Persevering in the Bathroom. An Update.

The bathroom, just as it is today.

I confess, when the sink bracket broke, I just didn't have the heart to continue in the bathroom for a good long while. Luckily, Chris kept going.

He rummaged through his incredible selection of odds and ends and found something called an "anti-tilt bracket." He figured he could make it work and thank goodness he did, because the blacksmith I called just laughed at me. We talked about trying a welder--but given how expensive labour is-- he'd probably laugh at us too for such a small job.

Thank God, it worked.

But it made the sink too high for her beautiful chrome legs. So, I hunted down some replacements --but we didn't like them-- and I don't believe they were any higher than our original ones. But they did give Chris the idea to use big washers to raise the height--so that fixed that.

So, looking it over, we have actually come a long way--just chipping away slowly.

Here was my "vision" board.

The light fixture turned out to be too large for the space--the door to the medicine cabinet would have had next to zero clearance, and the fabric is about 10x darker than this. Imagine that background a muddy grey and those white bits as bone coloured.

I never did show you my alternate plan. I made it when I was trying to decide which fabric to purchase. As it involved buying a new shower curtain, I rejected it. But that mirror frame sure would have been simpler to make!

And here was the to do list:

• new fan 
• new paint job

• new light fixture

• remove the tiles over the sink
• create some sort of wainscoting
• replace the old nasty black drain pipes with pretty chrome ones

• new flooring
• new window treatment
• install new toilet
• sew and install a new laundry bag
• hang hooks for towels
• put up shelves (maybe)
• hang artwork
• frame mirror

By week 5.  everything in blue and green was done. We had removed the tiles above the sink, nailed in the wainscoting, painted the room, installed the fan and the light fixture, and I'd sewn the window shade the day Chris and Ben put in the floor. I had also installed the pretty chrome drain pipes for the sink, but we were having problems with leaks. After Chris fixed the sink and adjusted the legs, he gave the pipes a good turn with the wrench--and they worked! No more leaks.

Isn't that purdy? So happy.

The sink caused a few glitches with spackling and sanding and re-painting the walls, but Chris persevered.

The toilet was apparently a nightmare. We purchased the tank already lined....and apparently it just causes problems when you try to attach the water line to it. (And yes, we needed a longer water line than the one we had, so another glitch. But easily solved.) Poor Chris just had a terrible time with it. We'd installed a one piece in the upstairs bathroom just before Christmas and Chris has sworn he'll never install another two piece again!

I just noticed I need to remove the tag on the water line hose. 

And it is high! You can actually see out the window while you are sitting on it.

I decided not to use the fabric from Tonic Living. It was just too dark. Instead, I headed out to Home Sense and browsed their table cloths and shower curtains. I wanted something with blue in it--and organic--like leaves or flowers. Both the mirror and the striped shower curtain have really strong geometric lines, so I wanted to counter that.

The best I could do was circles. It kind of talks to the floor.

The shade, right after it was installed. I love this shot. As soon as we put the toilet in, the room felt instantly crowded.

I got the hooks installed fairly quickly once I figured out how to do it. As the bathroom possesses our only tub and shower for four people, I needed them sooner, rather than later. Still, we had to wait 24 hours after they were installed before we could use them.

I'd had the laundry bag sewn up before the fiasco. I'd cut the old curtains apart and reused the fabric. I installed it just this week. I got fed up with everyone just piling their laundry behind the door!

Note how high the door is from the floor. Apparently you need two full inches in order for the fan to draw air properly to vent the moisture. Since we've done that, we have not had any water drip down the walls.

It is working well...and I love it, even though no one can actually see it beneath the towels!

I'm still working on the mirror.

It's coming along well, actually, though very slowly. If it were just a matter of making a mirror in a frame, we'd be done by now. It's complicated by the fact that it needs to be a door.

whoa, dusty!

I cut the horizontal wainscot board purposefully short so I could install a board there as the new right edge --and create a mirror centered over the sink. Of course, I didn't realise until much too late that the light was centered over the medicine cabinet--not the sink. Oh well.

I'd planned to install shelves, but I'm hesitating. I purchased glass ones from IKEA--and spray painted the hardware, so I can't return them ...but we seem to be managing just fine without them and I love not having the clutter.

I will hang some artwork, though. (I think.)

