Here is the inspiration for my master bath.  The flooring may be hard to see but it is a gray and white porcelain  mosaic in 1×1 squares. You would think that would be easy to find. It’s not. Marble was my second choice, but after quite a lot of research, I decided marble floors did not offer the long term durability I was looking for. The one porcelain mosaic we found was mostly grey and we wanted more white. We were able to work with Daltile and came up with our own mix.  So the great news is that the special order was not that expensive. The bad news is that other than a computer rendering we don’t really know what it will look like and it will take 8-10 weeks to get here. Timeframe is not a big issue since there is so much other work to be done.  I’m also very excited about the vanity. After looking everywhere, we decided it would have to be custom made. So we met with a friend who does custom cabinetry and he feels confident he can build this!

Demo on the bathroom is about complete!  This was the bathroom/laundry area in the mother-in-law suite. So this will be our master bath now. Literally down to studs. Everything had to go in this room.  We gained a little extra square  footage by demo-ing the closet in the adjoining bedroom. That bedroom will become the walk-in-closet. We still need to get rid of a little drywall in order to reframe and re drywall the space. Hope to hear from the plumber to get going on some of that work as well. So yes, there is progress, but it is slow. Stay tuned!

As the gale force winds rattle my windows that need to be replaced (add that to list of reno work), I look out of those frosty panes and try to remember the warm days poolside. I also remember another project I tackled over the summer. We have accumulated a mishmash of wrought iron outdoor furniture of varying shades of ugly. I decided to paint them and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. I have memories as a child of my mom repainting the set on our back patio.  I recall horrible smelling stuff and old toothbrushes. That was not my plan. So thanks to Google and YouTube I determined my course would be much simpler. FYI Martha Stewart basically said hire some guys — not kidding! Anyway I didn’t take that route either. I used a wire brush and removed any loose paint and debris. Then tried to wait for a day when the wind wasn’t blowing (we have about 5 of those). I picked out a retro matte Aqua  color of Krylon spray paint from Wal-mart . For the record I generally never shop at Walmart, but they were the only local retailer for this product and color. It was a slow process since I was taking the furniture from black or dark green to Aqua, but worth the effort! I’m not sure how many cans I went through, but cheaper than new furniture and we got that retro vibe. We  stored the furniture inside over the winter so hope touch ups will be minimal.