Our downstairs bathroom

Since my husband and I are no strangers to fixing up a house or two, I've noticed we always tend to fall into a pattern when it comes to remodeling. And that's that we work hard-core on a house for a few months, and then we get burned out. Sometimes we "burn out" due to lack of funds and we just have to wait to get caught back up. That was the case this time. However, since we sold our fifth wheel, we feel that we can now start working on the house again. But, that doesn't mean we get real motivated to do the work. However, just like our burn out pattern, there is also one sure-fire way to get us motivated on fixing up a house again. What is it, you may ask? Having company! We've known for a few weeks now that my sister and her family would be visiting us this month, so that gave us a goal to get our downstairs bathroom remodeled! We finished just in the nick of time considering our guests will be arriving tomorrow!!! (Also, my parents are driving up to see them as well, so we will once again have a house full!) Now, keep in mind we still haven't remodeled our upstairs bathroom, which happens to be the bathroom that is attached to the master bedroom. I am a little jealous that my family members will be using the "nice" bathroom while Greg and I will be using the "crap" bathroom. But hey, we figured they would enjoy it. Plus, there was literally a hole in the downstairs shower which meant it needed to be fixed before we remodeled our upstairs bathroom anyway so we'd have a place to shower while the other one is being fixed. Sheesh!

This is what the bathroom used to look like:






And this is what it looks like now!





Do you want to know what our inspiration was for the color scheme? The shower pan! Greg didn't want to have to install a new shower pan when the one that was in place was in good shape. However, it had blue flecks in it. I figured, why not work with it! And thus, the blue/gray tiled shower was born! Luckily the shower door was in good shape as well, so even though it's gold trimmed, we figured we'd cut cost by re-using it. We had originally bought some marble tile to re-do the vanity top with, but decided there would be too much tile going on. So, we decided to use the same tile that we used in the shower, and I'm so glad that we did!!!

Next, we painted the vanity and the medicine cabinet white. Also, Greg did some "modernizing" to the medicine cabinet. Everyone who has seen it can't believe it's the same one! It's amazing what some paint, new hardware, and new trim will do to a piece of furniture!

I figured the best color for the walls that would go well with the tile was a gray color. Typically I like a warmer color palette, and since the grays and whites really gave the bathroom a "sterile" feel, I decided some pops of color were in order. Originally I wanted hot pink, but figured Greg would kill me. I think red was a good happy-medium! I already had two of the black towels and one black rug. I bought another black rug and towel at Wal-Mart and the three red hand towels at Wal-Mart as well. The flowers came from a Hobby Lobby run I did while we were in Oklahoma. Those happen to be my favorite flowers (antherium) and were used in our wedding! OH, I'm forgetting one of the most important things! Ever since we purchased this house, I kept picturing a decorative ladder to hang towels on for that bathroom, since there is so much wasted space in there. Low and behold, I found one at a garage sale for $5. All it needed was a coat of white paint! Also, do you like my curtain tie-backs? They are actually pony tail holders! Yes, sometimes I can think outside the box!

There you have it! I think next on our agenda may be flooring for our dining room and kitchen. Which means, who's coming to visit? We may need some motivation!

Showing Off!

A few weeks ago we made a journey to the Sooner State so Greg and I could show off our most prized possession to our family. (That would be Mr. Parker in case you didn't know). He did as good as you can expect from a 10 week old baby during our traveling (although Greg would probably say otherwise!) He got to meet a lot of family! As in, two great grandmothers, a grandma and grandpa, three Aunts and Uncle, and lots of cousins!!! I had a great time showing him off to everyone but of course there was never enough time for me to meet up with all of my friends...which is why I didn't even tell many people that we were going to be in Oklahoma. There's always next time!

The last part of our trip was spent at Lake Texoma. Greg actually planned a huge fishing trip for a bunch of our friends. We had friends from Oklahoma, Texas, Tennesse, and even some of our friends from here in Colorado that met us at the lake. I spent most of my time with Parker, but from what I hear everyone had a great time. It will be fun to take Parker to the lake this time next year; I can't wait! Luckily I had two of my really good friends come down to my father in laws house so they could meet Parker and so that I could visit with them. My friend Misty just purchased a professional camera and so we had an all day photo session. I was eccstatic that she was willing to do that and I had to show off a few of my favorite shots of me and my little man! Enjoy!!!