My Blue Door. Take Two.

It was about this time last year that I decided to paint the original front door blue. However with all the new construction that took place, the old front door ended up a little too small for the door frame, and rather drafty. We bought a new door (again about a year ago), and for some reason it has remained unpainted this whole time. That was until this weekend.....

After a month of visitors and minimal DIY, this weekend we had some time to get back to house projects. On the top of our list was paint the doors and windows before Winter arrived.

I got to work painting the front and back doors blue, Chris started painting the window frames white. The exterior is starting to look so much better than it did in the Spring. We plan on putting trim around the windows the same colour as the front door - thats on the list for next weekend!

The front door, as it has looked for about a year - note the plastic is still on the glass!

Back door prior to painting - note silly hand rail we had to install in order to meet 'code'.

Deep Royal paint - certainly looks brighter than the sample - hopefully it will be less bright once dry, otherwise we'll have one colourful house!

Finally - my blue front door!!

Lovely blue back door and a welly boot!

Chris painting the purple window frames white.

Chris using a razor blade to remove paint from window.

We have ordered a new garage door, so hopefully the plywood door, will be gone very soon!

My front door matches my French 332 sign!

White window frames!

Colourful Colorado

Autumn is here, and even if the weather doesn't reflect this (it was in the 70's today!) - the trees sure do! The colours are sensational right now. Just wanted to share a few views from our house.

Our back garden

View down Taylor Street

View of Minturn town

Lionshead Rock

Our house beneath the rock and golden mountain-side.

Shower Door and Ikea Adventure

The Kohler glass shower door arrived and Chris got straight to work installing it.

I did the caulking.

Turned out great - all we need now is the finishing trim for the edges of the shower, and to tile the step into the Master Bedroom - and we will have one room fully finished!!!!!! One down - 4 to go - ( the basement is a completely seperate count!!)

Prepping with tape before caulking.

Shower door installed!!! No more wet, soagy towels on the floor!

Whilst my mum was visiting, we made a trip to the new Ikea store in Denver - I was excited - Chris was not! So he stayed at home with Url.

As lack of storage is one of our biggest issues right now in the house - be it in the bedroom, bathroom or front entrance - I had my eyes peeled for anything that might work in any of the rooms. I found this little number - and think it works well. Unfortunately I couldn't make a decision on anything else - so this was our only big purchase of the day (we found plenty of little things in the marketplace - so cannot say our only purchase!).

The cabinet Mum and I got from Ikea. The colour goes perfectly with the other stained wood and mirrors!

The Shower

I started tiling the shower in March. I did a little and then stopped. I resumed tiling in May. Did a little and then stopped. Then some more in July. It goes on. However - enough was enough - we were sick of showering and having the plastic sheet we had used to cover the tiles, stick to our skin. Plus we had guests arriving - so we grudgingly spent one full Sunday finishing the tiling in the double shower. I measured, Chris cut and I mortared them in place. It was a gross day. However it turned out pretty well, for a first attempt at tiling a shower. Now we just need to order the glass shower door - and our double shower will be complete!

To start with this was an exciting project. (March 2011)

Still smiling - notice no toilet yet or bath tub!

Did a little more in May

and a little bit more in July!

This is how we managed to still shower whilst not finishing the tiling. The plastic sheet!

August 2011 - we bit the bullet and just got on and did it. Tape really helped to keep the tiles in place, as did pieces of cardboard - I ran out of tile spacers towards the end!!

Level ish!

Chris grouted. I couldn't bare to be near the shower after spending 11 hours in there covered in mortar!

Chris buffing the tiles after grouting

Sealing the tiles

The finished shower!!

 

Certificate of Occupancy

On August 11th, 2011 our local town inspector came to the house and brought good news - on every other occassion he had visited - he brought bad, frustrating or expensive news, so this was a great day. We had completed all the items he had asked of us, and we could officially have the 'Certificate of Occupancy'!

Officially ready for occupancy

In our naiveity we thought we would have our Certificate of Occupancy in November 2010. So we were only 9 months off!! Thats the joy of remodelling - nothing ever runs to plan or time or budget!

Old versus New

Just a little reminder of what the old bathtub looked liked versus the new one - please note we NEVER used the old tub!! It was pulled out and disposed off at the start of the remodel!

Grotty, old, blue tub, which you couldn't even wash a dog in - it was so small and shallow!

Lovely new tub..........

My wonderful tub!

We've taken a much needed wee break from the remodel. Hence the lack of posts. There have been too many fun things to do in the Valley - and a wonderful trip back to Chicago/Wisconsin for July 4th. We do have some plans on starting a few projects...............but all in good time!

One thing that has been completed in the past month is the plumbing/installation of my new, fabulous clawfoot bath tub! I adore it, but dread to think how much our water bill will be next month, as I've spent most evenings soaking myself in it, till I resemble a prune!

Having completed most of the finishing plumbing ourselves, we had intended on installing the tub. However our previous plumbers had completed the 'rough in' plumbing poorly, and as such what should have been a very quick process, took a qualified plumbing 7+ hours. Regardless, we saved a lot of money by doing most things ourselves, so one little splurge, for something so amazing was worth it! (Chris might not agree with this last comment - but he gets a man cave so didn't have too much say in it!!).

Double Slipper Clawfoot Bathtub, with Freestanding Faucet (similar to our sink faucets)

Gloss black claws - to tie in with the black gloss mirrors I restored

Bliss!