The Master Bathroom Project | Wiring New Lighting (Part 4)

PART 4: Now we are onto the hard stuff — wiring for our new lighting! Check out parts one (the master bathroom design), two (removing the vanity mirror) and three (refinishing the cabinets) in this series about the Master Bathroom remodel project if you haven't already.

As I mentioned in my lighting post, there are 4 different kinds of interior lighting: ambient, task, decorative & display. Our master bathroom already has decent ambient lighting with the can lights over the tub & shower, as well as the wall lighting over the vanity. But now its time for the fun lighting!

We wanted to add some task wall lighting between the mirrors. The hubby needs some additional lighting for shaving and I need it for my makeup. After watching the Kichlers lighting video, I also decided that I wanted to include some decorative back-lighting around the mirror. So we bought LED rope lights to line the backs of the mirror in order to project some light outwards making the mirror appear to be floating.

Great! There's the concept, but making it a reality is another story. Wiring doesn't just appear out of nowhere.

While I love to DIY, I felt like the probability of me killing myself through electrocution was pretty high. So we asked a professional (and friend) Jason Sanchez of Oak Electric in Menlo Park to help us out. He did all of the electrical work and did an amazing job!

I don't know what tool this is, but I want one! It cuts circles.

Measuring the distance of the studs

Putting the plate over the hole for the wall sconce.
We will be stringing the electrical connectionsthrough this soon.

Figuring out the wires in the switches — what goes where so that we can cap everything off.

To the attic! We needed to string the new wires — connecting the switch to the wall sconce — through the attic to avoid studs and any other built-in materials.

It sure was dark up there, but surprisingly clean.
We drilled another hole in the ceiling to string the wire from the switch to the sconce.

Grouping the wires so that they can connect to the new switches

Now its time to cut holes for the outlet placement for the LED rope lights.

Connecting the outlet wires to the sconce wires so that they are all on the same switch.

Covering additional holes in the wall that were made while we were figuring out the placement of the outlets.

Jason also let me tag along, so I learned a lot about electrical wiring to the point where I think I feel comfortable enough to give it a try on my own in the future. However, I cannot describe the process to you yet because I know none of the technical terms, so there won't be any DIY steps in this blog post. (Plus, I don't want to be held responsible for any hospitalizations.)

But here are some tips for a small job like ours in preparation of an electrician coming.

1. Mark the areas on the walls where you are putting your new fixtures or outlets. Electricians are not designers. If you have already planned out aesthetically where certain things should go, then mark it. We just measured where the wall sconce back plate will sit on the wall in pencil and then Jason was free to drill anywhere within that area. Just make sure that it's not on top of one of the studs, which are 16" apart.	"X" marks the spot!
2. Determine whether you want an additional switch for the new lighting. We decided to put our new task and back-lighting on a new double-stacked switch. This took a bit more time to install because we now had to string the new wiring through the attic because the switches and new outlets were nowhere near each other. We initially wanted to add a 4th full switch, but because of space constraints, we replaced one of our full switches with the double-stacked switch.	We added the double stack switch on the right
3. Purchase your lighting ahead of time so that you can inspect what kind of electrical outlets are needed. In our case, the LED rope light power plugs were 3 inches long (probably because they have a built-in converter)! So we had to buy recessed outlet boxes so the plugs would not stick out as far.	Recessed outlet boxes for LED lights

And there you have it!

Next up, dual-tone painting!

{Rashida}

PS: Do you have motion sensors in your bathroom? Did you know you can adjust the timer and the distance to which it picks up motion? Jason changed the distance so that it picks up motion in longer ranges. No more trying to do "the wave" in the shower after the lights shut off on me! Woohoo!

The Master Bathroom Project | Refinishing the Cabinets (Part 3)

Weekend #2 in the bathroom remodel! This is part three in my series about our master bathroom remodel. If you haven't read the previous parts on the design process or removing our large vanity mirror, have a look at those first.

I really wanted to change our vanity set in our master bathroom. Get new sink basins, counter-tops, or something... but it is all only 3 years old. And since I am a relatively reasonable person (and the hubby keeps me level-headed when I get a little too unreasonable), we decided to give refacing the cabinets a shot.

Before and after of our cabinet refinish project!

Now, we've actually tried staining wood before with an old kitchen table. Too many steps, very tiring/strenuous (so much sanding!), and we didn't like the finished product... even though we are still eating on said table to this day.

