Inspiration Begins First

Renovations for me always begin~

with an inspirational piece or style.

As you know, I've been mentioning 

my reno's here at

Rose Garden Cottage

taking place in two bathrooms.

Yes, two!

I know, a bit much to take on all at once.

But I figured while the dust is flying let's get it done and complete.

Now these rooms have been a bit of a work in progress over the years.

Starting with changes here and there with tiled floors,

cabinet painting and more.

This time, it's the final wrap to completion.

************

When I begin a project like this,

I always see it finished before I begin.

It's just the way my design style works.

At this point, I have  a mind set to work from as I go along.

I do at times sketch out a rough drawing, but most of the time,

I work by sight.

However, I always keep a design file on every renovation and project.

I love having it to refer to long after the project is complete.

Here was the starting point to my inspiration

for bathroom one on the second floor.

This is a guest bathroom, but now that it's almost done, I wish it was the master!!!

The inspiration began with this gorgeous summer sand glass tile in shades of earth tones and neutrals.

This was placed in the shower's shampoo box shelf and accent around the center.

I also used this for the sinks back-splash.

This floor was also my inspiration and already in the bathroom.

It is called ~ Cremfil Marble tile

 in shades of sand, ivory, white, light brown and very slight light pink.

This flooring looks amazing with the glass tile and new counter top. 

For the counter I choose a gorgeous Emperador Light Marble.

It is beautiful with the floor, glass tiles and wall color called, Winter Wheat.

This is a darker wall color for me and my light tones, but it lends itself to a great anchor for the room.

Beautiful blend of neutrals.

Let me share a little tip on countertops.

If you are only replacing the top and don't need a whole slab of granite, marble, etc,

source a slab yard that also specializes in fabricated tops for smaller projects.

These usually come in sizes of approx. 26/30 inches wide by 84 inches long. 

You will save thousands of dollars on purchasing a whole slab to do your project. 

Slab yards only sell full slabs, so if you don't need all that product, it's wasted money.

In my case, I only needed marble for the one counter on the second floor.

So picking out the smaller slab was a huge savings. 

All else with this smaller slab goes the same from the measuring, cutting etc.

You just don't have lots of slab left over saving money.

My contractor helped me source a company in North Texas and they were terrific.

Here you can see all the elements blended.

See the marble crack glazed over into the marble?

God made that!!

 This is why I love natural materials to work with in home design.

Now here we go just before the Demo began!

Below are the before photos.

This is 25 years old and dated.

Some have said, why take this out???

One thing I can say, looking back at these photos,

It's really not bad when it's kept very clean.

You know you can have old, but when it's clean it can work for awhile!!

What you can't see in the photos are the years of use and little cracks and imperfections

that warrant a take out.

The cabinet stayed because I already redesigned this beautiful solid piece and it's pretty in a soft shade of ivory with an antiqued French design on the cabinet doors.

 Demo Day 

went off without a hitch.

We have a great contractor who's crew is exceptional.

This is our tile guy who does nothing but tile and is

a true artisan professional and perfectionist.

I don't worry with him on the job.

Here is the second floor bath taken down to the studs.

And here is a pipe that had to be redirected 

because of my design idea for the placement of the shower's shampoo box.

No problem they said, and the plumber had it done in about an hour.

Okay, let me say, nothing is a problem when you pay for it, right???

Well let me say, in the end the extra $$$ paid off because it's gorgeous.

After demo, new walls go in made especially for shower and tub installation.

This wall behind the tile will never mold, mildew or rot.

Do you see the height of the new walls?

Well, my design idea was to take this the rest of the way to the window edge.

It made for more of an enclosure look and finish.

I went with very light almond subway tile for this shower.

The floor is also subway tile in 3x3 size with a matte finish.

This keeps the floor from being slippery.

After the floor was complete and the shower pan finished,

the walls were tiled next.

Moving on now to the before pics on the first floor bathroom.

Here was my starting point of inspiration.

This bathroom is also a guest bath and next to Mr. Southern DayDreams' office.

This gorgeous mosaic stone and glass tile was used in the shampoo box shelf.

It coordinates with the cabinet and granite counter top.

I'll share those in the final reveal.

Before photo with the 25 year old cultured marble walls.

Took the height a bit farther up on these walls too.

Taking it down to the studs once again.

Hardee backer walls also went in here to prevent mold, mildew and rot.

I have to say, there was none of that going on behind the walls we took down.

Great job on the builders part plus the old cultured marble, although dated, wears like iron!!!

Here's our tile guy again, working to perfection with each tile piece.

He was amazing!!

Well that's it for now, The project is nearly complete with the exception of the frameless

shower glass on the second floor bathroom.

That has to be custom made and takes about 10 days.

In the meantime, I am having so much fun putting the rooms back together

with those special touches that make it home!

I kept the wall colors

 I also repainted all the woodwork and doors.

To say I've been busy is an understatement.

But I love this work and feel blessed to work hard!!

Here is a little cabinet I finished and made over for the second floor bath.

Painted with an ivory shade of chalk paint.

I already took off the door here in this pic.

I get so excited to start, I forget the camera!!

This is the drawer with a pretty little stencil design.

I used bits and parts of other stencils to make a design like this.

The little dots are not part of the stencil, but painted with a stylus.

I like to add these in places I think need to have a trailing effect.

Raised rose design was already on this piece.

In fact, this cabinet is an old Rachel Ashwell piece from about 15 years ago or more.

The cabinet door is a mix of stencils used to create this design.

Three in all.

Here I used a burnt umber shade for the words.

It brings out the light brown in the flooring.

