New house project: Bathrooms

Time for some potty talk, OK? (It's pretty popular with the 3-year-old set).

When we first toured our new house, the bathrooms and kitchen looked pretty good in comparison with everything else. The kitchen required some scrubbing (ok, LOTS of scrubbing) and new appliances and faucets, but otherwise we haven't touched it.  Which is huge. Our budget was tight and there just was no room for "kitchen". It isn't my "dream" kitchen (whose is?), but very workable and will benefit from a few minor-ish updates at some point.

I thought we could make the bathrooms work with some paint and scrubbing, but slowly as the rest of the house started to come together, the bathrooms seemed less and less workable. Or, I should say, I'm incredibly picky and couldn't imagine showering in either shower long term without some fixes. It was a good point in our life to have bathroom(s) out of commission (ie only 1 child who could take a shower instead of a bath), and it's really just time and money, right? HA.

Half-Bathroom

This was the most minor of the re-dos .... started with something not-too-offensive. Stripped wallpaper in here (use a spray bottle with white vinegar and water and soak it and scrape. Fun.), and kept pretty much everything else. The floors in here had to be replaced, so the toilet and vanity were removed and replaced with nice clean caulking. This is the only room in the house with oil rubbed bronze fixtures, which drives me crazy, but it's just my OCD.

I kept these sconces, also pretty inoffensive, and just painted them black with Rustoleum outdoor paint. They look fine for now. I also had to replace the shades (Dave Smith The Lampmaker) and the little tube things that make these looks like candles. How in the world do those get broken?

 

 The vanity is kind of an awkward proportion, and at one point I considered replacing it, but it is a narrow space and that just seemed unnecessary. Plus, we really needed some storage in here. There was water damage to the wood finish, so I sanded, primed and painted it. That took like over 6 weeks because I'm lazy. I used the same black semi-gloss paint I used in the master bath, which is a Martha Stewart color from Home Depot. Same on the mirror in here.

I got a new switch plate (installed so close to the sink that almost nothing fit - typical), and toilet paper holder and towel ring from Knobs and Pulls in Overland Park.  The umbrella picture is an image I saved years ago from some blog, with permission to use, and blown up on a Chic Canvas on sale.

I'm happy with the finished project for now. I would love to have some fun, impactful wallpaper in here at some point, but the search continues ...

Ellen's Bathroom

Again, this didn't seem terrible on first inspection. I planned to replace the light fixture, take off the shower doors, paint the walls white and paint the vanity a light blue to match the original wall tile. We lived with "vintage" tiles in our old house and I think they are really charming ... if clean and in decent condition.

But, there was really some obvious water damage around the shower, a plastic tub surround that creaked and was filthy and the tub was un-cleanable. And, I have the best cleaning lady of all times - if she can't make it clean, it can't be done. The thought of putting Ellen in this tub gave me the heebies.

 

So, it all came out around Thanksgiving last year. We got a good recommendation on a tile guy from our friendly plumber. (Our plumber is awesome and was probably #2 on our payroll last year). I just wanted something simple, inexpensive, and kind of fun but not "childish" - it needed to grow with our kids. The subway tile, black pencil trim and chair rail border are just basic Interceramic tile. The floor tiles and pinwheel accents are another brand that I can't remember - it all came from a tile warehouse in Lenexa with a discount from our tile guy. The pinwheel accents are actually from a 12x12 floor tile mosaic, but cut up to go in the shower and on the floor. The wall grout is whitish, but the floor grout is a dark gray for clean-ability.

 I ordered the light fixture from Faucets Direct, and in fact made a huge order from them before we moved it - faucets, light fixture, bathroom accessories. Great prices, free shipping and no tax, and good customer service. I wasn't happy with the toilet paper holders and towel rings - super hard to install, but otherwise everything worked great. This light fixture is almost exactly the same as the Restoration Hardware version for much less.

