Organization's Snazzy New Look

One of the perks of my current job is getting a full week off from Christmas to New Year. This year I did spend part of the holiday in Ohio visiting my dad's family, but I still enjoyed several days at home working on projects that have been at a standstill.

My home office is one of those projects. As I've mentioned before, the room basically became a storage area when I moved in. When I adopted Rowena in July and cleaned out the spare room for a new roommate in August the room became a catchall. I shoved everything that I couldn't leave in Rowena's reach in the home office. As you may have guessed the room became a nightmare.

I'm trying again to make the space more usable. One idea I've had is to get creative with the storage so that the room isn't so cluttered. Toward that goal I recently pulled the ugly gray filing cabinet out of the closet and painted it to use as an end table.

Then I took an idea I'd seen on Pinterest and bought a wire shelf at Lowe's. The idea is to install the shelf parallel to a wall to create a narrow space to store wrapping paper. Since all my wrapping paper was precariously balanced on top of the filing cabinet in the closet this seemed like a good time to try out the new idea.

As far as Pinterest projects go I wouldn't label this a fail, but I ran into a few complications. I measured the space before buying a shelf and decided I needed a shelf that was right around three feet. However, the anchors I bought to secure the shelf to the wall didn't allow for the shelf to be shorter than the space.

The wire edge is supposed to hook into the anchor, but since the anchor is flush to the wall and the shelf is maybe 1 1/2 inches shorter than the space I could only hook one side in. Then I also didn't foresee the issue of the space being even wider above the baseboards.

Ooops.

I made it work by using some wire and jerryrigging the anchor to the shelf with the wire. Not pretty, but it is in the closet. For the upper part of the shelf I put one anchor in the middle of the back wall and used the wire again, mainly so the shelf  doesn't get caught on something and pulled off the other two anchors.

The other problem I ran into is that since I was using anchors I needed to drill a hole into my wall first. Since I don't have drill bits for my drill (and my drill never holds a charge long enough for that type of job) I had to put the project on hold until I could borrow my dad's drill. Once I had that securing the anchors was a 10 minute job at most.

In addition to storing the wrapping paper I also used the space to store some mat board and gift bags that I have. It is definitely a handy use for a space that wasn't used much before!

I don't generally set resolutions, but I do like to have some general goals for the year. I think one of my goals for 2015 will be getting more organized and reducing the clutter (something my guest blogger, Amanda Masters, recently wrote about).

Happy New Year everyone!

Utility Sink

The finished product.

A couple of years ago my dad bought me a utility sink for my birthday. This year as my birthday approaches, we finally got around to installing it.

Attaching the faucet to the tub.

It isn't large, but I needed a sink that I could use for messy projects like washing the dog or dying clothes. And it will be perfect for that. I can also temporarily hook up a hose to the faucet to water the plants in my front yard so I won't need to drag the hose from the backyard around the house.

It was fairly easy to install since the old washing machine hookups were still in the garage. When the previous owner moved the laundry room inside they just capped off the pipes. So we turned off the water and then cut off the caps.

The tricky part was making sure we had the right pieces before cutting off the pipe caps since we couldn't turn the water back on until the project was done. Dad actually ended up making two trips to the hardware store since we forgot something on our first trip. But he actually returned some of the things we got on trip #1 in favor of a different option.

The pipes after we cut off the caps and
before we attached the new connections.

Once the pipe caps were removed we used a plumbing sealant to attach the new fixtures. These had faucet shut offs so I can turn off the water at the wall if needed. The sealant needed to dry for two hours before the water could be turned back on, but meanwhile we finished connecting the plumbing and sink drain to the basin.

Attaching the new connections!

We also bought a drain cover for the garage drain, something that's been on my to do list for a while.

We still need to anchor the sink to the floor since the ground isn't even near the drain, but overall I think the project went very smoothly and I'm excited to have one more thing checked off my to-do list!

Glass Flowers

A few weeks ago I got to try my hand at glass sculpting. I bought a coupon for a class at Tulsa Glassblowing Studio making glass flowers. After some minor delays in getting our class scheduled, my friend Amanda and I went and learned the basics of working with glass.

My flower, loved the colors.

