Monday, December 20, 2010

First Reno Ever

There's been a lot of first's for us this year. First congregation. First home. First turkey. :) First real not-so-DIY renovation. 

Here's the thing. One day (go ahead and picture me doing this - those who know me will know how true it is...haha) I stood in my bathroom and viewed it. (can you see me doing this, Trac? I know, right? Standing off to one side, hand on hip, head cocked over to one side, muttering to myself...) And I told myself (I talk to myself once in awhile) that yes, with that new coat of paint, new mirrors and my shower curtain, the bathroom is complete until renovation time. In 5 years. 

Well, would you believe that literally one week later, I discover a crack on our tub floor? Bright red tuct tape (thanks Frank!) did the trick for a week while I had the immense pleasure of tub, toilet and sink shopping (because while the guys are here working anyway, mind as well make the ceramic stuff match, right?), but it had to be fixed. 

And so we launched into our first reno. Dust. It involved dust. (of course, Frank and his gang did a great job of cleaning up after themselves...but still! :) And it involved decisions. Tim and I don't always jive on the decision making, but he's sweet and in the end usually gives me my pick of things. (I like to think of it as, in the end, he t r u s t s  me...)

(my apologies for the picture justification...they're left, center, left, center, center...don't know what's up with that..)

So have a looksie as I walk you through our beautiful new bathroom. Here it is, on inspection day. 

It was a good sized bathroom, which two sinks, which we liked. It was just...dated. Quite dated. Did you see the size of that toilet tank?! Not so friendly on the water bill. And faux marble in browns. Yum, right?




Well, not quite. But here we are, on the way to making it yummy. Tim and Hadassah try out the new tub...

...while the tools sit, waiting for day two. Tim is still in the tool collecting phase...so this sight is rather unusual around here!

Now...let's take a look at the new, improved, lighter, brighter, much more "Jen" bathroom, noticing right away (if you can see it on the picture) the subway tile surrounding a bath-able bathtub. (the very first comfy tub I've ever had in all my previous homes!) And Tim's pick - the curved shower curtain rod. Makes for a much roomier shower. We had the room to do it - might as well, right?


Much lovelier fixtures in the tub:

The vanity. And the floor. Two things we didn't change, because well, money is money and everyone only has so much of it. (It's still in the plans for someday, though, like when my brother-in-law has a free weekend...??)

So in an attempt to make them blend a little bit better with the rest of the "newness", I ventured into the world of cabinet painting, yet again. (kitchen cabinets still in process) I started with two coats of the paint from Hadassah's room...

...then I added a glaze to tone that color down a bit...

...and here's the results: New sinks, new mirrors, new countertop, new accessories (from my sister - thanks Trac!!), new (to me) shelf, and it just love it so much better!

Here's a shot of that shelf, as I bought it from a garage sale for $2. Loved it right away, bought it with no particular spot in mind, and decided it might just work well in the bathroom. The inside color had to go, and the leftover paint from Hadassah's room came in handy for that, as well.


Oh, and for the towel hanger. It got a few coats of Hadassah's paint color too!

I tried to get a shot of the counter top speckles. We picked this one, because it had all the right colors. Same brown as the vine in the shower curtain, plus flecks of blue. It was so exciting to see it installed!!

And these are my sinks. Tim and I both liked sinks that sat on top of the counter, but I couldn't get rid of the idea that it's a passing trend. This is my compromise. Half out. It helps that friends of ours have the same sink, so I saw it in action. (thanks Paul & Nicole!)

And here is the new toilet, because everyone wants a picture of a good toilet, right? Those prints I originally bought for our bathroom in Grand Rapids (on the clearance rack! woohoo!) because the colors were just right and because of the birds on the shower curtain. But they ended up in our bedroom over there. Finally, they're home.


And one last shot, where you hopefully see why I decided to paint the cabinets blue/green. See how those birds on my good ol' $9 Target clearance rack shower curtain look so...happy!...next to the cabinets?


There are a few more things that, over time and budget, we hope to change yet. Floors. Light fixture. I want to add some length to the shower curtain, a darker rug on the floor to balance out the dark mirrors. And someday we want to add board and batten, and match the trim to the rest of the house. (this is the only room withou 6" or 8" baseboards!) But right now, we love it. And are so thankful we've been able to do what we have! Shout out to European Construction Trades Group in Chatham!

9 comments:

  1. Jen... you are a decorating WONDERWOMAN!!! Love the new bathroom. Seriously love.

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  2. looks beautiful Jen! good job! I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas:)
    Meagan V

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  3. Love the bath reno! Can't wait to see the rest of your house!

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  4. WOW great job, beautiful.

    Did you cut the sink holes yourself? If yes, how? We need to redo a bath and I keep telling DH he can do the counters .. he says he can't.

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  5. What a beautiful redo!!

    I would LOVE to know what paint color that is on the cabinets and where you got the shower curtain. Now I'm itching to redo our guest bath. :)

    nimokana (at) yahoo (dot) com

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  6. Love the sink and cool shower rod. It came together nicely.
    You have inspired me to blog again. I started one and never used it. I am now day 2 into blogging again. Always love your inspirational entries.
    Have a great week.

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  7. Thanks ladies! (especially the ones who stopped by from Better After!)

    Sandy - I must admit, the sink holes (and the tub and tile) we left to professionals. My husband doesn't own enough tools to manage that sort of thing! :)

    Anon - The color is Debbie Travis' "Peace & Quiet" (the Premier line at Canadian Tire...although I had my fav Ben Moore people color match) And the shower curtain was from Target quite awhile ago. It was on clearance, so I'm thinking they don't sell it anymore...

    I'm just so glad everyone likes it! Thanks for commenting!

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  8. Hi ya! Just found a link to your blog on Better After and totally love your shower curtain. Could you tell me where you bought it?? I want it!!!!

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  9. Miss Lovely - I bought it at Target about a year ago...
    Thanks for stopping by from Better After! Isn't that blog fabulous for inspiration?

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