Update!
I have so many posts to finish about various areas of the house… but ya know, editing vacation photos just wins me over every time.
Remember the plans for our little baby bath? Well, we're sticking pretty close to it so far. We've got all white mostly everything. A beautiful custom vanity by our friend, James, at Rivertown Woodcraft. And the signature Ikea mirror. I purchased that like... pre-demo. Everyone puts this mirror in their bathroom, do they not?
We did not however, pull off the hex tile floor. Just wasn't going to work out. We contemplated the flooring forever, per usual. But I think sticking with a simple grey stacked mosaic ended up working out well. We'll bring in unique elements elsewhere- in non permanent ways. It also took us forever and a day to decide on a vanity faucet (because the round mirror hung down and out from the wall so much), and light fixtures (I wanted your entire face lit, not just from above.) The struggle with balancing modern and functional with midcentury and appropriate adds to our decision making delays too.
Pro tip: Make sure you measure ALL pieces and parts. I was convinced the light fixtures were not evenly spaced around the mirror and in relation to the vanity. But we kept measuring and realigning, and almost put new holes in the wall! The measurements were telling us everything was evenly spaced and aligned properly, yet the whole placement felt off. Last thing we thought to measure- the round mirror. It wasn’t perfectly round and the nail holes on the frame were not centered!! So we eyeballed that and it looks much better now. #ThanksIkea
And now some things we tried, things we learned, and things we redid.
Things we tried
We initially tried to cut individual tiles to create a custom floor pattern. I love our creativity and blind ambition. However, it would have taken much much longer to finish and the saw blade kept chipping the tile edges. We probably didn’t even have the right tile to be cutting like that anyway. But look how fun our idea was!
Things we learned
Another failed attempt was mudding and taping our drywall. My exact thought was, “Hey I went to art school, I know how to sand things! Dustin works on vehicles. This is just like bondo, I’m sure. We got this!” Absofrickinlutely not. One attempt at a corner and I was done; again fearing we were ruining the house. So we called in the pros! For the first time we hired out work and I’m so glad we did! MikeTheMudder, our OG VIP came in to save the day and has since returned to do our bedroom, closet, and living/dining/and kitchen area.
This was big because we learned when it’s necessary to call in people who already know what they are doing! DIY is F-I-N-E until it’s not. Mike saved us time, and in-turn money, because we won’t have to redo his work. No ripply bubbles in our walls! He also uses like five different compounds! There are specific reasons for each separate layer. Some are sticky and strong, intended to hold. Others are thin and easily sanded. We had purchased one… newbs.
Things we redid
Like the DIY tile and drywall mud, we’re not going to get everything right the first time. That was the case of our trim. Our first plan was to match the trim in the rest of the house. The rounded edge style common to all our grandparent’s homes. Our friend Drew, who has helped all throughout our renovation process, worked with Dustin to install the trim in the bathroom. The new toilet was set into place. I even got the new trim painted. After a couple days Dustin decided he didn’t like it. He wanted something thinner. We’ll end up replacing the trim throughout the rest of the house, so it reallllly wasn’t necessary to match anything at that time.
I’m stating right here, right now, if you’re ever contemplating changing something out in your house and get cold feet- call me in. I’ll rip off the bandaid for you. My mom can attest. I will tear down that strip of wallpaper, carefully remove the newly installed trim, roll on that scary bright paint color. I’ll do that initial scary step for you. You’re very welcome.
So I stepped up on the latter and said, “Yeah? You don’t like this anymore?” And popped off the first piece. Second time around we had a paint sprayer and painted the trim ahead of time. Our caulking skills had improved by then too. :) So it wasn’t the worst project to have to redo.
Round two!
Ongoing bathroom debates and projects:
Frost the windows. We have yet to come up with a privacy screen. We removed the lace contact paper and have since taped towels over the windows. So we obviously need a better solution, it just has not been the first priority. As a reminder, this window looks out into our garage, which through garage windows looks into our neighbor’s windows and into their house. Hiiiiiii.
Update the shower hardware. Still working with those plastic gems, guys. Need to find a stainless steel option to match the rest of our fixtures. We just haven’t yet because pickiness… are you surprised?
Decorate!!! Oh my gosh, I CANNOT WAITTTTT. We’ve avoided stores and antique malls for awhile. I didn’t want to decorate the finished rooms because of drywall dust and general construction woes. But we’re getting there!
Organize the vanity. My OCD tendencies can’t wait to make a trip to the Container Store for this specific reason. Kind of waiting to do this and the linen closet right outside the bathroom at the same time.
Refresh caulk and grout. Eh. ya know, eventually.
