Bathroom Remodel -- DONE

The last piece of the shower/bathroom to be completed was the glass installation.  It was installed today (02/17), so we can finally call the bathroom DONE.  Of course there are a few odds and ends to still be taken care of, but they are not going to keep us from using the bathroom.

As seen from the shot below, it is 1/2" piece of rectangular glass and the installation was "frameless". The glass has a very solid feel and creates the openness that we were wanting.

This is of course a shot once you step into the shower.  The rain shower head is above and the hand wand is on the right (look out Indy that means a dog washing could take place in the shower).  The valve is centered.  All of the hardware finishes are in brushed nickel.

The shower pan continues to be our favorite part of the shower.  It looks really good and we like the feel of the rocks on the bottom of our feet when we shower.  It is foot massage every time you walk in to shower.

This was a bit of controversy (everyone thought we were crazy)...this is the HEATED towel rack in the back of the shower.  It works like a champ and makes toasty towels.  The subcontractors were all worried that it was going to be wet, but the "back" part of the shower stays perfectly dry while you are showering.

This is a shot of the beam Jared wrapped.  It looks great and brings the entire bathroom together.  It is much better than that weird soffit that we had before we ripped everything out.

To the left of the shower is the toilet room.  It is no longer the focal of the bathroom (thank goodness).  We made it big enough to put a door on it, but we have opted for no door right now.  The separation is good and we can always go to another bathroom if we want complete privacy.

The vanity is where it was before...just updated.  The new one is a little smaller, but it allows for a good sized trash can on the end.  The lighting and the mirrors are a HUGE improvement too.  And let's not forget extra electrical plugs.  The bathroom only had two outlets prior to the remodel!

Part of the bathroom update was a closet update.  Since we took some of the closet space for the bathroom, Kristina had to get super efficient with the closet.  And boy did she!  It looks great and we have more stuff in there now than we did when it was bigger.  If there is organization to be done...Kristina is the one to do it!

It was a longer than expected journey and with everything, more expensive, but the end result is EXACTLY what we wanted.  We are still looking for a storage cabinet that will go to the right of the door when you walk into the bathroom, but we want something particular...so that will be a while. We are also waiting on hand towel hooks and toilet paper holder (both on backorder).  Those will eventually be here, and it will be nice to have them, but it definitely isn't going to keep us for loving the new bathroom!  Man, we do good work!

Valentine's Day Tea

A big extravagant Valentine's Day meal wasn't something either of us wanted this year.  We had recently had a glorious meal at John Howie's for Jared's birthday, and we were still basking in the glow of that.  However, Jared did some research (he is such a good husband), and he found that the Salish Lodge at Snoqualmie Falls has afternoon tea on Sundays.  He made a reservation and we made it a date.

It was a beautiful day at the falls and it was crawling with people.  We used valet to park the car and headed inside to our table.  We had a nice, quiet table in the dining area next to the dining room.  The view was great and the ambiance was much better there than in the dining room (i.e., the dining room was packed).

There is nothing to really choose for the tea, except for your tea.  However, they do provide you with a menu so you know what to expect.  You can find the menu here.  It was quite the event for the two of us and we both never had such great SCONES in our life.  Too good to even describe.  The presentation is spectacular as well and you truly feel special.  We had a wonderful and relaxing time, sipping our tea, and indulging in lots of goodies!

After we were done with our tea, we took a walk around the Lodge just to check things out from a different perspective.  Here are a few shots of the Falls that Kristina captured with her phone.

Putting the Bathroom Back Together -- Part 4

Better and better all of the time...here you can see painted walls and the heated towel rack in the shower.  It was painful to drill holes into our new tile, but we did it -- and it looks good.  We can't wait to use it.

In these shots, you can see that the closet is painted. Once Jared gets the carpet re-installed, Kristina will go to town and install all of her Elfa closet organizers.  It is going to be awesome!  We were hoping to install the vanity, but the Carrara marble top pushed it over the edge in terms of weight. We are going to have some movers come on Tuesday and help us get it into place.  

After the vanity gets installed, the last thing we are waiting on will be the glass.  It is on order and they guys will be here on the 17th to install.  Woohoo!  We can't wait!

Happy Birthday Jared!

Jared's birthday was today!  We kept it fairly low key since we both had to work -- just a nice quiet evening at home.  However, on Saturday we are planning to go to Jared's favorite pizza place -- Serious Pie (in Seattle) and then on Sunday night, Kristina has made plans for us to celebrate at John Howie's Steak (in Bellevue).  In between all of the good eating, we will probably be working on the house and waiting for the weather to get better so that we can do something outside.  Jared is an outside kind of guy, so the next sunny day -- it is his choice to do whatever he wants!

Happy Birthday to Jared!

Putting the Bathroom Back Together -- Part 3

We are still getting there, and things are coming together nicely.  Note that we are "withholding" some pictures for the end, so you'll only see snippets from now until completion.

Here's a shot of the entryway (from the master bedroom). The carpet ends in the bedroom and the floor tile begins, along with the heated floors.  YIPPEE!  This is the tile we were the least impressed with, but after it got installed, we really liked the way it looks.

This is a shot of the "curb" and the shower pan.  The "curb" is the raised surface that the glass will rest on (once it is installed).  See the really cool pebbles in the shower pan. This is definitely something that we have wanted for a while and it fits in great!

Here's Kristina's custom ledge all finished and looking good.  It is hard to discern colors from the photos, bu the tile on the wall of the showers is darker than it looks -- it is a fairly deep gray with a hint of green in it.

Here's the water closet, after drywall, but prior to painting and a toilet!

This will be the transition from the bathroom to the master closet.  The carpet hasn't been re-installed yet, but you get the idea.

More drywall shots -- this is the wall where the vanity will be installed.  You can see the electrical boxes for the vanity lights.

The water closet (after painting) -- we had to get this painted before everything else because the plumber was coming in to install the shower valve, so we had him bring the toilet back in to the water closet.

This is our new super quiet fan.  There was a decent amount of ceiling work that had to be done around the new square fan vs the rounded one we had initially.

And last but not least, a couple more pictures of the "foreman"...this time she is goofing off on the job.  She better enjoy it while she can because as soon as things get back to normal, this will not be allowed.

January Rain

As indicated in an earlier post, the weather is Western Washington has been a bit wacky this year (so far).  It hasn't rained much, and it has been warmer than normal.  Out of all of the days in January, we only had measurable rain 8 of the 31 days.  The total rainfall for us was 3.82".  We have been enjoying the nice weather, but we don't want to "pay" for it later in the summer.  But, I guess we'll see!