Guest Bathroom

I decided to give the guest bathroom a quickie makeover.

I was never really a fan of the speckled blue tile, so I  jumped at the bargain bin floor tiles when I found them at Home Depot. I laid out all the full-size tiles, and managed to make a few straight cuts with scissors. I'm ready to upgrade to an exacto knife. My biggest challenge so far has been determining what line to use to define "straight". Nothing is perfectly square, so i figured I'd start with the angle you see first when you walk in.

I also picked a few paint samples. I went with the medium gray, since the dark gray looked too dark when backlit by the window.

Kitchen Drywall and Tile

After a suitable amount of procrastination, I got help with the drywall and tile. It's nice to no longer look at studs and a hole in the floor.

Fireplace Surround

I found a really cool cold-steam electric fireplace on good a clearance discount, so I bought it before I really figured out what to do with it. It sat frameless in my bedroom for a few years until I set to work building a surround for it. Measurements that I carried in my phone's MyMeasures app for longer than I care to admit.

Measurements that I carried in my phone's MyMeasures app for longer than I care to admit.

I built a box out of pine 1 x 12 boards, and added a layer of cement backerboard over the front. Then I got see how well my YouTube education on laying tile would serve me.

My friend Linda had given me a fantastic thick old wooden plank that had served for decades (centuries?) as a bar top in Boston. I love to run my fingers across the dented surface and imagine all the pint glasses that clattered down over the years from hands heavy with beer.

Fire Table

I found a fire table that can be used as a sort of coffee table when it's not being used to burn stuff. The color isn't my favorite, so I'm spray painting the tiles.