When we purchased our 1928 home it was already quiet gorgeous. Besides reworking the entire foundation and spending oodles and oodles of money you'll never see {another story entirely}, the interior required no significant renovations.
At the time.
That was 2006 and I had three-year old twins. The kids' bath had only a tub -- a large jacuzzi tub which was perfect for bathing twins. We realized a renovation was inevitable, but when they are little it seems as if they will always be little. Right?!
Fast forward a few years and my duo no longer bathes each night, but showers. In my shower.
It was time.
And so we began planning the remodel. In 2009.
Little Miss Thang helping me plan the location of the new vanity. |
The space is small {old house} and has windows on two sides. The area between the front window and exterior wall {where the bath sits currently} is too narrow for a shower. Did I mention I don't have a bath tub in my bathroom either?! As this is the only bath in the house we felt resigned to a tub/shower combo instead of just a shower stall. Bummer, though, because keeping the shower in the same location as the existing tub would have saved a lot of heartache; not to mention money.
Late in 2009 our plans get side-tracked. Maybe it was the hubs starting his own firm. Maybe it was fear of the Great Recession. Or maybe I just got used to the kids showering in my shower. For whatever reason, our plans - complete with wallpaper, marble, fixtures and everything - sat untouched for more than two years.
Late 2011, with nearly nine year-old twins, I realized we all needed a little privacy.
Or was that just me?!
Regardless, I called my good friend Brooke, designer extraordinaire, and asked that she order everything. Slight hitch - all those fixtures and wallpaper we picked out three years ago - yeah, they were discontinued. So much for timeless choices. So the design process began anew.
In early 2012 we demolished the space and began construction in earnest.
Let me say at this point: sharing a shower with your children is one thing. Sharing a bathroom is entirely different. We started the remodel in February. In March I was only slightly annoyed it wasn't moving along a bit more quickly. By April, I was a frantic mess with much too much on my plate.
And I adore the finished product. Our house is old and quiet traditional, but I wanted a younger, more modern vibe for my tweens' bath. I think we struck the perfect balance by using classic stone -- carrera marble -- for the counter top and floors, subway tiles {because I was too cheap to put marble in my kids' shower despite Brooke's urging} for the shower, classic fixtures, more modern wallpaper, and cleaner lines all around.
Before |
After |
Have you suffered through any harrowing remodeling projects?
I'll likely take a break from the mess of construction {as with child birth, I need a few years to forget}, but up next: our kitchen.