Please cue the Etta James background music . . .

“Aaaaat laaaaaaaaassssstt . . .”

I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally have a clean white backsplash behind my range!

I feel like I can breathe now.

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You’ll recall that adventure in tile removal from last week where my Dremel MultiMax and some sweat equity yielded a new canvas. 

I wanted white harlequin tile for the inset, but couldn’t find an affordable version or color match to my existing white tile surround (which is basic Daltile right off the Home Depot shelf). 

Plan B lead me to a simple diagonal pattern with 4’ x 4’ tiles and a chair rail frame in the same color ~ again, the inexpensive white ceramic tile available at any HD store. 

I don’t own a tile saw, so I enlisted the help of our good friend Ramon who has serious tiling skills.  In 2009, he helped tile our master shower so we called in his assistance and borrowed his wet saw again. 

To find the center of the design, we drew a simple grid with pencil (you could also use a chalk line).  Then Ramon demonstrated how he cut and installed the chair rail.  Next we began to lay the diagonal design, working from the center point. 

Behind every piece of tile is a good layer of mortar (or thinset), not to thick, not too thin. You can apply it to the wall, then set your tile like we did with the chair rail.  For individual pieces set in a pattern, we applied the mortar to the singular piece then set it on the wall. 

It’s important to work in sections if doing an entire backsplash surround, using just enough mortar or thinset to set just a few pieces as you work your way around. 

In hindsight, I should have bought white thinset instead of gray mortar, but since the grout covered it all up anyway, I wasn’t too worried about it.  

I’m not a fan of thick grout lines, so no spacers were used in this project, but you can buy them in varying widths at any home improvement store.  Small pieces of cardboard support the bottom tiles above the chair rail.

For the trimmed pieces, Ramon showed me how to mark the tile to know where to cut, pretty simple. 

The coolest part was next learning to operate this wet saw! 

Careful girl, watch those fingers !!!

Hey Ma, look, Ma!  My very first cut piece of tile! 

For a moment, I even considered saving it as a souvenir. 

Once the pattern was installed, we allowed it to set for 24 hours.  The next day,  all that was required was some simple white grout applied with a trowel to fill in the seams between the tiles (forgot a pic!) then I sponged the excess grout off the surface of the tile. 

The final step once the grout is fully dry is to seal it to protect it from stains.  For another simple tutorial on installing a ceramic tile backsplash, check out this step by step over at This Old House.  .

At last, the much improved clean white backsplash tile !!

I have to share this: I was flying back from New Orleans yesterday, and I picked up the spring edition of one of my most favorite magazines in the airport:  Renovation Style.  For me, this BH&G special interest publication never fails to deliver the most gorgeous livable real homes and always great before and afters. 

I nearly choked on my chips when I spied this. 

Oh sweet validation !

If you’d like to see the entire kitchen (and read about the lessons we learned from building it), here is the full tour.  

Have a fantastic weekend! 

xoxo,

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“Hey Kate, I read that when you remodeled your house a few years ago, that you designed and built your kitchen.  We’re in the beginning stages of gutting our very dated kitchen and we’re starting over from scratch!  We’re so excited!!  My question for you is, were there any pitfalls you ran into?  Anything you learned along the way you’d be willing to share?  What should we know about building a kitchen starting from four bare walls?  Help!”

Great question Melanie!  Me and my Mister built our kitchen over five years ago, so to answer Melanie’s question, I had to dig through the archives and pull out all my files to refresh my recollection of the process of building our kitchen from scratch.  It resulted in a mild rash and minor heart palpitations, but I’ve since recovered.  

No, I’m kidding.  I absolutely love kitchen design, and loved the entire process of choosing all the details of the one in our own home.  I’m one of those people that if I overheard at the grocery store you were building a new kitchen, I’d butt my ponytail right into the conversation and want to chat all about appliances, countertops and the exact style of door front you’re choosing for your cabinets.  “Really?  Oh, fabulous!” 

Building a kitchen from scratch is an enormous task.  Unlike throwing the latest most popular shade of paint on your walls, a kitchen must be a space that can stand the test of time.  My kitchen suits the style of my home, and also my own personal tastes as well.  While there are a few things I wish I’d done differently, for the most part, I really love the floor plan and finishes we continue to live with every day.  

