Sunday, March 27, 2016

#FixerUpper - Dreaming up a new bathroom



Ok, I do love my house. Love coming home. BUT, people, make no mistakes that I love the pink and burgundy tile! Oh, me oh my. I was over it by the start of high school. But, no one I ever knew changed tile. It was a major part of your home and installed to last. Especially the heavy set tile of 1940's.

 Yes, I've heard the comments that it is coming back. I've heard from the purists that it is so retro and in great shape and is part of what makes your home special. Yes, I've heard from my ultra conservative father that there is nothing wrong with your tile. If you have to do something to it just have it re-glazed.  It will be as good as new. Well, people, I listened to none of this.  I'm contrary that way. ☺️

I do want to respect this home and the beautiful details that you expect to find in an older home. So, I am keeping a mosaic tile floor. Very similar to the one that is in pink! But, um, is in a beautiful, classic marble.  Then I am lessening the amount of tile used. If someone waltz's into this house in another 75 years and hates the tile I chose they wont have so much to deal with.  I've chosen to update the old 4X4 pink squares with a classic but still current subway tile.

As a reminder this is a 75 year old house. Being an old house it has a few hidden secrets. My decision to remodel the bathroom and take all the existing tile out of there lead us to discover a rusted through pipe deeply hidden in the heavy mortar holding all that glorious pink tile in place. YIKES! It would have been a matter of time and not a long time that the whole floor would have fallen through. So gutting this bathroom ended up being the right call.






I also revealed a huge stash of razor blades!! Yikes. Odd but true fact. Back in the 20's, 30's and 40's homes and hotels had slots built into the medicine cabinets or a small brass plate on the wall for men to "safely" dispose of their razor blades when the blade became dull. I can only imagine the DNA on all those blades. The rotted wood is all being cleared out and we will rebuild the base for the bathroom and make sure the floor and foundation will be strong and sturdy for the future. Oh, and the window that leads to the enclosed porch is going bye-bye.

We've decided to work with Lowe's Pro desk for this remodel. We've remodeled 6 homes this past year with #Lowes.  My dad owns many properties that he rents out or flips.  There are many ways to save money on a remodel or when building a home.  As a designer and married to a husband who is an architect we have some resources open to us that others don't. However, I have found consistently that Lowes will work with you and goes above and beyond to help you find the item you need. Also, it's great to choose resources that are close to your project. This cuts down on delays and delivery problems. Here is a peek at the tile that I've chosen for this bathroom. This bathroom will now be a guest bathroom. Nothing was overly fancy about our home growing up. Life over all was simple for most homes in the area. I don't want to break the bank with this bathroom, but I do want it to be inviting and to feel special for our guests.  I chose basic subway tile for the bathroom but am highlighting it with Carrera marble and pretty patterns.  Let's take a peek:




And of course we need to round things off with a new toilet, beautiful sink and oh so pretty fixtures.





I'm still on the hunt for the perfect mirror. Love, love, love putting all the details together, don't you? I can't wait to see it all come together and see the new "old" bathroom!

I do appreciate many of the details of this old house. I will be keeping the bathroom cabinet. But, I will visit my local Lowes store to pick up new moldings to trim it out and will be ordering new doors for it.  I love that it has a built in hamper! Did you grow up with a hamper in the house?  

2 comments:

Babs said...

We did not grow up with a hamper--did we? I remember hampers--those with plastic wicker"louvres" for breathabi
lity--in other people's homes but not ours. So gosh where did we throw our dirty clothes? Maybe in the washer we had in the kitchen which at first was one of those tound tubs with a roller on top to wring out the wet clean clothes before you took them to the backyard to hang them on the clothes lines!

Time to Design... said...

Our hamper was built into the bottom of this cabinet. It had doors at the bottom to open and gather the clothes and a swinging door in the middle to toss your clothes in. Mom had a rule that your clothes went straight to the hamper. You were in big trouble if she found them stuck in your closet or tossed on the floor.