Little House in the Carolinas: Half Bath Remodel

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Clear as day I can still remember the first time I came into my little house when it was actually mine. I had just signed the papers and I had the key in my hand, and I unlocked the door – for the very first time. It is an odd feeling: owning a place that seemed so unfamiliar yet my soul already recognized it as home. That was two years ago and though I can’t say that I turned this house into a home, because it felt like home from the beginning: I have slowly made this house into something that I believe to be beautiful – and that’s the whole point isn’t it?

I have always loved projects. I love getting my hands dirty and I love taking something that has long since lost its appeal and make it into something that is once again useful. I am a firm believer that “Potential” is one of the most powerful words on the planet, and that word really gets me into trouble sometimes. My parents were visiting from Ky and we were shopping around in a Habitat Restore, which is a non-profit that sells home improvement goods for a discounted price (SO CHECK THAT OUT). We were walking around this store looking for treasures and I spotted it: an old, beat up four legged sink pedestal with a putrid green sink basin attached. In typical fashion, I gasped loudly and made a beeline to my new find. Then my mind started running a mile a minute as I tried to figure all the logistics out – will this fit in my bathroom, what kind of sink would I put on this, when am I actually going to have the time to rehab this? I called my poor neighbor, bless her soul, and asked her if she could measure her bathroom because I knew that we both have the same layout. Wouldn’t you just love to have me as a neighbor??? 😉 Ten minutes later, I was lugging that fourty dollar bargain out the door. And that was the beginning of operation half bath rehab.

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The remodeling of my half bath was painfully slow. First of all I never do any home remodeling unless I can pay for it outright, so I had to save. Second of all, any remodel if done right, takes time. The above little vanity sat in my living room for months – MONTHS – before I was able to do anything to it. It was quite a wobbly little thing, and the last thing you want to do it put a piece of stone, that could easily crush your feet off… onto an unstable base. So the very first thing I did was to have my Dad help me figure out how to stabilize the base with some carefully placed wood and extra screws. Then came the easy part, it had to be cleaned, sanded, sanded again, primed, primed again, painted, painted again, and sealed… among other things…  Shew. I am tired just typing that. Remind me why I like furniture rehab??? I knew from the moment I saw that vanity that I wanted to paint it yellow. Absolutely don’t ask me why, because I have no clue, it was just a feeling. I ended painting it Lime Gelato by Sherwin Williams (HGSW1226). After the little baby was primped and painted and brought into the 21st century, I had a remnant piece of quartz cut. Whenever you are looking for a small piece of stone, a lot of countertop places have “remnant days,” where they will sell you the leftover pieces at a discounted price. I could have gotten a piece of granite for much cheaper, but I had my heart set on this piece of quartz, and it just so happened to be one of the more expensive ones, so I shelled out about $300 to have my vanity quartz, and that included cutting it to size, cutting the sink opening, and the backsplash piece.

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After the vanity was finished, I started on the bathroom itself. The popcorn ceiling had to be removed, the bathroom repainted, and thoroughly cleaned. If you have ever removed popcorn ceiling, it is MESSY business. Oh my lanta, I found dust in that bathroom for months after it was finished. After all that was done I could start on the design for the bathroom. I went to Celedore Fine Wallpapers in Charlotte to find my wallpaper, which if you are in the market to buy wallpaper let me stress the importance of this: GO TO THE WALLPAPER STORE! In my opinion it’s so much better than ordering online, and I will tell you why. Online stores will send you samples yes, but if you are in a store with actual designers they are going to listen to your wants and needs and bring you options that you may not have found on your own. Plus they will send you the samples home usually free of charge, so you can tape them on your walls and make the best decision for your design plan. Wallpaper is a BIG commitment, so you need to be sure before you bring it into your home. I absolutely love wallpaper in half baths because it’s the one place where your guests will almost always go. So why not make a statement? I ended up choosing SIR THOMAS EMBROIDERY, Grey, W772570, Collection Chestnut Hill from Thibaut for the half bath. Click the photo below for the Thibaut link.

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The flooring I chose was from Wayfair, which they no longer sell anymore *tear. It was a ceramic lantern style tile by Pervatile in glossy white. I had it laid with Mapai Pewter grout, which was the grout color that complimented the wallpaper the best. Just in case you can’t remember what the before looked like in my little bathroom here is the reminder. Still cute, but very builder’s grade. You can see that it had laminate flooring that had slightly yellowed and a basic ceramic pedestal sink.

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One of my goals this year is to learn how to tile. And someday soon, I think I will get the opportunity to do that. For this particular project though, I hired the tiling done. I came home from work one day and I eyed this man going in and out of my neighbor’s home with laminate flooring. I walked right up to him and said, “hey do you happen to know anything about tiling?” Then I proceeded to poach him from my neighbor (AGAIN:  neighbor of the year over here) and I hired him on the spot to tile my half bath. That in retrospect probably is not the wisest way to go about picking your contractors, but it ended up working in my favor because he did a great job and he didn’t break my millennial sized budget.. AKA: Tiny $$$$.

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I was in it for the long haul with this particular project, it was one of those things that was just drawn out for months, but in the end it was so worth it. It 100% is one of my favorite rooms in the house, and it is no longer a “builder’s grade” bathroom. Thank goodness we can now pee in peace knowing that 😛 Soon it will time to move onto my next project, but for now I am avoiding habitat restores like the PLAGUE. I can’t be finding any more life changing vanities ya’ll. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Xoxo,

Megan Marie

“Just Where Did She Get That!?”

 

 

 

 

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