washing our hands of the bathroom

why hello there!

even though our little bathroom upgrade was scheduled to be next on the list to discuss, i’ve been hearing some grumblings about the lack of a proper nursery reveal.  but there are just enough significant finishing touches left that i can’t bring myself to pull the trigger on that post quite yet.  but i hope to very soon!

so onto the loo:

this little makeover happened to our vanity, but i’ll back up for a quick sec to reveal the change that happened during the parents’ weekend o’rama.  remember this item from my dad’s to-do list?

well, bada bing:

bada boom.  much better, right?

continuing on…

this is really the issue at hand

phase I, if you recall,  of the bathroom makeover took place last spring and included a new paint job, installing an exhaust vent, replacing the ceiling fan for a vintagey light, and putting up some really cool retro tin ceiling tiles.

we had hoped to finish the rest of the project “a little later that summer” but we all know how that goes.

it’s hard to tell from the picture, but our sink looked like it belonged in a cheesy beach house somewhere:  the sink was scalloped like a shell and the built in soap dish (which is hidden under a more attractive soap dish) had its own special shell/scalloped design as well.  not attractive.   not our style.

enter the new sink.  a modern rectangular shape, classic white, undermount sink we scored off of overstock for a great price.

the plan was to take a leftover piece of the countertop from our desk project and use it for the bathroom sink vanity.  here’s ross cutting out the template for the sink.

and then it was out to the “workshop” to try out our first project not involving a borrowed power tool:  cutting out the sink hole with our brand new jig saw

finally it was done, and we were on to the job of staining/polying the wood and then mounting the sink underneath

yay, it fits!

now for the installation.

first, the old sink and counter had to come out.  we made the executive decision to keep the existing faucet because it matched all the other hardware in the room.

the caulk around the sink had been pretty disgusting for a very long time, but  knowing that we would eventually change out the sink, it seemed pointless to recaulk.

so when we finally got to remove this bad boy, i was very very happy.

with a quick tug, off comes the sink

yum, this looks delish

we had also decided not to reinstall a backsplash, so this area got mudded, sanded, and repainted to blend seamlessly in with the rest of the wall

it appears that i don’t have pictures of it, but sink installation went very well.

refitting the plumbing went “seemingly” well, and then sprung a leak and then caused ross to pitch a 5-alarm temper tantrum and then take everything apart and redo the whole thing, and finally…be functioning and leak free.

ross used his most excellent caulking skills to caulk around the sink once it was in place

and then the caulk got painted to blend into the wall as well.  it may be hard to see in this picture, but the back left corner of the vanity doesn’t sit flush with the wall, because, as example 2,984,829, our house is crooked!  so the extra wide band of caulk stood out, which was the biggest reason for painting it.

so one more time, the WAY before…

the middle before…

and the after!

we’re really happy we were able to slip this last project in before baby.  it’s been on the to-do list for a very long time, so aside from hanging a picture on the bare walls, changing out the blinds for something that picks up on the wood tones in the countertop, and on the long-term replacing the toilet, this room is finito.

reveal day: bonus project

it wasn’t really our plan to have multiple projects going on at one time, but hey, who am i to delay progress?

so let’s meet our bathroom.

this is the only full bath in the house.  and like most things in our house, it’s very small and cozy.  aside from the tub to the left of this picture, this is the whole room.  ross and i know we truly love each other because we’ve gotten ready for work here everyday for 3 years, squeeeezing in beside each other to bathe, groom, and primp for the day.

while there are many things to be discussed about our little loo, there’s one particular feature i’d like to focus on today:

yes, we have a ceiling fan in our bathroom.  as unattractive as it was, we didn’t switch it out because there wasn’t really any other venting source in the bathroom other than the window – and i really love hot showers (read:  the ceilings would start to drip with condensation.  not good.)  of course, neither is particularly appealing at 6am on a wintry january morning, so we did a little planning and a little shopping.

now there is no more unsightly ceiling fan, but instead something with a little class and a lot of old house character.

specifically, we made three significant changes.  four, if you count the new paint job.

we really love our new light.  we purchased it from here (on sale!), a site that offers reproduction vintage lighting, hardware, and accessories.

and ross scoped out this super quiet EnergyStar vent on sale on amazon.com

there are still a few items left to tackle a little later this summer, but we’re super happy for the little bit of progress being made in our only full bath.  and i don’t miss the dripping ceilings at all.

before & after: finally, a completed project

I’m back!  At least I will be very soon.