Ten Lessons I Learned from Building Our Kitchen

#10:  Do your research

I’m talking building codes, cabinet styles, appliances and their wacky measurements, tile, countertops, etc.  Visit home improvement stores, appliance centers, tile shops, and slab yards.  Do extensive research online for information and inspiration.  Touch, feel, and read everything you can your get your hands on, and gather at least three bids from all subcontractors.

Eat, drink, and breathe everything ‘Kitchen Design’ until you can’t stand it anymore.  Then you’ll be ready to make your final choices. 

#9)  Have a good lighting plan 

This is my old tattered lighting plan from 2005 that I found earlier today.  You can see there are plans for eight light switches in this kitchen.  Eight.  But they all serve a very specific purpose (task lighting, pantry, over the sink, etc.)

I consulted with a friend who is a lighting designer and also my electrician.  Together we came up with all of these switches, and I’m so glad we put so much thought into it. 

And dimmers!  Put as many switches as you can on dimmers to set any mood in your kitchen from “Time to wake up kids!” to “Dinner party ambiance”.  Trust me.

#8:  Create a work triangle

Since most cooking is done between these three zones, all kitchen designers will tell you it’s important to keep ‘the triangle’ in mind.   You can rotate the points any which way, just make sure there’s a logical connection between the sink, fridge and cooktop/oven. 

This is the exact triangle I have in my own kitchen with my sink under the window, my refrigerator to the left and my cooktop/range to the right. 

It’s helpful to incorporate your food prep area in between the zones, which is why my center island is one large flat surface!   It’s also helpful to keep the main path of travel away from your work triangle. 

#7)  Research all price points

Countertops, appliances, and cabinetry are always an investment, and places where you want to spend good money for good quality, but there are other places where you will find there’s a great degree of variance in price and you can get away with inexpensive choices.  Our knobs and pulls are the perfect example. 

The subtly detailed brushed nickel cabinet knobs and pulls I chose (to the left) are from none other than (who would have thought?) Target.  I think I paid maybe $2 dollars a knob and $3 dollars a pull.  But I paid a pretty penny for the Top Knobs appliance pulls on the refrigerator to the right.  They were expensive, but were they ever worth it!  I pull on those babies two dozen times a day, so always think about that when you’re making your final decision on hardware for your kitchen. 

Our sinks are another example.  The main sink faucet is Price Pfister ‘Marielle’ off the shelf from Home Depot and the secondary sink is by Rohl.  Both have held up well over time, but I paid much more for the Rohl than the Price Pfister, and in hindsight, I should have gone with a more inexpensive model for the second sink. 

#6 Storage Storage Storage 

Think about all the places you want to hide your everyday items, like your coffee maker or your toaster.  If you want to tuck them out of sight, create little nooks to do so.  I like to tuck my own toaster, bread bowl, and coffee maker in the nook behind my refrigerator. 

Also consider where you will place all the things you cook with: your spices, utensils and pot holders, then map out where you’d like to store them as well.

Consider where you will store your small appliances and larger roasting pans that you use less frequently.  I hide chaffing dishes and roasting pans in these corner kitchen cabinets, and smaller less used appliances under our breakfast peninsula.

Every kitchen needs extra cabinet space or a pantry to store dry goods.  Large or small, do your best to make space for everything from sugar, flour and cereal, to larger bulk items like paper towels or a collection of cookbooks.  Walk in pantries are always a plus!  

#5 Bells, Whistles and Extras

You know all those high tech gadgets that are constantly coming on the market?  And all those pricey extras that make you oooh and ahhh?  I’m talking your pot fillers, warming drawers, and espresso makers.  All those little extras you make think you want, but may not actually need. 

I’m here to tell you stick with what you’ll use.  We invested in two fancy shmancy extra appliances that we do actually use: our clear ice maker and our wine/beverage fridge.  Those are really really nice, but are they necessary?  Nah.  Just fun to play with.  Could we live without them?  Surely.  

Should you double up the number of dishwashers, sinks, or ovens?  Your call, but I can honestly tell you this.  I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve used two ovens at the same time.  I don’t believe double ovens are necessary in any kitchen unless you do a heck of a lot of baking or entertaining for massive amounts of family or friends.  But double ovens are always a selling point, so consider that too.  If you have a convection microwave, I think you can get away with just a single oven.

