A story about Caulk

(insert “that’s what she said” after that title.)

You know how we spent our weekend? Other than being incredibly wonderful people and helping our friends move? We cleaned. Yep, we had a thrilling Sunday filled with mopping floors and scrubbing bathtubs – we’re just living the exciting life of two twenty-somethings in their prime. In our extensive cleaning, I got the wild hair to rip out all the caulk in our master bath and replace it with fresh, new, pristine white caulk.

This is the point where I should include before pictures of said moldy caulk so you can see why I decided to rip the nasty stuff out in the first place. But, the pictures were A)embarrassing for me and B)just down right gross. If you’d like to get an idea of what I was working with, check out google’s smattering of nastiness. Bleagh.*

I’ve taken it upon myself to scrape out and replace our bathtub’s caulk once every year so I don’t have to see the mold that will inevitably creep up after time (writing this post is starting to make chunks rise in my throat). My friend (who I helped move – maybe this was payment?) lent us an As-Seen-On-TV caulking kit, which included a caulk removal tool. I’m saying this to tell you to not buy this tool – don’t even take the time to try it out to see if it will remove existing caulk. Just grab your x-acto knife and go to town. After scrapping out the caulk, I vacuumed up the little bits that were left over, and my husband stepped in and started to add the new caulk.

Ahhh…. look at that seam between the tub and tile. Pristine, right? And such an easy update to the moldy caulk that I know everyone is hiding behind their shower curtains.

We even cleaned up the area around the faucet and handle to really finish off the update (ie. the lipstick on a pig – the pig being our old, dingy shower). Seriously though, check out the google befores and you’ll see why I’m so ecstatic with my new and improved shower.

All of this cleaning led us to a decision – we now have a set-in-stone cleaning day, once a week (today is said day – happy cleaning Tuesday!). We decided that wasted Sundays cleaning the whole house are no fun, so we’ll set aside one day a week after work to do a light cleaning to keep things in check. Does anyone else have a schedule like this? Do you think we’ll actually keep to it? Here’s hoping!

 

*really, our bathroom wasn’t as bad as the google images appear to me. I promise I clean on a regular basis, Mom!

Read Full Post »

Bathroom Beauty

I bit the bullet. I had been thinking about this silly little ceramic tray ever since I blogged about it a month ago, and it’s my personal mantra that if something is eating at you after a month, it’s meant to be yours. I’m not normally a frivolous person – some might say I’m a bit frugal (aka cheap) so I sometimes have a hard time purchasing things that I don’t necessarily need. But, nonetheless, today I purchased my little white tray – just incase it wasn’t available after another month of pining.

My bathroom makeup regime is actually quite simple. I’m a no nonsense kind of girl when it comes to makeup – concealer, powder, and mascara, and I’m one my way. I have a makeup bag that contains other products like eyeshadow, lipstick, etc. but I realized that I didn’t need to have those items at the forefront 24/7. Too many products all the time = too much clutter!

Bleach. It’s like my bathroom cabinets regurgitated last years products on my fine 1980′s shell-sink and countertop combo (hey, blame the previous owner on this monstrosity). Plus, the makeup bag just wasn’t necessary, and the bag’s arrangement caused my mineral makeup to always spill. Something had to be done – for my sanity, and the safety of my makeup. A major dilemma, people! So, on my way to pick up Scott from work, I pounced on the opportunity to swing by West Elm and see if my ceramic tray was still there, waiting for me to swoop it up – and lucky for me, it was.

Look at that organized countertop and obsessive compulsive tray! A lovely site, isn’t it? The simple white tray was enough to keep my makeup messes at bay and to make my Friday afternoon that much sweeter.

On a side note, can I just say how much I’m loving West Elm’s new line? I’m not a complete modernist (I like a little mix of Modern and Transitional) but some of their new items are so super fly. It was a good thing that Scott was waiting for me to swing by his building this afternoon or I may have done some damage. Not really. I’m cheap, er, frugal. But maybe I’ll do some damage in a month if I’m still lusting over some of their new accessories. Check out the goods!

Hello, beautiful pillows. Gotta love the Moroccan inspired patterns. And how about these mini lamps, in the same cool blue and punchy terra cotta colors?

And what about this fun chair print? A store after my own chair-obsessed heart.

Drop by your friendly neighborhood West Elm and enjoy the new eye candy. And pick up some of the goods for this frugal gal and her thrifty wallet.

Images courtesy of West Elm and yours truly.

Read Full Post »