2012 Recap

The year before we finished our massive basement project so I thought we had slowed down in 2012, home renovation wise, but my blog and bank account said otherwise. In 2012, I managed to pull off two major bathroom renovations, changing the foyer tiles *twice*, among other smaller decoration projects. So here they are in a nutshell:

AM Dolce Vita's 2012 Recap

Clockwise from top left:

• In late April we started our master bathroom renovation. It took almost double the amount of time we had anticipated though thankfully we managed to only go slightly over budget. Being one of the most unpredictable renovations (i.e. until you rip open the walls and subfloors and expose all the plumbing and wiring), a bathroom project has a lot of hidden cost and work behind walls and underneath shiny finishes.
• Immediately after our master bathroom project, we had the same contractor re-tile our foyer. You can read more about the debacle and why we had to have the floor tiled twice (using different tiles) within a week.
• A pretty new pillow for our foyer, part of my foyer project going into 2013.
• I can finally call our living room redesign complete. This is one of the most time-consuming decor projects involving a lot of change of minds along the way.
• Our 2012 gold-silver Christmas Tree.
• New kitchen art: framed Alanna Cavanagh's limited edition tea towel. This is probably my favourite in 2012.
• Our 2012 Christmas Mantel, a complete DIY project by yours truly.
• New West Elm vases for our master bedroom.
• And last but not least, our main bathroom redo in October. I actually think I like this bathroom more than our master ensuite for its practicality.

So what were your favourite projects (that you are proud of) in 2012?

Happy New Year everyone!

Bathroom Reno on a Budget

Our master ensuite reno was a real splurge: from the vanity to the shower set to the exhaust fan, we spared no expense. And that's the way it should be. Besides being the most used bathroom and our my retreat, the master ensuite is also one of the top selling features of any house.

As I am getting ready for yet another bathroom renovation, my goal this time is to up-cycle as much as possible and stay on budget. I will only get rid of those that absolutely won't play into my overall design such as tiles and vanity countertop. In addition, I will replace more efficient fixtures such as toilet and shower set which are not only good for the environment but also offer great payback through energy/water savings.

Another really inexpensive way to renovate a bathroom is paint. A few days ago we finally dropped off this ugly baby at Paint It Like New, and I made a gutsy move (to me at least)  by choosing a darker shade -- the Benjamin Moore's Pigeon Gray.


And this is the final design plan of my main bathroom. After much consideration I've decided to stick with natural Carrara floor tiles and countertop. Porcelain look-alikes and quartz countertops just don't cut it for me in a bathroom like this.

Clockwise from top right: Pottery Barn Mercer Sconces; Kohler Fairfax Lavatory Faucets in Chrome; Crate & Barrel Bamboo Bathroom Tray; Target vintage glass soap pump; West Elm Ombre Border Bath Mat; Bianco Carrara Marble countertop; 4x16 white gloss subway tile with Carrara mini-brick border; 12x12 Carrara floor tiles; BM Pigeon Gray for the vanity, Valspar Polar Star for the walls; American Standard Hampton Shower Set with Price Pfister hand shower rail.

Reno starts in mid September and I can barely wait to see how my vanity turns out in the BM Pigeon Gray. Stay tuned for updates...

Apple of My Eye This Week

My fave this week undoubtedly is about my newly finished master bathroom (sorry for the narcissistic act), things I still need to make the bathroom more comfortable.

This is the bathroom, and my plan is to add a magazine rack/basket in the left corner of the room.

Why do you need a magazine rack in your bathroom to make it more comfy, you may ask? Okay I confess, I am a potty reader so I always keep a stash of the latest magazines near me for the life's most relaxing moments.

Here are a few options I like...which one is your favourite?

From the top left clock-wise: 1. Umbra Vogue Magazine Rack, 2. Kamui Magazine Rack, 3. Bonsai Magazine Rack, 4. Charles Hollis Jones Square Magazine Holder, 5. Charles Hollis Jones Lucite Magazine Holder, and 6. Ikea Branas Basket in White.

We are finally going to have a weekend without any renos at home, and the weather is going to be gorgeous. Time to fire up the BBQ and load up some beer! Have a great weekend everyone!

Master Bathroom Reveal

Before the reveal, let's take one last look at the before, my blah-looking builder bathroom.

Our Master Bathroom BEFORE

This is the Design Plan.

Are you ready? This is the AFTER of Our Master Bathroom.

A more close-up look of the Carrara Basketweave Floor Insert.  

My Precious -- Eames Walnut Stool.

Restoration Hardware Lugarno Glass Shelf.

A more close-up look of Restoration Hardware Lugarno Glass Shelf.

Shower and Towel Warmer.

Shower White Subway Tile with Mini Carrara Mosaic Borders

Riobel Shower Kit

Vanity and Restoration Hardware Sconces. Vanity hardware in polished nickel via Elte.

Bianco Carrara marble vanity top. Target vintage glass soap pump.

