bathroom makeover

Wow! Just like the kitchen, this makeover was dramatic!

I’ve actually had this done for a few weeks, but other deadlines prevented me from getting this posted. When I did the kitchen I gave myself until Thanksgiving to complete. For the bathroom, I gave myself until spring break when my son would be coming home. I made it.

It was pretty dirty looking, but that was mainly due to the existing paint colors and how it had been applied.

The green was gross to me…

…and the chocolate brown paint would never be on my color wheel for a fresh clean bathroom. Wiping all that out was the main goal and I succeeded.

We changed the light fixture soon after we moved in. I didn’t get a before picture. I just didn’t think about it until it was too late. Changing it was an urgent need for a couple of reasons. The existing fixture hung down over the mirror. We had to duck to see ourselves. It had burned out bulbs and a couple of the globes were broken and missing sections.

We considered raising the fixture and replacing parts, but the bulbs were weird and expensive. Even changing the bulbs was strange…which could have been why the globes were broken. While looking at other fixtures we realized a new fixture with standard bulbs was far less than repairing the old light. No brainer. We changed out the whole thing.

I worked in sections on this makeover. For some reason it prevented me from becoming too overwhelmed by the job. The first big change was the built-in cupboards.

Removing the doors was ridiculous! The hinges had been covered with so much paint that getting a screwdriver into the grooves was impossible. I scraped and picked with whatever would show results. Ultimately I was able to remove the screws using the edge of a putty knife as a screwdriver. Whew! That was a workout that took hours.

I soaked and scrubbed the hinges, removing 3 or 4 layers of paint. While I completely removed the paint, the metal of the hinges was hideous. The cheap metal was rusting. Since the handles were new and had the same rubbed bronze finish as the knobs in the kitchen, I decided to spray the hinges with leftover paint from that makeover.

Yes! Spray paint did an amazing job and was a much better choice than gunking them with another layer of wall paint. The screws were not worth salvaging so we bought new ones and I sprayed the heads of those to match the hinges.

Cupboard doors…

…and drawers got a thorough cleaning and a fresh coat of clean.

What do you think?

It was then onto the next section. I chose the area around the toilet because it seemed tricky and I wanted it done and over with. First off was getting rid of the medicine cabinet. I wanted it gone. It might be just me, but having a medicine cabinet over a toilet seemed like a bad idea…especially since my house of guys can’t seem to remember to put the seat down. I was a bit worried that when I removed it there would be a big hole in the wall from an old built-in cabinet, but YAY! for small victories, there wasn’t one.

After patching cracks and screw holes it was time to paint. Hm…painting behind the toilet didn’t seem possible, but I was determined. For those with the same obstacle, here are my tips.

• Remove the tank lid.
• Cover the tank with a black garbage bag.
• Tape around the tank (over the bag) to hold everything flat and away from the wall.
• Warning: Do not flush with the bag over the tank!…Don’t ask. 😉
• Tape a paint stir stick to the back of one of those replacement edger pads.
• Add paint to the edger pad and while holding the stick, rub the pad on the wall behind the tank.
• Add extra coats as needed.

After cleaning walls, fixing cracks and caulking corners, the rest of the bathroom painting went pretty well…until I got to the door.

The hinges, the door knob and the knob plate had all been painted with layers of paint. Ugh! the door needed to be removed to clean the hinges, but since it was a bathroom door it had to be done in a day. No pressure!

After cleaning the hinges, I painted the door edges before rehanging the door. That way I could paint the rest of the door later. The door plate and knob were too gunked to clean, but I had old doors in my crafting stash with identical antique hardware.

We replaced the bathroom door’s knob and plate with a clean one. I finished painting the door just days before my son got home for break.

The yucky window got a fresh makeover with a painted frame, new (functional) shade and curtain.

I added a quilt for a shower curtain and a few other decorations. Decor is not finished, but that will be an ongoing process.

Enjoy!