Carty is Done!

I've been really busy this weekend. I spent most of the weekend in the bathroom. No, not like that. Gross. I've been installing Sir Cartwright (whose name officially has been changed to Carty), my $50 Restoration Hardware medicine cabinet.

My boyfriend and I replaced the medicine cabinet that came with the condo, which was recessed and had a plastic cabinet with plastic shelves with Carty! Here's the old medicine cabinet:

Now I'll take you on the play-by-play, all the way to Cartyville! This is what we had to start with, the old medicine cabinet which is recessed - just like the new one - but is much smaller.

Once the old medicine cabinet was out, we could see the rough-in that had been created with boards.

Notice the plaster & lathe walls. Lovely. (Ew.)

I stuck my phone in the cavity and pointed down. This is what I saw!

Then I did the same thing pointing up! That yellow piece you can see is an old cardboard soap bar box.

Next we started making cuts. We ended up using both a jigsaw and a reciprocating saw.

We also used a drill bit in a few places to make holes so that the jigsaw could access the places it needed to cut more easily.

There was a lot of tricky maneuvering involved.

Here we are, almost halfway done with the new opening. The new hole had to be about 6 inches taller and a few inches wider. 

The entire cutting process took hours because there were a lot of nails and screws in the way. 

Once the hole was big enough, we slid the cabinet in and screwed it in place.

So before I show you how Carty looks, here's a look at the old cabinet again:

Here's the final product!

And the inside!

I still have to paint a little where the paint was messed up and probably caulk around the cabinet, but it looks great. It was really difficult, but it wasn't too bad. I'm really glad I have a shop-vac that I used to clean up quickly. Overall it was an awesome weekend project! 

Bathroom Plan

I've been making plans for the bathroom lately. I recently had a bathroom renovation quote completed by a local construction company and of course I purchased a new medicine cabinet. (It's sitting in the closet.) Medicine cabinets are difficult to install. It will require removing the old one so that I can look inside the wall cavity and see where the studs are. Then I will have to make a joist like so:

I am determined to install it myself, though. I know I can do it. As far as the quote goes, well, let's just say they hit it out of the ballpark. In a bad way. So instead I'm concentrating on the things that I can do myself. I made the mood board below for inspiration. A lot of these items I already own. I am going to get new hand towels and a new rug, however. I've already ordered the tub and shower faucets; they are Marielle by Pfister in Nickel. I am going to order the sink faucet (also Nickel) from Overstock as soon as they send out their next 10% off coupon.

Bathroom Plan by louko on polyvore.com

You might be thinking, "Why the heck is there a pillowcase?" That's because I used Anthropologie's Fred Shand Cloud Sprigs pillowcases as curtains. I got them on sale last December for $15.

This is what the window looked like before while I was temporarily repurposing a curtain from an apartment I had in college:

I also upgraded my shower curtain hardware. Here are the old rings:

And the new ones, from Target. They match the glass doorknobs in my condo.

Here's a list of where the items in my bathroom inspiration board can be purchased:

Cloud Sprigs Pillowcases
$30 - anthropologie.com

Aran Printed Floor Mat
$19 - westelm.com

Target Home Global Towels
$7.99 - target.com

Jacuzzi Perfecta White Round 2-Piece Toilet
$127 - lowes.com

Lavender Candle from Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day
$9.99 - mrsmeyers.com

Marielle 1-Handle Tub/Shower Trim in Brushed Nickel-R89-8MBK at The...
$165 - homedepot.com

Satin Nickel Classic Two-handle Bathroom Faucet
$60 - overstock.com

Mrs. Meyer's Liquid Hand Soap Lemon Verbena
$3 - walmart.com

From Bed to Window

This weekend my mom helped me make curtains from an Ikea duvet set for my dining room. I can't find the name of the set online. It was queen size and I got it on sale for $19.99. The set included one duvet and two pillowcases. My job was to iron while my mom did the more complex measuring, cutting, and sewing.  

