The Bathroom - Part 14 - Revealed!

It's fitting to reveal the bathroom today. After all, we tore this thing apart a year ago this week. I would like to remind you where we started:

before

The sink area. Cabinet doors falling off their hinges, and inside, it was just nasty. Opening up that medicine cabinet door revealed rusty grossness. The lighting fixtures were too old-fashioned. Oh, and the sink was blue.

The wallpaper was a weird blue cloud print. And it was peeling. And there was a silly fish border around the top. The window was a dusty old mid-century addition that was sub-par. The radiator was exposed.

The bathtub and toilet were blue. The inside of the tub was that cheap acrylic stuff. The floor was dated and old.

before

We replaced EVERYTHING. New tub, toilet and sink, subway tile in the tub, new sub-floor, new marble tile on the floor. New walls, new electric and wiring in the walls, new paint and lighting fixtures. New window to match the house.

I've always wanted an all white bathroom. And the style suited our 1920s house. All in all I think we ended up with the bathroom of our dreams:

after

after

after

after

It took a lot of time. We lived with only the bare necessities for months.

But I can happily say after a year, I would do it the same way again.

Bathroom - Part 13 - The details!!!

There hasn't been much bathroom progress since the last update. Shamefully little, considering I had a four day weekend and could have gotten it all done. Instead I spent the last few days like a desperate housewife, futzing about the house, and mistakenly going food shopping in my house slippers (the shame! whaaaatt?).

How soon I forget how to function when I have some time off.

But I had some time to think. And I'm slowly letting the accessories for the bathroom stew around in my head.

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For above the sink, I've been thinking about the Simone mirror from ZGallerie for a few months now. I've looked around the discount stores for something similar, but I haven't seen anything remotely close. Most mirrors seem to have a heavy wood frame around it and I like how this mirror is frame-less, with the beveled edges, but also not too feminine, like some of the more ornate Venetian styles can be:
Next we have the lighting. Our bathroom has already been wired for sconces on either side of the mirror. I've been on the lookout for something a little on the historically accurate side. But I'm not married to the idea. I recently found these globe shaped glass shades at Rejuvenation, and think it is an idea to look into:
I like that the lightbulbs aren't visible from any angle. Which was an issue with some of the other sconces. And are the sconces supposed to point up or down? Somebody tell me what to do.

It would be awesome to have one of these babies attached to the wall, just to the side of the sink. I'm filing this under "maybe":

I think we need some softer elements - right now, everything has a harsh angle, or a hard edge (except the shower curtain) and a simple valance like this could do it:
Mom, I am talking to you, and your skills.

A robe hook on the backside of the door could be helpful:
And a ceramic stool next to the tub can be a handy place for guests to place their clothes or pajamas:

There is still a huge blank space on the wall above the toilet. I'm still not sure what to do there, but I've been thinking about a mismatched-yet-similar collection of mirrors, such as these from Pottery Barn:
Or maybe some glass shelves...
With pretty jars and things on it:

What do you all think? Is it all too fussy? Too boring? Too much white and metal? Add more stuff? Less stuff?

Bathroom - Part 12 - Sink!

Since I'm technologically challenged, you're just going to have to imagine Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra playing in the background as you peruse the following photos.

Yes, for the first time since Dec 2009, and many, many moments of hemming, hawing and the like, we have a bathroom sink...

After toiling away for hours yesterday, Uncle Ed came to the rescue once again, and got this sucker installed.

At this moment I would like to remind you what we were working with in the beginning:

Gross.

And now:

Yeah!

And what did I do the first time I went to wash my hands in the bathroom?

Bet you thought I went straight to the bathtub.

Nope, I went to the sink.

But the second time, I totally went straight to the bathtub. And maybe a few times after that too.

Old habits die hard.


Thanks Uncle Ed!

Bathroom - Part 11 - Some details

Oh the shame. I looked back at my last bathroom update 3 MONTHS AGO! Ooops! The entire summer without a bathroom update... until now!

My parents helped put some pep in my step last week and working together we got a few smaller, yet overwhelming, projects done.

