A Tiny Post about our Tiny Bathroom

Well, we made some real progress at the chalet last week; Jordan destroyed the red light guest bathroom. Everything is gone, even the floor. It's progress, but that's all there is to say about it, so until we have some shiny white subway tile and a snazzy new toilet in there, I thought I'd show you another bathroom remodel that we did about two years ago. 

All I ask, when you read this post, is that you only judge us a tiny bit. Because this room below was a room we let only our best friends see. This was the second bedroom of the Moncrieff house, also known as Jordan's closet/the storage room/the room we threw all our junk in right before we had people coming over for dinner. And then we shut the door and pretended it wasn't even there. So this was really a room of shame. 

But all that changed when Jordan told me that in this room he could make my dream of having a second bathroom come true. Specifically in the closet. It wasn't a big closet, but it was big enough for a half-bath, provided we could furnish it with the world's tiniest sink and toilet. 

So after removing the shelf and clothing rod, dressing the closet in a fresh coat of paint, and several hours installing water and sewer lines in a two feet deep crawl space that Jordan literally had to crawl through, the closet became a bathroom!

What, you've never seen a standing lamp in a bathroom before?

Feedback on the closet bathroom was mixed. People were surprised at how functional it was, for such a tiny space, however, since there was no window, and since the door still opened out, and had no lock, it did have a bit of a closety feel. 

This bathroom was a blessing and a curse. Because while having two bathrooms was a luxury I thought I'd have to wait till my mid-thirties to have, it also meant that we had to keep the room of shame as tidy as possible if we wanted guests to be able to use it without judging us. Or at minimum, we had to push the junk aside and clear a path to the door if we wanted them to be able to use it at all. 

Nevertheless, our tiny bathroom will always have a tiny place in my heart.

House Tour: Before Pictures

It was love at first sight for me with this house. Well, love at first picture slideshow, because we actually met online. Jordan had been scouring every house that was for sale in the Denver area and when he showed me this house's profile, I said, "This is the one!" 

Looking back, it was probably its German features that beckoned me so. The half-timbered walls, the scalloped edging, and the tiny dormer drew me like a moth to a flame. It reminded me of a Swiss Chalet that had landed wizard of oz style in Colorado, and attached itself to a modern 70s wing.  I recently announced to Jordan that I was going to call this house the Chalet. He gave me a look that said, "You can do whatever you want, but you won't catch me calling it that." 

A month later, we came to Colorado and met in person. It was so quirky, but so loveable. We saw lots of potential, and so we put an offer in a few days later...only to be rejected! So, we put in offers for a couple other houses, but I couldn't stop thinking about the Chalet. We weren't getting anywhere with the other houses, so we decided to put in one more offer. This time, it was accepted! Two months later, she was ours.

This tiny wood-paneled entry way makes you want to sit down and put on some ski boots!

Jordan was about to scoop me up and carry me across the threshold, when the door handle stayed in his hand after he shut the door. I guess we're never leaving.

This is the view when you first walk into the house. I'm standing on the staircase to capture the whole living room. 

Up close of the little passthrough into the kitchen. 

And the living room looking back toward the front door. 

I secretly want to turn this part of the living room under the window into the dining room because this next room makes a much more cozy living room. Jordan thinks it would be strange to walk into the dinning room from the front door, and he's probably right, but I'm sure you'll agree with me when you see this next room...

Isn't it cozy?? Our friend Andy thinks we should turn this room into the billiards room. Add some hunter green velvet furniture, and we'd be all set! Notice the creative brick work around the fireplace that I'm sure was supposed to be cutting edge and modern. (#fail)

The kitchen in all it's laminate glory.

The cabinets look better in pictures than they do in person. They have that old cabinet smell of dried out wood with food stained on it.

There is a disposer in the sink, but when you turn it on, the other drain erupts like old faithful and spews bits of leftover chicken and broccoli all over the counter.

The refrigerator takes up approximately 1/4 of the kitchen.

Laundry room with some pretty cool cabinets, that unfortunately also have the old cabinet smell.

The view from the laundry room into the kitchen and living room. The back door is on the left and on the right...

A bathroom. 

When we first saw the house this was the room of the man who called himself the caretaker. (Though I would think a caretaker would have flushed the toilet before showing the house.) The lovely curtains he left behind have the words, "The Undertaker" printed all over, so we've taken to calling it the Undertaker's room. 

Down the skinny hallway is a walk in closet and a tiny bathroom.

