Bathroom, part 2

So there's some controversy out there about taking books and crafting with them.  I've seen a few cutting comments about people who buy books based on the spine color so it will coordinate with a room. Eh, not my cup of tea but whatever floats your boat.  Another craft blogger/personality was savaged for taking brand new books and shredding them.

I did feel a bit guilty pulling these books apart.  Ok...no so much in the case of the two Nancy Drew books.  But another was Dicken's The Old Curiosity Shop and the fourth was Pearl S. Buck's Pavillion of Women.

I assuaged my guilt by recognizing the books were in bad shape, stained and with broken bindings and would have gone in the trash if I hadn't bought them. 


But I was kicking myself when I got around to pasting up the title page of Ambassador Dodd's Diary.  The name on the title page (Martha Dodd) was nagging me and then I realized I'd heard a review of a new book on NPR's Fresh Air.  The author, Erik Larsen, had read Dodd's Diary and written In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror & An American Family in Hitler's Germany.  It sounds like a fascinating story.  You can read/listen to that interview here.

Wish I'd read the Diary before pasting it about.  I did find someone selling a copy of it on-line...for less than 10 cents.

The Bathroom

The bathroom upstairs is one of the rooms we're living with until we can gut it.  It's functional, although Greg had to do some grouting and creative repairs to the tile around the tub to make it so!  One of the first times he took a shower, I discovered a leak coming through the ceiling fixture/medallion in the front hall.   It turned out some of the tiles were loose and the water was finding its way down.  So, it was functional (semi) and ugly (full-on) when we moved in:

Different tile on the floor and walls that don't go with each other, and a formica-topped vanity that goes with neither.  Plus really special wallpaper.

New sink faucet, new lights and power switches/outlet and new window blind.  While Greg was working with the plumber to take out the copper (it was in bad shape under the vanity) and replaced with flex pipe, I suggested Greg remove the doors to make access easier.  We didn't really want to keep them.  The one on the right wasn't a door but a tip-out bin, something we'd never use.  I found some fabric that I was able to fashion into a skirt and put it up with a tension rod. Painted the face of the vanity that shows above the skirt an almond color (Behr's Baja).  I stripped off the wallpaper and pasted up the pages from some falling-apart books that I scored at yard sales.  It probably took me 10-15 hours to do the entire bathroom (over the course of a few days).  It was fun and something I'd definitely try again in a spot we we don't expect to demo.

So now it's tidy enough for a while...

A small light

We're still getting new lighting fixtures sorted out here.  Some are brand new and some are new to us.  I mentioned in an earlier post a fixture I purchased at the ReStore.  That one is painted, rewired and ready to go up.  I'll have photos of the fun of fixing that once I know it will actually light up!
Here's a smaller success story.


When the electricians started (holy cow, 4 months ago), the pulled down every ceiling fixture in order disengage the old knob-and-tube wiring and upgrade us to current code wiring. In some instances, they had to put in fixtures where none had existed.

Let there be light

In anticipation of needing new fixtures to hang in the vestibule, and living/dining rooms, I've been on the hunt for things that might fit the character of the house and our furnishings.
We were up to the ReStore, a Habitat for Humanity operation, to look at doors, tools and everything else they offer (Greg picked up a wooden swivel desk chair for $20 while I was in NY).   You have to hunt and you might get lucky.

Purchased for $18

This is a Virden lamp (I know because of the label in the cap).  I'm planning to spray the metal parts with Krylon to a more appealing color than the faux bronze it is now.  Will need to be rewired before we can put it up; I'm going to try that myself too.

Originally wanted it put this in the vestibule but given the swing of the front door and the lower ceiling, I realized it won't go there.  So into the main hallway it goes.   Didn't really want to have something amber-colored in that area but decided to embrace it.

Going to look at painting the wall running the length of the first floor a shade of yellow and the other wall going up the stairs a shade of cream/ivory.  Have taped up color swatches to see what we like best.  Right now, Martha Stewart's Yellow Magnolia (top row, 4th from right) is winning for me.

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