Thursday, February 5, 2009

Before and After: Bathroom Renovation


I am in the mood for a lighthearted post today, and one of my goals this year is to start recording pics and stories from our home renovation on my blog... lest we forget the chaos!! lest I start taking the beauty of it all for granted... may God forbid!!!

The VERY FIRST thing we began renovating in our old farmhouse was the upstairs bath. I am not sure how I missed it, upon the final house inspection, but this bathroom was NASTY.

I think it is safe to say that this bathroom (particularly the toilet) had not been cleaned in a VERY long time. It was so bad that we HAD to immediately replace the toilet. At the time, it was the only shower in our house, sooooo.....As soon as we moved in, my dramatic - and very pregnant- self declared "I will NEVER take a shower in this shower. It HAS to go!!" (Am I the only one who is this dramatic about mildew??)

Without further ado, here is the tale of our bath:

Befores:

Here is the shower. The worst part was the piece of plywood that supported the shower. It was black from a complete infestation of mildew. And ewwwwww the smell! Note where the towel bar is... we added something there later.

Can we pause for a moment of silence to fully absorb the interesting color choices here: And here! The aqua clawfoot tub was not really doing it for me in this setup: The flooring was in good shape, but would have to be torn up to get into the stinky plumbing. Take note of the window on the right; it would later need to be changed into a cabinet, since we added an addition onto the back of the house:

After (but not quite finished):

The renovation is done (almost!). We have a new color on the walls and the trim, new tiles on the floor, a new shower and toilet (ahhh. fresh air). We reused the sink and the clawfoot tub: The new shower, and the new cabinet where the towel bars used to be. Prior to this the bathroom had no storage. A kitchen cabinet maker prebuilt them for us, and we "plugged it" into a preprepared drywall "hole.": Here is the unfinished end of our bathroom. It remains unpainted because we have 2 small children (enough said, I hope. And all of you industrious mommies who paint while your kids nap... I don't want to know about you!!):

The new storage cabinet at the end of the bathroom is where the former back window used to be. The new bumpout in the bathroom wall was made to allow a doorway opening in the hallway on the other side, and the transom windows were added to bring natural light into that hallway. I bought the transoms for $10 at an historic architectural salvage place:

Voila! Our semi-finished bathroom!:

24 friends had a thing or two to say...:

MaryAnne said...

The after photos look GREAT! I especially love the storage you built in.

You're smart to hate mildew. I actually makes my husband really sick.

I never get stuff like painting done while my kids nap. They hardly ever nap at the same time, anyhow, and certainly not at the same time long enough to paint!

{darlene} said...

God Bless you, Mary Anne! Me NEITHER!

Mindy said...

Wow! This looks incredible! I cannot believe the transformation. At first, I didn't think it was all that hideous (but that mildew HAD to go!), until I saw your finished product. Wow! In comparison, it was terrible in the beginning! Way to go. You should really be proud of all of the hard work that I know a renovation requires. :)

Jenny said...

Looks great! I love the new built in white cabinet. I have several spaces that could really look nice if a piece were made to fit exactly.

Oh and my child never naps either. Even when she was younger, she only took 40 minute naps!

Flamingo said...

i can attest. this is much better. much much better

Kim@Seasons of My Heart said...

WOW..WOW...WOW...what a GREAT job!!! I love the colors...and the layout. You did great.

I SO love seeing before/after pictures...your home is so adorable, and charming!!!!

Tammy said...

Love the pictures and thanks for the tour.

Your bathroom looks great even if not yet finished. :)

Unknown said...

WOW! It looks so great!

Becky said...

110% better. I was glad you kept that tub, its really great. Love what you have done so far.

I used to do things when my kids napped but now if I don't lay down with them they won't sleep... the older ones that is.

Unknown said...

Oh wow! I thought it was cute before but the after is MAGNIFICENT! I love the colors together. GREAT JOB!


I also love the white cabinet and the bathtub is great (we have an old one like that too - but we should paint our something other than white - that's beautiful).

Thanks for the fun post. I LOVE before and after pics.

Have a great weekend Darlene. I've been praying for Caleb.

Amanda B. said...

I LOVE what you have done with the bathroom. Can you PLEASE come to my house and fix mine too...LOL. I HATE our bathroom. It was an add on by previous owners, and they did a TERRIBLE job!!

Jenny said...

WOW...it looks AWESOME!!!! You guys did a GREAT job and I love your color choice.

Oh and I LOVE that tub!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Looks GREAT!

Anonymous said...

Great job with the bathroom. Few months ago I was doing the same and it is amazing when you see the before and after photos. Scary.

Suzy

Teresa said...

Love the white subway tile so fresh. Love the new colors too-
It's amazing what hard work can do-
Thanks for sharing- you have a beautiful bath.

Tiffany said...

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Your bathroom is beautiful! I cannot even imagine what the previous owners thought when they had an aqua tub and green windows. Color blind? :)

Unknown said...

Can I just say GORGEOUS!

Enough said!

Love you precious friend!
Jill

Jess @ Just a Blink said...

Wow! What a difference! This is a great post. Thanks for sharing.

Julie said...

LOVE the bathtub! Great job!

Felicia said...

Love it! We don't often get to see bathroom makeovers out there. I did one myself recently :)

Melissa @ The Inspired Room said...

Wow! Darlene, that is one fabulous makeover! I am with you on the smell of mildew and the refusal to use a bathroom that smells bad (in any way, I might add). :-)

You did a great job and I love how it turned out! Thanks for sharing it!

blessings,
Melissa

Dawn-Hydrangea Home said...

You did a beautiful job on your bathroom! I love the storage cabinet. And I totally understand the unfinished paint. Most of the rooms in our home are in the same state!

Mary said...

Hi there,
I was wondering what you used on your shower floor? We are redoing our bath & are also using white subway tile for the walls but I'm stumped as to what would work for the shower floor. I'm looking for something that is easy to keep clean. Did you go with marble tile?

Mary

{darlene} said...

Mary,
We used marble tile, carrera marble. It is sealed. I don't find it difficult to care for at all, but I also don't mind a bit of natural aging in exchange for using more natural stones :)
We love the look and are happy with it for sure!
Darlene

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