What's goin' on with the Shababys...: Our Extreme Home Makeover... Bathroom Edition

This is the story of our master bath remodel.

It was the one thing that made me hesitate about buying our house.

The master bath was awful, but I knew it had potential to be great!

I knew it would be hard and we would be screaming in anguish over this remodel. But I didn't know how bad it was going to be. (I mean how hard can it be to gut the whole thing, knock down a couple walls, rebuild them, and start from scratch? Really hard... that is the answer.)

In the end, a year and a half later, it was soooo worth it. All of those weekends spent framing walls, rewiring, hanging drywall, tiling, and painting were a pain. But oh, how I love my bathroom! (I never thought I'd ever have a bathroom this nice. I'm so thankful!)

Before Pic:

Yes, the walls in the master bedroom were a horrible brown. The wall was open to the sink area complete with carpet. You can't see it from here, but the counter was a badly chipped yellow laminate. And yes, the door was hanging off under the sink. Dingy blue walls, TINY door to the shower and toilet.... it was almost enough to say "no" to this house. We knew it would be a lot of work to re-do it.

The dark cave of a shower room with very yucky dirty tile. And, I'll direct your attention to the brown crown molding that went around the ceiling. Ack!!

The first thing we did when we bought this house was gut the whole thing. I mean we ripped everything out! We took it down to the studs in the wall. For a few months we had one bathroom for all of us, which was the hall bathroom. It wasn't that bad. But after a while I was begging Philip to put the toilet back in our bathroom area. (When there was just one potty, it seemed like everyone always had to go at the same time.)

Then well, we needed walls and a door for our bathroom. Because well, hello, I was tired of shutting my bedroom door so I could have privacy. We put in a cabinet that we got off of craigslist with a double sink. But, of course the plumbing was difficult, so we only had one that was working. So that is how we lived for a VERY long time. Unfinished walls and floor, but at least we had another toilet and sink!

We also found a jetted tub on craigslist. (I have always wanted a jetted tub!) But of course it was a royal PAIN to figure out the plumbing for the drain. But, my genius husband figured it out and we eventually had a bathtub too! But no faucet... because that just has to be difficult too doesn't it!

So here we are. We have walls! We have a toilet! We have one working sink! We have a working tub! We are starting to tile..... But do you think this would stop me, being 6-7 months pregnant at the time, from taking a luxurious bath? Why no, it was wonderful! I think that bathtub was what got me through those last few months of pregnancy.

So now starts the debate. What to do with the walls of the shower? Tile? (Philip was about to die thinking about doing more tile at this point.) Solid surface walls? In the end we went with marble walls. The one thing we splurged on, that we didn't buy second hand, in this bathroom.

There they are! Sigh, aren't they lovely. And there's my yawing child in the pic too.

I put a shower curtain up, and we lived like this for a LONG time too. I mean, everything worked. But it just wasn't finished. I was about to have a baby. And then we had a newborn, so that was the last thing on our minds. We eventually painted the walls. We stalled for a while again, and then my husband surprised me by finishing the tile/grouting and also painted the vanity cabinet while I was out of town for a family reunion. BLESS HIM!!! I have a wonderful husband!

We put the finishing touches on recently and this is what we have to show for our months of long hard work. (A special thanks to Philip's Dad for helping us out on some long weekends too!)

Oooohh

Ahhhhh

Love, Love, Love

You can't see it from here, but there is another sink on the right. Sigh, I never thought we'd have double sinks one day.

No, we don't have a custom built vanity, or expensive tile, or granite countertops... but I don't care. We got most everything second hand on craigslist.

It's just glorious to me.

It's so much more than many people have in this world. I know that to have running water, air conditioning, electricity, and a refrigerator for our food (much less a freezer) makes us fall into the category of living luxuriously.

I'm so thankful for this blessing. All goods things come from our Father in heaven.

Once again:

Before