Tag Archives: Home Improvements

How to Choose a Bathroom Faucet

We are almost ready for our bathroom renovation reveals. When renovating and remodeling, there are so many decisions that need to be made, we talked about choosing the toilet, WASHLET and vanity for the bathroom, but I did not mention the faucet yet. When choosing a faucet there are several things you need to consider.

Faucet Type

First off, if you are updating and keeping the same vanity top and vanity, you are limited to what you can choose. You cannot install a single handle faucet if you have widespread faucet. Well, you can but it will have to have a plate that covers the other holes so you won’t have the same look. If you are starting from scratch, you have all the options you want. I chose a single handle faucet because I like the sleek look and find them easier to clean.

Sink Type

The type of sink you have is also a factor, if you have a vessel sink, make sure you choose a faucet that will work with it. The type of mount and gallons per minute are other things to keep in mind when choosing your faucet.

 

Finish

The next choice is the finish. Again, if you are not starting from scratch, you need to consider the colors of the other fixtures in the bathroom. We had a clean slate to work with so I went with the brushed nickel.

Style

Next, the hardest part. What style faucet do you want? There are so many styles to choose from! We could not believe all the choices we had in front of us when we were checking out TOTO USA’s website for a bathroom faucet. With so many great styles to choose from, it was hard to decide. In the end, we went with something traditional and elegant. We choose the Guinevere faucet and just had it installed. It is absolutely beautiful.

About Our Faucet

Guinevere as we call her, is more than beautiful, she has a durable brass construction with a ceramic disc cartridge. She has a WaterSense Approved Low-Flow of 1.5 gpm. Guinevere comes in three fabulous finishes: polished chrome, polished nickel and brushed nickel. A metal pop up drain is included.

Our plumber told me that he was very impressed with the faucet. I laughed and told him to handle her carefully and that her name was Guinevere. We both had a good laugh on that, but we still call her by her name. The faucet and pop up drain were easy for him to install without any issues. Guinevere works flawlessly. I will show you how well in a video as soon as we do the reveal.

If you are looking for a new faucet check out TOTO USA. You can also follow them on Social media on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube to see more of their products and here the latest news.

Stay tuned, and subscribe to our newsletter and social media channels so you don’t miss the reveals. Let me know what you think of our choice.


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Filed under Curb Appeal, Home, Home Improvement, Review

Big Home Improvement Updates & New Projects #HomeImprovement

Hi Everyone, I hope all the moms out there had a very Happy Mother’s Day.  I am here with some very big updates. We will finally be starting the process of having the interior of our home rebuilt. We received great news from our air and surface testing after the mold remediation was completed so we can go to phase 2 and start getting our house back!

Need Help?

We have had a busy week. First off if you are looking for contractors or craftsmen and women, please try Thumbtack. We live in the country and we were having trouble finding contractors, electricians, plumbers, painters etc. One afternoon on Thumbtack solved that. Our house was like a hub for the next few days getting estimates because we had such a great response.

I have to tell you, we found so many skilled professionals we wanted to work with, it was hard to choose. We actually felt really bad about having to tell them that we hired someone. In the end, we found a contractor to do it all, from soup to nuts, everything! It was the best choice for us and we cannot wait to get this home rebuild party started.

Home Depot Pro Accounts Rock

My husband and I went to the The Home Depot the other day with our new contractor and added all the SKU numbers for all the drywall, wall spackle, thin set, grout, insulation, molding and other building supplies to my Home Depot Pro account. If you are doing work on your home and do not have a Pro account, go and get one, it is free, and if you are doing major renovations and will be spending more than $1500 in 7 days, it is well worth it. They also have a Pro special buy each week.

I could kick myself for the $7,000 plus I spent prior to knowing this. The only thing that consoles me is that what I bought previously was on a huge sale, so I tell myself it probably would not have been knocked down more. That is what I am telling myself anyway.

I work with a wonderful man there and he is so helpful and friendly, he knew my contractor immediately and told me he was a good guy. So, we now have just about everything we need except for the wall paint. That is because I need to pick the colors, which I plan to do this week. My kitchen designer told me to use the Cambria site that I am getting my quartz from. It has a paint match tool that is really cool so that is a huge help. It gave me four shades that would work and so I have to decide which two colors I want to go with.

