Project Procrastinators: The Reveal

Two weeks ago, Thursday, April 29, 2009, I joined The Inspired Room's Project Procrastinators Party . Melissa gave a challenge/encouragement to tackle a project we are procrastinating on (thanks for the push Melissa!). I declared that I will take on a bathroom flooring and replace the carpet with tile, something I have been procrastinating on for the past two years.


After I posted my declaration, I started feeling overwhelmed realizing I have so many other things to do including helping my DD Isabella on her California Mission project. I kept reminding myself: "baby steps" but I couldn't find time even for baby steps. Not to mention that the baby steps on this job required some help taking out the toilet and ripping out the carpet. I am very grateful for the supportive comments I received that gave me the push I needed. Then there was the ultimate and precious encouragement from my darling son, Phil, who said to me: "Don't worry mom, I will help you. It will be my mother's day present". Ahhh heavenly to a mother's heart.


Here's the "Before" photo




So last Saturday, May 9th, after Isabella's performance, Phil and I headed to Osh to buy our supplies (perfect timing...it was "no sales tax" weekend:)). As soon as we got home Phil started taking out the toilet, and together, we ripped out the carpet. (He even remembered to take a photo, something I almost always forget...what a sweetheart).




Then we started laying out the tumbled travertine tiles we have leftover from the kitchen job (a combination of 4x4 and 6x6). We tried several creative ways of layout so that we won't have to cut (we don't have a cutter:)). Try as we might we couldn't do it without having to cut; and worse, we were short a couple of tiles. So the next creative thing? mosaic! I've been wanting to do a mosaic project for the longest time. And this is the perfect time for it! Mosaic is the answer to our dilemma. It eliminated the need of trying to make sure the layout is straight and even, thereby eliminating the need to cut. Best of all, the mosaic method allowed for maximizing the tiles we had, and so we ended up having more than enough to cover the area.


So on to the fun part...breaking the tiles...even Isabella joined in the fun. Then we started laying them out like a jigsaw puzzle. By this time it was late. That was our baby step for the day.


Sunday would have been a great day to make a major dent on the project but it was that "time of the month" for me. I was not feeling well to a point that I couldn't even make it to church (that says something about how bad I was feeling...I look forward and love going to church...I watched an archived online sermon instead). So I stayed in bed and I had another perfect mother's day present...a breakfast in bed from my DD, Isabella (with the help of DH of course; daddy said she was crying when she woke up thinking she won't finish preparing in time before I woke up). I may have been feeling bad physically, but I was in heaven. And come to find out, Phil continued until past the dead of night working on the mosaic. So in the afternoon, it inspired me to continue the mosaic past the halfway mark.




We finished the mosaic on Monday; and on Tuesday, we grouted.


I still have to seal it and caulk the sides and Phil has to put in the new Kohler toilet. Other than that, our bathroom floor is done!...We did it!...I am so grateful!



Here it is...





And a closer look....hopefully the sealer gives it a bit of shine when I apply it tomorrow:)

41 comments:

Melissa @ The Inspired Room said...

WOO HOO! You are awesome! And you too Phil!

This looks amazing, what a difference! I'm inspired now. Thank you for joining in!

Neabear said...

Awesome job!! And that was so wonderful of your son to help out. No better Mother's Day gift than giving your mother your time or your talents to get something done. I love how you were creative in adapting to the situation when the tile didn't fit at first. Beautiful!!

Shannon @ Silver Trappings said...

That looks wonderful! I would have never thought to break them and do a mosaic. And what a sweet helper you had!

Shannon

Teresa said...

Fabulous job- I know how hard that is- I have tiled a few floors- Love your choice of tile-

Nicole A. said...

WOW, I Love it!! I could not imagine tiling myself! You did an awesome job!

Kathy said...

That was SOOOO smart! Was it harder to do then "straight" tiling. I think I may have just cried :)

I hope you are feeling better.

Chubby Chieque said...

So cool when we done a good job, ain't it?

Perfect! U do 2 done a great job!

Anonymous said...

Wow! you really tackled a big project. It looks very nice!

june@craftyniche said...

