What Was I Thinking????

Each year Keith & I try to do something to improve our home. Some years the projects are large (A cabin out back, a swimming pool with deck, a greenhouse, ect..), other years they are small. (Painting our old picket fence, refinishing a piece of furniture or installing a new dishwasher.) After much discussion this year we decided a complete remodel of our main bathroom was in order. No, this isn't something wanted to do but rather something that was needing done. After all, this tiny little room hadn't been touched in over twenty years and it was definitely showing it's age. The only problem was, we didn't discuss exactly when this little project would be started.

So, it came as a complete surprise to both of us when one morning about three weeks ago I walked into our bathroom, grabbed the corner of one piece of wallpaper and gave a pull. At that point there was no going back, we had officially started our bathroom face-lift!

As with any old house, ours sure has her fair share of problems. This became very clear as the remodel got underway. For each step we took forward, it seemed as if we would take two steps back. Of course it would have helped if we had planned exactly what we were going to do before I pulled off that first piece of wallpaper. Keep in mind, I've never said I was the brightest crayon in the box!

The first order of business was to remove all wallpaper and get the walls in painting condition. Sounds like an easy task but when you consider there were THREE layers of wallpaper on this room and I was having to keep the air vents covered to keep crap from going down them~~~ Well, let's just say it wasn't a pretty picture. I swear, everything in this house was coated with a fine coat of white speckling dust by the time I was done.

Once the walls were in painting condition, it was time to make the real decisions...What fixtures we were going to put in there. Keith said since we would probably never do this room again (Like I need to be told that!) to get what I wanted. For almost a week I hit ever store around looking for just the right things to go back in there. Do you have any idea how many vanities, lighting fixtures, flooring choices there are??? I tell you girls it's mind boggling.

All my married life I have preached to anyone (My kids included) to live on shoe-string budget. As I was shopping for this bathroom I suddenly stood back and took a good look at myself. How could I preach one thing and do something completely different? For me that was the changing of the tides. Back to my cheap roots I went.

It's amazing when you have to do something on a small budget how creative you can get. Honestly, you look at everything in a whole new way. Suddenly that outdated vanity and old cabinet didn't look so bad after all! In fact, everything looked pretty good except for the flooring and light fixture. Since I was saving so much money by reusing most things, I felt I could splurge on the flooring. I wanted the look of wood and was thrilled when I found a flexible linoleum that filled the bill.

It's been a LONG, HOT three weeks but at last I'm happy to report the room is complete. While not the greatest in the world, it's clean and neat. How long it will stay that way is any one's guess! For now I'm thrilled just to have it complete and look forward to the fun part....DECORATING it!!!! Stay tuned, pictures will be posted within the next few weeks. Hugs, Sher