Main Bathroom Before

Here are the before photos of our main bathroom that I was going to post, oh, a couple MONTHS ago! Wow, is it really February? I can't believe how fast this winter is going by! Usually it just drags and drags. I have been trying to embrace it and enjoy it this year though so maybe that has been helping! Time flies when you are having fun, right? ;-) Alright, without further ado, here are the before pics! Prepare to be disgusted! =D

This is pretty much how the bathroom was when we moved in. The only thing I did (besides cleaning) was to attempt to remove the border at the top. That wasn't very successful....

Ok, entering the bathroom....lovely rust-stained bathtub to the right, sink to the left just past the door. The toilet is behind the short wall at the end of the tub, in front of the window.

The lovely toilet area.

 Above the toilet area...again notice the mildew everywhere, yuck!! I had to bleach that pretty regularly. See how the corner is slanted? There is a big pipe back there that runs up through the roof and down into our basement. I think Jim said it was the exhaust for the septic....or something like that...

The beautiful peeling paint covered-I-don't-know-what above the tub...note the nasty mildew on the ceiling/walls.

 Here is the door to the nice big closet, it runs the length of the room.

 Looking into the closet.

 Looking at the bathroom from the toilet area. Horrible old sconces, pedestal sink, old medicine cabinet with the mirror finish coming off under the glass...blech!

 The bathtub. You can just see some of the orange stain (see first pic) from our rusty water. 

I didn't bother cleaning it before the tear out ;-)

So that's pretty much it! Pretty gross, we had to live with this for almost 4 years!! WOW! I can't believe it was that long! Though it wasn't usually this yucky (I just stopped caring there towards the end lol) it was just plain old and ugly and peely and in desperate need of HELP! I can't wait to show you the after pics! But I still have a couple of decorative touches I want to get finished before I show you. So until then, here is a teaser to hold you over!

Merry Christmas to All...

And to all a good night!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had a very excited little boy and a "Baby's First Christmas" this year. It was our "funnest" Christmas yet as a family! =)

Half Bath After

First of all, Happy First Day of December and I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We woke up to snow falling here today, so pretty and a great way to kick off the Christmas season.

Now, time for the reveal of our downstairs half bath! Sorry it took so long ;-)

Click here to see the before pics or here is a reminder:

It was quite, ahem, lovely, wasn't it? You should have seen it the way it was for the last, oh, 2+ years! We had started to tear it out and then it just sat...and sat...and SAT. Until, my wonderful husband finally announced that we were just going to hire someone to do BOTH bathrooms (ugh, wait til you see the before pics of the upstairs bathroom, YUCK!)

So here is the finished downstairs half bath. Well, not COMPLETELY finished, I still need to finish decorating, but its a million times better than before!

Alrighty, here we go! Just a couple pics because, well, its a tiny bathroom and there's not much to show ;-)

 My pretty vanity, I wanted it the moment I saw it. Its from Lowe's. We had to get the smallest version because the next one up was just a hair too big for the space. I used oil rubbed bronze light fixtures - that was a fun search, NOT! I had to get the kind with the on/off switch on them because we didn't have a good way to wire them both to a switch and it would have been silly to put a switch under just one....I spent at least 1 day online searching, then when I was about to settle for something that wasn't quite right...I found these on a site I had already looked at...then found them on amazon.com (where I had also searched before!). I swear they added them overnight!

Oil rubbed bronze faucet (from Lowe's). Oil rubbed bronze looking towel and tp holder. Not quite actual oil rubbed bronze, but it was cheaper than the others and works fine for me!

 Jim insisted on having a medicine cabinet, so we got the one above (kinda hard to take a good pic), also from Lowe's. It doesn't "go with" the vanity, but its a close enough match. I am glad we got it now, more storage is a plus! Oh and it had to go over the toilet because the area over the sink is too low because the bathroom is under the stairway. I think I am going to get a vinyl wall quote to go there...or make a sign myself...not sure yet.

As for the paint color, I gotta let you in on a little secret.....I am not the biggest fan of blue for home decorating. I always turn to my beloved greens. I told myself I had to pick a color other than green this time!! So when I saw a picture of a bathroom that was similar to this, I fell in love with the blue! I just think it goes so well with the oil rubbed bronze and the wood colors. The color is called "Heritage" and its by Valspar, at Lowe's. Sorry I forgot to post that before!! I totally meant to!

The woodwork is actually Antique White. That was a mess up. Jim picked it up instead of the plain white, but I am happy he did. I like how it matches the vanity top and the towels. Good faux pas Jim!! ;-) I made sure to get WHITE when we painted the upstairs bathroom though, hehe.

That's pretty much it! Except for these:

My cute little owl towels! I found them at Goodwill for $1.99. I have always loved owls (a bit ironic that they are so "in" right now!) so this was a fun find, the perfect colors too!