Double sinks are a definite plus, especially when you have more than one person cooking in the kitchen at a time.  Or you need a place to throw your dirty dishtowels.  Or you have little children with grimy hands and your main sink is full of dishes.  Or better still, a place to chill a bottle of great chardonnay for your friends on a summer day.  The latter three reasons are why I love my second sink. 

#4  Mind Your Transitions 

The devil is in the details, so pay attention to them.  Mind your transitions around your appliances.  Take my range for example, it sticks out beyond the standard cabinet depth as you can see to the left.  To accommodate, we had to add these decorative legs and have the countertops cut to match. 

Also, pay attention to the space required behind your appliances for plugs, and the clearance needed to open microwave, oven and refrigerator doors. 

 #3:  Dedicated Zones

Especially with families, I think it’s essential to have a desk or separate space away from your work triangle and cooking zone that helps you stay organized.  Let’s face it.  The kitchen is the heart of the home and where so much activity takes place, so it’s best to budget some real estate in your kitchen plan for your phone, a calendar, perhaps a laptop, and a place to take messages.  Here’s mine. 

Above I have open decorative shelves where I store some favorite cookbooks, display a calendar, and a basket for take out menus.  Below is my junk drawer for pens, tape, scissors, etc.  In the lower cabinet is where I store the phone book, my family binder, my favorite recipe binder, and about five dozen copies of Bon Appétit  which I have yet to recycle. 

I think it’s also important that people have a place to sit and chat in your kitchen while you cook, and a place to nibble too.  For us, that’s our breakfast peninsula that forms a barrier between the kitchen and family room.  Please ignore the shy four year old trying to hide.  

#2 Be Careful What You Wish For

And as with any home expansion, unless you can afford an Alice, keep in mind every square inch that you add to your kitchen you also have to clean and maintain.  And I can tell you it takes a bit o’ time to clean mine.  So even though you may think you want a bigger kitchen, remember, just like a big house, bigger ain’t always better cause someone’s got to clean it!

#1  Make Timeless Choices

Argh, this is so important!  Pick cabinetry, countertops and a backsplash that suits your style and your budget, but always keep in mind the passage of time and future buyers. 

There are a bazillion combinations to choose from when it comes to cabinetry, countertops and a backsplash.  I chose crema marble with brown veining (instead of the grey found in carrera marble), a white ceramic backsplash, and dark walnut countertops for the island and breakfast peninsula.  Five years later, I still love the combination. 

However, as much as I love my marble counters and the wood countertops on my island, I couldn’t’ wait to remove that ‘fruit plate’ behind my range.  I was going through my ‘French Country’ phase way back when I ordered it in 2005.  What was I thinking?  Thankfully it was a cosmetic fix. 

Here’s the new cleaner backsplash we installed in late January. 

So take my advice.  Pick modern cabinetry, appliances, and surfaces that are not too trendy, and you (and any future homeowner) will be grateful.

One final thought:  Although I swoon over all those high end white kitchens in shelter mags, I do not believe that all kitchens should have white cabinets. To the contrary, kitchen cabinets should complement the architecture and style of the home, and also reflect the personal tastes of the homeowner.  In the average contemporary American home, white cabinetry is a safe choice.  However, I happen to be a fan of many different styles of cabinetry, whether painted or stained, open shelves or closed cabinets, or traditional or contemporary design, so I encourage you all (and Melanie too!) to pick what’s right for you and your home. 

What about you?  Any of you planning to remodel your kitchen?  What’s the one thing you love about your kitchen?  What if anything do you desperately want to change? 

.

So here is the story of how we met our house, but first, let’s take a little detour.  When I was growing up, I would whiz past this amazing property on the freeway on my way to school each day. 

This is not my house. 

This is the Kendall Jackson Tasting Room and it’s one of my favorite properties in the entire universe. 

Oh my word, I could just stare at it all day.  Those arches, those French doors, those keystones, those dormers, that rose garden, I can’t stand it, it’s just so beautiful. 

*Sigh*

What does this tasting room have to do with my house ?  It inspired us in many ways when we first built our home over a decade ago, down to the exact color of the stucco. 

So here goes.  It was a dark and stormy night.   No, it was 1999, and I was finishing up law school and we were planning our wedding.  On top of that, my fiancée and I had an insane grand idea to buy a piece of land and build a house at the same time.  But we’re just certifiable like that. 

