Bathroom planning

I think its time to focus on the bathrooms in our house. I'll spare you the gory "before" details until we begin demo, but it involves blue-gray fiberglass tubs and surrounds. Starting with the Beechnuts' bathroom, we need a new toilet, tub, sink, tile, lighting... everything. I think we can keep the window, but since we're pulling up the floor, why not pull off the walls and insulate, right?

The room is small, like most bathrooms in old houses. Which means we can splurge a little on tile but need to maximize storage. Eventually there will be 2 teenage girls sharing this bathroom, so I think we'll need extra hair-dryer outlets and a large mirror. I'll have to figure out where we can put a large cabinet for beauty essentials.

Here's the basic plan/design.

1. New bathtub, plain white
2. Kohler Memoirs faucet, widespread
3. Kohler Memoirs toilet
4. Double shower curtain rod, perfect for when we have lots of guests
5. Chrome triple sconce
6. Stock Vanity painted BM Pink Ladies
7. White ceramic penny tiles for floor
8. Some type of sparkly tile accent stripe in the shower, with plain white subway tiles

I don't want to make the bathroom too girly, but I love that pink vanity since I saw it on House Beautiful. If we have to move, a few coats of paint will make the bathroom marketable.

I haven't really run the dollars on this project, so who knows if it would be affordable, but this is what I'm aiming for!

Its over. For now

The crack-house went for auction this morning and we were there bright-eyed and nervous. There were 3 other individuals there, mostly house-flippers. I kept expecting to see HGTV cameras following one of them.

The bank opened the bid at triple our maximum limit. Within 1 minute, the bank took ownership of the property. We felt better about our low bid since no one else bid on the property either.

We can finally stop looking at house plans and dreaming about building a new home for the Beechnuts. Its time to knock some more things off the To-do list here at SOABT.

Its getting a little out of control

We can't stop looking at house plans. Here's one that Jeff found that we really love, but I'm not sure the exterior farmhouse style fits in with our Victorian-filled street.

I love the wide front porch.

I love the open kitchen with the dining room and family room all visible. We have recently heard from friends who did not like the open floor plan in practice, but we might be able to separate the family room so the TV noise isn't overwhelming when someone is cooking.

The upper level seems fairly open and not crowded and although I dont' think we truly need 4 BRs, it would help with resale value. I like the built-ins in the hall, I envision a window seat with books underneath.

The idea takes root

What started out as a little seed of an idea has us obsessed with house plans. Its hard to nail down what you want in a house if you were to build it from scratch.

The previous plan I posted had a staircase in the side/middle of the house, and it wasn't visible from the foyer. It seems a little strange to me to not have the stairs near the front of the house. All the houses I've lived in have had the stairs near the front door.

This house has the front stairs, but no garage. So, we'd just need to figure out where to put the door to a garage.

 

We like the stairs to the 3rd floor, for a potential rec-room/guest suite.  The bathroom between the bedrooms is good for our Beechnuts. But, we'd need a garage and an easy way to have a mudroom installed to hold coats. Now that we have our giant mudroom, we can't go back to coats on the backs of the kitchen chairs!

Its been fun to imagine a new house, but I think its also time for some Spring cleaning in our current house. Just as soon as Spring arrives...

What's going on over here

There hasn't been much progress at Shade of a Beech Tree. The winter is getting us down a little and we're eyeing the crack-house next door as a possible new endeavor. What if we made a low-ball offer and they accepted it? What house would be build? What should the house look like? How many rooms do we need?

We're looking at house plans, like this one from Frank Betz:

 

  

 We like the 2 story entry and the Family Room off the kitchen. An attached garage would be a nice upgrade, currently we have to walk from the garage to the house, braving the elements the entire 15 steps! I also like the idea of a covered front porch, where Jeff can greet our daughters' future suitors while sitting in a rocking chair with a shotgun on his lap. You have to think ahead, you know.

Don't forget, the Library would need (yes. need!) a coffered ceiling, and we'd need nice hardwoods throughout, with a granite kitchen, and marble bathrooms.

Then, we think about the yard!

From bhg.com 

 We'd need an outdoor kitchen!

 

From bhg.com

And a place to relax and have drinks!

Then, the next thing you know, there's no way we can have this dream house we want for the budget we'd have. But dreaming about it is more interesting than watching the thermometer fall.

Dining Room inspiration

We repainted the dining room and hung new curtains, but I've been itching to add some "wow factor" to the space. Here's how it looks today:

I'm thinking a new chandelier:

 

From Shades of Light

A coffered ceiling:

From Design*Dump . The other projects at Design*Dump are amazing too and very inspirational.

From: http://raleighcaryhomeimprovement.com

A properly-placed chair rail, with picture-frame moldings. Our current chair rail is only 30" high so our chairs leave marks on the wall.

 

From Artisan Specialties 

Maybe a new rug. 

 

I noticed Overstock is selling West Elm rugs, now might be the time to try a jute rug.

Sign making give-away at a Concord Carpenter Comments

The Concord Carpenter is giving away the Signpro by Milescraft.

I can think of 100 uses for this, most of them include writing my name on things so people know that my items are to occupy said space, and not theirs. Or to try to teach the Beechnuts where to hang their coats and hats and where their boots go.

But shhh... don't tell Jeff, I want him to be surprised when he opens this on Valentine's day!