HALF BATH REMODEL

I love decorating small spaces, and I especially love remodeling and decorating bathrooms. When we first moved into this house the little half bath was so sad. A tiny, boring beige bathroom. It’s so small its hard to get photos of it. It was completely lacking function yet it was one of the busiest bathrooms. Knowing I couldn’t really do a full remodel yet because our budget was being used elsewhere, I did the best I could by adding a cheap over the toilet cabinet, a new mirror, and slapping on some new paint. My stripes and Audrey Hepburn poster really helped give some personality while we were in this waiting period. Sometimes we wait because of our budget. Sometimes we wait because I have no idea what I want.

During this waiting period I looked at so many photos for inspiration. I saved photos to Houzz, googled every bathroom picture imaginable, and practically devoured the Pottery Barn Bed & Bath catalog. I noticed a pattern with everything that was catching my eye. I liked bright, crisp looking bathrooms, and I especially liked white subway tile.

With the bathroom being so small it’s hard to photograph everything in it. I had a light over the mirror, and I hated it. It was literally a $12 builder grade light. I wanted sconce lighting. Sconce lighting is so gorgeous and dreamy. I wish I could have it everywhere! Since we were planning on tiling the walls we were ok with messing up the sheet rock. It was actually pretty simple for the electrcian to convert.

Is this the world’s tiniest pedestal sink? Maybe not but it certainly felt like it.

There was barely any room to put anything! Since our tween daughter is often locked out of her shared bathroom from her big sister, she sometimes comes down here to get ready before school. Now where is she supposed to put her stuff?

Hello awkward black cabinet that’s too small and hung too high over the toliet. While we were at it we decided the pre-school sized potty that barely would flush properly would go as well. Wow just looking at these photos I remember how awkward this bathroom was!

I love subway tile with light grout and with dark grout. I had a hard time deciding, but ended up going with a dark grout. I chose a white hexagon tile and stayed with the same dark grout.

I’m all for saving money and DIY but tile work is something we didn’t want to do. I mean it just looks hard, the measuring, the cutting, the gluing. If you do your own tile work please know I think you’re awesome.

When I told the tile guys I wanted floor to ceiling subway tile they acted like I was a bit nuts to the point that it started to affect my confidence a bit. In the end I stood my ground, it’s what I wanted. Sometimes other people just do not see your vision, but in the end I could tell they thought it looked great. Here’s a photo of the walls once all the tile was up. I was so excited even though it just resembled a large shower at this point.

The tile work is all done. I seriously love the dark grout, I’m so glad I went with it. I was a bit worried the dark grout would be to busy in a small space, but now I think the bathroom would of been too plain without it. Now its time to put the bathroom back together.

I love shopping for mirrors. I think mirrors are my favorite part of bathroom remodels. I loved this gorgeous satin nickel mirror. Sometimes my redecorating and remodeling will start with one simple thing, like a mirror. The sconce lighting gives off the perfect amount of light.

It was challenging to find a sink that would give us a little bit of counter but also fit in the very shallow space, not sticking out past the door. I found this awesome Kohler pedestal sink and faucet. It’s taller and we’re a tall family.

I also found a cabinet guy off Etsy. Seriously, I love Etsy, it’s so easy to find what I’m looking for. He made me an unfinished cabinet to my specifications and shipped it to me. After all the work painting the kitchen cabinets this cabinet was a breeze. It mounted perfectly over our new chair height, adult sized potty. #TallFamily

After everything was done I decided on a nice dark gray ceiling. It was previously white, and the fact that gray grout was accidentally smeared all over the ceiling made me realize gray was a great choice. This was a spur of the moment decision so I just mixed some old black & white paint together until I was happy with the shade.

I’m so happy with the end result. Everything is so easy to clean, and I love having no baseboards to clean anymore. The sides of the sink give us great function, and the cabinet is a better proportion and holds all our clutter.

Audrey stayed with us, and I can tell she’s pleased with her new bathroom.

Laura

Europe

A DAY TRIP TO PARIS FROM LONDON

A day in Paris or a week in Paris. I love it all. Rain or shine. Anytime of year. Every season has certain perks. For us we visited for the day in the winter. I’ve been to Paris a few times so when I found out we were vacationing in London to be with family for Christmas naturally I wanted to take my girls to Paris for the day. I’ve never been on the Eurostar before so I was excited about that.

