bathroom makeover: from leaky to lovely

My second-floor bathroom is done, by the way. Totally forgot to mention that and give you the wrap up a couple weeks ago! Long story short, I love it. Immensely! No more weirdly giant nasty jetted tub (that leaks out of two jets), no more totally Eighties scallop-edged vanity. Oh, yeah, and no more non-functioning tub spout. Or weird pink and gray tiles. Ok, you get the point - it was bad... reeeeally bad!

I made the somewhat-begrudging decision to replace this uber-tub with a step-in shower. This means that my house now has no bathtub, which terrified me on a resale basis, but I realized that I could either do a really lovely, classy step in shower, or a pretty mediocre, boring tub. I also realized I have taken precisely 2 baths in 5 years, which I didn't even enjoy - I always end up taking a shower after. Oh, and that I probably won't want to sell my house for at least 5 more years. Minimum. SO shower it was! But this meant that I could get gorgeous tiles, put in a bench, replace my vanity and floor tiles, and repaint for less than it was going to cost me to get a replacement tub (crazy old tub = crazy custom/non-standard tub needed to replace it = crazy added expense).

Here's an evolution for you - as per us', I forgot to take "before" pictures. Well, to my credit, I HAD before pictures on my old computer that bit the dust 100%. Sorry... just use my intense description and your imaginations. Here we start with the bathroom totally gutted:

Here are some shots mid-renovation - at last, my tile had arrived! The waterproofing was done! My main goal was to avoid creating a super-cliche bathroom. In my line of work, I see a lot of bathroom..like, a lot a lot...and I swear 97% look identical. To avoid this, I decided to create contract while sticking to a simple black and white color palette (classic, easy to change up by adding splashes of color with new towels, and never goes out of style) I got these really large rectangular tiles , oriented vertically, for the bottom 4 feet as as well as the bench. Above that, is a six-inch band of black, white and gray glass skinny tiles:

Already was loving it. And then! Oh, then, my beautiful subway tiles arrived! These were expensive, but I am so glad I didn't end up going with the cheaper option with a lower length-to-height ration. I oriented theses horizontally, to contrast with the huge vertical rectangles on the bottom. As you can see, it was still a mess at this point, but getting there:

Have I built enough suspense for The Big Reveal by now?

So....what do you think?

love k

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from IKEA to "i love it"

The thing about rowhouses is that each room is in close enough quarters to the next that furniture and decor has to flow. Standing in my entryway, you see every inch of my living room, dining room and kitchen, so I've worked hard to try to create some sense of continuity. When I first moved in five years ago, I did what most people in their early 20's moving in to their first house would do... went hog-wild at IKEA! Heck, what else could I afford? And it did the job, but little by little I've replaced things with nicer, more unique pieces that I like to think suggest a sense of personal style.

First there was the couch and love-seat from Nouveau when they moved to a new location - yay 80% off!

Puppy, my love-seat & two old whiskey crates stacked as a sidetable

Bindi the cat and my sweet sectional sofa - best napping sofa ever!

Then I coveted, and finally bought after a year (when it finally went on sale), my reclaimed factory cart coffee table. I bemoan the fact that they became hip a year later and now are in Pottery Barn, etc. But then I needed a new area rug...so I splurged at Arhaus and it tied it all together.

But all these lovely upgrades made my IKEA dining table look...silly. I wanted some lovely, reclaimed wood rectangular table, but every one I found was insanely expensive and way too wide for my rowhouse dining room. I started joking that N would just have to make me one...

AND HE DID!

I love it. I more than love it. It's made from reclaimed floor joists from 1900, so the boards are thick and beautiful. It's lightly varnished, so safe from heat, etc and a total work of art. I don't even really understand how he made it, and I imagine getting it in to my house, disassembling my old table, and getting the new one in place was quite a feat. But it was definitely the best Christmas present ever!

Now all I need is a rug for the dining room...

love k

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bathroom bonanza

So now that you're caught up on the first floor bathroom, I can move on to telling you about the second floor bathroom. Whereas the former was all aesthetics, the latter announced its issues by cascading water down my dining room chandelier and on to my new hand-made table a month ago. I re-grouted. I re-caulked. I re-waterproofed that sucker to the point that I'm reasonably sure I've caused a shortage of sealants in East Baltimore. But to no avail.

With a jetted tub circa 1990, completely irregular dimensions, and myriad problems, this shower situation called for expertise beyond my abilities. So, after one quote for $18,000(haaahahaha! hilarious!), I got a referral for the most wonderful person on earth named Faramarz who is both a plumber AND a tiler! Did I mention how insanely wonderful he is?! And reasonable? And lovely? I digress.

At first the plan was to just rip out the tub (no small feat) and surrounding tile, find the problem, fix the plumbing and create a nice, modern, step in shower with a built in bench. But then trying to find tile that went with the old pink and gray cheap floor tile (again, circa 1990) and uninspired two-bit vanity was...challenging. And seemed really dumb. So, out it all came! The whole thing! For about a day it sounded like large circus animals were battling to the death upstairs.

Now it looks like this:

Turns out the plumbing wasn't doing so well, so it was all replaced and moved to one wall (it had been coming out of two places. Weird). Also, the bathtub had been leaking in three places! Good riddance!

My tile is all picked out (challenging since stores don't keep tile in stock like they used to due to the recession, slower turn over etc.), as well as a new vanity. I'm beyond excited to show you the progress and completion!

love k

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(last) winter home project wrap-up: laundry/powder room makeover

Last year, as you may recall, I overhauled my first-floor laundry/powder room. "Wait!" You're probably saying, "What the heck happened with that?" What happened remained a mystery to you all since I forgot to, say, give you the "after" half of the "before/after" concept. Well, I love it! Before it was horrible and gross and overly utilitarian, and now...

