Castles and Windmills

I'm still a bit sluggish this morning, so I'm going to blame jet lag from the 6 hour time difference we were in last week.  It couldn't be that "vacation mode" is so much more relaxing than "work mode."  Just not plausible.  It's the jet lag. Before we return to our regularly scheduled program on Wednesday, I present to you: "What I did on my Thanksgiving vacation"

Last week's trip was a.maz.ing.  And I have officially crossed off 2 more items on my 30 before 30 list (Which I really need to get a move on, but I have many of them in the works, I swear....)

Not only was it my first time to Europe and the furthest I've ever traveled, it's also the most places I've gone in a week.  That's the benefit of going on a river cruise, though, each day we were in a different place, and sometimes a different country.  My favorites were Kinderdijk in The Netherlands, Cologne Germany, Heidelburg Germany, and Strasbourg France.

We were only in Kinderdijk for a few hours one chilly morning, but it was enough to take in the breathtaking view of the windmills.  I won't bore you with a history lesson, but the engineering that goes into these 270+ year old windmills is mind-blowing.

They are still totally functional, and, if you get proper certification and get on a long waiting list, you can even live in one of these!

Cologne was Hubby's favorite- you can't NOT be in awe of the sheer scale of the Dom Cathedral (which was started in 1248 and only completed in 1880 after a 400 year hiatus- craziness, right??)

My favorite stop by FAR was Heidelberg.  Not only was it the first sunny day all trip, it's just a beautiful place both scenically and architecturally.

Did I mention there's a castle?  Parts are in ruins and it is magical.  Parts are restored, but it will never be fully restored, because they truly believe in the "beauty of the ruin."  Mark Twain even wrote about it in his book A Tramp Abroad.

Strasbourg felt like it was right out of a movie set.  It was a bit surreal.

I'm in love with the half-timber houses- so charming, so... Beauty and the Beast.  Don't worry though, I resisted the urge to spin around in a full skirt whilst singing.  It was tough though.

Now I'm back from the fairy tale and ready to jump back into flipping with renewed motivation.  This flip won't know what hit him!

Flip Plans: Bathroom

I'll be the first to admit, my plans for the bathroom aren't nearly as exciting as my kitchen plans (which I'm super excited to implement btw).  The bathroom is a much smaller space, so I have to be a little calmer.  You can rest assured, however, I will have some fun with brighter accessories when it comes to staging.

The shower is getting a fantastic white subway tile treatment much like Clark did.  It's a small space, but I'm trying to make it look as large and luxurious as possible (on the smallest budget- challenge accepted!).  Since I'm having a contractor put together this space, I'll need to get on top of buying all these pretty materials- chop chop!

I'm absolutely loving this bathroom via The Marion House Book- it incorporates a lot of my vision for the room & I found it AFTER I made all the decisions.  Great minds think alike.

plan sources: mirrors/sconces/vanity/drawer pull/floor tile

Salvaged Tile Art

Last week when I was brute-forcing the bathroom floor out, I was hit with inspiration in the form of concrete chunks.... that's not too odd is it?

In my demo delirium (I've decided that's a thing) I looked at these pieces and fell in love with the modern art that smashing a floor created.  I thought it might be a bit too crazy to frame a chunk of concrete (not to mention HEAVY), so I salvaged some individual tiles that were intact and had a bit of fun.

The lighting seems to have been a bit funky in my house/I probably had the camera setting wrong while doing this project, but the real color of the tiles is closest to the smashy pictures above.

I got a shadow box frame from Michael's (with a coupon naturally) and started experimenting with tile patterns.  Once I settled on a placement, the tiles got glued directly to the frame's black fabric backing.

The entire project was complete in just a matter of minutes.

Who knew tiles saved from the dumpster could be so pretty?

Before gifting it to our real estate agent for all her hard work in helping us find Frankie (thanks again Amy!), I attempted to get a better picture of the shadow box on the picture ledge in my office.  The colors are better, but it's a bit shadowy.  I guess my photography skills were on vacation during this project.

I don't know about you, but projects like this (even with the bad photography) just make me smile.  What was last week considered ugly and dated in the form of a floor is now an abstract piece of art with a history.

Have you salvaged materials from a renovation and given them a new life?  I'd love to hear about it!