As I mentioned in the design of the master bathroom, when I went on a field trip for my Materials and Resources class, I saw this DIY cabinet refinishing kit. It made the process sound simple and easy, so we decided to give it a whirl. It ended up dramatically changing the look of our cabinets, although I'm sure we could have brushed up on some of the application technique.

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Here's how we refinished our cabinets, if you would like to DIY:

SUPPLIES:

• Cabinet Rustoleum Transformations Kit  (There is also a smaller size just for bathrooms, but we had already purchased the bigger one when we realized it)
• Two 2" synthetic paint brushes
• Drop cloth
• 1-time use laytex/rubber gloves
• A few paper cups
• Blue tape
• A drill or screw driver
• An extra set of hands
• Pen/Pencil

DIY STEPS

Time frame: an entire weekend, preferably a 3-day weekend (including drying times)
Follow instructions manual as it is quite detailed. To get a sense of what we did in addition or in substitution of the manual, read through this DIY.

1. Before you leave Home Depot, you have to tint the base color in the kit. There are two different kinds of kits: a dark color kit and a light color kit. We used the dark one and selected the color Kona. The paint department will tint it to one of the color selections provided on the kit. For our bathroom, we only tinted one of the two base color quart-sized cans since we don't have that many cabinets.
2. Start in the morning. You have to do at least two coats of the base tint which has 3-hour drying times each, plus a 12-24 hour drying time for the decorative and top coats. It's more convenient to let your top-coat dry overnight, unless you have insomnia and need something to do.
3. Create a quick sketch & number each cabinet door or drawer. We did a quick layout of the cabinet on paper, numbered each cabinet on the sketch, and numbered the back of each cabinet with some blue tape and a pen. This just helps for remembering what goes where later.
4. Protect your floor and your walls (if you care). Lay down some drop cloth under the frame of your vanity. You are guaranteed to get stuff everywhere. Also with blue tape, mask the areas of your wall where the frame touches. This will provide a barrier between the deglosser, base coat, top coat, etc and the wall color. If you plan to paint the wall later, as we are, then you can skip this step.
5. Remove each door and drawer frame. We put all of the hardware for each door/drawer in a paper cup that was numbered according to the sketch in step 3. Simple and organized. You'll thank me later. Our painting zone was in our garage — a place with little to no air movement. You don't want dust particles or other nature-related particles stuck on your cabinets. Note: If you want to leave the house when the paint is drying, may I suggest parking your cars outside so that starting your engine doesn't blow oil, dust, or dirt onto your cabinets. We failed to do this and had to push our cars out of the garage in neutral.
6. Degloss the cabinet frame and doors/drawers. This is actually step 1 in the kit; follow their instructions. They provide scrub pads and the deglosser; you need to provide the gloves. When using the deglosser, it was a little hard to tell whether it was working or not because it still looked glossy. But once the deglosser dries, it is easier to see the dullness of the cabinets. Just trust your gut and scrub hard. Once you've deglossed and wiped down the surface, you'll need to let it dry for 1 hour. This whole process (deglossing + drying) took both of us about 2.5 hours.
7. Apply the base coat color to the frame, and front & sides of drawers. Again, follow the instructions manual to get the proper technique. I think it's best to use a never-before-used brush to minimize the steak lines. (This is especially relevant for Step 11.) Try to get it as even as possible, but don't worry if you still see some of the old cabinet color. That is why there is a step 8 (you get to do it again!). Note: Make sure your paint is not dripping or forming puddles on your surfaces. You will see them later when it dries. Let the base coat dry for 2-3 hours. This whole process (painting + drying) took us about 4 hours.
8. Repeat step 7 for frame, front and sides of drawers. After the first coat has dried, apply a second coat. This step was a lot quicker because less precision was required. If you washed you brush from step 6, make sure it is completely dry, or use a new one. We decided to stick our brushes in a cup filled with the base coat, then used plastic wrap to keep the air out and moisture in so that the brush wouldn't dry out. It worked pretty well; we could just reuse the same brush. Let dry for 2-3 hours. The whole process took 3 hours.
9. Flip the wood boards over and paint one coat for the back of the drawers and doors. If you are like us, you aren't that concerned with the back of the doors and drawers. We just did one coat of the tinted color on the back and let them dry. Actually, we didn't even degloss the backs.
10. (Optional Coat) Apply decorative glaze. This portion is optional and is totally determined by the look you want to create. If you want to see more of the wood grains show through the paint, then you should use the decorative glaze. With the Kona color, it already seemed dark enough where we wouldn't notice much change with the glaze, so we skipped this step. If you decide to do this, it will take about 8-9 more hours (because of additional drying time).
11. Apply top coat to frame and door/drawer fronts and sides. It should be nighttime by now (unless you did the decorative glaze at which point it's been nighttime for a while) and its time to put on the glossy top coat. Here is where it is super important to have a soft brush. The brush strokes will show through when applying the glaze. It dries relatively quickly, but also drips a lot. Try to make sure you remove any excess glaze from your boards so that you wont have beads of dried glaze in places. Also, be careful about tiny air bubbles created with the glaze and paint. Not sure how to avoid it, but try to minimize them if possible. Diligence is important here. Let dry for 12 hours before touching.
12. (Optional) Add handle hardware. Once the paint was touchable after 12 hours, we added hardware. We wanted a modern feel for our cabinets, so in addition to the dark wood, we also purchased the IKEA BLANKETT cabinet handles. They added a nice touch. Adding the handles took about 1 hour.
13. Reattach doors and drawers. If you haven't already solicited help from another person, this is where an extra set of hands is necessary to hold the cabinets in place while you screw them in.
14. Touch-ups and top coat for door/drawer backs. Once everything was back in place, we saw areas that need some touch-ups of both the base color and the top coat. In addition, we applied the top-coat to the backs of the doors and drawers so that they wouldn't scratch easily.