Working with the liquid glass was interesting, you dip some out of a large kiln with a long metal rod. For the glass (which has the consistency of honey) to keep its shape you keep turning it and reheating it often since the glass tries to solidify as it cools.

With flowers you start out rolling the glass into a fat stem-like shape, although it looks more like a fat sausage at that point. The colored glass is a bunch of small shards in separate bins. You roll the glass in the color for the stem, add more glass from the kiln, then smash the new glass straight down into the color for the petals. After that you use a jack (like giant tweezers) to pull the glass out in the petal shapes. Our instructor finished the flowers by letting the stem stretch and twist before breaking the flower off the pole.

Amanda's flower, thought it would be perfect for her office.

The process was very cool, but I could tell it would take a lot of practice to be able to control how the piece turns out. Amanda and I chose different colors, but even the shapes turned out completely different. And looking at the flowers on display in the studio I didn't see any that were alike.

The studio does demonstrations during the monthly First Friday Art Crawl in the Tulsa Brady Arts District (where they are located), which is fascinating. When we went for our class Amanda and I convinced our instructor to show off a bit to give us an idea of how to use the tools we didn't need for glass flowers. He made a clear glass vase which was pretty cool. But during the First Friday demonstration I saw they were working on a couple of pieces that were a lot more complex, requiring multiple people to create. 

My flower on display.

In addition to glass flowers the studio offers other beginner classes where you can make anything from a paperweight to a Christmas ornament or flowers like we made. They also sell vases, bowls, jewelry and other items made in the studio.

I'd love to go back and make ornaments around Christmas time. I'm thinking about suggesting it as a group event to my book club, but I need to research the cost for a class without the coupon and see if there is a limit to how many people can come. My guess is that there is since the studio isn't large and they have to provide and instructor.

I managed to get a few pictures of us making our flowers. Check them out below!

Me watching the instructor stretch my flower's stem.

Heating the glass after adding color.

Rolling the stem in color.

We had to make a cut in the glass
for where the stem would break off the rod.

Using the jack to pull out petals.

Stretching the stem on Amanda's flower.
There's a very short window to do this before the glass hardens.

Our instructor making a vase.

Amanda checking out the shop items.

Rock Garden

I've shared before about the awesome fort I have in my backyard. Unfortunately there always seem to be weeds that grow underneath it in an area I can't get the mower. So I started brainstorming ways that I could utilize that space and prevent it from becoming overgrown. Since the whole area is shaded by trees and the fort only very hardy plants (like weeds) will grow, so it needed to be something I wouldn't need to try to keep alive. I settled on a rock garden.

Fun Fact: The year I moved in the uncle of one of my neighbor's kids offered to buy the fort from me. He would have come over to tear it down and moved it to their yard. I just wasn't sure how much to ask for it and couldn't decide if I wanted to lose my fort. This was right after he chased their pet rabbit through my and two other neighbors' yards.

The first step was to clear out all the weeds from beneath the fort. I did that and covered the whole area with landscape fabric to prevent them from growing back. Then I went shopping!

I chose to go to Lowe's to see what landscape rock they had available. My dad gave me a medium sized sandstone rock to put in the garden so I wanted something that would go well with sandstone. I had also purchased a ceramic owl from Pier One back in May for the project. Eventually I'll need to find other sculpture to add.

My dad has dozens of sandstone rocks of varying sizes. The day before my 16th birthday party we had someone out to work on the sewage system and they dug up almost the entire yard--unearthing tons of those sandstone rocks. We used a lot of them in the landscaping at Dad's, but he had plenty to spare.

I settled on lava rock (despite Dad saying he thinks lava rock looks awful). I felt it would go well with my yard since I have the red brick house and reddish stepping stones. My only other option in that color family was a pea gravel with mixed color stones.

I bought eight bags of lava rock, Lowe's had a few bags available at half price since the bags were busted. There was nothing wrong with the rock and I got a deal! I started dumping the rock into the wood frame of the fort and used a rake to distribute the rocks evenly. Despite using the rake I still managed to make a wreck of my fingernails during this process. If I had gone with the pea gravel it probably wouldn't have been a problem, but lava rocks are very rough.

