Of Toilets and Tiles...

Yesterday I took a day off to go purchase my tiles and my toilet.

On Sunday, my tile guy had started removing the old tile from the bathroom and preparing the surface for the new tile, but had no new tile to lay.

So I found myself back in Chaguanas at Classic Tiles where I had initially seen a really nice looking and very affordable tile for my bathroom. Got to Classic Tiles and this is what greeted me.

Yes...My tile was SOLD OUT!
The only thing I didn’t do was cry. *Instant headache*
All my ideas for the bathroom revolved around this tile.
Hubby, who was with me at the time suggested an alternative.
But there were no alternatives as far as I was concerned. I wanted THAT tile.

I left Classic Tiles very disappointed and ventured to Tile Depot and then to Tile Warehouse in Central. There were some nice enough tiles and some hell no! tiles, but none that spoke to me the way that one did.

Now in between all of this my-tile-is-sold-out-drama, I’m calling my tile guy to find out how much of the tile I should purchase, and he tells me he does not remember the exact measurement of my bathroom! WHAT?! *Bigger headache*

I couldn’t think clearly and was getting frustrated so I ended up going back home.

After getting home and popping two Aleve tablets for my headache, I formulated a plan, went and measured my bathroom and headed to Ceramic Trinidad.

Long story short…I got my wall tiles and border and Ceramic Trinidad and my floor tiles at Interior Harmony in Sea Lots.

These are my tiles.

Wall tile and border

Floor tile and metallic accent tile

I purchased my toilet at Bath & Kitchen on Mucurapo Road (had to go to their Diego Martin warehouse to collect).

I found out that looking for a toilet ain't as easy as it sounds, as I learnt there are lots of brandless toilets out there (I know about American Standard, Twyford and Armitage Shanks).

I also learnt about 'P' trap, flushes out the back of the toilet and 'S' trap toilets, flushes in the floor, as well as the new push button toilet vs the traditonal lever.

My toilet is in a box so I don't have a picture, but it looks something like this.

Hopefully my new bathroom can look as gorgeous as the one in the picture.

Easter Weekend in pics...

I had no plans for this Easter weekend with the exception of getting the boys off to camp safely and relaxing.

And with the rough sea advisories I wasn't planning on going anywhere near any water except for in my bathroom (work was started in the bathroom area this weekend btw...WHOO!HOO!!)

These are some of these pics I took over the weekend.

Good Friday Bobolee by my mom's neighbour in St. James

Beautiful poui around the Savannah by TGI Friday

Kite flying in the Savannah

Families in the Savannah on Easter Monday

View of changing city skyline from Lady Young lookout

Beautiful poui on Lady Young Road, Morvant

St. Theresa's R.C. Church in Malick, Barataria

House purchases

Plumb Centre in Fernandes Industrial had a sale this weekend and these are my purchases.

My bathroom sink

Not on sale, but I LOVE the shape of this sink and had to have it.

I also purchased a nice faucet for this sink, but didn't take a pic.

My kitchen sink

Pretty standard and blah, but the price was EXCELLENT!

Doesn't beat the FAB! Moen sink for $7,200.00 I saw at Bathroom Plus though.

I have a gorgeous tap for this sink as well that my dad/plumber got for free.

At the sale

My plumber checking out the Kohler fixtures

Jazz on The Greens...

It would be remiss of me not to mention the great time I had at Jazz on the Greens at UWI last week Saturday (8th March).

This was my first time going to Jazz and I was unable to get anyone to go with me, so I went to Jazz solomente.

I got to Jazz just about 6:30ish, after driving around in circles on UWI campus for about half hour. (no thanks to the security guards who gave me poor ass directions).

Eventually found someone who told me it was OFF campus and it was only when I got the general area was I able to find another guard who directed me correctly. Parked my car, picked up my blanket and headed to the grounds at UWI's Centre for the Creative Arts.

The crowd at Jazz on the Greens

As I said before I got to Jazz just after 6:30 and at that time Michael Boothman was just finishing off his set.

Michael Boothman

The crowd was an older one, who came out with their chairs, blankets and picnic baskets to take in the music. The atmosphere at Jazz on the Greens was relaxed and tranquil, just the kind of thing I needed after another not so great week at the office.

Patrons at Jazz

Jamaican songstress Samantha Goden

You can read Mark Lyndersay's review here and Peter Ray Blood's review here.

Renovations Update - Phase I COMPLETE!!

Sunday evening marked the end of what I call Phase I of the House Renovation Project.

What this means is that all major construction work has been completed.
All the walls have been knocked down, any new walls are up and plastered.
The guys came and did all the little finishing and cleaned up any mess etc.

My contractor 'Rope' on top my old kitchen cabinets

Sunday we also had a second clean up of the old pieces of wood and ceiling that were removed.

The next phase of the project is Phase II - Electrical work and ceiling installation.
Electrical work is carded to begin this Wednesday and we marked out with chalk the locations of all the switches and outlets.

The ceiling guy has to work closely with the electrician and told me that his work should take approximately two (2) days. I was supposed to go with the ceiling guy to Chaguanas this morning to view the different options available for the ceiling (who knew that PVC ceiling came in different colours and patterns?!?). When I called my ceiling guy yesterday he told me he was just was in a car accident and we would have to reschedule.

This weekend my plumber (aka Daddy) paid a visit to start work on the bathroom. (I still have not selected my bathroom fittings.)
It was only this weekend, we found out that we are not connected to the sewer main and the possibility exists that we may still have a cesspit in the yard!
This means having to get WASA (*sigh*) to come and connect us to the main. I expect that this may cause a further delay in my project. We got the name of a guy who knows a guy, and we hope that this expedites the process.

After Phase II comes the part I am looking forward to the most, which is Phase III - The Finishing Touches!

Phase III will be the longest phase as this involves:
Tiling
New kitchen cabinets
Installation of laminate flooring (?)
Lighting
Landscaping
Painting, painting and more painting


This weekend saw me up in the east looking at tiles (again) and some furniture.

Possible bathroom tiles

Possible living/dining room tiles

Dining set at Signature Collection

Outdoor set at Signature Collection

I already have an idea of the colours I want in my rooms and the tiles I want as well. I am still undecided if to tile or use the laminate floor in my living/dining/kitchen area.
I'm leaning toward laminate, but everyone is telling me not to use the laminate flooring in my kitchen area as it doesn't take to water well.

I've purchased the lights for the front of the house and they go really well with my FAB! front door. I still have to find a nice ceiling fan and some nice light fixtures for the living room.

So that's the update.

Renovations Update: Pics

With the most of the MAJOR construction work (breaking of walls, construction and plastering of new walls) nearly finished, this weekend saw us doing some removal of all the rubble from the demolished walls, roof etc.

My front yard on Sunday Morning

Empty truck

Truck filling up with rubble

Part of the reno as I mentioned before included breaking walls in the kitchen to make way for an open floor plan, as well as removing the window in the master bedroom to put in some doors which lead to the backyard. We (I) decided to re-use our old front doors and plan to sand it down and have it looking like new.

KITCHEN

BEFORE - Kitchen/living room wall

DURING

AFTER - A wall and a half to go

AFTER - Walls down

(Door in the kitchen is now blocked up as well)

BEDROOM

BEFORE - Window in my room leading to backyard

AFTER - Doors in!

DURING - The wall coming down to make room for my doors

AFTER - Doors in!!

Still to do list:Electrical (starts today)

Plumbing (starts wheneverI tell Daddy to come)

Ceiling (hopefully this weekend)