Types of Vanity

I must begin with a correction to the previous post.

No, it doesn't involve my recollection of events leading to the construction of the sliding door.  That was spot-on, if somewhat embellished.

It's about the mirror selfie. From additional research, it is now my understanding that such pictures are taken and posted on social media by young, attractive females, or males who wish to display their abdominal muscles. I am not female and I do not have abs. Well, I'm sure I do but they are in no way visible. And no one wants to see my hairy bellybutton so I am disqualified from taking such pictures.

It shan't happen again. I replace it with this sexy, sassy beast.

God I hate that floor now...Luckily, when I enter the cottage these days, my eye is drawn elsewhere.

In late July, on a Saturday, my dad and I worked on the baseboards, quarter round, and doorway framing while Christine was visiting Mike in B.C.  We stopped at the delightful Home Hardware in Perth on the way. The flooring that I wanted to use as a back splash in the kitchen instead was on sale, so I took advantage of that.

I didn't really expect to complete the work that day though. But with a bit of time left in our afternoon, when my dad asked if I wanted to install right then, I nearly wept.

And it came out looking rather splendid, I think.

It just makes the kitchen look...finished. It ISN'T finished by any means (oh, you just wait until you see what Christine has cooked up!) but it looks more finished.

The back splash still needs a little framing of its own but everyone who sees it comments on it almost right away. And touches it, for some reason. I'm not sure why.

Now Christine will have you believe this was her idea too.

*sigh*.

Not so. I saw the flooring at the HH (what cool people call Home Hardware) and called her over to see it because I knew she would like that style. And JUST as I was about to say it would look good as a back splash, she rattled off "OhMyGodThisWouldMakeAGreatBackSplash" super fast just so she could take credit. Ah well.

While buying it, there was some debate as to how much we would need. If I recall correctly (and my mind is computer-like), I thought there was a chance we could get away with only two boxes. But taking into account the possibility of a break or some such, I bought an extra one.

Damn good thing, too. We would have been short by about 16 inches. That would have sucked. Those things really don't stretch well.

But now I had a little over a box left instead. So what genius did *I* (not Christine) come up with?

To change the vanity in the master bedroom from this style (using the term loosely)...

To this:

I neglected to take a picture of the vanity prior to its removal because...Well, why would you want to have a picture of that thing around, unless it was to induce vomiting after accidentally ingesting poison?

The light isn't great (it's the master bedroom, we WANT it dark in there) so it gives the drawers a bluish tinge but they are actually just a plain white. At least for now they are, Christine may have plans of her own there.

She already did change the also-white knobs with the little purple flower you see at right. I admit that it's kind of cute, but only because this blog is blocked from appearing in Google search results and no one but family and close friends would ever know I said so.

The back splash part of this reno was supposed to be a surprise for Christine when she returned from BC. She had considered going to the cottage briefly on the Tuesday...but changed her mind. So I had to struggle to avoid spoiling it all the way to Friday night. Tough gig, long wait, but well worth it.

Slider

All right! Most people have seen it "in person" already (quotation marks incorrectly used for Chantal's benefit) but the sliding door for the guest bedroom was one of the additions I most looked forward to and I finally get to talk about it, months after we actually started working on it.

Slider's origins are already clouded in mystery, however. I was supposed to manage a blog by which I would store information for future reference and avoid forgetting such things but alas, it gets neglected from time to time. But we don't quite agree on how the idea came about.

By Christine's recollection, after Frankenshed's defeat, she spotted the track used for its sliding door laying on the ground and said something to the effect that, because it was still in good shape, we should find a use for it.

That's pretty weak, man.

By my recollection, I staggered around the foggy, carnage-strewn battlefield following my final confrontation with Frankenshed. Bloodied, exhausted, shirt torn and drenched in sweat, I collapsed to my knees. Christine ran to me, joyful tears running down her cheeks, carrying a jug of lemonade. After noticing the track laying in the grass, I clutched it in my kung-fu grip, held it towards the heavens just as a beam of sunlight broke through the clouds and I screamed that from the evil of Frankenshed, a great good would emerge!!

Something like that.

Regardless of whether my far-more-plausible version of events is the one that actually took place, we bought the lumber for the door in the spring but completed the floor reno and hallway painting first. Then in late June (I believe) my dad got his puttering on.

Tip: Always know where the pencil is. The question WILL come up.

Being in a cottage environment, sometimes you have to make do with whatever you have on hand. Much of the door is held together with glue, so a jug of water and a metal duck contributed to keeping all the pieces good and tight. Actually, they were arguably more valuable to the project than I was.

And I love the result.

Again, it's not quite finished. Christine wants to add a stain but we're a little unsure as to what colour to choose.

And it could probably use...handles. Otherwise it might be tricky to open the door from inside the guest room (which isn't my problem, but still).

Here's a look at it from the washroom, across the very narrow hallway.

Now it is my understanding, based on social media, that if you are holding a cell phone anywhere near a bathroom mirror, you need to do lemon lips and take a picture of yourself in said mirror. So here we go.

I don't get it.

Anyway, one of these days, and it may just be in the winter to avoid the temptation to dive into a huge snowbank and hibernate the season away, we'll complete some finishing touches here and there such as baseboards, quarter round, doorway and corner framing and...door handles. But for now we're happy with the big steps taken this year.