First Bathroom Reno!

A few months ago we completed our first bathroom renovation!!! We starting demolition on July 23rd. We did a little accessorizing recently, but the bathroom was mostly completed the middle of August. There were still little projects here and there.  It took about five weeks to get basically everything done.

Let's take a look at the bathroom! 




See the light cord above the mirror?  It was connected to an electrical outlet!  Kind of like an improvised floor lamp, but hanging in our bathroom.


When we first moved in, water seeped down into the vanity and wood between the tub and sink.  It became all moldy under there.






Eventually I taped the shower curtain to the wallboard.  It prevented more leaking. And looked so stunning, huh!


The kids enjoyed helping here and there. The demolition went quickly.  After a Thursday night and a Friday night of working on it, we were basically done.


Lee basically gutted the bathroom by himself!  I helped by taking out the garbage.


A hidden surprise behind the wallpapered wood paneling, and under the vinyl floor covering. 


Fake plastic tiles!






















The kids were excited about busting up the cast iron tub.






Oh and don't you love the two other flooring options under the vinyl?  It was gross too because a lot of the old flooring was wet and moldy.


The kid's protective wear was funny.   And no the bag is not on her head, though obviously still a hazard.....

Lee was the successful guy in breaking up the tub.


On Saturday, the third day of the reno, we made more progress!  Clark helped with a little soldering for the plumbing.


The new tube was up and running by the end of the day.  We planned the bathroom renovation in the summer for a reason.  We weren't sure when the bathroom would be finished and this is the only tub/shower in our house.  We have 1 1/2 baths.  During the summer the kids and I go to the pool about 3 times a week. They have shower facilities there, so every time after swimming I had my kids shower. (Which makes is easier anyway in that when we arrive at home everyone is already clean and changed!)  Even though the shower worked the third day into the renovation, we didn't let the kids use the shower until the bathroom was completed.  I didn't want little ones in there mid-project!


We hired a guy to do plumbing and electrical among other things in our bathroom, and also had him build a wall to separate the shower from the sink.




The guy helping us couldn't come back for a few days, so Lee and I kept up the momentum and started tiling that night.  We finished up on Monday, Clark's birthday. We had plenty of tile from our kitchen tile project, to tile this bathroom!  We did have to buy new grout, but had plenty of thin set.





Can you tell that we ripped out the window too?  We had a cardboard piece in that window opening for awhile.  Seriously, I look back on these pictures and think, we were crazy to do that all.  AND I can't believe we did all that!






Here is Lee grouting.  It's so rewarding to grout!  The picture is blurry, but I just used scrapes to finish the tile that is under the sink.  I figure a sink will most likely be in that place for years to come, so why waste nice tile on a place that will never be seen?  An apology to future homeowners that want a pedestal sink!


A few days later were were able to start on the drywall.  I kind of took this project over.  It was messy....


I drywalled before when I was in high school.  I don't remember how much I did, but it was only for one room in our house.  After doing this bathroom I never wanted to drywall again.  (But that's not happening!)












After days of sanding and adding more joint compound and waiting it to dry and then sanding and sanding and sanding, I finally painted and caulked!  It took a little while to get the finishing touches done.  Baseboards take quite awhile to paint and install.  Well, for us amateurs, anyway.


Starting to look so good!!!


We added a cabinet above the toilet.  It added so much storage!  We can now store our towels in the bathroom instead of the hallway game/craft closet...in a basket....on the floor of said closet.  What a novelty!


After things are installed it's so tempting to just paint!  But prep work is needed....filling holes and caulking. See the gaps between the wall and the baseboard that need to be filled?


There was a weird gap or something showing as the floor isn't flat.  Lee cut a piece of toe kick into two, and then installed them to give some leeway for the rise in the floor.




Final stretch!!!  The floor rug shown is still the one we have, but I had to cut the ends off and hem it.  It was too long for our small bathroom. Do you ever wonder about people that used outhouses all their life, and where indoor plumbing wasn't available, what they would think about our "fancy" bathrooms?  Would they laugh because we make a space so nice around a toilet? 


True to Lee and Ruth fashion, when we are renovating something, the rest of the house suffers.  Especially this hallway.  What a MESS. We like things clean, but I sure can make a mess.


After Lee installed the toilet I decided to surprise him by changing out the water line, or whatever it is called.  Well I did.  But bright 'ol me didn't even THINK to turn the knob at the base of the tube to shut OFF the water.  Water was spraying EVERYWHERE!




I was soaked.  I won't make that mistake again!


But here is the nice new one!


And what you have been waiting for.......the new bathroom!  We love it! 






More storage!  YAY!


Love all the shelves in the shower!


Under the sink storage.  I need to reorganize this space with cute storage, but not sure how.  Cute-ifying things, and accessorizing are not my strong points at all!


Lee and I bought these painted wooden pictures when we visited Nicaragua in 2010.  I didn't know what we would do with them, but held on to them anyway.  Well, one night it came to me to use these pictures in the bathroom!  I think they go great!


Our shower/tub is really small.  To help alleviate the small space, Lee installed a curved shower rod.


The framed mirror is somewhat deceiving!


It's a medicine cabinet.  More great storage.






I want to buy some fake moss to put in the fish candle holder.  I think it would look fun.  I found the moss I wanted online, but it's over $10 for shipping, so I'll wait to buy some.  Seems a little frivolous, ha!




And just to jog your memory.....


So much better!  Oh, and the tile it lighter than it shows in the picture.  These are all phone pictures and there isn't any natural light in the bathroom.


What do you think?  We are so pleased with the end result!  We've been talking about redoing this space since we moved in, so it was great to follow through with our plans!