House Projects

This first one is a small project, but we finally got hardware on our kitchen cabinets and drawers! And so far I’ve learned that any house project, large or small, will come with stress and frustrations. I got a jig and measured out all our holes so everything was lined up and level. However, one pull on the drawer to the right of the oven was visibly not level after drilling the hole and adding the pull. That involved more drilling, covering a hole, etc. It’s not noticeable at all, likely thanks to the dark cabinets, but was definitely a frustration. All in all, we are happy with how they look and the level of function they add to the kitchen. 

The next project was transforming our powder room from a blank boring space to something with more interest and personality. We went a little more bold since it’s a bathroom and you can get away with something like that in a bathroom. Here is the “before”. 

We had wallpaper samples up for months and finally settled on this print with the trees and loons. My first step was penciling in the lines so everything was level. I ended up having to erase my original box molding lines and move them up higher since the original lines intersected with the sink. If I ever do something like this in another bathroom, I’ll start my lines on the sink side, not on the blank wall. 

I bought a miter saw for this project and taught myself how to use it so I could cut the chair rail and box molding pieces. The trim pieces I bought were PVC, not wood. It was nice because they were lighter, but my nail gun kept blowing through them, which very much annoyed me. After getting the chair rail up, I had Andy nail in the box molding because I had become pretty irritated with the process.

The next step caulking and filling all the nail holes. Tedious, but necessary to make it look good. Then I painted the trim blue. After that, it was wallpaper time - something I’ve also never done before. This was a slow process for me and this little room took me an entire day. 

Finally, the fun part: adding the finishing touches like a new mirror and little dresser for storage of things like toilet paper, toilet cleaner, plunger, etc. 

There are no windows in this room, so I couldn’t take these photos in natural light. As a result, I don’t feel like the colors in the photos truly match what it looks like in person. But close enough, I guess. I think I still need some kind of artwork on the main wall opposite the door, but it has to be just right and not too busy since I don’t want it competing with the wallpaper. I’m going to be patient and wait until I find it before hanging anything in that space.

Overall, I’m happy with how this bathroom turned out and that I learned some new skills in the process. It’s definitely not perfect, but our house was built by professionals, and it’s not perfect either. So I’ll give myself some grace.