Me and my plank!

Yikes!  Another late post.  In my defense, we are just coming off of our Fall break and today has been "cray-cray" trying to get caught up and all.  Only a few extra days off and I feel like I'm having to completely readjust to a new routine.  But, we all survived.  No one was late to school although some of the kiddos may have had a major case of "bed head".  Oh well!  I even managed to produce a meal at dinner time even if it did come from a box...and no, it wasn't cereal.

Today I decided I needed a quick, easy project to ease me back into the grind.  The project I decided to work on is something I've been meaning to get to and just kept putting off.  It was seriously the easiest project ever because all it involved was cutting a piece of wood and staining it.  It was super cheap too because I already had a plank of wood sitting in my basement.  But even still, the project wouldn't cost more than $10 if you needed to run out and buy all the supplies.

Are you dying to know what I made?

Here it is...a bathtub shelf

It really is as primitive and minimalist as it gets.  Me find wood.  Me put wood on tub.

But truthfully, that's the look I was going for.  I wanted it to look like, well, that I found a piece of wood and set it across the tub.  There are all sorts of tutorials out there for more involved and elaborate tub shelves...just in case you were wondering though.

The shelf, though not overly functional is adequate enough for resting a few candles on as well as the occasional book or rag mag...and possibly a cupcake or two.

I started off by measuring the width of my tub, which was about 31 inches.  I used an 8 inch wide/10 foot long piece of lumber and cut off a 36 inch piece...mainly because it is an easy number to remember.

Then I distressed it.  I looked all over for  the medieval torture device I made when I distressed my laundry room cabinets

but I came up empty handed.  So I ended up just beating the plank with a hammer and throwing it on the concrete and jumping on it and grinding it in the gravel on the side of the house and banging nails into it.  Oh, what the neighbors must have thought while I was doing it...probably, "stay inside kids, the weird neighbor lady is beating up a piece of wood".  

But, my technique {yes, I am calling it a technique} worked.  My plank was adequately abused and distressed...and I was adequately amused and de-stressed when it was all said and done.

Finally, I threw on quick coat of stain and was good to go.

I made sure to work the stain into all the "worm holes" really well.

It didn't take long for the wood to dry.  Pine is extremely porous and just sucks the stain right up.

Once it was dry to the touch I set it on the tub and I was done.

The functionality of the shelf is minimal, but is adequate enough for resting a few candles and book or rag mag on...and possibly a cupcake or two.

Now my bathtub {and bathroom} finally feel complete...and all because of a piece wood.

Fab Find Friday...my master bathroom reveal.

I am beyond excited reveal my brand new master bathroom. 

It has been a long time coming.

We started this project over a year ago.  Initially, we thought we'd be able to "do it ourselves", but as we got deeper into the demo, we realized this was probably going to be a project for the professionals.

The shower walls, floor and tub surround were not grouted and sealed properly which resulted in all sorts of molds, growths and decomposition.  When the subfloor in the shower fell through, we knew we were in over our heads for sure.

So, we hired a contractor and then discussed which body parts we'd sell first on the black market to subsidize the project.

Here's a few reminder shots of the space before...

 Lots and lots of mold.

There's the subfloor in the shower.

And here's the space now...

It's great when you can do a project yourself and save some money.  However, it's also nice to hand over the reigns when things go beyond one's ability and comfort zone.  We may have spent more money than we wanted to initially, but there is great comfort in knowing that everything has been sealed, grouted, screwed, bolted and nailed by a professional.

 It feel so good to finally have a safe, mold free, bright and spacious place Studs and I can call our own.

Pebble Tile- Home Depot

Wood Tile- BuildDirect.com

Pedestal Tub- thetubconnection.com

Tub Faucet- thetubconnection.com

Chandelier- Overstock.com

Vanity- Ikea

Cabinets- Ikea

Sink Faucets- Ikea

Globe Lights- West Elm

Shower Head/Hardware- Ferguson's

Update...and a plan.