I really wanted to find a vintage dresser of some sort and make a vanity by dropping a sink in the top, but we were super limited on time and energy and it just didn't happen. I did want something that appeared more "furniture" like and it had to be a very specific size. This is a big bathroom, but the doorway and closet make for an awkward entrance. I lucked upon this vanity at Home Decorators online - part of the Julia line, but I don't see it anymore. It was only like $200 with a marble top, but the shipping was $225!! I waited for free shipping and it came to my door on a huge truck - best deal ever.

The tub was in a sorry state, but we used Miracle Method and it is good as new. We did this at our old house, too, and it lasted fine for 3+ years. 

 And, the finished project! I made the pelmet box like I previously showed. I also made the shower curtain from a double sheet from Garnet Hill. I wanted something fun, but not too childish, and I wanted it to be extra long, which is surprisingly hard to find for a decent price. Plus, you know I like to make things difficult. (It really wasn't too difficult - required a bit of sewing and a grommet kit).

I picked up every orange-y / coral-y paint sample at Home Depot and ended up with this color, Behr I think. I was inspired by some orange bathroom accents on Pinterest. The mirror is from Lowes and, again, had to be a very specific size to fit under the light fixture and over the faucet. It works great for short people. The faucet is Martha Stewart from Home Depot and is great, though swivels with the potential for great mess. The wall color is a custom mix of the Martha Stewart color we used in Ellen's room - had half a can left, so just added white to lighten it up.

 

And some stuff on the walls! This cute swimsuit art was free and inspired by Pinterest. I ordered the "No Whining, No Complaining ..." print from Urban Outfitters, along with the towel hooks, but it's from our local Hammerpress. 

Master Bath

This doesn't really seem so bad in pictures, but really kind of was in person. 

 

Again with the wallpaper stripping - lots of it.

Not terrible, but also not very cleanable. We didn't intend to do anything but paint, but the tile was in bad shape and it quickly evolved into a bigger project.

I had the vanity painted black to match the black counter top and make it look more intentional. For future reference - black counter top in the bathroom? Worst.Idea.Ever. I spray painted the brass drawer pulls instead of replacing them - there are too many to make it worth replacing. 

Why, yes, this is the longest vanity ever with only one sink. We had to replace the faucet, and yes, that window is weirdly placed. 

 Yep, new light fixture here, too - from Lowes and inexpensive, but can't find it online. Strangely, I purchased the light fixture in the store and brought home the box, but didn't open it for weeks. I had our handyman install it and came upstairs later to find some crappy, old brass light fixture. Someone must have purchased this light, installed it and put the old one in the box and returned it! The nerve! Thankfully I returned it with no questions asked.

 

 And then we just bit the bullet and had our tile guy re-do our shower in the same basic subway tile. We needed a new shower pan (the old one was tan - why???) and it appeared it would have to be custom ordered from Home Depot to the tune of $$$. In a last ditch effort I asked our tile guy and his uncle has a plumbing business and had the perfect size in stock for $98. Moral of the story: it pays to ask around. We got new shower doors - chrome instead of brass, frameless in the middle, and found the best price at Gaylord Glass here locally. Also, new toilets here and in Ellen's bathroom. Can't believe how much time I spent thinking about toilets - this is the Kohler Memoirs line, same as was already in the half bath. Again, I can't explain why, but it is crazy expensive to order via Home Depot online, but I inquired about it at the store and I got 2 toilets for about $500 total with free shipping to my house. SOLD.

And, finally, our little gallery wall of our favorite family photos. No one else gets to see them, but we get to see them everyday, which makes me happy. 

And, your reward for reading this far ...

As I mentioned, potty talk is really popular with Ellen these days. "Booty" this, or "tooty" that, or "Mom, we just say butt in the bathroom, right?". Well, I was cutting tomatoes the other morning for my breakfast (tomatoes on toast - MMMM), and she said ... "Do you know some people call those to-MAH-tos? Isn't that silly??". I taught her the "to-MAY-to, to-MAH-to, po-TAY-to, po-TAH-to" song and she thought it was hilarious.

Later that day we were running errands and in the back seat I hear this nice song ...
"To-MAY-to, to-MAH-to, po-TAY-to, po-TAH-to, va-GINA, va-GENA" ....

So, there you have it .... potty talk.