The Little Things (a.k.a. just when you thought you were done . . .)
I excel at one thing: underestimating the amount of work that a project will take. This is not as much of a drawback as you might think because if I knew how much work something was going to be at the outset, I may not do it at all.
There were several tiny things that added up to a three week delay on my initial time frame. First, I sliced my thumb with a box cutter installing our floating vinyl plank floor. Do. Not. Do. That. And I definitely did not take any pictures of the result. Waiting for that to heal, however, did give me time to shop for fun items to fill the cabinets on the fireplace. What good are glass front cabinets without cute things in them?
Once the flooring was in, I could install the vanity, sinks, and mirror. My plan was to frame out the mirror with the same simple trim on all four sides. It drives me nuts how low the light fixture is relative to the mirror in the hall bathroom, so I raised the electiral box and moved the wiring while installing drywall where the fur down had been. And I felt so proud of myself for solving the low-light-fixture problem. Until I got the mirror back on the wall (with the Bear’s help, of course.) To my dismay, I realized that the light fixture now sat waaaaay too far above the mirror. The value of measuring and planning cannot be overstated.
I was not going to put another hole in the drywall, so I needed to find a way to give the mirror more height. What did I turn to? MDF, of course! I used 6 inch wide plank across the top, then gave it a little crown of chair rail.
The builder of this house LOVED cultured marble. Or maybe they just found it at a deep discount. Even the window sills were finished with it.
That choice made sense when the entire tub and surround were the same material, but with the new bath tub, it just looked out of place. I had found a shelf at a thrift store at least a year before that miraculously fit across the span of all the windows. I hoped that once I got the marble out, I would just be able to install the shelf and call it a day. Nope.
Using the pieces of marble as a guide, I cut new sills, then installed, caulked, and painted them. Not an exciting process at all, but I love the result.
Choosing trim for the vanity counter top was way more complicated than I thought it would be. I went with my first instinct (which usually ends well for me) and used the same bronze mosaic tile that I had installed as the back and side splash. Unfortunately, the combination of the modern lines fought with the country vibe the rest of the bathroom had going. So, I reluctantly scraped off the tile and installed some wood trim instead.
Oh, and, somehow, I forgot to factor in the time it would take to paint the cabinet that faces the vanity.
Totally worth it, though.
A note on the wall color (Himalayan Poppy by Behr). I feel like the luckiest wife in the world. While discussing the plan for the bathroom with my Bear, I lamented my color quandary: I kept coming back to blue, but blue had already taken over the house. So, I mused about green. “But we already have a green bathroom,” he replied. “Well, I don’t want to go with a neutral, red, orange, or yellow. That only leaves purple and I don’t want you to have to have a purple bathroom.” “I’m fine with purple. It’s a royal, manly color.” So purple it was – which just happens to be my favorite color. EVER.