Day 1 of the Remodel

So they got down all the tile and put in the new tub. They forgot to turn back on the hot water, but quickly came back out to fix that. Thank heavens, three mad neighbors are not what I need!

And my favorite part of today: I found an old coke bottle in the walls! The walls are still open from the plumbing today —tomorrow is the rebuild day — so, of course, I had to look around in them.

Here's a picture. Getting this shot was a challenge, but I had to do it.

I am constantly fascinated that contractors leave trash in the walls. Just leave it there. Yes, it becomes a find in 70 years, but it's still a little gross.

And to all those haters of selective coloring: I know selective coloring is considered passé, but I am doing it for a couple shots that I am going to hang in the bathroom when it's all done. It's a black and white bathroom, so I wanted black and white shots, but certain colors I thought were important. I don't know, sometimes, you have to do passé if it speaks to you artistically. Here's the other selective color image I want to hang in there, it's my old, broken soap dish. So if you are going to hate, do it in full force!!

Bathroom Remodel Starts Tomorrow

After 16 years of living with this old Parkfairfax bathroom (built in the 40s), I am finally remodeling. I have done little things to the bathroom like replace the light, paint, try to paint the tub, and replace the toilet and medicine cabinet. Everything else is original. Oh, except the shower converter, they installed that in 1970 when they converted these units from apartments to condos.

Here are the before pictures. You'll notice the wall with the window has the tile removed. I'm trying to save some tile for my neighbors who haven't remodeled and can't buy this tile anymore.

I'm keeping the toilet, sink and medicine cabinet. The sink is in great condition so there is no point in getting a new one. The toilet and medicine cabinet are new, so they stay. I have a plan to dress up the medicine cabinet. 

My bathroom is tiny, when you open the door it takes up half of the bathroom. It drives me nuts, so I'm getting rid of the door and putting in a door that will attach to the outside wall with barn door track. It's a normal door, not a barn door.

Goodbye, old bathroom. You have served me well. I'm impressed that you lasted over 70 years. That's quite an accomplishment.

Bathroom Towel Holder and Shelf

Well, I finally finished the shelf with the faucet handles. I took those two pieces of wood that I found at the Goodwill for $6 and combined them with faucet handles that I bought from ebay for $5 (including shipping!)

Here's the raw wood again:

Here's the final shelf:

I had to fake the towels stacked on top because I can't hang it on the wall yet. I have to buy a hanger system that I think will hold the shelf up. I faked the hanging towel as well.

I did buy 1x2 to add some heft to the back. The white towel holder is actually a box. So there is a finishing molding around that as well. So if I total up the paint, wood, handles and polyurethane, it comes to $21. Worth that just for the fun of making it!

Since I seem to suck at cutting wood, this thing has a roughness to it that will make it look vintage!

The reason I wanted to make my own shelf is because I bought one of those stainless steel shelves that turned into a rusty mess in no time. I resolved never to put stainless steel in that bathroom again.

I'm a Painter

I am preparing for my bathroom remodel (which so far is only in the estimate stage because I can't believe how much people want to do a 5x8 bathroom). I have a long thin wall space that will be available for art. I thought I would try painting. I looked at gallery canvases but they were $30 a pop and I'd have to buy paint on top of that. I didn't want to spend all that on something I wasn't sure would even work. Well, my junk luck came through again. I was looking around Goodwill and I found an old canvas just the size I needed for $6. Deal!

Here is the canvas before (admire that painting surface, it's like christmas all the time!)

The canvas was in good shape and I thought for $6, I could fail and not lose much.

Here's the final painting. (I think it's final, I have an idea to turn it into mixed media, but I'm not sure about that yet.) It's based off a photograph I took in Key West in the early morning. It was a little darker that morning so the water was not it's usual teal color.

I'm pretty excited about it. I'm not much of a painter, but having the sample photo helped a lot. 

Next project includes these two pieces of wood for $6 from Goodwill and some vintage faucet handles I got off of ebay for $5. I'm excited about that piece as well. Now all I need is to find a reasonably priced contractor or I'll be hanging all this bathroom stuff in my dining room.

I met the cutest kid this weekend

He was about three years old. I was at the Long Bridge Park and this little guy goes running by me. He stops and points to the train track. "Train," he says. Makes sure I saw him and then takes off running again. A plane goes by overhead, he stops, points and says, "Plane." He waits for confirmation that I heard him and takes off running again. He repeated that about 10 times.

I just smiled and thought to myself, remember when life was that exciting? When you couldn't wait to get to the next exciting thing that you went off running to see it? And you were so excited you had to share it with any and everybody that was around?

Sometimes I wish life was like that again.

All Things Random Have an Order Part II

I wrote Part I over three years ago. That's when he entered my life and I had no idea why. As I said, there's always a tragedy waiting in the wings. And his tragedy comes tomorrow at 9 am. (It's nice when tragedy comes on a schedule, because if you're paying attention, you can avoid it!) And even though he pulled me into his life and made me stay there for three confusing years, he didn't listen to me when I warned him not to go. And now I just have to wait for him to take this leap off the edge and hope to God that he lands on his feet (or only breaks one leg). I hope that, even though he didn't listen to me, that the words I said will play back in his head when he needs them most.

I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't scared. When I first knew it was coming, I was terrified. Then mad. And now, resigned. It seems that this is his destiny. Believe me, I did what I could to change it. It just seems weird that I was pulled into his life for just this moment and then was summarily dismissed when I tried to help. But to be honest, I don't believe he pulled me into his life. There was another force at play here and that force is just as scared as I am.

All I can say now is "Via con Dios."