The Renovation Has Begun!
Today marks a pretty important day around here because this is the first post of a start to finish renovation that I’ve done on the blog! After almost a year of planning and saving for this bathroom renovation, I’m so excited to say that we’ve started and we are at the point that there is no turning back, which is exactly the spot I love to be in (cause I’m crazy like that).
So today’s post includes no pretty pictures (which is arguable cause I already think it is certainly better than what we started with 🙂). But it does include where we started, a little bit about what we’ve learned so far, and a few inspiration photos to show you the direction we are headed – those will be pretty.
UPDATE: The Kids' Bathroom is finished. Scroll down to see where we started and then click here to see the finished bathroom!
Like any renovation, we’ve already hit a few snags, but we are set on completing this project. So let’s take a look, shall we…
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Welcome to our kids' bathroom! Home of builder grade everything. And by builder grade I mean, cheap, not quite white, but not quite off white, and horribly thought out when it comes to where to put your toothbrush. - I’ll explain in a minute.
Our home is 10 years old and we bought it from the original owners who opted for no upgrades what-so-ever. Sorta my dream scenario since it meant that we got the house for a good price and I could make it exactly how I wanted it over time.
No upgrades in this hall bathroom meant a bathroom that is all one color with linoleum floors, a one piece tub and shower, and a low and standard particle board vanity. The layout is not bad at all, but I could scrub this bathroom all day long and not feel like it is clean. The color is awful. And it is everywhere.
And yes that is a standard vanity light with only two light bulbs. They are burning out one by one, and we didn’t want to buy new bulbs for a light fixture that is on its way out. 🙂
The vanity appears to have drawers, right? In fact, I never even thought to look at that as a feature when we were looking at this house cause I thought it was standard to have drawers in a bathroom. WRONG! There are no drawers in any of the bathrooms in my house and it drives me bonkers! We end up with so many things on the counter top that should live in a drawer. My kids' toothbrushes are in desperate need of a home!
So over a year ago, I started putting the bug in the hubs ear that the kids' bathroom was next on our list. And once we set a date to gut the entire thing you better bet that I cleared our schedules and made sure the kids were occupied so that we could get-er-done. I’m no fool. The hubs was reluctant to start this project and I knew that once it was gutted there would be no turning back.
Once we got going though I think we both realized how fun it is to take on some of these big projects together. Sorta took me back to our days before kids when we had more time to tackle big projects like this.
We started with the baseboards! Goodbye baseboards!!!
Then we yanked out the vanity, which was sheets of particle board (see them leaning against the wall,) which made it easier to get the counter top to come off of the wall.
We knew the tub surround was going to be the most difficult part. Originally we thought we would need to saw it in half and take it out in two pieces, but once we got going we actually ended up ripping it out in chunks.
We discovered that there was a lip that held it to the studs and the drywall sat over that, so the hubs (giving credit where credit is due here) cut around the entire surround about 2 inches from the lip. This allowed us to tear away the drywall and get to the points where the surround was attached to the studs.
Once we got to that point he just started tearing (with gloves on cause it is a bit sharp) and tore and tore until we just had the tub left. I was in charge of hauling it down to the trash. Oh joy!
At that point we were able to lift the tub out.
And then we were left with this!!! So much better already right? I sure think so!
So now you are probably wondering what direction we are headed. Well, in keeping with the color palette of my home we are definitely sticking to greys and whites in here, with some very subtle blue shades. This is the kids' bathroom, and I plan to make it a bit fun with some accessories, but I’m keeping it pretty clean and simple when it comes to how we're going to have to live with it for years to come. They aren’t going to be toddlers forever so making decisions based on their current ages wouldn’t make sense.
These are a few inspiration photos that were my starting off point.
I know this is a kitchen, but it was the first photo that I saw that sparked the idea that I had for the bathroom makeover that I was planning in my head. (Yes I makeover spaces in my head all. day. long.)
What I love about it: The grey cabinets with the white solid surface counter tops, although these ones are way out of budget and a bit traditional for me. I love the simple color palette and the open shelves.
So once I keyed in on grey cabinets I spotted this beautiful bathroom. Again the grey cabinets with the light counter tops are just beautiful. Love the grey and white, but my bathroom will have a bit more color than this. It is a kids' bathroom after all.
I also started to really look at the pattern that tile can give a bathroom and love the combo of the hexagon tile, which is modern (very me) with the traditional pattern of the subway tile (the hub's taste). So it seems that these two tile patterns are going to show up in our kids' bathroom makeover very soon!
I haven’t been this excited for a project in a very long time and I’m thrilled to have you along for the ride!
So tell me, have you ever tackled a bathroom renovation? If so any words of wisdom?
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