Unbelievable Deal

We bought all the new hardwood flooring for our upstairs foyer, atrium and bedrooms as well. I am so excited about that because we got a great deal on the wood. It was more than a great deal, it was the kind of deal that makes me think of the IKEA commercial where the woman is running out and screaming to her husband, “Start the Car! Start the Car!”

We also have 3 pallets of Italian porcelain tile in our garage for the kitchen and first floor of our home. I still need to choose the tile for my kitchen backsplash, but my kitchen designer has advised me to wait until the countertop is installed, so I can really see how it will look. In the meantime, I am looking at what I think I want. I have just been informed by my contractor to look at some tile mat designs for the special accent tile I want to put behind my cooktop. I will try and do that this week.

Bathroom Renovation Finally Starting

We are going to be demoing the powder room downstairs and finally installing the new vanity and toilet. I did not pick out the new wallpaper yet so that will be something I need to do. I did pick up the new light fixture for the ceiling  and we have a huge medicine chest, mirror unit that matches the vanity with built in LED lighting from Hafele.

We will then be installing a new TOTO USA Guinevere toilet in our bathroom and  the beautiful Guinevere faucet from TOTO USA in the powder room. We will be installing the American Standard Self-Cleaning Toilet in the Powder Room along with the vanity and mirror unit  from Strasser Woodenworks.

Kitchen Cabinets Due To Be Completed Soon

The kitchen cabinets from Wood-Mode are due to be completed on May 21st! I cannot wait to get my kitchen in. I am so excited. I have missed cooking and baking more than you can imagine.

Our refrigerator and dishwasher were delivered this week too! On May 19th, Home Depot will deliver all the building supplies and then work is going to be full speed ahead.

More Projects Underway

I also have some exciting little projects planned for me to do and show you on the blog. Our basement steps are still the unfinished wood from when we built the house. I want to dress them up a bit. I have thought about it for a while, but never got around to doing it, but no more procrastinating.

I bought Minwax Polyshades in the dark brown Espresso color for the top of the stairs and for the risers, I picked up some Wall Pops, Newport Reclaimed Brick NuWallpaper, peel and stick wallpaper to use. There was a photo on the outside of the package showing it used on stair risers and I loved the look. I will take video of the project to help anyone who might want to recreate the look in their own home.

I am also refinishing some windowsills in my house with the Watco Danish Oil and other Watco products. I cannot wait to share that with you, they are coming out fabulous. I am also covering the process on video, I hope it will help others to see how easy it is to get beautiful results.

Lastly you may remember in my master bath, I have the Concealed Cabinets. Well, I have wanted to add a little bling to them and I found some mosaic tile at Home Depot that I thought would match, and it does! I am going to put them all around the frame and then grout them.

I still need to find the right thing for inside the frame. I am thinking of using one of my flower photos enlarged to that size. The lilacs are just starting to bloom and I am going to try to take a photo that might work for that or use one that I have. I may do one in a peony and one with the lilac. I will Have to see. It is either that or one of my lake photos.

So, that is my update and I will be taking lots of photos and videos of the rebuild and all my projects to share with you of our progress along the way.  If you have any questions, please ask.


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Filed under Curb Appeal, Home & Garden, Home Improvement, Kitchen

You May Never Need To Clean Your Toilet Again!

When you ask people what their least favorite household chore is, at the top of the list of most people is cleaning the toilet. Can you imagine if there was a toilet that would take care of that dreaded task for you? Well, you can stop dreaming about it because American Standard’s ActiClean toilet is real! This toilet cleans and removes stains at the touch of a button.

I will admit, I was very shocked to learn about this toilet a few months ago. We actually have one and cannot wait to install it. Our “little leak” in our kitchen that caused extensive damage to our home, has delayed our bathroom renovation projects just a tad. We will update with all the details as soon as we are ready to resume that project. I thought I would share my joy with you in the meantime about this amazing toilet.

How does the ActiClean System work?

American Standard provided us with an ActiClean Toilet for our project. As always my words and views are 100% my own.

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Filed under Curb Appeal, Decorating, Home & Garden, Home Improvement