At 8 a.m. in London we arrived at the St. Pancras train station where we would take the Eurostar to Paris. Security was a breeze but also very tight. I had a tiny sample of perfume in my pocket with just a few drops left that I had forgot about and security found it. I’m always accidentally getting in trouble at security. We sat together in a group of four seats with a table between us and had a large picture window. A light complimentary breakfast was served to us. A croissant with butter and jam, with yogurt, tea, and coffee.

I love to look at the French countryside and daydream. The people. The villages and houses. I imagine what life is like for them. I think my daughter Ashley was doing this as well.

A little over 2 hours later we arrived at Gare du Nord, the train station in Paris. Then immediately grabbed a taxi and said “Bonjour, La Tour Eiffel S’il vous plait!”

You will never forget the first time you see the Eiffel Tower. To me it was the equivalent of seeing a major movie star. Every time it takes my breath away. “Wow, it’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be” Ashley said.

My opinion on the Eiffel Tower is this: if your short on time, skip going up. The lines are long, it’s extremely windy up there, and unless your in the middle of the summer it’s usually pretty cold up there. Plus, I like to see the Eiffel Tower and once your on it you can’t see it anymore.

A better option if your short on time or on a tight budget is just to walk around the beautiful grounds, take lots of photos. The Eiffel Tower is stunning day or night and from every angle! You can take in the full experience from the ground.

After about a billion photos we crossed the Seine River and walked up to the Place du Trocadéro. Again you will find stunning views of the Eiffel Tower and it’s the perfect spot to take a photo from afar.

We continued on and stopped for a quick bite of French onion soup where my daughter, Haley, tested out her French speaking skills and passed. When you’re in a heavy tourist area it’s common to be greeted in French then the servers begin speaking English to you. Like, “Bonjour, would you like a table for four”? I’ve noticed this on several trips. Not always, but often. This can be a relief to some or a downer if your wanting to practice your French. Our waiter knew we were American and was very kind & patient with Haley as she ordered our lunch for us. He even complimented her French skills.

If you love French onion soup in America, have it in Paris on a cold wintery day and it will be 10,000 times better.

After our quick lunch we carelessly wandered the beautiful streets in awe. Taking in the architecture before finding our next activity. We walked by a park, watching and listening to tiny little french kids run and play. “I only want kids if they speak French and sound like that.” Haley said.

We decided to skip taking the metro around town, every moment needed to be visual, even transportation. Paris has many open top tour busses but on my first visit our hotel concierge told us L’Open Tour was the best, so I’ve stuck with it. You receive a map of their stops and earbuds to plug in where you can learn a bit about what your seeing.

Even though it was cold we bundled up and headed to the top. L’Open Tour has several routes to fit your sight seeing needs. With lots of stops you can hop on or off when ever you feel the urge.

After a while we decided to walk along the Champs-Élysées. Here you will find a long stretch of shopping and restaurants. We stopped at the flagship store of Louis Vuitton. Every time in Paris I must go up and down all the levels of Louis Vuitton. I like to point out everything I want for my birthday and my husband, Brian, pretends he can’t hear me.

Getting a bit hungry, we headed to Ladurée. Anyone who knows me well knows I have a serious addiction to macarons. Ladurée is truly one of best.

We went upstairs in a gorgeous dining room where we had tea and macarons. They have a great selection of teas here. We choose the Marie Antionette tea of course. With a blend of black tea, honey, jasmine, rose and hints of citrus, it’s one of the best teas I’ve ever tried. I feel like a queen as I sip it.

After our tea and macarons we continued walking along the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe.

The monument was built for those who fought and died in the French Revolution. Its large powerful size surprises me every time I see it. You can go to the top, but again being short on time we skipped this. You can walk underneath and around it for free. If I had to choose I think I prefer going to the top of the Arc de Triomphe over the Eiffel Tower. It’s just my preference. We walked around taking in all the views and hopped back on our green tour bus for more sight seeing.

After a little more time on our open top bus the weather seemed to be getting colder. With our faces completely numb and frozen we decided to pop into a cafe and warm up. I don’t always drink beer but when I’m in France you can bet your hiney I’m having a 1664.

It’s a light refreshing beer and it tastes like butter and croissants to me. A total win. Even though a cold beer isn’t exactly warming us up Brian totally approves of our decision to stop.

By evening we had just enough time to walk around Notre Dame. On our way we stopped at the very stunning St. Michel fountain.

