Housekeeping the Blogs

In the zeal of buying our house late in 2012 I started a blog called sweetstreetstl to chronicle all the renovations and DIY projects that we would be doing. But I decided to roll all those entries up into this main site, small wonder, where I've been blogging for ten years now. Trying to consolidate and simplify. If you want to know what is going on with the house, check out the labels house, mid-century, pink bathroom, decorate, remodel...you get the idea. We're still working on things.  

Snake Plants for Mid-Century Indoor Planters

Our home was built in 1960 and like many of the mid-century homes in our subdivision, we have an indoor brick planter. I like how it provides a division between the front door entry and the living room, but I've been confused about what to actually do with it. I don't exactly have a green thumb. 

First, I tried succulents. They were gorgeous for a couple of weeks, but ultimately, an abysmal failure. The planter only gets filtered morning light because I keep the grass shades down while we are at work. So my guess is they did not enough of the right kind of light. 

Next up...a magazine holder! This worked beautifully for the magazine hoarder that I am. It held three magazines across, by at least 20+ deep. But after 18 months of constantly hanging up the coats that get thrown on the magazines (even though the coat closet is two steps away,just to the right of poster boy above) I thought I would try plants again. They always look so great in magazines and warm up a space.  

I am not a huge fan of snake plants, a.k.a. mother-in-law tongue but they may be the only plant I can keep alive or will thrive in the planter. They are supposed to be indestructible so this weekend I planted planted three in the mid-century planter. I hope they take. I really love the way the way they turned out and now it looks like poster boy is jumping out of the grass with a full moon glowing. I'm in the market for a replacement for poster boy, but I haven't found the exact right piece. I'd like to find some kind of tapestry. But more to come on that. 

Do you have a mid-century planter? What have you done with it? 

Mid Century Pink Bathroom Renovation

When we bought this 1960 ranch, I was smitten with the pink bathroom. It was retro, quirky, weird. I'm a big fan of Retro Renovation, and our goal has been to keep the vibe of this house mid-century without it feeling like a (granny) time capsule. But after about 18 months, the novelty of the pink bathroom had worn off. I wanted to "Save the Pink Bathroom" and decided on a makeover rather than a complete gut renovation. Removing and replacing the pink tile on the walls and in the shower would be cost prohibitive, plus I just wanted to keep the pink. It felt true to the house and it was in excellent condition. My budget was about $2,500.   

The Starting Scene

Besides being pink, the bathroom has the added challenge of only being about 30 square feet (not counting the tub) and the only natural light it gets is from the upper glass block window which actually has the master bathroom on the other side. (This also explains the difficulty in getting good photos of the bathroom.) More details:

1. The light bar was cheap builder grade and not mid-century.
2. The vanity was just crazy. Pink. Marble. Laminate. It was shorter than average. It always smelled slightly funky. And the sink was flesh colored, rusty, and disgusting. The faucet was leaky and the finish worn. Even if I could have sourced a new pink sink with the rim, I really wanted more counter space and I was really having a hard time keeping that silver rim clean. When we demolished the cabinet, the grossness under that rim almost made me hurl. 
3. The pink toilet had to be replaced with a white toilet the first month we moved in--the original pink one could not be repaired and we didn't have the time to source a pink toilet. 
4. The pink tub was flesh colored as well, and had hardly any finish left on it. Even after I cleaned it, it looked dull and scummy. Plus, it no longer matched the toilet and that was not going to fly with the OCD part of my brain. 
5. The mosaic floor had flesh color tiles in it, which clashed with the laminate and the pink tiles on the wall. Plus, it was the exact tile that was on the bathroom floor of the hospital that my mom was in last summer and being reminded of that on a daily basis was not exactly uplifting.
6. There was a 36" wide mirror with a crack in it.

Ta-da! This is the photo from the real estate listing for our house. 

This is the interim version of the bathroom. The walls were greige and I was able to find a shower curtain at Target that had pink, flesh, brown, and white in it that sort of tied everything together. But there were just too many patterns going on in such a small bathroom.

