happiness is a finished bathroom

well, it's one step closer to happiness. february may have been a bear of a month, with everyone in our entire, extended family getting fantastically sick, but at least one major thing was accomplished - the end of our bathroom renovation. as with the vast majority of "quick" renovations, this one was much longer and more costly than we'd ever imagined, especially since we didn't do it ourselves this time around. because it's our only bathroom, we decamped to d's parents' house for several weeks (but not before spending three fun-filled days and exciting nights camping out in a house with no bathroom right before Thanksgiving) while our contractor hurried to get the room in some kind of working order before Christmas and the arrival of houseguests.

when i look at the before and after, i sometimes wonder what all the fuss was about, as they aren't dramatically different - if you exclude the peeling plaster, bulging moisture-ridden walls, cracked tile, exposed lathing, and jury-rigged garden-spigot-as-shower of the original 1925 bathroom:

but oh, i loved that deep wonderful cast iron tub

after living with this arrangement on and off for 30 years, it was time for a change. we basically kept the period style (read: subway tile and mosaic floors) with a few marine-inspired touches, like shiplap-style wainscotting and a salvaged overhead light. we also incorporated storage where ever we could, which sadly meant doing away with the pedestal sink. we have very few, very small closets, so anywhere we can add storage, we do.

the vanity pendants hang at the same height, 

even if that doesn't appear to be the case

our contractor, d's cousin, custom built 

and finished the shelving

trim tile from ebay

home depot marble 12X12 tile

cut down to 6X12 subways

light fixture salvaged from second chance

while the budget for this bathroom was necessarily higher than that for our portland bathrooms because we had to hire a contractor, we tried to keep costs in check by bargain shopping. yes, this meant lots of made-in-china, big box purchases. sigh. home depot and ikea have me in their pockets.

rainshower head not shown, because nobody
needs to see our heinous shampoo caddy

home depot mosaic and subway tile.
stock - who knew?

h checking out the craftmanship

now, on to a DIY update of our 1960s kitchen, on a $1500 budget. this should be interesting...

under construction

work continues on our bathroom, as well as this blog - thanks again to beeps peeps for my lovely new banner. our hope is that our lovely new medicine cabinet will be installed this week, finally finishing off the bathroom.* meantime, here's a preview, taken with my increasingly troubled, and therefore blurry, camera.

*nope. not gonna happen. we still don't have the hardware to install the cabinet. meanwhile, drew's beard continues to flourish without benefit of a mirror by which to shave. he might need to take up the mandolin and start a neo-folk band at this rate.

as promised...

... the fairly complete before and after in photos. these span the period of march 2007, when we first put a contract on the house, to june 2009, when we left to return to baltimore. we did all of the design (with wonderful insight from designer friends), and drew did the majority of the work himself, with occasional assists from me, and terrific help from our parents, neighbors, and friends. where we sought out professional support: on the major structural stuff - the dormer additions to the second floor, reversal of the staircase, reconstruction of the front and back porches, and roof installation; window and furnace installation; and hardwood floor and wall refinishing on the first floor (the latter was mostly because we ran out of time). itemizing all that we did to the house would no doubt bore everyone to tears, but here's a laundry list of the most significant projects and their timing, as best as i can remember it and in no particular chronological order:

exterior front

installed new roof (fall 2008), new cedar shingled dormers (fall 2007), new front door (spring 2009), new porch floor, rails and stairs (spring 2009). removed vinyl siding and painted original wood siding (2007-2009). dug new front garden beds and planted trees and shrubs (summer 2007).

before:

after:

first floor

reversed direction and entry point of staircase so that it rose from the dining room to the second story rather than from the kitchen (fall 2007); installed new windows (summer 2007); installed new lighting and electrical (2007-2009); repaired, skim-coated and painted all walls, ceilings and trim (spring 2009); refinished floors (spring 2009); gutted bathroom, installing new marble hex flooring, subway tile shower surround, sink, medicine cabinet, lighting, hardware and fixtures (early 2009); gutted kitchen, sealing up one door, installing french doors to the back porch, and replacing all appliances, cabinets, countertops, flooring, sink, lighting, hardware and fixtures (spring 2009).

living room before:


living room after:


dining room before:




dining room after:


dining room ceiling before:

dining room ceiling after:

kitchen before (previous owner):


kitchen after:





first floor bath before (previous owner):

first floor bath after:

second floor

120 SF dormer addition, including new windows and skylight (fall 2007); built new bathroom with all new insulation, plumbing and electrical service, new lighting, hardware and fixtures, marble floors, salvaged clawfoot tub and stained glass windows (June 2008); added combination walk-in closet and laundry room (fall 2008); finished staircase with oak treads and stained banisters (fall 2008); sanded and painted softwood floors (winter 2008).

before (previous owner):




second floor after:

exterior rear

removed porch enclosure and added wide porch stairs (summer 2007); built new fence (summer 2007); planted trees (summer 2007) and added professionally tended vegetable garden (summer 2008); refinished porch floor and rebuilt porch rails and columns (spring 2009)

backyard before (previous owner):

backyard after:

i'm no doubt forgetting something major here, but you get the gist - big project, big fun. now we're off to an even bigger project, building a person rather than a house, but it seems unlikely that this our last major renovation, even if we'll be on hiatus for some time. after all, we have a gaping hole in our bathroom ceiling right now - we just can't seem to buy a "turnkey" house...

just when we thought we hadn't really come very far

i uploaded some photos tonight of our newly installed stair railings, tagging them "stairs" in our photo gallery. turns out we had a few other photos tagged "stairs." to wit:


whoa. what a trip down memory lane. we've come a long way, baby.
now, thanks to this:

and this:

and a lot of this:

plus a lot of staining (steep learning curve there), we have THESE (please supply your own drumroll):

not too shabby, right? just wait until my next trip-down-memory-lane post, featuring scenes from before we moved in. wow.