It's Great To Be Home

Before & After: The Master Bath

August 23, 2011 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 38 Comments

First of all, a big thanks to the always fabulous Kate for including our flip in her Best of the Blogosphere feature on Sunday!!

The before and after tour of the flip continues with the master bathroom! (Click to check out the kitchen / dining room and family room.)

( Courtesy of Lance Hames Photography )

It seems like builders in the 70s were really into chopping up master bathrooms into tiny little rooms. For example, this master bath was divided into separate spaces for “his” vanity, “his” closet, the shower & toilet, “her” vanity and “her” closet – that’s 5 rooms!

We knew we wanted to open up the space but we didn’t want to blow our budget rearranging all of the fixtures, so we just took down the doorways between the “his” and “her” vanity areas and the shower/toilet room. We also converted the tub into a walk-in shower clad entirely in carrera marble.

( Courtesy of Lance Hames Photography )

To me, the bathroom looks a little stark right now but I think it will warm up once the new owner(s) start living in it and have a chance to add their personal touches.

Sorry for all the glare on the shower, it’s pretty much impossible to photograph!

We were able to save the cabinetry, which was also a huge savings.

We added giant sheet mirrors to bounce more light around the space since it doesn’t get much natural light.

We definitely spent less on this bathroom that the master bathroom at the last flip, but I think the result is just as snazzy. We accomplished this by using porcelain tile on the floor instead of a natural stone, reusing the cabinetry and keeping the layout the same. What do you guys think?

All photographs taken by me, unless indicated as “Courtesy of Lance Hames Photography.”

The Flip: The Jack ‘n Jill Bathroom, Then & Now

January 11, 2011 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 22 Comments

And the before and after tour of the flip continues! (These links will take you to tours of the great room and dining room.)

There are 3 full bathrooms in this house – the one that you’re going to see in this post is pretty important as it adjoins two of the bedrooms (a.k.a. jack ‘n jill bath) and also serves as the guest bathroom for the house.

Here’s how the jack ‘n jill bathroom turned out after we spiffed it up with a smorgasbord of travertine and a fancy chevron patterned tile floor:

And here’s how the jack ‘n jill bathroom used to look:

Ah, a 1970s classic. Even though the existing tile was in great shape, it was avocado green and therefore had to go. The wallpaper, counter top, sliding shower door and existing fixtures also got the boot. In their place came crisp white subway tile, mexican noce travertine, accents in a glass and marble mosaic tile, and new fixtures including a dual flush toilet. We also decided to have the demo guys remove the doorway/wall that separated the vanity from the shower/toilet area to get rid of that choppy feeling.

And now it’s time for the gratuitous “after” shots. :)

( Recognize this tile? That’s right, it’s extra tile left over from the glass and marble backsplash we did at the first flip! )

( These built-ins were originally a cabinet with doors, etc. – but it was accidentally torn out during demo. Whoops! When it was re-built, we decided that open shelving was the way to go – I envision lots of baskets and rolled towels. )

( My next house will have a chevron patterned tile floor like this one – it makes me swoon every time I see it!! Three cheers for our tile guy, he did a fab job. )

That’s all, folks! Did this before and after live up to your expectations?

Pimp Your Piping

March 15, 2010 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 15 Comments

Remember this guy that looked so very sad? Well, now he’s had a makeover and he’s ready to strut his stuff. Take a look!

Can you figure out what’s different? Here’s the “before” pic to give you a frame of reference:

That’s right – I painted the piping!

To me, the chocolate brown piping gives this formerly frumpy chair a bit more structure and sophistication – and wow, was this change cheap! For only about $4, here’s how I gave this chair a major makeover:

1. Pick your victim. In my case, this slipcovered Ikea Ektorp armchair was the obvious choice – the all-white slipcover was pretty blah, and the oversized/overstuffed nature of the chair made it look like a big marshmallow. Bottom line – you’ll get the biggest impact with a piece of upholstery that has piping and could benefit from a little definition. (Of course, this same technique could be used to add pizazz to just about anything you want to tackle.)

2. Assemble your supplies. For this project, you need:

~ fabric paint in your color of choice (you really don’t need that much, a single paint tube should do the trick)

* Note: I used fabric paint because I wanted to be able to wash my slipcovers without washing away my hard work. If you’re painting upholstered pieces that don’t have removable covers, you could probably just use regular craft paint to achieve the same result, but without the washability factor.

~ 1 craft brush

~ small strips of stiff cardboard (I just cut up a few advertisements that I got in the mail)

2. Set up shop. Although this project is cheap and easy, it is pretty time-consuming. Plan on spending at least a few evenings in front of the TV working on painting your piping. Maybe more than a few evenings if you’re like me and get distracted easily!

3. Paint away. I thought the easiest way to tackle the piping was to leave the slipcover on the cushions and chair frame – this kept the slipcover from being too floppy and hard to work with. For the cushions, I just hauled them over to the couch, but for the chair frame I sat on the floor in front of it and painted away. As for technique, this is where your strips of cardboard come into play – I wedged the cardboard between the piping and the cushion fabric so that the cardboard formed a barrier – this let me paint somewhat sloppily without worrying about getting the paint onto the fabric of the cushion.

That’s it! I’m really happy with how this project turned out – this is a chair that I’ve had for 7 years that has never really worked in any of my rooms, but now I feel like it could work anywhere!

The new chocolate brown and off-white color scheme meshes with every room in our house, and it also works with all of our fun pillows and accessories – I could see playing musical rooms with this guy as we switch up furniture arrangements throughout the house.

How about you guys – would you ever consider pimping your piping?

P.S. Thanks to everyone that has already played along and filled out the 2010 IGTBH Online Survey! I plan on leaving it up until Wednesday and then tabulating the results and hopefully posting them before the end of the week. Click here if you want to put in your 2 cents while you still can!

P.P.S. Today is my birthday!! This is the last year before I turn the big 3-0, and I’m excited to see what lies ahead in this last year of my 20s. And thanks for all of the birthday wishes I’ve already received, you guys have put a big smile on my face!

This post is shared with A Soft Place to Land, Reinvented, Between Naps on the Porch, It’s So Very Cheri, The Girl Creative, and The DIY Show Off.