Tag: Bathroom

Trim: Main Bathroom

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Before we remodeled our main bathroom, it had pink on nearly every surface.  Even the walls were covered in a metallic pink floral wallpaper.

Before the wallpaper removal began, we planned to have 18 inches of white trim at the top of the walls, a shelf below and lilac paint covering most of the walls.  We thought the paper would be easy to remove becuase it was peeling.  With our trim plan in mind, we began tearing down the wall paper.

It turned out to be far more difficult than we initially thought.  After hours of scraping, peeling and subsequently damaging the sheet rock, we had removed about 18 inches from the ceiling down.  And that was on one wall!  Time for plan B; we opted to install sheets of beadboard to cover up the remaining wallpaper.  A few more hours of scraping and we had the top 18 inches of wallpaper removed from the entire bathroom.

Once we had the paper removed from the areas we knew would be visible, we cut our sheets of bead board from 4 foot by 8 foot down to 76 inches, leaving them four feet wide.  Ben used an air nailer to secure the sheets to the wall, going in to the studs.  Then, we covered the bottom of the bead board with baseboard, hiding the unevenly cut ends and gap between the panel and floor.

To build the shelf to display and store items, Ben cut a sheet of 3/4 inch thick MDF into 3.5 inch,  3 inch, and 1.25 inch wide pieces.  Then, Ben nailed the 3.5 inch cut piece to the wall 77 inches from the floor, checking to keep it level.  He added shims in areas because this piece was partially covering up the bead board panels.

Once the trim was secured, the 1.25 inch pieces were added to provide additional support for the shelf.  Keep the tops of the trim flush with one another.  Cut the trim pieces at a 45 degree angle when approaching doors or other vertical trim.  Finally, the 3 inch shelf was installed on top of the trim pieces.

Then, of course, fill, sand, prime and paint.  This can be modified to any height.  If a shelf is added, be sure the height works for the use of the space.  You don’t want to bump into it.

Master Bathroom Reno, Take 2

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After we replaced the old furnace with our new geothermal heating and cooling unit, we were able to remove the ductwork raceway in our master bathroom. 

Without the wall for the ductwork, we had enough room to move our toilet and add a 5 foot bathtub/shower.

With a new floor plan, we started to re-remodel our master bathroom. 

The first item to go was the small shower stall.  You can see into our kitchen through that vertical hole.

The toilet and vanity soon followed.  Ben moved the toilet plumbing and we got to work rebuilding.  We had some sheet rock to patch after tearing down the wall, so that was the first change.  Then Ben installed our new bathtub and we built a wall at the end.

We decided to make the end wall a 3/4 tall wall to keep the shower light and bright.

Once our wall was built, we installed out 12 inch square white marble surround.  This is a square lay pattern with glass tile accents.  I love that the marble extends to the ceiling. 

More marble and grainte soon followed.  Ben did a wonderful job installing our absolute black granite and white marble checker board floor.  It definitely makes a statement while being classic.

We let the tile set before grouting with an unsanded white grout.  Sanded grout would have scratched the marble.  To keep with the rest of the house, we installed the same trim pattern we used in our master bedroom.  Unfortunately, we could not completely install the trim at this point becuase we had to move our electrical panel first. 

Here’s a shot of the vanity Ben built.  He even cut and polished the granite! 

I filled and sanded about 1,000,000 holes.  A lot of primer, paint, sweat, blood and tears later, we had a new bathroom!

Master Bathroom Reno, Take 1

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Our master bathroom was awkward, to say the least.  Unfortunately, I don’t have photos of it, but here’s a layout:

As you can see, there was a lot of wasted space and even more doors.  The master bathroom, and therefor, the master bedroom, were connected to our kitchen!

Ben closed the door way to the kitchen and added a shower stall in place of the small closet.  The wall on the other side of the shower had to stay because the furnace duct work ran through it and out the roof.  Notice the electrical panel:

Ben ripped up the linoleum floor, replaced it with ceramic tile and installed trim.  Not great, but better than the walk through. 

The original vanity and toilet stayed, too.  Not pretty!

So, after two years of living with this, we decided to take the plunge and renovate the master bathroom…

Bathroom Pinks and Blues

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Our main bathroom was an eye sore to say the least.  It was almost completely mauve.  2 inch square tiles covered the floor and countertop.  Pink metallic wallpaper covered all the walls.  Almond (read nicotine-stained) 4 inch square tiles were in the shower and went up to the ceiling cabinet?!  Yes, we had a totally unusable cabinet above our shower.  Here’s our starting point. 

After using the bathroom as it was for one year, we decided it was time to start over.  The process began by pulling out the awkward cabinet.  Someone seems pretty happy about it.

The next item to go was the tub, tile and sheet rock behind.

Pretty, huh?

Then Ben unhooked the sink and pulled out the vanity. 

After the vanity, Ben pulled up all the pink floor tile.  Then we spent HOURS removing the wallpaper.  We didn’t get very far and scraped up the walls along the way.  Time for plan B.