We found an affordable piece of bare land, and put in an offer.  That night, we dreamed up the floor plan to our home on a cocktail napkin while we talked all about building a house and a family together.  With a very limited budget, we decided that we would add on to the house later when we had more kids.  Yeah, that’s what we will do, we will add on later.  That was a completely crazy idea, we should have just waited and built the house one time only.  But we were eager newlyweds, excited to build a home together and we really didn’t think it through. 

The first time around, we hired a builder who made a lot of decisions on our behalf, and the original home was completed in early 2000. 

Here’s our home in 2001:

Fast forward to 2006 after two babies. 

“Hey honey, remember that idea we had that we would add on more bedrooms when we had kids?  Yeah, yeah, let’s do that!”

So in came the big equipment. 

There’s my mister clearing the new foundation. 

And the inside of the house.  Oh the horror !  I can’t bear to watch. 

It got so bad that we moved into a rental nearby just to stay warm through the winter.

Here’s my munchkins at 2 years old and 5 months old midway through this insane excursion.  What were we thinking ?  And notice how I turned my single stroller into a double by stuffing one kid underneath.   Desperate times call for desperate measures.

When we moved back into our home in early 2007 it was still in a very raw state and we had *ahem* run short on funds.  There were no cabinets or countertops, no master bath, no balcony railing, no patio, no rear yard landscaping.  There was construction debris everywhere, and I was one crazed momma trying to keep my munchkins away from danger lurking around every corner.  Thank goodness they survived with their limbs intact.  I can’t say the same for my mental state.

Over the last three years, we’ve slowly finished the house as funds allowed.  It wasn’t until 2009 that we finally installed the master bathroom – you can read all about it here. 

So here is our house today.  Despite the madness, we are in love with it.

And that is the story of how I met my house !  Now I need a strong cocktail because I’ve just relived it all again.  :-)  

Oh, and one more thing, I strongly discourage anyone from adding on to their house when you have a toddler and newborn child who don’t sleep through the night, especially when you’re acting as the general contractor for the entire project.  We forgot to factor in that teensy little detail in our decision to add on. 

And don’t forget about the big party over at Our Suburban Cottage.  If you’ve got a story to tell, be sure to link up tomorrow ! 

Five years ago, before we expanded our home, our master bathroom was not a pleasant prepping area.  At least not for me.  It was so so very tiny.  So small that Mr. CG and I were elbowing each other and quarreling over counter space.  I finally resorted to primping in the children’s bathroom.  But not any more darlin’.  All of that has now changed. 

We’ve purposely doubled the size of our bathroom and budgeted in room for a separate primping zones.  One year ago, the space you’re about to tour was nothing more than sheetrock and a plywood floor.  At last, at last, at last it is finished ! 

Welcome to our sanctuary.  Away from the world.  Away from the kids !

Come on in !

Oooh la la, I feel like I’m living in the lap of luxury in here.  We had the cabinets custom made.  They are alder wood with a walnut stain. 

We topped the counters with inexpensive cultured marble instead of the real thing.  Frankly, I prefer it.  Cultured marble is so much easier to clean and maintain.  The mirror is the Florentine by Hitchcock Butterfield.

I doubled up the hardware on the center drawers to make them look more like a dresser.

Mr. CG’s side of the vanity:

He takes his mouthwash straight up.  Tee hee hee.

I chose the overmount sinks for their ridge detail and oval shape. Fixtures are Price Pfister.

I planted an orchid in a champagne bucket for extra glamour. 

La toilette is hidden behind a door.  Love that !

Of course, you’ve seen the bathtub zone before. 

This discount chandelier over the tub is a favorite detail.

This spa shelf was one of my transformations from a few months back where some tacky thrift store brass objects met up with my can of spray paint.  Read all about it here.  

And you’ve also seen the master shower before.  Whew, was this a chore to tile !

Still no shower door, but that will come later.

I’m a big fan of the shampoo bottle insets and Oceanside glass tile stripes.

This pair of towel hooks are another favorite detail.

You can see all the up close details and tour the inside of the shower right here.

Oh my, just when you think you’ve seen it all.  You haven’t even seen the best part !  Here is the crème de la crème.  It’s my own personal vanity.  For over a decade I’ve dreamed of an old Hollywood style vanity with tons of glamour where I could powder my nose and paint my little girl’s toenails.  This vanity is just a dream come true for me.  This is my absolute favorite spot in my home. 

