Tile Is Laid

I haven't done a bathroom update in a while, and I'm happy to report things are moving along quite nicely.  As of yesterday, all the tile was laid.  The shower is finished, and the floor tile as well as the baseboard tile is down!

 Shower tile complete 

 

Floor tile with tile baseboard.  We opted to do tile for the baseboard rather 

than quarter round or wood baseboard.

Before the tile project is complete, we have to put down grout in the shower and the floor as well as caulk.  We also have to clean and seal the marble time.  After that, we need to install the shower door as well as the glass shelf in the shower.  Once the shower door is in, we can put in the new light, toilet, vanity, and over the toilet cabinet.  We also need to get the fixtures put up in the shower.  We are getting close, and hope to be done in about a week.  Soon, we will be back to two and a half bathrooms!

 

Battle Of The Bulge Update

It's been a while since I posted anything on this topic, but it's something I struggle with daily.  I try to keep to my workout routine of cardio three days per week.  I haven't stuck to weight lifting.  I keep telling myself I need to get back into it, but I can't seem to get myself motivated.  I always read little quotes on Pinterest and Facebook about making workouts a part of your daily life.  Working out honestly hasn't become part of my daily life.  I never know if I want to workout over my lunch hour, after work, or in the evening.  I don't like to go right after work because the gym is always packed.  So, I go during the lunch hour when it isn't busy, but then I'm focused on getting my workout done and getting back to work. I don't like to go in the evening because I generally work later, which means I eat dinner later.  I shouldn't have to explain to anyone that working out right after a meal is a bad idea.   

Diet is another area I struggle with.  I love ice cream, bread, pasta, potatoes, wine..... Yeah, all things that don't fall within the "do's" of dieting.  I also always have a hard time with a diet because I know while I might be able to stick to it for a while, I know long term it isn't realistic.  I tried cutting out gluten, but the bread and pasta were a sticking point for me.  It was recommended I try cutting out dairy; I really didn't even consider that.  I love dairy; milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, etc.  Through some food testing, I discovered that wheat first thing in the morning isn't the best for me.  So, I found a waffle that is gluten and wheat free.  Sometimes I have a waffle with peanut butter.  Sometimes, I make an omelet with one egg and egg whites and a little cheese.  I also discovered that I don't do well with Greek yogurt.  I don't know what it is, but within thirty minutes of eating Greek yogurt my stomach was in knots. I tried different brands, but none of them worked for me.  Once I ruled out Greek yogurt, I went back to regular yogurt.  I seem to tolerate regular yogurt fine with the help of a daily probiotic.   

Lunch and dinner tend to be my total toss up meals.  I try to have a few healthy dinners each week and throw in one of our old favorites to keep it from feeling like we are "dieting".  Going into summer, we like to grill.  We try to grill fish from time to time.  But, I have to be honest, I love a good grilled steak or bratwurst.  Lunch generally consists of whatever is left over from dinner the night before, or mac and cheese.  Yes, I'm ten and still love a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese.  This is what I'm talking about.  I still have comfort foods that I go to.  To tell me I have to cut those out, doesn't go well.  I view it like Cookie Monster, "these are a sometimes treat".     

I tend to do better with my snacks, especially going into summer.  I love fresh fruit, but not so much into veggies.  But, I will eat them.  I do like to snack on carrots and celery if they are around.  Fruits are another story.  Watermelon, cantaloupe, apples, bananas, strawberries, recently I tried raspberries for the first time and loved them.  I love a bowl of cottage cheese and peaches.  I'm not going to deny my total love of all things baked and delicious.  Cookies, cake, pastries, etc.  I love them all!  I fight this love of sweets by trying not to keep them in the house.  However, if my sweet tooth is strong enough, I have no problems baking a batch of cookies.

I think back to a few years ago when I was the weight I would like to be again, and I wonder what happened.  I stopped working out for starters.  When I was at my ideal weight, I was working out in classes a couple of times per week.  I was doing a sculpting class for 45 minutes and a zumba class for 45 minutes.  I would fill in with a cardio workout once or twice for twenty to thirty minutes.  As of late, I have just been doing thirty minutes of cardio three times per week.  I figure it is better than nothing.  In case you haven't noticed by this posting, I have seriously lost almost all motivation for working out.  Anyone else ever hit this slump?       

