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Category: remodel

  • You are my sunshine

    We decided the bathroom would be gray and yellow with oil-rubbed bronze hardware.  I had my mind set that I wanted some flowers and sun something in the bathroom.  When the girls were little, I used to sing them “You are my sunshine” a lot.  It was also on a CD we wore out, so the saying means something to the girls.  I decided to make signs for the bathroom.

    I used some scrap wood we had in the back of the house and made 2 signs.

    I taped off a sun, and then painted.

    Then came the words.

    Sealed and the final product:

     

  • All the Extras

    Now that the cabinets were finished, it was the extra little things that had to be wrapped up.  We installed a light in the shower (where there was nothing).

    We took down the old light fixture (Wade does NOT like these kinds of lights!) and replaced with a light above each mirror.  We waited until the very end to do this part, because I did not know how I wanted to do the mirror(s).  While I worked on the rest of the bathroom, I was thinking about what to do here.

    I really liked these lights but could not see spending the money on ones like this that were oil-rubbed bronze (like everything else).  These were VERY cheap, so I bought them and spray painted them with the same paint I used on the door knobs.

     

  • Building Cabinets- The Sinks

    This was the super fun part…NOT.  I dropped both sinks in and they fit like a glove!

    I will not tell you ALL about the difficulties with the hardware…but the biggest thing was the distance between the holes for the water lines, and the back of the 2×6 that was supporting the cabinets, was not enough room.  There was a lot of cursing, drilling and shipping to get the faucets to fit correctly.

    AND there were a lot of trips to HD to get things like a longer line for the cold water…yes, the guy in the plumbing department knew very well what I was doing by the end of this project!

    Had to take a break to put the medicine cabinet together.

    And I checked to make sure the drawers functioned correctly.

    Here was the most difficult task of all and took more than just a day to figure out.  I had to research the building codes to find out how to correctly install an additional drain pipe.  We did not want to break apart the wall to do this, so we opted to connect it to the original pipe.  I did find out it can be no more than 30″ from the main drainage pipe.  I also learned that it did not need a J trap on the second pipe.  That is there to prevent backup from sewage gases, and the first one accomplishes that.

    After a lot of curing again, and MANY more trips to HD, I was able to correctly install and tighten all the pipes so that there were no leaks.  Yay me!

    And the final product!!!  Running water, draining, and all!!!

  • Building Cabinets- The Doors

    As I waited for the mortar and grout to set on the counter, I continued working on the doors and drawer facings.  I had these wood knobs, and used a little metallic spray paint and some shellac to make the door knobs.

     

    (Taking a break to add the grout.)

    Putting the doors together.  I did not make the cuts 45% because I wanted a “farmhouse” kind of look.

    I used a table saw to cut out the back so that could glue in beadboard.  I did not use the dame kind that went on the walls, instead this kind is wood that snaps together, so it was double the thickness.

    I punted a bit here because I really did not know how i wanted to do this.  I glued on backing board on top of the back (and used a lot of clamps to make sure it stuck!).

    Next…putting in the sinks and plumbing…

  • Building Cabinets- Counter Top

    The next fun task was putting on the counter top and adding the sinks.  I wanted to tile, just because I had this vision in my mind of what the bathroom should look like.  The counter had to withstand the weight of tile, so I had to do some research on making sure the support was strong enough.

    Cutting the holes in the cement board.

    Whoops!  I forgot to take the middle part of the sink into account when cutting.

    I decided to do the tile on a diagonal.  It takes A LOT more time, but looks better.  And yes, I cut and laid every tile out before starting on actually putting it down.

    Up next…doors and hardware…

  • Building Cabinets- Part 2

    After remaking the drawers, I was glad I waited for the bottom drawer until the cabinets were finished.  See the large space at the bottom?  That is for a step-drawer, something I have seen done…but never like this.  I wanted mine functional, not just a step, so mine also was big enough to store rolls of toilet paper in.

    With the lid.

    This time I was careful about measuring to make sure the drawer was going to fit and work correctly!

    Now it was time to put the cabinets in place.  Yippee!!!

    Next up…adding the counter…

     

  • Building Cabinets

    Let ms start by saying…I have never built cabinets…or drawers in my life.  I am not sure I want to ever again, but maybe after having done it, I will try it again.