Oh my goodness, could you just fall over backwards from all of that storage?  There’s tons of it.  I share it with my step daughter and this is our girly primping zone.  All of our beauty products are housed right here. 

Kitchen drawer dividers serve their purpose in our vanity:

I sewed this slipcover for this vanity bench that I found on Craigslist. 

This silver octagonal mirror is a favorite detail.

Here is a daily reminder of my blessings:  two lovely daughters, now 17 and 5 years old. 

My favorite silver trimmed shell holds jewelry at day’s end.

These $3 dollar thrift store sconces were once gold, but I spray painted them and hung them on my wall for added atmosphere.   

Now if only I could keep these little munchkins preoccupied elsewhere. 

But it’s totally not happening.

Double vanity.  Plenty of elbow room. 

And they lived happily ever after. 

The paint color is my own custom blend.  1/3 Behr ‘Mountain Creek’,  1/3 Restoration Hardware ‘Silver Sage’ and 1/3 ‘Swiss Coffee’ white.  It looks a little pastel blue in many of the photos but in reality, it is much softer and more gray. 

So there it is, the whirlwind tour.  It’s quite a big change from a year ago!  And it is a dream come true for both of us.  After ten years of marriage, it’s nice to have a little sanctuary to call our own.   At least, until we’re invaded by you know who. 

Not because I don’t want to talk to you all.  Believe me, I do. It’s just that I am dangerously close to disappearing from the earth into a new twilight zone known as my master bathtub.

Now I am a gal who finds no greater bliss than taking an evening bubble bath.  A hot bath + a glass of red wine + a bit of dark chocolate + my iPod + twenty minutes to myself = priceless.  No vacation spot could ever compare.

Since I am an attorney, I feel a warning label is appropriate at this time.

Now that I’ve finally put the finishing touches on my master bathtub space, you may never ever ever EVER hear from me again.

It looks posh, but compared to most designer spaces, it really wasn’t that expensive.

Do you want to see the ‘Before’ ?

I only wish I had taken a picture of the space last year when it was just sheetrock, and nothing else.   Just imagine: sheetrock.  And nothing else.

But here’s what I started with last weekend.  No light fixture.  No window treatment.  Partially painted and patchy sheetrock.  But at least most of the tile was installed.

Over the weekend, I put the finishing touches on my new twilight zone a.k.a. the zone I disappear to at twilight a.k.a. I hope I never have to sell my house in this economic downturn because I love my bathtub a.k.a.  even if I am forced to sell, two burly strong men with serious tattoos and time in the joint will have to pry me loose from this spot.

That said, let me tell y’all a little story.

If you don’t know or don’t care about the difference between an ‘overmount’ and ‘undermount’ bathtub, skip on down about three paragraphs.

First, that bathtub you see did not fit the space when it arrived.  No Sirree.  Clever me, I thought I had ordered an undermount tub, but when I opened up the box a year later, the tub did not fit the specs.  Not only was it an overmount tub, it absolutely, totally, 100% did not fit my bathtub space.  It was short all around by 3 inches.  Oh, a picture is worth a thousand words, if only I had one.  Just one.  But I don’t.

So I devised a plan to turn a funky dysfunctional overmount tub into an undermount beauty.  It’s a bit hard to describe, but this photo may give you the idea.  I had my tile installer stabilize and solidify the tub in a layer of cement.  Then I asked him to cut and fit a piece of 5/8 inch plywood with an opening for the tub surround to fit the bathtub niche.  Then I requested that he tile the plywood with 1/4 inch thick white ceramic tile, and trim the sides with 1 inch mosaic to hide the plywood. 

As I described all of this, he looked at me as most construction dudes do, with a little confusion and a lot of disdain.

In the end, I prevailed.  I turned a badly fitting overmount tub into a cleverly disguised undermount tub with just a little ingenuity.

You can see how nice the trim looks here.

Which brings me to my next point.  Over the course of these upgrades, it dawned on me that a luxurious bathroom has many of the same features as a lovely dining room.

Good smells.

No fancy soaps for me.  I’m a Dove and Dial kind of girl.

Great linens.

Kohl’s. Clearance. $4 dollars each.

Good lighting

My $50 dollar chandy that I scored when Home Depot’s EXPO stores closed last year.