Once I dumped all the bags in and raked them evenly I was pretty happy with the result! I will need to buy about four more bags to fill in that back section and maybe one more for the main section to fill it in a little more, but overall I think it looks great!

As I mentioned I'll need to find a few more sculpture items for the space, I'm considering getting a couple of those glass globes in fun colors and maybe something in iron that has a little height. I may also hang a bird feeder or something from the bottom of the fort's floor. I'm so excited about how much easier this will be to maintain though!

Building Raised Flowerbeds

This weekend I started out my Saturday (after sleeping in of course) with a trip to Lowe's. I shelled out big bucks to buy some weedkiller, post caps for my deck and landscape timbers. The timbers were the main reason for the excursion since the weekend project was a flowerbed!

Carrying the timbers from the truck.

We started out by deciding on the dimensions of the flowerbed, then had to dig a small trench for the first timbers do lay in. We definitely made use of a level multiple times during this step since the ground needed to be level in order for the first timbers to be level.

Tools used for this project: level, hoe, shovel, hammer, saw and drill.

We also had to deal with the ground sloping. Remember those stones I dug up in the sideyard? Well I still have them although I wasn't sure what I would use the broken ones for. Apparently the answer is a flowerbed! We used the broken stones to help level out the ground.

Once we had the first set of timbers in place it was really only a matter of cutting the additional timbers to size, stacking them in place and making sure they line up properly. Once we had all the timbers in place we drilled holes in the corners and a couple strategic spots and slid rebar through the holes. Then we hammered the rebar into the ground. That way the timbers aren't knocked out of place.

Leveling

The project is pretty simple if you have access to power tools (and know how to use them). Using a power saw or drill on my own would have made me nervous if I was working by myself. And to be honest I'm not generally patient enough to find the exact measurements like my dad does. And with this kind of project that type of detail is important.

I think one flowerbed took us about 3 hours total. I'm building another one at the end of my deck and I also plan to build one around the maple in my backyard and possibly a bed in the back corner for veggies and such. The vegetable bed is still in question because it would have to be built over the gas main. Ever since the debacle with ONG a few years ago I'm hesitant to invest much effort into beautifying (or building) along my back fence. I'd hate to build a vegetable garden in that corner (the only one with enough sun) only to have ONG come tear it out unexpectedly. But maybe. I already planted blackberries back there.

I'm adding the flowerbeds to help dress up some of the areas in my yard that have just looked unkempt for a while. For instance, here's a shot of the area before we built the flowerbed.

Before

The grass hasn't gotten going in this area and so far it's just been rocky dirt. Now that the deck is mostly done I wanted to add some visual appeal to the wall. I'm planning to plant azaleas or oakleaf hydrangeas here once our weather cools off. I'm not planting anything until the end of the summer. I've had a 60/40 survival rate--with 60% of everything I plant dying.

In other news, check out the visitor we've had. I guess he's decided that Ollie's outdoor water container is too convenient to pass up.

Where's the water?

Oh! Here's some!

I think someone's watching me...

I Should Have Been a Plumber...

Old faucet, leaking even after turning it off.

You know what sucks? Unexpected problems like a leak in the water line or a drip in one of my faucets.

A couple weeks ago I finished watering my plants and turned off the outdoor faucet. When I went inside I could still hear the sound of water running, for some reason the spigot was still running even after I tightened the handle all the way.

The old spigot after removal.

Dad came over to take a look and we decided that we didn't need to hire a plumber. Dad bought a replacement spigot, turned off the water at the meter (super easy to do I discovered) and removed the old spigot. That's when we ran into some issues.

For starters, the spigot Dad bought initially turned out to be the wrong size. After a second trip to Lowe's we started trying to screw the second faucet in. This time it was the right size, but the pipe that the spigot attached into wasn't cooperating for us to screw in the new spigot. So luckily I have an amazing dad who actually crawled under my house the attach the new spigot.

My lovely new spigot.

Of course, the problems with the outdoor spigot haven't been the only issues I've had. I'm seriously unimpressed with the plumbing work done by the man who "flipped" my house before selling it to me.

Personal reminder not to run water in that side of the sink.

