Before and After - The Master Bath

And now for another really dramatic change…the master bathroom.  When we bought this house, the master bathroom was carpeted (EW), had super icky barf colored granite counter tops, really ugly cabinets, and only one vanity.  The other vanity was..... in the closet!  Yes, IN the master closet.  It was the strangest set up.  There was a giant garden tub in the corner, which we would have liked to keep, but we needed the space to move both sinks into the bathroom.  The shower and toilet were also decrepit, so we got rid of those.

So here are the before pictures, including (3rd pic) the sink in the closet shot…

NASTY CARPET AND GRANITE

DARK CAVE OF A SHOWER

SINK & VANITY IN THE CLOSET!

When we remodeled, we wanted a little more space in the shower to put in a bench, so we bumped that out 12”.  We got all new tile for the floor, backsplash, shower, and tub surround.  And I have to admit I went a little bit nuts in here with the tile.  But  the biggest reason was that I couldn’t find a bathroom style I liked.  Or that we both liked.  I had scoured Houzz for months and finally found one picture that had sea glass next to creamy beige limestone, and it just looked so clean and beachy.  So that’s what we went with.  We did the same style of white shaker cabinets as the kitchen, but with a beautiful glittery Silestone called “Stellar Snow” for the counter tops.  It was in our last house and we LOOOVED it.  It has all these little flecks of glass in it plus some mica for sparkle.  It gives this sort of glittery effect.  And because it has the specks, you absolutely cannot see dirt or water rings on it.   It’s awesome! 

Silestone "Stellar Snow"

For the floors we got a dark brown linen tile in a 12x24 size.  On sale, woot!  For the shower (bottom half) and tub surround I picked out this amazing modern striped tile that was 10x31 (weird size!  Also, crazy expensive).  Above that and around the sinks and tub I picked out a 2x4" sea glass subway tile.  (In retrospect I should have paid more for that.  I found what looked like the same tile at 3 different stores and went with the cheaper one.  But once it was installed I realized that it was only painted green on the back, not green all the way through.  So in the places where the tile layer’s saw chipped the back of the tile, you can totally see the color disappear.  LAME.  You only see it if you’re really looking.  But I see it every day when I’m brushing my teeth and it bugs.  So if you’re going for a colored glass subway tile like that, make sure you check that it’s a solid color glass.)  On the shower floor I splurged and got a gorgeous four tone glass mosaic tile.  It had to be hand set, so it wasn't cheap, but it was a really small area, and it was sooo beautiful!  So I went for it. 

The tub we got was pretty standard.  Long, but not wide.  It’s also not a whirlpool tub because after having two of those, we realized that we never use the jets and they’re a pain to clean (mildew gets in the jet cavities and is so hard to get out!).  We can both fit in this tub, and that's all that really matters.  And hopefully someday we'll get a hot tub in case we really want to luxuriate in a bubbly bath.

Finally, the walls were pained a creamy neutral called "Shoji White", we got squared sinks, Ikea faucets, a new high flow toilet (screw the ecosystem!  Haha. Just kidding), new lighting, and we were finally ready to go! 

And here are the final afters….

For dramatic effect, here is the before and after shot.

What do you think?

Before And After -- Pippa's Bathroom

Pippa’s bathroom is next up on the tour.  Her bathroom used to be a jack-and-jill just like the one between Beck and Daphne’s rooms.  But we turned the connecting bedroom into a laundry room, so now she has a bathroom of her very own.  And it might be my favorite bathroom in the house.

We chose a retro hexagon black and white tile for the floor.  We painted the vanity white because, like the other bathroom upstairs, we didn’t have money for a full renovation.  That, and a bit of paint on the walls, plus a new toilet, faucet, and a good solid cleaning and this bathroom definitely became livable. 

I didn't take before pictures for some reason that I can't fathom.  So the only ones I have are from when the demolition had already started.  You can't see much in this pic, but to the left is the sink, through the doorway to the left is the tub, and across from that (to the right) is the toilet.  

This is the toilet nook (toilet already removed).

And here is the old vanity before it was painted, but with the new tile already in...

Here are the after shots...

Her light...

Her sink....

So...what do you think?

Before And After - Jack And Jill Bath

There are two bathrooms upstairs on the kids’ level.  One is a jack-and-jill bath between Beck and Daphne’s rooms.  This may not be as dramatic of a change because the room is actually only partly renovated.  But at least we got rid of the horrid carpet (in a bathroom, yuck!) and replaced it with 24x24" beige linen tile (which we got on close out for $2/sq foot!).  We replaced the toilet, which was so discolored and disfigured from either fire or fireworks or bombs being set off inside that it couldn't be cleaned or repaired at all! We painted the vanity white, and added brushed nickel hardware.  And we got new lights and sink hardware.  

Someday we’ll remodel it completely including individual mirrors, a smaller vanity with a space in between (there’s nowhere to hang towels!), and a really cool hexagonal sea glass backsplash (already purchased).  

We will probably add a new tub surround, too. (You can't see the tub, but it's on the left of the picture behind that door. And it's just your standard molded plastic surround with sliding doors.)  But for now, here’s how the new bathroom looks…

Before....

After...

For dramatic effect, the before and after shot...

Someday when we finish the updates in this room, I'll post pics again.  

House Renovation - Bathrooms Before And After

I think today I’ll do a bathroom tour.  Our house has five, FIVE, bathrooms.  And before you go thinking how luxurious my life must be, I have to remind you that all FIVE bathrooms need to be cleaned.  That’s 7 sinks, 5 toilets, 3 tubs, 4 showers, and all that tile flooring with the associated GROUT that my children have free rein to pee in, on, and around, as well as dropping and spitting toothpaste, mouthwash, boogers, and other worse things.  I despise cleaning tile flooring.  That is, I despise cleaning grout. But only slightly less, I detest scrubbing bathtubs and showers.  Toilets I don’t mind.  I know that seems weird.  But it’s the grout, the mildew in the corners of the grout, the unreachable spots in the tubs and showers that give me fits.  But enough about this sordid aspect of the topic.  Suffice it to say that cleaning five bathrooms blows.  Now...let’s move on to the transformations!

Bathroom 1:  I’ll start with the basement bath because it was so shockingly horrible before, and so lovely now.  We nick-named it “The StarTrek bathroom” when we bought the house because of the weird rounded shower enclosure and nooks.  It reminded us of something from the original 1960’s Star Trek TV show set.  

But we tore out every speck of that bathroom.  It has now made a successful leap into the 21^st century. And I give Big Daddy full credit for this one.  He picked out everything himself, from the tiles to the layout to the furnishings.  He wanted a spa feel since this is the guest bath, being closest to the guest bathroom.  And it turned out absolutely stunning, I think. 

Here, for dramatic effect, is the before and after shot...

 What do you think?