The Little Bathroom

Since the half bath is used frequently by guests (it's next to the kitchen/living area), we wanted to fix it fast! Well, as you know, nothing gets finished fast with us! 

The little bathroom has been an ongoing project since the very beginning. We started fixing it, but then it got neglected. The kitchen demanded all our time. And then other projects started piling up; we just kept putting the bathroom on hold. But finally, it is basically finished. 

When we bought the house, the little bathroom had some big issues. First, it was covered in floor to ceiling wallpaper. Second, the toilet must have been imported from Japan. The darn thing set so low to the ground that you almost fell trying to find your seat. (Actually, in Japan, I saw toilets that were simply holes in the floor!) Also, the sink felt awfully low in its vanity. Perhaps the previous owners were a wee shorter than the rest of us? We will never know. But we needed things to be updated and adjusted. 

So we stripped the wallpaper. Nan helped us with this during her first visit to the house. Then we patched, repaired, and primed the walls (twice) to make them even. I wanted absolutely no evidence of wallpaper glue. Then, Ian painted the walls navy blue, a rich Martha Stewart color that I love (have forgotten the exact name of paint). 

Ian then hung beadboard and customized the trim edging. I painted it white. We kept the original vanity to save us a little bit of money. Ian painted it gray (after hours of sanding and priming of course). He then removed the old sink and added a new, taller square sink and chrome faucet. A fancy new Martha Stewart overhead light was also installed (after my first choice failed). And I can't forget, Ian put in the new, taller toilet! Wee! 

Now, we just need to hang a mirror and some artwork! I have those picked out. But you will have to come visit us to see for yourself the finishing touches :)

Check out the BIG transformation of our LITTLE bathroom

Nan is standing on the vanity, stripping wallpaper. Thank goodness for my awesome mother-in-law. How many people do you know that would spend hours peeling away paper and glue? And it's not even her house! Also notice that the dental trim (along ceiling) is not painted in these pictures. I will explain who painted the trim later.
     

While I was flying, my sweet husband sent me this picture. Ian was home sanding away the walls and the vanity. Notice how much sawdust covered the area? And notice the old sink? Also, we didn't remove wallpaper glue on the portion of the walls that were to be covered in beadboard. That's why there's a noticeable difference in color on the walls. This saved us a few hours. 

It's about the prep work, right? In this picture, the sink and toilet are gone! 

See ya sawdust! Hello beautiful blue!

Despite the dark walls in this windowless room, the stark white beadboard brightens up the space! We added new hardware to the gray vanity. And the white sink fit perfectly over the existing hole! Whew. 

We originally bought and installed a single galvanized lantern light. As much as I loved the first light, it just did not give off enough brightness. So this one is from Martha Stewart's home collection, and I love it too! Whoever thought I'd like ole Martha's style?!

And finally, the new toilet, with its fancy flush buttons on the top (you can't see). For now, the toilet paper will rest on a moveable stand. I just cannot get myself to drill holes in our pretty beadboard!

Now, if we can just finish the Jack & Jill bathroom..... no progress has been made on that area of the house for a few weeks.