Wednesday

We hung a picture this afternoon.

Then tonight, UPS delivered the other frame. This piece of art was mounted on a foam board and was about 1/2 inch too wide for the frame. I got my ruler and box cutter and trimmed each side 1/4 inch. It fit perfectly.

I like the colors.

I think they look good with the backsplash.

Our construction boss came by to wrangle the lines under the sink so that we could better utilize the storage space in the dead zone.

But the best thing he did was to use velcro strips to add a toe kick over the dishwasher's black toe kick. It not only makes the toe kick look better, it also covers a gap in the tile where the concrete floor was showing. 

I didn't have a good "before" picture, but here's the best one I could find. See the black toe kick under the dishwasher above? It's a piece of metal that I had originally put in the garbage, thinking it was part of the packaging material. For some reason, I took it out and saved it just in case. It turns out it was the toe kick, an ugly and thin piece of black metal. The boss fabricated a cover for it out of our leftover materials and stuck it on.

He noticed a missing escutcheon around the waste pipe in the laundry room. (Notice the escutcheons--trim rings--around the water supply lines.) He said that the waste pipe was larger than the standard size and he would need to fabricate one. I had noticed it was missing, but I didn't think it was a big deal. He will fix that when he comes for the inspection, which he said would either be one person or three, depending on who is available from the city. He will also fabricate a covering for the refrigerator water line that runs through the wall behind the kitchen cabinets. Originally, they were going to install a water line box, but it got missed before the drywall repairs were made. (The box has to be nailed to a stud and to do that would require cutting out some drywall.) These are the little things that keep a project going and going. I told John it reminded me of moving. You think you're through and then you turn around and see more stuff. The Ottoson folks are very patient and thorough. I'm a little shy about pointing out problems, but thankfully John is not. And truthfully, they've pointed out more flaws than either of us. Then they come up with fixes. 

Tuesday

 

I've been looking at bathrooms online today for inspiration. I found a few that are similar to our layout. The one above has the corner shower with the free-standing tub on one side and the vanity on the other. Our vanity would have more space between the vanity and shower. We would have two walls of glass for the shower, similar to this one, and two walls of tile.

This bathroom inspired me because it's all white. I like the floor. Our cabinets and mirror will be similar. I like that this mirror does not come all the way down to the countertop. (That's where we get splatters.) I think it looks more contemporary in a narrow strip.  Our cabinets will also float on the wall. We might have the same flooring on the walls of the shower and toilet room walls (as wainscoting).

Again, this bathroom shows a corner shower with separation between it and the vanity. Our shower walls will come almost to the floor. Our tub would be on the left side of the picture. I think we'll use the same white quartz countertop as we have in the kitchen. Again, notice that the mirror does not come all the way down to the countertop. Instead, there is a 6-inch backsplash and not the usual 4.

This picture inspired me because we have a window under where our tub will be. The layout to the shower is similar, and I like the white floor.

I found this adorable round tub on Amazon. Since space is tight, this one would really free up space as it's only 41 inches across. Our space can handle up to a 59 inch tub. With this one, we might be able to keep the linen closet and reduce demolition, reconstruction, and cabinet costs. 

I really like the way it looks against this wall. We will have to give the surroundings in our bathroom some thought. Just beautiful.

We have lots of space between the wall and the closet across from the tub. The round tub would help to fill up the space and break up the linear rectangles of tub, shower, vanity. It would be quite a focal point.

The round tub has a seat in it, as you can see above. The tub is 26 inches tall if you're wondering how we would get into it. 

I sent the picture to our designer, and she loved it. She thought it was cool and agreed it would break up the linearity.

Plan B: This one is a similar idea, only 47 inches long, but in the traditional rectangular shape. It also has a seat in it. Both of these tubs would require a free-standing fill faucet, which comes with a hand-held wand, too, like the one pictured above. 

Plans C: Here's a regular tub that is 54 inches. It would fill up the space, but we might have to replace the linen closet with the more compact custom made cabinet. This shape would continue the linear effect, but there would at least be some space between tub/shower/vanity.

I've also begun looking at floor tile online (TileBar). I might order some samples, but first we want to go to the local tile store and see if we have better luck than when we were looking for backsplashes for the kitchen. I think floor tiles should be easier to choose.

We made Stephanie's recipe from the NPR contest of the cheapest, most delicious and nutritious meals: Chilean Dal. This dish won the contest. We enjoyed cooking together in our new kitchen.

Monday

 

Amazon brought us our new frame for artwork we bought 10 years ago in Key West. John says Amazon has made framing so much easier and less expensive. I agree. I just typed in the size frame I needed and selected the color. It fit perfectly.

It could go in the hall outside the kitchen.

It could go above the coffee maker.

We had our walkthrough with the builder and designer. They were pleased. He had not yet seen the white glass appliances anywhere. The owner of the company came up with solutions for the few remaining issues: the gap between the tile and dishwasher and the nest of hoses in the dead space under and next to the sink.

While they were here, we toured the bathroom and reviewed the latest plans. The builder said he could see why we would want to remodel the bathroom after doing the kitchen.

The designer warned us that bathroom remodels are more complex than kitchens. We find that hard to believe. John said, "But we have an extra bathroom. We had only one kitchen." She said there's a lot of tile work and fixtures. Lots of decisions. While we were asking for a proposal, John asked about removing the in-wall A/C unit in the sunroom and replacing it with a mini split. That would allow us to seal up the wall and have more efficient heating and air in the sunroom. That unit has always bothered him.

