Everything is Awesome

We set a goal for our first room to be done...the bathroom. With four children, this is essential. In fact, I think we could categorize this as an emergency. A Very Big Collins Emergency. That sounds like a TV special no one would watch. There is a formula in the contracting world whether you diy or have it hired out. Just multiply. Multiply any time frame by 3. See!? You said January 31st....oh, what I really meant was March 31st. See?
 Everything is awesome!
 We have now aligned our reality with our expectations. 

  

The true reality is there are days I feel like this. My Milk Barn Abbey moments. I don't want to talk about when we think something will get done. Or daydream about x y and z. In fact, my contractor is very clever in never quite communicating with me when he might be done.

Clever Contractor Communication Skills. Silence with a smile. p.s. I cannot figure how to get this sneak peek photo on the right of Clay here removed,  so pretend you didn't see it. Great!

Standing in the bathroom. Clay raised the ceiling to a 9 ft. height. Stripped down and ready to go. He worked really hard on this. Consulting with my brother at La Costa Engineering in Carlsbad, California, Clay was able to successfully raise the ceiling without hesitation. Thank you Marty!

Stylish Sconces
We had to keep some light going for us so we could use the shower. Every time I got out I thought, "I love this". For real. These old sconces made me laugh.

Framed up but not completely insulated
This work was done in December when we had a week of negative temps. The vent leading from the roof to the bath was over the shower. At some point Clay brought in a huge piece of Styrofoam insulation and duct taped it up to keep the bathroom warmer. I think we all could say this felt like camping.It fell down. Sigh. And so he got to work. 

Ceiling line! You can see it right?
Raising the ceiling to 9ft is going to change the whole Milkbarn. It has opened up the space and seriously, gave me happy tears. And lots of design ideas. We have a glimmer of  potential here. Raised ceiling = everything is awesome!

Dry walling be like....

Taping. Not Clay's favorite. 

Extra Seating
Part of the bathroom is in our wood paneled den. It's a good look. Thankfully, we have no pride. Wait til you see what I let the kids do to the alpine lake mural.

Installing radiant floor heating tubes. All I know is, you are NOT supposed to kink the tubes.

Slab over the radiant heating
After Clay installed radiant heating tubes in the bathroom he laid a slab down of mortar. It is an experiment for us to see if we like it. I'm still skeptical but I do have abnormally icy feet so I may be a believer. 

Chicken coop tile
My first apartment in San Francisco had tile like this and I always wanted it again. I am trying to do a modern farmhouse. It works and makes me happy.

Clay and Sons Contracting

Chester is incredibly willing to help with jobs. He says things like" My Dad is a Worker Giant" and "Dad, you need my help?". He is a great apprentice. 

Can you feel love?

Serious man love going on during tiling time with Chester. 

Future plans for the bathroom wainscoting scrawled on the wall of the bathroom.

Henry and Clay have started work on the wainscoting for the bath. It will match the kind of shaker doors I ordered for the house from Lowes.

A Sunday walk before a snowstorm moved in.

And when we aren't working, we take walks together.

Weekend "cross country"sledding

The kids play in the front yard with no supervision because we are those parents.

Getting off the school bus.

We go to school. We do homework. Life is pretty normal.

Wainscoting begins!

And then we keep going because we want our little Milk Barn to be more livable, that seems fairly obvious. Here is a sneak peek of the wainscoting in the bathroom. This is Clay's specialty. I can't wait to share the final result with you!