Master Bath Update

Now that our home has a big "Sale Pending" sign in the front yard, sharing home improvement projects feels slightly out of place.

I knew it was bound to happen. While we did manage to complete many, many projects on our home, there were still quite a few we always meant to get to. The thing I desperately didn't want to happen was to postpone those projects until right before we sold our house, so that we could actually have some time to enjoy the results of our work.

Obviously, that exact thing I didn't want to happen happened.  Although we had the plans and most the supplies for our master bath renovation for nearly a year, we didn't actually tackle the project until a month before we listed the house on the market.

We even hemmed and hawed about doing it at all. We could have saved ourselves a little money and quite a few weekends by just re-caulking the shower and calling it a day. But every time we would look at the brown shower tile and the grey vinyl flooring, we felt we just couldn't leave the bathroom looking like that.

Our master bath is quite small. I wanted to make it something special to somewhat compensate for the small size.

This project was much more manageable than the hall bath renovation. We only had to redo the floors and the tile in the shower. The sink was perfect, the shower doors and base presentable.

Just like the hall bath project, this started by ripping everything out. Unlike the hall bath project, I got so excited, I completely missed a before picture.  I did manage to snag one small picture of the ugly linoleum, of which there ended up being two layers.

I also didn't take a picture of the nearly gutted bathroom. I was too focused on just getting things done.

Because the bathroom is on the small side, we used nicer finishes. I really wanted to use marble, but it was still cost prohibitive. So we got a porcelain tile with a marble-esque pattern. 

So much nicer than the dark, yucky linoleum.

In the shower, we used the same white subway tiles we used in the hall bath. Here, however, I splurged on some glass tile for an accent.  The tile ended up coordinating perfectly with the existing turquoise wall color (almost as if I had planned it, which I didn't. I just gravitate towards the same things.)

After having done a bathroom just weeks prior, we were hitting our stride. Everything went very smoothly. With only one tiny hiccup.

We were so determined to completely finish on a Sunday evening. Until we realized we were one single tile short.

That meant we had to drive across town to the hardware store and buy a single $0.70 tile. We couldn't think of a single other thing we needed at the hardware store to make the trip seem worth while. In hindsight, with that being our only hangup, it was nothing. At the time, after hours spent cutting tile and applying mortar and spacers, it felt terrible.

We opted for gray grout to accentuate the grey marbling in the floor tiles and to highlight the beautiful subway tiles. There were moments that I worried I had made a bad choice, because the grout seemed so dark. But after it dried and was a lovely light gray, I was extremely glad we chose that color.

Watching every come together made me so glad that we decided to refinish the bathroom. 

Yes, we will only enjoy it for a few months. But those are a few months of getting ready in the morning and taking showers in a very pretty bathroom.

Dear Buyers

When our home went on the market, it was our first time going through the whole process of selling a home. From picking a real estate agent, to getting the house staged, to keeping it ridiculously clean, every step was new and stressful.

In fact, even Bug, who is adamantly against the move, said he hoped our house would sell fast. He said he didn't like having to keep things that clean, and besides, he hated all the art the house was staged with.

We had been mentally prepped before hand about the stress. That we would no longer be living in our house the way we normally lived in it, but we would be selling it.

What we didn't expect was for things to happen so fast. We listed on a Monday at 4 pm. That same evening, we had two showings. By 10 am on Tuesday, we had scheduled 6 more. At noon, an offer came in for above asking, and by 1 pm, we had accepted the offer. Our house was on the market for 21 hours.

Our agent had suggested that we right a letter to any potential buyers, about what we loved about the house and why we were moving, so that no one would think we were moving because there was something wrong with the house.

I wrote a letter about all the improvements that had been done to the house, about the great schools and neighborhood, about the large yard and how much we enjoyed the fireplace.  But I felt that I had to hold back a little about how much I really loved our home, because when I started writing about how I actually felt about the house, it started sounding like I was trying to sell it too hard.

So, here is the letter I would like to write, how I really feel about the home we are going to be leaving.

_________________________________________________

Dear Home Buyers,

At first glance, this house may seem like any other small neighborhood house from the 70s. And while it definitely has its quirks due to strange building codes back then, I assure you, this home is anything but typical.

