Now, I thought about recycling the old whirlpool, since it worked and was in good condition but the color a bit dated. I know the components like the pump etc could be offered for a small fee or free via Craigslist or Freecycle, but what about the tub? What could I do with that? That is when I got a great idea. I wondered if I could use it as a Koi pond. I went downstairs and did some reasearch and indeed I could. It can be covered with a heavy-duty pond liner and set into the ground. So that will be saved and we’re going to take you through that project as soon as the ground thaws. Please tell me that as we brace for yet another snowfall that we will experience spring soon! Now lets talk about the tile, this is some of the tile we choose for the bathroom. It was shipped straight from Italy and was delayed in customs, but finally arrived. The pictures don’t do it justice.
The colors are a gold/ivory color and the wall tile is a subway style, the floor has the same tile but in 12″ by 12″ squares and then the gorgeous mosaics will be installed near the top in a 2 row width and finished with a row of the bullnose subway tile.
Niches, niches, who has the niches? We do, and we have lots of them thanks to Schluter Systems and their prefabricated shower niches. We will be using these in more than just the shower! The largest niche is going in one of the walls surrounding the whirlpool. It is a full tiled to the ceiling wall and will have the 12″ by 28″ niche installed with the subway bullnose tile and the mosaics in the back that will make it pop off the wall. It also has a floating shelf that will be set midway and tiled.
I thought it would be a great accent as well as useful storage that was handy for bath products. A shower niche is an ideal spot to keep shampoos and soaps in a tiled shower. Building a fully waterproof, properly sealed tiled shower niche can be a detailed and time-consuming task. Schluter-Systems has developed four prefabricated and completely waterproof shower niches that are ready to tile. Made of Schluter®-KERDI-BOARD, the shower niches are completely compatible with surface applied waterproofing systems, such as the Schluter®-KERDI and KERDI-BOARD shower assemblies. All four shower niches feature a 1/2″ (12.5 mm)-thick by 2″ (50 mm)-wide integrated bonding flange that sits perfectly flush with the surrounding wall area. The larger sizes include an optional prefabricated shelf that can be installed at any height to create separate compartments within the shower niche.
The preformed shower niche provides installers with increased speed during installation, combined with complete waterproofing dependability. The corners of a traditional shower niche are the most challenging area to waterproof and can be very susceptible to standing water and mold growth. With pre-sealed niche corners this challenge is completely eliminated. The niche complements an already wide array of preformed shower components available from Schluter-Systems, including shower trays, curbs, ramps, and benches. All of these components help installers build waterproof and vapor tight tiled showers more quickly and effectively than with traditional construction materials.
The shower niche is available in four different sizes and we have all of them so we will show you how they not only function so well in the shower but we will install them in areas you might not think for some great design option. For instance the install in the tile wall by the whirlpool and we also plan to install two in the tiled wall above the new vanity to hold soap and other frequently used products neatly off the countertop. We will of course be also using one of the larger sizes in the shower as well as one or two of the smaller sizes. We will take you through the progress of the installation of these great products. To see more about the niches or anf the other great products from Schluter, just visit their website and be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
I know that it’s hard for most families to fork over a huge amount for cabinets and being that I had some projects going on that were going to include cabinetry, I thought it would be a good idea to try some RTA cabinets. I not only thought it would be great to see the amount you can save as well as judge the quality and ease of assembly but knew that my readers would appreciate the in-depth look.
There are many places you can buy RTA cabinets from and I knew some things going in. First I wanted cabinets that had all wood construction without any particle board. I wanted to deal with a company that provided upstanding customer service and I wanted the cabinets to look good, have nice features and be easy to assemble. I didn’t want a nightmare with boxes sitting on top of pallets in my garage because they were just too difficult to put together. So, I was lucky to find CSH- Custom Service Hardware and work with one of their wonderful representatives named, Howie. Howie worked with me extensively, he never once said a word as I changed designs but came up with rendering after rendering of my ideas.
The first project we worked on was the laundry room, where we are adding some cabinetry and a 36″ stainless steel farmhouse sink for a sort of butler’s pantry. I picked the Wheaton Cabinetry by JSI and recently we assembled them. I want to share the assembly process of 2 of the units with you. I will share an upper cabinet and a lower drawer unit. The upper cabinet is quite large as we went with a 42″ tall cabinet that is 27 inches wide. The drawer unit is 30 inches wide.
Below you will find the description of the Wheaton Series Cabinets from the CSH Website:
These Wheaton Series kitchen cabinets feature all wood construction in a cream painted maple with a light brown glaze for a soft and traditional look. The full overlay, solid raised panel doors and matching drawer fronts add to the appeal. Some notable features include plywood sides, tops, bottoms and shelves, solid wood dovetail drawer box and full extension, soft closing, undermount drawer glides. Our easy assembly is perfect for those who love to DIY and save some cash!
Once the boxes are open the pieces should quickly be checked against your instruction sheet to make sure everything is there. The Wheaton cabinets are a simple assembly using cam locks and some screws. The cam locks are not what you find in particle board furniture you get at Walmart but a very easy device that is simple to secure. Right out of the box we were impressed with the quality, the shelves are nice and thick and finished with a poly type varnish for durability as is the inside of the cabinet. The cabinet doors are thick and substantial with beautiful details and finish on the raised panel doors. The drawers are dovetailed and they are comparable to what I have in my custom Amish built cabinets that you don’t see even in many other custom cabinet lines. They have heavy-duty soft close drawer glides not some thin metal glides like you may have seen elsewhere. My husband and I were really impressed.
The cabinets were simple to assemble and took no more than 15 minutes from start to finish for the large upper door cabinet and since this drawer unit was our first it took a little longer to figure it out, but once we did it was a cinch and now we will be able to do the other drawer units in the same time as the upper cabinet. We also went with decorative end panels for the exposed sides of the cabinets to give them a custom high-end look and Howie helped me pick out some great knobs and pulls. I can’t wait to show you it all when we have it completely finished which should be in the next week or so but until then take a look at some of the cabinet assembly. Let me know if you have ever used RTA cabinets and what your experience has been.