The Necessary Room

"Mom, why are you taking pictures of the bathroom? That's just weird."

Seven year olds just don't understand.

I can't blame him for not appreciating the huge changes that have occurred in what was my least favorite room in the house when we moved in.

He's seven. And male.

But, boy do I notice.

Remember in "Animaniacs" when Wacko is having a potty emergency and he goes into a scary gross truck stop bathroom and exclaims "I can't potty in there! It's disgusting!"

That's how I once felt about our bathroom.

When we moved in, it had peach colored walls and orangey wood everywhere. I promptly painted it (dark) purple, because I'm a genius. Then, after years of it being cramped and dark and cavernous, I decided to paint the walls a buttery cream and paint the wood vanity white. It was definitely an improvement.

But it was still ugly. The floor and the shower and the sink were all old, damaged and gross. No matter how much you scrub an ancient tile floor, it will always look like an ancient tile floor.

My rescue came in the form of a broken pipe, which flooded the bathroom (and hallway, and basement). The decision was made to tear it all up.

At this point, I was in the throes of morning sickness and didn't think I could handle a weekend of bathroom renovation, so my husband sent me to my sister's house for a few days and got to work with my brothers in law.

Things always take more than a few days, but I was quite grateful for the changes when I returned home.

Before

During Demo

We could see through that hole to the basement

After digging through layers and layers of flooring, they finally found and replaced the subfloor. Then it was tile, then toilet and sink. Seth sent me regular photos of the progress on my phone, and now I can't seem to find them anywhere. But here are some afters.

My favorite parts are the sink and the tile. The walls are a really pale blue Valspar color. I totally forget the name (hate when I do that). I also love all the white. I switched the shower curtain, rug and towels all to white, and bleach is my new best friend. Everything feels fresh and clean.

There's still lots to do. Trim, paint the medicine cabinet and door white, add some decorative touches...Oh, and totally gut the tub area. Ya know, little things.

But it's only been a year and a half since we started this project. Still got loads of time. ;)