You will be hard pressed to find a home that has been as loved and as lived in as this one.  And as far as all those quirks, we've made sure everything about the house is perfectly safe. But there a few stairs that squeak every time we try to sneak downstairs when the children are sleeping. And getting to the laundry by going through the garage is definitely not ideal, but after years of going to a laundry mat with children in tow, I couldn't have cared less.

This house was our first home as a family, the first time we didn't have to worry about sharing walls, floors, and ceilings with other people, the first time our children could just be children. We lived fully in each room, from family game night at the kitchen table, to story time in front of the fireplace, to pillow fights in the bedrooms.

When we first bought the house, most people gave us disbelieving, almost pitying smile. All they could see was the popcorn ceilings, the lack of lighting, and all the gray vinyl flooring. We, however, were beside ourselves with excitement about that potential in this home. We had seen over 30 homes during a whirlwind weekend of home shopping. But the moment we walked through the door here, we knew it was home. I never once saw the imperfection. I only saw a house that wanted to be loved, that wanted to become our home.

We have loved this house almost like a family member, slowly bringing it to its potential. We stripped away the popcorn ceilings. We put in all new flooring, flooring that would hold up to the antics of three active boys. We added as much light as we could. We painted every surface. I'll be honest. When we were picking things for the home, I never once thought about which would be best for resale, what would be most appealing for other people. I picked things I loved, that went with the feeling we were creating in our home. 

There are more memories here than I could possibly share. We've planted bulbs in the front garden. We've made enormous leaf piles in the back yard. We've eaten countless dinners on the deck and then watched our children chases fireflies under the trees and wondered how we ever got so lucky.

At a meager 1300 square feet, this house has never felt small (except when suddenly, we've had to figure out where 6 house guests are sleeping.) Even as our family grew, there always seemed to be enough room for us. 

This home isn't the fanciest, most spacious home out there. But nearly everyone who has ever walked through the front door has mentioned how lovely the home is. I like to think that it isn't because of the decor or the paint color (although of course, I'm quite partial to those.) I like to think it's because there is so much love and life here, everyone can feel it.

It's time for us to move on with our lives, and that moving on is taking us back west, closer to family and away from this home. I'm quite heartbroken about leaving this house. There were days that I actually pictured us living here forever. Maybe this is how everyone feels about their first home.

I definitely hope it's how you feel about this one.

Sincerely,

Katherine

Bathroom Redo

Right after I made my New Years Resolutions to run more and be more present, Hubster and I decided to start tackling some much needed home projects. Those home projects, like every project we decide to do ourselves, took much longer and became more involved than we initially anticipated. All of that meant that I didn't run and I definitely wasn't present, because in order to keep my boys out of buckets of paint and grout, they were allowed to watch as many movies as they wanted.

When we first moved into our home, we did so many projects. We redid all the floors, replaced all the light fixtures, painted every surface. Each project made our home prettier and more our home. But after several months of constant renovation, we burnt out. I was also in my intern year and exhausted from that.

Since then, we've done a couple small little projects. We refinished our deck, replaced our shed roof, did some very minor landscaping.

But some projects we always meant to do just never got started.  Mainly our bathrooms.  Both our bathrooms are rather sad, with old tile and worn vinyl flooring. We painted them and called it a day. The main hall bathroom was especially awful. Mostly because of one main, very large thing.

The blue bath tub. 

 

It's very blue. It's very old, with some lovely chipped, rusted spots.  It's very embarrassing. Every time I want to share cute pictures of my babies in the bath tub, I always change them to black and white, because of the blue tub. Every time we had over night company and they used the bathroom, I cringed.

Three weeks ago, Hubster and I decided that it was time. It was time to say goodbye to the blue tub and the matchy-matchy blue tile and the gray-blue linoleum.  It was time, finally, to redo the bathroom.

Here was our hall bathroom before we started, in all it's bright green walls and blue tub and tile glory.  (I painted to walls that color 5 years ago, trying to make the bathroom a little cheerier and distract from the blue monstrosity.)

Tearing out the floor was kind of exciting. So exciting that I didn't think to take the before picture until I had already started pulling up the linoleum.

After the floors came up, it was time to rip out the tile. Behind the tile had been regular old, non-bathroom-approved sheet rock. Luckily, there no mold or water damage, but this just gave us another opportunity to shake our heads at those 1970s building codes.

There were a couple of times during this project I wondered what on earth we had gotten ourselves into. That maybe this was actually all a terrible idea and we should just nix the whole thing.  One of those times was when all the time was out and the walls were torn down to the studs. 