The first was the toilet paper holder:
Now this may seem like a completely easy task. But it did take 3 of us to install. Of course, because we were going through drywall instead of the beam we needed to use those little plastic screw things that scare me. You know what I'm talking about? But after reading (and questioning the accuracy of) the directions like 20 times (the directions were right, I'm just insane) we did it.
Now let me get this thought out: the vertical holder is weird. Really weird. I never thought in my life I would have to get one of these. However, that small space between the window, the radiator, and that weird corner-thingy is really the only place to install it, and that space is just a tiny bit too narrow. So that's how we ended up going the vertical route.

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The next project was the back of the door. Now unfortunately, I do not have a before picture. But what happened was at some point about 30 or so years ago, someone decided it would be a great idea to cover the back of the original door with plastic laminate that resembled a dark wood:
This is not our door, just an image I found on the internet that accurately describes the kind of mess I was dealing with. So the inside of the door was this, and the outside of the door was original to the house with the paneled look (same as all the other doors - you can see in my old post here).

When we had a contractor working on the bathroom, back in like March or something, I, pretty please with sugar on top, asked him to see if they could crowbar the laminate off. We were left with a solid wood door that had some gashes on it. But it was much more workable. I can bore you with the details of what I did next, but thankfully I didn't take step-by-step photos. Basically, I filled in the cracks and gashes with wood filler, sanded down, then put a layer of plaster over that and sanded down again:

Then I waited about 6 months. Maybe the bathroom door fairies would finish this one night while I was sleeping? I decided I was tired of waiting for that to happen.

We picked up a few pieces of decorative wood and started cutting them into frame pieces. Everything needed to be cut on a 45 degree angle, while keeping mindful of what side was what.
Try to form the frame on the floor as you're cutting each piece (as above) and you'll see what I mean. Also buy more wood than you need. Just in case.

We followed the frame sizes as they occurred on the other doors in our house. There was also the faint outline on this door of where the framing used to be, so we used that as a guide and a few 3/4 inch nails to attach the wood pieces to it:


Next came caulking (I can't emphasis the caulking enough! It makes such a difference with woodwork!) and painting:


I even replaced the doorknob with a new one from Anthropologie - it matched the silver colors of the room much better than the existing knob. I do need to someday replace the door plate, since it is rusting a little. But it is ok for now:

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Next up is our sink area:

Psych!

The chair and plant are holding it's place. But we do technically OWN a sink, which is light-years ahead of where we were a few months ago:
To be continued...

Bathroom - Part 10 - Can we just finish it already?

I've had several ideas floating around my head in regards to the bathroom sink area. But it's hard to think about how it will all look together without actually ordering all the components and hauling it all upstairs.

Enter stage left, Mr. Photoshop Mock-up:

I tried to preserve the proportions in the image.

And I'm actually liking it! Who would have thought it would come together so easily after agonizing for months?

Now all I'd have to do is order everything.

Sources:
Park sink console - Restoration Hardware
Simone mirror - Z gallerie
Irvine wall sconces - SchoolHouse Electric

Bathroom - Part 9 - Almost, but no cigar

Last week I set myself on finishing the paint in the bathroom...

The funny thing is - while a small room technically should be faster painting, once you fit in all the supplies needed:
Plus the step ladder - there's hardly any room to work:
I seesawed with the idea of taping...
...and taping won. It took me a while to put the tape up but I am glad I did - the painting went pretty quick once I started - and no touch-ups needed.

Now the picture below doesn't show as dramatic of a transformation as possible, because we basically went from off-white primed plaster to extremely pale grey paint (Horizon by Benjamin Moore Aura which we did in eggshell finish). But in person it was a relief to not see all of our lazy primer lines:

after

Whoa - what's that I see??

Over there on the left side of the photo?

A shower curtain, you might say??

After what might be the most Herculean feat yet performed by yours truly, (I haven't stepped foot in a Target, Marshall's or TJMaxx since we bought the house 6 months ago - umm just to repeat that again in case you didn't understand the full weight of the matter - I haven't stepped foot in a Target, Marshall's or TJMaxx SINCE WE BOUGHT THE HOUSE 6 MONTHS AGO - and by the way - they are all within a 5 minute drive of the house) I finally convinced the hub that my time had come. We went to Target after our Friday night dinner, and picked up this lovely:
Ah - it made such a difference in the room! And it's such a nice quality curtain - especially for the price!

