ORC Week 5: This is Not What I Had Planned

"This is not what you're suppose to see

Please, remember me? I am suppose to be

King of a kingdom or swinging on a swing

Something happened to my imagination

This situation's becoming dire

My treehouse is on fire

And for some reason I smell gas on my hands

This is not what I had planned

This is not what I had planned"

- 21 Pilots "Forest"

You know what I did for almost the entirety of this week?

A whole project that wasn't even planned - that's what.

It's very exciting and I'm really glad I did it - but wowwwwww, this project took literally all week and once again I feel incredibly behind.

What happened was that after completing my cement counter tops last week, I loved them so much, I decided that I was going to make a huge change in my plans and put cement around my tub surround - directly over the tiles.

Originally, my plan was to paint the tiles, but I was never that excited about that part of the room and kept going back and forth over what color to use. It felt like I was just doing it to do it - I had no attachment to it whatsoever.

Once I saw the earthy stone texture on my countertop, I fell in love.

I knew cement was the way to go.

It was so quick, easy and straightforward with the countertop that I mistakenly assumed doing it around the tub would be a breeze. An added bonus was that it was also so much cheaper then buying tile paint!

But my oh my, cementing over a tile tub surround is so much different then cementing over a flat countertop. For one thing, before I even got started, I had to remove every inch of caulk that was around that tub.

This was not an easy task.

Or a quick one.

I was on hands and knees with a razer blade and eventually a chisel.

It definitely had me sweating and questioning my decision to be doing cement and to even be involved in DIY in the first place! ;)

Then I had to put on SO MANY SEPARATE LAYERS of cement to get good coverage - with the first few layers needing to go on so thin so that they would fill in the grout lines to create a level surface.

Not to mention, the tub surround also has a whole vertical section to cement which was a whole new ball game. And. So. Much. Sanding.

I sanded after every sinlge layer because I wanted to make sure the surface remained level and relatively smooth.

While I would happily cement a countertop again, I'm not sure I would ever choose to cement a tub surround again....

but I'm so glad I did this one because the end result was very worth it.

It's gorgeous.

This was a very time consuming project because of the multiple layers.

Each layer took multiple hours when you factored in sanding time.

Because I was working with cement (which dries quickly) it wasn't something I could do during nap time should one of the kids wake up. Therefore, I could only do it in the evenings which ended up being about one coat per night...I did 5 layers so that was pretty much my entire week.

I'm STILL not completely done - I have about 2 more coats of sealer to put on. The sealer needs 4 hours of dry time in between coats - so you can see why this week wasn't as "productive" (as far as number of completed projects) as others.

I also spend Sunday working on my first commissioned work for someone else- I painted a camouflage wall for a little boy's bedroom!

It was very fun - painting is one of my favorite things to do - but that also meant I had one less day this week to work on the bathroom.

Because I could not work on the tub during naptimes this week, naptime projects were little things. I started working on some art pieces and decor that will be in the room.

I used European Gold Rub n' Buff on some gorgeous frames I thrifted for this room months ago.

I spray painted and mudded some wall mounted candle holders. And I finally made a decision and ordered some cabinet hardware and shelf brackets.

(those arrived yesterday and they are stunning!)

So while the room doesn't look all that different from last week (except for the tub) - progress is moving forward and all the pieces are really starting to come together!

This next week is going to be a busy one! My goals are to: * Build and install wooden ceiling beams

* Install cabinet hardware

* Build and install multiple kinds of shelves (literally working on this as we speak!)

* Hang art on wall I'll definitely be cutting it close on whether or not I'll be able to finish this room in time!

Be sure to follow me along on instagram (www.instagram.com/honeydohoney_home)

and I'd appreciate any encouragement you can give me! Between this project, my three little boys daily energy, and my 7 month old waking frequently in the night - I could definitely use a longgggg nap! And maybe a hug too.

Only 3 weeks left to go, lets do this!

Check out the other participants in this years One Room Challenge at https://www.oneroomchallenge.com/blog/orcspring2022wk5