{we redone did it} the bathroom, that is

The kids bathroom has pretty much been the bane of our existence for a long time.  Especially after the 15 year old took over with her many tubes of mascara and other assortment of teenage girl paraphernalia.   Not that replacing the counter top, floor, sink, faucet, toilet and toilet paper roll holder is going to change any of that, but it will look better on the days we convince her to tidy things up.  Which is rare.  

The husband did a fabulous job, didn't he?    

Now we just need a few finishing touches, some trim, un-goldify the light, maybe paint the walls a grey color,  new hardware.... things that can wait for another day.

Progress...

Once upon a time, I had a bathtub. It was a huge tub. And I liked it. Sort of. It took a whole tank of hot water to fill it and usually by the time it was full, I was ready to move on to something else. So, I rarely used it. It made a wonderful clothes hamper, though. We also let the water drip a tiny bit for the cat. Except then we had a permanent water mark on the side of the tub which eventually turned to a rust mark, and then there was the whole issue with the faucet when it wouldn't shut off. To top it off, it started dripping HOT water, so even though it wasn't being used, it could still drain a hot water tank. Fixing it meant a big overhaul. So we thought the easiest thing to do would be to rip out the useless thing and replace it with real clothes hampers. Little did we know that our big overhaul of replacing the faucet would turn into a huge 18 month long overhaul.

Then, one day I went to Utah with my friends, and my sweet husband called and said "guess what I did? I ripped out the tub!" Cool. I think. I came home from my weekend getaway and we made plans for what to do with this vacant space. We only needed a new floor, some paint for the walls. But since we're replacing the floor, lets do the shower, too. Oh, and the walls behind the tub were just... bad... so why not put up beadboard to hide it all? Fantastic!!!

Of course, once we got the floor done, the husband said he'd get to the beadboard when golf season was over. Then he would do it when it was warm. Then it was golf season again. Then I think he got tired of looking at my half painted wall and suprised me with a trip to Home Depot with all the supplies to finish the wall.
Everyone needs a bathroom big enough to house a chopsaw... don't they?
Old hardware...
New hardware...
Light fixtures were painted and new faucets installed at one point, too...
New blinds above the window are next...
Thinking about adding doors to this area from the bedroom, as well as a new door into the closet...
Robe hooks... one of my fabulous Tai Pan Trading finds...
Last up on my list of things to do is paint that cabinet white. But... I'm kind of tired of this project for today. Maybe in a nother 18 months I'll get to it.

39 inches of sheer bliss...

I thought my shower was good sized... then we hung up the shower curtain and said, WHOA, this is stinkin HUGE! Five feet wide by 39 inches deep... oh yeah.... We still have floors to do (in case you can't tell) and paint to slap on the walls, but it won't get done any time soon because we're spending all our free time showering now. The shower head is one size smaller than a rainshower head, and it's one of those energy efficient ones so it has no water pressure either, meaning it takes twice as long to drain the water heater so I can shower for twice as long. Oh yeah!

However, there are a few downers to this new shower. My old shower had two benches in it, so I could sit on one, put my feet up and soak in the hot water that sprayed my entire body until it ran out or I got bored (who needs a tub?).

I still have a bench, despite the fact that it was a pain to tile around and they messed up the floor a bit in front of it making it too flat and therefore leaving a place for water to puddle... it was mandatory in the design of this shower. BUT... it turns out that tile gets really cold, especially in a room that has no source of heat in it (do you see a heat source anywhere in that first picture? That's because there is none!). Downright freezing in fact. Therefore, I'm at risk for frostbiting my hiney! That's not a good thing. Especially since this energy efficient low flow shower head only sprays about as far as the drain anyway!

We really have to do some rethinking on this one... like giving this shower head to the kids so they can still take their long showers they insist upon taking without draining the water heater, and we can invest in one with a hose... so I can at least spray the icicles off my seat before I sit and soak.

If I'm going to have 39 inches of sheer bliss, I might as well enjoy it, eh? I can have my cake and eat it, too, right?

Progress...

Despite the mess...

And the layers upon layers upon layers of dust...
We have tile on the wall! And soon we'll have it on the floor, too.
I picked out paint...

The paint is Ralph Lauren's Antique Brown (mixed into Behr paint, because I like Behr paint). I spent 45 minutes in Home Depot this morning comparing every paint color they had with tiles in hand, and this color looked the best.
It's a beautiful thing!
Are we done yet???

The value of True Value...

I don't know about where you live, but here in my dinky town of a couple thousand people, we have this little hardware store called True Value. It's like a miniature Home Depot. Only, I love True Value. I love Home Depot, too, but my love for True Value is a different kind of love for me. My husband always makes fun of my love for True Value, but as a man, he just doesn't understand.

Here's how our local True Value works... I walk in the door and I'm generally greeted by one or two dudes wandering around who say "how can I help you?" I simply say, "I need some chicken feed" (which I would never actually ask for since I don't have any chickens) or I can make wierd shapes with my hands and say I need something that looks like this, does that, or fits this little strange doohickey right here. Then, they take me to it and never leave my side until I have exactly what I need. I've never received this kind of service at Home Depot!

Now the husband, he's a whole nother story. He walks in the door and they may or may not ask him if they can help him, and if they do happen to ask him, he will usually tell them no. If I'm with him, I reach over and smack him upside the head and then ask myself. Otherwise, the husband has to wander aimlessly around the store for 20 minutes before he will gather the nerve to ask somebody for help. It's a guy thing.


I've gotten so used to this treatment that I have a hard time shopping for anything anymore on my own. A few weeks ago I walked into JcPenney's to find some leggings for Ishee for her birthday. Rather than actually taking the time to look for them, I waited until the first salesgirl walked by me, then I pounced. Turns out they were right in front of me, I could have found them on my own, so I think the True Value treatment has ruined me. It's just too bad they don't sell everything I need there. Close... but not quite.

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We are now moving on from de-struction mode to con-struction mode. We didn't think it would take this long, and some unforeseen circumstances has put us a tad behind schedule. Our goal of being done by Monday seems very unrealistic now.