~THE UGLIEST BATHROOM IN AMERICA...Let The Makeover Begin~

I love living in my La Chaumiere de Briarwood.  I do!  For almost 18 years we've made this two story beauty our home.  And, even with the challenges that have come with owning a 40 year old home, neither my Mr. AGPMan or I have ever regretted  purchasing her back in July of 1992.  We raised our children in this house and we built a happy marriage.  We plan on calling it home until we can no longer climb her aging stairs...

Our home was built in 1970.  Back then the homes that were built in our town were void of most of the amenities that are commonplace in homes of today.  Our galley style kitchen will never win any awards (we have plans to remodel her soon) and all four bedrooms are upstairs (we've always disliked that!!).  Plus, our three bathrooms were dated and to be honest with you, downright UGLY.  From the tile to the counter-tops they could easily cause even the strongest of stomachs to churn from disgust.

~MAIN BATH REMODEL~

Before Picture

You may remember these picture from this POST where I shared with you the process of remodeling our main upstairs bath.  It was a HUGE project as the entire thing was gutted down to the studs. 

~MAIN BATH REMODEL~

After Picture

Another one of the less than admiral traits of our home is our "Master Bath".  I actually use that term loosely because I don't really consider it a "Master" of anything!  More like a "Pretend-Bath" or a "Nightmare-Bath"...or even a "I'm too big to get myself into this ugly shower" kind-of-bath.  It's soooo sorry looking and poorly designed that it  ALMOST kept me from signing off on the dotted line all those years ago!  Still, the positives outweighed the not-so-good things and besides, we always PLANNED on remodeling her...  

Operative word here was "PLANNED!"

Life happened, I suppose!  And, piano lessons for my kids happened and starter jackets for my son happened and new bikes, Gameboys, trumpets, flutes, season passes to White Water Bay...and Barbies and girly things for my daughter...

You get the idea?  Right?

Anyway,  with the completion of our main bath AND the redesigning of our formal dining room (showing pictures soon!), we FINALLY began the tear-out of  the UGLIEST BATHROOM on the PLANET!

Gag...I'm embarrassed to show you!  Here goes...

~UGLY SINK AREA~

Now...is this something or what???  Such a gnarly/nasty 1970 'one-piece-molded sink' and how 'bout that awesome light fixture???  UGH!  Now...just to the right you'll see a pocket door.  This design just had to be the worse thing about our home...I SUPPOSE it was put there for privacy given the fact the sink area was right off our the master bedroom...

~UGLY POCKET DOOR REMOVED~

Are you getting the picture?  I told you it was UGLY!  Keep looking!

~AT A LOSS FOR WORDS~

I promise you...it felt like I was in a CAVE when I showered in this thing.  I can't believe we've lived with it for soooo long!  Keep going...

~RIPPING OUT THE FLORESCENT LIGHT~

Whoot!  Whoot! and YAHOOO!  No wonder my make-up sometimes looked GREEN!  I couldn't SEE what I was putting on my face with a light like this!

~FORTY YEAR OLD SHOWERS ARE YUCK!~

Ripping out this MONSTER OF A SHOWER and hauling all the debris downstairs was a JOB NIGHMARE!  My poor Mr. AGPMan.  He zonked out after getting only half of it done!

~PITIFUL AT BEST~

Now...we are actually a little beyond this point now.  The sheet-rock is off, the pocket door/wall is removed, the toilet and sink were hauled away and the shower almost dismantled... all that gacky  (that means really yuck) tile is about 2/3 off!  The last thing to we have to do is to pull out the LED shower pan...OMGOSH...it's about 500 pounds (well...maybe not that heavy but you get what I mean!).

Because the space is SMALL with no possible way of enlarging it, we chose to remove the pocket door and the drop ceiling to open up the room.  It's too hard to explain what we have planned so I'll show you in pictures as we complete each part of the makeover!  

Now...get this...

We INQUIRED as to the cost of remodeling this super-tiny bath a couple of months ago...  Even with US  my Mr. AGPMan doing all you see above, the ESTIMATE was $10K-$12K.  WHAT??????  

Soooo....being the thrifty cheap peeps we are, we are AGAIN doing the remodel ourselves!  Even with a new sink and GORGEOUS cabinet (have to have it for storage), new bath fixtures, lighting, vent/fan, shower tile/pan, plumbing, paint and flooring, we are hoping to come in at about $3K....

 AND...

