For the record, bathroom demo can go at the top of my LEAST favorite things to do. When it comes to projects, let's just say my brain starts spinning faster than most can keep up with. My husband is the first to sigh & say another one of my wife projects (giggle). When we purchased our home in 2013 we knew there were a lot of cosmetic things that we would tackle right away. Painting, refinishing kitchen cabinets, new hardware EVERYWHERE...the previous owners definitely tried to update the house before selling...but they severely lacked in the hardware department. I am a strong believer when it comes to any updates, sometimes all it takes is new hardware. (door knobs, kitchen pulls, etc)
We tackled all of the "essentials" before moving in all of the things! One thing that we wanted to update, but didn't know where to begin was our main floor bathroom. It was a real 1950's classic up in there. The blue tile on the walls, the pink tub, the pink tile floors that looked like some of the squares had been painted gray to "update" it...or tone it down, not quite sure. It had a long vanity that was oddly shaped & large enough to have double sinks, however only had a single. It had the very outdated hard vinyl countertops (much like my current kitchen counters, that will be updated very soon...that post will be coming).
Enough with the details...needles to say it needed to be gutted. One day, we decided it was time & demo began. We had NO idea what we were about to get ourselves into. I mean how hard could it be to bust out all of the plaster walls, shower surround & put new walls up...right? WRONG! This project as our first demo, it was our first large renovation & the turnaround time showed it. We started demo at the end of 2014 and it was finished, like fully finished, beginning of 2016!! What a drag! After all of messy clean up of plaster & I mean MESSY...we had someone come in and do the sheetrock, taping, mudding & new plumbing...thankfully! As a year had gone by, my design ideas had drastically changed!
I wanted an accent wall. I wanted a fun color on the walls. I wanted white subway tile, tub to ceiling. I wanted to make our own vanity. I wanted a sink bowl on the vanity. The list went on and on. Most of which is exactly how it turned out, but there were things we had to modify, like ANY project you have hiccups. Anyone that tells you their reno went exactly as planned, is a liar!
Hiccups...that is exactly what we had. The flooring we didn't take out, we were trying to cut cost and cut down the project timeline. Friends, when you go through all the time to gut and rebuild an entire bathroom TAKE OUT THE FLOORING! Pay the extra money and then accept the extra week or two in complete it. I found light grey tile paint and rolled it on. It actually turned out a lot better than I had anticipated, but there were flaws! During demo some of the tiny square tiles broke or were completely removed. Another hiccup...How to fill those missing pieces and not be AS noticeable. I mean we made it work, thank goodness for bathroom rugs! (giggle)
Another hiccup...we didn't want to bust up the cast iron original tub to remove it...so we kept it & once again...Friends when you completely gut and rebuild a bathroom TAKE OUT THE DANG TUB! The refinishing process of an old cast iron tub is just that a PROCESS. I can't tell you how many times I have to sand it down, scrape it down, cheesecloth it & refinish...(currently in that process AGAIN).
After the tub was refinished we began the tub to ceiling subway tile. We had watched so many DIY shows we thought "how hard can it be"...until you are staring at your new wet rock & think to yourself I really don't want to screw this up and have to rip everything out again. What did we do? We sat on the bathtub, my husband and I, and watched YouTube on how to tile a shower! From mortar to grout to sealer...we started tiling! I have to say for our first tiling experience it turned out fantastic (still one of my favorite features in the upstairs bathroom).
Next it was my pallet wall. You heard that right PALLET wall. That means we had to disassemble A LOT of pallets. If you have any experience with pallets, well you know it isn't all sunshine and roses! It is a lot of cutting, prying, cursing, sanding...the list goes on. But that WALL... let me tell you how HAPPY I was with how it turned out! So incredibly happy! At that time in 2016 I was all about Dark Walnut stain EVERYTHING! So naturally the pallet wall had to be dark walnut. Staining & sealing is all I thought I would have to do, but then I started to think about it being in a bathroom & moisture!! I didn't want to deal with warping, mold, or any other issues with this beautiful wall. Back to drawing board A.K.A. YouTube & Google. I found several mineral oils that were recommended to hold in moisture, protect & keep the boards from shrinking/drying out. The one that I still use a TON with projects is Teak Oil, it holds in the moisture so the boards don't dry out, crack or warp. Then I sealed with polyurethane on top of the teak oil. I have had ZERO issues with the pallet wall, it has held up incredibly well & now it has been transformed once again!
On to the vanity. I had found a picture of crates stacked together and turned into vanity & I thought this would be different & fun. I had every intention of going to Menards and purchasing crates, plywood & a couple 2 x10's to create this "look". My husband said NO WAY, we aren't going to buy cheap crates. "I CAN BUILD IT"...and so it begins! I gave him the picture, we measured the space & to the "sweat shop" he went. (He refers to our garage as the sweat shop because that is where we do all of our building for projects) Within an afternoon it was built, it was ready for me to paint & stain. It turned out PERFECT! White base of the "crate" vanity with a dark walnut stained top.
The rest of the project, well it fell into place slowly. I had to find the right vanity sink bowl. I had to go through several faucets before I found the "right one". I ended up finding my sink bowl & faucet on Amazon for a great price! If you know me, or as you continue to read my blog posts you will come to realize I love Amazon. I love the convenience, I love the return policy, I love the options! I am all about shopping local & supporting local, I will always go shop around locally BEFORE I buy on Amazon. But, what I have found is I don't want the same things that you find in big box stores, I like different styles, different colors & sometimes the only place I can find that "look" is Amazon. (I know some hate Amazon, but I am one of those who LOVE it...so please be kind)
Fast forward to 2021...I have given our bathroom ONCE again a face-lift! I have been a lover of the farmhouse style for quite some time...but NOW my entire house is getting farmhouse'd (I know it isn't a word, but it is now!) The dark pallet wall went WHITE. The floors...yes the floors have been given LIFE! We used a vinyl wood plank from The Home Depot, very user friendly to install & very affordable! New dark hardware on the built-in cabinet. New counter-top with lighter stain color for vanity. New light cages for the vanity fixture. We have a few things left to complete & then I can update with the FINAL pieces of the bathroom project.
The vanity lights, I can't tell you how many times I have searched vanity lights, saved several to my cart, screenshot other options ...then I find the exact light cages at Menards & just like that my $160+ vanity light replacement went down to $24! I was looking at vanity lights EXACTLY like my current style because 1.) I didn't want to patch any holes if the mount was smaller 2.) the dark oil rubbed bronze is I wanted to keep. I simply wanted NEW light cages, so to find them sold individually at Menards for under $8 a piece...it was a no-brainer. Remember, to update your space doesn't mean you have to gut everything or get rid of everything, sometimes all it takes is a little tweak. That little tweak may be new paint, new light bulb, new light cage, etc. Sometimes you need to think outside the box & change it up. If you can visualize it, do it!
The remaining pieces, I want to switch out the bathtub & shower hardware. I need to switch out the shower curtain rod for black or oil rubbed bronze (I just bought this satin rod from Marshall's, literally a week ago, story of my life). However, everything I take out of the upstairs shower/tub will be cleaned up and be used in the downstairs shower! (We reuse/repurpose as much as possible) We will be making an awning for the window, the frame is built, I just need to pick the stain color for it, then we will be using galvanized metal for the top of it. I have seen a few pictures of this style used in bedrooms & playrooms...and to be honest I love the look. I think it will be the EYE CATCHER in the upstairs bathroom & remember I like DIFFERENT. I can't wait to see it all come together & can't wait to share it with all of you!
Once one project is done...well I find another one pretty quick!
That's all for now.
xoxo - KK
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