Saturday, April 28, 2007

Sunday Brunch. . . Thinking Makeover. . .

Sorry, no muffins for today's brunch. Black coffee and talk of makeovers. No, not for the old face and bod, though both of mine could probably use a little work.

I've just staggered away from watching three full hours of HGTV house/room/yard makeovers and looked at my house. As a writer I work where I live, and I have to look at the same furnishings, the same drapes, the same tile, cabinets, and counter tops all day. . . day after day. . . month after month. While the house is only 8 or 9 years old, some of it seems sadly outdated. Almond appliances anyone? If I can't change my workplace (house) once in a while I go stir crazy. Cabin-fever in Florida. It's ugly. So I've started looking around the old abode and plotting some changes using the savvy I've garnered from HGTV.

Vessel sinks. Just the coolest trend to hit bathrooms in centuries. Okay,
a century. Okay, the last decade. They're made of glass, ceramic, copper, stone, granite, blown glass, funky concrete, even laminated wood! And ooooooh. . . I want one. Or two. Or three. In fact, I want all of them. Which is a bad sign. It means I'm in love with an idea. Of course, the sinks would make the counter tops look terrible. . . and the shower tile. . . then the rest of the fixtures. . . and that wallpaper-- what was I thinking when that went up?


Call me crazy, but the bathroom is my second favorite room in a house. And having a handsome or elegant master bath is right up there with pedicures and low carb muffins in my book. I suspect we'll have to work on the kitchen first-- those almond appliances would send most realtors into defib. But I'm already window shopping for the bathroom sinks and planning how to pay for what must be a huge project.

Do you follow the Hypnotism-- I mean HGTV Channel? Picked up any useful tips? Does it give you the irresistible urge to pick up a glue gun? Does it make you want to paint your kitchen cabinets and knit slipcovers for the old Barcolounger? Which are your favorite shows? Your favorite design hosts?

Back off, me lovelies, Clive Pearson's mine!

9 comments:

Michele Hauf said...

I don't follow any of the decorating shows, but just seeing those pictures of sinks makes me want to remodel!
I've got a jug of paint I picked up last Sunday to repaint the bathroom, still sitting on the bathroom counter. (It was Earth Day last Sunday so I bought 'green certified' paint with low VOC. Good for me.) Anyway, I do like the look you get after the work, but the work is the do or die moment. I don't think the hubby and I have ever done a project without nearly killing each other in the process. And that's not an accidental fall sort of kill, I'm talking arguing so much because we both know we're right and how to do it the right way. :-)

I'd love to have a huge bathroom that you could dance in. I wouldn't dance in it, but I would hide away in there for hours at a time in my bubble bath and with my tunes and candles. Ahh...

Michele

Debra Dixon said...

Betina-- Yes, the bathroom is an important space for me too! During the great-remodel-that-was, the contractor just kept saying, "You have all this wasted space in the bathroom!" I just ignored him. The room is huge.

It was one of the primary reasons for the remodel and it was all about making me happy. Huge glass shower (like you could put dinette furniture in it and serve breakfast).

You can dance in the unoccupied center of the bathroom per Michele's suggestion. Put your arms out, twirl and not hit a thing.

You can open every door without having to maneuver yourself out of the way. Even with people IN the room with you.

I made do with a bathroom the size of a CLOSET for 20 years. When it came time to do the remodel of the house the one thing I demanded was space, space, space. I want to be able to brush my teeth without moving if Wayne wants to wander through the bathroom to get something from the linen closet or get into his closet which is off the bathroom. Or just sit down and chat while he's getting ready for work.

We didn't do a vessel sink but we did furniture instead of bathroom cabinetry. Like an appothecary cabinet, Victoria wash basin, etc.

Christie Ridgway said...

I love my master bedroom suite! Though we remodeled many years ago, it still feels like such a wonderful retreat to me. Since I have two boys and half the neighborhood here most of the time, I can go upstairs, shut my door, and feel as if I'm in my own little aparment. My friend Lisa says she'll worry about me the day I put a refrigerator up there.

I love those vessel sinks, Betina. But I think I'm going to have to redo my kitchen in the near future. My husband and I did a lot of the original remodel work ourselves (installing the cabinets and all the tiling) and it's getting to be time for the pros to come. Except now I think I'm going to knock out the wall between my kitchen and dining room...so it would be a much bigger project than an update!

Cindy Gerard said...

OMG, Betina. I'm an HGTV-aholic! My husband threatens to cut off cable sometimes so I can't watch it. One day he came home to find the living room painted (by MOI!) in not one but 2 bold, saturated colors - sounds like an HGTV description, right? Anyway, it was a shock to him because I hadn't even told him I was going to paint. I just got a wild hair and decided to do it. Hey. It's paint. I figured I could always paint over it if he didn't like it. He took a long look around and said: "That's it. No more HGTV for you."
But it's grown on him since. :o)
My favorite show - Sensible Chic - is no longer on and I haven't been the same since. I loved what they did to duplicate those $100K designer rooms for $2000.
And I LOVE those vessel sinks. As a matter of fact the next room in our house to get a make over is absolutely the main bath and I'm going hog wild. Well, maybe half a hog :o)

Unknown said...

I am so relieved to find out I'm not the only HGTV-a-holic in the car! And yes, Deb and Cindy and Christie and Michelle, having a bathroom big enough to dance in is balm for a writerly soul! I so want to paint a bedroom red and another one that beautiful pale aqua that looks like Caribbean blue sea foam.. . but I'm one of those chickens when it comes to wall color. I go to the paint store intending on something dramatic and end up coming home with plain, sensible old BEIGE!!

I'm really trying to make myself try something new in the house. Maybe a few more episodes of that new guy David B-something-- the Design Star from last season-- and I'll get up the courage to go colorful.

Oooooh. . . and that show that has all the great new household gadgets-- "I Want That"-- is that cool or what? I get such a bad case of the "wants" after watching that. But I guess it will be quite some time before I get a refrigerator that talks to me and tells me when I'm just about out of ketchup!

Anonymous said...

Love, love, love HGTG!!! Thanks to that show, I've textured walls to look like stucco, painted my dining room red, sponge-painted a guest bath with beige, gold, and sliver paint so it looked like marble, and tiled a floor. The only one I wouldn't want to do again is tile a floor--that was hard, messy work--but the walls were fun. And paint is so easy to change. As Cindy said, if you don't like it, change it.

anne frasier said...

i love the look of the vessel sinks, but the ones i've used are messy. water splashes everywhere, but i'd still consider getting one. :D

Unknown said...

Splashes, hmmm? Hey, I'll put up with a few spatters if I get to look at the gorgeous thing day after day. Sort of like living with a man; there are annoyances, but the benefits generally outweigh them!

And I think I'm going to paint a bedroom!

Betina

Helen Brenna said...

We redid our kitchen 2 years ago, granite countertops, new appliances, etc... Made the rest of the house look like it needed to be redone too. I'd love to redo our bathrooms next.

Also love the look of the vessel sinks but hate to get too trendy with something that'll be there a while.