Tag Archives: home improvement

Things To Consider When Choosing A Toilet

I cannot tell you how long my husband has been suggesting we get a TOTO toilet. Truth be told, he has gone beyond suggesting and was well into the nagging phase when we began talking about the renovation of our powder room.

I have seen TOTO toilets in many of the upscale resorts we stayed in this summer like the Mirror Lake Inn. Seeing them used like this was another indication they must be superior quality. So I decided to look further into them.

Their website is very easy to navigate and you will find so many styles and designs to browse. They have a special tool called My TOTO that allows you to view, save, compare, and share products for multiple design projects. You can learn about a product’s features and specifications, save it to a folder for future reference, compare its features and price and even share your favorites with friends and family through social media.

The first thing you need to figure out is whether you want a one-piece or two-piece toilet. A two-piece toilet is generally lighter than a one piece toilet since the tank is separate.  This can help if you have to carry it up to the second or higher level in your home.

One piece toilets can usually fit in tighter spaces and they are easier to clean than two-piece toilets. They also tend to have less issues than two-piece toilets. One-piece toilets generally have a higher price point than two-piece toilets.

TOTO also has a third choice, wall-hung, which opens up bathroom space but you need to have an in-wall tank system.

Your style will be the next choice you will need to make. For residential use, you can choose from modern, transitional or classic styles. Other choices you will need to make are whether you want an elongated or round bowl shape, flush rate, flushing system and color.

I knew, I wanted was a skirted toilet. If you are not sure what that is, it means that the trapway is covered, is so much easier to clean and has a smoother appearance. I also wanted a classic design, elongated bowl and powerful flushing system.

I was able to find exactly what I wanted in the Eco Guinevere. This is a uniquely sculpted one-piece toilet with a 1.28 GPF and elongated bowl. It also features  TOTO’s highly efficient Tornado flushing system, which uses a powerful combination of gravity and centrifugal force and CeFiONtect, an extraordinarily smooth, ion-barrier surface to help the bowl stay cleaner longer. I also chose the brushed nickel trip lever.

Eco Guinevere® One-Piece Toilet

Let me know what you think of our choice and I will be posting something else we picked for our toilet. Something that is pretty special! However, you will just have to wait to hear all about it. Feel free to take some guesses and leave them in the comments.

Special thanks to TOTO for all their help and for providing us with this exceptional toilet for our project. As always all my words and opinions are 100% my own.

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Update on Our Powder Room Renovation-See Our Vanity Choice!

We have 2 new renovation projects underway. Our kitchen and the renovation of our powder room with a new vanity, lighted mirror cabinet, new toilet and new paint. We made our decision on the vanity and medicine cabinet and want to share our choice with you.

We are happy to be working with Strasser Woodenworks  and love their selection of bathroom vanities, vanity tops and medicine cabinets. We chose the 34.5″ height vanity in the Montlake Collection. For our door style we chose the miter and for our finish we picked satin white.

satin-white-montlake-vanity

The vanity size is 48″ and we went with a 49″ pearl white quartz top with rectangular sink. We ordered the top to be customized for a one hole faucet.

pearl-white-quartz

For the medicine cabinet we went with the traditional tri-view with the matching miter door style in the satin white finish. We chose the model with the LED light bar.

medicine-cabinet

I think this is going to look great and really update the space nicely and give us a so much more useful storage space. Stay tuned to see the progress of this new project and for the update on the toilet and faucet we chose for this bathroom.

If you are looking for a new vanity, check out Strasser Woodenworks. I have been working with Peter and he has been very helpful through the process. Strasser has over 10,000 combinations of door styles, finishes, knobs, pulls, granite, quartz and vitreous china tops.

Everything is made in the USA to order! It takes about 2 weeks for the vanity and medicine cabinet to be built using hardwoods sourced in the USA and Canada. They build with quality hardware and their soft close hinges are the highest quality and durable. Their cabinets are built with hardware not glued!

