My no-sew curtain panel

These panels are probably really easy to make with a sewing machine but alas, I have discovered that I cannot sew a straight line and a panel like the one I wanted for the bathroom would absolutely require straight lines, so instead turned to stitch wichery tape. I also needed to line this panel since the window faces the porch. It will be held on the window by 2 tension rods. One on the top and one on the bottom. Since we never open the current shutters on this window, I just wanted a pretty piece of fabric that wouldn't move.

Here's the window....

And here's the line-up of all the stuff required to make the panel. Starting with really cute fabric from Serena and Lily that is a taupe and grey pattern on ivory and some black-out lining I ordered from Amazon.

I cut the S&L fabric to fit the window and left 2 inches on either side. Pinned the sides and ironed this so I would have some stiff creases to guide me.

I then cut the lining to match this size. Unpinned the edges and placed the lining on the back of the pretty fabric. I started with the long sides first. Using the stitch wichery, twice for each side, I folded the edges once, ironed and then again, so the raw edge wouldn't be visible. The lining got nicely glued onto the fabric on the last fold over.

One side all done....and straight. Yippee!

Once the sides were done, started on the top and bottom which had to accommodate the tension rods.

The tension rods fit nicely within the pocket. Again, ordered these from Amazon (the ones at Home Depot are terrible).

Ta-da! Here's the back of the completed curtain panel....

And here's the front. Will install it on the tension rods once the bathroom is done. I think it turned out pretty well considering that it didn't require a stitch. If I had to do it over again I would have centered the pattern a bit better, but c'est la vie. I'll remember for next time.

This project took about 40 minutes and it's the perfect colors for the bathroom. Very happy!

Halfway there!

We're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yesterday was the longest day yet. We really needed to get the bathtub up and running so had to get the tiling done in the shower stall. It was a lot of cuts and took longer than we thought but at the end of the day, I think it turned out great. Just the way I wanted it to look. At midnight David got up to wipe the haze off of the tile while Winnie and I were out like a light. We woke up to this nice surprise! He also installed the frame of the shower doors that will go in later.

The mini tiles are little carrera marble subway tiles that you can buy on sheets at Home Depot. I think they look cute and break up the white and grey walls. 

The shower wall also got drywalled. I was worried that it might close in the already very small space but it doesn't. It's actually nice to have the separation from the toilet.

  

And speaking of toilets...yesterday was also a big day because the plumber came back and installed our new toilet! Probably isn't very exciting to most, but again...when you live in a one bathroom house, things like this are big excitement! Here's a closeup in all its' Kohler beauty.

We'll either finish the floors late tonight after fire works or tomorrow. Then will start again this weekend to install the sink and work on all of the walls. Should be all done by Sunday....seven days for the renovation was the goal.

Happy 4th of July!

(Update!) In case we forget why we love our house, especially while renovating...here's another reason...you can see the town fire work show from our yard.

Bathroom Reno Continues

We had a very good reno day today. The plumber was here! David finished all of the drywall last night except for the area around the shower and sink pipes. The plumbers came and gave us brand new lovely copper pipes and also converted our 3 handle shower to a single handle. We also had the new tub installed.

After the plumbers left, David finished up the drywall around the pipes and then put up the wonderboard around the tub to get ready for the tile installation. The tub is a 20" high soaker. Love it.

I'm very excited that after we ripped all of that old cement out, we were able to add about an inch and half around the entire perimeter of the bathroom. David filled it in with thin set so we could tile over it. When the house is this small, every inch counts.

The plumber is coming back tomorrow to install the toilet and the shower faucets so had to start the tiling tonight. We're using 10x13 ceramic tiles on the floor and in the shower stall in a brick pattern.

We decided to add a wall against the far end of the shower to add a glass enclosure. So, framed this out tonight too. Will probably green board this tomorrow. It's getting late and still have to tile around the shower faucet wall before tomorrow morning. All in all, very productive day.

