"It's My Potty..."

"and I'll cry if I want to..."  Oh, but those would only be tears of JOY!  

Thanks to our friend Dan the Man (as in handy), who put up the new light fixture, fan, towel bar, TP holder, and refurbished cupboard during the past week, the half bath redo is done!

I've got a little fine-tuning to do, and I'd like to do a bit more in the way of decorating (this is all I could cobble together today).  

Maybe some framed photos, and something else in the blue Red Wing dish, perhaps something soapy or seasonal.  (Check out these cute little fabric acorns.  Wouldn't that be cute?)

I love seeing my Royal Haeger swan (R-182) up there, and the clear Pyrex fridgie on the shelf!

So that's where all my marbles went...I thought I'd lost them.

Let's review the before picture:

And after:

Thanks, Elizabeth, for encouraging me to repaint the cupboard, and to everyone else who suggested it.  I was really on the fence, but you know, it was absolutely the right thing to do.  We had a little snafu with the doors, but Dan came through with a fix.  Whew!

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a date with my sewing machine!

Further On Up The Road

If you're a blues fan, like me, that title may bring to mind a great song.  In fact, I'll put the YouTube link below.

But what I'm talking about today is further on up the road on our little getaway last week, wherein I visited a couple of quilt stores.  The first was a neat place in Sparta, Wisconsin called Quilter's Corner.  It was in an older home with two stories of fabric and a basement of finished quilts, table runners, purses, etc. for sale.  Found a pattern and some black & white FQs.  



Also bought some FQs of this fabric, but the designer's name escapes me at the moment.  Someone remind me, if you recognize it.  I really don't remember.  Anyway, I liked it a lot!  (Edited to add: It's Sanibel by Heather Mulder Peterson.  Thanks, Jenny!)



Leaving Sparta, and even further on up the road, we stopped at Rather Bee Quilting in Lake City, Minnesota.  Another great shop! But first, here's what our driving view was off to the right for much of that leg of the trip.  



This is a view of the Mississippi from Hwy. 61 somewhere between Winona and Lake City.  I think it may actually be Lake Pepin we're looking at below.  These fishermen were friendly.  They waved right after I snapped their pic.



I bought two half-yard cuts of black & white fabric, another pattern, and a yard of this cool red/black/white print.  



Then Norm found something he liked.  I bought a couple yards of that.  I'm thinking it'll be worked into a Christmas present for someone we know (and I hope he's not reading this!).



The backdrop for the fabric pics today is the new flooring.  Also, here is an update on what the bathroom walls look like for those who have asked.  Sorry about the dim lighting in there.  We still have to get the new lights mounted.



This is what I was working on today—the first coat of who knows how many on the bathroom cupboard.  



Tried spray painting it yesterday (fail). So I had a quart of enamel mixed today and am brush painting now.  I need to get  this done so I can get back to sewing soon!

Sunday Sundry - Vol. 9

Haul Out the Haeger
Thought I'd let a few more pieces of my Haeger pottery collection see the light of day this week.  This Royal Haeger leaf-shaped dish gets to hold one of my guilty pleasures this time of year, peanut butter Mary Janes.  Because I like challenging my dental work once a year with some ultra-chewy, potentially crown-removing sweets, don't you?

I'm not sure what I'm going for, decorating-wise, with these three vases, but the colors say fall to me, and the shapes are funky and interesting.

If Walls Could Talk
Before I started working in the half bath this week, I had to remove the baseboards.  Look what I found penciled on the back of one of the boards.

What do you think, former homeowner's decorating project UFO or the carpenter's secret house blessing?  Maybe he/she was bored and doodling on a lunch break?

Strip It, Strip It Good
We're talking wallpaper here, folks.  This bathroom redo is my fourth go-round at removing old wallpaper, having done the kitchen once and the upper bathroom twice.  One thing hasn't changed.  It is still a major pain in the ass.

I had a momentary lapse of sanity as I was removing paper, when I actually found myself wondering whether I should just repaper the room instead of paint it.  Fortunately, I must have shifted position in the cramped space that is my half bath, thus allowing the blood to rush from my hindquarters to my brain.  Clarity restored, my next thought was: What the heck was I just thinking!  As DIF is my witness, I will never wallpaper again!

So I'm using this DIF gel, which I did not buy.  Someone borrowed my Paper Tiger tool a few years ago and returned it with a half jug of leftover DIF gel.  I have used DIF liquid before but not the gel, so I read the instructions.  It said, if possible, try to tear off as much wallpaper as you can (dry) before applying the gel.  Huh.  Okay.  Lo and behold, most of the outer vinyl layer did peel off, so I didn't need to use the scoring tool.  Then I rolled on the gel.  It worked well where it could saturate the paper completely, but it didn't seem to get other areas wet enough, or it would dry before I could scrape, necessitating a second or third application.  Finally, about two-thirds of the way around the room, as I was running out of the gel, I just took the roller and wet it with water and rolled it on.  

