Concrete Brick Wall

Well I finally tackled the 1970s burgundy tile at the Rusted Ranch. Here's the before pic...

 

I have ripped out so much tile in this house so far that I did not want to do it again. So I was looking for a way to cover it. I had planned on just doing a concrete wall and countertop. But no matter how many thin layers of concrete I did, the grout lines kept showing up! I even tried painting over the concrete and then reapplying concrete but still those grout lines got the best of me! So I decided to paint it a cream color, tape off uneven "grout" lines and slap on more concrete to create faux bricks. I didn't measure or level, remember this is The RUSTED Ranch here. . I loved it! I pulled off the tape immediately and while the paint was still a bit wet, so it pulled off some paint and made it really rustic and chippy. 

 

I kept the countertop strictly concrete...

 

 Everything upstairs is white or gray so I wanted to add something different. I painted the cabinets black to match the built in I painted in the same room. I still need to add these amazing handles to the bar cabinets...

 

But now I have a really rusted, crumbly, failing faux brick wall!! And no grout lines!!!!

 

 

Oh and if you're wondering why my beautiful new cowhide rug isn't here, that's because we just got a 9-week old puppy! No way is she ruining that beauty! Alas, it is is basement for a while!  

 

We are so used to having basement bars in previous homes we've owned. This is very soap opera-ish to me....like I expect ole Sonny from General Hospital to walk over and pour himself a glass a scotch! 

Since gold is making a comeback in a big way, I'm keeping the gold faucet! I styled the bar shelves with some gold and copper! 

 

Oops, missing one polka dot wine glass...must be in my hand while I'm blogging! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Lissa

Bathroom Renovation

I'm pretty excited to share this post with you because so far it's been one of the biggest renovations we've done at The Rusted Ranch. Here are some before pics of our 1970s guest bathroom in all its yellow tile glory! 

 

The vanity and built in cabinets had this lovely "dripping paint" technique that must have been cool at some point in the last 40 years...

 

I've always wanted to say, "It's demo day"! I've never completed gutted a room before so I felt a little like Chip Gaines but on a Lissa Hackney budget. Oh how I wished many a times along the way I could have had Chip here with, oh say a $10,000 budget! But, back to reality. 

 

The first thing we did is removed the shower doors and tracks and began the tedious project of removing and old caulk. Taking off the tracks did pull a few tiles off the wall but I just used tile adhesive and set them back in place. I filled the holes from screws with silicone. 

 

 

It took forever to get this all scraped away, cleaned and prepped for the painting of the tub and tile surround. This was the only tile that would stay in the bathroom. The yellow tub was hideous but was original cast iron so we were excited to save it. I used the Rustoleum Tub & Tile refinishing kit. I'll write another post more about the specific process, the ridiculous smell that made some friends vacate the premises, and my thoughts on it. But, after the tub was prepped and ready I painted it. 

 

3 coats and a wee bit of a nightmare later it was painted! Again, I'll post more on this later.

I ripped out all the remaining yellow wall tile, towel bars, bathroom vanity, and mirror.

 

I didn't take many photos of the next steps. I promise to get better about that! I measured and cut enough plywood planks to cover the walls a little higher than the original tile. My girl, Courtney came over and we planked the walls and painted em up all chippy and rusty white! I love the shiplap look but also wanted something a bit different and more rusted. I sealed them with a couple of coats of polycrylic. 

Courtney had a great idea to keep the existing brass light and just spray it black. I replaced the globes and now it's perfect! 

 

My buddy Paul aka "Handy Hamby" aka HH helped bring my vanity to life. I finished the piece before we moved in. I ordered the sink and faucet off Amazon and of course none of the new plumbing fit with the old plumbing so after several failed trips to Lowe's, I finally got what he needed to make it work. Can you believe that we didn't even have to cut the back of either drawer to fit around plumbing? It's like it was meant to go there! He also cut all the wall trim pieces and floor shoe since he's good at that and I'm not! Not at all. I need to learn but math, angles, degrees, patience...none of these are qualities I possess. 

Thankfully HH does.

