Bathroom Transformation

Today marks our three month anniversary in our house, and while we've been working like crazy on remodeling inside and out, this is the first time that we have a room that looks finished enough to share. The bathroom may be the smallest room in the house, but it doesn't make it the easiest!

It may not be completely fair to share this as a before picture, because it was from our inspection and has the previous owners' decor choices taking it up a notch, but it gives a true sense of what we said "yes" to when buying this house. Wood tones and gold fixtures, with a touch of lace curtains...

The bathroom was the first room that we tackled. On our second day here, Colin, Reece, and Grama attacked the wallpaper border. The lace curtain, along with those from the rest of the house, made it's way to the town swap shop at the dump.

And then we did nothing for two months, until the ugliness in there overcame me and I ripped the linoleum border off the base trim area in a fit of frustration during naptime.

 

 This managed to make it look like an ugly construction zone, and so we decided to get at least a phase one transformation done. It took us three paintings to find a color scheme that worked, and lots of hemming and hawing about the floor. We have one bathroom, so losing a working toilet to retile the floor was a big issue. But we really don't love the linoleum. In the end, we embraced the idea of a phase one should just make it better, not perfect, and went forward leaving any flooring changes and the shower/tub for a later date.

Colin's handyman skill set is growing rapidly. Here he is as an electrician (this is the extent of the electrical work, we've paid a pro for everything else).

Colin the plumber...gold faucet be gone!

 

 

 Although my main job is to keep Reece from "helping" too much, I did manage to do some painting after bedtime and make a curtain. We followed the advice of my grandmother Casey - just paint it white! A couple hundred dollars on a new vanity and mirror saved. Colin put his miter saw to great use cutting new trim and a chair rail, plus we replaced the nasty heating grate on the floor and added some hooks for towels. There is still a need for a bit of wall-something above the toilet and some towels in better colors for the room, but all in all it's made the bathroom a much more pleasant place to be!