Saturday, February 5, 2011

One thing….leads to another, and oh my.

 

 

Textured tulips

 

First the good stuff.

I am half way to a shiny new kitchen, and bathroom.  Well shiny new for us, after all this place is over 35 years old, and there is only so much polish that you can add to a sow’s ear to make it into a silk purse.

We have taken to calling the kitchen the “football field” referring to the absolute brightness of the gorgeous new track lighting, that feels remarkably like a night game football field.  I am not complaining about this, it’s nice to be able to see what you are cooking for once. It’s also pretty wonderful to see the other new kitchen counter tops, tiling, and the shiny new bathroom cupboard.

Just think, we are the very first people to put our stuff in there.  Wow.

2011 01 20_0175-1

There is a distinct smell of fresh ground coffee in each room, why you might ask, does she want her condo to smell like a Starbucks?

Well, lets just say that it absorbs the smell of burning wood, and smoke from the router. As soon as I clear the sawdust that has settled onto every surface, and can find the containers of coffee grounds I will remove them.

Now the not so good stuff. 

Yesterday...well let’s just say that there have been better days.

One thing leads to another.

Somehow the drain pipe for the sink is cracked, and when we use the sink, there is water everywhere, I found this out just after I finished painting inside that cupboard.

We need a plumber, they are expensive.  Not good.  And the plug in on the wall where the tiling is doesn’t work now, so we need a electrician.  And tonight the dishwasher decided to pout, and now the floor is all wet because it leaks also.

So the plumber will be very busy, and very expensive, I know that I picked the wrong career.

One thing leads to another, and the next thing you know is that you blow your reno budget.  No more beautiful glass mosaic tiles in shades of chocolate, biscuit, and cream, for a backsplash in the bathroom. No it’s going to be pretty basic.

But the plumber will be happy on the beach in Hawaii, along with the electrician.

2011 01 20_0170-1Now let’s talk about the huge mistake I made in choosing this particular tile before asking about how to apply the grout so it won’t fill up all the pretty little holes in the tumbled marble?

Have you ever heard of someone having to use a giant icing bag to fill in every little line between the “oh these are so beautiful, let’s use them, and not a boring smooth ceramic tile?” They call it a grout bag, I call it having to ice my tumbled marble tiles.

Why don’t they come with a warning?  “Caution, grouting in a regular way will fill all the pretty little holes and lead to extremely boring blank squares.”

Well, guess what I will be doing for the next week?

One thing leads to another.

Icing tumbled marble mosaic tiles, all 5 billion of them. And making sure not to fill in all the pretty little holes.  Because I choose the ones that are extremely assorted sizes no continuous straight lines.

One thing leads to another...

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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20 comments:

  1. Oh, how I hate renovating! But the results will be good - I promise...

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  2. Sorry to hear of your kitchen blues. I dread the thought of renovating for fear of all the extras we would may have to pay for just to get a pleasing result. I am a whimp. The tulips however, we wonderful and love the textures you used.

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  3. Good Morning, Jen,
    Will you be sharing pictures of your new lighting, counter tops and tiles? We would all love to see your new look.

    Happy Weekend ~Natalie

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  4. this is why we are not do it yourselfers...good luck and sending you good wishes for a successful completion. And yes we did pick the wrong careers...

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  5. Jen... I have a saying I use quite often to sum up your situation. "I only intended to drain the swamp and now I'm up to my a$$ in aligators." I hope things improve in your neck of the woods!

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  6. It all sounds beautiful. I can't wait to see it. We are starting one of our bathroom renovations today. It all goes!!! Wish us luck!

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  7. Oh MY! The story of life it seems....and nothing worse then having it happen while working on your house:( (I honestly know and understand!!)

    Look on the bright side...."Icing your Tumbled Marble Tiles:.....has a lovely ring to it don't you think?
    :))

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  8. Sorry to hear about the down side, but all will change soon and you will have a lovely new kitchen.

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  9. I was shaking my head and laughing as I read your post. I have survived a couple of major renovations myself, and I can certainly sympathize! When it is over, it will be gorgeous and worth it all. And you will have some good stories to tell!

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  10. We keep waiting to start my master bath...this may be a good thing! We don't know how far to go with it...and know the project will end up bigger than we thought! I hope you have a good weekend...and get things the way you want them! Love your flowers! ♥

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  11. I feel your pain Jen! We've doing reno's, one room after another, plus outdoor work, for the last four years!! But man is it worth it when it's finished! :) Your photos are simply stunning. :)

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  12. Coffee grounds placed strategically around the home -- I will use that idea! Soon your kitchen will be finished. I know it's frustrating while it's happening, but you'll have a nice new space to look forward to. Good luck!

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  13. Far Guy is a bit of a plummer..and he can do simple electrical stuff...if only we lived closer. I have a slate backsplash in my kitchen..it is full of holes and lines and rock grain..it took me forever to grout.
    Just returned from my daughters up north she did a mixture of glass running vertical mixed with granite ( all beige/brown hues)..she said it was a pain too..but it sure is pretty!
    I bet yours will be too..you will be pleased when it is finished:)

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  14. and this is why I keep putting off our kitchen renovation. I know there will be more problems than we could ever anticipate and I would really miss eating while we fixed them.

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  15. I hope the tiling project goes well. It will be unique and that's what counts. Hope that all the problems are fixed soon. Keep Smiling!

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  16. Aw yes... I remember using such a bag on the grout lines in our kitchen. I didn't know it was an accepted practice and fashioned mine from a ziploc bag with the corner cut off. And our tiles were the nice white shiny ones too. But because I wanted super-skinny grout lines, I chose to pipe the grout in to get it down into the crevices. Yeah. I remember that job well. I send my condolences.

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  17. All will be good when it's over.
    Seems like there is always work to be done to keep your home in good shape.

    The track lighting is what we need now...well there's other things also...but I'm not going to think about it now.

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  18. oh man! talk about a snowballing project! Im sure it will turn out lovely though! I never knew the coffee trick...

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  19. Oh Jen, you tell a great story, but so melancholy if it is true. Somehow it will all work out, my dear. One step at a time...

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  20. Oh dear! Sounds like you have a lot on your plate, but imagine how wonderful it will be when it's all finished... right? We are totally clueless when it comes to reno work -- my husband jokes that he was born with a deficiency of the Mr. Goodwrench gland... :)

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Your comments are the flowers that bloom in my virtual blogging garden.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

PS: No word verification here, sorry I cannot reply to blogs that use word verification.