The bathroom project is very slowly coming along. We work on it a bit and then often find ourselves outside enjoying the wonderful weather. And I'm not even going to apologize for it, because we only get this weather for a short time, right? We have been enjoying walks, beach days, BBQs, and swims, and we have had a lot of great people visiting over this past month. So much fun! Just last night baby got to go for her first swim. She seemed to really like it. Can't wait to take her again!

Back to the bathroom update. We did manage to replace the sink. We took out the old one and simply swapped it with the sink from the powder room. As they are exactly the same so it didn't require moving the plumbing around. Even though we are essentially using the same sink, it is in much better shape, so it feels new to us. 

We also took all the various bars off the large wall and filled in the holes. We still need to get a new toilet paper holder, but that's all. I'm not going to to get a new towel rack, instead I'm going to hang our hand towels on the safety bar attached to the bathtub tiles. We can't take it out unless we want to leave giant holes in the tile. So I decided to use it as a towel rack instead of leaving the bar as an eye sore. 

Next we need to pick some paint for the walls. Originally we were planning to use the same grey as on our stair railing. However, after doing some test spots the colour actually looks tan in the bathroom, and we aren't sure if it really matches the pinks. So it's back to looking at paint samples for us. Hopefully we can get started on the painting this weekend (in between hanging outside on this gorgeous long weekend). Hope you have a great holiday weekend!

Check out this house remodel in Oakland, California. It was created by Baran Studio. Lots more photos here. I really like the new front and back decks that were added.

Project Description:
The existing Spanish Style house had been modified ad-hoc (not to mention illegally) over the years with little attention to the net effect. As with many of the transformations we design, we took the existing conditions and capitalized on the best features of the house.

Take a look at this amazing sculpture. So neat! It's called Not Now and was created by artist Michael Beitz. It would be pretty crazy to work at an end of a desk like this. Just thought I'd share something fun with you for the week end. Hope to get more to you next week about our master bathroom. We have been working on it I promise!

Over the weekend I hosted a baby shower for a good friend of mine. This required a bit of out-of-the-box thinking so to speak. For one, it's the middle of the summer and I didn't think the traditional afternoon tea would be best, and my friend has a lot of allergies so I wasn't going to be making little sandwiches. I ended up going with a summer picnic theme, while still keeping with a baby theme. Everything went well and the mama-to-be seemed to have lots of fun!

I also created little milk cartons, decorated with stickers and ribbon, for the prizes. A little different design to the regular gift bags. 

We made an appetizer with apricots soaked in orange juice, topped with goat cheese and peanuts. Then I piled the veggie fresh rolls in a boat salad bowl for a fun look. And who doesn't like ice cream at a hot summer get together. These little lemon and mango sundaes disappeared very quickly! I had lots of fun putting together this summer baby shower, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. 

This week we have managed to replace the baseboard that had the missing piece, and paint all the trim white. Already it looks a lot more finished and less scruffy. Can't wait to tackle the walls and sink. Hopefully we can get started on it soon. Happy weekend! 

A department store in Amsterdam has created a vertical living area in the tower of their building. Very neat use of a small, but tall, space! It was created by i29 Architects. For more go to Contemporist. 

About: 
The living space has been designed for an artist in residence project created by de Bijenkorf and theRijksmuseum named ‘Room On The Roof’, with artist Martin Baas starting the first residency on the 27th of January.

The department store has invited artists, writers, musicians, architects and designers to take part in the program. Artist Maarten Baas will be first to use the studio. During the launch, the full program for 2015 will be unveiled together with the first screening of an introductory film by Artist and Creative Director, Christian Borstlap.

So we aren't going to get to ripping this bathroom out anytime soon. There are just too many priorities on the list right now. Like, as of last week our hot water heater is now sort of working, and the same can be said for our dishwasher and washing machine. It's starting to look like our laundry/furnace room might be up next. We are doing some research as to what new machines we might want in there to be ready for when they officially die. Since it's a small space we were looking into tankless water heaters. They seem like a great idea! However, back to the master bathroom. I came up with some little fixes to do in the meantime to make it a lot more livable. 

First thing that will be done is replace one of the baseboards that is missing a chunk (see above). This happened when we added a door to the bathroom way back when we moved in. We are going to replace that whole section to give it a more clean look, rather than simply filling in the little piece. Then we need to paint all the baseboards and window trim. They are in rough shape and are a cream colour. Soon they will now be white!

After all the baseboards are done we are going to take down all these randomly placed bars (seen above), patch up all the walls, and paint! We plan to use the light grey paint we used for our stair banister. I thought a soft grey would best match with the pink theme that is happening in this bathroom. The colour is by Behr called Ashes. It should really warm it up in here because right now it feels very stark. 

The walls are in rough shape so it will be great to get those holes filled in and painted over. We are also going to change out the venetian blinds for something that will let more light in but still be private. Perhaps something similar to the ones we put in our bedroom that can open from the top as well. 

The last thing we are going to do for now is exchange this sink for the one we took out of the powder room. They are exactly the same except the powder room one is in better shape, and you can actually use the plug. We might get a new facet as well for this sink just to modernize it a little bit. Also, I might get a new toothbrush holder and soap dispenser, which we then will be able to use after we fully renovate. I will keep you up to date on the progress. Can't wait for this bathroom, that we use the most, to look a little nicer! 

Sorry for the short absence this past week, it's been a busy one! Unfortunately, it had nothing to do with new house renovations. However, here I am for the Friday post, and hopefully I will be back next week!

Elara is so lucky, all these wonderful people keep making her so many great things! Her uncle is really great with woodworking and created this rattle for her. He had to chisel out the rings from the original shaft of wood to create them. Which of course is how they will always stay on. It is finely sanded and so smooth. Elara is really starting to enjoy playing with it now (and of course eating it). Such an amazing gift for our new baby!