What Were We Thinking? - The Reveal

I think it is about time to wrap up the posts on this master bath makeover and finish it up so we can move onto other projects, here we go.

Last I left you the large mirror in the bathroom fell off the wall creating a new design opportunity I was secretly hoping for but did not expect.  It was time for a new backsplash and two mirrors to replace the large one which came down.  Off to Lowe’s to see what they had, the trip was a success when we found some fantastic tile to tie together all the elements I was using to decorate the room.

We decided the best and most cost effective way to use the tile sheets was to cut them in half lengthwise to create the backsplash, that way we would not need very many sheets keeping the cost down. We chose an all in one tile and grout pre-mix since we did not really have any idea what the heck we were doing. We did pretty well putting the tile up and waiting for the 24 hour set time to go by before grouting it, which is where we got into major trouble.  Neither of us bothered to read the directions on the mixture or the tile so we did it wrong and had to wait another 24 hours before re-grouting it a second time to make the grout actually stay put in the spaces between the tiles. Nuts!!!! Lesson learned for next time, it really is not hard if you just read all the directions thoroughly.  Once the tile was done the sinks, faucets, towel bars, new light switches and lights went up pretty easily.  Our biggest dilemma was finding the right size and finish for the mirrors; we needed two with a brushed nickel finish to match the faucets and all the rest of the hardware we put up.  Lowe’s did not have them, the ones we bought at Kirkland’s were to big and the wrong color, no mirrors at Target or Hobby Lobby.  We finally found two of them in a brushed nickel finish just the right size at Home Depot, very expensive but we had no choice at that point, they were just what we needed. Once we hung them we were racing towards the finish line, here are the final photos of our makeover.

Before:

After:

As you can see we have a completely different master bath, one we are very proud of.  It only took us a full eleven days instead of the three we originally planned on but it was well worth the extra time and money we spent.  We actually only went a little over the budget we set for ourselves so it was a win, win situation with a beautiful room we use daily which we will enjoy for years to come.

Thanks for letting me share the good, the bad and the beautiful of our master bath makeover.  I hope you enjoyed a peek into the nuts and bolts of our DIY project and you are inspired to tackle one of your own, if we can do it successfully anyone can. Next up is the makeover of the downstairs guest bath; it came out so wonderful I can not wait to share it with you.

See you soon.

Laurette

What Were We Thinking?

The morning after we painted our master bath, a pretty blue, I was lying in bed staring at the room thinking how much I loved the fresh new color but hating the counter top.  I really wanted a new one and still had enough in the budget to buy the one I saw at Lowe's, but we were very hesitant to pry up the old one for fear of damaging the solid wooden cabinet beneath it.  If we split the wood we would be opening up a can of very expensive worms not in the budget, the credit card would take a huge hit. We were very happy with our vanity, not the color, but all the large drawers and cabinets; we did not want to replace it so we tossed it back and forth for quite a long time. If we left the counter top on all we had to do was frame out the mirror, add a new light fixture, two new faucets and some new accessories and be done with the project and move onto painting our bedroom.  Guess which way we went?  You are so right, you know me so well, we decided on a new counter!  Little did we know with that decision we would be opening up a whole new can of rather large worms and a much larger, longer project.

With some very careful prying from the inside of the cabinets and the removal of some screws and clips my hubby was able to get the top off with a minimum of difficulty and just a tiny bit of damage not visible from the outside of the cabinet.  Whew!!! With the top off it was time to go shopping for the counter top I was in love with at Lowe's. Now for the not so funny part; we measured and measured to make sure we purchased the right length of counter top needed for our space, being oh so careful.  Once we got it home we knew it was too long but it could easily be cut down to the right length once we decided what size we wanted.  The previous counter was a little over long for the end of the cabinet so we cut this one about an inch shorter which would fit perfectly.  I kept looking at the counter thinking something was wrong so I took the cut off section upstairs to check the fit, it was way too wide for the cabinet, and it hung out into the doorway by five inches!!! Yikes!!! We were totally in big trouble here, my husband had just cut the counter which meant it could not be returned and it was too short to use as my studio work counter, what were we going to do!?!  What a mess, time to think out of the box! Luckily for us our neighbor has a huge workshop in his garage with every kind of saw you could think of.  We ran over to his house to ask him what he thought we could do.  The counter had a beautiful molded in curvy backsplash which we all determined would have to go, my heart sank.  If we cut it off the counter would fit but we would have to come up with some kind of surface to protect the drywall. Here is where things got really dicey, dangerous and more work.  The counter top was hauled up and down the stairs several times for fitting and cutting to make sure it fit and the sink openings were in the correct place.

Notice anything missing from this photo???...... If you have a keen eye for observation you will notice a beautiful new counter, new holes for the sink, which I had them move a bit to give me more space near the plugs for curling and flat irons, and NO mirror.  This would be the dangerous part; while the guys were fitting the counter to the cabinet, the mirror, which was suppose to be glued to the wall, came crashing down on the new counter top! I screamed and both guys made a grab for the huge 4’x 8’ piece of glass before it hit the floor! Wow!  They caught it and removed it from the bathroom before it could break all over the place. If it had come down in the middle of the night there would have been glass all over the bathroom and bedroom since there is no door between the rooms, we truly got lucky.  I secretly wanted it down but not that way and with so much drama, now we had a really clean slate to work with.  I was going to have to get really creative with the budget to include a new backsplash and two new mirrors.

Thanks for letting me share more of our master bath makeover; stay tuned for the resolution to our newest project challenge.

See you soon.

Laurette