May 2010 - Another step toward progress
In my usual pattern, knowing that ML would be out of town, I decided to dig into a big project. The bathroom started out with floral wallpaper, floral-print curtains, pastel geometrically pattered linoleum, yellow poofy shower curtain on a big bronze rod, and a medicine cabinet with eagle shaped sconces. I feel like this should give you an idea of why it needed an overhaul. I started by choosing my bathroom fixtures from the Lillangen series a few weeks earlier. I also purchased my mildew resistant paint in white and grey and my black linoleum floor tiles and vinyl trim. I was going for a mod-institutional feel which I think I successfully achieved. I started by removing the wallpaper (I'm a pro. see the enlightenment for details). Once all of the wallpaper was down, I removed the fixtures and primed the entire room including the floor. I drew on a horizontal line that would serve as my divider between the grey (bottom) and the white (top). I did a coat of white, waited for it to dry and then carefully painted the grey line by hand, using a roller once the line was straight and complete. I also had my first experience with hiring an electrician. We had to create an outlet for near the sink as the old eagle sconce medicine cabinet had previously been the keeper of the plugs. Thumbs up to East Iowa mechanical for sending a guy who knows how to deal with old lath and plaster walls!
Because of some issues with the sink piping (missing parts in the package - I love you IKEA, but a little more QA would be appreciated), the project was on hold. I called IKEA and had the parts shipped because I live 3.5 hours from the closest store. The project would not be finished by the time ML got home. He ended up helping me put in the flooring and install the sink and medicine cabinets. I don't think I could have handled the flooring by myself because we had to disconnect the toilet, install the floor, add a new wax ring and get it all put back together quickly because we only have one bathroom. Luckily, ML's brother is a plumber and walked us through it over the phone. The final touch was in the textiles. I bought some neat wood-look fabric and sewed the shower curtain and regular curtains to match.
The last step in the process was installing the towel bar and TP holder. Having found a great space saving towel bar early on, I just needed to determine placement. I ended up installing the towel bar in the original TP location - close to the shower and sink. Since I had taken its spot, I had to find a place for the TP holder so I attached it to the side of the sink cabinet. Overall, a solid use of 36 sq ft.
