Here is a current look at the bathroom. As you can see I am in the process of installing board and batten panels along the lower half of the wall (and by I, I mean that I am supervising the process). The cap is set and all we need to do is affix the vertical battens.This has been a giant nightmare. It is taking for-ev-er and it was way more expensive than I ever thought it would be. However, I’m not alone in this sneak-attack expensive project as you can see here over at Young House Love and thier patio re-do saga. I really wanted to do this in the kitchen as well, but its going to have to be added to the someday list.
Speaking of the kitchen. Get a load of this:
Yeah, I know. I seriously had to consider if it was appropriate for the internet. It’s a real mess, but it is headed in the right direction. All the fake tile has been skim coated and most of it has been sanded. I’m going to try to get this room all prepped for paint by the weekend. My entire house is covered in a thin layer of plaster dust, there is no use in doing anything about it since I have so much more sanding to do. So I’m really going to just try to finish up fast and then do a deep clean once the kitchen has been painted.
The front yard is also a big mess, but its dark out now so I can’t take any pictures and it’s probably best you don’t see the current state of affairs anyway. I dug up the last of the sidewalk and built up the “stone” wall around the other side of the house. I also began to lay a new walk of the cheapest pavers money could buy and planted two Japanese Maples which I got at the Public Market this morning. I think I’ll take the suggestion from Procrastadabbler and plant the Creeping Thyme in between the pavers to try to camouflage how cheap and far apart the pavers are.
Lastly, I bought a grill and I think its going to be playing a very big role in my life over the next week considering the way the kitchen looks.
Ittybittybungalow 
The bathroom is going to look amazing, but boy do I feel your pain with the dust over everything, the mess, etc. I’ve been sanding the ceilings of our house and it is every where. I also know what you mean about the time/expense. We’ve learned, “it’s going to cost twice as much and take three times longer than originally planned.” I’m looking forward to seeing pictures of the new sidewalk and gardens.
What did you skim coat the tiles with?
That picture looks like my living room, which is the staging area for my projects, and makes me feel better 🙂
I just used regular spackle, I hope I never, ever have to do it again.
I’m going to try regular spackle on 1980s-style rec room paneling and on the “swirled sand” type of ceilings that are all through my house. Sigh.