it's back to work...

we had a wonderful thanksgiving with both sides of the family (well, except scottie... he hates to travel!) but, we managed to get a little work done as well. remember last week, when i said i had photos of the tiled countertop?

here it is. this is what it looked like after we got done building a plywood and cement-board base, cutting out the hole for the sink and laying tile. then it has to set for awhile before you can grout.

the tile got grouted on saturday morning before we headed off to amarillo. i couldn't believe the transformation and i can't wait to get our sink and faucet in there! we still have a ton of work to do after this though. as you can see, our walls aren't exactly ready for the wallpaper and i still have to finish up painting the trim and cabinet.

the whole process wasn't as hard as i thought it would be, but we couldn't have done it without doug's parents. they have done quite a bit of tiling before this and they had all the tools already!

anthropologie knobs.

i blame lindsey for this. anthropologie has a fun, interactive hardware store on their website where you can select a style and color of furniture similar to your own and play around with different knobs. it is addicting to say the least. they have some really unique pieces that would be great for smaller projects as well as some more simple knobs that would work great, in say... a bathroom. that's right friends, i'm turning this into a bathroom-related post. since i'm now thinking about painting the cabinets under the countertop a dark gray or even black, i'm reconsidering my first choice in hardware (glad i haven't bought any yet!) and any of these below would certainly complete the look. they are still a little on the high side when you're trying to get these things done on a budget... maybe i can find a set on ebay?

all images from anthropologie

mirrors.

i think perhaps we've found a solution to the countertop situation in our bathroom... cultured marble. i thought this option was going to be more expensive than the quotes that i got... which is a nice surprise. cultured marble is made from marble dust and resin, and can be created in a wide range of colors and 'swirls' can be added to give the look of marble and even granite. i think that for our purposes, i would like to stick with a nice, clean, simple white. another nice thing about cultured marble is that you can have it made with an integral sink...

now that i think we've got that figured out, i've been thinking about mirrors. right now, ours takes up most of the wall where the sink is. it's huge, and i think it actually makes the space look smaller instead of opening it up. i'd really like an antique mirror to hang over the countertop, but those can get pretty pricey... and while i've been keeping an eye out at the thrift stores... pretty framed mirrors just don't show up all the time. i've also been thinking about cutting down the original mirror and just putting it in a pretty frame. i doubt i'll actually purchase one until we get everything else done (so maybe a great deal will show up somewhere) but here are some of my favorites that are pretty affordable...

umbra trapeze mirror from target

classic beveled mirror from target

novem square mirror from bed, bath & beyond

would it be weird to have it broken up like that in a bathroom?

i'm thinking probably yes, but i really like it...

there are also several at hobby lobby that i really like...

but i can't find any photos of them on the web...

i know i'm probably boring you with all this stuff,

but i think doug just tunes me out now when i start talking about this stuff...

countertops.

now that things outside are looking better, i am going to focus a little more on the downstairs bathroom project that i had hoped to be finished with by now :) the interior bathroom is painted and now i'm thinking about the countertop. right now it's painted marble. that's right, we have marble countertops, but they are painted. i am going to use some paint thinner and see if i can take a little off and get a view of what's underneath, but i'm afraid i'm probably not going to like it. after looking at the cost of marble, granite and solid surfaces, i've decided either tile or concrete may be the way to go. i really like the look of the small mosaic tiles, but they can get pretty pricey as well. and... you have more grout to clean. but with it going in the guest bathroom, it's not going to get as much use. photo above from hakatai

here is the other tile option for the countertops. something a little bigger, not as much grout to keep clean, and still very modern looking. and i am also spying that kohler sink that they've used... i really love this look, but feel i would need to paint the cabinets underneath dark to keep that modern feeling going, otherwise, it's just going to be a bunch of white on white... photo above from thesexybathroom

concrete is something else i have been looking into. if you get it professionally done, it can be upwards of $100 per square foot. but... i have found a place online that sells instructions and materials to take on such a project. ambitious? yes... my concern is that it may be too modern whenever we decide to sell the house. that and it is very labor intensive and if it's not done just right, will yield less than satisfactory results. image above from myhomus

weekends are too short.

i hope everyone had a nice long weekend! doug and i had friday off and got to do a few things together. i spent friday morning chopping on the last bush in the front yard (more on that later...) and then we had lunch at one of our favorite local restaurants, saigon cafe. after lunch, we went to sherwin-williams where we had borrowed some wallpaper books earlier in the week and ordered the wallpaper for our downstairs bath. (that's it above!) there were two that we really loved, but this one just felt a little more modern to me and i think it goes the best with our purple paint. we then headed off to home depot since they were having a sale on paint and bought white enamel for the trim/cabinets in the bathroom (those have to be painted because the current color totally clashes with that wallpaper...) and some ceiling paint. i am now searching for some knobs for the cabinets... really loving this one from dlawlesshardware...

at first, i wanted to do just some simple black pulls, but i think these would look really nice against the white and blend in well with the rest of the decor. we spent the rest of the day at home, watching movies and doing a few things around the house. and since i didn't get any book stuff done this weekend, i am playing catch-up this week! woo-hoo...