Strasser Woodenworks products come with a warranty to be free of defects in workmanship, materials and finish failure for as long as you own the product. That makes me feel really good! You can stay in the loop with Strasser Woodenworks on Facebook, Google +, Pinterest and Houzz.

Let me know what you think of our choice by leaving a comment here. I would love to know what you think.

 


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How To Pick The Perfect Farmhouse Sink For Your Kitchen

If you love the look of a farmhouse sink and want one in your kitchen, you are not alone. The farmhouse sink with its apron front was designed for the comfort of women who spent long hours in front of them. By eliminating the countertop in front, women did not have to lean forward over sink. So, what is it about these sinks of yesteryear that appeals to us today? I think there are a number of reasons they are so popular. The size is larger since the apron front extends over the bottom cabinet. This makes them ideal to wash even large pots, pans, cookie sheets and more.

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Besides looking beautiful that apron front means that any drips will not be falling on the cabinet but onto the floor eliminating the chance of water damage to your cabinets. Without having to reach over the countertop it is much more comfortable than a conventional sink. I think there is a certain romantic quality to a farmhouse sink that beckons us to simpler times and tugs at our heartstrings.

When you are considering a farmhouse sink there are some factors to consider. Material is a major one. Farmhouse sinks are available in white porcelain, cast iron enamel, Fireclay, stainless steel, copper and more.

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For me the look of the white Fireclay along with the durability make it a strong contender. I do have a more modern stainless steel farmhouse sink in my laundry room but I still find myself longing for the true farmhouse look of the Fireclay. There are sink grills available which will help protect your sink. I love sink grills and would highly recommend them. If a Fireclay sink does chip, it can be repaired with a repair kit.nantucket-sink-grill

 

Fireclay sinks are heavy and some require that the sink cabinet is customized with extra support to handle the weight. You will also need to decide on a double or single bowl. For me it is a no-brainer. I want the full experience of the large sink and don’t want to split it into 2 bowls.

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Since I grew up with a dishwasher and don’t hand wash anything that can go in the dishwasher, I just did not see why I would want 2 bowls. The things we hand wash are large and so I know a double bowl would not be able to handle them with the ease of a large single bowl.

Even after you have decided on a sink material and bowl size there are still other decisions like the design. This is the hardest for me. I have been working with Jake from Nantucket Sinks and he has helped me tremendously. I finally made my decision and I choose the Hyannis 30″ Fireclay Sink.

hyannis-30-website

So that is one decision down for our kitchen and about 1,000,000 more to go! What do you think of my choice? If you have any questions please let me know.

 


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Kitchen Renovations-What You Should Know

Kitchen renovations are much different today than they ever have been before. It used to be that when someone did a kitchen renovation or a remodel the only real options they had were the design and architectural features of the room such as arches/doorways, walls/ceilings, and flooring or additional space options.

These days, though, you have many other elements you can add such as smart appliances and products for a smartly designed kitchen. If you are curious about the different smart kitchen ideas available, consider reading the article below for some cool and technology driven ideas to make your kitchen more forward friendly, convenient and comfortable.

smart appliances

Smart Appliances For A Smart Kitchen

Most appliances in the kitchen are already pretty darn smart in terms of timers and knowing when to stop cooking a product. But, you also have a lot of other different “smart” options available to you, such as:

– Touchscreen Stove Tops: Not only is this a really cool type of cooking technology, but it can also be used in a kitchen with children as well, since it’s a very safe product to use. Essentially the cook top uses conduction to heat things like pots and pans. But, the other parts of the stove stay cool – to the touch. You can actually use the touch screen to browse the internet, look up recipes to make, check out cookbooks in digital format and more.

– Home Chat: This cool little app is meant for specific things like the fridge. It will essentially keep track of items and ingredients inside the refrigerator and you can ask it questions such as: Do we have butter and it will reply back via text yes two sticks or no we do not. This is really efficient because you can use the app even out of the house.

