ORC Spring 2019: Project Get Clean Week 2

Before you can get clean you have to get a little dirty.

If you remember WEEK ONE, I lost my noggin and decided to make my One Room Challenge about THREE bathrooms.

As soon as I posted that first “episode”. I started to sweat and I haven’t slept and I’ve eaten a lot of carbs that I really shouldn’t have. I have a zillion other projects with their own share of backorders, damaged arrivals, defective wallpaper, tile out of stock when you need 10000 pieces, and all the other dirty behind the scenes stuff… do I really need to add writing every week about these bathrooms to my to do list?

SURE. WHY NOT?

It’s all going to work out in the end. It has to. I think a bunch of projects are all going to be nearing completion around the same time, and by mid-summer I will be back to looking at my personal to do list of packing, purging, and prepping- not only for my move to CA, but for my youngest to start college. Our third and last college student. I don’t feel old enough and I feel really old all at the same time. It’s nuts.

She has officially decided to go to Fordham University in the Bronx. On the east coast. All my kids will be on the east coast. Far away from us. This is like empty nest syndrome on steroids. Now you know another reason why I am crazy and trying to stay busy.

Soooo…(wiping my eyes).

LET’S GET BACK TO WORK, SHALL WE?

Going into week 2, we have gutted two bathrooms. The powder room has been untouched as of right now. It was a quick and dirty demo, the dumpster was here for only one day. The guys didn’t mess around.

We are down to the studs in the guest bathroom and in teen bathroom. The electrician and the plumber have been working hard to get stuff all set up in the right place. Next will be the sheetrock. I always think that is the messiest part. The dust from that is always the worst. THE WORST. That stuff seems to linger around forever.

THE PLAN

The plan is to keep things as simple as possible in both the teen bathroom and the guest bathroom, budget-wise and design-wise. Ideally, it would be great to reroute some of the plumbing and change some of the layout but it’s just not in the cards. Nor is it really necessary. Both of these bathrooms will function just fine and they will look just fine. After renovating practically the whole house, I think the clients are relieved that they don’t have to deal with too much dirty, expensive work.

That being said, I am going to have a little fun with some details like the woven look wallpaper in a soft teal color that ties into the 1″ round penny tile on the floor and the custom shower curtain. Not shown but also going into the room are the new tub and toilet which are going to be white, and I’ve chosen a really big white tile for the tub surround. It will be a different take on “subway tile” but nothing crazy. Another thing that I’m adding but not showing you yet are the custom lights I’m putting in around the vanity. You’ll have to wait for that. I’m so mysterious. (They really aren’t mysterious.)

MOVING UP

The old bathroom had a low soffit over the vanity with recessed lights and a lower ceiling height over the tub. You can see them to the left and right of the toilet here.

We removed them so now there is one plane all the way across the ceiling. You can really see how much bigger it looks in this video. We will still have an angled part on that back wall above the toilet but it won’t be curved anymore. Bye textured ceilings, hello crisper lines!

TEEN BATHROOM PLAN

The plan here has a little more work. This one also has a soffit but this one is actually hiding the angle that you saw in the guest bathroom (which is on the other side of that shower). Is that confusing? Whatever, it’s not important so let’s move on.

We are expanding the shower opening to add more glass to not only allow more light into the space but to show off the new tile better. You can see the new opening in this video.

I was inspired by the bedding when I selected the tile for the shower area.

Again, sticking to simple, crisp and clean in this bathroom, but with some visual interest.

Coincidentally, it looks like the tile might work with that custom shower curtain going in the guest bathroom. Don’t worry, the two rooms have a completely different vibe. But colors of the sea and sky always seem to work in bathrooms, don’t you think?

To keep things moving along quickly and to spend economically, custom vanities were out of the question for both of these bathrooms. But that doesn’t mean they have to look like Home Depot specials. Well, even Home Depot has some good looking vanities these days, like this one HERE.

{{DISCLOSURE: Sometimes I include affiliate links like that one above and it’s a law that I tell you that. It means if you click through AND make a purchase, I may make a small commission, at not extra cost to you.}}

THE DOWN AND DIRTY

It’s not all coming up roses, you know. I have also been doing some consulting for people who want to DIY, the DIY means you have to do it ALL yourself. I just make the recommendations and you take the notes, do all the ordering and deal with installers and ALL the problems that might arise. If you don’t pay close attention to detail and, for instance, order the wrong size of something that is custom made, you’re stuck with the dirty work and the expense of fixing that problem. Most of the projects turn out ok, but not without headaches and usually with added expenses to cover those mistakes, as well as time looking for things.

When I am really on the job, I am the one actually making the selections and doing the ordering. And checking my notes a zillion times. And noticing I ordered the wrong size vanity, even though I checked my notes a zillions times. Ummm. Yikes. Just keeping it real, folks. Some of you might remember when I said there should be a design show that showcases that down and dirty behind the scenes stuff we go through before the gorgeous reveal 30 minutes later. Click HERE to see the original post.

DID I MENTION THAT I ONLY HAVE 5 WEEKS UNTIL THE REVEAL??

We are all human. We all make mistakes. I just don’t like to make them. But if I do, I fix it ASAP. I caught the mistake because I was standing in the teen bathroom, looking at the toilet flange and thinking out loud, damn that looks awfully close to the vanity. So, two days before the wrong size vanity was due to arrive ( which was last Friday), I made several phone calls, sweat a lot, and swore a lot (at myself). I got the company to reroute the trucking to go back to their warehouse and I found the replacement vanity, got it ordered and it’s already on it’s way. All this happened without the client having to worry about a thing.

And that was just one fire I put out. I’ll spare you the rest, I’m already too wordy here as it is.

“HEY KOHUT, YOU DIDN’T SHOW US ANYTHING ABOUT THE POWDER ROOM”

Oh yeah. Ok, so you get it. I am doing the dirty work behind the scenes and keeping this project moving.

Now back to the stuff you really care about. The powder room wallpaper is actually pretty. But upon closer inspection, you can see that where the window was fixed and paint got all over the wallpaper under the window.

The marble sink is the perfect size for this tiny space (the room is 50″ x 52″). Maybe the faucet could use an upgrade. While I’m at it, I think we are going to change out the knobs on that vanity and get a new mirror. Oh, and a new ceiling light. Oh, and new window treatment, Oh, and new wallpaper. Oh, and paint the ceiling and trim. Oh, and change out the toilet flusher handle thingy. Maybe a couple of other things. But really, no big deal.

Someone saw my INSTAGRAM (<<click to see) and thought maybe that was going in this bathroom. I sort of wish I did that! Honestly, I do think this client would do it, just for fun. But no. We are doing something different. Still dramatic but in a different way.

Now, this one is NOT crisp, clean and serene, is it? I mean, it will be nice and clean, but not “clean and bright”, you know? Anyway… Powder rooms can be a great place to do something a little bolder, more colorful, and have some fun. The element of surprise when someone opens the door is quite enjoyable to me.

Now to get someone in there to start working on it…

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Now that you have some of the scoop, what do you think? Can I pull this off? Do you like what you see going into the rooms? Let me know in the comments!

Please also check out all of the other One Room Challenge entries by clicking HERE.

AH, BUT THE SNAKE WALLPAPER IS KIND OF COOL.

Schumacher GIOVE EMERALD & SAPPHIRE Wallpaper