I Know What Room I'm In

...which means I don't need my wallpaper border to remind me.

...which leads to my current project: redecorating our full bath.

As I've mentioned before, we rent our home and weren't planning on living here for very long, so I was willing to live with certain things.  Like bathtub wallpaper border.  And purple walls.

And purple rose wallpaper.

And generic gold light fixture.

And sharing it with my cats.

But I've hit my limits.  This was brought on by a couple of things.  The first was that our ceiling began to peel.

This has happened with a number of our ceilings.  I'm not sure what the previous owners used, but it sure doesn't like to stick.

The other was that our toilet began to leak from the tank.  And then the cat toilet decided to not work anymore. (Yes, our cats had a toilet.  I just had to hit a button for deodorized water to clean everything out and then flush it all down my toilet.  It made our lives much easier, except for the fact that it broke every few months.  But I digress.) 

So, I decided in for a penny, in for a pound.  I'm kicking the cats out (of the bathroom anyways), tearing the place apart, and rebuilding it into a better version of itself.  Certain things, like the tile, bathtub, tub surround, vanity, and mirror have to stay, so no major changes will go down.  But I can certainly paint and decorate it up a little bit.

I'll be updating as I go.  I'm hoping to have the entire project done by the end of September.    And I've already got a jump on it - the purple rose wallpaper is gone!  Woohoo!

Bathroom Makeover

This week I am getting ready to hold a yard sale. I adore the feeling of getting rid of stuff you don't want or need!

But that also means I haven't worked on much around the house except sorting through our belongings. So, I decided to do another blast from the past.

This time I'm going to highlight a bathroom we did in the same flat that we did the fireplace redo in. The fireplace I showed you is from the second floor. This bathroom is on the first.

Here are some before pictures of the bathroom. And, yes, we did know what it looked like when we bought it.

This just makes you want to jump right in and take a bath, doesn't it? It just screams clean and refreshing.

J'adore the burgundy toilet seat and the random missing piece off of the side of the vanity. How do you even take that piece out??

It's always convenient to have your mirror six feet above the sink.

And this window placed in the middle of that lovely blue surround makes the local Peeping Tom's job so much easier! Because, bear in mind, this bathroom window that goes to waist level is literally less than 15 feet away from the next door neighbor's window. So convenient!

But, ladies and gentleman, I saved the best for last. This was the ceiling...if it still qualifies as that:

Why, yes, that would be a gaping hole going up to the second floor bathroom that is surrounded by mold.

Mr. 31 and I gutted everything except the tub and started from scratch. We felt it would be best.

Now, keep in mind we renovated this house to be used as a rental, so it's not heavily decorated and stuff was put in to stand up to the wear and tear of tenants. But I think it still makes for a pretty good after.

Goodbye creepy stalker window!! Hello shiny new white tub surround!!

Also, hello to a new mirror, lighting, ceramic tile floor, toilet, and pedestal sink!

You'll also notice a drop ceiling. I wouldn't have done that if it was my home, but I'm glad we did it in the rental unit. Tenants that have lived on the second floor haven't always paid attention when they're filling the tub. Much easier to replace individual ceiling tiles than a drywall ceiling...multiple times....

Mr. 31 and I ended up moving into this very apartment when we got married (we bought the house before we got married while we were still living with our respective parents. When we got married it made sense to move into the flat for awhile). The toughest part of moving in for both of us: taking that first shower in that bathroom. It didn't matter that it had been gutted and scrubbed to within an inch of its life - all we could think of was the "before." But we got over it. Not taking a shower for a year and a half would have been bad.

Check out my link page for all the wonderful blog partays I'll be linking up with.