Smart Fridge

This is a really cool option but in the near future, we will also have an even cooler option (it’s a concept right now) that will actually order food, keep track of what’s in the fridge and alert you when you are running low, and do a plethora of other cool options. For now, though, you have these smart refrigerators. The LCD display allows you to watch TV, listen to the radio, check the news, leave memos for yourself or other family members, check out the calendar and leave notes on specific days and more. It’s quite expensive, at around $3600 but if you want a tech driven kitchen, this might be the addition for you… for now anyway, until that higher tech fridge comes along!

Pair 3D Design Application

Okay, this is a really cool app and unlike any other smart application above. It’s only an Apple App right now, though. Essentially what you do is you bring up the camera on your iPhone and the app will give you different furniture options for that camera viewer. In the camera viewer, you can see how that piece of furniture or an appliance would fit in your space, what it would look in a 3D manner and more. The app can also be used by brands and businesses as well. But it’s also a great design tool for home owners that allow you to set up a room in real-time.

Radiant Flooring

In a lot of cases, you see radiant flooring done in a bathroom. But, since more and more people are also using porcelain in the kitchen as well (its durable, budget friendly and beautiful) some manufactures have started to make radiant flooring options for the kitchen too. This is a perfect option for any flooring in the kitchen, but especially stone or tile like porcelain because even though it does have a lot of benefits, one of the disadvantages are that it can get quite cool to the touch in the winter. In order to fix this, you can use radiant heating underneath the flooring to warm it up before you ever set foot on it.

Radiant flooring can be set on a timer so that it turns on every morning before you wake up to make the floor nice and toasty so when you come down for breakfast or coffee the floor is already heated up. You can also use Wi-Fi with a lot of radiant flooring systems so as soon as you wake up you can turn on your app – and have the floor heated so by the time you make it downstairs it’s warmed. Tile flooring like porcelain is a great conductor of heat. In fact, the two best materials to use a radiant floor on are porcelain and wood. Porcelain is a really good option though because it won’t expand as it warms and cools which means it won’t crack which means your flooring will last for longer!

radiant flooring

There you have it, kitchen renovation ideas that you should know before you start your project.


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Beautify Your Home With Porcelain Tile

Porcelain floor tiles are the hardest and most durable tile option available.  They are available in two types – through bodied and glazed.  Through bodied have the color and pattern throughout the tile whereas glazed tiles are covered with a hard finish, which makes them very strong and dense.  They are available in a wide selection of colors and sizes, making it very easy for you to customize patterns.  They resist water, stains, scratches, chips and even mold and mildew.  They are also relatively easy to keep clean.  Because of their versatility, porcelain floor tiles are a fantastic option for just about any room in your home.

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Bathroom

The bathroom sees not only a lot of foot traffic, but a lot of moisture as well.  People often spend a lot of time in this room.  Humidity often finds its way onto every bathroom surface.  Water from showers and baths is routinely splashed or dripped onto the floor.  Damp towels may be left lying around.  Porcelain is an excellent choice for flooring, walls and even counters.  It will resist all of the moisture in the air.  It will also make your bathroom a gorgeous place to be.  By choosing the right colors and smaller tiles, you can create a relaxing pattern on floors and walls.

tile bath

tile bath vanity

Kitchen

The kitchen is another room that sees a good amount of use.  The durability of porcelain floor tiles ensures that your floor will resist damage from foot traffic, but remain shiny and bright for many years.  Large tiles can make the kitchen appear more open.  Smaller porcelain tiles are also excellent for walls and floors.  You can create unique patterns on your wall to create a specific atmosphere.  Their durability makes them excellent for counters.