Vanity

So here you have it, our new master bathroom transformation after three-weeks' time and a ton of dough. Similar to all other major reno projects, this one is not short of frustration, hiccups and surprises. Fortunately it's finally over, and I can't wait to sink myself into the tub for a deep soak. That will be all worth it.

I will update the sources under the "Source List" page shortly.

Bathroom Sneak Peak

Our shower glass won't go in until later in the week, so the reveal will likely be pushed off until early next week. For now, I will share a couple of teasers.

Vanity Hardware in Polished Nickel via Elte

A Sudden Death

...my Carrara vanity top suffered. Just when I was oohing and aahing at the almost-finished bathroom, things took a dramatic turn. I saw the marble countertop snapped into two pieces in front of my eyes as my contractors were lifting it!

This is not my picture but you get the idea. I was too upset to take any.

What happened was that the bath store I ordered the vanity set from didn't bond/glue the undermount sinks to the countertop. Instead, they screwed four brackets into the countertop to hold the sinks in place (who does that?!). The screws obviously weakened the already-thin marble slab. My contractors sensed something was off as they were transporting it from downstairs -- the sinks actually moved around and almost fell off! There is a huge gap between the sinks and the bottom of the countertop. How the heck were we supposed to use it on a daily basis, and still expect there'd be no water leaks? After they laid the countertop onto the vanity, our contractors did the right thing by deciding to take it off to glue the sinks. As they were lifting it, the tragedy happened.

The completion of our bathroom reno was delayed until Saturday thanks to this sudden death. C'est la vie!

Bathroom Reno Day 8

A lot of cosmetic work was done today including painting, moulding, wainscoting and grout. Tomorrow they will start to install all the hardware, tub, toilet, and hopefully vanity. I can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I should probably stop posting progress pictures from now on, and save them for the grand reveal. :-)

Tiles Are Laid

Six days into our bathroom renovation, our contractor finally got around to laying the floor and wall tiles. I am pretty happy with how the Carrara Basketweave Carpet Accent turned out on the floor.

Immediately behind the Carrara Basketweave Carpet will be the freestanding tub.

In addition to the shenanigans with the shower set I mentioned the other day, another speed bump I ran into is the vanity. It's still sitting at a spray paint shop as we speak. One paint shop could finish the job within  a couple of weeks but they only had Benjamin Moore's Cloud White which is not white enough for me. Basides they would charge $900 because they would have to order in the Chantilly Lace color I wanted. Another paint shop the vanity was sent to would use the Chantilly Lace for a lot less than $900, and the paint shop owner promised it would be done by mid April. The owner of the bath store where I ordered the vanity from has been chasing after the paint shop for me on a daily basis, so there is really nothing I could do but to keep my fingers crossed. Not a good position to be in, I tell ya.

We are getting a day off from the reno tomorrow so I am looking forward to a quiet lunch with hubs at our regular spot.

Hope you are all having a great weekend.

Bathroom Reno Speed Bumps

It ain't a major renovation without some speed bumps and roadblocks along the ride.

First one up is the Riobel shower system I ordered from Bath City.

Who knew such a pretty set could be such a pain in the neck? So far we've been back to Bath City FIVE friggin times for the same shower kit, and I swore today would be the last otherwise I am returning it!

Second Visit: First visit was to place the order. Bath City ordered wrong rain shower head, wrong handles, and wrong hand shower kit! They might as well gave us a completely different set they wanted to sell us!

Third Visit: We went back to pick up the correct set, and were guaranteed that everything should be in order.

Fourth Visit: We found out that the hand shower head had cracks in it, returned it and Bath City had to order a replacement.

Fifth Visit: We picked up the hand shower replacement.

Sixth Visit: Today just before our plumber was about to install the shower system, they found out the hand shower drop-ear elbow kit was missing. I called Bath City and they said Oops, they somehow forgot to include that part in my order. Fortunately they had spare parts lying around in the store, so for the fifth time we went back to the Bath City to pick up a missing part.

As if the shopping experience at Bath City could get any worse, and it did. While I was in the store today, one of the store owners with a strange accent gave me an earful of why I should've sent a plumber to buy the kit (whose plumber does that???), and that he had sold hundreds of the same shower systems before. I finally had enough so I gave it to him: "Who cares if you've sold thousands of them if you couldn't even get me a complete and correct set!" There was pin-drop silence in the store at that moment.

I might expect similar problem if I had only spent $100 at a local hardware store. But for more than 10 times the money I spent at Bath City on one shower kit, I certainly didn't deserve such sloppy order fulfillment and lousy customer service.

I've been fuming all afternoon, so I think I should just go and calm down before I talk about the second speed bump. Hopefully things will fix themselves tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

An Obsession Fulfilled

Remember two weeks ago I blogged about my obsession with the glass soap pump from Target? It's only available in the States, and is either on clearance or discontinued. It didn't appear the timing was on my side. I emailed my bud Ed, a Mosaic Artist, about it, and days later these came in the mail.

Aren't the sea-glass-inspired vintagey design dreamy?

Coincidentally, this past weekend I picked up two of these recycled glass tumblers from HomeSense.