Love this sweet cabinet and it will live in the water closet on the second floor bathroom.

Great for storage and essentials.

On the wall above, I added a vintage drawer shelf

and I'll get pics of this for next time.

More photos to come of the completion soon.

But before I go,

I'll leave you with a sweet giveaway win I received from

our dear Cindy from

Consider It All Joy.

Cindy had a giveaway to guess art work done by herself and coworkers.

I won the giveaway to my surprise  and here is the darling gifts she sent to me.

The sweetest pumpkin set in ivory with rusty style leaves.

An acrylic box filled with crafting goodness.

Buttons, charms, ribbon, and sweet note tags.

Love all these elements and having so much fun using them.

Thank you Cindy!!

Make sure you stop by and say hello to this sweet lady.

You will love her!!

Thank you for staying to the end of this long post.

See you soon with the finish.

Till then,

Wishing you a great week.

Kickin Up Dust! Progress Report!

Never let anyone tell you that remodeling does not make the dust fly. It is so my friends. As many times as I have done these projects, it never ceases to amaze me how the dust settles everywhere. I covered everything so well, and still, my house looks like someone emptied a flour sack here. Of course I am cleaning up as we go, but the real cleaning will come shortly when we are finished and the rest of the fun decorating begins.

As the redo continues, yesterday was the granite day, and after 9 hours of the best fabricators in the world doing an incredible job, the granite is in and I love it. What a difference it makes in my kitchen. Today is tile on the back splash and grouting tomorrow. Still more dust, but the look makes it all worth it for sure.

Here are a few more pics of the progress so far.

Removing old counter tops.

Leveling the island, sink, bar, and stove top areas.



How a granite seam is joined and made to look seamless! And, we only have one seam in the whole kitchen.


This is an interesting process using weights, on each side of the seam line, filled with a special glue and tightened with an air compressor for nearly 30 minutes.
The results are amazing.

Our tile selection is a light creamy ivory with light shades of taupe. The grout will be light too. Very neutral to coordinate with the Giallo Venenziano. They look great together. I choose this lighter tile because I like to change my mind with color now and then. Tuscan Kitchens generally are known for amazing and colorful tiled back splashes, but I thought for us I would bring in that touch of color with my accessories instead. The tile will be applied on the angle diamond shape. This gives a sense of space and interest.

I nearly created a tiled mural for the stove top area, but in the end, I went with a wagon full of pots of roses surrounded by a Tuscan style frame. Here again, when I want to change the look, we are not stuck with a tiled mural that is permanent. Framed artwork can easily be changed.

Here is a little peek of the tile(no grout yet) with the granite and those gorgeous old pots filled with water color roses in shades of reds, pinks and greens. I had this print professional framed under non glare (highly recommend) glass for over the stove.



Well that's all for today's progress report. We reached 78 degrees today. Sure is a welcome change since the bitter cold temps a week ago. Look where my Miss B enjoyed the day. Laying in the sun by the pool. What a life! She looks like a lion.

See you again soon. Have a wonderful day.
Celestina Marie

As The Remodel Proceeds~~~~

Here we are starting week 2. Yes, the remodel continues of the master bathroom. I find myself very anxious to get everything finished, but I know from many a remodel in my career and lifetime, that it does take time. Every little detail takes lots of measuring, planning and patience. Then, you wait for inspectors to approve before you can move to the next step. But through it all, the process is rewarding. I have mentioned many times here, when I do a redesign, I see it finished before I begin. That's just how I work out the plan for change. Then I draw from my design board and my vision to the end. It is my formula to reach the final look. And, final look I am ready for. LOL! We lost 2 days last week because of our snow storm but full steam ahead this week to completion. We are trying for the end of the week with the walls and all the tiled surfaces. Then the plumber will finish his details before the glass man comes with the shower doors.

Here are a few pics of the progress so far. The top and first picture is the design board I made for the redesign. Sometimes changes have to be made here and some details addressed, but I am fairly close to this one. I did however change the tile to travertine from rialto.
Today was a huge accomplishment as the shower walls were installed in the shower area and also around the jacuzzi tub. Our tile guy also got lots of tiles cut and measured. He is a perfectionist and everything has to line up perfect before he proceeds. I am so glad he works this way, as any mistakes in positioning will show. Tiles have to be perfect as they run up the tub skirt to look right. This is when you find out how straight your walls are. Then, more adjustments have to be made so those crooked walls don't show. LOL
It takes a talented tile guy to do it right. I am thankful for this, because I tell ya, I have never seen a perfectly square room.

Special drywall for showers is used to be water tight and mildew resistant. The floor of the shower is called the "shower pan" Here is a special type that will never leak, crack, or mildew. Over this base goes the tile. This step has to be thoroughly inspected by the city before you can continue with tile.


The tile is a travertine in neutrals shades. It is slightly lighter then the pics show. The grout will be a type that is permanetly sealed to never discolor or need to be sealed again. Got to love that. No scrubbing grout~~ yeah!!!



I know these are not very pretty pics at the moment, but I hope you are enjoying the progress along the way and the steps it is taking to completion. Remember it always looks bad before it looks good. My old saying about everything I paint!!
So till next time, I will leave you with some prettier pics of my Valentine roses.



As a side note, during our big event of a snow storm last week, we had 12.5 inches of snow in Dallas and the surrounding areas. Never that much snow in 32 years. We may not see it again for that long too. Today it is gone, all melted away with the sunshine~~ although still cold temps linger. Spring, hurry up, we miss you!!
Here is Miss Beazy pooped after her run in the snow.

Till next time, have a wonderful week.
Blessings always, Celestina Marie