So a girl walks into a bathroom and is horrified. That would be me. And the bathroom I’m referring to is the kids’. It was ugly. Pink tiles, nasty-out-dated wallpaper (and in case you forgot, every single room in the 1820 had said nasty-out-dated wallpaper when we first moved in) and the floor had cheap linoleum tiles from who knows what decade. Well, I’ve changed alllllllllllll that!
For the past 10 years, this bathroom redo has been on my list. I started back a few years ago by painting the tile in the tub/shower area, but then I walked away. Other projects took priority. Still, there was half torn off wallpaper and honestly it was just an embarrassment when guests would come over to stay. So with all of this quarantine time I’ve had on my hands and with my nesting instincts kicking in, I tackled that damn bathroom.
Working with a furloughed budget, it was a must to be wise with my decisions. So, instead of gutting the room, the pink tile had to stay and the special tile paint was my savior. And why not, really. That paint is good stuff; I’ve used it before and it did me right then, so it only made sense to paint the pink away. It’s easy to apply – just follow the directions on the box, put on protective eye gear and wear a mask as the stuff stinks to heck and gone. Open a window. You get it..
I had Sean take out the toilet so I could remove the old linoleum tiles and install new. The way I see it, linoleum is making a comeback. It’s popping up in all kinds of home decor magazines (and believe me, I paw through many of them every month), the designs and patterns are pretty and the stuff is down right user friendly. Price is right too. So I chose 2-foot tiles that resemble marble and peeled and sticked those bad boys right down on the floor. There was one area where we had to rebuild the subfloor, but other than that, the rest was a cinch.
The old wallpaper was removed. Ugh, enough already with the wallpaper. I’m over taking it down and thankfully, I only have one room left with it and that project is on the horizon. I treated the walls, cleaned them and then painted on a light grey – Hush by Behr – to be exact.
The sink cabinet had to stay, so I had to work with it. Down the road, I’d love to put in two sinks so M & C would each have their own, but for now, I painted the cabinet a high gloss black and called it a day. The radiator was also painted black.
Still, more storage was needed in this bathroom and the only spot that made sense was where the big mirror is. To remove the mirror would have been a nightmare and a questionable can of worms we didn’t want to open. I figured putting shelving in front of it wouldn’t be a sin, and since mirror reflects everything (as we all know) it makes the room look bigger. Being mindful of a man standing over the toilet to do his thing, we hung the shelves at a height and a depth where no head would be bumped. Sean reinstalled the toilet.
So this bathroom was certainly an ugly duckling and luckily you know the rest of the story. It’s light, bright and airy. Little pop of color with the shower curtain. No longer an embarrassment, we now have two teens that are actually taking care of it and keeping it clean. And just for that, I am grateful. Another bathroom redo project I can check off my list.
Marble-Look Adhesive Floor Tiles