 

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tile back splash

Entryway

Large floor tiles can create a very open and inviting entry to your home that is also resistant to most damage.  You can also use a variety of sizes to once again create a unique pattern.

tile floor

Porcelain floor tiles are extremely versatile.  You can use them on the floors, walls and counters of various rooms to unify the house.  And, with the overwhelming variety of colors and patterns available, you can create your own unique atmosphere that is both beautiful and long-lasting. For more information on porcelain floor tiles, head on over to PlumbTile.com and request your flooring samples today!

 

 

This is a sponsored guest post and the views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Mommy Ramblings.

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It’s National Painting Week! For Inspiration, Check Out Some Color & Project Ideas at Sherwin-Williams!!! #SWPaintingWeek

#SWPaintingWeek

Happy National Painting Week!  Are you working on any painting projects?  You know I have a bunch in the works with all the home improvement we are doing.  Next on the list  for me is to pick the paint color for the new master bath and master bedroom projects.  I will update when I make a decision but in the meantime check out Sherwin-Williams helpful tips, color ideas and projects at SWPaintingWeek.com.

#SWPaintingWeek

Sherwin-Williams Color of the Month April 2014

Sherwin-Williams Color of the Month April 2014

#SWPaintingWeek Sherwin-Williams-National-Painting-Week


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Master Bath Renovation Update-The Walls Are Going UP!!! #CurbAppeal

Very noisy and busy day in our household today.  The tile contractor finished the rest of the tile demo and started tiling the area that will be around the whirlpool tub.  Things are taking shape, of course we have a huge amount of work left but for the first time we are seeing the start of our new bathroom.

tile phase 2

These are 2 of the walls that will be around the tub.

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This picture shows the two walls in the picture above plus the third wall that is tiled to the ceiling since it is attached to the other floor to ceiling wall where the shower will be.
You can also see the niche that was tiled with the mosaic accents in the back of it.

A little better view of the niches by the whirlpool.

A little better view of the niches by the whirlpool.

With the walls demoed we were able to try the Concealed Cabinets for placement.  The cabinets are being installed in the walls on the side of the master vanity.  They will look a picture and hide a large medicine cabinet.  The walls will be tiled around the cabinets.  Above  each sink will be a large mirror and then we have new lighting that will be installed above the mirrors along with all the recessed lighting already installed.

Now that the walls are all demoed we are trying to figure the placement for the 2 Concealed Cabinets.

Now that the walls are all demoed we are trying to figure the placement for the 2 Concealed Cabinets.

Seem to fit how the studs are perfectly without any major changes.

Seem to fit how the studs are perfectly without any major changes.

I am sure there will be more updates tomorrow along with more noise but it is noise with a purpose.

 


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NBC American Dream Builders and Lowe’s $50 Gift Card Giveaway!!!

The American Dream Home is something everyone fantasizes about. Whether it’s a new closet, a larger family room, or simply a place to put all your stuff, there’s always something we want to change about where we live!

What if you could make your home into your Dream Home?

 

AMERICAN DREAM BUILDERS – a new show premiering on NBC March 23 at 8/7c – and Lowe’s want to make your dream a reality.

 

Hosted by famed interior designer and best-selling author, Nate Berkus, AMERICAN DREAM BUILDERS follows the nation’s top 12 designers and home builders as they compete to be crowned the Ultimate Dream Builder and take home a $250,000 cash prize. It’s the home competition that will change everything!

From the producers of Survivor and The Bachelor, don’t miss AMERICAN DREAM BUILDERS, Sundays at 8/7c, only on NBC.

You can enter for a chance to win $100,000 in products and services from Lowe’s and a consultation with the winner of American Dream Builders!

Enter for a chance to win your dream renovation at www.nbc.com/lowes.

And starting March 23rd you will have the opportunity to earn 5 bonus entries when you “Dream It Yourself”! Upload a photo and description of a home project you are working on and EARN 5 BONUS SWEEPSTAKES ENTRIES.

Finally, follow the show on Facebook and Twitter for a chance to win more prizes from American Dream Builders and Lowe’s!