Inspiration faucet for our new bathroom. It’s a Grohe. I like that the handle is off to the side so you don’t drip on the spout when you turn it off. John likes that it’s tall enough to get your hands under it.

Our new vent fan kept the pasta from boiling over.

In the meantime, we go back to saving money rather than spending it. The last three months have been unusual.

Next step: completion of the few walkthrough items and final inspections. Then we meet to go over a budget for the bathroom.

Sunday

 

We painted the last bit of trim from the kitchen renovation. 

Under the overhang into the living room.

And the eat-in kitchen bar

I removed the painter’s tape from the sliding glass doors and reused it for this painting job. (The tape on the doors was to remind Toby—and John—there was a door there while we had workers in the house.)

Done

Today was not as warm as yesterday, but at least it was sunny. The day started in the 60s, but the temperature dropped all day, down to 50 tonight.

John took this great shot of our new kitchen.

And this tile picture 

I reset our sprinkler and exterior light timers. While the electricians were working, it was pointless to reset them. Things are getting back to normal. The walk through is on Monday.

Saturday

 

We drove to the causeway this morning to walk and then went to the beach. The temperature was already in the 70s for our morning walk. The high temperature today was 79 degrees.

It was nice to feel warm and to see the blue sky.

I talked to the park ranger about the erosion at the beach. Almost all of the new sand is gone, as are large chunks of the parking lots. The storm surge from Aida covered 75% of the island, she said. She said the state has decided not to restore the beach again, too expensive. She noted that Honeymoon Island is the most popular park in the state park system, and that the revenue gets distributed equally to all of the state parks. HI does not get to keep its own proceeds. It seems like choosing not to restore the beach will end up hurting all of the state parks. Shortsighted leadership.

Meanwhile, we enjoyed what's left of the beach.

After lunch, I rode my bike for the first time in January. Last January, we rode 132 miles. Today's ride was 7 miles. I went to the outdoor gym at Weaver Park to exercise for the first time this year. It has been a weird winter.

After the gym, I rode down Victoria Drive to the marina. There were lots of people out, especially on the Pinellas Trail. I didn't make it downtown.

I saw the ferry take off for Clearwater Beach.

Our kitchen at night in low light.

We made a menu for the upcoming week so that we would have things on hand to cook. Sunday will be cooler and wetter, a good day for painting inside and cleaning the house.

Friday

Our morning plans got blown up, but we ended up getting everything done anyway. The grout guy and the designer came to our house to help us choose the grout color. We had two favorites, but the grout guy broke the tie when he described how they would look spread out over the entire backsplash. Then it was obvious: we went with the darker gray grout over the lighter one.

Instead of meeting the designer at her office, she brought the plans for the master bath with her. She had two options, and she said we could mix and match the things we liked about each one. In plan #1 above, she removed the linen closet at the left side so that we could move the tub closer to the bedroom, a bit off center. Shower with two half walls, one separating the tub from the shower and one joining the shower to the new vanity with a new linen closet at the far right. Two sinks, two mirrors, two sets of lights on each side of the mirrors. 

Note: the glass shower walls don’t show up in either of the drawings.

In plan #2, the linen closet at the far left stays. The tub stays centered under the window. The shower has two walls of solid glass, not touching tub or vanity. One shower wall includes a door, all frameless and taller than our existing shower wall. The vanity is floating as is the one in #1 and centered. The vanity does not touch the shower or the new linen cabinet to the far right. There is a 6 inch gap between the tower cabinet and the vanity. In both plans, the vanity is the height of kitchen cabinets, about 36 inches instead of the usual 32.

Our initial thoughts: we like plan #2 better, but with some changes.

 

1) to give us more room, she suggested removing the far left linen closet and adding a built in closet that’s a tad more narrow. Removing the wall gets us at least 4 inches of wall space.

2) move the tub a couple of inches off center to give us more separation and allow the shower wall to move a couple of inches almost to the window, allowing more shower space and a slightly wider door.

3) remove the tall cabinet column at the far right, making that space open, using the space to hang towels.

4) add a cabinet above the toilet in the water closet for toilet paper and other storage.

5) I like the two smaller mirrors in plan #1, but I don’t like the busyness of the four wall sconces. I suggested lighted mirrors instead. She liked that idea, but said lighted mirrors aren’t useful for putting on makeup and the can lights overhead are not flattering. John likes the large, single mirror, which would be okay because it would keep the look simple and uncluttered. Since we don’t wear makeup and don’t need to have our faces flattered, I think the existing can lights will be sufficient, upgraded to LED.

While we were thinking and waiting for the grout man to finish, our designer sent these updated pictures with the changes we talked about:

Two mirrors 

One mirror 

(She added a couple of towel hooks in the space to the right of the vanity.)

Floor plan 

Water closet with upper storage cabinet 

What are your thoughts?

Do you like this here once we give it a black frame?

Or this?

Fresh grout, not yet dry

Finished

Very, very difficult to photograph because the tiles have such dimension. It's tough to capture the depth.

We like it. Without the backsplash, the kitchen looked like a corporate break room or an infirmary. Now, it definitely looks like a kitchen.

My first meal on the new range. I made oatmeal with strawberries, blueberries, and walnuts.

Up next: walk through with owner and designer Monday morning. We will meet soon to finalize the bathroom project and come up with a budget.