Ironically, I still have to clean and seal my grout! And I would really like to re-caulk the bath tub, too. I absolutely have to caulk behind the sink and around the toilet on the floor before too long.

In case you'd like to catch up on all the posts on the bathroom makeover, here they are:

ORC 2: Jumping in Relunctantly.
ORC 2a: Evaluating the Bathroom
ORC 3: Using Inspiration to Solve a Bathroom Design Dilemma
ORC 3a: Progress Report
ORC 4: Yellow Alert! Yellow Alert!
ORC 5: Tick Tock
ORC 6: Disaster


Thanks to all of you who have kept me going through all of this. I am getting anxious to get this finished and out of my life--so let's hope I'll have that reveal for you soon!

ORC 6: Disaster

The worst possible thing has happened.

It has been quite the ride. Ever since jumping in late, this ORC has not gone well. I decided to "freshen up" our problematic main bath and try to make it look like it belonged to the rest of my house. Plagued with moisture and storage problems, I'd sort of given up on it.

So, when the ORC coincided with my little spruce up (new paint, cleaning the tile, and remediating the mold) I decided to give it the full on ORC treatment.

Chronicles of the One Room Challenge, Spring 2017, to date:

ORC 2: Jumping in Relunctantly.
ORC 2a: Evaluating the Bathroom
ORC 3: Using Inspiration to Solve a Bathroom Design Dilemma
ORC 3a: Progress Report
ORC 4: Yellow Alert! Yellow Alert!
ORC 5: Tick Tock

And just what is the full on ORC treatment?

That is me, living a fantasy where I'm a designer, a decorator and DIYer extraordinaire--where I belong with all the brilliant designers hand picked by Linda for the ORC. In reality, it's me working feverishly along with my husband (this time) and my mom (other times, and sometimes, but rarely, both) to decorate a room as best I can according to my vision--and budget (usually blown).

I think I am far too ambitious for the resources I have available to me. For the entire five weeks, I am STRESSED.

And then, when things happen--like you discover the light fixture you based an entire design around is too big (and the only other option --to make the ORC deadline-- is to buy another and spray paint it), or the fabric you chose is nothing like it appeared on-line and is much too dark, and the plumbing part is wrong, and you need a work around for a part you don't have--and then when the pipes are installed and they leak, and you fix them, and they leak somewhere else, and you fix that, and when they leak again and again--and you are about to fix them for the fifth time and you decide to level the sink because your husband has just put down the new floor (and made mistakes because he was tired and fixed them but it meant a quick trip to Home Depot for the third time that day to get a new threshold)--and then you get home dead tired, ready to level the sink and get the legs in their final position so you can fix that damn leak

and then,

while you're holding the sink up so your hubby can screw in the front legs,

you both hear a gigantic CRACK

and you say, "what's that?" thinking the pipes have snapped apart--

but no....

it's the ancient bracket holding your ancient beloved sink.

Gone.

Just like that.

And when that happens, I just want to give up and never, ever decorate again. (I have been tearing up all day.)

I called around, I went to several places, including Architectural Clearing House which is just what it sounds like---and he has a thousand and one parts, even a one hundred year old hanger for a wall mounted sink--but not my "very old and very rare" sink bracket.

the elusive bracket, still intact on the right side of the sink.

And all you can think is.....of course.

It's the ORC and what can go wrong, will go wrong. Not to whine--but nothing has gone without a hitch. Nothing.

I don't know when we'll be done. I am gutted I don't have a reveal. It kills me I won't be linking up with a finished room....not unless all the stars align and Linda keeps the linky open for a good while.

So, we'll see what happens.

Meanwhile, do check out all the others who have transformed their rooms in these five brief weeks. Amazingness abounds.

The chosen participants.
The guest participants.

They deserve all the praises.

ORC 5: Tick tock

Oh migoodness.

doesn't every body have a chop saw set up in the kitchen?

I will say this: if it were not for the  One Room Challenge-- this little bathroom face lift would have taken me a lot longer. And I don't think I could have survived it.

ALSO--It definitely would not look as fabulous as I hope it will in just one short week.
One week.
Actually less, given it has to be photographed and the post written.

Eeeek.

Here's where we are now:

Here's the vision (partly):

Here's how we got here:

ORC 2: Jumping in Relunctantly.
ORC 2a: Evaluating the Bathroom
ORC 3: Using Inspiration to Solve a Bathroom Design Dilemma
ORC 3a: Progress Report
ORC 4: Yellow Alert! Yellow Alert!