 

Would you like to win a $50 Lowe’s Gift Card? If so enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!!!

Each household is only eligible to win One (1) $50 Lowe’s Gift Card via blog reviews and giveaways. Only one entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

 

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Master Bath Reno Updates & A Great Hobby Lobby Find!!! #CurbAppeal

If you remember my indecision on the master vanity, mirrors and medicine cabinets, it may amaze you to know that the vanity is not only finalized but ordered and being shipped. The mirrors are here and the medicine cabinets are as well.

We toyed with the idea of constructing our own recessed storage cabinets on the sides of the vanity, but the more we looked at components we would need and the work involved, especially given the amount of projects we still had to complete, it started to make sense to go with something finished.   I did try, even went to Hobby Lobby and other stores for something that would work as a door but look like a nice piece of wall art on the wall concealing a medicine cabinet. Concealed Cabinet design In the end we went with The Concealed Cabinet because we can still make custom tweaks like add a power  strip inside the cabinet, but the basics are done.  The other great feature is that we can customize the door with a print, photograph, artwork from our children or whatever we like and we can change it as often as the mood strikes.

I am so excited to tell you and show you more on these great cabinets.  We are going to take you through the entire installation process not only of the cabinets but of the entire master bath and master bedroom renovations.  Feel free to share any ideas and tips you have or tell us about any projects you are working on.  We chose the extra-large size and will have one on either end.  So now the next decision  is picking out the art to display on the door frame.

This is the extra large cabinet we choose and we get to customize with our own choice of art work to make the design original and truly "us"

This is the extra-large cabinet we choose and we get to customize with our own choice of art work to make the design original and truly “us”

The other news is that the new whirlpool tub is being delivered on Wednesday.  I have been holding off demo until then but it’s almost time to get the rest done and start rebuilding.  I tell you I am so looking forward to a long relaxing soak in that tub.  We are having some design brainstorming sessions regarding the freestanding tub filler and its placement.

My husband assures me all is good, but I have to tell you, I’m a bit stressed by some placement issues we have.  I still need to make a decision on the vanity lighting.  The bathroom has recessed lighting in most areas except by the vanity area. I have been looking at so many different styles of lighting and my brain is on overload.

I picked up a great mirror I want to use as an accent in the bathroom at Hobby Lobby the other day.  It is huge, heavy, and gorgeous.  It is nearly the same color as the vanity I refinished for my sewing table last year and I have decided to use that color as an accent color in the bathroom.  I see that color everywhere and yet I am so stressed picking out towels and rugs. #hobbylobby Got it #hobbylobby My daughter and I went to Home Goods a few days ago and I picked out some towels that I thought were in the same color family and bought them to hang on the towel bars that will be around the tub. When I found 3 rugs that also looked to be perfect I was ecstatic but a little perplexed.

I was so stressed if I had the right shade and then my daughter told me to chill out because there was a 30 day return policy if they weren’t.  I get home and now, I don’t know if I am losing my mind or if the lighting in the store affected it, but they look more like a sea-foam greenish type blue than what I thought they were.  Not sure what I am going to do yet, but I need to decide before my 30 days are up!


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Curb Appeal Reveals Coming Very Soon!!!

Wow, it has been busy here.  You will  soon be seeing the first of many Curb Appeal Reveals and that means lots of painting, staining, cleaning, clearing, spiffing, polishing, washing and rushing.  Almost ready to show you the shutter and exterior lighting reveals.  Getting close to the deck reveal, which if I have not mentioned has been days of powerwashing,  replacing of some boards and then staining.  The porch project is a little further away but steadily getting there and today we had delivery for 2 interior projects we are soon starting.  You can see below that we definitely have a lot to keep us busy.  I have also been collecting lots of river rocks for a bunch of great projects and pine cones that are going to be used for some great crafts I want to share with you.  So get ready for some big reveals!!!

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