home | ugly bathroom be gone!

hello, hello! well, maybe our bathroom doesn't look so bad in that top photo, but if you look closer it does. ugly pipe for the toilet, peeling paint in the tub that was so worn it had to be painted, black tiles that would never stay clean, a battered, dented floor not to mention an ugly light. our building was constructed in the 1950s and the bathroom was showing its age.

we've wanted to do a total gut renovation on this room for many, many years, but we could not find a contractor to do the job, quickly. it's our only bathroom so we need a dedicated crew. a few weeks ago our superintendent showed us the renovation he did that took one week and we were thrilled. literally, almost over night we decided to go ahead and i chose all the materials in about two hours. not bad for someone who is decisionally-challenged, although i've been thinking about this change for ages.

i was nervous about the noise and disruption to our neighbors or something going wrong like a broken pipe or finding mold within the walls, so scott took vacation during the week and was home everyday. fortunately, there were no surprises during demolition and our neighbors were really understanding and offered us the use of their bathroom and shower - awesome! we didn't impose on them in that way and were lucky to be able to stay in a hotel nearby and included that cost in the budget.

after the first day, when we were down to the studs, i was speechless. i knew what it would be like, but couldn't believe the cacophony of pipes within our apartment walls. i just stood there doing that stare babies do and totally lost my imagination of what it would look like. i wondered who thought we should do this anyway (scott!) and felt so vulnerable because if our contractor didn't come back we would be screwed. all i could think about was the show holmes on homes and renovations gone bad.

once things started to go back in i felt a bit better, but honestly, i was nervous right up until the end. some of my design choices brought on new issues. originally, i wanted simple subway tiles, which make nice corners/edges. but, after looking at the other choices, i decided to go with tiles with a bevel and they don't make nice corners/edges, so special trim pieces ($$) were needed. plus, subway tiles are small and take a lot of work to install. our bathroom is only 5' x 7' including the tub area and the floor/tiles took 3 days to complete, and yes, that is a toilet in my living room.

i still have a few diy projects to complete like this one, so next week, the big reveal of our tiny bathroom and we should all be glad i don't have a laptop if you know what i mean ;).

xo, cindy