From Brassy to Classy- The Tale of a Master Bath Renovation

When we bought our house the master bathroom was on the top of my list for updating. I'm sure this bathroom was GLORIOUS in 1998 when our house was built with all the brass fixtures and big mirror, but not so much in 2015. I think Rich was fine with the way the bathroom looked and could have lived with it happily for the next 20 years (men!), but lucky for me the tub was leaking water and needed to be replaced. Once you replace the tub, then you have to replace all the tile around it and at that point you will want to replace the shower tile to match…. and if you are doing all that you might as well get new shower doors, counter tops and a light fixture :) I took this bathroom from BRASSY to CLASSY :)

We hired a contractor to handle the entire project because I couldn't imagine hiring all the different contractors to do all the different pieces. I didn't even know what order things had to be done in. The project took a little over 2 weeks, which was so fast! We are just waiting on the new frameless glass shower doors to be made and installed.

Here are some pictures of the bathroom pre-renovation:

As you can imagine… I spent an infinite number of hours looking on the Internet for inspiration. Especially when it came to picking tile. I knew I wanted a white/grey clean look. I really like white subway tile but I thought it was too much like what we already had… I kind of wanted to change it up. I needed to stay with a lighter colored tile because our floors are dark grey and we wanted to keep them to save money (and also because I like them). When I actually went to the tile store I was really drawn to the marble. It's just so beautiful! I decided I wanted an all marble design (to give it the clean look I was looking for) but to make it more "interesting"I wanted a band of mosaic in the same kind of marble going around the shower and tub and a penny mosaic in the same marble for the floor. For some reason penny mosaic screams FLOOR to me. With that design I get the clean look I want but it's not boring. Marble can be expensive, but I looked at several different marble colors and sizes and found the cheapest one. It was actually only 20 cents a square foot over my tile allowance, so for the whole project the main tile was only like $40 over budget. However, the mosaic tile and pencil tile to cap off the edges are a good bit over, but luckily we didn't need a whole lot of those.

Here are some inspirational pictures I "pinned" during the research process:

I'm not going to bore you with the faucets… let's just say I spent hundreds of hours looking at faucets and I'm not even completely sure why I picked the ones I did. I think I just got so frustrated looking at them and after a while they all start to look alike. We went with Moen and a brushed nickel finish to match the rest of the house.

For the countertops we went with granite instead of marble for budget purposes and because I do really like the look of granite. We actually found a level one (the cheapest level) of granite that we liked. We even got to go to the granite warehouse and pick our slab.

A sample of our granite (Dallas White) against the bathroom floor.

Our slab with our cabinet door.

The light fixture was a splurge, but it was so worth it! I love the band of quatrefoil design.

Here are pictures of our new master bathroom (minus the shower doors):

The ledge on the left of the tub will be enclosed in the shower as a bench.

I still want to frame the mirrors… that's a DIY project planned for the near future. Then the bathroom will be complete. I really love that I got to put my own stamp on this house and I think we will enjoy this bathroom for many years. After all, marble never goes out of style ;)

Tressa

Owen Christopher: 7 Months.

Today is a BIG day. Not only is Owen 7 months old, but we are also officially selling our home today. That's right, by the end of the day we will be homeless! Just kidding, we will be renters. I am starting to get a little sentimental about it. Mainly because this was Owen's first home. I packed up a lot of his room today and it made me sad to take his pictures and name off the wall. I am lucky I get to put them back up again in the next house, it's going to be really sad when I have to pack these things up for good.

I guess this was a BIG week. We found a house to buy a few weeks ago and after inspection and negotiating with the sellers, I am happy to say that this house is a keeper. We got all the way through the due diligence period this time without having to terminate the contract! In about 3 weeks, we will be the newest residents of East Cobb. We love the big swim and tennis community we ended up in. So here it is…. our new home…..