Bathroom Renovation Part 1

So, I posted a blog yesterday about our bathroom reno and now it's gone. Have no idea why...so thought I would post the pictures from yesterday again and add a few from where we ended up last night. (Thank you for your comments on the post from yesterday! I'm sorry they have disappeared.)

This is what the bathroom looked like before...covered in plastic sheeting and the walls were beige painted wall paper. Grey ceramic tile on the floor and p-lam vanity.

We tore off the plastic covering to find the 1950s yellow tile under it. The plastic is adhered to the walls by black tar. So, we still have tar dripping from everywhere, including the ceiling which was covered in plastic too.

In order to get the tile off, we had to remove 3 inches worth of cement mortar, steel mesh and old crumby cement board. David had to cut it into pieces so I could take it out in a bucket. It was so heavy and I have to say, my back and neck are a bit sore this morning.

David had to pry all the cement off with this demo crowbar that weighs a ton.

After we pulled the tub up (which was huge and cast iron), the room was looking in pretty good shape.

Breaking up the floor tile was one of the final things we did last night. There was grey ceramic tile put right directly onto a 1950's mosaic yellow tile. The mosaic tile was put down one tile at a time, each tile being about an inch long. I mean, the time it must have taken to put down this tile is unbelievable.

This job is requiring 3 bagsters. Thank goodness we don't have the trees anymore, we would have never been able to fit 3 of them on the sidewalk.

David couldn't go to bed without getting some sheetrock up. So green board went up on one side of the room at about 8pm last night. It's starting to come together!

Dreaming of Spring

Front Garden: Now.....

Front Garden: Then.....

House Plans!

We're adding a second floor on our house this year, if everything works out. Here are photos of the plans. We have one final set coming with some last minute changes and then they go to official construction drawings.
This is the front elevation. We're doing vinyl siding (haven't decided on color...will probably be grey or white). Note the new pillars in front and railing. The garage is extending out a bit to close in the side door. I love the corbels on the left side. On the ground floor, we need to change 2 of the original windows. I'm still trying to decide what to do with the existing brick. In this version of the plan, the architect changed it to engineered stone. I think we'll probably just do siding. We decided to lose all the shutters and go with just fat white trim around the windows.

This is the back elevation. The arched window shines into the staircase (we were worried that it would be really dark. This will help.) The other arched window is over the new master bathroom's bathtub. The double doors go straight from the garage to the backyard for David's lawn tractor.  

The side elevation just shows the two windows in the new master bedroom.

Here's the floorplan of the 2nd floor. Master suite with huge walk-in closet and bathroom. Guest bedroom. Guest bathroom and laundry room. Room over on the far right is DH's new office. The gathering room will be our new living room so we can finally have a dining room on the first floor.

Kitchen Backsplash...finally

We've been working on our house for the last 5 years and in 2011 we finally finished the kitchen. Of course, we would have been done sooner if I hadn't had to redo the cabinet doors for a second time...oops! DH did the work all himself including the final puzzle piece..the kitchen backsplash which he just finished last weekend.

The tile we chose is Barely Beige subway tile from Standard Tile with alabaster grout purchased at home depot.

We bought an inexpensive wet saw from Home Depot for the job and what a great investment. So much easier than renting.

The final step in the process is to re-paint the kitchen to match. We are going with Benjamin Moore's "Deep in Thought" which almost matches the tile exactly. Will post the final kitchen pictures once completely painted.

Welcome!

This is my first official post, hurray! I've thought about creating a blog for awhile now and finally have started one. In advance, I apologize for any errors...I'm learning as I go! This blog will contain posts on my adventures in gardening as I work on my little plot of land in NJ. I'll also post house renovation projects pictures too. We have a 1950's ranch house that we are updating.

February is my least favorite time as a gardener in NJ because of the waiting. We'll usually get two more big storms before March, when I can finally get out and start pruning. This winter has been an odd one because of the low amount of snow and weird 50 degree days. Last year, we were drenched in snow and rain around this time. My poor "baby-boomer" daffodils can't figure out what time of year it is and started coming up in late December. We'll see how they do this year....

While we wait for spring, we had a few visitors in our backyard.....6 in total: