Two Projects

We have had company use the B&B rooms a few times since they were completed.  I have cleaned them thoroughly each time.  I know I cleaned the shower at least twice before ANYONE stayed there.  Then this last time I noticed a small area where there was no grout between two tiles.  Naturally, we have not heard from the tile installer since they got the final check, even though there are a few tiny things we asked him to come and finish.

 

So we have done the repairs or cleaned off excess grout ourselves.  The grout was a custom color and I only needed a tiny bit, so I bought a small tub from Lowe's.  I went with biscuit, rather than white.  And when I say that, you have no idea how long I stood in front of the white tub and the biscuit tub and AGONIZED over it.  Lee finally left me there in the aisle and looked at something else.

My brain starts questioning myself.  It's not white, it is more creamy, almost yellow.  But white may show too white and biscuit is not quite right, either.  The tub was less than $4.00!  I could have tossed it and come back and bought another tub in the time I stood there.  Well, not really.  Shopping at Lowe's is pretty much of an expedition for us. Seeing as how we are newly minted country folk, and all.

 

I mixed a bit up in a bowl, waited the requisite 15 minutes and used my finger to push it in the gap.  I waited a bit more and wiped off the excess with a sponge.  Then I stood up and realized I could have used neon orange.  The gap was close to the floor, the reason I never noticed before now, and looking at an angle, no one will ever know.

 

Well, except for YOU!  When you come stay here, quit crawling around the floor in the shower and looking, wouldja?

 

The other project has been on our list for a year!  We have this weird electrical junction box that juts out from the wall in the entry to the B&B.  We have thought about building shelving over it and putting a cabinet there to hide it.   Nothing large will work because there is an outlet on one side and the quilt on the other.  We love what we have done and didn't want this gray box to be a focal point.  And the reason it IS a gray box is that I painted the metal box to match the walls.  So that it would maybe be camouflaged, some how.

 

Every time we wander through an antique mall or estate sale, we look for something that we can cut up and slide over the ugly thing and hide it.  And Thursday, we think we found the solution.  We found this wooden box (magazine holder? tool box?) and it is big enough to cut up and cover the box.  So that is what we did.

 

Lee took it to the shop to cut it on one side so that it could fit mostly flush with the wall.  And then we took it to the entry and marked the dimensions of the box on the back.  Then I cut it with a jig saw.  A jig saw is hard to use for making long, straight cuts.  Well, hard for ME to use.  On the other hand, the cut parts won't be seen, so go for it.

 

RJ was sad, because we wouldn't let him help.  He is good with a jig saw.  Honest.

 Lee put in a screw to hold it and it rests on the electric box, so it is pretty secure.

 

The wall isn't even and the box flares out, so it isn't a perfect solution, but I like it.  Now I need to fill it with something.  I may put in dried or silk flowers...not plastic.  Hate plastic.

Lee was brainstorming, marbles, or colored, polished stones.  Maybe even potpourri.  Then he worried about the scent being overwhelming. 

So once, again, we have a project.  Now we need to find something decorative to fill it.  Any suggestions?