the upstairs bath

Once we got the kitchen to a serviceable state,

 the upstairs bathroom

became the most urgent thing on the list.

We've only had one bathroom for all but < 3 years

of our married lives 

(almost 31 years!)

so

it wasn't so much that we needed the second bathroom

right away,

as much as

I wanted my kiddos to not be 

going up and down stairs

half asleep

in the middle of the night.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the toilet went in,

let me tell you!

This part wasn't  included in the plan; we put a doorway in the side of the bathroom, and went into the attic.

(Oh. you know what.

that's not exactly true.

When we lived in Fort Smith,

we did have a second toilet.

I don't really count that,

as it was back by the water heater
and the fuse box

in a stall,
in the laundry room/back porch,

and it was only used for emergencies.

and the resident take-for-e-ver-pooper.

Anyways.

back to a real second bathroom.....)

The tub was installed ages ago,

so once we turned on the water

(That was a happy day!)

we could use it,

and use it we have!

I have taken more baths in the past 3 months

than I've taken in the past 12 years combined!

You might remember that I bought the 'vanity'

near the end of 2016

and it sat patiently in the attic,

waiting for its turn

at the top of the list.

By the time it hit 

'top of the list'

I was pretty well exhausted.

As I mentioned,

we'd just finished the kitchen enough to be usable,

which also means,

we'd just made 

and finished 

the concrete countertops

(which I have yet to post about. sigh.)

So when Tyler asked me about paint for the vanity,

I said,

"I don't know. I'm thinking about using it as is."

I'll wait while you laugh.

From the photo I sent to Tyler when I found the crendza-vanity

(which is the only real before picture we have

because I can not seem to remember to snap pictures

before we start taking things apart!)

you might think that was a plausible idea.

But that was a glamour shot.

(This is going to be long.

You might want to grab a drink.

and go pee....)

(I have to tell the whole story,

because I got in trouble for leaving out all the good parts

when I shared Jeremiah's bed re-make,

but Tyler will be thrilled to tell you them in person)

In addition 

- and more importantly -

to the piece being a bit beat up

the credenza wasn't the right size.

We could have made it work,

except that,

instead of buying a sink,

we bought a one piece custom counter-top with an integrated sink.

Only,

it wasn't custom for us.

It was custom for somebody else,

and they didn't want it.

Which is how we ended up with a $600 sink and countertop

for the low low price

of not much more 

than the price

of the lowly (but lovely) sink

we'd originally picked out.

We knew when we purchased this countertop /sink

that it was both too long

and too deep.

But we'd done some quick research in the store,

and determined the material could be cut

by an experienced do-it-your-selfer.

We are very experienced do it your selfers,

so we bought it.

It, too, sat in the attic

awaiting its day in the sun.

Because I was 

too tired to work on yet another project

thinking of leaving it ugly,

I suggested that we bring both the cabinet

and the countertop/sink into the bathroom

and see exactly what we had to work with

and hopefully discover that 

the vanity was fabulous as is.

We did not discover that the vanity was fabulous

as is.

We discovered that it was 

at minimum

an inch too narrow.

It also stunk.

And pretty much everything inside of it

was crap.

So we drug everything down the stairs,

and outside.

I think this was the point where Brandon suggested

that we should have a youtube channel,

because we could get rich off of our re-making escapades,

and people could learn how to turn their vintage finds

into modern usable works of art.

(I may have added that last little bit.

what he actually said was

something along the lines of

"it's a waste of all of our efforts 

for us to be the only one to benefit

from them.")

Mercy this is getting long.

And I haven't even really started yet.

We ended up having to take the back off,

remove a portion of the frame,

and add thicker partial back pieces

along with supports for the counterop

because the back 'bones' of the cabinet

were smack under the faucet holes

(which were not perfectly lined up,

and were maybe why the client didn't want the countertop??)

We had to extend the depth 1 1/8 inches,

which meant adding a new left side,

and borrowing part of the right side's leg and trim

to extend the left side's.

We added a new bottom to the cabinet,

removed the half shelf,

and removed the drawer from the face of the center drawer

and nailed the face back in place.

(I say we,

but it was actually mostly Tyler and Brandon doing the work 

on this one,

with me playing a supporting

(and bossing)

role.)

We cut the back and both sides of the countertop,

(which did not go smoothly at all!)

Once all that was finished

and we knew it all fit properly,

and we'd thoroughly sanded everything

Tyler sprayed primer on it

and we left it to dry for the night.

The 1/4 inch oak plywood that we used on the side

still showed all that oak texture,

so Tyler smeared wood filler all over the whole side,

and made it nice and smooth.

When that was dry and lightly sanded

he painted with two coats of

Kelly Moore's water/oil hybrid paint in Angel's Whisper (#4828).

I liked the knobs and pulls just fine,

so instead of replacing them,

I scratched 'em up with sandpaper

then spray painted with Rustoleum oil rubbed bronze

before screwing them all back in.

I let the guys handle installing everything else.

After the vanity and associated plumbing went in,

Tyler added the door and floor trim,

and then the toilet

(a dual flush jobbie,

because, with 4 kids using it,

we'll save a lot of water with the only pee option!!)

We still need to add a backsplash,

and of course a mirror.

(and some switch and receptacle covers!!)

At some point, we'll add the sliding barn door

to separate the toilet from the rest of the bath,

but 

we've got a second bathroom!!

(With a gorgeous custom vanity....)

(bathrooms are quite difficult to photograph!)