But with this bathroom? The details are KILLING me, man. It's not the design details or even the construction details. It's the little crap on the to-do list that you just keep putting off until it can be put off no more.
We attended to some of those this weekend, with consensus between the both of us when Sunday night rolled around that you could hardly tell what we'd done. I mean, WE knew, but it was all stuff no one else was likely to ever notice. Even the BIG project we undertook looks fabulous but also blends in so seamlessly that you'd think it had always been there:
You see them? I call them tile baseboards, though technically that name is a misnomer since clearly they are made of tile, thus NOT boards at all. Either way, there they are and it feels like the always were. It's important to note that these pictures were taken while the grout was still wet, so it actually dried to match the grout on the floor surfaces perfectly. Which is pure kissmet, seeing as how my husband couldn't find the same exact color in regular grout, only in epoxy which he in no uncertain terms informed me he would rather staple his balls to his thigh than use for this project, so it was pure luck that he found something that ended up so damn close to perfect.
The dirty details on installing this aren't that impressive. We had a full box of floor tiles left, so we simply used the tile saw to cut them into thirds. My mother in law, the detailiest of all details people, came over to help and used the same goop behind these tiles as we used for the shower walls. She cleaned the floors really, really well and then matched the tiles up so the grout lines would perfectly mirror those on the floor. Buttered the back, stuck them in place, and used spacers under the tiles and between each one to properly place them. After the full width pieces were done, we marked all the cuts and placed those. About an hour after she finished, we went back through with the grout. She filled it in and my husband and I took turns cleaning it off the tile surfaces and cleaning the grout lines and that grout up top. Our goal was to make it as smooth as possible and to keep the heigh consistent where we could. On the walls, the top of the grout will be covered with paint. Should we decide we need to on the vanity fronts and sides we can cover the grout with matching silicon.
This area right here is between the two vanities and will have some sort of shelving filling it with a space for a laundry hamper and possibly a trash can. The sides of the vanities need to be cleaned up a bit, and the walls are all getting another coat of paint hopefully during the week.
Why did we decide to use tile instead of wood? A few reasons. One, we had the tile already. Two, it is much more waterproof (obvs.) than wood in case we ever have a leak or flood up here. And three, it is a better physical barrier against bugs. This bathroom is upstairs, so bugs have never been a problem. Other than that ASSHOLE scorpion I found in the tub once. True story: I'd been tiling the shower walls for little snippets of time for several days. I had a towel down on the floor of the tub and a stepladder in there for the high places. The day I was done, I moved the towel out and there, under the towel I'd been on barefoot for probably 10+ hours total was a dead scorpion. Meaning that jerk had been ALIVE in that tub at some point and probably been squished to death. ::shiver::
The other question might be why we decided to tile in front and on the sides of the vanities. We'd considered skipping that, but we thought it looked cleaner to do it there. Plus, when we built the risers to make those vanities taller they looked really nice, but after moving them in and out of place several times and doing other work in there they started to look less pretty. We were going to find wood to put up around them, but honestly I liked the idea of tile everywhere and I didn't want to deal with cutting, sanding, and staining wood. So...laziness = why we did it this way.
Here's a picture that's pretty true to life in terms of color, except that the vanities are not black which they appear to be. But this is how the color of the walls (Martha Stewart Metallics Tide Pool) and tile looks in normal daylight. I am in LOVE with the color as it perfectly brings out the greens and blues in the shower accent tiles. It actually sort of changes color depending on the light, so sometimes when I photograph it, it is super green and other times it's super blue. Either way....LOVE. I read a lot of review online about this paint, but didn't find it to be nearly as much of a pain in the butt to use as others said. Maybe I got lucky? It does need a second coat, which I hope to accomplish this week. I also LOVE the new WHITE ceiling. It was 'builder white' before and had weird blotches that were yellowed like maybe someone enjoyed sitting on the pot and smoking cigarettes or something. Super gross. So now the ceiling, window sills and door/door frame are WHITE. I also spray painted the door handle to brushed nickle.
Anyhow. More pictures to come later when I get the paint done, put up fixtures like the towel bar and toilet paper holder, and lay down some pretty accessories.
Updated To-Do List:
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- Cut away water-damaged drywall in garage ceiling
- Put in new insulation and replace drywall.
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- Move, replace, or cut down mirror to accomodate new taller cabinets
- Replace layer of plywood on subfloor, sealing together with Liquid Nails
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- Move existing drain and pipes for bathtub to accomodate new height of tub
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- Put in new faucets
- Look into storage options in room
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