I've had previous problems with low water pressure (which might have been a result of a leak in the water main that the city was working on), gross brown water from the faucets, the tub faucet handles broke off when I had guests, the bathroom and kitchen sinks both began leaking from the drainage pipe and the most recent plumbing disaster: the replacement of the kitchen drain.

The kitchen sink had a slow leak that didn't worry me overmuch. I just set a container under the leak and emptied it as needed. The other night, however, I finished washing some dishes and suddenly noticed a flood coming from the cabinets under the sink. When I opened them to check I noticed that the connection from the drain to the pipes was unscrewed. How it became unscrewed is a mystery.

I tried to screw it back into place, but the threading wouldn't catch. Dad came to take a look and ended up removing the whole drain to take to buy replacement parts. So I covered that side of my sink with plastic wrap so I wouldn't accidentally splash water from the side that worked. And I made it work for about a week.

The next weekend Dad brought the new drain and other plumbing supplies over and we got to work.

Plumber's Putty

Before we were able to put in the new drain we had to make sure the hole in the sink had a proper seal so the water wouldn't seep out around the drain. For that you use plumber's putty (which just looks nasty). We created a ring with the putty and fit it into place around the hole in the sink. The next step was to put the drain in place, which caused the putty to squeeze out around the edges.

Once the drain was in place we started fitting it to the pipes underneath the sink. I held the drain in place while Dad worked on getting everything connected. Having someone hold the drain is definitely helpful (if not necessary), before I started holding it down the drain would lift up every time Dad began screwing it to the pipes. Makes the job much more frustrating.

After everything was screwed into place we wiped away the excess putty and let it sit overnight for the putty to dry. I tested it the next morning for leaks and everything seemed to work great!

I guess having three or four plumbing emergencies in three years isn't too bad. I'd rather not have any of course, but at least my dad knows enough about plumbing to be able to help me instead of me having to pay a plumber every time there's a problem.

Based on your experiences, what is a typical number of plumbing problems to have in a year?

The Next Step

A few months back I posted the first in the series on building a deck. Last May I had no idea this project would take over a year, but here's the next step...

Decking:

After the foundation is complete you have to lay the decking (basically the floor of the deck). Laying the decking is a fairly quick process that requires a lot of power tools and screws. Dad bought tan screws since they would match the decking and not be as visible once we were finished. We started by laying the lumber in place. Once we made sure everything was in place we began securing the decking using the screws. 

At this point the boards were still significantly longer than the frame of the deck. Rather than risk cutting the boards unevenly before we screwed them in, Dad waited until they were all in place then used his power saw to trim the edges.

Railing:
The railing was a tricky step. According to our book on deck building, my deck is just high enough off the ground that it needs a railing. But there's a big step between deciding we needed a railing to actually building one. We had to decide how tall the railing should be, whether to buy pre-made railing or to build our own and how to put it into the deck.

After looking at costs I decided we should build our own railing rather than buying a pre-made one. Going with a pre-made railing might be a quicker option and they have several decorative railings that I really liked. However, for me the lower cost of building my own was the deciding factor.

Then Dad and I discussed whether to attach the railing posts to the outside of the deck or fit them into the frame. We decided on the second option. Since the decking was already in place that meant cutting out holes for the posts--which turned out to be a big headache.

As we began cutting out the decking we ran into issues like the wood splitting, the frame hardware getting in the way and tools breaking. Dad came up with creative solutions to circumvent each problem and eventually we got all the posts in. From there we began adding a top and bottom rail to each section of railing. We had decided to use lattice for the railing so the top and bottom rails acted as part of a frame for the lattice panels.

Moment of truth here. I really was not much help during this process. After we finished the decking we took a break because of the extreme heat that swamps Oklahoma in July and August. Once it was finally cool enough to work again I was so busy on the weekends that most of the time when Dad came by to work I was gone. In many cases, 'we' actually means 'he.'

The few plants that survived the 100+ degree temperatures
are shown here. Ignore the empty pots...

The railing is finally finished (except for some finishing touches like molding around the lattice and post caps) and we've moved onto the stairs (which you can read about here).