Even though my life is going in 20 bajillion directions right now, I’ve missed blogging.  weird.

But I’ve got a great Welcome Back post, because Ross and I finally have a house project that’s been tackled and mastered and completed.  And we have pictures to prove it.

*********

so it’s been way too long since we’ve tackled a project around the house.  and what better way to dip our toes back into home improvement than with the absolute smallest room in our entire house.  our little half bath, while incredibly appreciated (most houses as old as ours would only have one bath total), is almost scary small.  not to be too graphic, but if you’re sittin down and doin your thing, your knees are apt to be brushing against the bathroom door.  fun, yes?

i was somehow incapable of taking a before of the bathroom before we started ripping stuff apart, so the following pictures are pre-makeover, but post-wallpaper ripoff.  be sure to note the tension rod curtains made of some random leftover material.  they’re classy.

here was our to-do list:

- repaint walls and trim

- retile old beat-up tile floor with a clean white hexagonal marble tile

but just in case you were missing out on the wallpaper experience, the two (yes, two) types on the bathroom walls were the same as the wallpaper in the medicine cabinet.

finally after a lot of planning, a lot of talk, but not much progress, we decided to jump in.  first on the list was to remove the toilet and the sink.

here’s ross removing the trim around the floor

oh yeah.  and here’s jim.  he was pretty much our lifesaver on this project.  mainly because he was the one with the know-how.  and that’s helpful.  because did i mention that we had never actually tiled a floor before?

here’s our beautiful tile.  we found this on amazon.com and got a really great deal.  marble is usually really expensive, but since this was on sale and our bathroom is only 14 square feet, it didn’t break the bank at all.

after giving the floor a good hard scrub, jim mixed up some thinset to adhere the tiles to the floor.

after a lot of research we decided not to rip up the existing tile, but to put the new tile right on top.  we pried up a few tiles in an inconspicuous spot and realized that the original tile was probably set into a bed of cement, which was common during the time our house was built.  so pulling the tile up could’ve turned this pretty simple job into a nasty mess.  tile on tile it was.

the thinset goes on with a trowel…

and then the tiles are laid down and pushed gently into place

because of the shape of the tiles, certain holes need to get filled in around the edges of the room and around the holes that got cut for the sink and toilet.

so after all the tile gets laid it has to set for at least 24 hours.  then it was grout time.  just spread the grout on top like mayo, brush of the excess, let it dry for about half an hour and then buff it off with a cloth.

i love what a wide angle lens does to my head

by the time we laid the tile, i had already repainted the bathroom, but the bright whiteness of the tile made the trim color look less white and more cream.  so i got the brightest white i could find and we repainted.  much better.

standing in the finished space – we did it!  now we just had to move everything back in.

and here she is…

and here it is a little later with some more “finishing touches”

and finally, say bye bye to the last of the wallpaper.  another project bites the dust.

bitten

so it seems like it’s been forever since we’ve tackled a full blown “house project” lately (as in, last year! gasp).  as apparent by my blog content for the past 4 months,  all my time is going towards the hunk of dirt in the backyard.  but i think i’ve gotten bitten by the project bug again, because i’ve been seriously craving some demo and reno lately.

at the top of my list right now:

- redoing the back porch.  as in, ripping off the current one and starting from scratch.  i salivate sometimes when i think about it.

- installing new kitchen countertops.  even though our kitchen was a huge selling point when we bought the house, it was only inevitable that the tiled countertops would become the bane of my existence over time.  the color and the material i don’t mind at all – its the little pieces of everything that get stuck in the grout that is driving me insane.

- redoing the front walkway/stoop.  relaying the wobbly flagstone, and continuing it up to the stoop instead of the weird, massive slab of painted concrete we have right now.

things on my “we can actually afford this right now” list:

- redoing our tiny half bath.  most specifically, removing the wallpaper (the last room in the house to have it!) and painting.  putting up curtains.  possibly retiling the floor.  eventually getting a new dual-flush toilet.

and here’s my confession:  on a whim this morning, moments before i left for work,  i picked at a tiny little seam in the wallpaper and ripped off a massive chunk.

now there’s no way i can put it off any longer.  voila. instant motivation.  and we’re back in the home renovation game.