Bathroom Redesign From 1954 to 2014

Back in 1954 the original owners of my home selected blue plumbing fixtures for the main bathroom.  The toilet, sink and tub were all blue.  The tile covered not only the shower, but was taken to 4' high on all the walls.  I liked the combination of the brownish 4 1/4" tiles with the metal flashed trim so I wanted to keep it.  That would save some money, too.

We had all the demo done...and ran out of money.  I was working then, though, so we saved while we worked to get some of the rusting galvanized piping replaced with copper.  Years passed.

During this time I bought the new vanity at Costco, and then a couple of years later the big mirror.

I finally laid the black and white tile, had the bathtub refinished to white and was on my way.  The barkcloth drape and shower curtain were the basis for the color selections.  The ceiling is only eight feet, but I did what I could to maximize it.

I Will Just Interline the Draperies...What Was I Thinking????

The new draperies for the family room are under construction.  I decided to interline them; there is a third piece of a sort of double brushed flannel that must be attached to the face fabric.  Then those two are treated as one and they are lined with a third fabric.  Arrrrggggh.  Much easier said than done.

First I must tell you that I had custom rods made by the local blacksmith.  I've had it with the "adjustable" rods sold in stores.  If you have custom draperies their weight will make those cheesy rods sag...it is just sad after a couple of months.  These are 3/4" iron with *custom* finials.  I used three leaf finials:  (A little blurry, my apologies)

 

I liked the way it complimented the leaf design in the fabric (which you will see shortly).

Then, I bought a final finial.  It is a bird finial that goes on the end of the rod next to the door leading outside from the family room:

 

He had to be tilted a little so he didn't hit his head on the sky.

Oh yes, I painted the ceiling blue.  It is a turquoisey kind of blue just like the Colorado sky.  I ordered the finials online from a company in Texas.  It took 2-3 weeks for them to be made and it took Brent at Friel's Iron Products about the same amount of time to make the rods and the rings for me.  He also made the custom, curved rod for the kitchen window.  That one took a few back and forths to get the curve exactly right, but it got done.

It is taking an inordinate amount of "floor time" with these draperies.  And my ability to get down on the floor and then get up again, over and over, has been handicapped.  Wah!  So frustrating.

Here is a picture of the lovely felt-y interlining with part of the face fabric folded over it.

 

But I have leaky old windows and the lining fabric with the big grey spots would telegraph the pattern right though the face fabric without the interlining.  In my heart I lust after the big cutting tables I used to see in the workrooms.  It would save my back, knees and legs...oh well.  Ever onward.

And there is the spotted lining with the face fabric.  You can see the pattern of the dark grey leaves that gave me the idea for the leaf finials on the right side of the face fabric.

I'm not showing the entire room yet.  Once the draperies are finished I'll post those.

Family Room Alert

I wrote this back in 2011.  Just now getting it posted as a "preview" because I have actually done the work now.  Draperies are still under construction as I decided to interline them...and that will take some time and trouble.

Be warned:

Since I've been spending hours and hours in here, this room needs to be fixed up a little.  First up:  Paint on the dreadful paneling.  It is oppressive and just...too brown for its own good.  It will be painted.  As will the brick fireplace.  Sayonara to all of you brick and brown.

I took this the day we looked at the house for the first time.  The previous owners struggled with furniture placement, window treatments and light fixtures.  The blood red carpet in this photo was removed the first night we slept here (the day/night of closing).  The pinch pleat draperies over the planter/window left the same day.  It is hard to see, but the ceiling is paneled with 2' squares of mahogany with each one turned 90 degrees to its neighbor.  Their TV is sitting on a built-in thingy with a white plastic laminate top.

 

Back to before...This corner shows my plaid/toile draperies made for our rental house in Denver.  Oddly enough they fit (with rods) on the windows formerly covered with the pinch pleated numbers I threw in the trash.  They also strangely resembeled the upholstery fabric on the rattan sectional that the former owners had in this room.  You can also see a corner of the built-in bookcase.  I've painted the back of the shelves green...and the rest of the bookcase dark brown.  It wasn't enough to save it, though, and after listing it on Craig'slist for a few weeks with a tanking price I gave it away to the first guy to show up with a truck that could haul it away.