We will take what we have saved on the remodel and fly to Paris, France on our wedding anniversary in 2013! :)

I TOLD YOU IT WAS UGLY!

Blessings for a lovely spring day...   

~SHABBY COTTAGE CHIC DOORS - And Sweet Vintage Finds~

Yesterday afternoon my Mr. AGPMan and I decided to visit an Antique Mall in our City.  Earlier in the week I'd spied a set of vintage French Doors and I had great hopes of working them into the decor of my La Chaumiere de Briarwood.  After looking at new doors and gasping at the price, the tag on the weathered old pair looked more and more appealing to me.  Besides...I love AGING STUFF.  If I can recycle anything, especially something big and bulky, I will.

As we headed out the door I grabbed my camera as I planned on giving you a pictorial tour of the junky amazing shoppe I just don't seem to be able to stay out of.  It's always filled with the neatest finds (and even some things I personally think should be trashed!).  I guess that is what I love about it!

~ONWARD~

by Frank Ferndale

Illustrated by Natalie von Nikitin

Anyway, as it SOMETIMES goes in Oklahoma, the weather turned simply NASTY cutting our scavenging trip short.  So, as my husby loaded up our SUV I stood in line to pay for our latest treasure.  While waiting my turn at the check out counter, out of the corner of my eye I saw this darling little book peeking out from behind some sparkling glassware...

Intrigued, I opened it up...

And this is what I found...

Beautifully written prose...

And lovely graphics...

And sweet sentiments...

 ~The Pretty Back Cover~

I know I inherited my love of old poetry books from my father.  Before he became ill he had amassed quite a library for someone on a Preacher-Man's salary.  If a book is beautiful on the outside it makes the inside even more special...at least for me!

Things such as this inspire me to create...  And so~I'm back in my studio doing just that!

Blessings as you begin a fresh new week!  I hope it's filled with only good things...

Love to you~

~HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION~

~ SIMPLE WHITE CHURCH~

Somewhere in America

Although I never attended a church quite as charming as the one you see above, I sat in many pretty Sanctuaries and squirmed in many a rock-hard pew during my growing up years.  The seats back then were not padded like they are today and most of the single aisle structures didn't even have air conditioning.  For those of you who might not know, my father was a Preacher-Man which makes me a PK (preacher's kid).  So...you can imagine I was in church a lot!  I mean A LOT!  Our family rarely (if ever) missed a service...so much so that at times I longed to stay home and just play with my friends.  I can tell you straight up that unless we were on our deathbed you could find my siblings and I fidgeting sitting quietly right next to our mother, usually on the piano side.

~A TYPICAL SUNDAY in 1963~

This past week I found a sweet little poem I thought perfect for my Sunday Post.  It's a tad bit long...but I hope you will love it just the same.

~THE LITTLE CHURCH~

Edgar A. Guest

The little church of Long Ago, where as a boy I sat

With mother in the family pew, and fumbled with my hat~

How I would like to see it now the way I saw it then,

The straight-backed pews, the pulpit high, the women and the men

Dressed stiffly in their Sunday clothes and solemnly devout,

Who closed their eyes when prayers were said and never looked about~

That little church of Long Ago, it wasn't grand to see,

But even as a little boy it meant a lot to me.

~*~

The choir loft where father sang comes back to me again;

I hear his tenor voice once more the way I heard it when

The deacons used to pass the plate, and once again I see

The people fumbling for their coins, as glad as they could be

To drop their quarters on the plate, and I'm a boy once more

With my two pennies in my fist that mother gave before

We left the house, and once again I'm reaching out to try

to drop them on the plate before the deacon passes by.

~*~

It seems to me I'm sitting in that high-back pew, the while

The minister is preaching in that good old-fashioned style;

And though I couldn't understand it all somehow I know

The Bible was the text book in that church of Long Ago;

He didn't preach on politics, but used the word of God,

and even now I see the people gravely nod,

As though agreeing thoroughly with all he had to say,

And then I see them thanking him before they go away.

~*~

The little church of Long Ago was not a structure huge,

It had no hired singers or no other subterfuge

To get the people to attend, 'twas just a simple place

Where every Sunday we were told about God's  saving grace;

No men of wealth were gathered there to help it with a gift;

The only worldly thing it had~a mortgage hard to lift.

And somehow, dreaming here to-day, I wish that I could know

the joy of once more sitting in that church of Long Ago.

Blessings as you "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow..."

Love to you~