The Next Project Might Surprise You
If you follow my blog regularly, you might be getting sick of hearing my excuses. I am tiring of them myself. That is partially why I have not posted in nearly a week. I have been sick and unmotivated, and the truth is that not much has been accomplished. I have been working on the denim chair project, but it is going to be a while before there is enough progress to write about.
So, while I was lying back combating my cold, I was plotting our next project. I know that we should get to work on the trim, but it was another room that caught my attention. It must be that I was spending more time there while not feeling well. In case you have not yet guessed, that room was the bathroom.
The problem with this room is that all of the little things add up to depress me when I am in there. Pictures of the bathroom do not look that bad. I like the green tile and most of the accents.
However, keeping this room clean is a challenge. No matter how many times I scrub this wall, it seems to turn black again within hours.
The ceiling is also in bad shape. The only ceiling that is worse is the one in our bedroom. It is hard to get a good picture, but here is a small section of it. Those are not smudges on your monitor. Those are cracks and marks and dirt on our ceiling. Gross!
While I am listing things that I dislike, this light fixture has to be one of the biggest transgressors. The saddest thing is that I bought a replacement on eBay nearly three years ago, but I have been waiting to make the switch until we paint. I would like that to happen soon!
More trim that needs painted. I especially want to get this trim done, because I would like to get rid of the roller shade. My plan is to put translucent film in the windows but not until they are good looking. Right now the shade hides this ugly window from my view, so as much as I hate it, it will stay.
All of these little details are adding up. Here is another one, this bent little pathetic cover over the pipe hole. Also, in case you missed it, there is a bent screw hanging out just to the right. Why?
One thing that I appreciate is that the curtain rod is not a tension rod, so the curtain slides easily from one side to the other. Unfortunately, it is ugly. I believe that it will be an easy fix to remove the plastic covering and paint the rod white. Hopefully, this fix will be as easy as I want it to be. Next, I will buy a plain white shower curtain. This waffled fabric is ugly, and Crème has left snags along the bottom.
Another purchase will be a new toothbrush holder. This one has been broken for years, and I am not sure why we have been tolerating it. I have been contemplating this one
This is another situation that needs fixed. Our foaming hand soap dispenser broke last month, and Bed, Bath and Beyond did not have another foaming one that I liked for our bathroom. I finally found this one
The little shelf is just pathetic. I would eventually like to put in a second medicine cabinet in here. Douglas thinks that it would look funny, but I do not care. I like the idea of closing everything away behind a door. It just feels a lot more hygienic in a bathroom.
Another simple project will be to clean up these towel bars. I just need to scrape off a little paint and rust. A little WD-40 and some steel wool. While these are off the door, I will use the opportunity to touch up the paint on the door.
The last step will be to re-tile the floor. I bought the tile three years ago, but we have not had the time or the nerve to tackle anther tiling project yet since the last floor was such a nightmare. Since then, we got our confidence back up by tiling the kitchen backsplash, but this will not happen until this summer at the earliest.
So, now you have seen the mess behind the mirage. I hope that I have not scared you away forever. It is scary to show you the imperfections in the Cape of Dreams, but I think that it is important to be honest.
Happy Homemaking!
I am a teacher, traveler, artist, writer, homemaker and a whole lot more. In January 2009, I bought the Cape of Dreams. It was the second house that I had ever owned, but it was the first that I bought by myself. I now live in the house with my husband Douglas, our dog Kahlua, and Crème de Menthe, the cat. Because, what life is complete without a little Kahlua and Cream? I love arts and crafts of all kinds, and I refinish furniture as well. We are slowly redoing our entire house. You can read about my projects on my blog www.CapeofDreams.com
Wow! Amazing how such a small room can generate SO MANY PROJECTS! Just keep breathing, and taking things one step at a time. That’s the only way I can keep my sanity when things start building up!
Sometimes I feel like this entire room is peeling! Hopefully, I can make a bit of a difference in the next couple of weeks.
Definitely keep breathing. If anyone is up for this challenge it certainly is you! I look forward to seeing the changes in this room.
Good advice from both of you! It is hard to remember sometimes when I want to do all the things at once.
I totally get where you are coming from. I started to notice things that needed doing over the Christmas holidays and tried to ignore them..but it was starting to get me down. So last week I made a list of every room and everything that needed to be done. Have started to address each issue one room at a time, feeling loads better but tired out with all the extra work. Is it a spring thing?
Hope you feel better soon x
Good for you! I think that it may be a spring thing, but it is important to keep on top of things. I hope to get motivated soon!
We have 2 floors to tile so I hope you’ll do a detailed tutorial especially focusing on what not to do. You have some great ideas for your green tile bathroom. I don’t think 2 medicine cabinets would be weird especially if they’re recessed into the wall. That might not be possible but it would be neat. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
You should check out the link above about the time we tiled the kitchen floor. I specifically wrote on the top of each post that it was a “What Not To Do” post. We made about every mistake possible, but the floors look great. Thanks for the validation that two medicine cabinets would not look horrible.
You know I think your bathroom is darling … but when you look at details, old houses are always in need of cleaning up! I hope you keep your nice little wall-hung sink. Anyone can go buy a vanity at Lowe’s, but that sink makes the room special. And the medicine cabinet, too, if it’s in decent shape. I see how broken the floor tile is, but I’m sad to see that go! Love the green.
I love that bathroom too! Don’t worry, nothing is going but the floor tile and that is only because there is no known way to save it.
PS–Hope you’re feeling better. Now I have a cold!
Get better soon! I am still coughing but a little less every day.
Our bathroom is a problem too. We only have one bathroom so it will not be easy to redo it.
I hope you are feeling better.
and, thanks for the sweet compliments on my latest post.
That is our problem too. We think it will take a couple of days to re-tile the floor, but then where are we going to use a toilet? Most of the time I love living in a little house, but only having one bathroom can be challenging.
We renovated our sole bathroom a few years ago. We were going to do it over Christmas break–haha! It took over two years (with a big break in between), so don’t despair. We had to take our toilet on and off many times, and discovered no stores are open on Christmas Day. Ah, good memories! You can read all about it here. https://ourbungalows2ndcentury.wordpress.com/bath/
Oh no! I hope we are able to do it quicker than that! I am dreading this nightmare.
Hi Jessica,
Wowsers, it’ll look fab when it’s done! Don’t sweat it though even if it takes forever, the tortoise won the race in the end! Feeling ike you have to diy makes me run a mile! If I just chill, I’m way more productive!
I’m not a natural house keeper – I find our extractor we had fitted keeps the damp air at bay and our room has stayed mostly white since we painted it in 2013. Next up along with kitchen reno is to install a water softener. I don’t have the time or inclination to remove lime scale. If you are going for it might want to check adding these things for future too.
Eve
We need an extractor. That should probably go on the list as well!