Roman Blind

While I'm waiting for deliveries of bathroom fittings, I've been busy catching up with my studio work, which has been somewhat neglected while I've been a bit obsessed with this little phase of my renovation. I did make this roman blind for the window........I want to make a number of these for the house, because I really like the look of them, but I'd never made one, so I wasn't sure how to go about it. I found a couple of really clear and well-explained tutorials online and I jumped right in. My thought was that this small bathroom window could be a practice run for the larger blinds I need to make and if it failed miserably, then it would be no great loss.

It took me a while to find a fabric I liked - this grey and white print was the closest thing I found, but it needed red in it, so I hand-painted in parts of the background first. I think the important thing about making a good roman blind is to measure and cut really accurately - take time to do that part properly! Then the rest is quite straightforward. Here's how it looks in the window:

 

I've also used the print fabric (without the red painted background) to back the shelves I put together previously. The leaf print is a perfect foil for the otherwise very geometric look of the room - it adds a softer touch.

While I've been working on this room, I've been thinking increasingly about "design style", having come across various "styles" when I look things up............it's not something I've consciously thought about much before - "style", to me, is something that just happens as you live your life, not a "look" imposed on a living space as an artificial, separate thing. But apparently, there's Scandi style, retro style, industrial style, modernist style, brutalist style.........blah, blah, blah.

If pushed to describe my design style with a label, I would probably call it something like "Designer Frugal".  Having been to Art School in the dim, dark past and having worked as a practising artist my whole working life, I know a thing or two about using colour, shape, line and so forth, so that's where the "designer" part of the label comes in. And the "frugal" - fairly obvious..........I don't have much money to splash around! Here are the basic tenets of

 "Designer Frugal Style":

* Don't replace things just for the sake of it - often a bit of hard work can breathe new life into them. This was the case with my kitchen cabinets. Instead of pulling them all out and replacing them, I repaired, replaced catches, handles and hinges and repainted. Half the time what you are going to replace them with might not be as good as the original (who makes dove-tailed hard-wood drawers any more? That's what I saved.)

* Don't be a slave to trends just for the sake of it - be brave and do what you really like. Today's trend is tomorrow's dated look, but if you go for more timeless looks and avoid this year's

 hot new colour trends, well, they don't date.

  * Be open to serendipity.......sometimes something will pop up that you hadn't thought of, so don't be afraid to change your ideas and go with the flow if that happens. That's what I did when I discovered the hidden tile splashback in my kitchen.....I worked how to use them in a new way.

* Learn new skills - you will surprise yourself at how much you can achieve yourself (excluding electrical and plumbing work, or major structural stuff, of course!) YouTube is your friend.

* If you do anything really quirky or idiosyncratic, make sure it is easily reversible.                     

Designer Frugal: Plenty of dash......not much cash.   

                    

                            

 

 

Hiatus

I've done all the hard graft, the messy, dirty, dusty work and now I have to wait for three things: the items I've ordered to be delivered (hand-basin and shower screen); the bath to get it's shiny pristine new coat (26th April) and my handy help, Alan to return from his Easter break in Victoria. In this hiatus, I've been finishing off silicone sealing of expansion joints, completing the painting and sourcing a few odds and ends to make this space special ("I've become a staaahlist, daaaarling!")

I've had my eye out for some lovely rich red accessories for quite some time, to no avail until this morning (in Bunnings of all places) These resin ones are perfect and pretty much exactly what I had in mind. Note: the window still needs a good clean and scrape on the outside - it was sloppily painted last time it was done.

 

And I put together this cheap and cheerful cube storage unit that has fabric drawers. It's really shoddy stuff (cardboard came with the kit to tack on the back - I'm going to use some fabric instead) but it will do for now until I can design and make a more permanent storage unit. I even found some towels in the right colours on special in one of the city department stores. Might go and get a few more next week - it's ages since I had any new towels. This is FUN now!

 

 

Tiling Done!

After an epic few days all the bathroom tiling is in place - I think it looks great! What I've chosen should be timeless enough not to date in a couple of years and I love the graphic Piet Mondrian look of it.
 It's now ready for grouting, which I started today and then I can extrude some silicone sealer into the expansion gaps and waterproof the grout seams. There will be a few days' delay while things dry out and then I can get the bath professionally re-surfaced and the plumbing installed. I've located a fixed and swing bath screen, which has been ordered. It should be here in about ten days. Tomorrow I'll do the rounds and look for a compact hand-basin that takes up less space than the monster I took out!

 

...........and here's a small reminder of what it looked like a week or so ago:

 

Slight difference?

 

Here's the Works Inspector keeping an eye on proceedings from a high vantage point.

 

 

 

Bathroom Update

I've been working non-stop getting the bathroom prepped, tiled and painted........much progress has been made and the end is in sight! I've been on a steep learning-curve, learning how to cut tiles; how to make holes in them to accommodate plumbing pipes; how to lay them straight and properly spaced; how to mix the adhesive to the right consistency and so forth. It would be an understatement to say I am pleased with the result! It helps that the room is actually very straight and true, which has made this job easier than it might otherwise have been. That said, this has definitely been the single biggest job I have tackled alone. (Well I must acknowledge my friend Alan, who helped at the ripping out stage to lift out the old hand-basin unit and cap off the water outlets while I carry out the work.

 

Playing around with tiles before beginning to lay them.

 

 

Cutting a tile to accommodate plumbing

  

Staring to tile around the bath area.

 

So this is where things stand: all the painting has been done (except the door); the floor tiles are all laid and ready to grout and one wall of the bath surround has been tiled and is also ready for grouting.

 I'm hoping to finish all the tiling today, including the red and grey skirting tiles (as laid out in the above photo). Then tomorrow I can start grouting and sealing. Once that is done, I can call in the resurfacing company to renew the tub. Then it's just a matter of putting in a new hand-basin, putting up some shelving next to the basin, connecting up the plumbing and installing the shower and the glass screen. Oh yes......and re-hanging the door!

I'm starting to think about finishing touches now: I want to make a roman blind for the window, so I have my eye open for a suitable print fabric. I also have my eye on some cubic open shelving that has pull-out fabric drawers that you can add. So I'm thinking that would look good without busting the bank, and I can leave some of the cubes open for towels.......

*Thinks: I need new towels* 

 

 

Ready to tile!

The bathroom is all prepped and ready to go with tiling, which I'll be doing this week. Suddenly this whole bathroom renovation looks like it will be over soon. Once the tiling and grouting are done, I need to call the company that does the bath resurfacing, which will take half a day to be done. Then I can install the tapware and shower, new hand-basin and the glass shower screen  (Rick McLean Fix and Swing.........500 fixed and 400 swing). Shelf and mirror. Silicone sealing and painting and it will be done! Can't wait to have that first shower!

 

Cement sheeting underlay down.

                                        Bath surround tanked and waterproofed ready for tiling 
                                          (This was after one coat - another was added later)
 

                                   Where the door was........this will be shelving and storage.

This bathroom renovation has been a massive job - I'll probably take a month off after its done and then get back into painting (still a couple of rooms to do) and the outside jobs are always beckoning!