mini makeover

Five years ago we moved into our current home, inheriting a number of lovely "gifts with purchase," so to speak. Some things I simply could not abide and was driven to change immediately, and others--though I didn't like them--got pushed to the bottom of the to-do list until, sadly, I guess I became used to them and almost forget that I wanted to change them.

My bathroom shower curtain was one such item. Southwest-style prints have never been a favorite of mine, but I guess the fact that it was a pretty shade of red and I happened to have matching towels made it somehow tolerable, or at least not annoying enough to move up on the priority list.

I'm not sure what first inspired my desire for a black-and-white shower curtain, but I had a vision in my head of what I wanted. One day while reading a home improvement post by blogger friend Lee in Pennsylvania, I saw the shower curtain that was in my head! I posted a comment about the irony of it all, praising her for her good taste. She quickly emailed me to say that she had made hers from a table cloth she purchased at T J Maxx, and that she had an extra one I could buy from her for a mere $15! Woo hoo! One step closer to getting rid of Southwest kitsch.

Fast forward about four months. The table cloth had been sitting on my sewing table, waiting for me to find the time to transform it. One afternoon after work I decided that there's no time like the present, and I sat down and made myself a shower curtain!

The table cloth was not quite large enough on its own, so I added a weighted hem in solid black. I decided to tie grosgrain ribbon in single-looped bows at the top of each shower ring.

Remember my powder room re-do last March? I saved the rather scary hardware (towel bar and switch plate cover) and got out my favorite transformation tool: black spray paint.

I haven't hung the "new" towel bar yet, but you can see here the lovely one I'm replacing. Do you know of anyone with a log cabin who would like to decorate with a hunting motif? Perhaps the more pressing question is, "Why in the world didn't I replace this hideous thing sooner?!"

The finishing touches, and perhaps the final impetus that got this project in motion came as birthday presents last March. Susan gave me these cute ceramic canisters for Q-tips and cotton balls,

and Michelle brought me (among other things) one of the darling black-and-white boxes of Puffs I had coveted after seeing them on her blog. I have alerted each of my family members that I will NOT be throwing away this box, but re-filling it.

See the wonders of blogging? Table cloth from T J Maxx: $15. Black fabric on sale at Hancock's: $5. Twelve yards of black grosgrain ribbon: $12. Sending the Southwest to Goodwill: Priceless.

the big reveal!

I had hoped to post my bathroom makeover photos yesterday, but a nasty migraine sent me to bed for the afternoon. I can't wait to show you what we accomplished during Susan's and Fred's brief visit!

We decided to paint right over the existing wallpaper--not always the best idea, but two of the bathroom's walls had already been painted over by the previous homeowner, and time was also a consideration, so we forged ahead. Susan painted the room while I worked downstairs sewing the window treatment from the beautiful silk remnant she brought. Look at this fabulous silk ball fringe to be used as trim!

Susan recommends always painting the ceiling the same color as the wall, and I have never been disappointed when doing so. (It also makes cutting in much easier!)

Once the base color was on the wall, we marked it for tone-on-tone striping with an ingenious tool Fred devised for doing so. This photo doesn't really show the tool, but it's a wooden template of sorts that marks 10" stripes on the wall (with the assistance of a level).

After marking the lines in light pencil it's time for the blue painter's tape to go up. We masked off the lines that were going to be painted in a slightly darker (and flat finish) shade. The base coat of paint is an eggshell finish.

The fun part is taking off the blue tape to reveal the crisp, straight stripes. We laughed at this huge gob of tape amassed in the garbage can.

No more blue tape!

I almost forgot to mention that we decided to paint--yes, I said paint--the floor. We put a coat of primer over the linoleum, then a lighter base coat of color. Next, Susan used a plastic bag to do a "faux finish" on the floor. We chose the color from the floor rug she brought, which ties the wall color with the floor. (Note our ingenious use of Glad Press 'n Seal wrap to cap off the exposed sink pipe!)