And finally, here's the progress on our various little projects.


PAINTING

I got two coats of my Hague Blue on the upper part of the walls when I noticed some horrible spots that needed smoothing. So, less than an hour after the second coat, Chris had the sander out.

Then we removed the old light (not as difficult a job as we'd feared. It came out quite easily.) and discovered at least fifty years of crusty paint build up. So, that got sanded, too. There was a sizeable chunk missing from the wall--and the new light would not be covering that up, so I repaired it.

I used wet and set. After it dried, it was spackled and sanded until it was all smooth.

And we sanded, spackled and painted for another four days. ("We" means my husband. Man, am I grateful he's so patient.) The Hague Blue is in semi-gloss--so it shows every dang spot and ding. But where it is smooth --oh my-- it's like a still, deep, magical pool. Gorgeous.

I'm now in the process of painting the window.

Yay--green grass! That's the first we've seen it since last year.

WAINSCOTING
All the horizontal boards are in. Working on the verticals.

INSTALL NEW BATH FAN
I've learned more about bath fans and venting than you'd probably ever want to know this past week.

We had quite the time installing the new bath fan. I'd picked it up at Lowe's about a week ago. But when we went to install it Monday, Chris noticed that the flap in the duct housing did not close all the way. I jumped online but I couldn't figure out whether it was all that important or not, but we hopped in the car and ran to Lowe's for another one anyway.

In my research I had discovered that flexible hose venting --like we had-- can reduce the efficiency of the fan by 50% Good grief. We also discovered that we really need to lop off about two inches off the bottom of the door so the fan can draw air when the door is closed. So, we will do that.

It took all day Monday to install the fan. After our trip to Lowe's, Chris replaced the flimsy mounting board with something substantial. He had the housing  up --but fortunately had not attached anything to it -- when I noticed it wasn't centered. He graciously took it down and remounted it for me. Then we had to figure out the ducting. He solved it most elegantly with an elbow he had lying around in the garage.

Whew.

LIGHTING
Worried it won't fit!

DRAIN PIPE PROJECT

The drain pipe from the wall: it shall not be moved.

I've had an awful time with the plumbing. In short, in order to get this drain pipe in the wall to attach to my pretty chrome drain pipe, I have to use an ugly thing called a compression fitting. I thought I'd found something to hide the ugly thing--- but just as I was about to spend $50 US to ship a $12 plumbing part--- I discovered that the part was not, in fact, the dimensions I thought it was--but something entirely different and hopelessly inadequate! So, so glad I discovered that before pulling out the credit card! I think I've come up with an acceptable work around. I'll be doing up a whole post on it later, when the ORC is over.



FLOORING
It's here. Waiting.


TOILET
Ordered. Waiting for us to pick it up!

WINDOW TREATMENT
My fabric from Tonic Living arrived. I ordered it Thursday and I got it Monday. Amazing. But it was not AT ALL what I was expecting. It's not as vibrant as it looked on my computer screen. I am disappointed, but it is still pretty and it will do.


THE MIRROR
It is going to be so wonderful!

I played around with the pieces today and realised I was making it far too complicated. It'll be easy. I just have to cut a gazillion little half chevrons (anybody remember what those are called? parallelograms?), stain them and then glue the whole shebang. I am going to wait until I have the actual mirror before I glue it. Oh --and then I actually have to hang it-- as a door!

I should have the glass in my hands Friday.


I feel like I should be panicking, but I'm strangely calm. Maybe it's just because I'm so tired I haven't the energy to be anxious? Mostly, I'm just having fun and enjoying spending time with my husband as we work on this together.

As it should be, I think.

Do check out the other participants: especially the select 20 which Linda hand-picked to wow us with their designs. Some are very close to the wire. Here's the link via Linda's site, Calling it Home.

Then there are those, like me, the guest participants. So exciting to catch up on a handful each week. See them all here.

Next week: the reveal!

But until then....

ORC 4: Yellow Alert! Yellow Alert!

Dear heaven, here we are --less than two weeks left. My husband has been struggling with getting the walls next to perfect and I have been struggling with decisions. But are ready to move on to the next stage.

