You Keep Me Hangin' On

I'm on a mission to completely finish the bathroom. Every last detail. So, I finally got around to making a towel bar and running the base trim, as you can see if you look at the floor. It's not very noticeable but makes a big difference. I did not get it all ran. I guess I wasn't really paying attention when I bought the trim and didn't get enough but one more stick should do it. Allen moved the light fixture for me so that the mirror can now center up over the sink. He did the hard part and now I get to patch the sheet rock and paint. It's not too bad, just about a one foot square spot. There are so many little things to do, like I have to grout between the base trim and the floor now, touch up paint etc. But it's just a thing.

This is a detail of the towel bar. I could not find one that was wide enough, that I liked, so I just made my own. I use towels that are 30" wide and like to spread them out to dry well. I built the towel bar out of things I just had around the house here, so it didn't cost me anything. I took some drop from the cypress trim and cut out these little blocks. They are 4" x 2 1/2". I love that cypress, it is such a pretty wood. I think I may use it for the shelves in the pantry also. The wrought iron hooks I had bought years ago. I always thought they were really cute but couldn't think of another way to use them in the house. The rod is just a long dowel I had from something; it's about 1 1/4" diameter. I just sanded all the wood good and applied the beeswax/linseed oil finish. I love that stuff. I used trim head screws to attach the blocks to the wall, actually hitting studs. The dowel is 34" long with the hooks at 32" so it just happened to work out on the stud layout and center between the window and shower. I still need to drill a small hole in the hook and run a thin screw through that into the wooden dowel to secure it. No big deal though.

I usually don't make new years resolutions and didn't this year but I am trying to renew my enthusiasm for finishing the house. I think I got a little burned out on it last year, especially towards the end. I started by purchasing a new filing cabinet and sorting and purging all of my paperwork and records. That tidied up my computer area and desk greatly and I think gave me sort of a second wind. I have since made a detailed punch list that goes room by room, starting with the bath first, as I think it will be the quickest to finish. I have also decided that I need to take advantage of not having a man around here and throw myself into getting a lot of stuff finished that has just been hanging over my head. Not that I'm going to seclude myself here and never go out, but just make better use of my time. I know that if there is a man around, especially a new one, he will distract me from the house because I want to do, umm, other stuff, so....now is work time! Ya'll have not really seen how I can work when I put my mind to it. The stuff we do at work puts me to shame here and I've got to make more progress than I have been.

The next project is to build the stained glass window for the bath and finish the little bit of base trim. Over the weekend I got a table set up in the basement studio and the necessary materials to start the window, so hopefully that will be quick to get going. I am kinda concentrating on interior projects because it has been raining here so much lately. For like 2 weeks now. That's good because our whole state is no longer in an official drought but I haven't been able to work on much outside. I do have some materials ready though, so that if I were to get a good clear weekend, I can do some exterior projects.

*The Supremes