Saturday, March 8, 2008

Growing Pains

Doing a home improvement project is like growing out your bangs: they both look worse before they look better.

This is the bathroom yesterday morning:

And this is the bathroom this afternoon, after a visit from the dry waller, some quality time with the tile saw, and several hours of crawling around on the floor and cursing silently (okay, quietly):

Slow but noticeable improvement. The drywall patch still needs priming, painting, and tile. The floor needs grouting and sealing, and another trip to Home Depot for baseboards is in order. But the ugly yellow sheet vinyl (and some very scary stuff that was stuck to it) is now history. I would be ecstatic if I weren't so tired. Tiling always wears me out. I think it's the crawling around on the floor and getting up and down a thousand times with heavy pieces of tile. But with a couple of tiling jobs under my belt, I was confident enough to try something a little more difficult and laid this tile on the diagonal, instead of in straight lines. I really like the result. Much more interesting. It's kind of like quilting, without all the sewing.

19 comments:

dale-harriet said...

VERY nice - and an inspiration. I'm going to tackle my own biffy as a spring project (you think YOURS was bad? I hear your Ugly Biffy and raise you.....) Yep - truly an inspiration. Having seen yours, in the words of the inimitable train, "I think I can, I think *I* can!"

Sunflowerfairy said...

WOW! Beautiful job!

Love the fact that you made them diamonds instead of squares. (Know what I mean?)

Lydee said...

WOW! I love the tile on the diagonal. WOW! I can't believe you did that on your own. It looks awesome, and you deserve something special after all that work. :-)

Tammy said...

Looks good. I really like the diagonal tile. You are most definitely a woman of my talents!

Viktoria said...

Wow! It looks great!

Angelika said...

Remind me to send you a plane ticket if I ever own a house and need help in that department. I am amazed.

Melissa Morgan-Oakes said...

This is the one thing I've not yet done that I really need to do. I have plans - three bathrooms worth.

Bea said...

Wow, great job! As a fellow DIY tiler, I know how tough it is, go take a nice hot bath and soak those muscle aches away!

Anonymous said...

Color me very, very impressed. That is gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

Laying the tile on the diagonal was a good choice. It will make the little bathroom look bigger and it is more interesting. I get dizzy getting up and down too. I think it means I need to eat chocolate or candy or ice-cream. I forget.

punkin said...

Impressive!

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Kim said...

Bravo! Give yourself a huge pat on the back! What a great job! Looks fabulous. I can't say how impressed I am. Wow!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is great! I've done a lot of stuff but never tile - kinda scares me. What sort of yarny bribe would get you to MI for a little tile work?

Patty said...

I'd hire ya! Great job and do take bea up on the hot tub idea. It sounds as though you really deserve it!

...Sarah said...

You did that yourself?! What a great looking job!

a friend to knit with said...

it looks fabulous.
and i bet it feels like you have a brand new house.
i love how just small changes can bring a room to life.

Dr. Steph said...

It looks great. I'm still in the banging off tile phase (a wallpaper removal plan turned into a complete redo--except the tub thank fsm).

Your work is getting me motivated again!

Romi said...

It looks fabulous!