Here are my previous blog posts about this project. I committed to this project in Week 2 when some quick touch ups took longer than expected--and we decided we may as well replace the toilet. And then the floor. And then the light. You get the picture.

That's this post here: ORC 2: Jumping in Relunctantly.

Then, I decided to lay out all of our problems with this room in this post: ORC 2a: Evaluating the Bathroom

For the third week, I posted twice. The first time I showed you how I use Pinterest to think through a design dilemma. ORC 3: Using Inspiration to Solve a Bathroom Design Dilemma

The second was a straight forward progress report: ORC 3a: Progress Report

So today begins week four. Week FOUR! (overall panic)

But first: this is where we are.

Not a whole lot further than last week, I'm afraid.

And this is where we need to be in about 12 days:

I cannot tell you how many hours I have spent finalizing this! I kept going back and forth on the paint colour above the wainscoting: light blue or dark? I couldn't decide what to do about the window fabric. Should I go plain--or fancy? I fell in love with a John Robshaw fabric--and though I sourced it at an astonishingly affordable price--shipping was atrocious.

The crazy endless uncertainty all started when I noticed the medicine cabinet over the sink was not centered.

Like so:

in case that green tape to the left there looks too wonky to convince you, notice the piece of green tape in the centre of the cabinet. Now, note where the paint stick is. Yep. Not centered.

THE MIRROR
I knew I wanted to put a frame around the mirror on the door to the cabinet, to dress it up a bit. But then, I realised it would bug me no end to have a new light centered over the sink ....but not over the mirror. And my design for the mirror frame called for a wider mirror anyway. The tricky part was figuring it all out.

So, if I can't actually center the cabinet--I can at least center the cabinet door, right?  So. A huge project awaits. I've bought my materials. I have a sketch. All I need now is access to the chop saw. I am going to make this:

Fabulous, isn't it? Very worried. Very, very worried.

I have to have the wood installed on the left for the hinge before we start the wainscoting.


WAINSCOTING:
Materials are purchased, primed and painted. Now that the walls are to my husband's satisfaction we can, perhaps, install the boards in the next couple of days. Under control.


FINISH PAINTING: You'd think that with only three colours being used we'd be done by now, but no. I just realised we've forgotten to do the door frame! And the upper part of the wall, above the wainscoting will be Hague Blue--the same as the door. No Worries. If the paint is drying while I take the reveal photos, no one will know but me!


WINDOW TREATMENT:
Outside mount, roman shade. I am using this fabric from Tonic Living.

I just ordered it this morning. Worried. 


DRAIN PIPE PROJECT:
I wish this wasn't important to me. But it is. I want my pipes pretty. I'll spare you the details, but this may not be possible without opening up the wall and ripping out the cast iron already there. (And that won't be straight forward. Not at all.) You can bet the husband is NOT thrilled about this one. In fact, he wants nothing at all to do with it, so I am entirely on my own with this one. Sweating bullets.

I started taping off to spray paint that 1 1/2" kitchen drain pipe white--and realised I really, really wanted the proper 1 1/4" bath drain in chrome. The question is: why did the plumber install the kitchen pipe in the first place? 

NEW FAN
I've bought it.

All we need is a sunny day to install it. Our wiring has it connected to the light. We're not going to bother messing around with that set up--though I made sure the new fan is much quieter than the old one! Under control.


INSTALL NEW LIGHT FIXTURE: It is sitting in a box right here beside me. Looks easy enough. The challenge will be removing the old one. Quite anxious.


INSTALL FLOORING
This turned out to be more complicated than it would seem. Sheet vinyl is not glued, it's held in place with the baseboards. We are not removing our baseboards. Instead, we will hold down the vinyl with the corner round--just like we did the stuff we installed a few years ago. But, that meant we had to buy new corner round. The profile we wanted (3/4" x 3/4" is the closest equivalent to what we have) wasn't available at our Big Box store--I had to source it at an actual moulding maker and retailer. It was fun visiting them, actually. We did that earlier this week.  So, that's all purchased, primed and painted. Under control.


Everything in blue has to happen before we install the floor and the toilet goes in!


NEW TOILET
Cross your fingers it is still in stock! We need to order it and pick it up...and of course install it! Anxious.


ALL. THE. LITTLE. THINGS:

A shelf for storage. Fine. If I don't have it in time for the ORC reveal, I'm not going to get upset.

