The Powder Room ReDeux

Our powder room was a room of many entrances.  This small half bath had three, count 'em, three doors.  It was basically accessible from the family room, the laundry room and the outside.  That's right, it has an exterior door.  Go figure.

After chatting with folks about it, I had several people who thought a bathroom that was accessible to outside guests might not be a bad thing... so we left that door.  We did close the door from the laundry room into the half bath.  Because, it just needed less traffic.  When and if we enclose the garage, we will lose the exterior door into the powder room too.

But for now, it's getting a new wall mounted sink.  The old sink, besides being mounted about kid height up the wall, was yellow and really old.

This picture was taken through the entry into the laundry room.  That eggress has been eliminated.  Also, the dangly light fixture was heaved into a construction dumpster months ago.  The flowered wallpaper was covered and the wall textured and painted.  I did preserved that divider of louvered wood.  I think it's kind of architecturally interesting.

Today is all about the new wall mounted sink.  The plumbing has to be drastically altered--because, sixty year old house--but that was no surprise.  I found the fixture online and bought the wall mounted sink with integrated towel bar and I can't wait to see it hung!

This will be a couple day process because of the hole in the wall, which will need patching, resurfacing and painting before the actual sink is hung.  But today, that yellow sink went into the trash.  And before I get blasted by comments about reuse, recycle and all that... remember, I live in Beaumont, Texas.  Population 125,000.  There is NO place to recycle old plumbing fixtures.  There used to be a little old plumber with a junk yard full of toilets and sinks but he has passed on and no one picked up that "green" flag.  I checked.

If I lived in California or Seattle, I know of many businesses that would have loved to have resold those fixtures.  Interestingly enough, they wanted me to ship the cast iron things at my expense so they could be resold.  And that, my darlings, is why I did not recycle the fixtures.

After the plumber moved the pipes UP, it was my turn to try fixing the hole.  Because the sink is wall mounted, instead of a pedestal, the plumber had to open up a BIG hole and set up the cross bracing he'd need to support the fixture.

He also had to move the drain pipe to center up the sink and SURPRISE!! the old sink did not have shut off valves at all, so those had to be plumbed in new.  Now that it's roughed in, it's up to us to close the hole up and get the wall textured and painted.

Phase one complete.  I have cut the wallboard, screwed it in, taped the edges and put a first layer of mud around the seams to try and build up a layer for sanding and smoothing out.  This will take two or three layers to get it level and smooth.

Days of mudding, sanding and finally texture and paint.  The texture is not as good as a professional's job but I think that with the sink shadowing it, it will hold up and not be too noticeable.

I'm just glad I was able to build it up level and get it sanded to the point where it doesn't appear like a big divot in the wall!

A couple of coats of paint later and I was able to call the plumber to come back and install the new sink.  But, of course, he quit the company for a better job.

Today, two guys from the Plumbing Services Co. showed up today to install the fixture.  That they had not prepped the wall for... or had knowledge of how to mount prior to arrival.  Sigh.  It took them a LONG, looooong time.  God Bless them both for sticking to it and getting my new sink hung on the wall.

I think it looks nice.

I'm sure it's not strong enough for a toddler to dangle from that towel bar, but for us adults in a powder room, I could not be more happy.

I will hang a mirror I already own and see if I like it.  If not, I will shop for a new one.  But regardless, I'm calling this remodel done!

--  Sandee Wagner

Befores and Afters

I have actually had a few people ask for more before and after pictures, so I have endeavored to take pictures from the same angles as the originals.  Now, all my furniture and stuff is in the after pictures, but I think you can see the difference the paint and new flooring makes.

 The front entryway, on the left, before, on the right, after.  Who would cover that gorgeous glass?  Someone who didn't like the bb holes.  We will replace it soon, but I need to save my pennies.

 The view across the sunken living room toward the dining room--which is a window surrounded bump out that was added on about 15 years after the house was built.

The dining room as it stands now.  I have some white curtains to hang so we can block a little of the sun but let the light come in.

 The built in buffet from the dining room.  Nothing about that changed.  I like it in its 1959 glory.

The view of the kitchen from the dining room.  We took down the door that separated the two rooms and completely redid the kitchen.

 The view from the great room through to the kitchen.

 The eat-in kitchen area.  All we really did there was the light fixture, paint and floors.

 The glass shelves of the built in dining room buffet from the great room.  Cleaned up a little and put some pretties out to show.