A note about the gold wing chair:  It (and it's matching brother) still have the tags from my mother's reupholsterer in Phoenix who recovered them for her in this cut pile stripe in 1973!  And while the whole green and gold stripey thing screams 1973 I must admit that they look pretty good after 40 years... 

 

And here is the sofa that I laid on for months and months. About 36 weeks I think. I especially like the sagged out front edge under the cushion. I logged far too many hours and days on this sofa to remember. Not a happy time. Way too brown for one thing.  I loved this Robert Allen fabric and ordered the sofa from Lazar.  It was supposed to have a self deck but you can see the muslin peeking out on the left side.  A couple of years ago I had the cushions remade with extra fabric, but they are too shallow and aren't holding up.

Then there is the broken down front edge on the right side of the sofa...very not good.  Mr Perez had to rebuild that bottom front deck edge.  He also had to reconstruct the cushions.  It isn't brown any more either.

 

The rug has been moved to the front bedroom and a new seagrass rug was ordered.  Progress is being made.  The colors are all new.  After we had primed (using white primer) all the wood and brick (on the fireplace) we were blinded when we walked in this room one morning.  The cave had been vanquished.

 

 

 

 



Back Again

I had an interesting email today.  It was from someone called Trucks For Sale.  I couldn't reply to it, but it asked me to start writing my blog again.

It has been a few years, but I'm considering reviving it.

I am sad to say that I am no longer driving big trucks.  I had to stop when I became ill in 2010.  It is a long story.  Suffice it to say I'm OK right now and am still mostly able to do everything I want to do.

So...where to start?

I didn't remember that I posted about my two landscaping design jobs.  Since that was posted both houses have been sold and the "blank slate" house has been relandscaped.  A man bought it and scraped the front yard, covered it with gravel and now has trucks parked on it.  I won't post a photo. 

It is fall again, though.  We are still cleaning up from a hail tornado that shredded everything, filled up the gutters and caused minor flooding in the basement.  We have worked diligently to get the damn water away from the house, but there is still one area that needs more build up.  The plants will come back next year; they were wonderful this year because we had rain all the way through July.  For the last couple of weeks, though, Colorado has been inundated and flooded.

I'm somewhat hesitant to post about politics.  A horrible troll was one of the main reasons I stopped writing my blog.  It seems he objected to my politics and would send posts that were just nasty.  If he comes back again I'm going to have to find a way to block his ass.

Next post - pictures, I promise.

That is all for now.

Decorina

And now, back to the future with Mail Art

The rubberstamps are all getting a bath, freeing them from inks past.  They've enjoyed their 20 year sleep as I battled depression, idiot bf's, my own obsessions and unemployment.  So another phase of mail art appears nigh.

I'd love to post some photos of my past work, but all I have (because the others were mailed to all of you) is some that my Mom saved.  Anyone able to scan one or two of them to send photos to me via email so I can show people what I'm talking about?  Anyone????   Michele?  Karen L?  Barbara?  Anyone?

Snow in Denver

Wheat Ridge got 8".  There was a lot of crashing and banging and hissing all day Friday as the snow brought down every single leaf left on every plant, including the giant ash tree Joel parks under.  It was quite dramatic and at one point Jimmie was minding his own barkety business when a load of snow and leaves conked him on the head...He came in hissing and spitting and shaking.  Very not happy dog.  Don't blame him at all either.  Quite a shock to a little doggie system with miscellaneous stuff falls on you when you're minding your own business in your very own domain.

Today is tree planting day.  I'm sure everyone is raring to go.  Phyllis and Jim already have their trees here - Emily and Dave are going to pick hers up this afternoon.  Trees!  The kind that won't break when they are hit with 8" of snow and still have their leaves.

Lost in Blogland...

Google seems to have redesigned all the aspects of Blogger - and in their infinite insanity screwed my blog up royally.  I only just logged on to change its name, address and everything else...and suddenly it is all working again.  Must have heard my bitching from their exaulted tower of shame.

So lets just try to post this and see where it shows up.