Dear diywithadd readers,
I’ve been away from the blog for a long while and I apologize for not explaining sooner.
My very dear, very brave, very young father was diagnosed with cancer in late August and he passed away just a few weeks ago. Â Dad went very quickly, which was a bittersweet blessing. Â I was quite literally rendered speechless in late Summer and blogging was not an option. Â I have sat down so many times to write and I still have precious few words to describe this sudden loss.
It has been a sad time punctuated by exhaustion, absentmindedness and a lack of enthusiasm for home decor, but I’m starting to feel a bit more normal this week. Â I’m back at work, I’m seeing friends and I finally helped arranged the furniture in our guest room last weekend thanks to Scott’s prodding. Â I guess he knew that would make me feel better. Â I’ve even started gently nagging Scott about the other projects that were left undone back in August, which is a sure sign that things are getting back to normal.
I had such plans for the house and for the blog this fall, but life had other plans for me and my family. Â It was Summer when I left off and now it feels like Winter already here in Brooklyn.
I’ll check back in a few days and the first thing I’ll update you about is Barnaby, Dad’s lovable brown mutt, who has come to live with us here in Brooklyn. Â Barnaby is such a cheerful, optimistic fellow that it’s been hard to stay down with him around.
Dad used to comment on the blog as “Barnaby” and I’m very sad that there won’t be any more of those comments in my inbox. Â But Barnaby will certainly be a fixture on the blog now as so many of our projects will be about repairing the things that he scratches, digs and shreds. Â I am very glad that he is here now to keep us busy with projects and with early morning trips to the park. Â And, of course, to remind us of Dad, who always raised very spoiled, but exceedingly loyal and sweet dogs.
Thanks to all of you for sticking around and special thanks to those who emailed asking, where in the world have you been ADD? Â I’m back and I look forward to cozying up to some unfinished projects this winter. Â xoADD
Barnaby’s bathroom needs a makeover
My highly impractical outhouse chic bathroom has finally found its calling! Â Though it does function well as a powder room, it’s not pretty yet and powder rooms should be pretty. Â Â But, the tiny vintage clawfoot tub it houses is perfectly Barnaby-sized and the sides are high enough that he can’t escape from our sudsy clutches. Â Plus the hand-held shower head is very handy for dog baths. Â Poor Barnaby.
A reader emailed me this yesterday: “I don’t mean to be rude, but what exactly is Barnaby?!”  Hah hah, thank you for asking Samantha.  A Flat Coated Retriever +  a Boykin Spaniel = a Barnaby.  He is the lovechild of two South Carolina hunting dogs and Dad adopted him after he was kicked off a South Carolina farm for chasing horses.  Bath time aside, Barnaby’s adjusting quite well to city life.
Enough about that squeaky clean dog, let’s get back to decor.  Even though I made a shower curtain for this room a while back out of grey and white Ikea fabric, I’m on the hunt for a more colorful fabric that will inform some paint colors for the walls and the tub exterior.  I saw this bathroom recently on HGTV’s Sarah’s House and it reminded me that I had initially intended for my powder room to have a similar graphite, yellow and white color scheme.
A happier outhouse chic bathroom from Sarah's House on HGTV
But, I had a minor nervous breakdown a few months back when the pale yellow I picked out from a chip was practically vibrating on the walls of our small room. Â So, I immediately hoofed it to Lowe’s and repainted the walls a calming putty grey. Â The putty did soothe my electric yellow nerves, but it was a boring overreaction to an irrationally exuberant paint choice. Â Then, I doubled down on the boring with a neutral shower curtain.
So, alas, my outhouse bathroom needs another do-over.  This room was definitely the “problem child” of our renovation and six months later it still looks like a before picture- argh!  I’m on the hunt for some pretty fabric for the shower curtain and then I’ll paint the walls for the third time this year.  Stay tuned for Scott’s nervous breakdown.  The poor man just wants a bathroom he can actually use.  Barnaby, on the other hand, is hoping that his bathroom will be out of commission for a long while….
p.s. Â Thank you all for your incredibly kind and supportive responses to my last post. Â Revisiting each and every one of your delightful blogs has inspired me to keep going with my own silly projects. Â xxxxxADD