kelsey.mackall, Author at A Dabbled Dwelling

Updating a Bathroom with Pfister (Again!)

November 19, 2021 by kelsey.mackall

You might remember the big master bathroom transformation with Pfister and we loved our new faucets so much that I knew we have to use them again in the kid’s bathroom. Updating a bathroom with Pfister is simple and the quality of these fixtures is unmatched! Keep reading to see the ones we chose and my favorite features about them.

Tenet Shower Column

For the shower remodel I really wanted to make a statement. By choosing the Tenet Shower Column in gold and matching Tenet faucet, it really made an impact. My oldest daughter’s only request was to have a rain head shower head. The Tenet Shower Column by Pfister not only offers that, but also has a sleek and modern handheld sprayer that’s perfect for body washing, bathing younger kids, and pets! The water pressure is perfect and the installation was simple.

Shower with marble pencil tile, gold Pfister shower column, and pink floral shower curtain.

Pfister shower column in newly renovated shower

Pfister tenet faucet in newly tiled shower

The Contempra

For the sink faucet I chose the Contempra Single Control Faucet. Because we turned an old dresser into the bathroom vanity, using a faucet with a single hole made it so we only had to drill 2 holes into the top (1 for the drain). Also, using a vessel sink made it hard to have a traditional 2-handle faucet so the tall stature and single lever was perfect to hover over the top of the sink.

Next time you need a new faucet, consider updating your bathroom with Pfister!

Contempra faucet by Pfister on diy vanity with vessel sink. Layered frames and a herringbone blue tile decorate the space,

Close up on gold Contempra faucet by Pfister on green blue vanity and tiled backsplash

close up of gold faucet with blue herringbone backspace tile

Jeffrey Court Renovation Challenge REVEAL

November 10, 2021 by kelsey.mackall

Its freaking reveal day!!! We made it! Can you even believe it? This might have been the longest, most exciting and exhausting 6 weeks of my life. Renovations are hard enough but add in 3 kids, one being an infant and another in the middle of her competitive gymnastics meet season… phew! Just imagine the disaster that is my house right now haha. With the Jeffrey Court Renovation Challenge REVEAL its almost officially over but voting continues for the next few days and the winner will be announced November 17th.

We wrapped up the final week with all the finishing details. Painting the walls and ceiling, baseboards, caulking, staining the beams, installing fixtures, and decorating. I cried over a shower head curtain falling on me and laughed at the fact that I was making a light fixture out of plastic sheets and fish hook earrings with just 2 days until deadline. The last 6 weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions.

Some of the stuff I ordered didn’t make it in time but I managed to come up with some temporary solutions and steal decor from other areas of my home. While this isn’t the first time I’ve renovated, I’ve always done a room in smaller stages. 1 project at a time… I’ve never done a space it all at once from gut to finish. So it has been really cool to see what I’m capable of. HUGE shout out to my husband who has been my back bone, right hand man and biggest supporter. He saved my butt multiple times. I honestly don’t know if I could have done it all without him.

Now the reason you are all here… THE REVEAL.

You might see tile and decor and paint… but I see blood, sweat, tears, heart, and soul in this space. Win or lose I’m so dang proud.

Thank you to Jeffrey Court, Wagner, and Frog Tape for this opportunity and putting on a fantastic event. Thank YOU ALL for being the most incredible cheerleaders during this journey.

VOTING IS OPEN THROUGH THE 14TH

Jeffrey Court Renovation Challenge- Week 5

November 3, 2021 by kelsey.mackall

Oh my goodness this is hard to type because my fingertips are raw! I have been working on the bathroom until 9pm most nights for the Jeffrey Court Renovation Challenge- Week 5. We have made some really pivotal progress this week putting us right on track with the 6 week timeline! All the major tasks are complete and ready for finishing work in the last week of the challenge!

Don’t forget to keep voting!

What We Wrapped Up This Week

Last week we were still deep into tiling and this week it continued. I finally finished the shower tile and in my attempt to stretch my time, I made a huge mistake. To avoid another trip to the Home Depot I used a different color mortar that I found in my garage. I had used white mortar for the entire shower and then switched to gray to finish up the last section of tiles around the niche. I noticed right away that you could see a color difference through the marble tiles but I held onto hope that it would lighten once dry… it did not.

Cue mental breakdown.

In trying to save myself a trip to the store, I wasted a day tiling incorrectly, and realized I would spend another day correcting it. My husband picked me up out of a puddle of tears and said, “I got this”. He then spent half his Saturday ripping down the darker section of tiles, scraping out the gray mortar, and then re-tiling. MY HERO! In the same day he repaired all the drywall while I caught up on household chores that had been neglected throughout this renovation. This had such a positive impact on my mood and motivation- the shower was done and we were back on track!

ungrouted tile with one dark section around the shower niche — The mortar mess up

sweet not my husband left me on the drywall patch — Sweet note of encouragement my husband left me

Electrical

Part of my design plan was to move the wall light fixture to 2 drop down pendants. So with only a week or so to go we had part of the ceiling removed to re-route the wiring. This is AFTER we tried accessing it from the other side of the wall and both attics with no luck. As I stared at the huge hole I prayed to the DIY Gods that it wouldn’t be a huge set back! Thankfully it wasn’t and we had JUST ENOUGH drywall to get it all closed back up.

Praying to the DIY Gods that I'll finish on time with an open ceiling behind me — *Praying*

Jeffrey Court Renovation challenge- week 5 continues with drywall mudding

The LAST Tile Job

If you have been following my plans closely, you might recall that there is still one gorgeous Jeffrey Court tile that I have not used yet. We still had one last area that we had to tile… behind the vanity. Not only had I never worked with glass tile, but I wanted a herringbone pattern that I’ve also never attempted.

To make things go a little smoother, I decided to used a Tile Mat (Mussel Bound) which is basically a giant sticky sheet. This stuff is so strong that it held up my hammer, drill, and even my baby haha! (See Instagram for the video) This eliminated the need for mortar so no more mixing, mistakes, or mess! It also allowed for more flexibility of starting and stopping as I tended to my 6 month old.

The herringbone pattern ended up pretty simple once I figured out that each cut was some variation of a 45 degree angle stacked on a mid point (thanks Youtube). My cheapo tile saw made the cuts just fine, however it did create a lot of tiny glass shards and I wound up with some pretty cut up fingers. I finished the wall in just 1.5 days!

First time using mussel bound tile mat and experimenting with the stickiness holding up a drill and hammer

Jeffrey Court Renovation challenge- week 5 continues with one last area of tiling behind the vanity wall where I lay a mint colors herringbone subway tile pattern

Grout

Lastly, I grouted both the shower and vanity wall at the same time. My mom drove into town from 3 hours away just to help with my baby and do school pick ups so that I could knock it out. I got quite the arm workout and even ditched the grout float for my bare hands to make it go quicker. Knowing that all the tile of a tile challenge was done FELT INCREDIBLE.