When there is just one bathroom, you kind of hope it’s at least comfortable. You kind of hope it’s not… this. But I dreaded even looking into the claustrophobic bathroom. Seriously depressing. I mean, would you ever want to do anything but quickly do what you need to do to get out of this dungeon?!?
I shudder just remembering.
1. Remove chimney. And yes, it was rather depressing to be able to see into the living room.
2. Glass Block. We had this glass block made locally and then Ryan and Dan installed it. This was the first new item to be added and it really did give us hope to keep working.
3. Scrape old paint, add mold-inhibiting primer, and paint using blue and white
4. New (to us) pedestal sink and large mirror from the ReStore (I think they knew us by name at that point.)
5. When Ryan redid the stairs, he found that he was able to raise the part that encroaches by a good bit, that always helps.
6. Redo the ceiling and add a lot of lighting
7. Get water running and install a low-flow toilet
So here is what we have now:
But what’s that behind the shower curtain? After chimney removal, the disgusting (and probably expensive) custom size plastic tub surround was obsolete. Did we really want to pay for a new plastic surround? We haven’t done tile work and tile did not really seem to fit. So we mulled. And we looked in my mom’s magazines. And that is where we found this article about a guy redoing a small bathroom for $1,000. And while we laughed at the high (to us) price tag, I really liked the look. I would certainly not define our style (do we have one?) as country, but this works I think.
We bought corrugated sheet metal that Ryan cut and fit. As the magazine article described, we sprayed the sheets with Rust-Oleum Crystal Clear Enamel and used self-sealing roofing screws (to avoid rust and leakage). Finally, he used clear silicone caulk to finish the project. We have been super happy with it so far.
In order to save on space in the bathroom and soon-to-be-toured living room, we opted for a pocket door. Not exactly orthodox, but it sure saves a lot of space.
We found this kit, which allowed us to hang pocket doors without having an actual pocket. While the price tag was a little steep, the kit was well worth it and the quality is superb. The door was purchased (as usual) from the ReStore and just this week, we finally bought the little $3 pocket door handle cover, so there is no longer a peep hold where the handle was missing. Sometimes it’s the little things and sometimes even the little things take time.
From the glassblock and pocket door kit to the time-consuming chimney removal/stair raising, we did put some time and money investments into the bathroom. We also took some risks with the tub surround and lighting. We managed to save environmentally with a low-flow toilet and water saver shower head, plus a whole lotof elbow grease saved the existing tub. We also shaved off some cost by purchasing the mirror, sink, and door from Habitat’s ReStore. From dungeon to this much improved space, I hope you have enjoyed the bathroom update and I’ll be back soon with scenes from the living room…which I fondly refer to as Grand Central Station.
