Almost There!

The bathroom is almost complete! We spent the better part of this weekend taking out and tearing down an old, rusty, moldy, stuck on sink, toilet and medicine cabinet. We put in the new toilet, vanity sink combo, hung the new mirror, and new light fixture. None of this could have been done without the help of Joe's dad, Mark. I should almost take out the use of "we" and say Mark did all this. Mostly Joe and I were there as spectators along with Joe's mom, Sharon. Let me just say we are sooooo appreciative of him coming over and wasting two days to complete all this work! It looks fantastic, or so we think! 

Before: wood topped toilet seat and bulky oak vanity  made  for poor flow in the room

After: smaller white vanity and toilet help open up the space. The white really helps light bounce off creating a more open look. We started with the toilet which wasn't too awful to remove, but it wasn't easy either. The floor screws were rusty and some trouble to remove. Taking out a toilet is not as easy as one would think. I won't go in to all the boring details, but let me say what I thought was easy as 1,2,3 turned out to be as easy as 1,2,3............25! After the toilet it was on to the vanity!

This was another project that seemed so simple. I read a lot about removing toilets and vanities on the internet and everything just looked so simple. Nothing over 5 steps. Rule #2 of small, or any home, improvement, don't believe what you read on the internet. The old vanity had four walls, one on each side. The back wall was the hardest to remove. It had holes cut for the pipes and the rest was solid. This was a bit of a problem, tight spaces don't make it easy to do demolition. It did get completed, and I think the sweat was definitely worth it. Although I'll have to ask Mark if he thinks so! 

We decided to reuse the old faucet on the new sink. There really was nothing wrong with it and the style went with the rest of the decor. Doing this helped us save around $50 for a new one. When you're working on a tight budget it's always smart to reuse. Not only is it more friendly for our environment, it's more friendly for your wallet as well!

Before: Small medicine cabinet with vanity lights. Not a lot of reflective surface with this small mirror. This makes the space appear even smaller than it is. Vanity lights are dated and don't provide adequate light.

After: Hanging the mirror horizontal provides more reflective surface to help the room appear larger.  Mirrors can be your best friend in a small space! The new light fixture provides more light and flows with the shape of the mirror.

All of this took place on day one. On day two, we took down that horrible medicine cabinet, hung the mirror, and installed the new light. Again, most of this was completed by Mark. A bonus to DIY projects is having someone who actually knows what they are doing! Even though Mark was the one doing most of the work, he really was a good teacher. I know I learned a lot and I sure hope Joe did, too. I think the next bathroom install will be something Joe and I could handle on our own, with Mark on call of course.

The last item on the bathroom list is the floor. I tore up that old linoleum in preparation for the new tile. Tearing up 19 year old linoleum is not so fun. This step will be skipped when it comes time to do the kitchen. Once the floor is done the bathroom will be completed! I cannot wait for this project to be finished so we can move on the next one.  

Enjoy these next photos. Next time you see this bathroom it will be complete!