Finally . . . A completed bathroom!

I have been mentioning my bathroom remodel project in my last posts. It has been a long time coming but I can finally say that it is finished! We live in a older home that belonged to my grandparents and it has one small bathroom. When we first moved in, it didn't even have a shower! I remember taking long hot baths in that little bathroom over the years. It still had the old cast iron plumbing so let me tell you, it took FOREVER to fill up the bath! I would start the water, go finish my homework, and then get in the bath about 30 minutes later! Seriously! The water ran that slow!

After we inherited the house, the plumbing was the first update we had completed. We had that done before we ever moved in. I knew there was no way that the four of us would ever be bathed at that rate! We had a shower/tub installed at the same time.

In the corner of the bathroom, we had a chimney. Back then, it was the chimney that went to the furnace. When I was a teenager, my grandparents had the furnace removed and installed Central Heat & Air. Boy, we thought we were something then! The chimney remained and was eventually painted the same color as the bathroom. You really couldn't even tell it was a chimney. It was in the corner and you basically just passed it by when you came into the bathroom.

It is a small bathroom with the basics . . . toilet, sink, tub/shower. However, there was no place for towels or all of your bath essentials. The entire house didn't even have a linen closet. My grandmother kept all of the towels and linens in a hutch.

Fast forward several years when we moved in. I thought to myself, "We could remove that chimney and build a cabinet in that corner to store our towels and stuff!" Sounds easy right? OH NO! REMOVE A CHIMNEY??? WHAT WAS I THINKING! What about all of that soot? Chipped cement? No, I never asked myself that. That would have made way more sense than I had at the time I guess!

The hubby and I go into the attic and start taking apart the chimney. Luckily, it had been capped off years ago so it didn't go through the roof. Brick by brick, my dear hubby chipped away at the cement - breaking them apart so we could get them down the attic stairs (yes, the pull down kind) and out the door into the bed of his truck. We had an assembly line going. He broke them apart, I took them to the stairs and passed it down to Miranda, she passed the brick to Colton who took it out the door and threw it in the truck. It was a little messy up in the attic but not too bad. We get downstairs and get the chimney 1/2 way down. Then we seen it. Black soot was packed full almost 1/2 up the chimney. PACKED FULL! We started shoveling it into trashcans. Sucked it up in the Shop Vac (BAD IDEA) Needless to say, by the time the chimney was gone, the bathroom was black, we were black, the CARPET was black, the porch was black, the poodle was black and the children were black!

In the weeks to come, we had to rip up the carpet and put in new flooring. I had tried everything to clean the carpet but nothing would get that oily soot out! We cleaned ALOT of molding and walls. Had a poodle BLEACHED! Then we built the cabinet for the bathroom. Once that cabinet was in place, I didn't want to be anywhere near that bathroom for awhile - seriously, awhile! Because of the disaster that I call, Hurricane Nicole, we have been working on cleaning up for about a year!

That brings me to the bathroom makeover. I finally got up the courage to give it another try. My daughter and I worked on it over the weekend. We got the old molding torn down and painted. I painted the ceiling a bright white to lighten it up. The rest of the house has more prim colors to it but I wanted something light and bright because of it's size. I still try to bring in some prim pieces so it doesn't look like it completely belongs to another house. Once we got it painted, the hubby helped me hang the wainscotting and new molding. I am very pleased with the results!

Today was cleaning day for the bathroom! I put my hair in a ponytail, put on some sweats, and went at it! The floor still had remnants of black soot! That stuff was in every nook and cranny! I felt like Cinderella . . . not the cute gal heading off to a ball . . no . . . the one with her bucket, on her hands and knees, scubbing the floor. That was me today. Can you picture it?

The hubby cooked dinner tonight so that I could clean the bathroom. (Not sure if he was being nice or if I was being punished! lol) So, after over a year of waiting . . . it is done. I spent the past hour decorating it and moving things from other rooms. I still have a few things to buy to give it that finished look but it was so clean, I wanted to show you before my kids wake up tomorrow and there is toothpaste on the walls! lol

Keep in mind that this bathroom in small so I could not stand back far enough to get the entire picture so I had to take them in sections.

I picked up this shower curtain a few months ago at Curious Cat for $5! It has been sitting in a box every since then.This is the pan I have hanging over the commode. I bought this from Beth at Olde Tyme Marketplace. She has a booth at Curious Cat also and this little gem was there calling my name!

I am going to use the blue jars for my essentials . . . Q-tips, cotton balls, and tweezers/fingernail clippers. I just thought they fit perfect with my new blue! I am going to get some brown fabric to put them on. Just to break up the blue and white. I guess something with texture.

I put this little gathering together on top of an old wood hamper. The brown pitcher belonged to my grandmother. The set of shutters are another of Beth's treasures!

Just a close up of the old wooden hamper. I love it! It holds our sheets and things (shhh!) I am going to put more brown fabric here to cover the hamper lid.

This is the vanity that we purchased last year. I think it is so cottagie (I know that isn't a word!) I allows some storage underneath - thank goodness! Also, see the Maple candle on the sink - another of Beth's treasures! The best smelling candle . . . EVER! I hung this wreath over the wooden hamper. Great brown against the blue!
I took down the medicine cabinet and hung this mirror instead. It was a wedding gift from my Aunt Dot. She even wrote "We love you" across the back. It was a centerpiece at our table during the reception. She had it covered with lit candles and flower petals!
Yes, this is a picture of our floor. Nothing special - except it has NO SOOT on it anymore! Can you believe it! I also wanted to show you . . . it really is a small bath huh? I was not kidding! Thanks so much for taking the tour of our bath remodel! Sorry for the long post but I really felt I should explain why it took so long to remodel our tiny bath! I am sure I will be tweaking it in the coming weeks - but for now . . . IT IS FINISHED! (You should see the dance I am doing about it!)
Thanks to everyone's well wishes for Cane! He goes to the vet in the morning so I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!
I hope everyone has a great week!