Revisiting The First Floor Bathroom Renovation

I can’t believe I’m blogging about our first-floor bathroom renovation yet again.  I feel like I keep blogging about it, saying we’re going to do something about it, and then getting stuck in the “should we do this or that…a forever super nice renovation or a for now renovation”.  We kept waffling about the poor room but knew we had to do something.  Because just a few months before Rowan’s arrival, the bathroom still looked like this:

And that’s after we removed a wall and nine towel bars way back in September 2015.  I can’t believe we used this bathroom for over a year in such a state, with vent ducts and electrical wires hanging down all nimbly bimbly like (Super Troopers anyone?).  The worst part is that this is the only bathroom on the first floor so whenever we have people over, this is the bathroom everyone uses.  So embarrassing!  Hanging head in shame.  So back in October-ish, knowing that we were hosting Thanksgiving again for about 40 folks and also planning ahead to the house guests coming to stay with us once Rowan arrived, we knew we had to do something about this bathroom.

So we went to work.  Finally figuring out what our whole house master renovation plan would be was the best thing we could have done to help determine what kind of makeover this would be.  Knowing that this bathroom would eventually get completely reconfigured, after a massive kitchen remodel, meant that we would be doing a “for now” makeover of this bathroom.  That meant keeping things like the sink, toilet, bathtub, tile, and most of the fixtures and just dressing the whole thing up a little bit.  Doing things like re-sheetrocking the walls, patching the floor tile where we removed the weird wall, and replacing the shower sliding doors with a curtain would have to do for now.

We chipped away at projects a little at a time, hence why I never really blogged about the project.  It never felt like a bloggable project when one week we took down the shower doors, and another week chipped old grout, another week removed the old vent, and another week installed a new ceiling.  I should also preface that by “we” I really mean Colby.  House projects and being super pregnant were not a productive combo for me.

Over time the bathroom majorly changed but it never felt that way to us.  It was kind of like watching your baby grow.  You don’t notice them changing because you see them every day.  But to another person who doesn’t see said baby every day, they notice a huge difference.  In fact, when Colby’s parents stayed with Merle at the house while we were in the hospital birthing Rowan, they said “Wow, we didn’t realize you were renovating your bathroom, it looks so good!”.  Segue to obligatory bathroom renovation progress shot:

A respectable place to shower now, eh?!  I think my favorite part of our house and something I like to play up with all our renovation projects are the old beams in the house.  Who knew 200-plus-year-old house beams would make me so weak in the knees?!  I’m dying to rip a few more ceilings down in the house to see if we can expose some more beams.  The dining room ceiling is coming down next, right Colby?!  The poor guy putting up with his wife’s lack of focus and needs to renovate ALL THE THINGS!

I’ll be back with a ton more details of what we did to make this bathroom look the way it does now, an “evolution of our bathroom makeover” kind of post, along with the master plan on how I want it styled, and a budget.  Considering it’s been a super expensive year for us (meeting two huge health insurance deductibles thanks to a pregnancy spanning two plan years, Goose’s medical bills, and now Merle’s medical bills from emergency squeaker removal surgery) this is a super low-budget makeover.  My goal, whether or not it is doable, is to spend $500 or less on this bathroom renovation.  So it’s definitely a lesson in working with what you have.  I know.  Crazy, right?!  wish us luck!  So stay tuned for more bathroom updates.

Pssst…So I think I’m finally getting into a rhythm with having a new baby and going back to work this week.  Saturday morning blogging during naps is quickly becoming my favorite routine!  So hopefully I’ll have more regular posts coming at you, aiming for one coming out each weekend.  We’ve got a few projects in the works, like this bathroom project and FINALLY finishing Rowan’s nursery.  Oh, how I missed blogging, house projects, and all of you lovely folks!