Thankfully, the blizzard lasted only one day and we were able to get out on Friday for a trip to one of our favorite stores: TJMaxx/HomeGoods. Here we found several great accessories, including a really cute glass-front chest to hang above the toilet. We weren't really looking for one, but when we saw it we knew it was the perfect thing.

This one's for you, Jill. I actually remembered to snap this SP after our successful HomeGoods run.

And now--drum roll, please--Ta Dum!

Now for the fun part--accessorizing! Once the new sink and vanity was installed and the mirror, valance, and chest hung, Susan began her finishing touches. She has such an eye for and attention to detail. She brought some new things and scavenged around the house for a few existing items to use. Here's a good look at the HomeGoods chest, filled with rolled aqua towels we found on the clearance aisle of the same store (the bottom shelf has rolls of toilet paper--who knew they could be so cute!):

One of my favorite things is this collection of framed prints that Fred gave me. They are photographs of old pressed botanical samples. Some of them date back to the 1800's! He did a beautiful job of photographing them--they look almost dimensional in their pressed glass frames, and I like how the wall shows through like a "mat."

I would never have thought to put cute things on the back of my toilet! Look at these monogrammed soaps in two different shapes in this cute cute glass apothecary jar.

Here's a closer look at the detail above the wall chest. She brought the cute round mirror from her store and pilfered the books and fleur de lis from my dining room bookcase. I still don't know how she managed to get all of this stuff in her suitcases on the way here!

New light fixture, made even better because it was only $26.99 at Home Depot. It sure beats the Texaco bathroom look of the old one.

A little of the old (reframed) to mix in with the new: a photo of Emily and I when she was a baby. I had it hanging in here before, only in a different frame.

No detail was left unattended to. Susan bought new switch plates, faucet, a new towel bar, hook, and toilet paper holder. She even brought a fragrance diffuser (from her store) that's not only in a cute square bottle, but also in one of my favorite scents--grapefruit. We found a cute china casserole lid among my things (a gift from Susan in the past) to hang above the towel hook.

The project took a little longer than we had anticipated (we worked until about 9 p.m. on Saturday night and they were scheduled to leave Sunday morning) but it sure was satisfying. What a wonderous gift of love to me! Their generosity is overwhelming--not just the money spent on the project, but their time, as well. That is probably the best part of the gift--having the entire project finished in such a relatively short time. It's really fun to work hard with people you love, and even more fun when the project is something you've been wanting to do since well, FOREVER.

The best part? Now I'm no longer embarrassed to let people use my powder bath--in fact, I might even encourage them to do so! This project has been such a morale boost to me, now I know why all those people on Extreme Makeover, Home Edition cry when they see the finished result. Thank you, thank you, thank you dear Susan and Fred. You're wonderful and I love you both!

Extreme Home Makeover: Powder Room Edition

My sister Susan and I have birthdays one day (and fourteen years) apart. This year she and her husband Fred came for a visit so we could celebrate together. Several weeks ago she told me that for my birthday she wanted to give me a "powder room makeover." Sweet! I was excited as she told me of various color ideas and fabric remnants she had for the window, etc.

Now, unless you've actually been in my powder room, and unless you know you know the extent of my designer sister's talent and vision, you might not realize just how exciting a prospect this was for me. And let me tell you, you've got to have some imagination when you're starting with this:

Note the marbled Formica countertop with flesh-colored tile backsplash. (The monogrammed guest towels--a prior gift from Susan's store--are currently the only thing cute in the bathroom).

Don't overlook the beautiful original 1959 retro light fixture and circa 1980 mauve and blue floral wall paper:

You've got to love the mauve accents on the cupboard doors:

But my most favorite part is the original linoleum flooring--yes, I have cleaned it many times with many different products. The end result is always this lovely, inviting shade of dingy tan:

Now, when Susan said "makeover," I had in mind paint, maybe a new light fixture, and a cute window treatment. I was excited by the prospect. My sister, however, had much bigger plans.