As soon as we finish the handrails on the stairs I need to start staining and weather-proofing the deck (watch for a how to post on this). I probably should have done that before last winter, but since we weren't finished with the deck I didn't get to it.

As a finishing touch I plan to buy the post caps that have sun powered lights. I think those will add a nice touch. Has anyone else taken on a project as big as building a deck? Do you have a deck and have any advice or tips for long-term maintenance?

A Turquoise Lamp

I've been noticing turquoise lamps in a lot of the home magazines lately. They are generally the perfect accent piece for the room. And seeing how perfect they look made me want one--just not enough to shell out $50 (or more) to get one.

Before

So I started thinking about the lamp in my office. It's a great lamp, but the color/design doesn't necessarily mesh with the rest of the room (or my plan for the rest of the room I guess).

I decided this lamp was meant to be turquoise.

At first I thought the best way to paint this lamp would be to get a high-shine spray paint in turquoise, but I quickly discovered that there are no turquoise spray paints on the market. I checked Walmart, Lowe's and Home Depot without success. I decided to get a can of paint instead.

Share Your Thoughts: 
Don't you agree that turquoise will just make that corner pop? Have you all seen the lamps I'm referring to?

After two coats of paint the lamp was starting to look just how I pictured, but the old lampshade (which worked great with the sandstone color) was completely wrong for the updated look. So I made a trip to Target to look at lampshades. (I love Target's lampshades! And Target in general.)

I was looking for a white or linen colored shade in a "drum" shape. I think what I found is perfect. Check it out:

After (lamp on)

Here's what it looks like when it isn't on:

After (lamp off)

The camera doesn't capture the exact shade of blue that I painted the lamp, but you get the best idea in the picture where the lamp is one. That strip at the top where the lamplight is shining is pretty close. Overall, I'm thrilled with the project.

The lampshade is white and has a ripple design that gives it texture. It makes it fun to look at whether the light is on or off. I bought just a pint of paint, but this project barely made a dent in the can. Any ideas of what else I should paint turquoise?

Balmy

Over a month of 100+ degree weather might be too much even for me. I commented the other day that I'll admit it's too hot outside when walking from the building to my car results in my earrings getting so hot they burn my skin.

So imagine my excitement when after five days in Colorado (with summery weather in the 80s and 90s) I return home to our 109 degree weather. And a broken air conditioner. Oops.

What Happened
My main mistake was not having the HVAC repairman come out for regular maintenance. Then I compounded that mistake by putting off scheduling a check up when my A/C started having trouble cooling the house a few weeks ago. In the end the breaker for the A/C unit gave out. At one of the most inconvenient times, of course. I came home to a house that was a balmy 95 degrees.

When the repairman came out last week his first look at the unit automatically sent the bill racing over $100. As he investigated further the news only got worse. Not only was the A/C breaker burnt out, but it appeared that the coiling unit was shot too. A significantly more expensive fix.

I ended up getting lucky. Once the breaker was replaced my coiling unit began working again. But the experience taught me an important lesson about proactive HVAC check-ups.

HVAC Maintenance Tips:

• The easiest fix is replacing the filter in the A/C units regularly, about every 1-6 months.
• Cleaning the evaporator and condenser coils a couple times a year will help prevent dirt build up or mold/fungus growth. One website suggested a product like BBJ’s Power Coil Clean. You should always treat the coils with an antimicrobial treatment after cleaning.
• Clean your air ducts once every other year.
• Seal leaks and check for standing water around air ducts.
• And have the repairman come do a standard check up around May and October every year.

Cooling Down
A few days later my A/C is working great, we've gotten a "cold" front with several heavy rainstorms that have cooled the temperatures to the 90s and (while I could do without driving in the torrential downpours) my plants seem happier. I'm glad not to need to water, plus I sleep great when it rains.

Do any of you have some A/C tips or stories to share?

Installing a Peep Hole

One of the selling points of my house was the front door. It's gorgeous.  Solid wood with a beautiful design. There were only two problems with it.

1. The design allows for some hairline cracks that let my heat and A/C escape and the outdoor weather in.
2. There was no window or peep hole.

Both are pretty easy fixes, but the peep hole was a priority for me. Not having a window is actually pretty practical for a front door, but it was important for me to be able to check who was at the door before I open it.