Paired together, they add a retro and nautical touch to my new bathroom. I seriously couldn't wait to use them when the reno is over.

Hopefully I will have some reno progress pictures to share tomorrow. It's a such big mess in there that I could barely set my feet in.

Bathroom Reno Day 1

And I already wish we didn't start this whole thing. Who knew a bathroom reno could be so stressful and chaotic, and we weren't even the ones to do all the work!

Anyhoo, whining aside, our contractor, the same one we used for finishing our basement, continued to do a great job so far. Lookie what they did today:

Recognize this room? It's half of my master bedroom. The day before we moved our bed into a spare bedroom, and will camp out there until the reno is over. Yep, we are "that" type of people that instead of sleeping on one of our spare beds in one of our guest bedrooms, we had to move our bed and mattress with us!

And did you see our contractor Saran-wrapped half of the bedroom to prevent dust from going in? How awesome is that?!

This is how our ensuite looks like now. Everything in there came off today, and our contractor had started to work on plumbing and wiring. 

This is where our future shower stall will be. All the pillars will come off tomorrow after they get into the attic to add a ceiling (to stop insulation material from falling down).

So far no red flags, and fingers crossed the project will continue to stay that way. I promised myself (again) that this will be the LAST major reno project in this house, go figure! :-)

Sayonara

So long, farewell to my plain old bathroom. It was good for its use for the past three years, and time has come for us to move on to something we could relate more to. We are taking our bathroom from this:

To this:

Our bathroom renovation starts on Monday! I also have some exciting news to share shortly (hint: they are on their way to me as we speak). :-)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Which Bathroom Stool Would You Choose?

Who knew preparing for a bath reno would take so much time and energy? Over the past few months, I have been buying things in this design plan but the list seems to keep growing. So this is our final plan with all the elements already purchased except for the Eames walnut stool.

The most challenging part so far has been to decide on what materials to use, colors, finishes, looks vs. functions, etc. Right now I am really stuck on which bathroom stool to buy. First, I want it to be versatile -- a side table as well as a seat. Second, it should be easy on the marble floor. Third, it has to add some warmth to the bathroom yet doesn't stand out too much. Easy, right?

Here are the options I am considering:

Eames Walnut Stool

Pros: rich and warm wood color; easy on marble floor.

Cons: pricey. Wood and moisture don't go well.

West Elm Martini Side Table

Pros: great-looking, functional and affordable.

Cons: aluminum is hard on the floor unless the  entire bottom is covered by felt.

Tolan Lucite/Crystal Stool

Pros: sparkly, works well in a bathroom.

Cons: might disappear into the background.

Williams-Sonoma Cane Ceramic Stool

Pros: a popular choice in a bathroom. Easy to clean and low maintenance.

Cons: not cheap, might scratch floor, could be heavy to be moved around.  

So which one would you choose for your own bathroom? Which one do you think works the best in my design plan? Do you have any other suggestions?

In the Mail Today

These came in today in time for the master ensuite renovation commencing in two weeks.

Toasty warm bath towels, anyone? This is something I can't do without in a master ensuite -- Arnoca Electric Dry-lined Towel Warmer in Chrome from Costco.

The only thing about this towel warmer that doesn't excite me much is the curved bar. The cross bars in the pictures on Costco site appear straight. I hope the practicality will offset the look.

And should I say online order from Restoration Hardware is a breeze? I ordered this Lugarno Glass Shelf in Polished Chrome last week, and UPS dropped it by our door today!

This glass shelf will go over a double towel bar for extra storage, and to show off some pretty bath bottles and accessories.

Speaking of bath accessories, I am obsessed with this vintage-y look glass soap dispenser.

Fingers crossed I will find them soon!

Bathroom Floor Tile and Grout Color

We are less than a month away from our master bathroom renovation. As usual, gathering and picking all necessary materials is no easy task. We've decided to use 12x12 polished Bianco Carrara as floor tiles, similar to what we did in our basement bathroom. The only difference is that I will be using either basketweave or herringbone as a framed accent area in front of the freestanding tub.

Now comes the tough decision: which grout colors to use?

I used Mapei's Unsanded Grout in White for my kitchen backplash. Tile is Bianco Carrara Mini Brick Mosaic.

Basement bathroom is rarely used, so I opted for the same Mapei Unsanded Grout in White on the floor.

I love how clean the white grout looks, but the master bathroom is probably one of the busiest area in the house, so a white grout may not be a wise decision in the long haul. I am thinking of grey shades that can be picked up from the tile itself.

Here are the three contenders: left to right, Mapei's Warm Grey, Silver and Pewter (the color strips above the cable outlet).

 Source: Flickr.

This is Bianco Carrara with Warm Grey grout lines.

Source: Flickr

Or how about this?

Source

I like that the warm grey grout adds more definition to the otherwise mostly white tiles, yet it doesn't scream for attention. I like it more from a practicality and low-maintenance perspective.

So would you use a grey grout with Bianco Carrara floor tile? A lighter shade of grey than Warm Grey maybe?