Candlelight

That listello and brick pattern white ceramic tile you see is just Daltile from Home Depot, right off the shelf.  Notice even more of my ‘undermount’ trim mosaic tile – the same tile that trims the floor in the neighboring master shower.

Fresh flowers

Perhaps an interesting plant

Recognize my DIY cement planter?

Great window treatments

(My DIY roman shade from yesterday’s post)

A decent mirror

BTW, this pair of mirrors used to be a gold, but Rustoleum’s ‘Heirloom White’ saved them.  They each cost me $3 dollars at the local thrift store.  I repeat.  $3 dollars each.

See?

In truth, these mirrors are temporary.  Someday when I have the money, I’m going to install tempered glass mirrors and glass shelves inside these niches from tile to ceiling.  But that costs major bucks, so I’ll have to wait.

And every good bath requires dark chocolate.

Why yes, I do keep my dark chocolate on a silver soap dish.

Don’t you ?

A moment of silence please.

For the chocolate.

(Kidding about the silver dish.  My chocolate is always hidden in a dark corner of my pantry.)

If all of this white and blue is too frou frou for you, I think you’ll appreciate the dark cabinets in the bathroom space.

As soon as the glass fronts for the upper cabinets arrive, I’ll reveal the whole bathroom.

And just a little flashback.  This bathtub spa shelf I created myself with just a few dollar tacky brass items from a thrift store.

Read all about the spa shelf transformation right here.

So here is my master bathtub space.  If this is the very last post on this blog, well, now you know why.

FYI:  The paint color is my own custom blend.  1/3 Behr ‘Mountain Creek’,  1/3 Restoration Hardware ‘Silver Sage’ and 1/3 ‘Swiss Coffee’ white.

I’m off to bubble bath land.  Talk soon.  Or maybe later.  Much later.

In the spring of 2008, I started the landscaping process by making my own invisible trellis to hide the wall.  An invisible trellis is an inexpensive way to train a vine up a wall without the expenditure and installation of wood lattice or a metal trellis.

Here’s a look at my version up close:

An invisible trellis is very easy to install, and virtually maintenance free.  The only tools you need are a drill for pilot holes, wire cutters, and a measuring tape.  The only supplies you’ll need are screw eyes and galvanized steel wire, pictured below.

The first step is to map out your trellis on your wall or fence.  I used a pencil to mark off the location for the screw eyes along the upper diagonal of my wall, then created a vertical and horizontal grid 12 inches apart.  The second step is to drill pilot holes where you’ve marked the location for your screw eyes.  Once all of your screw eyes are installed, simply connect the eyes with your galvanized wire to form the trellis.

The invisible trellis virtually disappears on the wall, and allows the beautiful vine to put on a show.  And here is the wall after installing the invisible trellis, a citrus tree, and some shrubs.  It’s amazing how greenery can turn something functional into something lovely.

Last summer, I planted two pink bower vines, a type of jasmine.  In summer, my bower vines give me pink trumpet shaped blooms with dark pink throats.  The added bonus is that the plant is an evergreen, so it stays green all winter long, hiding my wall throughout the year.

For another brief tutorial by Martha on installing an invisible trellis, look here.

Happy trellising !

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So I found this set of mirrors last week at the local Goodwill that called out my name.  “Kate, over here, over here !”   Alas, the poor downtrodden mirrors had been sitting in a corner all by themselves.  Apparently, from what history I could gather, these mirrors used to belong to a dresser, but sadly had been abandoned by their bigger mate.  But oh, the potential within !  You know I have a soft spot for hidden potential, so naturally I brought said mirrors home with me.   

What inspired me was the statement wall mirrors I’ve been observing for quite some time in décor mags and retail catalogs.  (Oh, Ballard Designs, you tempt me so!)  I had to have my own version, I just wasn’t prepared to pay so many pennies for making such a dramatic statement.  I’ve long been in love with these from Ballard, but at $199 dollars a pair, I wince.

So for $25 dollars, I found this thrift store version.  Here’s a look BEFORE the makeover:

And AFTER I glammed her up a bit:

You like? 

Friends, here’s how I did it. 

Step One:  This took some advance preparation.  I removed the back wood panel, which was actually a piece of thick cardboard with a faux burled wood grain print on top.  I then took this faux panel to a local glass shop and asked them to make a mirror in the same shape.  I was inspired by Eddie’s secretary revamp, where he replaced his glass panels with mirror.  For $20 dollars, I had a new mirror made for the upper arch. 

