Bathroom reno (may contain explicit pics)

Well, I can finally say that the bathroom renovation is complete!...well, almost.

It's been a whirlwind renovation, it seems. I knew that "one day" I would get around to it, but a few months ago the idea came that now was the time....what with the wedding approaching and three weeks of houseguests!

The difficult part is that we only have one bathroom, so it all had to be done in such a way as to cause the least disruption to the household.

Finally, a goodbye and good riddance to the old avocado green tub, which could never quite look clean no matter what I used on it and how hard I scrubbed....

.....and,....gone!......

Here is the old countertop...I'm sure original....

Note the chair-rail in the above picture. We did a little face-lift of the bathroom a couple of years ago and added that. I really liked the effect, but it had to come off. This presented a problem in that I had caulked just along the top edge against the wall. It looked great but turns out that caulking is not easy to remove. I'm sure there must be a way that I don't know about.

So, I made a cut above and below the caulking and peeled it off the wall. I have painted that bathroom many times in the 28 years I have lived here and didn't all that paint peel up from the wall as one where I had just peeled off the caulking. I don't know if you get my drift, but I'll just say I was horrified.

I hate to admit what I did next but it seemed the easiest fix. We peeled the paint right of the wall....it was actually much easier than taking wallpaper off a wall! But what a mess....every flaw or nail-hole that was on the walls since the house was built was now exposed......here's a picture of the top half exposed....

Thankfully, it all covered up quite well, just a bit more work than I had anticipated....but work I was capable of. I will say again....I am officially retired from mudding!!!!!!!

On a side note, I was sorry to take down the mirror but it just didn't go with the new look. This was a mirror we got in the discount section of Leon's ( we actually have another in the downstairs landing). It's a very large mirror. I scuffed down the finish and painted it white. I know it cost me less than $30 to buy plus the cost of paint....not bad! Leon's often has this type of mirror in the discount corner. Luckily, the mirror found a new home in the front entrance-way.

So, here are a couple of pictures of how it all looks today! We put in a walk-in shower which I've been dreaming of for a couple of years....and it's wonderful!

I've never understood, when watching reno shows on tv, the fascination with natural stone countertops....but now that I had a visit to the granite place in Jarvis and have it installed, I totally get it! It's so beautiful and has such depth.

I'm not quite sure yet about the light fixture, I thought it would be perfect since it echoes the look of the shampoo "niche" in the shower, but I'll have a think on it....

A couple of finishing touches.....one being the trim that Iain has fashioned in the Craftsman style....sorry, hard to get a nice picture with the sun shining, should have taken one in the evening...

....and some accents from A.K.A. Designs in Simcoe ( such a great place with so many options and great advice, to boot!).....

The shower wasn't complete for ten minutes, literally, when I went in to see this....

....and I thought I'd be the one to try it out first!!!!!

So, Sunday was the day I was determined to be done. As I was packing up supplies, I couldn't believe what caught my eye. Just the way the light was shining on the bathroom closet, I could see that I had missed a whole patch of it when I painted it. Oh, well....almost done!

As a quilter, I'd like to think that I know a little about colour. For the bathroom I thought I'd let my daughter pick the paint colour. Well, as soon as I started cutting in on the edges, I knew the colour was wrong. It was almost feeling oppressive to me, hard to explain.

So, I thought how the bathroom was costing so much already, there's no way I was going to have a colour that didn't quite work. Jen and I then chose what seemed to be a much softer green. Hmph...painted on the first coat and didn't it look like fluorescent yellow hi-lighter!!!!! Oh my goodness! (which not an exact quote of what I said!).

So off to the paint store for a very neutral tone and thought to just add colour with the accessories. What the heck was wrong with me???? Three cans of paint!!!!!

Here's a picture of the quilt I worked on last week....

I can't wait til September when I can upgrade my phone and take better quality pictures!

I'll end this long post with a picture of Cooper getting an impromptu bath. He got into something greasy under the bbq and his whole head was covered in grease. Luckily, he seems to enjoy a bubble bath...

Have a great day!