Bathroom Update Take Two.

For far, far too long, we have been staring at and showering in an old, outdated bathroom and this weekend I had enough! If you recall, last year we started our inexpensive bathroom update project before baby Battin was born. The idea was to make it a quick and relatively inexpensive project. After running into some plumbing issues, that inexpensive update left an expensively bad taste in my mouth. And while I had plans to potentially redo the floors and maybe even the vanity, I threw my hands up in surrender. Luckily, the beautiful shower was enough to get me through another year.

And so, here we are again. I have been eyeing Craigslist for some time hoping to come across a vanity (with or without a top) that would fit our space. It’s been over a month and nothing. Nada. Then one day as my husband was bathing Liam, he went to shut the vanity sliding door and smashed his finger pretty bad. Again, I threw my hands up in surrender. That was it. Time to do something about this ugly, now dangerous, room.

Our bathroom prior to destruction. Adios ugly tile and fugly vanity.

Project to do list:

• Remove and replace baseboards
• Remove and replace vanity and top
• Remove and replace closet door
• Sand and paint any imperfections
• Install new flooring
• Give the closet a paint refresh
• PURGE AND REORGANIZE (my personal favorite)

Demo day (the easiest) came and went in a flash. The man of the house did most of the work. My responsibility consisted of running after LT and keeping him busy.

He-man hard at work.

Now that everything was removed, it was my turn. I’ve become the resident tiler in our house. A few years back I tiled the laundry room and spare bathroom.

(never mind the mess, please)

Now, you may be thinking, “Whoa I might hire this gal to do my tile floors too!” Not so fast, though this may look like ceramic tile, PSYCH it’s not. It is actually vinyl peal and stick tile. It’s called trafficMASTER ceramica and let me tell you, it is one of the more amazing products I have ever come across when it comes to home DIY. The tile is thick and has beveled edges which gives you the ability to grout and best yet….the only tools needed for cutting is a straight edge and an exacto knife. Simply score and snap! There are tons of how to videos online and the product is only sold at Home Depot.

Now, that said, I always always underestimate how much time it actually takes to lay this stuff out. To do it right, you have to work from the center of the room and work your way out which means, if you are unlucky like me, you may have to cut tiles on each end of the room. One day later though, our room looked like this (pre-grout because the floor has to adhere 24 hours before you can grout).

 

And now….after grout……

trafficMASTER Ceramica with grout

Stay tuned for the rest of the project reveal.