A couple weeks after I moved in my dad brought his drill over and we bought a peephole at Lowe's. Less than an hour later I was able to peer through my front door to see who's at the door.

I'm actually glad we installed this because I was able to place the peephole at a level that is easy for me to see out of. And this project is one I could probably have done myself (with the help of my dad's tool kit anyway). We took his drill and (making sure the bit was the right size) put a hole through the door. The most important part is making sure the hole is completely straight. Once you have the hole you just put the peephole pieces through each side and screw them together firmly.

Creepy Crawlers

Black spot that caught my attention.

I've spent the last few days trying to decide what to post about next. Today my question was answered. I was in the kitchen when I noticed a black spot on the ceiling of my laundry room. My first thought was that a wasp had gotten in, not fun, but nothing to panic over either.

A closer look, however, revealed that the spot was actually a crowd of small, black ants coming in through the molding of my house. YUCK.

I believe I mentioned in a previous post that I absolutely loathe roaches. The few times I've come across one or two in my house I was ruthless. Ants are a close second to being the most dreaded infestation though.

I've had some trouble with ants for a couple weeks now, but only in my bathroom. I had high hopes that the problem was under control. Finding this nest was the last straw. I bypassed the corn meal that is supposed to kill ants naturally, gave up on the traps that have food for the ants to take back to the nest so the whole colony dies. I went straight for the "kill the buggers on contact" spray. And I coated them.

Of course, that sent the few that survived into a tizzy and a few seconds later this happened:

The battle truly begins.

I know the picture is a little fuzzy, but this is the corner of the laundry room ceiling, about three feet away from the first picture. My best guess is that the ants were in the molding along the entire wall and began looking for a second exit when I poisoned the first one. At this point I was wearing a towel over my face to avoid breathing in the ant spray and trying to block any new routes by spraying a perimeter.

The picture doesn't do this situation justice. Not only do I have live ants trying to escape, but I have dead ants stuck to the wall with the spray and more dead ants dropping from the ceiling. I seriously hope that they are all dead and that I don't continue to have problems. Ants give me the creepy crawlies.

Oh, and I hope that the spray doesn't damage the paint.

Options for Termination
From here I have a few options if the problem isn't solved.

1. Continue to spray live ants I find and hope the situation doesn't get worse.
2. I plan to head outside with a rake as soon as the weather gets warmer and rake all the leaves and undergrowth away from the house.
3. Spray outside of house with some sort of insecticide.
4. Make sure all food products are sealed and that rooms (especially the kitchen) stay clean.
5. Hire an exterminator.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

Making Space Make Sense

Remember a few weeks ago when I talked about my bathroom upgrades? In that post I mentioned one project I wanted to do--adding more shelves to one of the cabinets. Well, I did!

You all wanted to see what I put
in my bathroom cabinet, right?

Picture this tall cabinet without the second or fourth shelves. When I bought the house this cabinet had exactly three shelves (one of those being the bottom of the cabinet) which meant there was a lot of wasted space. Nothing I store in the cabinet needs two feet of space. 

So I bought plywood (about 2 ft. by 2 ft.) and my dad cut it down to the right measurements and helped fit it in the cabinet. Making sure the shelves were cut to the correct measurements was the hardest part. To put them in the cabinet we just made sure the shelves were level, screwed in a couple strips of wood and laid the new shelves on top.

We added two shelves which means there is now an awesome amount of usable space in that cabinet. Any stories out there of simple fixes that made a place or item more useful?

Bathroom Overhaul

When I bought my house there was only one room that I knew I couldn't stand. Check it out:

Bland, huh? With that white color palette not only did the room feel like it belonged in a hospital, but check out that ugly magazine rack/toilet paper holder in the wall. I'm pretty sure it used to be a space heater (my grandma has them in the bathrooms at her house), but when I moved in it was just an eyesore.

Features you can't really see in the picture are the cheap wood cabinets (they match the ones in the kitchen) and the over-sized cabinet that was hanging about the toilet. It didn't reach the walls, but only left a couple inches on either side between the edges of the cabinet and the walls.

