We're redoing the bathroom, too!

We have a clear idea about the kitchen reno, but we haven’t done much since my last post. We need to rent a small van and take the oven to the technician, but since it’s a 4-hour+ round-trip (and we can’t take a car seat) M will have to go alone during the weekend. The restoration cost is a little more than we expected but still reasonable given the rarity of the service and the cost of buying one fully functional and restored. Much to our surprise, the guy said he could do it in about a week, which is actually a little too fast for us! We’ll have to maybe ask him to store it for a few weeks before we’re able to put it in. Our neighbor and his son, both engineers, are also supposed to come verify that we can take down the two kitchen walls without damaging the house’s structure (they have to climb into the attic apparently).

So in the meantime we’re tackling operation bathroom! I’m talking about the upstairs one, which had been redone a decade or so ago (but unfortunately not with much taste), so it’s a much smaller and less expensive project than the kitchen.

We’re basically gutting the 5’X7’ room, leaving only the bathtub (because it’s still nice, and this alone would have doubled the cost and complexity). We got a new eco-friendly dual-flush toilet, and will also replace the really impractical (for a main family bathroom) pedestal sink. After endlessly looking for a vanity that fit our dimensions, style and needs, we came up with the idea of building one ourselves with mix-and-match kitchen cabinet parts sold at the Home Depot. We got a shallow, square sink that simply mounts on top of it, requiring only a small hole for plumbing instead of a custom fitted top. Voilà, half the price!

Additionally, we’re replacing the eyesore wall tiles with part tiny blue glass mosaic and part glossy white subway tiles. We had originally planned to keep the (blue) ceramic flooring, but then realized that it didn’t go with the mosaic at all. So we busted the budget a bit and went for $10-a-piece white marble tiles. Still, unless we have major surprises, our reno will be around $2,000, so, not bad.

Last weekend I took LP to a kids birthday party and came back to see that we didn’t have a bathroom anymore! M spent all day removing all the tiles, one by one and proceeding really carefully on the walls, since otherwise we would have had to replaster everything. We were surprised to find out that the flooring had been installed directly on top of a 60’s style small-size mosaic, original to the house. It's different shades of beigey-brown and quite ugly, but I was still impressed at its great condition. I think it was set on concrete, making it really durable. Can you also imagine the amount of work? I’m pretty sure mosaic was cut and assembled manually then, and did not come with a mesh backing like it does now!

We’ve moved to the (cramped) downstairs bath/laundry room, which is not exactly ideal in the middle of potty training! But LP is being a real champion through it all. He hates showering, but we have no other choice, do we? Everything should be finished within a few weeks (thanks to my wonderful husband who’s working really hard, painting until 11 PM and such), especially since we have a long weekend coming up. I can’t wait until it’s done, and not only because since I couldn’t look into the mirror after I dressed this morning, I was already at the office when I realized that my light blue bra looked like neon under my white blouse...