Making Do! (from the Mrs.)

 This post is from Mrs. "Am I nuts!"
Sometimes we think we need to make a purchase
and then realize that we already have something that
work will work just fine...with a little creativity!
Here are two examples.

First the door. On the left is the old bathroom door.
It had never been painted and was so unsightly that
I could only find a partial picture of it. We REALLY
thought we would need to replace this door. Then
Richard came up with a great idea of using some of
our left over wallpaper to dress up the panels. I primed
painted and after it completely dried added some
paintable wallpaper using wallpaper paste. Caulked
the edges to give a sealed look and then added
two coats of paint to the wallpaper and caulk.

This is now my favorite door.

Next we have the clock! I searched and searched for a clock to put in our newly finished bathroom downstairs but nothing seemed to fit into the decor and color scheme we had used. Then I realized I could remake one of our old plastic clocks circa 1985. It's been a great clock all of these years but kinda modern looking for an 1892 Victorian.

I found directions online for how to do this. I had never done it before but had always wanted to try.
I removed the battery and carefully lifted off the
hands being sure to keep them in the proper order.
Next came the paint. I chose a copper hammered enamel, that we already had, because I wanted the
finished look to have some texture to it.

This look might be the stopping point for some but I wanted it to compliment the rest of the theme in our bathroom so I added some satin black paint, which I already had from the range cabinet Richard made for the kitchen. I used this black paint sparingly wiping the brush onto newspaper before touching it to the hammered copper.

Below is the clock after lightly brushing on the black satin paint.

 Now I needed a face for the clock. I found some I liked online. The bathroom this clock is going into has some Asian Toile fabric draperies that have an elephant in the scheme. I really like the elephant. I was able
to use some photoshop magic to create an elephant to place onto the face of the clock. Printed it on card-stock and cut it out. Of course there was some trial and error with this. I did the first few on draft quality to conserve ink. I also found the yellow face of the clock too bright and wanted to age it a bit. After several experiments found that our grandchildren's watercolors worked the best. I ironed it dry, yes I ironed it. Water going into paper can make it swell and distort. The dry ironing helped to counter act that. I cut it, used some glue, lined up the new face with the old and rubbed it into place for a few minutes. And here it is...before a great 1985 clock and after an aged clock for an older home.

Below is the clock hanging on the bathroom wall.

Progress Journal of downstair bathroom

It would be nice if all we had to do was wave a wand and poof, everything was nice looking. But since it doesn't happen that way here are the incremental photos of the remodel:

Now - 90% complete

 

 

 

 

I have a few things to take care of such as the plumbing for the tub. I am grateful for Chris and all the work she has done in the bathroom and for her great decorating skills.

The changing direction of wind

Wind is interesting, it can change direction at a moments notice. I think restoration work is somewhat like the changing of the wind. A change in events prompts a change in priorities or focus. Such was the case this weekend. A sudden turn of events prompted us to focus on the downstairs bathroom, and of course the events have now changed again. But since we have now committed ourselves to working on the bathroom we will continue with the process. What have we accomplished so far? Well, Chris has mud and taped the ceiling and I worked on removing the old bathtub. When it was time to take the tub out of the bathroom, well that was a two person project. The tub is cast iron. I'm sure that cast iron is a great product but I detest cast iron, especially when it comes to moving it.  I am glad that I have a hand cart rated at 1000 lbs and a wife who is willing to help with such difficult projects. (Great - more linoleum!)
So now the bathroom looks like this:

 

And what are we going to replace the old tub with? A claw foot tub that is much older and made of cast iron. I hope it is lighter. Chris worked very hard on removing the rust from the underside of the tub. Then she painted it with an undercoat of black Rustoleum followed by a finish coat of paint. There are some fun details on the feet of the tub. 

Here are the results:

(I didn't want anyone standing on their head to see the foot so I rotated it after I took the picture, thus the objects in the background are upside down).

Postscript

I forgot to thank my Honey for all the hard work she has put in. She stripped the paint from the doors and trim and does 99% of the mudding, tapping and prep work on the drywall, which means she makes my drywall hanging mistake magically disappear, or in other words she makes me look good. I am grateful to have such a great restoration partner.

And last but not least

Yesterday I also worked on the greenhouse, until it got to be too hot outside. Everything is ready for the last section to have siding nailed in place. I also added one more section to the roof. The last section of roof will be challenging. Almost ready for the window panels.