Phew!!! And that's everything!

Final look of our "brand new" modern bathroom cabinets!

TOTAL COST: $105

• Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations ~$70
• 2 Paint Brushes ~$20
• 5 2-pack BLANKETT cabinet handles ~$15

I think it goes without saying that DIY is way more cost-effective, but I'll say it again: DIY is way more cost-effective! Because we reused brushes we already had, we were able to essentially get new cabinets for about less than $100 (and a weekend's-worth of time).

We just received an email from Costco about giving our bathroom (or kitchen) a "fresh look" with their new all wood cabinets with All Wood Cabinetry. A quick glance at their pricing, reveals that we would've easily spent thousands of dollars to replace our cabinets. I'd much rather pay with sweat & energy than thousands of dollars!

OVERALL IMPRESSION

Overall, I cannot complain. I think the kit dramatically changed the look of our bathroom, and we haven't even finished our full project yet! The toughest part about the kit was finding the right brush technique. You can still see some of the brush lines, but my guess is that they can be eliminated with a newer, high-quality brush. I want to refinish our kitchen cabinets as well, but the ambient lighting in our kitchen will definitely show the brush stokes more than the lighting in our bathroom. So until I figure out the proper technique, I'll hold off on that.


Next up on the remodel project  is wiring the new lighting! I can't wait for this one! I get to learn something brand new!

{Rashida}

The Master Bathroom Project | Removing the Mirror (Part 2)

...And we're back! This is part two in my series about our master bathroom remodel. If you haven't read part 1 on the master bathroom design process, you should read that first.

So, we decided to start the process with the removal of the mirror — the piece of the project we were most uncertain about executing successfully.

Our large (60" x 40") master bathroom mirror before removing it

For starters, the mirror was attached to the wall with some unknown adhesive, so were unsure how to remove the mirror from the wall. Secondly, in researching "how to remove a bathroom mirror" there were two messages: either break the mirror (which could be fun, but dangerous) or pull it off with suction cups (which could also pull off some of the drywall paper).

We decided to go with the suction cup approach; less dangerous, easier to mend the wall, and easier cleanup. Surprisingly, it actually worked!

