Sea Cabin, a-'Head' of the Rest

I will not tell you that this bathroom was an easy remodel. The design came to me naturally. Picturing a Captain's Quarters, or Sea Cabin below deck with rough boards, sand and sea stones. The idea had to equal an outcome, which is usually my artistic challenge.This image explains how I was feeling.....

I will show you some before pictures so you can see the transform....

The tub looks pretty good, so we are keeping it, but the plastic tiles gotta go!

Very small area for a sink, and I want to keep the cute side closet!

The floor has black paper and glue stuck on it, yuck! Hope the mortar will stick to it ???

Hudson & Mom helping out

Hardy panel getting installed

Starting to lay tile floor....

I tried my hand at cutting the tile with a grinder... not sure I liked it. It was hard to hold onto and it did great with chewing away the tile, but not good for straight cuts. A little water helped smooth the process. Curved cuts, it was great. Be very careful, you have to really hold onto it when it is spinning.

Uh-oooooo, this is where something went terribly wrong.....What brings up glued floor paper? Mortar does!!!!

Let's try again after the great Scrape and clean up!

This is going to be our sink, an antique sewing machine cabinet. Wait for it, wait for it......

The sink hole is cut, tiling the top to match the shower stall.

 I will spare you all the details of the trial and errors that I faced. Unlike the rest of the house, there was no immediate need to have the bath finished, so it took some time to complete, worked on it when I had time and or supplies. I still have some tweaking to do. The faucet is too short and I need to touch up some paint, but for the most part, it is DREAMY....

 I used reclaimed wood from this house to color match the glass tiles. I placed them in random order and wanted a distressed look. The tiles start just above the wood for a visual effect. It might be too much for some, but I like it.

 Here is the sink in place.It had to be tiny and I wanted to keep the closet. I used an antique light that looked very nautical. I still need some more light in the room, so I may as something else. I kind of like the softness in there.

 Subway tiles are not easy to install......but they looked great paired with the glass tiles.

 Here is my little port hole with a fish trying to swim in!

 I adore this reclaimed lumber look, and it isn't hard to do. Just don't try to figure it out too much, it is like a creative puzzle.

 The shower curtain is very cute, but it hides the pretty tile.

 That's better....

 For the threshold I used some hand made tiles by my good friend Fran Newquist, a fabulous Potter. I want more of these Fran!!! They are so fun to work with. Thank you!

 Toilet paper trouble...no where to put a toilet holder, but wait, when you shut the door, it is right there and easy to grab. Perfect!

Closer view of the sink.

I always love the learning process involved in these DIY projects. I am not a pro, but I take pride in what I can accomplish. Thanks to Mom for motivating me when things weren't going as planned. Whewww, now onto other projects.

Day 4-Going Green

As I peel away the layers of this old house, I try to keep in mind what can be re-purposed or face lifted. Anything that I can keep and use, I will try to keep in the remodeling plans. I think it is important to our environment and it also instills the integrity of the old house charm.

                                                                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On this day, I found Bead Board underneath the acoustic ceiling in the kitchen. I was very happy to discover that underlying re-usable surface. I love the old weathered looking boards, they have something very charming about them. I get tired of drywall, there are other options and more interesting surfaces. 

Can't do much with the acoustic tile, it feels very crumbly, like it will bio-degrade quickly. We hope! There are programs by Armstrong and Winroc to recycle old ceiling tiles into new ones, but I didn't find this out until after I threw them in the dump. I think they are made of paper, so that makes me feel a little better.
Now to pull out about 500 staples and we can start to Paint it!

One of the colors I chose for a few rooms is Marina Bay, by Benjamin Moore. It is in between Aqua and Green and has a very pleasant calming hue.It doesn't really match anything I have, but I want to start with the paint as my primary color in the room. It's kind of like buying a pair of earrings that you like, then looking for an outfit to match it. Must be an Artist thing....

 

Look at that, I recycled a piece of the ceiling tile to use as a paint tray, maybe I can paint a picture on it too!