 The great room on the left shows the original walls and the carpeted floor.  We textured, painted and put down travertine floors.

 The bar was painted, given a new top and hardware.  I replaced the light fixture with a pendant.

 I took out the sliding doors and repurposed them in the laundry room.  We took out most of that wall and added the room to the kitchen.

 The kitchen got a total facelift.  Complete gut and reconfigure.  I like it a lot.







We are pretty happy with the transformation.  We will be saving up our money for the next phase of the remodeling.  We have to enclose the carport and then redo the two bathrooms.

--  Sandee Wagner

Before and After, Kitchen and Bar

The original kitchen was miles of peach formica.  It covered the cabinets and went right up the walls.  The bar was small and ended in a wall.  This picture to the right is the view from the family room into the kitchen during the construction process.

This is the new kitchen layout.  The biggest changes are the wall we took out and the shift in the 'magic triangle'.  We moved the refrigerator from the left of the entry door across the kitchen so it is next to the eat in area and the window.

We moved the cooktop to the island which required jackhammering and running electric and gas to the new island.  Last, but not least, we centered the kitchen sink up under the window, it was offset below a cabinet before.

 Previously, the bar had a 'burled wood' formica top and an antiqued yellow paint job.  The mirror wall and glass shelves were in good shape so we decided to keep them.  We repurposed the light fixture into another room and added a simple pendant light.  We replaced the top with Silestone and painted out the cabinets in a bright white.

I will collect up some more of the before and after shots and put them here for your review.  Don't blast me in the comments for my choices, it's way too late to change this stuff!!

--  Sandee Wagner

You CAN Get What You Want

Since I did such a whiny post about the original cabinet install, I thought I'd do an update and let you know how the changes went.

When the cabinets went up, there was a HUGE piece of trim at the top of them.  I was devastated that the cabinets did not go all the way to the ceiling as I had requested.  

The finish went on and the construction continued while I negotiated with the builder and the cabinet maker.

They even came by and tried to tell me, "They look GREAT!"  My realtor came by and said, "It's kind of like the cabinets would have been done in the house's building period."  

Regardless, I was not happy.  When I finally got that through to them, they came up with some ideas to change things to make me happy.  There were a couple of solutions batted around, but until I said, "then he'll just have to remake all the uppers!" they didn't really take it seriously.  At that point, they got it.

The solution I opted for was to put a box at the top of each cabinet upper, then give it a glass fronted flip up door at the top.

The paint guy did an amazing job of staining the new wood to match the existing cabinetry.  I was afraid it would be easy to see the old vs. the new.

The cabinets went up with the glass fronted door panels and I could not be more pleased.

The glass gives the dark cabinets a little more reflective property and a bit of interest.


I like it!  I've already stuffed half of them full of kitchen things I don't use that often.

The added benefit of having the cabinet maker back out is that he readjusted ALL the doors.  The painters know how to remove the doors to paint them, but often, when they are putting them back on, they will flip left to right or vice versa.  The cabinet guy hung the new doors and very carefully adjusted all the doors so they hung right and soft-closed correctly.

I am very pleased with the outcome.

I'm glad I stood up for myself and insisted they fix it.

When you pay this much for something to be remodeled, you need to be happy with the finished product.

And I am VERY happy with my new kitchen!!

--  Sandee Wagner

Lights! We Have Lights!!

The electricians came back because the ceilings were finally all painted--and they installed some of our light fixtures.

All the scary neon tubes are down in my "up lighting" trays that surround the sunken living room and the great room media area.

The electricians were totally freaked out when I asked them to check it and see if it was all right--it was not.  We pulled the old wiring (bare wires--so scary!) and all the neon tubing and replaced it with LED rope lights.

The light cast is a little different, but it's way less maintenance and should pull a lot less electricity.



The bar area got a new pendant light.  The old light was going to be reused...until I saw how pretty the bar looked with the new Silestone counter top.  Then I couldn't put up that old brass fixture.

I went to Lowe's and purchased a pendant kit and then got a gray and white swirled glass cover for it.  It's not disco ball shiny, but it was affordable and it really shows the same colors as the counter top.  Now, I just need to spend about two hours cleaning all that mirror and glass shelving!!

Finally, we got the kitchen lights all installed.  There is a fixture above the eat in table area and a matching pendant over the sink.

I picked a smooth brushed nickel light with a shiny chrome stripe hoping it would go good with all the appliances.  They really turned out nice!