You know what that crazy water does?  It gets things wet!  And wet turned out to be all I needed to remove the wallpaper.  File that one under Try the simplest solution first, silly. DUH.

Here is the last bit scraped off Saturday night.  The wallpaper is officially down.  Now I just have to wash the walls of glue, patch holes, paint the ceiling, prime, and, finally, paint the walls.  Maybe two coats.  I should have it done by Christmas.

Py-O-My
We ran to Home Depot Saturday to buy the light fixture (the brushed nickel version pictured last Sunday).  While out and about, we also stopped at a new Savers store.  As thrift stores go, Savers did not impress me, but I did find a piece of very grungy Pyrex.  I hesitate to show you, but here is the "before" picture.

There is no "after" yet, since soaking it and using a Magic Eraser have done little to budge the baked on greasy grime.  I'm going to pick up some Barkeeper's Friend tomorrow, if I can find it at Wally World.  If any Pyr-o-maniacs are reading this and have other suggestions to offer, I'm all ears.  This is such a potentially cute dish with great color and a wonderful finish, if I can just get the schmutz off.

After suffering through two yucky photos in a row (and I didn't even show you the gross bathroom fan after I took it apart this week, and yes I took a picture, wouldn't you?), you deserve to see some pretty Pyrex and Fire King.  Not mine, my sister's!  

Yes, friends, I am an enabler, and I have done my duty in planting the seeds of Pyrexia when we went to the flea market last month.  She was interested in some glass refrigerator dishes and I turned her on to Fire King Gay Fad, on the upper shelf there.  Then she went on vacation and found a set of gorgeous Pyrex Butterprint bowls at an antique shop and thoughtfully called me from the shop to ask if she should buy them for me (I said sure).  Then SHE KEPT THEM!  But seriously, that's fine with me because I am low on storage space at the moment, and I'm completely okay with her buying and housing all the Pyrex her heart desires, as long as I can visit and admire it.

Walking on Sunshine
The boat ride with Dad was definitely the highlight of my week.  Here's another photo from Wednesday.  On the way home, the old Katrina & The Waves song came on the radio, which was so appropriate for the mood of the day.  Click the subtitle above for the YouTube link.

Thanks for visiting today.  Hope you have a bright week ahead!

A Plan for the Can

I'm about to start deconstructing the half bath, probably Wednesday.  Tomorrow morning, though, I'm going to do my free-motion quilt along homework from last week.  A gal's gotta have priorities.

Okay, bathroom "before" shots, here we go.  Here is the overall view of the three by eight foot space.  The ceiling height is dropped a bit from standard, so it'll be easy to paint.

Here's the view from the throne (yes, the lid is down).  I'm even leaning back here (and artsy angle, woo!) to give the illusion of more space, but I'm not kidding anyone am I?  In reality, one could multitask quite easily from a seated position, what with the sink being so handy and all.  And one does.

So the first step will be to remove the wallpaper.  Cross your fingers that it comes off relatively well and reveals little damage to the underlying wall.  It seems like it's really stuck on there good.  I have a feeling I may be in for a challenge, but I hope I'm wrong.

I have already bought the paint that'll go on the walls (because the 40% off sale ended Sunday).  The color is called "Take Five" by Sherwin Williams.  Here it is in the paint can, but I'm hoping it looks a tad darker on the walls, like it did on the paint chip.

You're going to laugh at me for this, but whatever.  I bought this picture at some garage sale or thrift store, I don't even remember when or where.  I was going to use the frame for something else.  I think the image is just one of those flimsy papers you're supposed to take out before you frame whatever nice thing you intended to frame.  I could be wrong.  Anyway, I liked the picture, so I left it and put it up in the bathroom.  I reminds me of places around here.

I will be "retiring" this picture, but I'm not sure what I'll put in its place.  That's way down the list of things to worry about later.  In the meantime, if any of you are seized with inspiration for wall art, please let me know. 

Current light fixture (circa 1977 when the house was built?):

Possible future light fixture?

I like the modern look and the profile doesn't come too far out from the wall.  Haven't bought it yet though.  It was at Home Depot.  I have a photo of it mounted on the display wall at the store, and you can see the curve of the light, but Blogger has a mind not to allow me to upload that pic for some reason.  What gives, Blogger?

At another home store, there was this one, which I originally thought I liked more.  But now, I think I like the first one.  As far as finishes, I prefer brushed nickel to chrome.

Floor before:

Floor after (a few weeks from now):

Not sure about the medicine chest.  We do use it.  Right now, my inclination is to leave it as is but change the hardware.  Mostly because I'm lazy that way, but also because with blue walls and brushed nickel accents, the room might already be on its way to being "cold."  But I would consider painting it too, if that seemed like the thing to do.

Definitely will need something besides the fake foliage on top, and something interesting for the shelf, eventually.

Oh, and these little things will also be retired.  I bought them at a craft fair long, long ago in another millennium.

Towel bar and TP holder will be replaced with something non-wood, probably brushed nickel.

So that's the current plan for the can...man.  Thoughts?