Some artwork. Photography chosen. Frame purchased. It just needs to be spray painted flat gold. Under control.

Towel racks. I need to hang three large towels. (There are towel racks which will do that but they take up more space than we have which is only seven inches.) Slightly panicking.

Laundry Bag: Again, not something I am going to panic over if it isn't done in time, but I have my supplies--it's a simple matter of finding a couple of hours (if that) to sew it up. Under control.

Finish cleaning the grout and seal it. This is where I started this project! I was simply going to paint the room and clean. ha ha ha


Hope you are having a great week! If you are in the ORC like all these other fools along with me, best of luck to you!

And may you enjoy all that coffee you'll be drinking. I sure will!

The Spring 2017 ORC. Canadian Style!

I started this post the first day the One Room Challenge, Spring 2017 Edition opened its link up to the guest participants. At that time, I didn't think I would participate--and so I wanted to follow a few and live the ORC vicariously through them. When I started stumbling over Canadians, I thought I'd feature my intrepid countrymen who commit to the insanity that is tackling a room and re-doing it completely in five weeks (and six posts.)

So, here we are, two weeks later. There were a gazillion blogs to visit! And my own ORC project to start. How could I not with all this inspiration from the ORC?

Among Linda's chosen featured participants, there are three Canadians. I am so proud.

Jacquelyn Clark is taking on her very first ORC. A designer from Toronto, she's re-doing her living room. Unfortunately, there were no "before" pictures on her blog, Lark& Linen.

Another Torontonian is Jen who blogs at Rambling Renovators. She's making over her living room. It's quite pretty already--but I know it will be amazing once these short five weeks have flown.

A designer from Oakville, Ontario is the inimitable Christine Dovey. She is transforming the basement of her latest house. It's a doozy of a project. This is going to be a great one to watch at Bijou & Boheme. This particular area (there are many) has me intrigued:

And then, and then there are the truly intrepid souls who take this on, most without sponsorship and with crews consisting mostly of partners and family! This year, 259 linked up to declare their passion and commitment.

Here are the Canadians!
(Voici le Canadiens!)


With four ORC's in her portfolio, Sarah Walker of Oakville, Ontario is applying her considerable talent to a client's space this go round. She's creating a wellness center for her Naturopath and blogging all the goodness at The Curated House.

Fellow Albertan Lindi is re-doing her Master Bedroom--while the adjoining master bath reno is in progress! She's blogging the madness at Love, Create Celebrate. This is her fifth ORC! She knows what she is in for.

Kristi is another Albertan. Making over her powder room will be her fifth ORC project. She's blogging all about it at Making It in the Mountains.

(My mother has that exact medicine chest/mirror combo in her main bathroom. I'm curious to see what Kristi will do with it.)


Here's Tim, from Design Maze in Toronto.  He is doing a dining room. He's a professional from Toronto with a lovely, clean, pattern filled aesthetic. This is his second ORC.

Isn't it gorgeous? That would make a very happy "after!" He says he needs more storage. OK fine.


This brave soul is the wife of a military man and is making over not, one, not two, not three--but four outdoor spaces! Four. She must be living in a warmer part of the country! From her blog, PMQ for Two, it looks like she has great style, too:

I'll be following this one with interest.


Vanessa Francis, another Torontonian, is tackling her sixth! ORC. A new home--and a dedicated home office will be her focus this time on her epynonomous blog.

Christina is just a stone's throw away from me as these things go. The DIY Mommy will be making over her gorgeous sitting room into a family dining room.

Julie at Elliven Studio is taking on her very first ORC! I'm not sure where she is but words like "Home Sense" (the Canadian equivalent of Home Goods in the States) and "Canadian Tire" (a retail institution that defies categorization)  appear on her blog. She is making over her son's bedroom.

Maureen hails from the Niagara Pennisula. I don't now if that means she's on the American side or the Canadian--so since we Canadians are an inclusive bunch, we'll just say so. She and her husband are renovating their roomy kitchen--entirely by themselves. It's her first ORC at Red Cottage Chronicles. 

Lori is an ORC virgin. She's from Nova Scotia and she's blogging at Farm Fresh Style. She's going to makeover her studio. (It looks like an upholstery studio?) I love first-timers. They take on spaces that really matter to them--no matter how daunting.

Debi, from the Greater Toronto Area, has a business staging homes. She is blogging about her media room transformation at Add Value to Your Home.