We ripped out the linoleum floor and replaced with the gray distressed plank we used in other parts of the house. My friend Julie came over and helped me with the toilet. She didn't know she was coming to help with the toilet. This was more of a dare from HH as he and my hubby were replacing the other 2 toilets in the house and he said something along the lines of  "this one sounds like a good project for you girls". Done. Julie and I removed the toilet (spilling not a drop of water mind you!) 

 

You know it's true friendship when someone will dig out a toilet wax ring with a plastic spoon! 

Remember the "dripping paint" effect? Well when I started to sand it away, it revealed neon colors that were not coming off! 

 

I did not feel like chemically stripping them at this point. So I used some left over flooring to plank over it and I painted it! 

 

 

And here's the finished bathroom:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe someday I'll invest in a really nice camera but for now all photos on this blog are just taken from my phone as I'm sure you can tell. The Lighting isn't perfect and they're not all cropped and pretty. But you know what? My bathroom is done! So much work went into this with the help of several friends and we just love it. We're proud of it. It's an amazing feeling to have a vision and actually make it happen. Sometimes I just walk in here just to look at it! Would you look at that?! Would you just look at it? (Ha remember the viral video?!) 

Comment below with any questions and I'll answer more specific than I did in the post. Thanks for stopping by!

Rusted Rooster Fall Open House

Last night was the first night of our fall open house at The Rusted Rooster. What a night!! This event has always been one of our favorites because it's so much fun to decorate for fall. I have a small team of women who help make every part of the Rooster what it is. They are talented, fun, hard working and I am so blessed to have them on this journey with me. Here's a few pictures of the shop once we had it all ready for the event. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the first Wednesday of the month when we open at 4 o'clock it's very busy and tonight was no exception! Here are a few pics we snapped in the midst of the wonderful madness...

 

 

 

 

A huge thank you to everyone who came out and continues to support our little shop!

Countertop update

If you're looking for a cheap and easy fix for an ugly bathroom countertop I've got a solution for ya! 

 

This is a little half bath/laundry room. I figured it was the perfect spot to try out this spray paint technique because if it was an epic fail, I would just yank out the vanity altogether! But I love the sink and even the weird faucet. I'll clean up and paint the bottom cabinets but for now, the countertop...

 

First, I cleaned the countertop and even sanded it a bit to scratch it up so the paint had something to adhere to. Then I taped it all off. I mean everything. I covered the new toilet, new floors, everything because there is a lot of overspray.

 

To fix this corner I used a few layers of joint compound. That stuff is magic to me! Then I used Rustoleum texture spray paint and starting spraying it on. There aren't a lot of color choices but hey, anything seemed better than this blue. I've seen people use the "stone" spray paint and that's what I was going to buy but decided to try this instead. Light coats is the key here. It dries fast so it's easy to get it all done in a short time. I did open a window and have a fan blowing fumes outside because it is a bit strong but the odor doesn't hang around long, unlike some other products and projects round here (like the tub and tile kit I used on my shower!) 

Once I had it all covered evenly I let it dry for about 2 days before sealing it with about 3 coats of polycrylic. 

 

Tada!!!! Not bad for about $16 which was 2 cans of paint. I already had the tape, plastic sheeting and poly so it was a cheap fix! Now to fix that last corner of flooring and paint the base. But like everything else around here there are a million half started projects. 

 

 Here's that corner I fixed. I'm certain it's not contractor worthy but it's Lissa worthy and that's what counts! And sorry bout the trash can in the pic

What do y'all think?

Partial Kitchen Update

There is still a ton of work to do in my kitchen but I have part of it done to share with you! 

 

This is before I got all reckless and rusted up in here.

 

I knew I wanted barnwood open shelving in this corner. I used industrial pipe pieces from Lowe's to build my wall brackets which look so cool.

 

Drum roll, please....

 

Isn't she pretty??? And here's a view of the whole area:

 

I refinished this awesome table and chair set in an extra chippy finish right before we moved in. I love having an eat in kitchen AND a formal dining room! 

 

Here are Some closeup photos of my shelf decor:

 

 

 

I am so happy with how it turned out! Best part is I must have done a decent job installing because this survived our large earthquake the other morning! Whew! 

Let me know what y'all think!