the second bathroom, the nasty one

reader, the baron is embarrassed about the photos below, of the master bedroom bathroom. it's a rather smaller bathroom than the first one, and has just a shower. a pop-in fiberglass shower. with a travertine tile border at the bottom, laid out OVER, and stuck to, the fiberglass. you know what? the baron is throwing up in her mouth a little right now.

in this before photo, the narrowness of the bathroom is obvious, right? it's just a tiny, tiny room. this bathroom has the same 'before' tile as the first one, and the same faux-marble style laminate vanity.

the baron and the husband wanted, of course, to remove the shower and replace it with a tile shower, which meant building a lip where the glass door would sit. this - the laying of the shower basin - was beyond their bathroom related experience. so... the baron and the husband hired someone to do it for them! below, you can see the walls are removed, though the fiberglass shower basin remains.

below, no fiberglass remains, and the shower walls are on their way! also, at this point, the toilet and the vanity are gone. the baron and the husband, by the way, decided to use the same new toilet and pedestal sink as they had in the first bathroom.

the shower, the shower basin, are complete. if you look closely, reader, you can see that the subway tile also extends onto the walls of the bathroom. isn't it so pretty?

next, the floors and the shower doors are installed. still no toilet, but don't worry reader... they got one eventually!

lastly, the paint and the shower fixtures. pink isn't for everyone, the baron and the husband realize, but it's a much more muted pink than appears here. also, they got the paint from the sale table at home depot for $5, and frankly, after what they had already spent on the bathrooms, settling for cheap pink paint seemed like a grand idea. also, there's the baron, caulking the shower head.

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!

the life

phoenix, though ultimately not for them, was good to the baron and the husband. below, scenes from their life there. and, reader? the dogs totally did that to themselves.

the yard

the baron and the husband were delighted with the yard at the west willow house. the front yard boasted 4 orange trees; the husband would make fresh orange juice every morning. the back yard was not VERY large, but was perfectly sized for three dogs. there was a nice patch of lawn for them to play, and to, ahem, do their business. additionally, there was a diving pool, and room for a box garden and an herb garden too. it was quite the life!

here is lettuce the husband was able to grow early in the spring and long into fall... the best thing about phoenix, it turns out, is the length of the growing season.

lavender, gifted to the baron and the husband by the baron's mother. the baron's mother gave them two tiny plants which, aided by the good phoenix sun, grew into monstrously fragrant bushes.

the pool, and in the corner there you can see the vegetable boxes built by the husband. also, to the left of the pool is the herb garden.

and speaking of the herb garden, here's a closeup. there's a rosemary hedge to the left there, with cilantro, lavender, basil, oregano, parsley, peppers, oregano and a dwarf lemon tree all planted behind it.

those vegetable boxes? here's the closeup... they've been built, though not filled. and in the middle there? that's collard greens and one tomato plant.

here, tucker helps the husband built the patio around the vegetable boxes. eventually, and despite tucker's 'help', the patio would be entirely filled in. the baron and the husband placed a bistro set in the center of this patio and would often take their morning coffee there.

one of the many planting beds in the back yard. here, the dogs take a break to pose for a photo... but doesn't harlan look like his image should be titled 'thug life'?

the dogs

the west willow house was a nice change for dexter. she was adopted by the baron and the husband from the san francisco animal shelter; she had spent her whole life - all three years as of 2004 - in northern california. the last two years were spent in a very small apartment on the lower haight, in walking distance to alamo square. while city life afforded her the chance to meet lots of interesting people and lots of interesting dogs, the baron imagined dexter was glad to have her own yard. below, sexy dexy shows the tennis ball who's boss.


tucker was adopted from the county pound. the baron has no idea where he came from, if he was surrendered or was a stray, but she does know that she and the husband lucked out... tucker is the happiest dog around. below, he gets his lounge on.


harlan was a stray, and the baron and the husband are VERY thankful that they were able to adopt him. below, he catches some sun... though doesn't the photo look like it should be titled 'thug life'?

phoenix, i hardly miss you

has the baron mentioned that she and the husband once lived in phoenix, az? they lived there from 2004-2006, and reader, those were LONG years. phoenix is good for gardening, but not much else as far as the baron could tell. they picked their house based on it's affordability rather than it's location... it was their starter house, after all, and - coming from san francisco - money was tight. the house, on west willow avenue, was $130,000; at the time, the sum staggered the baron. over time, and especially after the purchase of their maryland home, 130k began to seem reasonable, so reasonable that the baron and the husband decided to keep the west willow house as a rental property. 'maybe we'll use it in the future,' they said, 'and anyway, the market in phoenix is tanking. may as well keep it, right?'

they found renters pretty quickly, and for the past two years things have run fairly smoothly (though the husband will shake his fist in the air and bemoan the state of their formerly beautifully landscaped yard). four weeks ago, though, the renters gave notice that they had bought a house and were leaving. sigh.

the renters left the house in rather poorer shape than they found it. the landscaping IS an issue - not only for the work the husband and the baron put into it, but because a dirt front yard will make the house harder to rent. also, the carpet - newly installed by the baron and the husband four years ago - needs to be replaced. this information, about the state of the house, comes second hand to the baron and the husband from their property management company. the husband will fly to phoenix next week to suss it out for himself... and to meet with contractors to spruce the place up.

the baron, this morning, was thinking about that house and about all the work she and the husband put into it. about how they thought it was their forever home, about how they customized it for themselves, with crown molding and new bathrooms. this was, of course, before things fell apart. for a time, though, it was a happy and hopeful place. the baron has decided, in her reminiscing mood, to post some pictures of that house. reader, bear with her.