Just Could Not Take It Any Longer

I suppose if I had to, I could. 

But really, this is a fix that we are all so happy to say is done.

Remember our blue bathroom?

Of course you remember our blue bathroom. The entire. bathroom. is. blue. Not that there is anything wrong with that - It's just way more blue than we want to wake up to each morning. Now that the walls are white, we have a little resting spot for our eyes in there.

Believe me when I tell you that you certainly do not want to rest your eyes on this little beauty.

Not sure how old this faucet is, but I think at least a million years old.

Well, maybe a little newer, since the English language was developed in the 13th century. 

A little detective work on my part, and I can place those handles with the "h" and "c" at no more that 800 years old.

Anyway, they are stinkin' old.

Oh my.

Condensation in the handles, goo that will never come off and rust and corrosion that makes one question, "is this thing clean at all?" I promise - this is about as good as it got.

See what treasure we found underneath? Um, yuck.

But it felt so good to be able to get at it and clean it good! With a little scrubbing and some cleanser with bleach, we were ready for something new.

Hero under the sink. It seems like he always works out shoulders and arms (with weights) the day before he has to hold his arms over his head crammed into tight spots. Strange how that happens.

It is terrific! It is clean, and it looks clean! It has one handle! It is updated! It works so well! It went in like a breeze (I think)! There is no rust! There is no corrosion! There is no goo! We all love it!

It makes such a difference in how the whole sink looks. 

Although the sink is still blue. 

And the counter.

And the walls. 

And so are the floors, toilet, shower, towel bar, soap dish and toothbrush holder.

But little changes can make a big difference in our homes. They don't have to be full on demolition and remodeling. It doesn't have to cost a million (or even eight hundred) dollars. Lots of times it is worth the effort to make a little change.

Sometimes it keeps you going so you can take an all blue bathroom a little longer.

Where have you seen this floor before?

We are getting super close to starting the kitchen renovation.

Yay!

We have some things figured out - cabinets, counter top, wall color, back splash.

And we have some things still to figure out - lighting over sink and table, floor and what to do with our dish washer (replace, paint or live with it).

The floor is a big mystery still. We have looked at a bunch of samples of all kinds of materials and we have a pretty good idea of what we don't want:

Hardwood - Would be too hard to match to existing floor.

Carpet - For obvious reasons, but there was carpet at one time.

Stick on squares - Not sold on how durable these are.

Ceramic tile - Um, with how cold my feet are ALL THE TIME, this would not be a good choice. Plus I like my dishes - There is no recovery from slippery hands. This would also rule out marble or slate (not that we were even considering these!)

Cork - fun, but pricey.

Laminate - Again, too hard to match the hardwood floors in the rest of the house.

What we are really leaning toward is linoleum. It is economical, easy to install and pretty durable. And you can do lots of fun things with it, like patterns!

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We are totally loving the checkerboard pattern (but we would skip that fancy border - not quite our taste.)

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Another a great floor. Not sure if we want to do the diagonal placement or straight.

But looking at this photo may make our decision much easier. These are the stairs that have the very same floor that our kitchen has. And the crew who put this floor in was meticulous about pattern placement, as can plainly be seen. Placing the tiles on the diagonal on the stairs would be a big pain in the neck. We are not up for any more big pain in the neck projects than we have to.

This floor is so not attractive in our house.

Not even considering the color, this trim looks so icky. Black underneath, and then painted ugly. I am all about patina, but this is not doing it for us. Ugh.

Remember how lovely our stairwell looked after this renovation? Notice the lack of floor photos. There was a reason for that.

But in the interest of full disclosure, this is what it looks like from the other angle. Oh boy.

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Isn't this lovely? Love those painted risers!

We might do a few things before we get on the kitchen demolition and renovation. 

Maybe the stairs!

valentine

Happy February!

Hero and I were married on Valentine's Day a million years ago. This year we are celebrating our 27th Anniversary - Holy Cow! Time flies when you are having fun.

Because it is a pretty special day for us and I always like to change things up in decorating, I like to pull out a few things to celebrate.

I hung these little cutie hearts up at the big house a few years ago. They were awesome to watch fluttering when the heat came on.

Last year I made this fun pennant banner for Hero. 

And this little heart hangs from the mantel. Not a big deal.

I totally love vintage postcards. I have a few for most holidays. They are super easy to pop in somewhere and call the decorating done.

This artwork is awesome. Hero made this for me last year - I love it! It completely captures so many things I love about art - It's personal, it has text and numbers, it is clever, it makes a cool statement and it came from the heart. 

(This one is not "Valentine" art - it is "love it all year long" art. But the vintage Valentine tucked in the frame only comes out for a few weeks.)

It really doesn't take much to pull a few things out for the seasons and the holidays - This probably took about 20 minutes - and that included getting the box out from behind the Christmas decorations. 

Using things that are personal and important in decorating, even if it is just for a season, really goes a long way into making a house a home.

Happy Valentine's Day!