We used the pillowcases to give the duvet a little more length since I like my curtains to reach the floor. My mom had an old sheet that we used to line the backs of the pillowcases to better match the rest of the duvet (it had a front and a back due to the nature of it being a duvet - you have to have somewhere to put the comforter!).

Here's my mom's sewing setup. Fancy!

This is what the finished product looked like. We ended up putting the pillowcase fabric horizontal against the vertical pattern of the main duvet fabric. I was really happy to find this fabric (even though it was in duvet format originally). I couldn't find any affordable fabric or pre-made curtains that I wanted in the dining room (which is connected to the kitchen). But when I saw this set, I knew it was perfect.

My job, once I got the curtains home, was to figure out how to put the curtain rod in the wall. Easier said than done! I found these Pop-Toggle screws at Home Depot that did the trick:

I drilled three holds (for the three curtain rod brackets), pushed the toggles into the holes, and then screwed in the screws by hand with a screwdriver. Not bad. I don't think I'll have to struggle anymore with putting anything into my plaster & lathe walls. That's good news.

As you can see, with the finials, it was a bit of a tight squeeze. 

And the finished results! I ended up putting the horizontal "pillowcase" part at the bottom. It looks better that way, I promise.

I also used clip rings from Lowe's instead of a rod pocket. I like the look. The clip rings were $5.97 per pack with seven rings/pack. I had to buy two.

Style Selections 7-Pack Metal Clip Rings 

It's such a relief to be done with this project. Thanks to my mom for all her help!

Oh Boy, Do I Feel Stupid

Welcome to May! The month is already off to a good start for me. I finished up a ton of little, nagging items in the condo because the airbnb photographer came on Monday. That was awesome because now the airbnb listing will have professional photography (in about two weeks) for free! I'll post the pictures once they're available. The side effect of getting a bunch of little stuff done was really nice too.

In other good news, the washing machine works! So now Broken needs a new name. After my boyfriend installed the new switch assembly, it wouldn't work. Then I realized that the cold water wasn't turned on. Ha, ha. Oh, yeah, so funny. I felt stupid. But now I am happy! Happy and still stupid.

In case you are dying to know, or you have a GE Spacemaker laundry center that is about a bazillion years old like mine with a broken lid switch assembly (the latch thingy that tells your washer to agitate because it "knows" that you have the lid securely down so your sweet little hands won't turn into chomped up zombie bits), you need part WH12X955. That pasted all funky but I'm just gonna leave it. It's like, "Hey, I'm the PART NUMBER. HELLOOOOO I'M GOING TO RUIN A FEW MONTHS OF YOUR LIFFFFEEEE." (Just kidding. I don't take my laundry that seriously.)

My washer specifically is model # WSM2420TBAWW.

This is what my poor lid switch assembly looked like when I removed it:

The plastic part was all torn to pieces. There was even some missing plastic where the screw is supposed to sit so it can hold the assembly onto the side of the washer.

Besides the fact that the assembly wouldn't hook to the side of the washer due to the lack of screw "caves" (what the heck would you call them?), this spring thingy was also broken:

As best I could tell the spring activated some kind of electrical signal that sent a message to the washing machine saying, "Lid's closed! Let's dance!" I found that out because I actually put my fingers on it when the washing machine was plugged in MISTAKE and was shocked. All those warnings on washing machines that say "UNPLUG UNIT BEFORE SERVICING" or whatever? Yea. I don't pay attention.

Here's what our $60 lid switch assembly friend looks like:

Installation involves 3 main parts. Plugging in the assembly (the white part to the left in the picture), screwing in the plastic part (the gray part to the far right), and then installing the ground wire. (Of course you have to do all that backwards to remove the broken one first.)

I'm talking about items 72 and 71 in the illustration below:

The difficult part was installing the ground wire because the nut is awkwardly placed. You have to remove things and use lots of Arm Strength. But we've already established that I have T-Rex arms. So I'm grateful for my boyfriend.

