Let There Be Light!

(If you get updates to my blog by email, you likely received an old post disguised as a new one yesterday.  I have no idea how it happened.  Feedburner, the tool that sends new posts out into world, has developed a random mind of its own, and must have thought it was time I said something.)

I haven't provided a bathroom update in a while (or any updates for that matter), but this is a truly exciting development that I have to share. 

The skylight was installed in our previously windowless bathroom last Friday.  Do you hear the chorus of hallelujahs?  Or, at least, the birds chirping?  And, see the little shelf created above the doorway and below the skylight? 

That's there so we can bring some plants into our new space.  I did a little research and learned that African violets and peace lilies tolerate humidity well, making them good bathroom plants.  I like the idea of having plants that flower in there.  Exciting.

Words and photographs cannot do the natural light justice.  It makes an incredible difference.  We've been wandering around the house wondering what other dark corners could be brightened up by a new window or skylight.

The walls have been framed, and the electrician has done his wiring.  Now we are waiting for the plumber to come and center the shower drain (since the shower will be bigger, the drain has to move about a foot), and remove the toilet and sink.  Then we're hiring someone to install the drywall, which will help to move this project along.  And then Matt and his dad will install the new shower.  Progress is slow, but sure.  Which is okay, because I still haven't made a decision or ordered the tile.

Raising the Roof, Changing My Mind

Continuing on the every-other-week (or so) bathroom renovation schedule, Saturday was Day 4 of intense activity upstairs.  I tried to capture some better pictures at the end of the day, but the view of the high and lovely pitched ceiling that I witnessed at lunch time was mostly covered up by an old gray tarp.  Still, I have a few dark and mediocre glimpses to illustrate the progress. 

They framed the upper portion of the wall that will extend into what was the attic

and revealed this.

While we've only added 21 inches of width to the bathroom, the high ceiling makes it feel like it has more than doubled in size.  We took some measurements for a skylight, which is going to open things up even more.  Raising the roof was an excellent idea.

In the meantime, I have been struggling with my tile decision.  I had been hoping to place an order for these 2 x 8 beauties (note the rough edge, and the seaglass color),

with the idea of creating a space that looked somewhat like this.

House Beautiful

But, it turns out that the rough edge is no longer available, and the 2 x 8 is no longer available, and I can get a 3 x 6 with a smooth edge, but the price has gone way up.  Sigh.

My tile consultant/mother has been telling me to check out ming green marble, and I dismissed it several times, until Saturday, when I Googled it.  The internet is a wonderful place, as the nicest image result from my search brought me to a blogger in Denver who put ming green marble subway tiles in her shower.

Hmmm.  I kind of like that. 

Glass tile is not only expensive, but the experts tell me that you shouldn't attempt to do a full shower install yourself if you don't know what you're doing.  Glass tile is tricky.  So, we were thinking of paying for the glass, and someone to install it.  We could install the ming green marble ourselves, and it is HALF the price of the 3 x 6 smooth edged green glass tile I'd be settling for.  So, I'm really thinking about this.  What do you think?

Tear Down This Wall

There's no turning back now.  The bathroom project is under way.

I took a few celebratory whacks with the sledgehammer, and helped to clean up the rubble, but most of the 500 pounds of drywall and beams came down thanks to the muscle of my other half. 

How do I know it was 500 pounds?  They weighed the truck at the dump before and after the debris was unloaded.  (Once again- I'll be honest- I had no role in this process.) The charge was $33, the first expenditure for this remodel. 

Tools used:
hammer
the aforementioned sledgehammer
crowbar
sawzall (to cut the studs)
the trusty shop-vac

While the wall was being torn down, I made soup and worked in an ADD-like fashion on several other projects I've got going simultaneously.  And then I vacuumed.  Twice.  Tearing down a wall creates a lot of dust.  If we were smart we would have sealed off the area with plastic.  But we didn't. 

This week, I'll share some other projects that pale in significance to this one.  Stay tuned...

Bathroom Before

Welcome to our bathroom.

Notice how close the door is to the sink.  Now imagine washing your face at that sink, which is only 30 inches high.  That hits me at the top of the thigh, and I'm only 5'4". 

Did you notice the blue fixtures?  (Yes, I know that some people covet this retro look, and I will make one of them very happy when I give these away on Craigslist.)  What you can't see is that the toilet and sink are actually two slightly different shades of robin's egg blue.

The mirror has an antique finish.  

The faucet is corroded and leaks. 

The sink looks like it is falling off the wall, but that's just a cosmetic issue, so far. 

I present the shower, in all its fiberglass glory:

There's no light above, so it's pretty dark when the curtain is closed.  The one light is a combination light/fan over the sink.

The walls have no tile or paint.  There's no counter space or storage, aside from the small free-standing cabinet we've squeezed in the corner. It will be an easy bathroom to demo. 