Arch Before:

Arch After:

Step Two:  I gave the mirrors a quick sanding to remove any varnish.

Step Three:  I removed all the brackets, which was a hint tricky, because I had to carefully lift up the supports behind the mirror.  But as you know, CG is not easily deterred.  I then hammered down the mirror supports, then I patched the holes on the sides of the mirrors with wood filler.

Step Four:  I primed the mirrors with two coats of spray primer, then allowed it to dry.  

Step Five:  I painted the mirrors with my ultimate favorite spray paint, Rustoleum’s ‘Heirloom White’.  I find that a spray finish is so much smoother than a brush finish, when applied properly.  So whenever possible, I opt for spray paint. 

Step Six:  I attached ‘D ring’ hangers to the rear of the mirrors.  Hey, it’s another opportunity to use power tools, which is always fun for me.  There’s just something about the roar of a power screwdriver that makes me want to grunt in a very unladylike fashion, just like Tim the Tool Man Taylor. 

Step Seven:  I used silicone rubber sealant, leftover from this project, to adhere my new mirror to the paneled arch. 

Viola !  A new trio of creamy white mirrors opposite the windows in my living room.  They pull tons of light into my space ! 

Granted, my living room is a serious work in progress.  It is an extra space we acquired with the remodel from years back, but it has been half finished for quite some time.  It’s just one of those spaces that I keep looking at, but can’t quite perfect to my satisfaction.  A wad of cash would help.  But the mirrors will do for now.

I love how the new mirrors play off the existing white fireplace mantle, the crown moulding, and my white chair, that I revamped in this earlier post. 

Here’s a glance at the less than finished sitting area.  Please disregard the obvious missing lamp shade from the lamp I acquired here.  I am also playing around with turquoise blue and gold decor.

Ultimately, I am very pleased with this mirror’s transformation.  The total cost of the mirrors, the replacement arch mirror, the paint, and the hangers cost me about $55 dollars !  But it’s a heck of a lot less expensive than retail plus shipping ! 

You see, there are hidden treasures out there.  So keep your eyes open !

Mr. CG and I are blessed to live in a beautiful town called Petaluma in Sonoma County, California, in the heart of the Wine Country. I am an attorney who left my full time job when my daughter was born five years ago.  I practice law on the side, but my true passion is remodeling and decorating homes.  I stay awake at night scheming about my next DIY project.  In hindsight, I should have gone to design school, not law school, but coulda-shoulda-woulda.   

It was my not-so-brilliant idea to start a major remodel of our home in 2006, the same year my son was born.  I often refer to this year as “the lost year” since my only memories are in pictures.  Here are some photos of the experience we survived.  Barely.

Grading the site

Mr. CG clearing the new foundation

Framing the expansion

Helping the builder

The critters were not happy 

The family room – yikes

Living with scaffolding

Every year, we throw a Christmas party for our friends, but we were unable to entertain in 2006 because of this remodel.  I wrote a poem about it to all of our friends in that year’s Christmas card.  Here goes:

Twas the June before Christmas, so I said to my spouse

“The time has come to add on to the house”

The approval of plans meant more space in our home

All we could think was “Brushed nickel, or chrome?”

“Wait a minute” we heard, “You just had a baby,

Don’t take on this project, you’re both certainly crazy.”

“Nonsense” we replied “We both have a brain”

We paid no attention to the claims “You’re insane.”

July was the month that we poured the foundation

Funds paid for concrete, but no Hawaiian vacation.

Choosing cabinets and tile and a new kitchen sink

Include sleepless nights, it all drove us to drink

Through summer and fall as we lived in a rental

We knew they were right, we were certainly mental

Here’s December, our pocketbook and spirits diminished,

We still wonder if ever our house will be finished.

And so this strange year we must say with dismay,

Unfortunately at our house there’s no Christmas soiree

We wish all of you peace, and blessings from above

Merry Christmas to all, and we send all our love. 

 

It’s 2009, and we still haven’t finished the master bath, and parts of the rear yard.  Our hope is to complete this year. 

Here’s to hoping !

Here’s the Before. Boo hoo.

But here’s the After:

It arrived two days ago, and Mr. CG installed it. What a difference a thing of beauty makes. The mirror is the Florentine by Hitchcock Butterfield, made in the USA. We’re getting that much closer to my spa like retreat…