And there was much rejoicing. Really.

Who would think this little thing could ignite such passion? Do you know what it is? It's a toilet tissue holder.

The toilet tissue holder in our main-floor powder room has been the bane of many of our guests. Tug on the tissue as you normally would, and the tissue and the support rod will often roll out, sending the rod to the ceramic tile below with a loud "tink!"

Several people actively hate the thing.

Last year, Marriott promised me a new tissue holder as a birthday gift. For Christmas, she promised me a new towel rod to match. By my birthday this year, she added a new matching faucet. Problem was, I was being picky about color and style, and we were going to the wrong stores to find that color and style.

Finally, two weeks ago, the hardware was purchased. (Thank you, Marriott!)

So over the weekend, Dave and I put on our home-improvement hats and tackled the bathroom.

Here's the new tissue holder. Walla! There is no annoying bar to fall and embarass guests.



The faucet was far more of a challenge, requiring actual plumbing work, which both Dave and I are total novices at. But Dave rose to the challenge with me stepping and fetching and being all-around assistant.

While we were at it, we swapped the mirror for a gorgeous custom-made one that JC had given me for my birthday over a year ago. (Thank you JC!) See the before and after:



But the room isn't done yet.

I have a few holes to fill and some touch-up painting to do. I'm tempted to paint the cabinet a darker color. The white just isn't working for me anymore.

Oh yeah, and I have to figure out a way to feature the old tissue holder. Maybe with some sort of sign giving Marriott appropriate credit. Trust me, many accolades will be coming her way for making me retire this thing.

Life: No more cold and drafty nights

Finally. After six months we have new windows in our bedroom. I probably wouldn't even bother mentioning it on this blog, except it took *six months*.

It's mostly my fault. The windows should have been a simple decision, but I complicated it.

How many windows in the house should we change now?
Should the windows stay white on the exterior side?
Should they stay stained on the interior side?
Should we rethink the molding in the house, and starting transitioning away from the colonial trim toward something more in keeping with the architecture of our house?
Does our split-level suburban house even have an architectural style?

I hemmed and hawed and got multiple quotes. I consulted different books. Meanwhile, the casing on one of our 30-year-old bedroom windows continued to rot, until we had almost a centimeter gap where nothing but the screen separated us from the outside elements. We plugged it up with towels and put plastic on the window. I'm sure the neighbors thought it looked lovely.

I placed the window order before the New Year. But then we had to wait for the windows to be made. Then we had to wait for them to be stained. Then we went away on vacation.

So, finally, they were installed last week. The stainers came by this morning to complete any touch-ups to the woodwork following installation. The project is complete.

/happy dance

We now have six beautiful new windows in our bedroom and guest room, and a gorgeous new trim scheme to start phasing into the house. See?



Even Thor likes the new windows. :)

We have nine more windows in the house to get changed at some future date, but that's not in the budget right now. We have other priorities. Check back in a decade. The way my husband and I move on some of these things, it could take that long. Seriously.