The first thing I did was have the tub professionally re-glazed. Immediate improvement. Bright and so much easier to clean. About $300. (Update one year later: The finish on this has not held up as well as I had hoped. No chipping, but doesn't look as clean as I'd like even though we are careful and have followed all the suggestions of the vendor. I suspect we may have to reglaze a few years down the road.)

After getting at least two dozen samples, I decided on matte white one inch hex tile with gray grout. Vintage looking, though not exactly period. But I wanted something small because the bathroom is so small and the scale works perfectly for the room. I considered carrera but didn't want the upkeep and also thought I should stick with as much plain white as possible. Because the original floor was so solid, we tiled over it. I used an underlayment product called Durock and it worked fantastic. The tile and underlayment was about $400 and it is a huge improvement.

 Even the built in medicine cabinet was pink laminate. I have primed and painted this white but have bigger plans for it. Stay tuned for a future project post.

Here's another shot of the vanity. When we moved in it had the original handles, but one was being held together with duct tape. I just replaced them all with these cheap handles so they would at least match. The holes for the handles were not a standard size, so my options were limited and since it was laminate, I couldn't drill new holes, because there would be no way to fill the old ones. 

Fleshy and rusty sink and little counter space. 

Here is the new vanity counter. Because I wanted the sink to be offset so that it would center between the original ceramic toothbrush and soap holders, I couldn't really go with anything "off the shelf" from the home centers. And the vanity could only be 36" wide. Quotes on custom built vanities came in at $700-900 and a quartz or carrera marble top was another $700-900. There was no way I was paying $1400-1800 for a vanity in such a tiny bathroom. It just didn't make sense to me. I eventually found the perfect vanity online for only $950 including the carrera marble top and the undermount sink. I was terrified to order it without seeing it in person but the risk paid off. The quality is fantastic, the marble is gorgeous, and I love everything about it, even the single hole faucet. I was really skeptical about that but I really like it. It is easy to clean around and easy for Audrey to use. I had to get that online too ($250) because the selection of single hole faucets was kind of pathetic locally.

So, here is the reveal. The vanity, flooring, and tub make the biggest impact, but I also replaced the giant flat cracked mirror with a very large mirrored medicine chest ($200) and of course, replaced the broadway lights with a light bar that looks more period to the house ($200). Those were a little challenging too, because of the offset sink. But again, it all turned out great.

 I made some artwork to brighten it all up and added a crisp white cotton shower curtain with gray trim. So even after adding in paint (a white shade called "You're The Boss") and a few supplies like a grout paint pen (best invention ever!) and a silver paint pen (to brighten up the shower rod flange), I came in slightly under my $2,500 budget.

 

Tiny paintings. Most fun. 

Ta-da! A beauty! So bright and clean and she looks like she belongs in our house. By keeping the pink tile, installing a retro-style light bar, and having the vanity top match the window sills in our house, the bathroom keeps a vintage vibe that works with the rest of the house. The orange, black, and turquoise in the artwork injects some modern pops against the white, which helps to tone down/balance out all the pink. Storage galore! I'm elated with the finished project.

Now I would not have begun to come in at my $2,500 if I didn't have my dad doing the bulk of the labor. We completed most of this project in just three days. He and my mom are INCREDIBLE in about a thousand different ways and I can never thank them enough for all that they do for us.

Pink Bathroom: The Saga Continues

Bad News. We were hoping it wouldn't come to this, but the hot water faucet went out less than six months after the cold. So it all had to be ripped out. Complicating matters, whoever constructed this originally, used way too much concrete, which oozed through the mesh and fell downward completely encasing all the copper tubing, you see in the photo above. It was was completely inaccessible--buried in concrete. You should have seen the drill they had to use to get to this. But they were able to repair it. So now it works, but we haven't re-tiled yet, so we haven't really used it. The handle is the cheap set the plumber installed. I'm still shopping for a replacement.

