Saturday, November 24, 2012

Want a good laugh!? Latest on Operation: Bathroom

This is the current state of our loo:


AAAHHHHHH!!!! It happened. The bathtub died. Then it was go mode to get this baby renovated! Very stressful too. I'm a designer and have ideas of what I want but this project was thrown at me so fast I've felt a little overwhelmed!




Which is also why there's been a lack in posting. I've been so busy trying to decide on things, get prices on things, etc. And let me tell you, shower heads are friggin' expensive yo!!! This is the true curse of this reno, when two designers are renovating their bath, (Hubby and I) we don't want everybody else's bathroom.... we want it to be unique, tastefully done and classic. Which also equals EXPENSIVE! Ha! But we both would rather spend the little extra now, have it done the way we want rather than staring at some sink that I "settled" for because my dream sink was $400 more.

Here's a refresher of what I was planning on doing:



Below is what the dream bath is becoming:



Let's talk about my tile for a sec - I thought I would have to get the white porcelain penny tile - which I love - but it certainly ain't no marble! BUT while at Floor & Decor what oh what does my lovely momma find!? A close out of 1" white marble penny tile for $3.99 sq/ft - regularly $15.99 sq/ft. Whhaaaat!? 

The area we need to tile is about 39 sq/ft and we bought every last sq/ft of this stuff which came to 44 sq/ft! I hope and pray my tile guy has enough! 

OK, here's the rest of the bath:



The bathroom stayed pretty much the same as the original plan - except for the sink. We are so excited about making this sink from a 150 year old dresser! I think it will add warmth to the all white bathroom. Bonus - it's a couple inches taller than a regular sink height which we loved because we're crazy tall. (not to mention we'll have a bit of storage)

Below is an inspiration image of what look I'm going for with the mirror/sconce action:


Since our house is over 150 years old, I really want to mix the old and new - classic, timeless tile, an antique dresser/sink and a gilded mirror paired with chrome fixtures and sleek modern sconces. I think the balance is going to be gorgeous!! 

The only annoying part to all this is that we have NO bathroom while the renovation is happening!! Our rental, which is next door is almost always booked but when it's not, believe me, we're over there showering! Our contractor shimmed in the old toilet so we at least can go potty. The bathroom should be complete in about two weeks. Two more glorious weeks with no shower. Let me tell ya, I've grown to love me some dry shampoo! ;) (We're not totally gross, we shower at the gym or my parents. )

Oh, and how the hell are we affording this!? I have no clue. I do know we are now renting our house out for the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras if I can get the right price baby!! 

I'll keep y'all posted on Operation: Bathroom.

PS - read THIS post to see some of this bathrooms ugliness. 

PSS - Follow my Bath Remodels on Pinterest to see how this all evolved!


Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Bath Remodel in the Works... All because of a Drum.

For the last couple of months, our tub has been slooooowly draining. uh. oh. and a couple of weeks ago it stopped draining all together. Boo's long hair probably equals some nasty monster of a clog somewhere under there! Ooops! 

SO we got some plumbers out to take a look and... well... it ain't lookin' so good! First, our plumbing is OLD. Our tub has a drum trap instead of a P trap - which needs to be replaced.

  Side note: can you believe that I actually had a plumbing class at school and learned about P traps!? never would I think that was useful! Ha. 

Anyhoot, the cost to replace that thing is $1,500!!! WHHAAAT!!! Most of that cost is digging under the house to access the pipes since our house sits barely off the ground. So, of course we got to thinking and the bathroom needs to be gutted anyway. So why not rip up the floors from above to access the plumbing and renovate the bathroom while we're at it!?

Here's my fantasy land bath:


A white hex tile on the floor, subway tile on the walls in the bath, dual flush toilet, some kinda awesome sink. 

We plan on getting rid of our claw foot tub. I love that it's old but ours is disgusting, needs to be resurfaced ($400), needs new fixtures ($800) and hubby hates it because he's 6'4". So, out with a tub and in with a shower! 

I'm loving this Restoration Hardware sink in the above image but that's not gonna happen. We'll probably do something custom and give the illusion of a large slab of some kinda stone... don't know yet. I'm obsessed with this kinda sink below:


But yeah, probably not gonna happen! A girl can dream though right!? 

We're trying to put this project off as long as possible to save more $ for it - the plumbers were able to kinda get the tub draining again, it just takes about 3 hours for the water to go down! So we're standing in nasty filth while showering and scared that any day will be our last with the clogged tub fiasco.... 

I love my old house. I love my old house. I love my old house. 




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