This wall is coming down:

How long will it take to move the door frame, build the wall back up, with a closet on either side, install a new tile shower, put in a skylight and finish the floor?  (The floor plans can be found here.) We'll get a plumber to install the fixtures and an electrician put in the lights.    I'm setting my sites on 4 months, with room to open that up to 6 months.  The real question is, when do we start?

Do you have any bathroom remodeling experience?  Words of wisdom welcome. 

Bathroom Inspiration

A few weeks ago I shared the floor plans for our upcoming bathroom remodel.  I've been thinking about this for over 4 years, so I've pretty much decided exactly what I want our new bathroom to look like. 

The shower will have 2x8 green glass tiles, like these.

Pottery Barn

The shower door will be glass, to help the room to feel more open.

houzz.com

We're going to build a vanity, something like this from Restoration Hardware.


I also love this rustic look, but the shelves on the one above are more practical.

from Ana Spiro, via Little Green Notebook

I was planning on a carrara marble countertop,though someone has recently suggested that we consider wood, maybe something like the after here?


I am hoping to find a deal on this unfortunately pricey Cifial nickel faucet, but so far, no luck.
 
I like the idea of being able to control the water temperature with one handle.  I get easily frustrated.  Most single-handle faucets are very modern, but this one suits our style perfectly.

We're going to build a medicine cabinet like this one, from Restoration Hardware, too.


And these nickel sconces from Pottery Barn will go on either side.


On the walls, I'd like to do a board and batten treatment, something like this.

4men1lady.com via Pinterest

White on the bottom, pale green on the top. 

The subway tiles are almost exactly the same color as the Benjamin Par Four we have in the guest room, so I think I'll use that same color. 


Because we'll be installing a sky light, we're going to try to bump out the ceiling a little bit, and maybe we can do some paneling or more board and batten up there.

thestoriesofa2z.com via Pinterest

We're still deciding on what kind of floors to get.  I want wood, but some say it's impractical in a bathroom, which is not an unreasonable point.  Still, I can't imagine it without wood.  Tile feels so cold and hard to me. The decision is also complicated by the need to install heat somehow (Did I mention that our current bathroom has no heat?) and I'm not sure if we can put radiant heat under wood floors. 

So, can you picture how it will all come together?  Me neither.  I feel like this bathroom sort of gives an idea of the feeling I'm going for.

Better Homes and Gardens

Only ours probably won't feel as big, and we'll have a shower instead of a tub, and the vanity is on top of the dresser on the right side of the room, and the window is on the ceiling.  And the floor is wood.

It will take a while for it to come together for real, and I'm sure there will be some decision changes along the way, but I can't wait for the end result.  Next week, I'll show you just how sad the current bathroom is, and maybe you'll agree that we should be commended for living with it as long as we have.

Our Biggest Project Yet

We've been talking about it since before we moved in four years ago, and it's finally time to begin.  Before Thanksgiving?  After Thanksgiving?  Actually, we're not sure exactly when to officially begin, but we're gearing up for a really big project. 

We have two full bathrooms in the house- one up, one down.  The downstairs bath is in good shape.  It had a little makeover earlier this year.  The one upstairs supports four bedrooms, but is less than four feet wide.  There are a whole host of other things wrong with it that I will explain in great detail in a later post.  Today, I'm just going to share our plans on how we're going to take three feet out of the closetless bedroom next door to make a more spacious bathroom, meanwhile adding a linen closet on the bath side, and a closet to the closetless bedroom.

I used this free tool on floorplanner.com to map it out.  Once I played around with it for a while, I figured out how to create a basic floor plan.  I am sure there are much greater capabilities available than I've utilized in the free version.  There's also an upgraded service you can pay for, but this will do for now.  Here's the before and after:

See how tiny it is?  We're not actually making it that much bigger, but an extra foot and a half is going to make a world of difference.  (It should be noted that my floor plan failed to include the width of adding a second wall.  We may take a little more out of the bedroom to accomodate that.  Pesky details.) Our original plan was to put in a tub, but we've decided to build a spacious shower instead, since we're not bath people and we have a tub downstairs. We are also going to maximize space by using pocket doors to get into the bathroom, and the linen closet.  And we're going to bump out the ceiling and install a skylight, so we can get some light and air flow. 

So, as you can see, there's a wall that needs to come down between the bedroom and bathroom, and then two will be built back up, with closets in between.  My hero, Matt, has knocked down one wall to date, but this will be the first time he has built a new one.  He has expert guidance and is ready to accept the challenge.  I am available to assist, but I've also got the unfortunate task of removing wallpaper from the bedroom next door.  We will need a plumber and electrician along the way, but our plan is to do most of the work ourselves.

This is going to be a long project.  I'll try to share one update each week, so it's not all bathroom, all the time.  Next week I'll show you some pictures of the sad, sad rooms and what we can't wait to change about them.  Go team!

Have you ever remodeled a bathroom on your own?  Words of wisdom are welcome.