Tile Shopping

Today, after breakfast at a local restaurant (during which I had a delicious, hot-from-the-oven cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting) and a trip to Starbucks for coffee, my family browsed through tile samples at a local hardware store and at Home Depot, looking for chimney renovation ideas.  Said chimney runs through the corner of our dining area and is currently covered in plaster.  That isn't so bad.  Worse, it has one of those "paper plate" style discs stuck to the side where, in years past, something was hooked directly into the flue, most likely a wood stove.  Since my goal is to add Arts and Crafts details to our house, and one such detail is natural materials, I would like to make the chimney look as if it is constructed of Connecticut fieldstone.  We found some reasonable contenders this morning:

Veneerstone Vorago
Garden State Tile Andora Brickbond

I think we are leaning toward the Veneerstone.  Now for measurements and cost estimates.

Lovely Light

One of the deciding factors when we purchased our home more than twenty years ago was the wonderful patterns of light that came through the windows at all hours of the day.  This is one of the few original old windows that remain on the west side of the house.  I just love the play of sunshine that beams through the panes at around 4:00 PM.  I was thinking of getting rid of this window as part of a change to the living room.  I was contemplating replacing this single window with two smaller ones set high in the wall, similar to the ones that are often seen on Arts and Crafts houses.  Given how pretty the light looked today (which is not at all captured by this amateurish photograph), I may have to rethink that idea.

Paneling Idea

Tonight, while looking through the "Home Manager" folder I created in my browser, I found a link to The Inspired Room.  There, I found a photo of a do-it-yourself bathroom remodel.  I like the paneling, especially how it integrates so well into the mirrors.  Check it out if you are interested:  paneling idea.

If you know of any other great paneling looks for a bathroom, please share the link in the comments.  Thank you!

Some Small Tub Ideas

A few days ago, during an impromptu discussion/planning session for our bathroom remodel, my husband and I investigated bathtubs online.  In truth, this was me having him look at a website that I had discovered where someone else already did the hard work of sorting through all the decent tubs on the market to locate the few that would fit in a small space.  As our bathroom is only 40 square feet, I think it qualifies as "small" by any stretch of the imagination.  After some measuring and personal fitting (i.e., King Richard actually sitting in the tub while considering possible depth to overflow statistics), he settled on this one:  the Kohler® Archer® 5-foot tub.

I am ok with it, but I am not too particular about the bathtub.  I don't usually do the luxuriating soak routine. I leave that to the man of the house, the thyroid patient who needs to warm up once in a while.  I am more concerned with the choice and arrangement of cabinets.  I will be getting to that soon (I hope).  In the meantime, since the overall goal of the house restoration/remodel is to focus on Arts & Crafts styling, I do like what the Kohler® website has to say about the Archer® series:

The transitional aesthetic of the Archer Suite is achieved by blending subtle design elements found in craftsman furniture's chamfering techniques and the intricate facets of jewelry.  This combination of beveled edges and curved bases creates a timeless appeal that suits an array of design motifs.

If you have a small bathroom like I do and are looking for a new bathtub, you may want to check out these two articles by Diane Rixon at DIY-Life.  I found them to be quite helpful.

Sensational Soaking Tubs for Small Spaces, Part 1
Sensational Soaking Tubs for Small Spaces, Part 2

Note:  No compensation was received for any referrals or mentions in this article.

Too Exoitc For Me

My husband and I are considering a second remodel of our only bathroom.  We updated it over twenty years ago when we bought out home, so this most essential room is definitely overdue for another upgrade.  If, as we have heard, the average recommended time between major bathroom remodeling projects is every five years, then we have been quite remiss in keeping up with modern decorating trends.  Currently, our "water closet" contains a toilet, a tub/shower unit, and a sink surrounded by a formica countertop, and a shower curtain from Kohl's.  In short, our bathroom is basic.

As part of an initial discussion of toilets, King Richard came across this video of the C3 Toilet Seat by Kohler.*  Innovative though it may be, this particular unit is too exotic for a simple Midwestern girl like me.  I think I would rather invest in a towel warmer, but that is the subject of another discussion.

*No compensation was received for featuring this product.