jerry!

the house is still a mess (that’s an understatement, for sure), but i am hoping to post pictures of the (pre-moved into) house sometime this week for all of you that are hankering to finally see it.

how was your weekend?

M

and we’re homeowners.

we are closing on the house today! hooray!

lots & lots of paperwork, time (and money!) goes into transferring a house from the seller to the buyer. {sidenote: i can’t figure out why we would need so many papers with our signatures!}

but, here we are on the flipside & are starting our journey as homeowners!

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{our 1908 craftsman house}

we are moving today & tomorrow (yuck!) but will be posting more pictures soon (in posts & on the blog page aptly named house tour). we have lots of ideas (big & small) for future house projects that we can’t wait to share, but for now, we are still getting used to being homeowners!

any advice on homeownership?

M & A