much less nasty

When I titled the bathroom project Operation Less Nasty, I had no idea how smart that was.

I mean, if it was Operation Pretty the Bathroom, or Operation Nice Bathroom,

we'd have had to paint the ceiling.

As its turns out, though, with Operation Less Nasty,

we could simply cover termite tracks with drywall mud and viola ~ success.

Sure, it would look better with the ceiling painted, but honestly,

what we did was enough.

I can look up in the shower and not see termite tracks ~ which is definitely less nasty.

I'm not done in there yet, but I'll show you what we've got, so far.

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure (I use that very loosely ;-) of seeing the bathroom in person

here's what we started with:

see the bottom of the tub? nasty!

The above picture shows all sorts of  nastiness.
Torn shower curtain. (actually cut. Somebody cut it, then, it tore. 6 yrs ago...)

We have more mildew (which has been attacked many times).

stuck on stuff from the former owner's plastic bathroom accessories
(which I removed in about 20 minutes using an essential oil I don't like the smell of 
(so I didn't mind 'wasting' it) and a scraper)

and last, but definitely not least, a big ole patch of termite damage.

When we painted before moving in (or maybe it was after?) 

we thought just painting over all the damage would be sufficient. 

It may have, if we hadn't actually killed all the termites, 

after they started chomping on my second favorite John Bell Jr print. 

Did you know that the termites that destroy your house also protect it from natural deterioration

by providing moisture? Kill the termites, things dry out very quickly.

Which causes all manner of additional troubles.

Back to the bathroom.

Below we have the worst of the nasty,

an open water heater closet

and major termite mess.

In addition to the mess that you can see,

there's a whole lot of nasty going on further down the wall

that I guess I didn't get a picture of.

There was no trim, the drywall was more torn up than what you see here

and the tile didn't go back to the studs, so there was always a little pile of dirt on the concrete.

There was also an inch or so gap between the drywall and the cabinet.

Nasty!!

Tyler filled all the holes with drywall mud. we opted not to bother with texturing the walls;

we were simply going for 'less' nasty, after all.

Then we painted with a custom mixed paint.

Meaning I mixed up 3 parts (or was it 2?) Sherwin Williams' Hazel (from my dresser) 

with 1 part Creamy White from the LEM table, which it appears I never posted a final photo of

and the french chairs I refinished and also never posted about.

Because I was afraid it might not be quite right, I added 2 splashes of pantry paint.

I should have only added one, because it's a tad brighter than I wanted.

Tyler fussed at me because he'd told me to buy whatever paint I wanted.

I told him I thought I could make exactly what I wanted...

At first I thought we were going to have to repaint,

but after a few days, I decided I was okay with it 

( it is less nasty - although a little more beach-houseish than I'd prefer) so I'm leaving it.

I'm not sure how I feel about the caulk strip we used around the top of the tub
but - it is less nasty...

Probably the biggest improvement, beyond covering up all the termite damage,

and replacing the tile at the base of the tub with wood trim,

was 'framing' the mirror, which was an after-thought. 

You'd think it would have been easy, but no, nothing in this house ever is.

I'll spare you the drama.

We, I think, will remember.

This is Tyler's favorite addition, besides the mirror trim

(mirror still needs to be caulked and corners repainted)

I made that love sign. All by myself! 

Well, I printed it as a photo at Sam's, but the rest of it,

was all me.

I"m even more tickled, though, with my family 'rules' poster

I liked the one from Alexander Creative's shop, but at 20x30, it was too big

(and $30? yikes!) so I made my own 16x20 print, changing it up a tiny bit. 

I printed it at Sam's, so it only cost me $7! Plus, it's even more perfect for us.

I coated the poster with 3 layers of floor finish, so it would be wipe-able and water resistant.

An added bonus ~ the brush strokes (I did horizontal and vertical) added a canvas-like texture to the print.

The frame is a piece of pre-primed trim board from Lowe's that was $2.38.

Brandon helped me make it ~ we got all sorts of twisted around figuring out which angle went which way.

You can see in that picture that we have an outlet!!! In our bathroom!!

Which means we don't have to plug into an extension cord at the top of the mirror.

And - it works with the light switch off! I could even use a night light if I wanted to .

Or a Scentsy thing. 

Oh, the possibilities.

Also - I'm sure you noticed the lack of holes, trim work, and curtain.

Here's what the lower portion looks like now, 

complete with the addition of the favorite musical instrument of many a small child.

Definitely much less nasty!

We outdid ourselves!

I fell in love with this print  (which I did buy from Alexander,

so I'm pretty sure he's okay with my copying his other poster

since it was the wrong size and all anyways) when I saw it a few months ago.

I have a little trouble with my mouth sometimes, so I pretty much needed it

to help me remember to speak life.

I ordered it right after deciding to embark on this little bathroom project

and it was pretty much the catalyst for the whole 'word art theme' that evolved.

Brandon and I worked together on this, too - we cut the board to size, then sanded and painted.

I spray-glued the print (which was thinner than I'd expected) and stuck it on.

Perfection!

But then I added the floor finish top coat to it, and it all crinkled up.

Which I guess is okay, because it goes with the texture of the background color, 

but I'd have been pretty bummed if the background was solid.

It's hanging over the door, so we can see it every time we leave the bathroom.

Jeremiah said he's just going to read it over and over while he's on the toilet.

Then he'll read the big one. Then go read this one again.

He spends a lot of time on the toilet, so this could be really beneficial ;-)

The shower curtain, which was inspired by this post,
which really sort of inspired the whole makeover in the first place - I think I'm scrapping. 
Not as in - using scraps, scrapping - no, I think I don't really like it.
And I really didn't like working on it.
And I actually kinda like the airy-ness of just the liner.
The impetus of the project - unused.
Weird how that worked out, huh?



I have a 'You are my sunshine' print to hang above the toilet,

and I want to make one of Micah 6:8 to hang between the medicine cabinet and the tub.

I may or may not add more 'words' as time goes by.

The really cool thing about this little project,

besides the fact that the bathroom is definitely much less nasty,

is,

I really love everything we've added, and will most likely use it all in the new house.