The bathroom has a red heat lamp in the ceiling and strange wood paneling. Only half the people who've toured our house have ventured down the hallway into the bathroom--it's that creepy.

Time to go upstairs!

I started calling this blue carpeted bedroom Cody's room, since he will be one of our first visitors. 

This is taken from Cody's balcony, looking toward the master balcony.

You go through this colorful room before entering the master bedroom

I don't even know what to say about this. (Yes, those are shutters.)

This is arguably the best room in the house.

The bathroom is through the door on the left.

And a little bonus room on the right.

Bright windows and funky flooring.

We love the chalet!

*Updates-Jordan fixed the stove!! Evidently the gas wasn't hooked up. The oven appeared to be fixed as well, but I pulled out some roasted veggies last night after an hour at 450 degrees and they were still crunchy.  After coming home to 59 degree temperatures in our house, from which we were rescued by my Aunt's space heater, the plumbers came and confirmed that it needs some more work. Thankfully Denver has graced us with a warm streak of weather while we wait for them to return. Also, we've settled on our first project: the creepy little bathroom is now gutted.

Pretending Makes Everything Better

I've always loved pretending. Whether it was playing orphans with my cousins, pretending to be the girlfriends of The Beetles involved in murder mysteries with my other cousin, or make believing my bike was a horse, pretending has always been one of my finest skills. Never has it come in so handy than this week.

On Saturday we moved into our new (to us) house, thanks to some of the gentlemen of the clawfoot bathtub move. Early that morning, Jordan and our strong and helpful friends ventured to the barn where horses and alpacas have been guarding our stuff for the past year and a half. Yes, it was a real barn, and it was only after we were long out of the country that I realized my great-grandmother's couch would likely become home to a family of mice, but do you know how expensive storage units are??

When the moving truck arrived at our new house, three dirty men tumbled out of the front, and began unloading our very dusty boxes. Dusty, and smelly boxes. Specifically, they smelled like cows. (As did Jordan and Ben and Andy.) Our lamps had dirt in every crevice, our mirror had been pooped on, and the barn cats had used one of our formerly sealed space bags full of linens as a scratching post. (Time for new sheets!) But as I wiped down each and every item before it crossed our threshold, I reminded myself that I was basically getting paid $2000 to clean my stuff. As in, we saved that much money by opting for the barn storage alternative, thanks to our generous barn-owning friends. And plus, as I cleaned, I could pretend I was a weary traveler who'd just made my way out of the Oklahoma dust bowl.

This little guy crawled into our box of mugs, and never came out...

The dirt did not diminish my thrill upon rediscovering all my stuff I loved and had totally forgotten about. My red lamp! The kitchen island! My pie dish! It felt like Christmas, I exclaimed to the weary movers. "Dirty Christmas," Mary clarified. Yes, dirty Christmas, but Christmas none the less. Pretending it was Christmas certainly made moving more fun.

So grateful for these guys!

While the boys were at the barn, Mary and I were trying to turn on the oven, to no avail. Apparently it doesn't work. Thankfully, the Little Caesar's hot and ready pizzas the boys requested lived up to their name, and we didn't need to heat them. But the oven wasn't the only large, important thing in our life that wasn't functioning. We had learned during the house inspection that the furnace was limping along, but after experiencing a full day and night in the house, during which we were unable to remove our coats and scarves, it seemed that the furnace stopped limping, and decided to give up on life, taking gaspy little breaths that put out only enough heat to warm an animal with a fur coat. Not only that, but our newly acquired truck also got the memo that this weekend was a great time to break down. Two hours before guests were coming to see our house, the truck refused to start. We were delayed an hour in the church parking lot awaiting a jump start from our AAA angel.

But what's the big deal about heat, stoves, and vehicles, anyway? Isn't that what blankets and crock pots and bikes are for? I've recently learned to make scrambled eggs in the crockpot. ("Good morning, honey, breakfast will beeady in 3 hours!") And aren't life's frustrating moments the perfect opportunity to pretend? I've been playing a pioneer woman this week, pretending I live in a cozy log cabin. I've recently learned to make scrambled eggs in the crockpot. ("Good morning, honey, breakfast will be ready in 3 hours!") A blazing fire completely redeems the fact that I can see my breath in the laundry room. We slurp warm soup for supper while huddled by the fire, wrapped in bear skins (read: my faux fur blanket from pottery barn) just like the pioneers before us did. And this morning, after dropping the truck off at the mechanic, Jordan got to pretend his bike was a horse, as he rode it home through the snow.

Stay tuned for "before" pictures of the house...coming soon!

Sunset our first night in the house