February 21, 2013 - SNOW DAY!!!! Plus Office Makeover - Update!

Kansas City is shut down!  I have an official snow day from work with 9 inches of snow to keep people of the street - well, most of them! Ha!

After playing in the snow for a while, Evan and I got to work on the office.  We were anxious to get the tile put up after we had put in the sink.

February 16, 2013 - Office Makeover - Update - NEW SINK!!!

Our special order counter top finally came in at Home Depot.  Our vanity is an inch shorter than the industry standard size of 49".   We did not want to try and cut it to size either.  This old laminate counter top had done it's job well and was ready to be torn out of our house.  Originally we had decided on the Indian Summer color, but decided on a darker top and a brush chrome fixture.  The color option we decided on was Volcano.  It has specks of the Rustic Oak paint color and brushed chrome with an overall dark bronze finish color of the mirror frame and hardware we painted.  This color option has saved us some money on the faucet choice, too.  The darker faucets were so expensive, so overall it just made sense.

There were lots of options for a new vanity top for our bathroom/washroom.  With all the different types of bowls and facets, we decided to stick with the same style we had since it was most practical.

To our surprise (not really), it was harder to get out than we expected.  The side splashes were nailed in and we had to figure a way to get them out before we could get the top off.  We used a chisel to break the finishing nails that were used.  My chisel was wrecked after we accomplished this.

Once it was off, all that was left was a flimsy frame.  Scary to think that I was standing on this to paint the ceiling and the wall behind the mirror prior to removing the top.

The new top fits like a glove!  So much anxiety built up that it would not fit since it was special ordered.  It is so pretty.  =]

Evan got the hook ups on the sink set up and it works!

Now all we need is the tile set up on the back splash and we are done with this project!!!

Here is why we need a back splash.  We have a fat finger's worth of space between the counter and the wall at the corner of the vanity on both sides.  The back wall sags in at the middle and we did not want to figure a way to flush this out.  We decided on a back splash to help protect the wall from water and make it look really cool with all the fancy colors.

The new facet is nice too!  I love this style, I can turn the water to hot or cold or warm with one hand.  I am not a huge fan of two separate handles.  Call me lazy, but it takes a lot of adjustments to make the water temperature just right with the separate controls versus the single.

February 14, 2013 - Office Makeover - Update!

The painting in the room is complete!!!  Yay!  We picked out two rugs that match.  A small on for in front of the deck door and then the larger one for in front of the vanity.  The colors help tie the colors in the room to the bathroom tile on the wall.

I also ended up spray painting the mirror's white trim to match the rest of the hardware and fan.  Loving it!

After cleaning out the rest of the loose items, Evan and I moved my studio stuff up and it looks great!

The old computer table was too bulky and we put the corner table in to help keep the room from looking too cluttered down.

We are tempted to get rid of the futon, but it works well in front of the sliding doors.  It is easy to move to get in and out of the closets.  Plus it is an extra space for someone to sleep if we have company.

We are getting anxious for the counter top as we prepare the tile around the sink to get a feel for what it will look like.

February 4, 2013 -- Office Makeover - Update!

Color Swatches!  I realized I have not put down the colors we selected for the walls and trim.  Lowe's Valspar paint did well in our bedroom colors, that we went with them again.  The Wall color is Woodrow Wilson Blush and the Trim is Rustic Oak. 

For our Sink, we went to Home Depot and decided on the color Indian Summer in the Onyx Collection for special order to fit it in our small 48" opening.

Home Depot also had a good price on small mosaic tile by the square foot.  We went with the one on the right.  It has the dark blue from our curtains, the tan from our wall and the greys to neutralize it all and best of all some natural stone to make it look rustic.

After painting the sliding doors, I was happy I had.  It makes a big difference in the look of the room.  It also takes the 70's look out of the house, too.  I used the bronze spray paint to paint the door handles as well.  Nice touch. 

I did not want to paint the interior of the closet, but hunkered down and did it anyways.  I was afraid I would not have enough paint.  I wanted to make sure I had enough to finish the bathroom after installing the sink and back splash.

I reinstalled the light fixture after spraying the housing with Rust-oleum Oil Rubbed Bronze paint that make the lights look so much more pleasant that the stark white.  The vanity cabinets finally got their coat of Rustic Oak color to bring it into the future and out of the nasty white look it had.

Yep, this tile is a perfect fit for our colors in the bathroom and helps tie it to the rest of the room.

While going nuts with spraying all the hardware for the vanity in the Bronze spray paint, I also painted the blades on the ceiling fan.  It was a 80's Oak fan with chair caning  on the blades.  I liked the looked, but not the color.  The Bronze color was the look this room needed to make it more finished.

After all the doors for the vanity were painted, I installed all the hardware back on to get a feel of what it would look like with the bronze knobs.  Looking good!

January 20, 2013 - Office Makeover - Update

The next step was deciding paint colors and what to do with all the hardware in the bathroom portion of the room.  Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

The vanity lights and mirror looked old and white would not work.  So I took apart the fixture to see if we could replace it or paint it fairly easily.

 Home Depot and Lowe's had several options, but the sizes were wrong.  They all looked nice, but did not go with the feel of the room.

The prices were fairly cheap, but it would add to our budget that is increasingly getting higher than we wanted to put into this room.

 Evan and I decided on a dark fixture for the sink since we were leaning towards a bronze color paint for the hardware on the light and cabinet's knobs.

The options were plentiful, but the prices were higher that we wanted to pay.

 Meanwhile, the ceiling was just about finished up.

We had started on the trim and went with the dark color for the trim and a lighter paint for the walls to help brighten up the room.

It is amazing what one coat of paint will do to freshen up the room.  It looks so much brighter and cleaner than the splotchy brown they had before.  It was ok for a start, but it was so drab.

 I thought about leaving the sliding doors natural, but they were too yellow against the cooler colored trim.