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
and the fuse box
in a stall,
in the laundry room/back porch,
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'
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 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
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
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!)
