By Sharon Archer
All That Glitters.... is not gold! Nope, that glittery thing might be our bathroom! And it’s about to be renovated! All the glamorous, gleaming golden-ness is going to be swept away and replaced by perfect, pure plain-ness!
We can’t wait! But I confess, I am soooo not looking forward to the nasty messy bits between the way it is and the way it will be.
Anyway, I thought I’d take you on a small ‘tour’ before it all happens...
These pictures don’t do justice to the wallpaper - I think the camera has trouble focussing because the odd flare of the foil finish. Can’t use flash because the bounce-back is blinding!
The bath and basin are yellow porcelain, the old floor tiles are shrinking and starting to come up off the floor... I don’t think the grouting in the wall tiles was done properly so keeping the mold at bay is a full time job. The shower is an old one so the door design has lots of grooves where the water likes to lie - and the mold likes that too!
And it was all like this when we purchased the house sixteen years ago. We promised ourselves we’d renovate... as soon as the budget would allow! But then a weird thing happened - we stopped ‘seeing’ the awfulness of it! Though whenever we take visitors in there for the first time it’s kind of fun to see them blink in the dazzle!
Sharon, good luck with the renos! My only tip to surviving them is to keep your sense of humour and your patience. It's bound to be messy and noisy and take longer than you'd hoped. But my experience is that when it's over it's so much better! What colour scheme are you going with in your new look bathroom? I've been thinking about tackling our kitchen for a while now and feel I really should go exploring to see what's out there. No doubt that exercise will tide me over for a year or two!
ReplyDeleteYou know, Sharon, that wallpaper is so old it could almost be fashionable again. :-) I have to admit, I love old bathrooms (minus the mould, of course) -- hot pink or aqua green tiles just make me grin.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to watching the transformation!
Sharon, I think that bathroom has a certain charm. :) I've never done big rennovations, but I'm sorely tempted. Will be watching yours with avid interest!
ReplyDeleteExcellent advice, Annie - putting sense of humour and patience on the must-keep list! The new colour scheme is going to be predominantly white - plain, plain, plain! And the shower recess is a single sheet of "L" shaped panel which means it's much easier to clean. The door is a single panel of glass and any bits that overlap will swing apart for ease of cleaning! It's going to be wonderful!
ReplyDeleteMichelle (and Rachel too), I do wish you could have experienced the bathroom first hand! Though... you know, Michelle, the wallpaper might have been quite stunning if it had been the main feature and then everything else had been very simple.
ReplyDeleteLOL, Rachel! Trust me when I say that the photos really do make it look better than what it is! There's a gold fleck in the vanity top and a gold and completely-different--from-anything-else-in-the-room yellow fleck in the floor tiles! Way too much golden-ness for one tiny room!
ReplyDeleteI will keep you posted on progress! I'm hoping next month's blog will show the finished or nearly-finished room!
Sharon, as someone who experienced the true glory of your bathroom, I'm kinda sad it's going. It was great reading while I was drying myself or my hair! You'll love your new bathroom!
ReplyDeleteoh, shucks, Anna! Now I'm wondering if we should keep it! NOT! LOL Yes, it's quite entertaining reading material isn't it... I'm so looking forward to being able to say it WAS rather than it IS!
ReplyDeleteSharon, I think you'll like it better as what was than what is! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI think so too, Anna!
ReplyDeleteWhen we renovated our bathroom, we basically stayed out of the way & used a friends bathroom for the week. Totally worth it.
ReplyDeleteMary, I think having access to another bathroom is a BIG plus! We're lucky because there's a second bathroom in a granny flat here... that bathroom has a purple theme going on... but that's a story for another blog! LOL
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad your renovations were worth it! I'm sure ours will be too!
Sharon, as my kids would say, that bathroom is EPIC!! I remember my grandmother's bathroom was completely bright green —tub, basin, walls. It was kind of like having a bath at the bottom of a big pond. I wish you all the luck in the world. I renovated ONCE and that was enough for me!
ReplyDeleteSharon- I LOVE the wallpaper! Such a shame you can't keep it and change the rest! Can't wait to see the finished bathroom.
ReplyDeleteI'm slap bang in the middle of kitchen renovations- my old kitchen was yellow too. What was it with yellow????
Survival tips: I think you have most of them covered- access to other facilities is imperative! (We have a bbq and a gas hob, thankfully it's sunny so we can cook and eat outdoors so we're not starving).
Sense of humor is extremely important too. Plus an ability to overlook all the dust and dirt being trailed through the house. (and for me- a good takeaway down the road!)
Hang in there!
LOL, Barb! EPIC is a great description!
ReplyDeleteOooo, bright green! Now there's an EPIC bathroom idea!
We've renovated before too - I think that's part of the reason why we stopped "seeing" the glittery-ness of the bathroom so quickly. We've been procrastinating for 16 years!
Louisa, you hang in there with the kitchen renovations too! Yep, summer is definitely a good time to do these things!
ReplyDeleteHey, I think yellow must have been the "in" colour after mission brown. Our first house was a tiny house with mission brown prominently featured - so claustrophobic! And in the kitchen they'd "lightened" it with a yellow called "Darwin Sun". We found the old paint can in the garage! Now that kitchen was EPIC! I won't mention the tiles on the bench with three completely different patterns (all with lots of dark brown in them) or the mustard shagpile carpet tiles on the floor... or...
;)
Sharon ~ I'd love to read your wallpaper. Good luck on the renovations. May there be only small suprizes and no big oops!
ReplyDeleteActually, it is quite a good read, Kaelee! Like Anna, who's been down to stay with us a couple of times, I used to spend quite a bit of bathroom time checking out the different "advertisements"!
ReplyDeleteOoo, thank you for those kind wishes! "No big oops" would suit me down to the ground!
Great bathroom renovations.
ReplyDeleteFor bathroom renovation contractors that specialize in bathroom remodelling and design get the pros at bathroom remodel Vancouver. For great prices and professional workmanship from the plumbing to the tile and everything in between. Serving Vancouver for many years and delivering the best bathrooms in Vancouver area. If you want more info click here link : Bathroom contractors
ReplyDelete