It was panic-inducing. But at that point, there was no going back.

After the walls were down, it was time, finally for the tub to come out. I had been waiting years for this moment. Carrying that tub out of the bathroom and out of our house was one of the best feelings of any home project we've ever done. Granted, now the tub is sitting in our backyard, awaiting a trip to the dump. But at least it's no longer in our bathroom.

In place of the old, yucky tub, we put in a beautiful, clean-lined, deep white tub. 

I love that tub (even though in most of these pictures, it's still blue, because of a protective liner that we left on until every last thing was done.  The look on our kids' faces when they saw our new "blue" tub was priceless.)

For the floors, we chose a neutral tile in a large rectangle, to play off the subway tile we had planned for the tub surround. I didn't hate the tile when we picked it out; for our budget it was pretty much the only one I liked. In the bathroom, I love the tile. I love the color and pattern. 

We went with a classic subway tile around the tub, something I'm hoping will be in style longer than the blue patterned tile that was there. Although I'm not sure that old tile ever was in style.

To replace the old vanity, we found this lovely vanity with two faucets at IKEA. It gives the bathroom more storage. The dual faucets mean that my duelling older boys no longer have to share. 

I had been hoping to finish the whole project in two weekends, because I'm crazy.  Of course, there were all sorts of hiccups along the way, like when we found out our water shut off valves to the toilet and sink were broken and had to be replaced. It ended up taking us three weekends to finish. Considering we did all the work ourselves and learned a lot of new skills along the way, I think it's pretty good.

Now, our bathroom is so pretty and shiny. No more being embarrassed. No more changing the color of my photos to hide the color of the bath tub.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

When every thing was finished this weekend, I claimed the first bath in the new tub (before it was dirtied up by three boys using it.)  It was wonderful!

Now, we're giving ourselves one weekend to recover, and then we are on to redo the master bathroom.

A place for everything...

...and everything in its place.


I can't believe how often I heard this growing up. It's something I would love to actually practice, but in reality, things get stacked on top of the desk, on the counter, on the bookshelves. It's a little embarrassing.

Truly, the worst offender has been the art supply box. At one time, it was all neatly organized. That was when there was one child's art supplies. (And it may have actually just been the first day of having the art box.) Take two children (and maybe some of my own), and any illusion of organization was just that.


Number one of my Project 52 list was to organize my closets. This included organizing the art supply area, since technically, it is stuffed into the office closet. I just didn't really know exactly what I wanted.

Until Hubster and I were wandering through Habitat for Humanity ReStore, looking for "treasure." Or as Hubster says, "cheap stuff."

That's when I found it. A red cabinet. The moment I came across it, I instantly saw all of our art supplies neatly stored away in the red and brown drawers. Not only would it be organized, it would be beautiful!

Hubster took next to no convincing.

We brought the beautiful red cabinet home, thoroughly cleaned the dust out of every crevice and corner. Then I spent a very happy afternoon organizing art supplies.

(Old baby wipe tubs - best storage for crayons and colored pencils ever!)

We went from this...

To this...

Now the cabinet stands happily in the office, encouraging the boys to come, take paints, take crayons, take pencils and papers. And just as sweetly, it encourages them to put them neatly away again.

At least that's what I hear it saying.

Heart of The Home

The weather has turned colder.

It snowed for the first time today.

And while that makes me cry a little (mostly on the inside) there is still happiness.

Happiness is the first fire of the year.


Happiness is literally having a hearth be the heart of the home.

This is the place that everyone gathers in the evening, snuggling around the fireplace with books. Warming our feet as we watch movies.

This makes me almost glad that it is winter. Not quite, but almost.

Go visit Leigh at Leigh vs Laundry for The Happiness Project and post a picture of something that makes you deliriously happy.

House Watching: Part 2

There are many people who enjoy people watching. And while I may have participated in this activity while stuck in airports, it's not something that I actually enjoy.

For me, I far prefer house watching.


Think of HGTV and Architectural Digest as my E! and People magazine. The local Parade of Homes is my Oscars.

Everyday as I drive to and from work, I look at the houses I pass. I have my favorites, the ones with clean lines, intricate details, and a modern but classic sensibility. There are the ones that intrigue me, the obviously historical and the extravagantly custom.