What you can't see from this picture is the new LED under counter lighting.  It is so BRIGHT!!  I love it.  I can't wait for this to get finished so I can cook in this kitchen and mess it up!!

Things are really starting to come together.  Of course, the rooms are still filled with boxes waiting to be unpacked and furniture waiting to be unwrapped.  I left a lot of it until the construction was completed.  Seemed a little crazy to unwrap the leather furniture when some paint would be slung around.  Most of that should be done by the end of this week, so maybe we can get all the large furniture pieces placed this weekend.  Time will tell.

--  Sandee Wagner

The Kitchen Countertops

Stain! and Countertops!

 Well it took them a couple of days to stain all the cabinets, then coat them with a couple of layers of clear coat (shellac? laquer?)

All I can tell you is that it was stinky.  We picked Sherwin-Williams Burnished Walnut in the hopes that it would look good and blend with all our other furniture.  It turned out pretty well.  I think the cabinetry looks good dark.  There is still that soffit to be dealt with, but that is an ongoing discussion.  There will be a change--if they can't come up with anything else, they will remake the uppers.

Yesterday, the countertop guys showed up and did the install of the new Silestone countertops.  What an enormous amount of work!!

Those guys worked non-stop all day.  They did all the kitchen counters, the backsplash on the island and the bar top.

The color is called Platinum White.  It's hard to tell in my photos, but some of the chips in that surface are mirrors and reflect the light.  It's the first time this crew had installed this type of Silestone.  They kept petting it and saying, "shiny".  Which was exactly why I picked it!

I made all the decisions on this remodel.  DH has been working a new job and kept saying, "whatever you think is best" when I offered him choices.  So this is really all me, when it comes to selections.  I didn't have any choices on the layout or design--but all the finishes were my choice.  If it looks like crap--it's on me.

Last night, when we were admiring the countertops, DH stroked the smooth surface and said, "I should never ask you how much this cost, should I?"  He is such a smart man.  It is one of the reasons I love him.

--  Sandee Wagner

You Can't Always Get What You Want

I guess I need to work on my communication skills.  I'm sure I didn't make myself clear.

The original kitchen had a soffit above the kitchen cabinets.  I instructed the contractor to take it out and told the cabinet maker that I wanted the cabinets to go all the way to the ceiling.  I wanted ALL that space for storage.

They asked, "Don't you want some space to put decorative stuff?"  I said no.  No area to dust, to place to put forgotten stuff.  Just all in cabinet storage.

And this is what I get.

Looks like a soffit, doesn't it?  The guy called it 'trim moulding'.  Just the finishing touch.

I asked the carpenter why.  Why when I asked for the cabinets to go all the way to the ceiling did he do this?

His explanation was pretty simple.  I asked for a pantry to be built to the right of the doorway.



You can see it here with a worker doing some painting next to it.  That unit was built as a single cabinet and had to be 'stood up' into the place.  Because it had to clear the ceiling, it could only be so tall.

That one cabinet determined his line for all the rest of the cabinets, they could only be that tall.

I really want to lay down and cry.  I would not have minded if that pantry was two separate cabinets sitting on each other.  Then it wouldn't have had to be 'stood up' and I could have had full height cabinets.  So disappointed.  I spent a lot of money and did not get what I wanted.

But I'm pretty sure it's too late to get any kind of recompense.  The things are built, after all.  I really wish I had been able to draw a picture of what I wanted... some kind of plan so I knew what to expect.  I would have pitched hard to have it the other way--but it truly is too late to get what I want.

--  Sandee Wagner

Yet More Floor Goodness

I choose to put porcelain tile that looked like wood in the dining room.  It's an addition that is windows all around.  Since the room is so bright, I thought a darker color floor would help 'ground' the room and set it apart from the rest of the house.
They've laid the floor tiles, but have not yet grouted it.  I think it looks nice.  And I'm glad that the dark color of the tile makes it look rich.

 I also was very concerned about the 'curb' from the front entryway into the sunken living room and the step up from the living room into the dining room.

The answer?  A mosaic tile strip to give a visual break between the floors so the trip hazard will be lessened.

I will probably still fall at least once, but hopefully, it will keep most people from tripping.



I think the mosaic does a good job on the curb.  You can just see it across the room on the step up into the dining room.

These guys did an AMAZING job laying the floor tiles.  They leveled all the floors using a water level and then mudded up to make all the floors level.

I could not be more happy with the end product.  When it's all grouted and cleaned up, I'm sure it will look great.

--  Sandee Wagnefr