Monday, February 13, 2012

The Big Bath Reno

So, you might remember that we ended up out a few grand for a new furnace, among other problems.

We are back on track to start working on the upstairs bath.  Thing is, with the structural engineering stuff we found out, we need to do the main bath on the 2nd floor first.  Jeff says, since we need to sister up a bunch of joists, it's easier to do that from above, rather than below.  Makes sense to me, only we don't have another full bath in the house, so we'll be trying to do this on the quick.  Some plans to make that happen:


  • Staging: We're trying to buy basically everything in advance.  We'll probably keep it in the EstroDen, since it's the room right by the bath that we're not using daily.  So, tub, toilet, tile, cement board, 2X4s, drywall, whatever.  We'll have it 'all' here in advance, before we start demo.
  • Layout: Layout stays the same.  We're putting in a new floor and fixing up the joists and whatnot, but moving plumbing around takes time, and honestly, the bath room is only 7X7 anyway, so there's not really much reconfiguring we can do.  I'm OK with that.  
  • Reusing: We are pretty sure we're going to reuse the existing sink and vanity (and cabinet over the toilet).  
Here is my trouble.  We're trying to do this both fast *and* cheap, and you might know that thing about good cheap fast: pick two.

So.  I want to paint the oak cabinet a pretty color.  I was thinking a soft taupe-grey or maybe a subdued teal.  The countertop on top of that cabinet is ... pink.  Seriously, sandy pink.  And it's a corian-kind of solid surface, too, so it's *nice*.  Just...pink.

Counter is on the right.

So here I am trying to mock up some finishes I could go with that may 'work' with the pink.  Not loving it, but it seems OK.  The floor here is a white basket weave I found at Home Depot for $6.95 a square foot. I can get something nearly the same at the Tile Shop for $5.29 a sq ft, says their web site, so about $270.  This could work.

I do kind of want to replace the pink top with this nice white one (which is $170 or so, and will fit on our 4' long cabinet).

Pretty nice, huh?

Wandering around Lowe's, we found some even cheaper octagon dot tile flooring for $2.57 a square foot, or about $130.
Octodot
I just don't love it as much, you know?   But it's nice.  Also, this pic has some 1X2 subway tile on a mesh back.  Above is larger, single tiles arranged in a subway pattern which are 8X12.


My big problem is that what I *really* want is marble basket weave, which is OBVIOUSLY gonna be vastly more expensive.

   

It's just so gorgeous!!!  I really want it with the bigger tiles on the left.  You'll have to forgive my primitive photoshop skills.  You get the basic idea.  Anyway, at $12.99 a square foot, that's $630 or so which is, you know, like 5 times as much.  Kind of hard to sell the husband on that one.  See above for "cheap".

So I'm torn.  I want to buck up for the marble, honestly, because the floor is the  main thing that you're just NOT gonna replace later, right?  So I should put out the coin for the marble and leave the pink top alone, right?  That will save me the $160 for the top, and I can replace that next year when we have some more money.

This could work, right?

So maybe I keep the top, buck up for the floor, and then go with a more blue-ey grey color that I basically made up in photoshop.  I kind of like this.  It's not perfect, and it's not 100% what I want, but I think it might be workable.  Just need to find a nice grey.  The white in between the two tiles is "Opal" from Martha Stewart's Home Depot line of paints.



(Oh, btw, the shower curtains are from pottery barn -pink and multi colored- and garnet hill, i think - teal.  Most of this is on my pinterest board.)  

We're just planning a relatively plain tub.  The toilet has a cracked top, so that needs to go.    I am kinda thinking that if I put this off for another month, maybe I can afford the fancy floor.  Since we're planning on getting everything in advance, maybe we just buy that last.  

It's a shame we only get paid once a month.  

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Thursday, February 2, 2012

Bad News, Zero Cost

You guys, I am like bad-news-betty, lately.  And not really stuff for me, but bad news for people one or two degrees away.  Here is what happened last week:

  • My sister in law's father died of cancer.  Cancer can suck it.  
  • My husband's step mother had to have her big toe amputated.  Diabetes can also suck it.
  • My son threw up for about 5 days straight.  Viruses?  Join the suck it club.  
On top of that, I had my first mammogram (boobs: normal.  hooray!) and then our furnace decided to die a horrible death.  So I stayed home from work with the sick kid and to get the new furnace installed.  I am irked by the furnace situation.  Partly because I have a bunch of assorted other family stuff going on that is, frankly, distressing.  Also, though, a new furnace costs money.  Money I was hoping to spend on a bathroom reno.  Disappointment!  

I needed a pick me up this weekend, so I decided to go for a 0-cost makeover of the Estroden.  The Estroden (or woman cave) is the 3rd bedroom on our 2nd floor.  It's the smallest bedroom, a little bigger than 8X10.  I had some things in there but it never quite gelled, and over time it turned into a dumping ground for stuff.
Dumping Ground
Not loving it


I did have, however, a few yards of fabric that I intended to be a bed scarf but decided I didn't like it.  Also, I had this line, clip doohickey from Ikea that I was using to post pictures and things on, but also works like a curtain rod.
And I even kept the instructions and ikea tool!  

My husband gave me this old cork board, which could replace my ikea string clip thing.  Dignitet.
Butterknives are official staple removal tools.  Seriously.
So, Jeff was nice enough to help me move things around and put up my dignatet.  Dingbat.  Thingy.  
I got ahold of the staple gun and used it to recover the board with some of the fabric, and use the rest for curtains.  Which I totally didn't sew, by the way.  I will get around to it at some point.  I want to put a block of some orange or teal fabric at the bottom.  

It's not great, but I am happy enough with my 0 cost makeover.  It was a nice pick me up.  

board and desk I already had!  
My son insists on reading his bedtime stories on the big futon cushions I put on the floor every night.  
big cushions on the bottom left

It's a small room, so it's not easy to take a big picture of the whole space.  I can try again later.  Jeff thinks it looks like a 70s den in a house of ill repute.  (He said something else there, but it's not really appropriate for blogland.)  

I hope you guys are having a better month than we are.






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