I watch them closely, always commenting to myself about changes.

Oh, look, they're putting in new windows.
I really like the changes in the flower beds.
That new door is very nice.
That's an interesting paint color choice.


I see the houses for sale and hope that families that love them move there. I get excited when I see the sold sign, because it means new changes will be taking place, and I slowly get to see the house take on the subtleties of the new owners' personality. I see sad for the houses that sit month after month on the market and wonder why.

I have been known to take detours on the way home to drive through neighborhoods full of beautiful homes.

I take photos of homes with unique colors and interesting architecture.


But no matter how beautiful the house, I'm always happiest to pull up to my very own home.

Acquired

One year ago today, we finished loading a U-Haul truck and pulled out of our apartment in Utah to begin our new life in Iowa.

It's been difficult, it's been demanding, it's been occasionally lonely. New beginnings always are. But there has not been a single day that I've regretted it.

I was told over and over that I would miss the mountains. That I would miss Utah. But I don't. I miss my family. Almost more than I can say. But I'm not "homesick" in anyway.

This is my home.

In some ways, I feel that this is where I was always supposed to be.

I had no intention of every ending up in the Midwest. I knew that eventually, I would leave Utah, but I was sure I would end up somewhere along the West Coast. Most of the residency interviews I did were in places less than a day's drive from a coast of some sort. The only place I interviewed in the Midwest was Iowa. And that I did on a last second recommendation from my residency director.

As the interview process went on, I became more and more frustrated with the programs. Nothing was quite what I wanted. Either the program was lacking, or the area was one I could not picture living with my family.

There was one interview in particular, that was in a place Hubster and I had always dreamed of living. The interview was a complete disaster. Throughout the course of the interview, I got left behind by the group, lost in the hospital, yelled at by one interviewer, and mocked regarding my political views by another. There could not have been a worse interview. I called Hubster in tears, saying that there was no way we could do residency at this place. My interview at Iowa could not have gone differently. People were friendly, I instantly connected with many of the other residents.

Looking back, it feels that this was always the place we were supposed to be.

Yes, we left behind scenic mountains, milder winters, Costco, Ikea, familiarity, and family.

We also left behind a small apartment, inversions (if you're from Salt Lake you know about this), crowded interstates, endless commutes, road rage, snow in May, snow in September, lawns that will never stay green, poor air qualify, underfunded schools, and horrid neighbors.

Here in Iowa, we've acquired tornado warnings, humid summers, subzero winters, and more bugs.

We've also acquired a slower pace of life, our own home, fantastic schools, quiet, Panera, plenty of space, ground that grows anything, beautiful springs, amazing autumns, fireflies, and cardinals.

We've acquired home.

Touch Ups

Since the fireplace makeover in the fall, we haven't done any significant changes or improvements to our house. Oh, the list of to-dos and want-to-dos is still very long. But the cold weather had us less than enthusiastic about tackling any projects. And the dwindling of the initial home improvement budget had covered the essentials and not much more.

But we are still moving in, still tweaking things here and there, still touching things up. We are still making this previously neglected house a home.

Here's what we have been up to...

New lighting fixture in the dining area. The previous light fixture had a single light bulb and such limited ability to actually light things that dinner felt more like a poker game in the back room of an cheap Italian restaurant than a happy family meal.

Dim old light fixture

Bright, new light fixture

So pretty and shiny!

New lighting fixture in the family room. (I'm slightly obsessed about having light.) The old one, while nice enough, didn't light the ends of the rather long room. It left the fireplace and toy shelf pretty dark.


And we've finally hung up art work! Most of the wall are still bare, but we're slowly taking care of that.


I'm pretty particular about what I choose to hang on my walls. I want it to mean something. So most of the art are pieces that have been made by myself or family members, or that are incredibly sentimental.

These are our tribute to Mondrian. Bug and I made these over Spring Break. I love how they play off the bright colors and linear lines that are already in the family room.


And these...

Monkey's contribution on the left, Bug's contribution on the right

These were made by my two favorite artists of all.

These are just little changes, but they have all made a big impact. It's amazing what a difference actually being able to see each other's faces at dinner can make.

We do have a HUGE project coming up (keeping fingers crossed!). Hopefully, it will be ready to reveal around the beginning of the summer. Any guesses?