Here he is working on the installation:

And now that the cold water's turned on, it actually works! I haven't told him yet, by the way. Heh heh! Now I'm making chili so I have to run. Here's to clean clothes and May flowers. Except it's like the inside of an oven outside so I'm not sure how well the flowers are doing.

And, oh my god. This is an afterthought. I was looking at that picture above and I think it indicates that you aren't supposed to remove the ground wire. You're probably supposed to cut the old one and reattach the new one...my boyfriend is going to keeeellll me when he sees this. Whoops. Time to buy him a present!

April Recap

I feel like I got a lot done this month. I decided to check to see if my feeling was accurate by going through all of April's posts and seeing what exactly I did finish.

(Items without a link are things I actually completed in April but I haven't written about yet.)

• Decided what light fixture I want in the kitchen and bought supplies
• Put up string lights in my bedroom
• Put up curtains & curtain rods in my bedroom
• Hung a dinner bell and teacup hook (for my apron) in the kitchen/dining room
• Had a quote completed for a bathroom renovation (it was crazy expensive)
• Moved the washer and dryer out and then back into the closet
• Moved the newer washer and dryer all the way from my boyfriend's city to my city and then ended up selling it on Craigslist
• "Fixed" the old washer and dryer with a new lid switch assembly
• Purchased my dream medicine cabinet from the Restoration Hardware Outlet
• Finished putting up the kitchen backsplash tile & grouted one half
• Decided on a coffee table (aka cocktail ottoman)
• Caulked around the sink
• Sewed curtains for the dining room with my mom and put them up along with a curtain rod
• Changed out the curtains in the bathroom
• Changed out the shower curtain hooks in the bathroom
• Made a plan for rugs throughout the house & bought textile medium in order to paint them (more on this later!)

Not bad! I think I got more stuff done this month than I've done in the past. Hopefully May will have even more fully completed projects than April. 

Coffee Tables

Let's talk coffee tables. I want one because my living room is actually pretty big and no other piece of furniture makes better sense for the middle of the room. This is the spot it will go, right in front of the couch:

Here's the cheapest option I've found at $105 from Walmart. I love the style and it's a great deal. I asked a question about it to see if the wood was solid, but it's not (duh). I also wonder if it would roll around a lot since I don't have a living room rug yet.

Better Homes and Gardens Rustic Country Coffee Table, Antiqued Black/Pine Finish

Right now I'm using two nailhead upholstered storage ottomans from Target pushed together with a blanket & tray on top. They basically look like this except a bit darker (I'll add a picture later):

Nailhead Storage Ottoman

West Elm always has super large trays that are perfect for setting on top of ottomans/coffee tables if need be:

West Elm Large Rectangular Lacquer Tray

And here's the blanket (now sold out at Pier 1):

Blue Floral Appliqué Throw from Pier 1

So while that setup works for now, it doesn't provide a very big space and it doesn't fill up the large living room very well. So I'm looking for something larger. The coffee table from Walmart is definitely a bit bigger, but it doesn't provide a place to sit down. I'd like a coffee table that will be the best of both worlds - it will provide a place to sit as well as a stable place to set drinks and food.

So I'm seriously looking at this upholstered ottoman from Target:

Button Tufted Upholstered Ottoman - Sandstone

It comes in many colors (see more here), but I think I like the neutral Sandstone the best. That way I can always add accent colors in less expensive mediums (like pillows) that can be changed on a whim. The upholstered ottoman is much bigger than the Walmart coffee table and it would provide enough room for extra seating as well as room for food & drinks with my large tray set on top of it. 

It costs $329.99 and is on sale for $263.99. With my Target card's free shipping and 5% discount plus a $5 discount from the internet, I can get the ottoman for $265.72 shipped. Here's how that breaks down:

For a total savings of $47.94. It doesn't seem like a terrible price. The ottoman also gets good reviews (you can look at colors other than sandstone in the same style to see more reviews). 

Do any of you have coffee table solutions for your own homes? How did you decide?