Finished bathroom... almost

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted something. Can't really think of anything to talk about, so I will just post some pics of my finished bathroom.

I should say almost finished. The floor is still not complete as not enough tile was ordered and my beautiful new sink was crushed by a cat. Yep, that's right, my sink is crushed. I had a vase full of flowers on it and one of the beasts pushed the vase over and...crack! So I am now waiting for my floor to be completed and a new sink to be delivered. I'm going backwards! If the tub falls through the floor, I'm packing up and leaving!

Oh well, I just love the new bathroom, so the floor delay and sink breakage have not got me down.



Aaaaand the sink-hole:

From yuck to "ooh pretty"

Here are some pics of my bathroom reno so far. Still have a bit to do, but it's starting to look good.

Rub-a-dub-dub no more gross tub

The bathroom reno has begun! The old tub wall is being removed as I write this. I love, love, love watching the destruction of it. I hated that wall. Stupid linoleum tub surround. It was gross.

I'm going to blog the process as it continues. I will try to take some good shots of the old (crap) turning into the new (pretty!).

Of course I'm off to a bad start as I forgot to take "before pictures" again! I really got to get better at this.

A Sunday well-spent brings a week of content

What a Sunday! I have been sanding and painting my hallway all day; just giving it a badly needed refresh really.

My hallway consists of six door frames, four have doors and the other two are entrance ways. I call it the pivot zone as it's only big enough to stand in. You just pivot where you want to go.

Since my home is older, the trim work is extensive. It feels like it takes forever to paint! I started out sanding everything to try and smooth out some areas. After three hours of sanding I think it could have used more. 70 years of bad paint jobs by previous owners have done a number on it. But I do notice a difference, so that's good, yet I still want to even it out more. I'm pretty anal about crap like that. Oh well, next time I guess.

A nice thing I discovered sanding today is that you can sand old hinges and it polishes them up quite nicely. The hinges were pretty tarnished, so I thought I would see what the sander would do to them. Turns out, it polishes them back to the original silver and they are now sparkling! I think I will try to sand down the doorknobs next and see where that leads.

But I'm definitely done for a few days. Holding a sander for so long and then painting with a brush for another four hours has made my wrists ache.

Update: Here is the polished door knob. Kinda turned out gold and silver. Still looks cooler than it did.

Rubber duckie, you're the one

It’s been a busy couple of weeks. Work is always crazy in December; this year especially as I’m trying to finish a couple of projects before year-end. Christmas shopping is hectic and all the while I’m trying to organize getting my bathroom updated.

I’m not the best at this reno thing. I don’t really know all that goes into this stuff, so I just have to trust the guys that are doing the work. So far, they have been great. (fingers crossed it continues)

It will be exciting to see the bathroom finished. It’s tiny, so I’m going for brightness. I’m putting white subway tile and glass tile in the tub and octagon tile on the floor. I want it to have a classic old-time look, but with modern touches. That should suit the style of my house.

I picked out the new fixtures last week and I am in love. The sink is a pedestal and has a unique modern look. The faucet (pictured) was not the style I was looking for at first, but the minute I saw it I knew it was the one.

Currently, my bathroom tub is surrounded in linoleum. Yep, that’s right, flooring! It looks nasty. Really, my whole tub is a mess. Only the shower works and the tub itself is in desperate need of resurfacing.

I feel like this is the year of renos. I haven’t had an opportunity since I moved in to do all of these big fixes. Most of my fixes have been small and completed on a tight (really non-existent) budget. It’s been easy to decorate and paint. That’s stuff I can do on my own and don’t need help with. Actually, that’s not entirely true. Much of the decorating and fixes have been done with my mom’s help. She has sewed curtains, recovered furniture, painted walls and even took down kitchen cupboards when I wasn’t looking.

And to be honest, she’s the reason I’m in the “year of renos” too. If it wasn’t for her I would still be shivering in my living room every winter.

I love pink!

Yes! Insulation in my basement. It's finally done and feels so much cozier down there already. The dank is gradually going away. Next step, poly.

Here are the latest pics.

The creepy place

Wow! Nothing like a call from the contractor saying he can begin the basement reno tomorrow to give me the kick in the butt I need to clean. it. out.

I've been saying I'm going to clean out the "creepy place" for years, but I never have. I hate being down there. It's cold and dank and just plain creepy. So creepy, that when I first moved in there was a mailbox nailed to the door of the old coal room. *shudders* Why was there a mailbox there? Did someone live in that little room? Was it the Blair Witch? Just weirded out thinking about it.

But now it’s going to be torn up, cleaned up and insulated. Yay! I can hardly wait til it’s done. I can now think about having a rec room, or at the very least, have my washer and dryer not across the basement from each other.

Oh, and if you are wondering... 6 large garbage bags full of crap, 10 boxes to go to the CDA and probably a full truck load of “bigger” garbage. Whew! Thankfully that’s done. It’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.