Paint And Tile In The Bathroom

We are on a roll with the bathroom.  Last week, we finished out the ceiling.  While the texture didn't go quite like I thought it would, what we ended up with is much better than the old popcorn ceiling. 

 A look at the ceiling and the primer on the walls

Once the ceiling was done, I got it painted and it was on to the walls.  I got the primer as well as two coats of paint up on the walls this weekend.  We went with a cool gray color.  The gray pulls a little blue, but overall I'm pleased with the color.  

 We are still working on patching up where the old light was. 

Once it is patched, we can paint the area and hang the new light. 

Once the paint was on the walls, it was time to put the tile up.  Open a box of marble tile, and you will realize how different each tile can be with the coloring. We laid out each wall so we could play with the tiles a bit and get the colors to flow just right. 

 One wall of tile laid out on the floor. 

 First two levels of tile up!

We ended up deciding to purchase a tile saw.  We figured out the number of times we would have to rent it and how we would have to plan out the project, and opted to purchase a tile saw.  We purchased one from Lowes for $90.00.  The saw had good reviews online, and worked well for us so far. 

 

While this post with the bathroom update isn't a long one, I feel like we are really starting to move along on the project.  Andrew will be able to put another couple of levels of tile up this weekend.  We will also be able to finish patching around the old light, paint, and hang the new light up.  By the end of the first week of June, we hope to have the bathroom complete. 

While I was waiting on ceiling texture and paint to dry, I also worked on my office makeover. I'm still working on a few items, and then I will do my office makeover reveal.  Here is a sneak peak.

Adventures In Ceiling Texture

So, it's been a few weeks since I have updated everyone on the bathroom reno.  It seems to be an every day part of our lives, so I try not to think about it when I don't have to.

A few weeks ago, while putting up the cement board, Andrew had to take off part of the lovely popcorn ceiling texture.  This started the thought process of " you already took down part of it, we might as well take off the rest".  If you haven't experienced the joy of removing popcorn texture, I invite you to come on over, and try your hand at it.  I learned why people say it is a total mess.  First there is the spraying with water.  Then, you have water running down everywhere.  I started scraping and just when I thought I had a good run going, I would hit a patch that didn't want to come off.  By the end, I was glad I was only doing this to a small bathroom.  I also ended up with a total mess on the floor.  I was glad Andrew insisted I wore the respirator while doing this project.

While the project didn't take that long, holding my arms above my head to scrape down all that ceiling texture seriously hurt.

All Done! 

Last night was the fun part, re-texturing.  We wanted to do knockdown ceiling texture.  We bought a hopper kit from Lowes as well as the texture mix.  Turns out, Andrew had to do this part because I wasn't tall enough.  I'm not even short, but I wasn't going to complain about getting out of this job.  Major lesson learned on this endeavor; less is more.  We didn't realize that the ceiling didn't need to have 100% coverage, and that is all I'm going to say about that.  

Andrew had the brilliant idea of using a sea sponge we had to "fix" our oops on the ceiling.  It worked amazingly well; major kudos to him for saving the day on this project.  While it wasn't the original knockdown texture we were going for, it looks good.  

 Plastic sheeting on the walls is a must have for this project.  We also covered the 

skylight opening as well as the fan opening.  This texture gets everywhere 

when it is sprayed.  We used a plastic drop cloth that come in sets of 5 

from Lowes for less than $5. 

 

 This is the texture after is was fixed.  I know, you really can't tell the difference.  

Let me tell you, it looks a million times better. 

We are in major push mode to get the bathroom primed and painted before the weekend, so we can put the first tile up this weekend.  So, tonight, I also primed the walls.  We need to take the light down on the wall since we are putting a new one up, so I primed around it.  I used a drywall primer rfrom Valspar because we did put up some new drywall and it needed to be primed.  I used it all over the room because we are going from a darker color to a lighter gray color.  I have learned throughout my various painting projects that primer is my friend.  I regret not using it in the kitchen because I think the color would have turned out more true to the pain sample I was going off of.  

Next, I will paint the ceiling.  It's white, so if it splatters down onto the primed walls, I'm not going to be too concerned about it.  We have a couple of spots to fix before I can paint the ceiling.  if we can get those take care of tomorrow afternoon, I can potentially paint the ceiling tomorrow night.  Thursday and Friday I can paint the walls and Saturday tile can go up!  It's progress people!