Good News. I got 30 100% matching vintage pink tile at our local Re-Store for only $3. Yes, 30 tile for $3. To say I'm elated is an understatement. The hole gets repaired and re-tiled later this week. I can't wait. This bathroom is going to be my summer project. New vanity, lights, etc. Slowly, but surely, I'm going to come to terms with this bathroom.

Polka Dot Walls

The wall was Sherwin Williams thunder gray (no photo). Then I accidentally painted it Behr Pewter Mug (before photo).  I say accidentally because I thought this was a gray I had bought and forgotten about, but actually, it was a gallon of paint left over from the previous owners. It went on gray, but dried with a very slight purple hue. So today, on a whim, I painted dots of light gray and a few gold highlights. I like it for short term winter fun. But I'm sure I'll paint it come January. Now it looks a little like Christmas wrapping paper. But it only took me an hour and I loved free-handing it so it was good practice. I think later I'm going to go all Robert Motherwell on that wall. I'm just elated that I have that wall to play with.

Gold Sharpie

I went all Yayoi Kusama on my phone case with a Gold Sharpie. The blinds in my bedroom are going to get the Gold Sharpie treatment soon.

Padded Headboard Tutorial

I've been on the hunt for a padded headboard. But the ones I find are too tall for the low profile bed we have and the idea of cutting the legs off the bottom just didn't feel right. I looked at many tutorials on making a headboard, and finally came up with my own makeshift version. The best part, it cost me only about $85 and didn't take a huge amount of time. So if/when I find something better, it won't be the end of the world. See how I did it below.

Materials

• 3-5 seat cushions depending on width of bed
• 2 pine molding strips cut to the width of bed
• sticky velcro, cut to the width of the pine molding strips
• paint to match wall
• sewing supplies

Directions

1. Measure the width of your bed and determine the length you want the headboard. 
2. Find chair cushions that you like and that will work for the size of your bed.
• Ideally, don't select something to heavy or bulky that can't be supported by velcro. 
• Ultimately, the added width of four cushions went over about 2 inches on each side of our queen bed, which I didn't mind. 
3. Sew the cushions together. I did this by hand, holding the cushions together on top of one another and then sewing at the seam on the back of cushion. When I turned the cushions around, you could not see the stitching.
4. Cut pine (or any wood) molding to size. 
5. Paint the same color as your wall.
6. Drill 3-4 holes in each wood strip.
7. Position the cushions where you ultimately think you will want them. You will probably need help with this step. Make sure you consider how many other pillows you have on your bed and adjust accordingly. You will want to install the first molding strip about 2-3" below the top of your cushion and the next strip about 2-3" below the first one. Mark walls.
8. Drill holes in wall that match up to the holes in the wood strip.
9. Screw molding into wall.
10. Apply heavy duty sticky velcro to the strips on the wall and the back of the cushions, lining them up. 
11. Adhere cushion to the strips and press down hard.
• Depending on the fabric of your cushion, you may have more success with sew-on velcro for the cushion. I used sticky velcro and so far, have had no problems.

I'm pretty pleased with it. Now all we have left to do in the bedroom is find nightstands, paint the dresser, install the blinds. I also want to look for new lighting, both overhead and lamps. And finally--artwork. I have some things bought, but the pieces over the bed, I want to make, so stay tuned.

Bedroom Winners

So yesterday I said I would reveal the bedroom picks from husband and no surprise, major bookshelves won. Of course that bedroom is probably three times the size of ours. But after looking at all his picks and weighting certain questions, I think we need some built-in bookshelves, an upholstered/comfortable headboard, muted colors, and some pattern/texture brought in. I do like the oriental rugs and I've been tossing around the idea of mounted reading lights...I feel like I have some direction now. Sadly, the Anthro wood wallpaper only got one vote...as a place he'd like to nap in on a spring day. Not enough for the long haul.

