Vacation and the bathroom renovation!
We returned from our vacation last week….AMAZING! One day of floating and fishing the Gunnison Gorge, one day of fishing the Colorado River and five days of beautiful Aspens in all their glory! Sadly, Brian nor I took our phones into the Gorge or I would have some breath taking pictures of some of the most beautiful landscapes this country has to offer. All I can tell you is to go see it yourself! It will not disappoint!
I knew I would have to hit the ground running when we came home. I have an apartment that needs tile repair, a cabinet rebuild and paint. And I found an amazing mid century dresser that has all the problems one might encounter with a dresser and I was excited to do a step-by-step tutorial on properly repairing busted drawers, fixing chipped veneers, stripping and painting.
But Monday the tile guys called and they are ready to start on my bathroom. Since I am too cheap to pay someone THOUSANDS to demo the old tile, I decided to tackle that chore myself with the help of my son, Matt.
And chore it was!!!! My plans to take out the wall tile in sections only worked about half the time…the other half we were beating out little chunks of tile and durrock. My plans to “pop up” the floor tiles went by the wayside when we discovered it came up in small slivers with a mere chisel and hammer.
One of the things I learned from my dad…build it to last a lifetime…and since I installed the tile 19 years ago, it was more than a booger to get up!
Thank goodness for tool rentals. This little “tile-buster-upper” thingy saved us about 2 days of work! Seriously, it was the best $60 I ever spend.
I still had to replace some insulation, add a few studs, do some floor scrapping by hand and I had to hire plumbers to move the drain and rebuild the shower valves. But all in all it is coming along nicely and HOPEFULLY it is ready for the tile guys.
As with all “best laid plans” there is one small snaffu in my plan. I had intended to do a shower niche on each side of the shower head…two shelves in each…like the one in my “inspiration picture.” Unfortunately the layout of the studs and plumbing messed up that whole plan….
…so now I can only put one on the right…que sera! Sometimes you just have to drop back and punt!
I can tile. Not a problem. Here I showed you the new backsplash I installed on the vanity! But I am glad I decided to pay someone else to tackle the bulk of this project. After two days of demo, I’m not sure I could lift a box of tile if I had to!
This is where I want to reiterate the importance of doing what YOU love! Not what is “in”, not what Pinterest says is all the rage, not even what your friends and family think you should do! I am all for “finding inspiration” for home decor and improvement projects, because let’s be honest, sometimes we just can’t find a vision for the changes we want to make. But doing what YOU love is important because otherwise you may find yourself hating an expensive change in the not so distant future!
I still love the wall tile and floor tile I picked out 19 years ago…but I know the day will come when stepping into a big ole’ whirlpool tub we NEVER use may be a major feat…a walk in shower will be, some day, a necessity!
So find your inspiration but do what you truly LOVE!
MAYBE next week I will have time to get started on that amazing dresser and I can share how easy it is to turn a trashed piece of furniture into something you will be thrilled to use in your own home!