Thalita is a veteran of the ORC. Her laundry room will be her fifth! She's blogging it all at The Learner Observer.



Leslie is another first-timer. She's in Windsor, Ontario and blogs at The Leslie Style. She's starting with her family room. Looks like a good start--though apparently it took them 14 months to get here! The next five weeks are going to fly by!

Gemma is joining the ORC for the first time from Ottawa. That's the city named on my birth certificate--and where I spent my first ten years. She's making over her Master Bedroom since completing a massive renovation of her home. It's all there on her blog, The Sweetest Digs.

Another first-timer --and also taking on her Master Bedroom is new mom Amanda, from somewhere she calls "rural" Ontario. Catch the fun at Life at Cloverhill.

This is Dannyelle's second time doing the ORC. As she puts it, she lives "outside Toronto." She's refreshing and restyling her neutral caramel coloured living room into a the cool contrasty tones of rustic Scandinavian at her blog, Life is a Party.

Sue, from A Purdy Little House is taking on her daughter's room for her first ORC. She;s from Ontario. Her mood board includes one of my favoiurite colour combos: deep blue-green and pink.

I can't figure out exactly where in Canada Shannon is blogging from, but she has a sponsorship with Home Depot Canada for her kitchen makeover--so it's a pretty good guess she gets included on this list! Which is great because it will be fun to watch her whip her kitchen into shape during the next five weeks on aka design. 

From Mississauga, we have Amy transforming her bathroom in her fourth One Room Challenge. She says it's a tiny room--and, like Shannon, she didn't include and before photos on her blog, Love on Sunday.

Nat has only been in her new home in B.C. for 16 months--and she's decided to decorate her Master Bedroom. She's starting with a pretty blank slate--and a new blog, too: Simple Family -  Crazy Life

Kristina and her husband flip homes in my town! Ugh. I am actually envious. She's undecided about whether to do her front entry--or the bathroom. Maybe she'll have it figured out next week at Kristina Lynne.

Sarah Gunn comes from somewhere where she can cross the border and make a Target run. (hint, hint). So, Canadian, for sure. She's decorating her dining room in her first ever ORC.

Lisa doesn't say where she's from--but that she's a member of the Canadian Decorator's Association.  She's taking her grown up and gone daughter's room and turning it into a craft/sewing room. Check it out at her blog, Haven.

Robyn is adding some pizzazz--and some privacy--to her backyard. A Canadian spring is a fickle thing, even in the Greater Toronto area. Can she pull it off? She's blogging at Shibang Designs.

Casey is another member of the Canadian Decorator's Association. She's tearing down walls and creating a walk-in closet! Sounds familiar! She's blogging all about the adventure at House by the Bay.

So many Canadians...who knew?

New mom Katie lives in Burlington--a suburb of Toronto. She's decided to create an office at home for her first ORC challenge. She needs to remove this bar, among other things. Read all about it at her eponymous blog, Katie Campbell Interiors.

Lisa Canning is a television personality from Toronto. She's designing and installing two kitchens--yes, two! kitchens! for clients. Seriously ambitious. And interesting. The houses are mirror images of each other--but totally different styles. Check it out on her blog, Lisa Canning Interiors.


Alyssa is also designing for a client--her four year old daughter who loves pink! Alyssa and her husband own their own interior design business in Hamilton, Ontario where she is blogging on Coco and Jack, all about her daughter's bedroom.

Tash also calls Toronto home. She and her husband are finishing up a previous ORC project--this time tackling the bedroom side of their master suite. This is their fourth ORC--though apparently they don't talk about the first one on their blog, The Dream House Project!


Ashley lives with her parents in Toronto. She and her Dad are going to take on their living room in their third ORC challenge. She's blogging at Homegirl.


Kim is a fan of the Vancouver Canucks. She is making over her small foyer in her third ORC. She has some great ideas at Knock It Off Kim.

And finally, Honourable Mention goes to a challenger from Ireland. Here's Norma, blogging at The House That Will about her sunroom.

And that, dear readers, is that. I have visited all the blogs of the 20 featured participants and each and every one of the 259 guest link ups to the first week of the One Room Challenge. It's been absolutely wonderful to see so much creativity and passion!

I am sure you find lots of inspiration!
Here's the link to the blog that started the semi-annual goodness: Calling it Home.