So theme in our house was obviously update & remodel. We knew this going into this house. The tricky thing was updating in a way that we were happy with but would not price us out of the neighborhood. This is something to consider and be careful of in any house and any neighborhood.
Oh this bathroom. The color – faded mustard. The floor – dirty and peeling along the tub. The faucets and lighting – outdated. The window covering – dark and ill-fitting. The shower – SCARY.
The first thing to go was the floor. It was replaced before we even moved in – the sub floor had to be replaced as well, due to water damage.
Since we have a smaller, older house we opted to replace the toilet with a smaller size. This made the bathroom feel roomier and look larger. Eric is laying the new tile floor here, before installing the toilet.
The floor is an unglazed white ceramic tile. This is the one regret I have. Unglazed white tile soaks up North Carolina red dirt. It forever looks dirty. However, I was told by the employees at the ceramic tile store that it was absolutely stupid to buy glazed tile for a bathroom floor. I wish I had either A. not listened and bought glazed or B. bought unglazed in a different color. Better yet, C. installed bamboo floors like the kitchen.
Oh well, live and learn. I have found a few methods to keep this floor clean.
The old mirror edges were delaminating and so we took it to a glass cutter to have the mirror cut down. We discovered the old hole from the original medicine cabinet behind the mirror. Eric added our initials and the date – how sweet. 🙂
The next thing to go was the nasty shower. Luckily, I was not at home the day this came out. Eric said I would have died from an allergy attack or uncontrollable shuddering from mildew. Re-Bath installed this lovely new shower and hauled away the old one. Totally worth it to be able to shower and not worry about it leaking in the wall behind.
We replaced all of our windows the following summer. This was also completely worth it – the double pane glass windows made the house quieter and better insulated. The mini shutters had to go and in its place adhesive frosted glass. I was skeptical at first, but Eric was right – it let in light without feeling like your neighbors are staring into your shower.
We got rid of the tall, narrow, and awkward storage unit that came with the house. In its place we put a light colored bench from Ikea. It is perfect for holding extra towels and Greta’s bath toys.
Above the toilet we added a train rack for toiletries and the likes. The rubbed oil look was something I have been meaning to coordinate with the rest of the bathroom – towel rack, t.p. holder…. It has yet to come to fruition though.
We added some fish artwork for the final touch. The two fish on the left and bottom are by a local artist in town,
Lawrence Feir. The silver one on the top was made by a friend. She used simple around the house or hardware store finds.
Bluebird Hill Art 