Lighting is more exciting than plumbing, the last post about the remodeled upstairs bathroom. Remodeling the upstairs bathroom in our post and beam house was a good time to update the lighting to provide more light for the section of the bathroom with the new shower. There have been several previous posts about the renovation of the bathroom since so much work was done. This post is all about lighting in the bathroom. 

 

Once we decided the leaking bathtub faucet, leaking floor drain, and crumbling grout in the tiles surrounding the bathtub needed work, we decided to do a complete job of replacing everything that needed work instead of doing patch jobs. The bathroom was over thirty-five years old, original to when the house was built. The lighting in the bathtub and toilet section never provided enough light. 

The new triple light fixture mounted to the beam above the outside of the new shower provides great light to the room and to the inside of the shower. The photo was taken before all the work was finished. There are bits of blue painter's tape on the left wall where the paint needed touch ups and the tile floor still needed its final cleaning.  

Upstairs Bathroom Remodel | Plumbing

Plumbing is not an exciting topic, but was a primary and unique part of our upstairs bathroom remodel in 2021. This post shows the plumbing challenges we faced going into the remodel and the solutions we found to those challenges. 

Before delving into the plumbing details, look at the finished shower that replaced an old tub in the same place. The new shower features ADA compliant grab bars, handheld shower head, safe ceramic tile floor, and easy to step in design. 

Upstairs Bathroom Remodel | Shower

Replacing an original raised tub with a walk-in shower was the most important part of the 2021 update of our upstairs bathroom. Indeed, installing an American Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant shower was what started the update. 

The after photo of the upstairs bathroom remodel is the walk-in shower with handheld shower head and grab bars inside and outside the shower. 

Begun in July 2021, the project was completed in November 2021. A professional contractor did 95% of the project. We only did a little demolition work at the beginning of the work. Like most construction projects, we had a series of issues that caused set backs from the very beginning through the end of the project.

There was so much work done, there is too much to include in a single article. Individual posts will focus on different parts of the remodel. 

Handmade Paper Mache Angels

Angels are year-round decor in my opinion. Not just for Christmas decorations. True, angels are one of the best selling items every year in my annual French Country Christmas Event. Each year I create special one-of-a-kind items to offer customers looking for French Country style. For the most recent Christmas sale, I offered handmade paper mache angels. 

I found the papier-mâché (paper mache) angels through one of my favorite companies in the wholesale Dallas Market Center. There were three styles of angels, but they looked much plainer than these finished angels embellished with gold-colored wire, gold-colored charms, and gold wax. Unfortunately, I don't have a before photo. 

Snow Scenes | Winter Home Decor

After seeing all the snow scene photos today from friends on social media, I looked through snow photos from bygone years and found photos of how I decorated my fireplace mantel one year for a party using snow scene photos. Perfect, inexpensive winter decor with a personal connection was a hit with my guests. Photos of the decorated mantel follow snow photos from recent years. 

Here is the snow scene I posted to social media today. Perhaps the scarcity of snow in our area is why we all take photos to capture the scenes before the snow melts away. Today's snow only lasted a few hours after the sun came out. By nightfall, there was barely any snow left. 

A view of our backyard from an upstairs bedroom window also includes a view into our naturalized woods. You can see the window screen pattern in the photo if you look closely in the lower right corner. No venturing outside in the frigid 13° weather on slippery sidewalks to take photos. 

Snow softens harsh, stark winter scenes and inspires us all to take photos of snow scenes of our houses, gardens, children, and pets. North Texas received a small amount of snow overnight, and today my social media home page is filled with photos of my friends' houses and yards covered with snow. Well, almost covered with snow since there was such a small amount of snow. 

The following photos are selected snow scenes at my house including some of the photos I used to decorate my mantel for winter one year.