The 2011 Reveal Part 5 - Master Bathroom

Ah, the piece de resistance ... the master bath.  A woman's retreat, a place of spa-like calm and serenity, where the worries of the day disappear in a foaming bath of bubbles.  Well, that wasn't going to happen in THIS bathroom.

After annexing the former walk-in closet and about 5' of the master bedroom, there is now room for a free-standing tub and a shower stall.

Rub-a-dub-dub, I love my tub. And the blinds also are remote-controlled Silhouettes, just like the bedroom.  And yes, I can control these blinds from the bedroom.  RF is awesome!

Isn't this a fun tub filler?

After much hemming and hawing, I decided to go with a single long sink, rather than 2 separate sinks.  There wasn't quite enough room for two sinks, and even if they were crammed in, there wouldn't be much counter space.  This undermount sink is plenty long for two people to brush their teeth without spitting on each other.

The vanity has lots of storage.  Even the centre part can be used for storage, thanks to some clever design.

The side shelves provide lots of storage for tall things.

This faucet is *not* a puking faucet like all the others.  I think it looks like a baleen whale.

The wall sconces are giant diamonds.  I have no idea how to change the lightbulb on these things so hopefully they never burn out.

An invisible, yet awesome addition to any bath reno - heated floors.

A free-standing armoire thing has the same counter top as the vanity.  I think it's really pretty.

On the bottom, I store linens.

The middle compartments are good for things like nail polish.

And on top, I have ... Kiehl's.  And some other stuff.  I need to put more stuff in here.  Maybe more Kiehl's.

And finally, the most girly shower you can imagine!

Right down to the shower door knob.

Rex says it's like being in a disco ball ... and he'd like to come out please.

So there it is, another reno in the books.  There is nothing left in this little house to reno.  No original parts are left.  No mas, fini, ca c'est tout!  Except the back deck.  Maybe in the spring, I can have that re-done.  And the dogs said they want a pool.  Just a small, above-ground one so they can stay in shape.  

The 2011 Reveal Part 4 - Master Bedroom

And here we are, the penultimate reveal.  The impetus for this year's renovation was a desire for a bigger bathroom.  In order for this to happen, I needed to annex some space from the bedroom.  Let us revisit what the bedroom looked like when I moved in.

Let the demo begin!!!  And you know, while we have this wall down, we might as well ...

Despite losing about 5' of depth, the bedroom is still plenty large.  A de-flocked ceiling and crown moulding make it look all grown-up.  And I love my mini-chandelier.  I'm all about the lighting, yo.

The puny walk-in closet was expropriated for the bathroom.  Not to worry, nothing some built-ins can't address!

The window is covered in a lovely Silhouette blind.  Aside from being really pretty, it's on remote control!  Yes, whilst lying in the comfort of my own bed, I can wile away the hours making the blinds go up and down. Until the dogs get impatient and start jumping on me.  Maybe they're jealous 'cause I won't let them play with the blinds?

I have a section just for denim ... and look how much more room there is!  I need more denim - stat!  To the outlet malls ... and beyond!

Ah, shoe heaven.

Some shoes are just a little prettier than the others.

Little dresses live here.

Tons of room for bags.

Now this is quite clever.  Looks like a regular two-level closet.

But the top rack pulls down!  This is excellent for not-so-tall people.

There's tons of room in the built-ins, so I see some serious shopping in my future.  Not that I enjoy shopping, you know, but I am obligated to fill this rather massive closet.  It looks funny so bare.  :-)

The 2011 Reveal Part 3 - Office

Ah, the joys of working from home!  Especially now that I have a very spacious home office!  This is the third bedroom, and it gets excellent morning light through the east-facing window.

When I moved in, it was a dark red.

The combination of the dark red walls and the pink/peach carpet was ... not good.

The office got a fresh coat of paint, new carpet. a new light fixture (which is a smaller version of the metal ball that I have in my kitchen) and new wooden shutters.

I added lots of bookshelves.  I love my books - they are the one thing that I don't recycle immediately.

The dogs are alarmed.  You're not going to recycle *us*, are you?

Lou says "Nah, then who will she stalk with all those cameras?  Man, my chin is itchy."

I need some art work for this room, as well as the guest room.  I have all these ideas of shooting black and white panoramic landscapes and framing them in black frames with crisp white beveled mats but I have a feeling that one day, I'll just wander down to Ikea and get some pre-framed "art".  'Cause I'm trashy like that. :-)

The 2011 Reveal Part 2 - Laundry Room

The room that delights me the most is my new laundry room.  Previously, it was a store-all room, wedged between the guest bathroom and the bedroom that is now my office.

With a little bit of plumbing and electrical, it is now home to my new laundry pair.  Meet the girls!

I never thought I would enjoy doing laundry as much as I do now.  Having the laundry room on the floor with the bedrooms is dreamy.  I actively search for things to wash.

A second purpose for this room is to store the Craft Corner of Shame.  These are the supplies collected over the years, the remnants from a long series of failed arts and crafts projects.

Here it is, looking neat and tidy.

And here is The Craft Corner of Shame in all its glory!

There's even enough room for a little table and my old-school sewing machine.

In the interest of recycling, I managed to find a home for a light fixture that was displaced from downstairs.  

And again, I've allowed a bit of colour into my house.  This one is a brighter acid green than the bathroom, and it's a very cheery place to do laundry.  The flooring is the same large tile that looks like hardwood.  A new wooden shutter and a fun light fixture and voila! It's a very happy place to do laundry.

The 2011 Reveal Part 1 - Guest Bedroom and Bathroom

Ah, the guest bedroom.  When I bought the house, it was painted an alarming orange.

This orange was the first thing to go when I moved in, but the room still looked shabby.  Since all the other rooms were getting something, I decided that the guest room should get at least a little lipstick.  In addition to new carpet (which the upper floor got, to replace the terrifying pink shag), the room got a fresh coat of paint, a new light fixture, and wooden shutters.

Lou's bed, aka my Montauk overstuffed chair, has found a home in the guest bedroom.  Lou still pops in for a nap from time to time.

The guest bathroom, like the rest of the original house, was blah.  Builder's standard laminate countertop, faux brass booby lights, slippery tile floors, and an uninspired colour palette.

Oh, and this scary mirror/door thing on the shower.

This room was pretty much gutted, though we left the plumbing in its original places.  The flooring is now a large, dark brown tile that looks a lot like the hardwood that's downstairs.  The walls were painted a soft green (Colour!  In my house!!!), and some blingy wall sconces flank the mirror above the  new vanity with a pretty quartz top.

My obsession with puking faucets continues.

The shower/tub was redone with a super-deep tub and some fancy tile work to jazz up the oversized subway tiles.

It's now a cute, cozy guest bath.  I'm glad I opted to give it a facelift.