Oh, Christmas Tree

I love Christmas trees. I could capitalize, bold, and underline the word love, then add two dozen or so exclamation points, and it still wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Putting up the Christmas tree, more than putting up the lights, baking cookies, or completing laps around overflowing store parking lots, marks the official start of the holiday season.

The tree gets put up (with only a little disagreement about what "straight" actually is). I wrap branch after branch with white Christmas lights. At that point, I think I like it best like that, and maybe this year we will only have lights on our tree.

But then I open the boxes filled with ornaments (all non-breakable, of course.) And then I let the boys decorate to their hearts delight.


Giant silver balls, small shiny gold ones, sparkly pears, glittery pine cones, copper wire stars, red and white (non-peppermint) candy canes.


Pipe cleaner wreaths, construction paper frames with smiling school pictures, a zoo of animals made from clay, puzzle pieces, paper, and Popsicle sticks.

Now, it is complete.


Well, almost.

All the ornaments are hung as waist height or lower. After Roman and Blaise are tucked in bed and sleeping, smears of Advent calender chocolate still on their faces, I rearrange and spread out the ornaments.

Our glittery, gold and silver tree is beautiful.


But then again, that's what I thought about our tree last year too. Poor little thing.

The glow of the lights fills the living room and twinkles through the window at me when I come home from work. The fresh smell of pine is subtle, but refreshing and homey at the same time.


And every 30 minutes or so, a Tonka truck, sword fight, or football reminds me of why I'm grateful for shatterproof ornaments.

Free Time

Today marks the first day of my first vacation of residency!

Well, vacation actually started last night, after a much needed girls night out to see New Moon. It was great. No work, no kids. I haven't had that in a long time.

I go back to work on December 1st, at which time I start Trauma Service. This excites me about as much as being told I have a cavity at an annual dental exam. Or Blaise falling asleep on my bed without a Pull-Up on.

So my goal is to make the most of the next 10, now 9, days. They are going to be the fastest days of my year so far, that much I am certain. Already, I can see the end of vacation and feel myself whirling through time towards it.

We thought a lot about going back to Utah for Thanksgiving. This is the longest I've gone in my entire life without seeing my family. I last saw them in June, 5 months ago. I'm not "homesick" in the slightest, since I don't miss Utah or our tiny, dingy apartment for a moment. But I am completely "family-sick." I do miss my family a lot. Since I managed to get vacation over Thanksgiving, we initially thought it would be perfect to go back home. But the 1200 miles were just an obstacle we couldn't overcome, at least this year.

We thought about flying. We could drive to Chicago and fly non-stop from there. But there are four of us, and financially that put that option out of reach. We thought about driving. But that would mean driving I-80 across Wyoming in November. First of all, the trip itself would take at least 1 1/2 days, one way. Which would mean 3-4 days out of 10 on the road. Yuck. Second of all, have you ever driven on I-80 across Wyoming in November? A storm would probably come up and then we would get stuck in Rawlins, Laramie, or Rock Springs for 3 days. Seriously. This happened to someone I know.

So we've made the decision to stay put here in Iowa for Thanksgiving. Although some good friends from medical school have invited us to spend Thanksgiving dinner with them, so we won't be spending it alone.

Keith and I also decided this "vacation" would be a great time to get some more work on the house done. We're already halfway through a project. Which I will post. Later.

We are going to finish Christmas shopping, put up Christmas decorations, sleep in, read books, and watch movies.

But most importantly, I'm going to use these days to spend as much time with my family as possible. Games, stories, outings, arts and crafts, blanket houses.

And in between and during all that, just being together.

Swing

Back before we had a house, back when the four of us were living in a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom 650 square foot apartment with the tiniest of patios, we would sit and talk about what we wanted our house to be like.

Not so much look like, because we were ready to settle for almost anything. We more imagined how it would feel like.

Now that we have our house, we are slowly turning it into that place we imagined so hard.

And I'm pretty sure our dream home included this...


To me, nothing says childhood like a tree swing.

Unless it is a tree swing holding two darling boys.



Keith and I made this one for Blaise's birthday. The biggest surprise is that the branch we attached it to holds not only Blaise and Roman, but Keith and me.

Adding that one thing as made the boys spend hours more time outside. Even if they are not swinging. Blaise carries a bucket around by his swing, picking up small sticks and nuts discarded by the squirrels that live in the tree. Roman sits on the porch and bird-watches.


This swing makes it feel like a family lives here.