Sunday, January 6, 2013

Remodeling: Bathroom #2, Before

I don't think I ever posted about our first bathroom remodel.  Suffice it to say that it was not our preference to remodel that bathroom.  It was possibly the nicest room in the house and is now, most definitely, the nicest room.... thanks to a sewer back up shortly after we bought our house that caused it to be gutted.  :-/

We've spent most of the last three years fixing the things that needed fixing.  Living in and experiencing our 1974 house.  So much of this place is still in 1974, or perhaps even worse, is in 1983.  The need-to-update-list is very long and can be overwhelming.  So it's taken some time to decide which project would be the first, but we have decided that the main/guest bathroom is the winner.

Before:


Unknown hardwood cabinets.  The same wood was used in the other bathrooms and kitchen.  We will be saving it for the eventual kitchen remodel.  I dislike the scalloped detail and dark varnish, but our former neighbor thinks this is an exotic rosewood.  I'm pretty sure we will not be buying new cabinets when we do get to the kitchen remodel.  So I'm hopeful that we will be able to update these in some way.

Pink counter top, vinyl floor, plastic tub and leaky enclosure with a nasty set of shower doors.


A very narrow, very deep set of "invisible" particle board shelves.

The toilet is behind the door with guts that are extremely difficult to find and replace.


With all of the plastic and vinyl, this house is difficult to clean... right down to the grooved baseboard that needs a detailed dusting way too often.

Demolition starts in the morning.

6 comments:

MarmePurl said...

we have the same project going on in our home due to crack in the bottom of the blue tub.
I'll look forward to seeing how yours progresses.

Kathryn Ray said...

Wow. A blue tub? That might trump our olive colored tub.

Carol said...

Good luck! What a pain to have to do this, but it will be worth it in the end.

Natalie said...

I hear you! Our house is turn of the century (as in 1900s) but had some renovations done in about the 1970s. We have tackled one project a year, usually determined by "need" rather than want" (like when a pipe burst inside the powder room wall, or when the other bathroom decided to quit working completely and made our dining room ceiling fall). We are finally at the point where the "must fix" list is shorter than the "we could update this" list. Good luck.

africanaussie said...

your bathroom is very similar to our bathroom. we have dreams of replacing the tub with a shower - although I do like a bath, but as you get older a shower seems more sensible. I look forward to seeing what you will be doing.

Lida Swisher said...

The process of demolishing a part of the house in order to have a new and improved version of it is advised. Since remodeling a bathroom doesn't only mean improving its current state, you made the right choice of constructing one to your liking from scratch, Kathryn. I hope your new bathroom looks great! Thanks for sharing!

Lida Swisher @ Waddle Exteriors