Decorative Tile Border

Completed the decorative tile border for this wall! Yah!!!! Obviously I still have to grout and seal.... and then there's those other pesky walls to work on..... but doesn't this one look just great?!!! I'm so excited. The bathroom is almost usable again!!! Oh, and don't be disappointed if I stop posting pictures about the bathroom. I think I'd like the next picture I post to be of a finished room.... that way the effect will be more dramatic!

More tiling.... and a little plumbing....

I finished the tiling on the floor and also tiled the wall behind the toilet. Daniel worked on getting one of the new faucets in. Look how perty it is!

Blizzard!!!

Pictures just don't do this blizzard justice! These were taken when the snowfall became calm and peaceful. Earlier in the day the wind was gusting so bad that I could barely see down the street. Our neighborhood still has not been plowed so I don't think I'll be going anywhere!





Took a day off from working on the bathroom. Aaahhhh.... boy was that nice! I did prime the cabinet doors, however. (That was easy.... so it doesn't count as work!)

Tiling the floor....

I got about 75% of the floor tile done today. Whew! I decided to create an inlay design which requires the corner to be cut off of opposite corners of every single tile. Lots of cutting!!!! Tomorrow I will be taking a day off.

Paint Is Finished!

Three coats of paint and that portion of the remodel is finished! Do you notice how the vanity top is reflecting the brown walls and so it looks more brown that it did before? I didn't anticipate that but I'm liking it! In the first picture of the vanity top it looks almost gray. Fascinating! I also got the hardibacker board in.... that's a special cement board that goes under the tile. Tomorrow I will start tiling! Stay tuned!

First coat of paint

Ripped out the carpet today and removed the baseboards. Also got the first coat of paint on. I only painted half the walls because the lower half will be tile.



Check out the disaster zone that is our bedroom. Yikes!

Master Bathroom Remodel

I'm finally tackling the master bathroom! Right now our bedroom looks like a war zone because of all of this mess which had to be moved:



Prepped the room for destruction.... or destroyed the room for preparation.....


Whew! Got the new granite top in. Not as difficult as we thought it would be. Yah Home Depot for offering granite counter tops at a third the price!


Stay tuned this week for daily updates on my progress!

Catch a Tiger by the Toe....

The Clymer household had quite the little adventure today. Tiger escaped through the back door about 11:30 this morning. Normally we chase him down, but this time we decided to let him wander off and we figured he would wander back after a few hours when he started to get hungry or tired.

After four hours of not seeing him, we started getting worried. We walked around the block calling, "Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!", but still no Tiger.

We talked to someone down the street who told us they had seen a little dog chasing an orange cat up the street several hours earlier. So we went in the direction they had pointed and called out to him, but still no Tiger.

We started getting worried as each hour passed by because it was getting cooler, the sun was setting, and Tiger had not eaten since he left (normally at this point he's had a couple of feedings). Nor had he napped. I mean, all cats start getting tired after being awake for six hours straight. That's right. Six hours. Six hours and still no Tiger.

Finally we decided to start knocking on people's doors in the direction of his last sighting. As we approached the third house down from us, we could hear large dogs barking incessantly in the backyard. We talked to the owners and they said they had in fact seen an orange cat on their fence earlier in the day and their dogs had been barking at it. As the woman checked to see if the cat was still there, we waited on the front porch. During her absence, we could hear the non stop barking of the dogs escalate into a much more aggressive, attack-style barking and it seemed obvious to us that there was definitely something in the backyard that they were barking at. The woman came back and said, "Yes, he's back there on the fence. You can come and get him." While the woman and Daniel held their two large German Shepherds by the collars, I slowly and calmly approached a completely terrified and terrorized Tiger sitting paralyzed on the top of the fence.... puffed fur,.... puffed tail,.... ears back,..... with a constant low growl in his voice. The poor thing. He seemed very relieved to see me and stood up just as I got to him. I took him in my arms and walked quickly past the dogs.... who mind you were still barking their heads off.

Poor Tiger. He had probably been sitting paralyzed with fear on that fence top for 5 hours straight. We're so glad he's home now. Hopefully after such a terrifying ordeal, he will be a little less inclined to try and get outside.

Twisted Grandma Pretzels Product Photography

This week I've been working on some product photography for a company called Twisted Grandma Pretzels. Product photography is a new arena I'd like to get into, but I'm having the hardest time making connections with new start up businesses that may need my services. If anyone out there is looking for some product photography, or knows of a start up business that could use my services, please pass along my info!

Anyways.... this pretzel company I did photos for is really amazing. It's run by a young woman who took her grandmother's pretzel recipe and has made a business from it. The products are all super yummy and you can check out her site here: http://www.twistedgrandma.com/.

To Re-Tub or Not to Re-Tub....

I would really like to remodel our master bathroom. I know I'm fully capable of any tiling job, and repainting the vanity, and putting in a new vanity top..... however, I'm not sure if I can handle putting in a new tub. No.... a new tub is not essential. However, if ever we were to replace the tub, it would be BEFORE, not AFTER putting in tile.

Ripping out the tub would involve some plumbing work, some destruction of the tub and the three attached shower walls; and installing a jetted tub would include electrical work. On top of all that, if I need to build a frame for the new tub, I would have some moderate construction work as well.

Am I crazy to even attempt this feat? I'm beginning to think so. I'm very fearful that I will begin the project and I won't be able to finish it, and I will have to shell out several thousand dollars for someone to come in and fix my mess. Yes... I do believe that that is a likely scenario.

Sigh.... what to do? what to do?