I hope you enjoyed my little bathroom makeover. Keep an eye out for our upstairs bathroom's makeover. I will post those before pics soon!

Tiny Half Bath Before

Alright, here are some before pics of our tiny downstairs half bath. Jim ripped out the vanity and toilet over 2 years ago, then he put the toilet back in (same toilet) because my sister and her hubby were coming to visit and my sister was pregnant at the time so we didn't want her to have to go to the upstairs bathroom in the middle of the night. Then the half bath stayed like that, just a toilet, for the last 2 years. I did take a lot of the wallpaper off too, but I don't have any pics of that. Sorry!

Vanity straight ahead when entering the door. See how the ceiling is slanting above the sink? This bathroom is under the stairway.

Toilet to the right of the door

Looking at the floor from the doorway.

Well, that's our lovely little half bath/powder room before we had it redone. I will post the after photos in a couple days!

Find me Friday!

This is from my photo archives as I failed to get a good "find me" pic this week. Thanks for stopping by and joining in!


Can you find all 5 vultures? (make sure you click the pic to enlarge it!)



Here they are if you can't see them all =)



If you are new this week, all you have to do is post a photo of whatever you want (within reason of course, keep it clean people! ;-) ) and it has to have some element of "peekaboo," "hiding" or "camouflage" in it. Think of one of those hidden pictures where you have to find the hidden images. Or a green frog blending into the green leaf he is sitting on. There are tons of options! Have fun with it!

If you would like to join in, please make sure to link back to my blog and use my button if you like. If I decide your image(s) is/are inappropriate, I have the right to delete your link. Other than that, have fun and I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with! Oh, and I plan on having weekly themes in the future, but if you don't have a photo that falls into the category, you can still participate. And I don't mind if you add this into another Friday blog carnival. As long as you remember to link to me, that is great! Ok, that's all for now, lets see those photos!

Here is a button for you to use if you would like to participate. Thanks!

<a href="http://www.theblessedcountrymom.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/nuttzi/findme.jpg"/></a>

Halloween & Fall 2009

I know, I know, I am a LITTLE behind....I think my motto is becoming "better late than never"! So anyway, here are some pics of our place this fall and of Jimmy's first time really trick or treating.

Awesome hat!


Just....a....little.....farther!

Ahhh, got it! Bleeecchhh!! Mom, you didn't tell me it was so slimy!!

Helping Mommy carve

Jimmy giving his pumpkin a kiss

The only way I could get him to smile was to put the kitty near him!

Walking in town with Daddy, first time trick or treating (sorry for the blurriness, it was getting and I forgot to use the flash!

Look who we found! Its our lovely friend Angie!!

And then we found Jimmy's cousin, Supergirl!

Wordless Wednesday

Before:

After:Ahhh! So much better =) (the cushions on the window seat are new, I finally found some I liked!)

Our Weekend in Pictures

We had a pretty busy weekend. Friday I took Jimmy to a local dairy farm that sells ice cream and has a petting area where you can feed the goats and baby cows. They also have games like putt-putt and batting cages. It is open to the public and a wonderful place for the family to visit. Anyway, we met my good friend Joy Marie for lunch (they also have a restaurant). We had a wonderful time! Jimmy loved all the animals and the old tractors they have set up for kids to play on. Here is a pic of Jimmy and his lovely "Auntie" Joy:

Jimmy and the ducks:
Jimmy really liked this cow (though he doesn't really look too thrilled in this pic! lol)

Then later on Friday afternoon/evening we spent some time in our barn with daddy.

On the 4-wheeler:
Playing with the kittens:
Look! Kitty in a bucket!And Kitty on the gate (he looks REALLY happy, lol):

Daddy took Jimmy for a ride in the wheelbarrow:

That didn't last too long, so then Daddy showed Jimmy his own wheelbarrow and they pushed them around, except Jimmy didn't quite get that he was supposed to lift the handles, so he was trying to push and it was not moving very well.

Then Jimmy found an old corn stalk and proceeded to drag it around for at least 20 minutes! Ahhh, I love how easily amused he is =)

Saturday wasn't too eventful, Jim got his tags for the new truck and our roofer came and worked on the roof. I went over to Angie's house for a bit to "help" with the chicken coop for these guys (who are a bit larger now). Then we went to a graduation party. After we got home and the baby was in bed, Jim and I went out the barn and played a game of cornhole. I got my rear kicked. I am not very good at it, but that's ok, its fun!

Sunday we went to the dairy again! This time it was with Daddy for his company picnic. They have it there every year and it is a blast! I mean, who can pass up free food and free games?? Though we didn't do any of the games this year, gotta wait till Jimmy is older. So we went and saw the animals again =)

Mama and baby goat. Awwww!

And this goat:

Hmmm...I think I have seen this kid before (no pun intended lol!)
and Jimmy "drove" the tractor again:

So, that was our weekend, along with a lot of working outside and some mowing. And now it is Monday night and I am off to bed!