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Here are the DIY steps to remove a bathroom mirror:

SUPPLIES (from Home Depot)

• Safety items (Drop cloth, long sleeves, long pants, gloves, goggles & closed-toed shoes) in case the mirror breaks
• 2 Suction Cups
• Dap DryDex Spackling Paste
• 2 sheets of Sand paper (one 80 grit & one 150 grit)
• Hand Sander
• Flat-head screw driver (or kitchen knife)
• Dry wall texturizer
• Optional: Blow-dryer & saw (if you need additional force to melt or saw away at the adhesive)

DIY STEPS

Time frame: approximately 2 hours (including drying times)

1. Lay down your drop cloth.
2. Apply both suction cups to one corner of the mirror. Use quite a bit of force to pull off. We actually first tried applying one suction cup to each of the top corners. The hubby was pulling on one while I was pulling on the other and we had no luck. We almost gave up. Then we put both in the same corner and the whole mirror just popped off! (If it doesn't pop off, this is where the saw and/or blow dryer may come in handy.)
3. Reapply one of the suction cups to the other top corner in order to lift and carry the entire mirror off of the vanity. Two people are need here if you have a large vanity. Ours was 60" x 40".
4. Remove mirror base with a flat-head screw driver or similar tool. The base was just glued on with a clear caulking material. Easy to remove.
5. Sand off excess glue with coarse 80-grit sand paper. Wipe wall down with a paper towel (or your hand) to remove any excess sanded bits.
6. Patch up any drywall that was removed with your mirror. This Dap DryDex Spackling Paste is great because it's pink when you apply and turns white when it's dried. I applied it with my finger... no need for all the fancy drywall tools.
7. Once the drywall patch dries (approximately 10-15 minutes), sand off excess with the finer 150-grit sand paper. You may have to repeat this and the previous step if you need more patching.
8. Apply the texturizer in circular motion about 8" away from wall. Depending on the type of wall you have, this may not be necessary. As I mentioned in my textured walls post, in California, our walls have a texture applied to them, so we had to make all surfaces look the same. It takes a couple of tries to get the hang of this stuff. The application instructions on the can are actually pretty terrible. Make sure you shake the can vigorously and then turn the knob to a texture that suits you. Let it sit for an hour before moving to the next step.
9. Scrape off excess texture using extremely light pressure. We had to do this like 3 times because we used too much pressure the first couple of times. It says that you should use a drywall knock-down knife, but I wasn't going to waste our money on that. So I looked around the house and found this flexible, yet thick piece of plastic (aka our "guest-parking" pass). It worked like a charm!

TOTAL COST: $46.50

• 2 Suction Cups ~$14
• Dap DryDex Spackling Paste  ~$4
• Sand paper packets (80 grit & 150 grit) ~$7.50
• Hand Sander ~$7
• Dry wall texturizer ~$14

DIY is waayy more cost effective than getting professionals to remove your mirror. A local company quoted us $100 - $200 just to remove the mirror (patching up walls not included), without even a guarantee that they wouldn't break it. Now we can use the mirror elsewhere, or sell it and make a profit! Craigslist anyone...?

We already had most of the materials from previous projects, so we only had to actually purchase the suction cups and texturizer. The nice thing about all the supplies needed for this project is that they are all completely reusable, making the next project even more cost-effective.

Shot of the master bathroom vanity after removing the large mirror and patching up the wall

Now our wall is patched up and ready for our two-tone paint! But we'll probably tackle the cabinet staining before we start painting. Stay tuned for those next steps!

{Rashida}

PS: Our master bathroom now looks super small without the mirror in there. Why? When looking into a mirror, your eyes are actually doubling the distance, as if the objects were behind the mirror, creating a virtual image. Yay for high school physics!

Kitchen Islands

While we are in the trenches of our master bathroom project, let's talk about something else... kitchen islands!

A beautiful kitchen with a center island

Everyone wants an center island in their kitchen. They seem trendy, provide more counter & cabinet space, and can even provide the space for additional bar height seating. Sounds like a dream!

But before you head down to Home Depot, Lowe's, or Ikea, not all kitchens can support islands. Islands can sometimes make a kitchen even less efficient. Why? Efficient kitchens use the principle of the Work Triangle (I learned about this in my Principles of Interior Design class).

The principle of the Work Triangle refers to the distances between the stove, sink, and refrigerator. The distance between any two of these areas should be no less than 4' and no greater than 9', creating a triangle with a total perimeter between 13' and 26'. An efficient kitchen, has these these three kitchen elements in correct proximity to one another, minimizing the amount of walking between the three.

Now if an island were to break that triangle, as time goes on, you will probably be more annoyed than pleased with your new island installation. Here are some poor kitchen designs that I found on the internet:

The center island blocks a direct path from the refrigerator to the stove
(not to mention the lack of diversity in color)

Looks like a very "Martha Stewart" kind of kitchen, but the island interrupts the Work Triangle.
The stove is too far away from the wood-paneled fridge & the sink on the left.