Now it's time to start decorating! The first order of business is to get the interior painted, hopefully before we move in. I have an appointment to meet a painter at the house for a quote. I also need to pick paint colors. We are going to have the entire main floor painted, the upstairs hallway, nursery, master bedroom and bathroom. The other rooms I am going to do myself over time.

One of the things I am most excited about about this house is the screened in porch! I can't wait to sit out there and relax with a glass of wine. We've already ordered patio furniture. It was backordered until mid June already, so we didn't want to wait a month to order it.

I plan on blogging about making updates to and decorating the house so stay tuned. Now back to Mr. Owen…..

Owen's Milestones:
- You are sitting up really good now.
- I can tell you want to start moving so badly. Please wait until we move so we only have to baby-proof once.
- We've tried sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, pears, banana, watermelon, yellow squash, apples and raspberries. You like sweet potatoes, yellow squash apples and pears... everything else you don't really care for.
- We stopped nursing... which was very emotional for Mommy. You now get 100% formula. We give you Similac.
- You can wave now. It's so fun to watch you learn new things!
- You graduated level 1 and moved up to level 2 in Gymboree.
- You love when I dance with you! I learned that by doing it at Gymboree and now we do it at home too.
- We still use your bathtub sling (for newborns) to give you a bath. We tried to stick you in the tub without using it and you hated it... I think you may not like being in water.
- You love swinging at the park. When we move I want to get you a swing for the back yard.

I thought it would be fun to add a new section to the blog to document Owen's favorite toys. I think it will be fun to look back and see how he's developed and it might be nice if anyone reads the blog and is looking for a baby gift for a baby of the same age.

1. The baby banana- This is Owen's favorite teether. It's like a little toothbrush. The peels on the side make it easy for him to hold.
2. Gymbo the Clown- We purchased this puppet at Gymboree because Owen giggled so much when he saw it during class. When I get him out, Owen smiles, grabs him and chews on his face :)
3. PipSquigz- These are great during mealtime. They suction to the bumbo tray or table at a restaurant  so they aren't constantly falling on the floor and keep him entertained. They can also be used as a bathtime toy when Owen gets older.
4. Scout- This might be Owen's absolute favorite toy. He talks and sings and is programmed to say Owen's name. Getting Scout out always puts a smile on Owen's face.
5. Oball Rattle- Owen loves balls! He is all boy. We have 2 of these... one for the house and one for when we are out.
6. Baby Einsten Jumperoo- Nicknamed "disneyland" by Owen's grandparents. I think Owen's favorite part about this contraption is that he can bounce to his heart's desire. He gets fired up bouncing and making all kinds of noises.
7. Baby Einsten Take Along Tunes-  Owen loves music and loves phones.... this was a favorite before he got #8. It's a good gateway into more complicated phone toys….
8. V-Tech Touch and Swipe Baby Phone- We just got this toy this week and Owen loves it. Owen always wants our iphones. This toy is great because it looks similar to an iPhone and it has a touch screen like our phones. He knows it's not the real thing... given a choice he would always choose to play with our phones over this, but he will accept this as an alternative if our phones are out of sight.
9. Baby Einsten Roller Pillar Activity Balls- Every ball in this set is different. Some make noise, one lights up… they are very interesting to Owen. His hands just got big enough to pick them up without having to use 2 hands. Lately Owen has been banging them together.
10. Blocks- Right now he likes to chew on them and knock them over when we stack them up. I think this toy will be a favorite for a while as he still needs to learn to stack and build with them.
11. Elephant Activity Pal-  This is our go-to toy when we leave the house. We call him Stevie Elephante and I always have him in my diaper bag. He's easy to hook onto things and Owen loves to chomp on the built in teething rings.
12- Poppity Pop Musical Dino- Owen might be a little young for this toy... but he is fascinated by it. The balls pop up inside it, come out the dino's mouth and roll all over. Right now Owen likes to grab the balls as they come out of the mouth. He doesn't know how to put them back in yet... that is my job.

Now for pictures from this month…

Until Next Time,
Tressa