Some Things Old and Some Things New: Our Bathroom.

This week is over at Kelly's Korner it's Show-Us-Your-Life Bathrooms.

I thought I'd share mine

(even though it was supposed to be posted on Friday)

because it was a great remodel,

at least to this woman who spends much time in it:

getting kids teeth brushed;

giving baths to the same;

washing the dog;

and at the present moment,

bedding kittens in it for the evenings so that they will not become a fox's midnight snack.

 This is what our one and only full bath looked like when we bought the house.

This "beautiful" rug went halfway up the stairs to this landing

(the previous owners started ripping up the carpet,

but there was foam glued down everywhere underneath the rug,

so it didn't get completed.  It was quite a task).

But honestly, it was a good thing because then when we tore it all up,

we got to decide how we wanted the flooring to be finished,

with our own grubby hands, of course.

After a few years of living with the sliding panel door (which came off the track regularly),
the over-sized sink/cupboard,

the unfinished drywall in the hallway,

and the cracking shower walls,

my husband gave me the gift of getting the bathroom remodeled for a combined Christmas/birthday present.

I was beyond excited.

We'd done a lot of the remodeling to our house, but this was just something that we knew our skills were not a match for.

So we met with the contractor who had done a superior job installing our windows,
he agreed to let us help with the remodel in order to cut the cost (primarily doing all the painting),

and work began 2 months after Levi was born.

 (Yes, lots of noise during naptime,

but we lived through it).

 Mr. Deller ripped everything out,

even the walls between the bathroom and hallway.

 It was quite a sight...

 

but well worth it!

Welcome to our better bathroom.

When we planned our bathroom out,

we had a certain amount of money toward the new furnishings,

aside from the contractor's fees.

So from that budget, I decided what I would get,

where I would spend the money.

I found this little cupboard at an antique store,

and knowing how difficult it is to find shorter cupboards like this and seeing it was a great price,

I hauled it home.
I applied tung oil and it turned into a beautiful piece.

 I found this medicine cabinet at a second hand store in the city called "Re-Source York" which

recycles building supplies.  It is a charity that provides funding as well as employment opportunities to low-income disabled people.

I loved the old look and just had to clean it up and paint it green.

 The corner sink cupboard was something that we chose to spend more money on because it was impossible to find anything small enough to fit this corner.  We special ordered it through one of the department hardware stores.

(I actually ordered the sink cabinet first and used the color sample they gave me from it to buy the paint for the medicine and wall cabinets as well as the back of the bathroom door).

 I had 2 pet geese when I was a teenager and although I loved them,
I don't have any desire to get real geese again.
They make a mess
all over the driveway, yard, and anywhere they walk.

I have enough of that going on already.

A lady I know was getting rid of her goose collection, and I liked this one.
It reminds me of my pets,
so I set him on top of the built-in shelf over the medicine cabinet.

 

We needed more storage space.

The contractor suggested we look for a wall cabinet that he could hang above the heater.  I didn't like the pressed board white ones I found at the hardware store, so I went and looked at an antique store and found this one...

for less!

(It was so fun to see how God was helping us stay in our budget and still have wonderful things for our bathroom; He cares even about the small things in our lives!)

The cupboard was covered with chipping off-white paint.  I tried stripping it so as to stain it; but didn't like the results.  (Those black marks are places I burned; the contractor let me use his heat gun for stripping the paint, and I got a little carried away.  Oops!)

I like it green very well anyway.

 I painted the radiator cover,

and then the contractor built this counter over it, using the left-over piece from the hard-surface backing he installed in the shower.

 Here is one of my favorite things in the bathroom.

No, I don't mean the electric toothbrush.

I don't remember tasting the cake that day;

the kisses were too sweet.

Moving on now...

(The picture on the left is from a card that my husband gave me some time in our early marriage.)

This fun shaped tub was one of the things we kept from the original bathroom since it is cast-iron and fits the spot perfectly.

 The shower wall backing was another area we decided to spend a little more of the budget money.

This backing is supposed to resist mold and be very durable.

I absolutely LOVE it and would highly recommend it.
  I seldom need to clean the walls in the shower and they NEVER get a build-up of mildew.

I occasionally wipe them down with spray because of soap-scum and clean the caulking, and that's about it.

 This way to exit,

or lock the door,

 Finally, this is the towel rack out in the hallway.

I painted and stenciled the floor after my husband kindly scraped most of the foam off.

I hope you enjoyed our bathroom tour.

(Now there's something I never dreamed I'd write!)

Linked to: Centsational Girl: Budget-Bathroom-Makeover