That mirror is awesome though. When I was still house-hunting Spencer would sometimes come with me, even though we weren't planning to room together at that time. One of the houses I looked at had this decorative mirror in the bathroom. It gave Spencer a great view of his midriff, but if he wanted to see his face he was out of luck. My mirror takes up an entire wall and even tilts in a bit on the sides. I love it.

First Step: Color
My first step with the bathroom was to give the room some color. I painted the walls a sage green. I love the color green, but I went through about four wrong shades of green before picking the current color.

I discovered that people weren't kidding when they said bathrooms are the hardest rooms to paint. Luckily the room wasn't big, but the tight space made it difficult to maneuver with a ladder. I ended up asking my brother to paint some of the areas I couldn't reach. I think the color really made the room pop though.

I also bought some black metal paint and went to town on that magazine rack. Once I finished painting I actually thought it was kind of cool.

*Sidenote: I made sure to tape the border and metal rods really well, I wanted to keep the contrast of the chrome against the black and green.

Tying it Together
The next struggle I had was choosing a color scheme to tie the room together. My towels from college were a solid blue, I bought a few more at Kohl's that had the same blue in stripes. Then I went through three shower curtains before I found the perfect one.

Pictures of all three:

Curtain #1
My parents gave me this one.
It hadn't been used in so long that I don't
even remember it ever being used.

Curtain #2
My grandmother bought this
one for me. I love the design,
but ultimately decided it
didn't go with this room.

Curtain #3
Final choice!

I'm so proud of my final choice. The iridescent blues and greens really tie the walls into the rest of my color scheme for that room. I bought the curtain and bathroom set at Kmart, thanks to my mom. I was actually a little surprised they had something I liked, in general I'm not a big fan of Kmart. I feel like you can't rely on them to have what you need from visit to visit, their merchandise changes a lot. My mom loves them though and dragged me along on one of her shopping trips.

That visit was definitely a success. Not only did I find the bath set, but I also found the perfect bath mats! For some misguided reason I actually thought white bath mats would be a good idea at first. Then I tried blue. The final winner were these awesome green mats from Kmart.

Simple Additions
Sometimes the simple touches are what completes a room. My dad surprised me with these pretty shower curtain hangers, which are just perfect. I would have just used the cheap plastic ones I already had if he hadn't found them. Wouldn't that just be sad?

I also replaced the original shower head. I bought a low flow detachable shower head because the one that was originally installed was too low for me. Any time I find something that is too low or tight for me I decide it's a no. If someone who is 5'3" thinks a shower head is too low, a mirror too small or the backseat of a car too cramped (Read about my awesome car here! Note that the car I chose is comfy for anyone, even in the backseat.), I figure it would be nearly impossible for 90% of the population. Plus the detachable shower head is more convenient.

Finishing Touches
I had to take down that oversized cabinet in order to paint. My final step to the bathroom overhaul was to sell that cabinet on craigslist and buy a smaller shelf that fit the space better and to add another towel bar (the only one in the bathroom was in the shower/tub).

I chose a shelf in the same silver throughout the bathroom and with glass shelves. It's awesome for displaying some of my perfume bottles and art.

Not Done Yet!
Despite loving the changes that I've made I still have some plans for that room.

• The tall cabinet actually only has two shelves, once my dad has time to help me cut the wood to the right size I plan to add a couple more shelves. That cabinet could offer so much more storage than it does now.
• I've also considered painting the cabinets. Either the whole area, or just the doors. I think a metallic paint in the center of the doors or replacing them with frosted glass would look cool.
• Another thought I've had is replacing the bath mats with a nice hallway runner. While I love how the mats look, they won't last forever. I read an article that said rugs are more durable since they are designed to withstand more traffic. I think a nice hallway runner in the right colors would look awesome in the bathroom, and last longer.
  

Help!
When I moved in my neighbor (also a plumber) warned me that the tub was porcelain and would chip/scratch if I used abrasive cleaners (same with my kitchen sink). Despite my best efforts I still have a few nicks in the tub. Anyone have suggestions on how to get this fixed? I'm not even sure who I would call or if it can be fixed.

What rooms were disasters when you moved into your house? How did you fix them?