Wow, great job! I love how you did the mosaic pattern.

Vee said...

Such a lovely improvement and what a hard job well done! Yay for you guys!

Trish @TheOldPostRoad said...

Wow - You have a lot of energy!

Tami (Pixeltrash) said...

That is a great solution to not enough tiles and no tile cutter. Very neat. I hope you will post the after pictures when you are completely finished sealing it and stuff.

Stacey said...

Wow that turned out so pretty!

Becky K. said...

A huge job!

Very nicely done.

Such a creative solution to keep expenses down and waste not.

Cherri Engle said...

Thanks looks absolutely wonderful. What ambition to tackle such a project. I don't have the guts to do something like that. But you have inspired me to think outside the box when it comes to things I think I can't do. Great job.

What a Gift said...

Wow, When you do a project you really do a project. That looks great.

the pleasures of homemaking said...

Awsome! It looks great! It's so funny that you went with mosaic because I did a similar thing years ago in my foyer. A number of the tiles I bought for that projects were broken and I didn't have enough intact tiles to do the project. So I mixed them up.
Good Job!

Manuela

Jane said...

That is such a clever solution! The results are stunning. Awesome job!

Tiffany said...

Excellent project! I bet you feel wonderful getting it done. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

this is truly inspiring....and it looks so so pro! I will have to do the same thing to my master's bathroom - this summer, for sure. You are so talented, Imelda! You really provide such inspiration.

And Phil could not have given you a better mother's day gift than this...so blessed!

Anonymous said...

It looks just incredible! It totally transforms the bathroom. Nice job!

Kathy said...

How pretty! What a clever idea to create a mosaic. It paid off. Great job!

Precision Quality Laser said...

I love the mosaic! It looks fabulous :)

Kim @ Starshine Chic said...

Woo hoo to you & your son!! Doing a mosaic floor was the perfect answer. It looks fabulous!! What a great Mother's Day present.

Melissa said...

Very creative with the tiles! It looks great! That was so sweet of your children to pitch in and help! You are blessed!

Melissa :D

Emily@remodelingthislife said...

Looks great!!

Michelle said...

Speechless!

Mandi Shandi said...

Love it! And your son's comment is adorable!

Alissa said...

normally, i would have said that a mosaic was gonna look bad... i was wrong. it looks AWESOME!

Jessica said...

It looks great. I love the mosaic idea, and I bet the sealer will shine it up.

Astrid in Bristling Acres said...

Wow! That's amazing! That looks like it was a lot of work but it was certainly worth it- it looks awesome!

Kristen@nosmallthing said...

Really nice job! I don't know if I could ever do that. What a super nice boy to help you out. :)

Imelda@Inspired Simplicity said...

I am so overwhelmed by all the response I got and still getting. I don't know what to say...THANK YOU all for your very sweet, delightful, and uplifting comments. I am so tickled whenever I get a couple of comments...I never expected this. I am truly grateful to all of you. Blessings back to you all.

much love,
Imelda

Jo said...

Wow, your new floor looks great! Brilliant idea to do a mosaic! Now I want to take a sledgehammer to the ugly tiles in our house and put in a marble mosaic like yours ;-)

Becca said...

Fantastic job, I LOVE IT!

debi said...

Wow! I'm impressed! That looks amazing...way to go!!

Leamisu said...

That is simply AWESOME!

Kimberly said...

How resourceful of you to make the process work for you: a mosaic which worked with your plan vs. whole tiles that didn't. It looks great!

Christy at frugalcrunchychristy said...

I love your floor! Years ago my dh laid a floor in our bathroom and didn't quite have enough tile and also didn't have a tile cutter - his solution --- great big grout lines -- that is right like 3/4" grout lines. When we put our house up for sale I put a BIG rug in there. I certainly like your solution much better!

Janis@An Inspired Life said...

Great job, the tile looks fantastic! Love the palm tree shower curtain, it fits in with my love of all things beachy.

Thanks for stopping by my blog......have a super day.

Journal Swag said...

Love, love it! Way to go!