    The original plan was to use the existing cabinets and just cut out the drawer part and make it doors to cabinets.  After tearing them apart (because they were not real cabinets), nothing about them was salvageable.

    I set to work on plans for building.  I knew I wanted a pull out drawer for standing on, and a flip out part in front of the sink.  Beyond that, I was really open to what to do.  I search Ana-White and found some ideas, but nothing I could follow all the way, so a lot of this is made up as I went.

    First was the base of the cabinet (leaving the back open).

    Then I had to figure out the support for the sinks which would also be used as drawer guides.  This was just trial and error.  I really had no idea what I was doing.

    Here is where I ROYALLY messed up…I made the drawers next.  Wait until the VERY end to make the drawers.  I ended up having to make them twice because I messed up the dimensions so badly.  But here are pictures of making them…twice…

    As the girls helped with the drawers I continued on the main cabinets–adding more supports for the drawers.

    Using pocket holes, the bottom was attached.  They are starting to look like real cabinets!

    Next came the facing.  This is where it is important to have the measurements right so that the facing is flush with the drawer supports.

    Priming and painting…X2

    Adding the drawer slides:

    This is where measuring after you finish with the drawer slides (or really knowing you will be exact) will prevent having to remake the drawers.  I found that when I finished, I had not taken into account the wheel on the slide.  My drawers were a 1/4″ too big.  No bueno.  🙁

    More to come…

  • Painting

    Once the bathroom was clear of the old sink and cabinet, I set to work painting.  I wanted a gray color, but not the purple gray we painted the master bathroom.  I went with a pretty dark gray this time and LOVE IT!

    One of the things on my cut list was to have beadboard (or wainscoting) at the bottom.  I planned out how that would look, and decided on a space in the middle for a more decorative look.  I cut, primed and painted the board and molding.

    I added the ceiling trim first.  It was a simple 1″x3″ but I love the look!

    Next came the beadboard.  Fun times cutting around the plumbing!

     

    First line of molding added.

    Here is what the final trim looked like.  I could have painted the wall white, but that is actually a thin backing board.  I did that because I knew I wanted several hooks on that part, and there are not studs as often as I wanted hooks.  I thought the board would give the hooks more support.  Plus, it looks pretty nice!

  • Gutting the bathroom

    Taking something apart is a whole lot easier than putting it back together.  The first part of our 2-week project was to gut the bathroom.  The toilet and tub stayed (much to DH’s disapproval).  DH wanted to replace the tub with a walk-in shower.  Thinking about resale, I did not think that was a good idea.  Anyone with children is going to want a tub right?

    The mirror came down first, which made the room shrink in half!

    After talking with my uncle, he mentioned to reuse the existing cabinets. Great idea! As I took out the drawers to look at how to convert it into a cabinet, we noticed how crappy the whole thing was. An executive decision was made and the cabinets came out. I would be building new ones. (((This project just got a lot more complicated!)))  Yes, the cabinets were made of flimsy panel board with a few pieces of particle board thrown in to look like it had some substance!

    We knew that the tile was absent from under the cabinets, so what we built was going to have to fit within that 59″x23″ rectangle because I was not ripping up nor laying new tile.  One thing we were not prepared for was the AC drain pipe came into the sink drain.  We would have to keep that in mind when reconfiguring the plumbing.

     

  • The Girls’ Bathroom

    We are so blessed to have two wonderful girls.  It is amazing how quickly they grow up though!  When we bought our house, there was not an option for 2 sinks in their shared bathroom.  Knowing this would become an issue as they got older (they were 1 and 4 at the time), we figured we would be out of the house by then.  Wrong!

    With the oldest starting middle school, now was the time for a little bathroom remodel.  After spending a little over a year pinning bathrooms, I had some idea of what I wanted, but I knew it would take doing it to make it all come together.  DH insisted he wanted something a guest could use, and not just something “girlie” or “cutesie.”  These things made the must-have list:

    • 2 sinks
    • beadboard on the walls
    • colors- gray, yellow, white, oil rubbed bronze
    • new light fixture

    Anything above that will be a bonus!

    Here are the before pictures.  Very white and very plain.  (See those shelves above the toilet…yeah…I got those when I was 12!  Kinda sad to see them go…)