Bathroom remodel--Revealed!

It has been 4 weeks to the day that the kids were kicked out of their bathroom for a major remodeling project.  This would be the peach and black bathroom upstairs.  In case you've forgotten, this is what it originally looked like right before and shortly after we moved in August 2009:

In November 2009, Austin installed a desperately needed vent fan:

In July 2010 we had the bathtub refinished white:

In April 2011 we went through the "Peach Potty Saga":

But it was time for a complete overhaul.  I spent the months of July & August researching, picking out and purchasing all the materials.  Austin took the week before Labor Day off from work to start the project.  I helped tear down tile, primed the ceiling, sponged down some of the grout, plus made decisions about where to place things.  Austin did everything else.  I think you'll agree he has an amazing range of skills and knowledge!

The week before Austin had scraped the popcorn ceiling and finished removing the wallpaper.  I also want to document the funny teenage scribblings on the inside of the medicine cabinet.  I've met someone in Waverly who knows who Sara & Heather were (Sara lived in the house).  I love how some of the boys' names are crossed out and replaced with new names. :o)

After removing all the fixtures, we ripped out all the ugly peach and black wall tile.  After knocking out a small portion of the solid plaster walls with embedded chicken wire, Austin decided that we were just going to drywall over top of all the existing wall.  It was another confirmation of how incredibly solidly built our house is.

The next step was replacing the window.  Even though it was relatively new (early 90's), a large, double-hung window with a painted wood ledge and metal mini-blinds overlooking the driveway is not practical in the middle of a shower/tub that your children are going to be using on a regular basis.  We decided to go with a glass block window, which you can get as a single unit and install like a regular window. 

Then came putting up all new backer board and drywall.

 

While I went to NW Iowa to pick up the kids from my parents on Labor Day, Austin textured and painted the walls and laid the floor tile (18" speckled taupe, textured tile squares).  When I returned he started the wall tile (white 3" x 6" subway tile with a glass block border).

 

Emily got in on the action with the very special job of removing the hundreds of tile spacers.

It was a tricky tile job around the window.

Then came a LOT of grouting and caulking.  Finally, it was time to start putting everything back together.  Austin put the white toilet back in but created a whole new vanity/sink.  Because of the radiators we couldn't use a standard vanity, so we bought a standard top and some chrome table legs online and Austin built a box for the sink to sit on.  We added a large mirrored medicine cabinet and a small, white cabinet above the toilet.  It turned out the vanity light I ordered online didn't fit above the medicine cabinet, so we just flipped it around to point up instead of down.  I added a Closet Maid white cubical unit with fabric drawers from Target (love those things!) and plenty of towel hooks.  All the Circo monkey decor is from Target and the shag rug was on clearance at Bed, Bath & Beyond.  Here is the final product, which I'm am thrilled with:

Accessories are the fun things that really bring it all together.  As mentioned above, all the monkey decor is part of the Circo collection from Target except the wall clock.  I found that from a private seller on Amazon.com, but you can tell it's made to match it exactly.  The pictures of the kids are both from when they were approximately 8 months old.  I got the idea from my SIL and have been excited to finally use it!

It's a lot of work and lot of decisions to remodel a bathroom.  There were some hiccups along the way, but nothing major.  The bathroom is so much brighter and cleaner now.  What a great reward!  Now if only the master (pink) bathroom was done...