#319...cabana & landscape progress (part four)

Our pottery cabana is nearing completion, and we are having some landscaping done, to make our yard worthy of our pretty cabana.

First, we had new sod laid. We decided that we wanted a combination of gravel and large pavers and cement border to fill the back portion of our yard, since we want to put seating back there, and it has poor drainage.

Tyler cut cardboard templates of a random cement paver path he wanted to make to connect the cabana to the existing sun deck pad where the chaise lounges sit.

The cement contractors came and built all of the wood forms to lay the cement pavers and borders.

Here is the laid cement. Next we have to get the gravel and finish the skirting on the cabana deck.

We also had a cement floor laid in the cabana. The way they draped the room in plastic to protect the walls and decking made it look like a scene from Dexter.

We also moved our grill under the loft stairs onto paver/gravel

In addition to the cement hardscape project, we have been doing some container planting. We are planning to use a multitude of terra cota pots in the back gravel area of the yard. We bought the pots at Home Depot.

I've had this cactus for about two years. It blooms every spring. We moved it to this bigger pot in hopes that it will get bigger.

My friend Ashley gave me a clipping of this pencil cactus, which we believe is the same plant that I admired at this house.

We usually line these yellow chairs up along one side of the pool. The look sort of reminds me of a lifeguard station. I bought the white ceramic garden stool at Ross for $30 this week. Tyler thinks it wrecks the symmetry of the chairs, so I may be using it elsewhere. We have been working so hard on the yard because we are getting ready to have my Mom's retirement party out there at the end of April. The upcoming party and nice spring weather have been great motivation to finish up the cabana and backyard. We're almost there..............

#318...lisa's nursery

My good friend Lisa is about to have her first child. Lisa's family is from Trinidad, and her whole house has a beachy vibe to it, and she wanted the same feel in her nursery. I did a small eboard for Lisa to help her with some  textiles and furniture pieces that she needed to bring her room together.

....and here is the finished nursery, awaiting its little arrival

I made the window pelmets from burlap, and added white twill tape for trim. I had some sea shell disc slices leftover from a project a few years ago, and they gave Lisa's pelmets some personality. I made Lisa's fishy quilt and chair pillow from Heather Bailey's mendocino line of fabrics (which sadly, is not in production anymore). Lisa's mom found the cute fish lamp at HomeGoods, and the burlap shade was the inspiration for the pelmets.

#317...hello kitty

This is my 12 year old kitty Gig'em. Recently, he decided that he wanted a bathroom remodel of his very own. He used to have a very nice box built into, and completely hidden under the corner bench in our kitchen, that he loved and used for years. For some reason, he decided that it was no longer good enough for him and wanted something bigger and better.

To oblige him, we got him a big Booda box, which was way too big to fit in the spot his old box went, so we had to move it to a new locale.

We have a small hallway between the two bedrooms in our bungalow. This bathroom is off of the hallway. It is really awkward to get a picture of it, because it is so small and has so many doorways. Here is my best attempt.

There are some built-in shelves on the left side, so we moved the Booda box into the bottom nook. It is pretty unsightly.

I decided to make a curtain to try to hide the box a bit....although weirdly, I think my curtain may actually draw more attention to the box. (Maybe I'm just not used to it yet.) I'm less than thrilled with this situation, but as you can imagine, it is very important that the cat likes and uses his box. So, this is what I am stuck with until he decides he wants something else.

#316...room redo for avery

My client Traci wanted some help with a few things to pull together her daughter Avery's room. I thought we could focus on the dresser area, and make it a bigger statement wall for the room. Here is Avery's dresser wall before.

...and here it is after we hung a gallery grouping of artwork and added a new lamp.

I made a silhouette cut out of Avery for her wall, and it sort of became the centerpiece of the artwork grouping. I got the lamp at the thrift shop, and it looked like this before..........

It is wearing the Jonsbo shade from Ikea. Traci wanted to add some purple into Avery's room, so I sprayed the lamp purple and hand painted some feathery dandelion like flowers on it....and here it is after.

#315...mike & kelly's master bath makeover

When my brother Mike, and sister-in-law Kelly bought their 1979 ranch style home in San Antonio, the master bath looked like this.

It had mauve wallpaper with border and a worn out faux marble sink top. They wanted to update the bathroom without changing any of the plumbing placement or flooring.

First, they stripped the wallpaper. Tyler and I went for a weekend in January to help them replace the sink top.

Next, the plumbing got disconnected from the sinks, and capped.

The cabinet base got a few coats of ivory paint. We created a counter top from a piece of trimmed birch plywood. I stained it the warm walnut color, and finished it with teak oil. We also added the glass tile backsplash around the sink to cover some messy wallboard.

We cut holes in the countertop for two glass bowl sinks and stick style faucets. Mike and Kelly finished painting the room, and hung new mirrors, and this past weekend I got some pictures of the finished vanity.

You can see a glimpse of the shower in this picture, which also got remodeled. Mike and Kelly still need to install the shower glass door before it is totally complete, so I could not photo it yet.

#314...match day makeover

I spent St. Patrick's Day in San Antonio celebrating Match Day with my sister-in-law Kelly, who is about to graduate from medical school in May. She and my brother Mike are going to be moving to Portland, Oregan for Kelly's pediatric residency. Yesterday evening, I started helping stage their house in San Antonio that they are going to sell very soon. I worked a little on their patio area above. I put a fresh coat of chocolate colored paint on the wooden ledge built into the end of their patio. I made the green retro print cushion to give the bench some personality, and we added the red pots with spring flowers. Hopefully, their house will sell quickly, and they will be on to their new adventure!

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#313...small wheelie cabinet

I bought this cabinet at the Goodwill for $15

I gave it a few coats of paint,

and some new hinges and ring pulls......and added some wheels.

#312...refreshed chaises

After my Ikea hacker feature on Friday, I was feeling love for my Ikea possessions, and decided to give my outdoor chaise lounges some TLC. I have owned two of the Applaro chaise lounges from Ikea for six years. They are made of acacia wood, which must be similar to a teak hardwood, because they have held up unbelievably well in our hot, humid climate. Similar to teak, with age they turned a bland grayish color, and were not much to look at.

chaise before

Using my orbital sander and some 60 grit sandpaper, I lightly sanded the chairs.

This picture shows the sanded portion on the bottom and unsanded up top. After sanding, I decided to try some Ipe oil on the chairs, which we have a gallon of from our cabana project. I applied the oil with a natural bristle brush.

I am really pleased with the refreshed look of the chairs. They look better than they did when I bought them.

#311...ikea hacker press

Thanks to a friendly blog commenter, I was alerted to the fact that Ikea hacker posted pics of my bathroom remodel today.....see it here!  It is so odd, because I sent the photos to them a year ago, when I finished the bathroom. Are there really that many people hacking Ikea stuff that they are booked with content a year in advance? Oh well....it is cool to get props for my hack, and I'm glad I did not miss it. We are currently in the process of hacking another Ikea sink for our second bathroom....Yay for Ikea!