Bathroom Progress

I finally got some photos of the bathroom.

I happened to stop at the house in the afternoon while my dad was busy working on it.

I was able to help him out with some of the renovations.

Ok, so really I stood on the stepladder 

and held the measuring tape so he could measure the width of the ceiling.

We have some insulation up.

And the window that overlooked the laundry room has been closed off

and framed out.

And we have new electric wires run

for outlets and light switches.

The pipe in the corner has also been framed out.

We will be losing some ceiling height in the bathroom-

it will only be about 8'2" in there.

The ceiling will basically drop down to the underside of the new 2x4 in the photo.

There were never any exhaust fans in the bathrooms

so we're adding those and that requires venting them to the outside.

And that required a loss of some ceiling height.

Not a big deal in the bathroom.

The bathroom downstairs used to be some kind of porch in the past.

You can see the old transom above the doorway. 

I would love to be able to restore the transom somehow,

like with a stained glass window that doesn't open.

But currently, the kitchen ceiling comes down over the opposite side of the transom

and we are nowhere near ready to do the work to raise the kitchen ceiling to its former glory.

I'm hoping when we are redoing the kitchen, perhaps we can revisit the transom then.

Our bathroom sink will be located where the other sink was which is to the left in this photo.

The door will be switched to swing open on the other side

so it won't interfere with the sink.

I measured the spot for the shower stall, 

and I don't think a 42"x42" base is going to work.  

So it's back to the drawing board for that.

It doesn't look like much has been done here, 

but it has.

I can't wait for the finished product!

Whatcha Got Cookin?

This is the latch for the transom window.

It was completely covered with paint

before I tapped it with a hammer to loosen it enough to turn it

the way it's supposed to be turned.

I needed to get all that paint off,

so I decided to try out a pretty simple way to get paint off of hardware.

Use a crockpot.

I put a request out amongst my friends on social media

to see if anyone had an old crockpot they were willing to part with

(cooking items with lead paint makes the crockpot unusable for food items)

Luckily, a friend of mine had an old one that she had been trying to get rid of

and dropped it off.

So, you put in warm water and some dish detergent

(some say about 2 Tbsp, but I just squirt until I'm satisfied)

put your hardware in

and cook it on low overnight.

And when you're done, 

you have totally clean hardware

without the use of chemicals.

Once I've gotten the trim finished, 

I'll be putting the latch back on.

Open Sesame

The other night I was working on taking down curtain rod brackets

(there were 6 on the door)

and I also started messing with the hardware on the transom window.

I let my hubby know that I was able to get the latch to move

(it's caked in years and years of paint).

That's all I wanted to do at that point, 

but he insisted on trying to open the window.

Luckily, it opened with minimal use of a hammer

and no shattering of glass.

This weekend we will be painting

and hopefully finally being able to finish decorating for Christmas.

I just can't wait to be finished with drywall spackle dust for a while.

 

The Red Door

This is the front of our house.

I want you to take special note of the front door.

In case you can't tell where it is,

it's on the left- the only thing without black shutters.

While you're checking it out, 

take notice of the blank white area above the glass on the storm door.

That's where the transom window was/is.

I was pretty bummed out thinking 

that the transom was gone and covered up.

So imagine my excitement 

when my husband figured out 

there was just a board tacked over the outside of the window.

Still, the door isn't very attractive.

It was too plain.

The house had zero curb appeal,

so I opted to go bold.

I went red.

This is the final color

and the screen door has been removed.

I still need to sand and paint the trim, 

but I'm loving the red door.

My husband, who actually doubted me,

likes the red door.

The neighbors like it, I think.

My dad hates it.

Surprisingly, 

red doors carry some meaning.

Protection 

 In the Old Testament in Exodus chapter 12, God tells the Israelites 

to slaughter a lamb on the 14th day of the month at twilight,

and smear the blood of the lamb on the top and sides of the doors.

This same night, the Angel of Death 

would go through Egypt killing every first born male,

but the Angel would pass over those homes with blood on the door

sparing the first born.

Today many churches have red painted doors to signify this covenant 

between God and the Israelites

and also as a symbol of the blood Jesus shed.

Safety

During the Civil War, 

homes that were a part of the Underground Railroad

often painted their front doors red to let escaped slaves know it was a place of refuge.

It was also use as a sign to weary travelers

that the dwelling offered a comfortable place to stay.

Luck and Energy

The Chinese consider red to be a lucky color

and paint their front doors red at the start of their new year.

In Feng Shui practices, a red door signifies the "mouth" of the home

which allows chi ("life's breath" or the energy that binds life together)

 to be drawn inside  

So, seems my choice of color has nothing but positive meanings behind it!