Life has been crazy the last couple of weeks.  Studly has been out of town fifteen of the last eighteen days and I have pretty much just been treading water while he's been away.  I literally accomplished nothing while he was gone...unless watching a handful of rom-coms from the eighties and nineties and putting on five pounds from stress eating counts.

Thankfully, Studs is finally home and life is starting to resume as normal.  The bathroom is still not quite done.  The plumber is here as I type "hopefully" installing the toilet.  We've come across a few "bumps" in the road during the course of the renovation, one of which has been the toilet.  I'm not usually one to get all attached to crud buckets but Studly and I came across the most beautiful toilet...beautiful for me because it is completely smooth on the sides which means super easy cleaning, and beautiful for Studs because it is comfort height with an elongated bowl.  I won't go into detail, but the issue centers on the fact that the toilet mounts to the floor rather than the phalange and that can be dangerous when there is radiant heat to contend with.  Fingers crossed we have a fully functioning toilet and not Old Faithful waiting for us when it's all said and done.

Isn't she lovely...and curvalicious?

{Kohler-Persuade-Curv}

Anyway, while Studs was away, I had a lot of time to think...like a whole lot.  My internal dialogues were the only adult conversation I got during the day.  One topic of conversation was this here blog.  We discussed improvements and changes that could be made. And we came to the conclusion that it might not be a bad idea to add a little structure to the mix.  So, don't be surprised if you see some changes in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I will look forward to revealing the master bathroom, hopefully sometime next week.  It's looking awesome and can hardly wait to put it use...yada yada yada!

Hello Vanity...and a kids room desk alternative.

Well, progress on the master bathroom continues.  It still feels like there is still a ton to be done, but the rest of it should go by quickly.

The vanity and sink

and floor to ceiling tile backsplash

have been installed...

which means that all that's left is installing the tub, toilet, fixtures and lights.  I am kinda in disbelief that I will have my very own bathroom in a matter of days.  

I will continue to post pictures of the progress, but might hold off on posting any more full room reveals...you know, so that I can build up all sorts of excitement in anticipation of the big daddy reveal.  

In other news, I've been redoing my middle daughter, Avery's, bedroom.  Some of you may recall that she recently moved to the basement.   

After a few months of "isolation" she decided she wanted to move back upstairs.  It's starting to feel like a never ending game of Musical Beds up in here.  Anyway, Studs and I finally layed down the law and told her she is not allowed to change rooms until she's packing up for college.  Technically, we just bought ourselves eight years of time.  Realistically, I give ourselves eight weeks.  Whatevs!

One of the projects I just completed for her bedroom was a "floating desk".  This is a really great option for a room with limited space.  Avery's room is only 10ft x 11ft, so there just simply wasn't room for a bed, a dresser and a desk.

I was inspired by this beautiful floating desk I found online.  I love everything about.  It just looks so...minimal.

{allmodern.com-$659.00}

I started with this prefab wall shelf from Ikea

{Ekby Alex-$46.99}

Here's where the fun part comes in.  

This shelf is just begging for some personalization...so, I decided to utilize some of my left over veneer.

I've mentioned how easy wood veneer is to work with.  It is fast becoming one of my favorite DIY tools.  Everything just looks better with some wood veneer, no?

Before I assembled the shelf {ya know, cause it is from Ikea, which is basically Lego for adults} I found the two drawer fronts and traced around them on the veneer.  Then, I cut the pieces out and glued them onto the drawer fronts using this:

  

I left them to dry while I finished assembling my big lego.  And that was that.  So easy! 

I was ready to mount the shelve/desk to the wall.

I purchased two of these natural wood brackets at $4.00 each at Ikea for attaching the piece to the wall.

Studly made sure that both of the brackets were screwed securely into studs.  This step is critical.  The shelf itself is fairly hefty, then combined with the weight of someone leaning on it to do homework and a few pictures and a lamp, well...

I highy recommend that both brackets be mounted onto studs.  Otherwise your floating shelf may suddenly become a sinking shelf.  

Here's the end result.

It takes up hardly any space and looks flippin' sweet!

Not too shabby for $50.