The skies were dark and Notre Dame Cathedral was beautifully lit up by its bright lights. It was starting to mist which was bad for my hair but perfect for the ambiance. With the sound of the church bells playing it was a magical moment. We just stared in silence, taking in the stunning architecture and all of Gods glory. Ashley was even moved to tears.

Nearly out of time we spent our last few moments walking along the Seine River before we said good bye. We then hopped into a taxi and were back to Gare du Nord where we waited for our train.

At the train station there are a few lovely shops to purchase any last minute Parisian items. My girls and I had to purchase even more macaroons. We weren’t sugar sick enough and who knows when we would visit Paris again. When in Paris stuff your face with macarons, then you pray your pants fit the rest of the trip.

The green macarons are always my favorite!

Mid journey we decided to explore the train and found ourselves drawn to the beverage car. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I guess I thought it would have velvet curtains, rich mahogany wood, and a piano player. Nope, just a tiny cafeteria counter with wine, beer and snacks. It was better then sitting bored at my seat though.

Once our train arrived back in London we were starving and desperate for food. Just a few steps from the St. Pancras train station we found a fabulous restaurant called The German Gymnasium. I highly recommend it.

If you’re planning a day trip to Paris from London, or just a trip to Paris in general I hope you found this article of some use! Maybe your not planning a trip but you’re like me and just love reading and hearing about Paris. Thanks for reading! Au revoir!

Laura

DIY

HOW WE SAVED MONEY BUILDING OUR OWN PERGOLA

Our backyard was a total disaster. I loved being outside, but I didn’t love our backyard. I’d always dreamed of dining under a vine covered pergola, so our pergola was the first project we began.

We got estimates to have a custom built pergola and they were outrageous, well over $3,000! We shopped pergola kits to build but they were not the size I wanted and still cost at least over $1,000. Brian decided one day just to build it himself. By doing this we saved a ton of money and got exactly what we wanted. Going the DIY route spent around $500, that’s a substantial savings! Plus the quality is much better than and pergola kits we’ve seen on display.

I didn’t include the cost of the concrete in our $500, because some may already have a concrete slab, or be attaching it to a deck or even the ground. Before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you I had a hard time deciding what size our concrete should be! My OCD decided to order the table and chairs first. This way I could comfortably sit at the table and see how far out I liked pulling the chairs, etc. So after a few outdoor dinners in the grass we committed to a concrete size & marked it off.

I’m so glad we did it this way. I know that it would be just our luck that we would pour concrete and build the pergola and then have an impossible time finding a table to fit in it. So by getting the table first we were able to make the concrete and pergola exactly the right size.

We began this project on a nice warm 100-degree Labor Day Weekend, Labor Day was going to be labor day alright. Once the concrete was poured, we wanted to protect the surface from stains so we first covered it in plastic. Brian then grabbed his engineer scale and mitre saw and got to work.

Of course we chose cedar wood for the pergola, its more weather resistant and pest resistant, plus it just looks the best. After each piece was cut to size, he passed it over to me where I applied the stain. We debated whether we should stain the pieces before putting it together or after. I originally thought applying stain would be easiest once all put together so we put down plastic. However it didn’t take long for me to realize staining on the ground was much much easier. In the heat the stain dried fast so I was able to stain all four sides of the wood very quickly.

The four 4×4 corner posts went up first, and then were braced with the 2×6 cross pieces. I’m sure they have an official name, like girders, or beams, or rafters, or something like that, but I don’t know what it is. When we had the concrete poured, we made sure that the guys placed four bolts in the corners to secure the post anchors to. Then using the post anchors we secured the posts to the concrete.

Here we laid out the rafters to be stained, and then they went up too. Since our plan is to have the pergola covered with a flowery vine, we decided at the end that we needed to add one more layer of 2×4’s to the top.

I’ve always loved wisteria, but heard horror stories, like how it can eat your structure, I decided to pass. So far the crossvine has worked well. It bloomed right after we planted it too!

The husband initially thought that if he double bolted the top it would be enough to keep the structure steady (see above). After it was up, though, we felt like it was still too wobbly, so he added these diagonal pieces in the corners, and that did the trick. You can also see here how we made a simple 45 degree cut to the ends of the top pieces to give it a little better finished look.

All done. I can’t believe it! Cue the wine…

Now all I need to do is patiently wait on the vine to grow.

Then we added outdoor string lights, I just love them… they really add ambience.

Day or night I could stare at our new pergola all day. A dreamy dinner under the pergola lights while listening to Frank Sinatra is coming soon! This was one of the best backyard decisions we ever made!