The stackable front-loading washer and dryer (Sears, on sale, half price) freed up tons of space. I had to have a plumber come move the plumbing around, and then a carpenter built the dividing wall.

I lucked out with the vanity (good LORD, vanities are pricey!) by acquiring this lovely brand-new one for free from my sister (didn't work out at their house, couldn't return)- score one for me!

The mirror is from Target - I decided an oval framed mirror classed it up. Repainted the room the same lovely shade (Restoration Hardware) as before with bright white trim.

The little prints are actually a postcard collection of vintage Nancy Drew covers (my favorites growing up) that I framed using IKEA frames! Final touch with a new soap pump that matched the sink and a cute diffuser from Target to keep things fresh.

I have enough room between the washer/dryer and the dividing wall to stash a drying rack, broom, reusable grocery bags and my outdoor pillows for my patio.

So that was wonderful and rewarding and I love it. Finally, I gave you the closure you've been waiting for since last January! I am now just starting a TOTAL overhaul in my 2nd floor bathroom... stay posted!

love k

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winter home project: laundry/powder room make-over

I am fortunate enough to have a home with both a first floor powder room (hurrah! guests can come over and my bathroom can be a mess!) AND laundry room above the bowels of my house (aka the basement). Only thing is that they share the same space on my first floor... tough.

Taking a trip back through time, I should tell you how it looked when I bought my house. Unfortunately, the only photo I have is from the listing when I bought my house, and only shows you the door to the bathroom (though it does give you an opportunity to see how truly horrendous the entire house looked). But this feature is noteworthy since, oh, IT IS ACTUALLY A SALOON DOOR:

[Photo]I mean, really? You want people seeing your feet while you're in the powder room? Unbelievable. So you can imagine what it was like. When I rehabbed my house, a coat of paint and some white tiles freshened it up...a bit... But the sink is still miniature, the washer and dryer were old and fritzy, and the IKEA storage cabinet is a bit worse for the ware after three moves and seven years. Hmm. I imagine this is a plight with which many of us have battled - things aren't ideal but they'll do for now, right?

But then my washing machine stopped draining and spinning. And soon after my dryer lost the ability to sense how dry clothes are - one day you might pull out a soaking wet sweater and have to run the cycle TOW MORE TIMES to make it work, and the next morning you might, say, awake to find the dryer still roaring from last night's laundry. Whoah. Talk about a waste of water and energy...

So, a trip to sears and some fantastic negotiating later (truly, people, I got a major deal. Go to Sears. Work with Mac. He's the nicest man ever), I bought these and stacked them:


So now I have room to get a normal size sink some storage for detergent, etc and a good looking mirror...maybe something like this:


It's all a work in progress and a big ol' mess now, but I'll keep you posted with photos and such. My deadline is the spring home tour so I have to get on it!

What are you working on at home these days?

love k

my perfect (theoretical) roof deck

When I purchased and rehabbed (a.k.a. essentially gutted..) my parkfront house 4 years ago, I discussed the option of a roof-top deck with my contractor. At the time he dissuaded me from spending my money on a roof deck due to the general lack of use that they get. Advising me to cruise around town on a beautiful roof-deck-perfect day and see how many people were using them, he was proven totally right - the fact of the matter is, people just don't tend to use outdoor space that isn't on a visual eye-level with daily indoor space.

Then there was the issue of access. My second-floor back bedroom has a small balcony, but not enough room for a spiral (plus I LOATHE spiral stairs - how on earth am I to bring up trays of delicious cocktails and hors d'oeurves while teetering on the brink of death?!?). My 3rd floor isn't full-depth, but there's 2 feet of vertical wall space from my 3rd floor floor to the 2nd floor roof level (is this confusing you yet? I'd take a photo but my camera is broken!). I can hardly have people climbing out a window to make it all feasible. Zoning and permits would practically slaughter me for trying. Long story short, the plan was nixed and I moved on, still coming in way over budget.

But lately I've been showing dozens of houses with roof decks all over the good ol' 21224. And my boyfriend's house has not one, but three levels of decks ---->

And so, dear friends, I've got roof deck fever. After consulting with the Canton roof deck king, Victor Kocent, I've found a few options and a general price range to mull over. So the next step is obviously roving the internet for beautiful versions of what I want to do.

I could go straight up over the stairs up to the deck but there isn't enough room for a normal stair. But one of these would work....

While against a million codes in the US I'm sure, they're totally fine in the UK for accessing loft spaces and the like, as you get half the run of a normal stair because each step is twice the rise. I particularly loved this one, coupling fantastic storage of books and records/cds with beautiful design:

Ideally, I'd like to have two levels of deck, however - one off my 3rd floor and then outdoor stairs up to the roof. I like the idea of having a large space to grill 'n chill that is virtually "eye-level" with the third floor to promote regular use. Something along the lines of...

Note the normal staircase leading up and away, NOT a spiral! I also really like this upper deck design, especially since it would face the park. The incorporation of natural elements of wood and grass (though surely fake...) are really appealing to me:

Soo...yeah, basically I have to figure out how to make a window a door without creating major structural issues or potential water incursion. I think I have a workable idea. Now I just need to squirrel away $12,000 to make my outdoor roof top wonder. HA! With my design wish-list I think I shall be looking at around $2 million...

love k