Nasty to Nice

We lived with this bathroom for almost a year before we tackled the re-do. Now, looking at these pictures, most people would say "that's not completely awful" ...oh, no these do not do justice to all the funky details, colors (green toilet?????) and (ew!) smells from almost 30 years of use. Look at those floors- if you had even one drink in you, that squiggly pattern seemed to move. Oh, and paneling. 70's luan paneling painted white- probably at the same time the walls took on that Pepto-Bismol color.

The kitchen was just finished, and my dear husband was taking a well deserved rest after all that work. I seem to remember him saying something about no new projects for a while.

My big problem is, I think I can tackle big projects by myself, so I start ripping stuff apart, and hit a snag that I need to be rescued from. Remember this, it comes into play later on.

My smaller problem is, if something doesn't look the way I want it to look, I loose sleep over it. I obsess about it. I want it fixed and yesterday.
This bathroom was next on the list .
On the hottest day of the summer, I grabbed a hammer and went to town on that paneling. The chair rail came off easily. On a roll, baby. I was happy, I had tunes playing and my son was the supervisor in his cute little Home Depot apron!
With the chair rail trim off so quickly, it was time for the paneling. I knew that was going to be a breeze- why not? Everything else up to this point had been.
I took my trusty hammer, pried out some nails and yanked-nothing. I stuck the hook part of the hammer between the wall and the panel and yanked---a 3x5 ish piece comes off. And then I see it. LIQUID NAIL construction adhesive.
It is like kryptonite to me and slows my progress down to a crawl. Now, most people might give up there but not me. I ran downstairs to the basement and grabbed the sawzall. I had no idea how to use this thing, all I know is that it looks like an electric knife on steroids. I know how to use an electric knife, this can't be much different.
After briefing my young child on calling 911 for emergency, my work began. With the first cut, I felt like a badass!! In record time, the paneling was off. Unfortunately, the liquid nail took half the drywall with it.
There was my snag. We had planned to just paint the walls, replace the vanity and trim and call it a day. Not with big chunks ripped out of my drywall. I cleaned up and waited for my husband to come home. I think I made him a fantastic meal that night to soften the blow.
We hashed out our options, and decided on replacing that paneling with .......more paneling. But nice bead board paneling. Not part of the plan, but in renovation you must be willing to compromise, right? meh.


This tub/shower combo used to be avocado green. Staying in budget, we had it sprayed (professionally) rather than replace the whole thing. What a huge difference! Doesn't it look brand spankin' new??

Right after we put the new floor down. This was something I helped on, but my husband really outdid himself. That floor fit like a glove. We love it, and everyone that comes here thinks it's tile. Nope vinyl- they have to bend down and touch it because they don't believe us.
Unfortunately, I didn't write down the paint or flooring information to share here, and my memory is horrible. But I can tell you that the cool curved shower-curtain rod came from Bed Bath & Beyond , and the HUGE vanity is Kraft Maid.

I'd say we got 80% of our original plan for this bathroom. We have champagne dreams on a beer budget, but somehow we make it work. I will never learn my lesson of biting off more than I can chew, but I thank God every day that I have a very patient and handy husband to bail me out when I get out of hand. He sleeps with one eye open for fear that I might start a project in the middle of the night or something. He knows me.