the first bathroom, the ugly one

the west willow house came equipped with standard bathrooms and bathroom fixtures... standard for the 1970s. the baron and the husband saw potential in those bathrooms, though: once they moved in, they immediately began plans to renovate them. the first one, the guest one, was actually rather large. large enough to fit the usual bathroom suspects (sink, toilet, tub/shower), but also a narrow wardrobe and a chair. also, reader? the houses in phoenix come with cement sub-floors, which made the tiling SUPER easy for the baron (one day, the baron will regale you with the story of how SHE HATES HER CURRENT BATHROOM'S FLOOR BECAUSE IT WAS TOO HARD TO TILE DUE TO THE WOOD SUB-FLOOR. ahem.).

so.

behold the ugly bathroom, as they found it:

so ugly. so, so ugly.

so, so ugly. the baron threw up a little in her mouth, just remembering this bathroom.

they couldn't salvage the drywall behind the shower tile, so they just cut it all out. also, the husband hated the fixtures, so this big gaping drywall hole? easy access for new, better plumbing.


the toilet and that so, so ugly vanity were the next to go. the husband, teaching himself plumbing on the fly, shows the sink pipes who's boss. or rather, he tries to show the sink pipes who's boss... the end of this picture is that the husband called a plumber.

the floor tile was also pulled out, as was the old tub. the baron and the husband stripped the room to the studs, and to the sub-floor. below, the baron is installing drywall.

below, reader, you can see the results of the baron's hard work (and her mad joint compound skills). around the shower, they used hardibacker over vinyl 'repels water and mold' sheeting. pretty tidy looking, eh? also, notice the new floor creeping in? the baron did all the tiling in this bathroom, and - if she does say so herself - it looks pretty good.


new sink, new toilet, new baseboard and wall tile. the baron and the husband decided on 3in x 6in high gloss subway tile for the walls. they wanted the bathroom to be bright and clean, and reminiscent of an old-timey subway station.

new fixtures, including a brushed stainless steel light fixture and simple black mirror.

new bathtub, and - eventually - a new shower head and knobs, all in brushed stainless steel. though you can't really tell, reader, the bathroom is painted a pale, minty green... this bathroom, this beautiful bathroom, became the baron's favorite room in the house!