We’ve had a whirling dervish of a few weeks at The Cottage, and couldn’t have done any of it without some of our friends lending a helping hand (THANK YOU, Edgar and Veronica! Again!). We’ve done enough to fit into 3 or 4 blog posts, so I’ll try to get everything update in the next week. And after this next weekend, we should – SHOULD – be DONE! Hip Hooray!
For this post, I am going to continue to focus on the bathroom, which really has been the priority, as it has the most to be done. The painting of the walls and ceiling is complete, and looks great. It’s also a color (Platinum Band by Dutch Boy) that looks very different depending on the light. Usually, it’s gray. Sometimes, it feels blue, and sometimes, there’s a bit of lavender in it.
Whatever color it is, I like it.
The bathroom window needed to go in (I frosted it myself a couple of years ago), and I decided to paint it black (not just a great Rolling Stones song).
The hardware had rusted in the flood, so I cleaned those, and dusted them with some silver spray paint to both freshen them up, and prevent more rust, since it’ll be in a bathroom with high humidity.
Since the baseboards were black, I thought this would be a nice contrast – almost making the window more of a feature with the black window inside white trim.
The end result feels a bit too Art Deco for a Victorian Cottage, but I like it all the same. I can always switch it to white between tenants if I need to – we’re already starting a list of things we want to do whenever we switch tenants, which hopefully won’t be for a while!
And then, it was time to clean the brushes and let them rest for a bit. If you don’t use a vent to dry your brushes, it’s a great tip!
This is the top of the small bathtub wall. And if I could stand on a ladder and see it, this is also what the top of the tall wall looks like. Pretty, right? So, we needed to build something that would look good from the bottom and from the top.
Instead of re-inventing the wheel, I just asked Doug to build caps similar to what he did in the Laundry Room Renovation for the tops of the upper cabinets.
He did a dry-fit. Our plan is to paint them with oil-based paint, and then coats of Marine Varnish. This should really make it water repellent, but down the road if we need to, we can always replace the caps again with wood, since these are easy to build, or switch out to a granite, quartz, or marble.
Just like the Laundry Room build, Doug did a great job! Seriously – the guy should have his Doctorate in Wood Clamps by now.
While those were finishing, another exciting thing happened : FIXTURES! Yay! I chose chrome, and tried to get as Victorian as I could with the styling. Nothing here was expensive – maybe one step above the cheapest line of fixtures at the store. This proves my point, that you don’t have to spend a lot to make a room look period appropriate if you want. It might take some time and patience, but you can TOTALLY do it.
The Sinks :
There is about a 15 minute window of the day when the light coming in form the bath window creates this reflection from the faucet onto the wall. It’s so fantastic.
The shower and tub fixtures look great, as well. Goodness, I love a rain showerhead.
Next, we installed the stuff in the walk-in closet. The wood work is finished and waiting for me to paint the caulk (we used leftover scraps to case the inside of the closet door, because I forgot about it, so it’s black, which makes it fun).
And then we added shelves and bars. Not the most exciting of jobs, but I WISH I had this closet at my house. Nothing fancy, but all in one room. Seriously – there is so much storage in this rental. It’s seriously such a bonus.
My. $.02 : When you are doing a project that’s big like this, watch the sales, and keep a list of everything you want to buy. These closet shelves had a rebate, making them 99 cents EACH when the day was done. If you have the time, use it to find deals. And don’t forget to send the rebates in!
And done! What a great closet for a 2-Bedroom, 1-Bath!
More Cottage Bath Posts coming up! If you missed the first two, you can find them here :
The Cottage Bathroom Becomes a Room : Post Two
Ha, my dad was just saying that the can of Dutch Boy raw linseed oil is dated because Dutch Boy hasn’t been around in ages. Interesting that it’s still available in your area. The linseed oil is still dated by the National Lead Company name at the bottom of the back side.
And you already know that I’m fine with a Deco / Victorian mashup.
Dear Chad’s Dad:
http://www.dutchboy.com/
The Dutch Boy is not dead! It’s pretty good paint, though it doesn’t come in the normal paint can, which messes with my head – it’s one of those pourable plastic can things.
Also, your caulk on the baseboards: do you do the second coat after installing with all of it, or just touch ups?
I just do touch ups. I do everything off the walls if I can. Here, since the painter from Martin place is going to be the renter, he is helping with some of the work. I would’ve used black caulk to keep from having to do so much touch up, but he used white. A little more work, but it’ll still look great.
Great job, Amy! I really dig what you have done! The deco overtone contrasting looks nothing short of absolutely elegant!
Keep those posts coming! We have been soooo incredibly busy but are always looking out for your updates…especially as the holidays get closer 🙂
Thanks! It’s so close! Speaking of Holidays, you’ve reminded me I need to actually pay attention and blog the Holiday decor this year, which seems only fair, since I did all the Halloween ones! Good reminder.
Hi Amy, I have to admit…. my wife and I were doing some “virtual” holiday decorating while visiting your home during the Historic Home Tour, and pretty much had your home looking like it belongs on a Hallmark Christmas Card 🙂 Looking forward to seeing what you do (no pressure though haha)!