The Work Triangle in our kitchen is so so. It's a 12.5' perimeter, meaning it is a little too small and that's probably why we are frequently bumping into each other. But hey, it's close, right?

Our kitchen: The side between the sink and the stove is too small..
Perhaps the builder should have moved the sink further from the stove. 

Until next time,

{Rashida}

The Master Bathroom Project | The Design (Part 1)

Here is what you have all been waiting for... the Master Bathroom Remodel!

Top-down view of our existing master bathroom rendered in Sketchup

As previously mentioned in my lighting post, the hubby and I have been wanting to design a feasible version of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" on our master bathroom. We wanted to create a spa or high-end hotel feeling in our bathroom without completely ripping out our shower, tub, walls, etc. (maybe we'll get to that point eventually, but we're not quite there yet).

I thought I had a good idea of what I wanted to do. If you recall in my painting techniques post, I said that I wanted to try out the basket-weave painting pattern, so I was thinking browns and earth tones for the color palette. We went to Home Depot, picked out some brown paint color swatches by Glidden, found some cheap brown glass mosaic tiles, bought the Martha Stewart Paint Kit, and were ready to go! When we got home, seeing the samples in the bathroom said otherwise... nothing seemed to fit together correctly. I was kind of bummed.

So now what?

The answer: Google SketchUp! We rendered our entire bathroom (as is) in SketchUp from a set of floor plans that I had to draw for my Principles of Interior Design Class. SketchUp was a bit tedious at first because of the learning curve, but we got the hang of it eventually and were able to get pretty close to the real thing...

Floor plan of our master suite

Detailed measurements of the sink/vanity/cabinet area of our master bathroom

Birds'-eye view of our  master bathroom (actual photo vs. Sketchup rendering)

Ground view from the entry of our master bathroom (actual photo vs. Sketchup rendering)

Mid-level view from the entry of our master bathroom (actual photo vs. Sketchup rendering)

Sink & vanity view of our master bathroom (actual photo vs. Sketchup rendering)

Tub area view of our master bathroom (actual photo vs. Sketchup rendering)

Then we began tweaking different parts of the design based on the materials we bought and other things we liked...

Trial #1: Our original idea with brown walls, tile strip, dark wood & split mirrors
(we liked the ideas individually, just not together)

Trial #2: Gray wall (continued from bedroom), split mirrors & tile filling the entire back wall
(once again things didn't go together)

Trial #3: Blue-ish theme
(completely lost the "spa" feel)

And after a lot of back & forth and many "Save As..." operations later, we finally landed on this design!

We're doing a split paint (top gray, bottom black) & keeping the split mirror idea (now with frames) 

Pendant light hanging from the ceiling plus candle wall scones over the tub

Dark brown (Kona) cabinet refinish with additional silver handles

In sum, we are planning to:

• Paint the walls two colors: Glidden's Seal Gray (from living room) and Onyx Black.
• Refinish the cabinets to a color called Kona from this amazing cabinet painting kit that we found at Home Depot.
• Add hardware to the cabinets.
• Remove the huge mounted mirror and replace it with two smaller framed mirrors.
• Add some additional lighting over the tub and between the mirrors.

This is going to be a pretty big project for us since we've never removed a huge mirror before, never used the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations Kit before, or never installed completely new lighting that hasn't already been pre-wired.

So where are we at now?

We've bought all the materials, and as the remodel progresses, I will be posting updates. So stay tuned! We'll be sure to highlight all of the materials that are used in the process, their ease of use (or lack thereof), and their cost.

I am super excited that we finally have a design and I hope you all find our remodel process enjoyable and inspiring!

Wish us luck!

{Rashida}

PS: As you're probably well aware by now, I am obsessed with gray. I actually really tried not to incorporate gray into this design, but I couldn't help myself.  It looked so good! It turns out, however, that grays are a trending color in the home industry! Suburban homes are now trying to look more urban! (Many thanks to the designers at Homesite Services in San Ramon for confirming that I wasn't a boring person because I like designing with gray.)

PPS: SketchUp is truly amazing! It is really simple to use once you get the hang of it, and I highly suggest trying it out if you don't want to purchase a similar 3D modeling software (ahem AutoCad). It really is the best way to iterate on your designs without having to implement them. Just watch some of the tutorials and you'll be on your way in no time!