I even got around to finally screwing in this little guy:

wall protector doodad

Now this is what I have left, and it is also my dirty little secret...

Umm, missing something important?

Hopefully. Soon. For some reason I have been procrastinating the sink situation since before we moved in. But now I have little excuse to not tackle this full force like, now.

Bathroom - Part 8 - Told you so

I know you were all losing sleep waiting to hear if I ever got around to painting the woodwork in the bathroom. Last time I left off I promised I would persevere and get the bathroom trim painted by Friday night.

Well, told you so...

TA DA!
It only took until 1am Friday night. I was asleep by 2am. ppphhhhffhh.

Then over the weekend I whipped out the pint of Horizon by Benjamin Moore I was saving for such an occasion. (To think - some people wait for an occasion to whip out a pint of Ben and Jerry's!)

Anyway, I think we have a winner...

I wanted something to pick up the cool greys in the tile. I think this color does the trick.

Its the color on the wall and the color in the upper left hand swatch...
But I am too wimpy to set a deadline for painting the walls. Honestly, I'm waiting for a rainy weekend, but could be sooner if I get super motivated. Will keep you posted.

Bathroom - Part 7 - Covered

Bathroom progress, even if just a little project, is exciting. We had our radiator cover made and installed a couple of weeks ago, maybe more, however I'm just finding a moment now to post pictures.

I'm a bad, although well-meaning blogger.

Anyway, here it goes... If you can recall, the radiator left a lot to be desired... old and grimy, plus burning hot to the touch right next to the toilet - it just wasn't cutting it:

before = scary

Ta-da!:

the new addition

It's made a pretty big difference in the room:
Plus we had it over-sized in order to make it more centered underneath the window. Honestly, I wish I could tell you we broke out a miter box thingamajig and that other thing that bevels the edge of the wood, and toiled and sweat over it for a whole weekend.

But that didn't come close to happening! We do enough DIY around here, and a carpenter I am not, so we hired someone to make it.

I have a goal of finishing all the priming and painting of the wood work in the bathroom by tomorrow night. Even though it is already after 9 tonight, I am keeping my eye on the prize. And even though my better half just announced he was going upstairs to get comfy, I am going to persevere! And even though I've been working 10-11 hours in the office the past few days, well let's just say tomorrow's an early Friday so we'll see what happens!

Bathroom - Part 6 - Floored

And so continues the saga of the bathroom...

These past few days the bathroom has undergone yet another dramatic transformation. Say goodbye to the plastic-covered floors and blue toilet. We're really gonna miss you - NOT!

Last night we came home to a gigunda mistake - not enough grout! So it had to be finished today.

Look closer...

You can see the back end of the bathroom is grouted, the front end cost us another late night at Lowe's and one hungry couple. (No honey, we can't eat until we stop and pick up the grout!)

Just for posterity's sake, here's a photo of the grout - Spectra Lock in Light Pewter color. It's supposed to be very high quality, stain resistant, etc, etc (and it had better be!)

But the wait was well worth it. Came home to this beauty today - isn't it lovely?

Also a new toilet...

And another project...(our contractor ripped off the ugly dark plastic laminate from the back of the door and now it needs a good sanding, caulking, and painting)

So what do we have left on our to-do list? Oh plenty...
-- Install shower light cover
-- Caulk, prime, and paint all trim work
-- Paint the walls
-- Install switch plate covers
-- Sand, caulk, paint front and back of door
-- Get a radiator cover (our contractor is already working on this)
-- Sink - everyone thinks I'm crazy for living so long without a sink but the truth is you get used to washing your hands and brushing your teeth in the tub REAL FAST. I'm so busy trying to get the messy stuff* done that I'm waiting a little while longer. But I might start looking at options soon.
-- Any decorative items - including shower curtain, wall sconces, sink mirror, storage cabinet, toilet paper holder, towel hooks, new towels, etc, etc. For this I'm also waiting a bit - in a month we are getting our second floor wood floor refinished and I know it's going to make a mess.

* Messy stuff - anything I have to do myself (painting) and anything that wreaks havoc on my wallet (flooring)