Bathroom Progress — The Wall Is Finally Trimmed Out!
I got a pretty late start on the bathroom yesterday because I had some non-house things to do (like getting a dead car battery replaced, and going to Home Depot to purchase a tool and supplies), so by the time I got started, it felt like it was about 10pm. It wasn’t! It was much earlier. But this time change at this time of the year takes me a while to get adjusted to, so when it’s dark outside at 5:30pm, my mind tells me it’s time to wind things down for the night. But once I convinced myself that it wasn’t bedtime at 5:30, and I still had plenty of time to get some work done, I got to it.
And I finally crossed that hurdle that I was dreading. The unfinished wall that I’ve been putting off for way too long now has finally been trimmed out.
And do you know why it’s done? Because I knew if I didn’t get anything done yesterday, and I gave in to my urge to just get comfy under my down comforter and watch a movie, using the early darkness as an excuse, then at least a few of you would be asking me why I don’t have any progress to show today.
Accountability really is an amazing motivator.
Anyway, it’s not 100% done because I needed to use my table saw for the final two pieces of trim at the top, but my table saw is set up in an area where I don’t have a light. And I don’t exactly want to use my table saw when it’s dark outside with no light. That sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. 😀
But at least the hard part is done, and just take a look at those mitered cuts. They’re not even caulked yet, and I think they look great! I’m pretty sure those are the best mitered cuts I’ve ever done, if I do say so myself.
Just as a reminder, the finished wall is going to look like this once it’s all caulked, primed, painted, and the tile in installed.
It’s getting there! And now that the trim is installed on that wall, I’m pretty excited to get that wall finished. One day at a time, one step at a time.
On a final note, I was scrolling through Instagram a couple of days ago, and I saw a reel by someone I follow (but I can’t remember who it was now!), and she was sharing how long it took to remodel/decorate each one of the rooms in their home. I had to giggle a bit when it said that their master bathroom has been in progress now for three years, and it’s still not finished. 😀 Phew! I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE!!! 😀 And mine is on track to be only about half that time! It did make me feel a little better about how long this has taken me, and make me realize that I’m certainly not alone. Some rooms get done relatively quickly. Others just seem to take forever. That’s the nature of living in and remodeling a fixer upper.
Grat progress! It was the goldhive.
Congratulations for pushing through the temptations! Remember, it was the Hare, and not the Rabbit, that won the race. Slow and steady does the trick! You will get there to that Finish Line and it will be a job well done. I look forward to seeing your weekend progress in Monday’s update! (no pressure)
Lol 😆 and all this time I thought it was the tortoise.
Yay for getting things done – and it looks beautiful!!!
I’ve been realizing lately how much time and money I put toward other things when I *really* want to get my house fully decorated. So that’s my new purpose. Putting it out into the world for accountability.
Wakey, Wakey ! Time to get out from under that warm comforter and GET TO WORK ! You go girl !
Looks amazing. Can’t wait to see the finished results.
Looks great! Good on you for staying with it!
It looks wonderful. I’m going to be a copy cat in my Master Bath and do the same thing, but use 6×12 marble tiles where you used the penny tile. I would love to use marble all over, but can’t afford it. Can you share how you did the trim around the outlets or is it somewhere in your blog from the past. Thanks.
That looks great – the finished side is so pretty – I’m sure you are doing more today, because in no time it will be done! Keep at it!
Your mitered cuts are so nice you could make picture frames! When you caulk, I assume latex caulk, does it dry up after a couple years and get crummy?
Lovely work, as usual!
well done darling one!
cannot wait to see next progress post. KEEP ‘EM COMING! love your work
i too thrive on accountability Cx
That is GORGEOUS! And bonus points for doing it at the end of a long day!