Midway through Day 1, this is what the room looked like:

And this is what Susan and I found on the driveway after a trip to Home Depot (her third for the day):

Jump ahead to the end of Day 2, after working all day today while being snowed in (in case you haven't heard, Denver was hit by a blizzard):

I can hardly wait to see what tomorrow will bring--I'll keep you posted! If birthdays are this good then I don't mind getting older.

over the river and through the woods

After a fun-filled holiday week with the girls at home and my brother and his family for Thanksgiving, I hastily packed and fly off to Pennsylvania to help Susan with Christmas set-ups for her wealthy interior design clients. I arrived in the City of Brotherly Love late Sunday night. Poor Susan and Fred had been driving all day in heavy traffic, returning from Jessie's house in North Carolina. As they pulled into the airport to pick me up, however, Fred's car--which had just had a new battery installed last week--died. Wouldn't move. Couldn't roll up the window. Made everyone behind him in the parking garage irritated and inclined to use lewd gestures.

It was 11 p.m. and we were stranded at the airport. This is our sad-airport-face picture.

Approximately three-and-a-half hours later we made it to Susan's house--she and I via taxi, and poor Fred with the tow-truck driver for whom he had waited three hours. Great start to a very busy week.

For a recap of our daily adventures, see Susan's blog. We're attempting to post about our decorating adventures, but thus far have been so exhausted every night that we fall into bed for our 4-5 hours of sleep with nary a moment to post.

Stay tuned.

girls just wanna have fun

About a year and a half ago, I decided to reclaim my passion for scrapbooking and start a "club" of sorts with some of my friends. My original idea was to have it be sort of like a book club, only instead of assigned reading, we would have assigned projects we would work on and share throughout the year.


Well, the assigned project part never really took off, but I have been getting together with my friends on a regular basis--every four to six weeks--at our favorite local Crop Shop. I look forward to these nights, as some of the friends in the group don't live close by, and this is one of the few times I get to see and spend time with them. We usually get dinner at the nearby Chipotle, and have a typical scrapper's stash of plentiful diet drinks and M&Ms.


This is me with my friend Barbie, who teaches classes at the Crop Shop and is our "in" to scheduling private crop nights! She is one of the most cheerful people I know and always has that pretty sparkle in her eyes.

This is me with my dear friend Linda, who I have known for more than eighteen years. She was a newcomer to our gathering, and had to be convinced of the intrinsic value of self-portraiture. She was a good sport, however, and favored me with this one. I hope we can convince her to be a regular.

Melissa, a long-timer, was not feeling photogenic, but humored me as I tried to snap a group shot. I still need practice with larger self-portrait groups, as evidenced by the missing part of her head below:We didn't stay as late as we sometimes do (we have been known to stay as late as 2 or 3 a.m.), and I didn't really accomplish as much as I had hoped to this time, but I realized that a large part of the enjoyment of this monthly get-together is the friend therapy. I also realized, with much gratitude, that I have incredible friends. The three who attended with me last night (as well as Janice, the one who wasn't able to make it) are all women I could count on for anything--the kind you know in your heart would do anything for you. How many of those kind of friends should one person be allowed to have?

I'm a pretty lucky girl.

living in her wake

I often marvel at my good fortune in having Susan for my sister. How is that I, of all people, was chosen to share a common gene pool with her--only the most talented, generous, ingenious, and creative person I have ever known! Anything unusual, trendy, beautiful, or colorful in my house or wardrobe I can pretty much chalk up to her uncommon generosity and/or brilliantly creative mind.

She has her own interior design firm and retail store in Pennsylvania (well worth the trip, if you're ever near Yardley, PA) and occasionally does projects for out-of-state clients. In the past she has hired me to help out with projects in her home state, as well as in Charleston, SC, Nantucket, MA, and most recently my home town of Lakewood, CO.

Susan's visits, however, are not what you'd call relaxing for her. Last week we worked nearly 30 hours in three days, one night working late and then having a slumber party. Somehow, working with Susan doesn't seem so much like work--it's just fun to spend time together and learn from her (and she pays generously--or gets her clients to, anyway). Here's a sample of one of the rooms she's putting together for her client's daughter:

I want this polka-dotted rug for Emily's dorm room!

I'm always sad when it's time to part ways--even though I may be a little tired. Living in Susan's wake is one good place to be.