Bedroom Questions

The master bedroom really has me stumped. Under the gun, I painted it white in a state of indecision. But it is so cold and mismatched right now. In the middle of this brutal March, it is quite depressing. I bought some gorgeous vintage inspired fabric at JoAnn's on super sale ($8/yard + 25% off!) but I'm not sure I want to go with the cool grays or that I even want curtains in there. The best part of the that whole room is looking out the windows in the morning at the trees. I don't want to cover that up.

So yesterday, I selected ten bedrooms that I like for various reasons, all from Pinterest or Houzz. I sent the photos to the hubs and asked him, because I want it to be cozy for both of us. I asked:

• What are your gut response favorites? 
• What colors speak to you? 
• What style appeals to you? 
• What decor speaks to you? 
• Which one would you want to be snowed in for a couple of days? 
• Which one would you want to nap with the windows open on a warm spring day? 
•  Which one can you see the two of us in? The three of us on a Sunday morning? 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

I was a little surprised by the selections that got no votes at all. He definitely gave me something to work with. Tomorrow I'll reveal. Which ones are your favorites?

Dresser Inspiration

We have been able to resurrect a highly functional dresser that we had been storing in the basement. Trouble is, I painted it a long time ago a totally girly shabby chic white and distressed silver with glass knobs. So it needs a major re-haul to work in our more modern space. I am loving a lot about these, especially the first one. I'm not crazy about the chevrons on the bottom dresser, but I like how the green paint is transparent and loose. Painted furniture can sometimes look too overdone and trying too hard. I like these modern and casual treatments.

 

via

via

 

via

Green Mid-Century Chairs

I've had the lamp forever. The pillows for a year. The chairs for about two weeks, from MoModerne on Cherokee. Things are shaping up. I have new blinds to hang, but the walls are plaster and so tough, we need a hammer drill. The chocolate accent wall, I'm only semi-sweet on at the moment. I'm thinking I should have gone with orange or green. Easy fix.

Entry Light

After much searching, I opted for something simple, reasonably priced, and fitting of the period. Some cursing was involved. I'm handy but impatient. Not a good combination. I love how the light mirrors the shape of the window, but alas, we are getting a new front door. This one is so beat up. The original moldings have been removed leaving lots of holes and it has about four different kinds of hardware finishes. I will save the window for another application somewhere in this house - for sure. I love the little porthole.

Progress Report

Audrey's pink ceiling turned out really fantastic. We all love it. I will post a final picture and all the details once we get the chandelier hung and the trim painted. The photo below is before I painted the walls and finished the closet. Below that is Lindsey, bearded up and ready to go.

Last weekend my dad spray gun painted the basement ceiling and walls and the garage. This week the kitchen, living room, hallway, and main bathroom are being painted. Lindsey and I hope to finish both offices, our bedroom, and our bathroom this weekend. Whew! We've had to put this thing in overdrive because our closing date got moved up by two weeks. So, there goes most of February. We are stressed, happy, punchy.

Paint Tools

{Source}

After six plus years of beige/khaki walls throughout the downstairs, I'm looking forward to a new neutral. Probably gray, if I can find one that will also work with the kitchen. I just don't think I can go with straight white. It seems too cold and unfinished even though I have a ton of white rooms pinned. I hate the TV over the fireplace (above) and we will undoubtedly have more colorful and personal objects, but this room seems like a livable gray. But it may be too blue. This is going to be difficult.

Here are some of the paint tools I've been using.  

Favorite Paint Colors
Blog where readers submit photos of their rooms and the paint colors used. Allows you to see real-world examples. 

Valspar Virtual Painter
The Virtual Painter allows you to apply color palettes to photos that you upload. 

Sherwin Williams ChipIt!
Color tool that lets you instantly turn any picture online into a color palette pulled from more than 1500 Sherwin-Williams paint colors.

Mid Century Lights

 

 

Paint Obsessed

The house deal is moving along and I'm slightly obsessed with the entire ordeal. You know. Mountains of paint chip strips. No sleep. Inspiration board overload. So, I'm starting a separate blog entirely devoted to the house and all things related to the domestic nesting implosion about to go down. So. Excited. Can. Hardly. Deal. Steady. Girl.