Kristi, I needed to hear everything in that last paragraph so bad! In January 2012 I bought a little 1928 craftsman bungalow at auction that hadn’t been lived in for at least 10 years. My background was in architecture and I enjoyed restoring old houses, and this one needed a lot of work but it had good bones – beautiful woodwork, original built ins, never been updated or remodeled. My heart! At the time, I was at the beginning of a long divorce in which I gave up my interest in our architectural firm and was getting started in the very different (very left-brained) field of surgery. My thought was that while I finished clinicals and started working in something so different and stressful, I could balance it with something I really enjoyed without a strict timeline & budget. In fact, the budget would require it to happen slowly but that would be okay, in the meantime it would put a roof over my head and also be my therapy. A little at a time. With a little luck, the divorce, empty nest, crying, career change, and house would all be finishing at about the same time! I had remodeled previous homes while living in them with a career and family – this should be much easier since the kids were finishing college and it would only be me to worry about! (Pfffffffftt, hahaha)
Well…..the divorce, career change and crying took about 4 years, but I’ve been living in a perpetual job site for 11 years now. Lots of life has happened, lots of projects have gotten done, even more have been started, and absolutely no one understands how/why it’s taking so long – or how I could still love my house. lol I didn’t factor in the frustration of having to find/hire good contractors willing to do relatively small jobs, having them here while I’m at work (you know how that goes), the exhaustion of extra hours, rotating shifts and call, but the most difficult has been hitting such a design block and decision paralysis after being hyperfocused for hours and days in a field so unrelated. Surgery requires fast decisions and reactions, strong memorization, the ability to ignore distractions…. and your emotions are buried far, far away while you’re working. I had never realized that for me, design and creativity requires a good emotional flow. Skills are secondary. It had just always come naturally and was so energizing – I didn’t question how or why. It’s hard to retrieve now. Most of the time the creative side of my brain feels like it’s the size and density of a walnut with a hard shell, and about the same amount of energy. Lots of potential. lol
Like you, I also haven’t been hosting unless it’s with my kids or parents. My parents, who are in their 70’s, moved out of state after they retired and have completely remodeled two houses and built another ALL BY THEMSELVES in the same amount of time. If I didn’t share their home improvement gene I’d swear I was switched at birth. So it gets a little lonely, but it also doesn’t feel good to have people over when I know it’s not the most comfortable place to be right now. When the finished rooms are clean they look great, but then I start a project and BAM they immediately become a catch-all, my kitchen gets messy, and the dishes and laundry stack up. It may stay that way for a week or a month or more. I’d rather just deal with it in private. Plus, there’s always the expectation that big things will be done the next time people visit, because big things used to get done quickly when it was my job. Heck yes – a crew, someone else’s money and my full attention? Tell me your ideas, needs, budget and timeline and it’s game on! It was so fun and challenging to meet those goals! Now I find myself trying to explain to my disappointed friends & family the difference between those projects and this project….and oh boy, people think I’m completely lost – queue the kind & well-meaning but usually oversimplified solutions: “Welll, what I would do is…” or “What you really need to do is…”. Sometimes I thank them for visiting, close the door, look around and wonder whether I’m moving forwards or backwards. I also feel like I live in my head a lot (in there, my house is finished lol).
All of this sounds depressing but it’s really not, and I know you get it 🙂 I’ll get this cozy little home finished, it will happen. In the meantime, it’s good to have company in the trenches! Thanks so much for sharing your talents, thoughts and process. You’ve given me a lot of encouragement and comfort over the years. I have always loved your candidness, outlook and work style, including those breaks when you need it because I can really relate. I totally get that need to pull in your energy, rest, process and recalibrate to where you are now before moving forward. And I love the way you always come back swinging, even if you’re still wobbly and a bit hesitant, or second guessing yourself, and that’s so encouraging! Once you figure out the details there’s no stopping you. Makes me feel so normal and like I’m not beating my head against a wall – I remember myself as I read your journey.
Thanks for letting me download a bit & thanks always for the inspiration! 🙂
I’m so glad you shared this! I can relate so much of it…with the exception of going from architecture to surgery! WOW! That’s quite a change, and a very ambitious one! That took so much courage, and I admire that. I can’t imagine spending days in surgery, and then having the energy to do home improvement in the off hours, so I’m impressed if you get ANYTHING AT ALL done on the house! You’ll finish it one day, on your own timeline, and I know you’ll love it just as much as I love the finished areas in our little house. Keep pushing forward!