Part 3: Bathroom Renovations - Existing Conditions and The Before(s)
Now that we’ve established my mission with the design of our bathrooms, let’s talk about what we have to work with and the existing conditions of each space. If you need to catch up on previous posts, please see the last journal entry [here].
View of the soon to be primary bathroom from the bedroom
View from the bedroom looking into the closet, which is soon to be the primary bathroom
Bathroom 1: The Primary Bath
The first bathroom we will work on is the bathroom off the primary bedroom. As a starting point it’s actually not even a bathroom, but a closet. Luckily, the closet like all others in our home is quite large and has plenty of room for a toilet, sink and a smaller closet. For the shower, we’ll be taking that from the existing bathroom that shares a wall with this closet.
Another great perk is that before we purchased our home there was a sink that had been removed in the closet, along with a built-in medicine cabinet. We believe this was used as a shaving sink? We did have to do some research about obtaining plumbing permits since we’re adding a new fixture - the toilet, to the home. It ended up being so much simpler than we initially thought and we’re well on our way to getting that sorted out.
Bathroom 2: The Main Bath
Once we’ve managed to complete the primary bath we’ll be moving on to our main bathroom. This is currently the only bathroom in our home where we can shower/bathe and this space really needs a makeover. As I mentioned in previous posts even with the how badly it needs a remodel, having it be the only place to bathe has made us hold off on doing this work until now. There are so many elements to this space that I truly hate. I know, a harsh word but let’s break down all the issues.
Image of the tub faucet
The current bathtub
The Tub
I don’t dislike a clawfoot tub, in fact I’m a fan. I’m not a fan of a tub that at least some large part of your body needs to be out of water in order to fit. I’m also not a fan of painting the clawfeet themselves red, and look like some sort of dragon or chicken clawfeet… our current tub checks off the boxes for both of these qualities.
The painted red tub
The Flooring
Linoleum flooring is fine, it’s more that I dislike the color. Red is not my favorite color and used in this way, I’m definitely not a fan! Also, anytime there's puddles or pooling of water, the flooring will dye any towels that happen to be on the floor.
The Lighting
The overhead light is a sad fan/light combo. It puts off the most unflattering lighting, think stereotypical insane asylum from the movies, that kind of lighting. And the wall sconce light over the vanity mirror reminds me of those DIY polymer clay beads that were popular in the 90s. You know the ones I’m talking about, if not google them.
The Color Palette
The surrounding wall tiles are not offensive, I’m just not a big fan of gray in the Pacific Northwest, neither am I a fan of turquoise or teal, or anything close to it. And the combination of turquoise/teal, gray and red feels wrong, so wrong.
And last but not least…
The Shower in the main bathroom before
The mural in the main bathroom before
The Shower
There are so many things wrong with the shower… so many things.
The door is just an 80s/90s low quality door that has that ugly modeled privacy glass. It holds on to mold and mildew like it’s its job!
The size is so small I can’t bend over without bumping my head or my butt, which means shaving in that space is quite a chore.
The tiles are the best, worst part of it! In the back of the shower there is a tile mural. A tile mural with three cats, turquoise adirondack chairs, a sunset, some kind of cocktail, palm trees and a beach hut…
The tiles above the mural are also something. Scattered throughout the space there are shimmery tiles. At first we thought that’s all they were, until the first evening we stayed in the house, when we discovered that the tiles are GLOW IN THE DARK.
The glow in the dark tiles
The glow in the dark tiles
Now that I’ve gone through the existing conditions, I hope you can understand why we need to remodel our primary bathroom and also why I haven’t shared any images of the space! I’m sure many people are surprised to know that my husband and I wake up each morning with a view of what I can only imagine being the Florida Keys with our Hemingway cats!
For the next installment I’ll be sharing the design plans. First starting with the main bath because that needs the remodel the most and I can’t stand having anyone think about our current shower situation any longer.