Basement Bathroom

When you have a hankering to tackle a project, my theory is to GO FOR IT!  Because before you know it your motivation might be sapped by a crying baby, dishes in the sink, or a cup of hot chocolate and a good book.  So carpe diem, people.  That is exactly the story of our basement bathroom, because with a bazillion other projects that I should have been working on, this is the one I felt like doing.  Maybe it was the towel bars.  I’m pretty sure there were about five of them, and that fifth one just did me in, I tell you.  I mean, towel bars are one of my least favorite bathroom accessories anyway – give me anything but a towel bar, please!  So yeah, that’s where it all started – with the towel bar that broke that camel’s back. 

There was nothing too noticeable about this bathroom – other than its ubiquitous towel bars – and the purpley tile. 

I decided to paint the stark white walls a blue-grey color, and this time I stuck with it.  : )  It’s hard to see in the photos below, but it plays nicely off the tile.  We popped up some frames that we already owned.  I wanted them both to sit centered on the wall, but the toilet is off-set, so we decided to off-set the frames, as well.  The bird art is one of my favorite pieces from the ARC (a local thrift store) – it’s actually embroidered with thick thread, and I love its cheery self.  The basket on the back of the toilet holds toilet paper, because I didn’t get around to putting up a new toilet paper what do you officially call it holder.

Gray rugs and towels from World Market accent the room in an attempt to draw out more gray tones, rather than purple. 

Sayonara towel bars!  Hello there lovely hooks.  Thank you, Hobby Lobby, for keeping your knobs and hooks on a continuous 50% off sale.  Or maybe you just mark them up knowing it makes me feel better to think I’m getting a good deal…

Some purty knobs to replace the old brass ones.  Can’t replace the other sassy brass (faucet, shower door, etc.), but we’re okay with it.  I’m getting more into mixing my metals these days.  At least it sounds kind of cool to say that I’ve got an “eclectic” vibe going on, right?

In a last minute decision, I painted the cabinets white, as the oak just wasn’t doing it for me.  The white also helps to brighten the room, since it receives no natural light.  And it’s always fun to leave a small bouquet of flowers in the vase for guests. 

Oh, and just a quick tip for when you paint a bathroom… No one ever looks behind a toilet, so we opt to toss a trash bag over the back of the toilet and simply paint around it.  It sure beats removing an entire toilet. 

Hooray for semi-quick projects that leave a room feeling fresh! 

Shelf M-M-M-Melf

Don’t ask…I’m so tired of grading tests that I’m struggling to think straight.  Ahh…the life of a teacher.  On the bright side, Matt made delicious chicken enchiladas for dinner while I graded.  Makes you want to lightly punch him on the arm and say, “What a guy!”

In other news, we’ve been puttering around the house, but our main focus has been the yard.  More importantly, we spent the past weekend at a marriage retreat in the mountains.  One of my favorite takeaway thoughts from the weekend: “Your marriage should be the safest place in the world for both of you.”  All that said, I’ve been neglecting our blog and need to get back in the swing of things.  But it’s hard when the trees are budding and everything in you wants to be away from the computer!  And when that’s the case, I say forget the internet—which never sleeps—and let yourself off the hook, right?

One project that we finally did tackle was hanging a shelf in our bathroom.  We wanted a shallow shelf above our toilet—right between the shower curtain and mirror—but we didn’t want it to be too big or too expensive.  But the real reason I wanted a shelf was not even for décor purposes.  No.  I needed a shelf to hold this stinkin’ cute clock I found on sale at Target.

Does anyone else lose track of time in the bathroom?  I thought so!  It’s those darn eyebrows that need plucking—you can spend forever on them!  Anyway, that’s why I needed a shelf.  If you’re wondering why I couldn’t just put the clock on the countertop, it’s because I’m Type A.  I mean, who wants a cluttered bathroom countertop?  Not me.  No sirree.

Our first attempt at hanging a shelf ended in the typical Braham Fam way.  We found a cheap version of what we thought we were looking for, realized that it was just slightly off after it was already hung, and ended up spending a few bucks more to get the real deal.

Sadly, I forgot to take pics of the first shelf, but let me just say that it was too deep.  Kind of felt like you would hit your head on it when you stood up from doing your duty.  It felt out of balance with the rest of our bathroom.

Then we took a night away in Denver.  Before dinner at our favorite Bonefish Grill, we popped into the West Elm store at Cherry Creek.  Wow…it’s the kind of store you could lose yourself in.  But thanks to the hubs, I was able to stay fairly focused, and we ended up finding this shelf.

Depth?  Perfect.  Color?  Excellent match for our bathroom vanity.  Price?  A little more than we wanted to spend…but that’s what you do on indulgent overnight getaways, right?  Well, at least it’s what we did just this once.

It didn’t take Matt long to pop this puppy up.  Once it was hung, we grabbed an empty IKEA frame and filled it with one of our favorite quotes.  (By the way, I’ve started a quote file where I can stash any great quotes that I run across so they’re ready to go for times like this.)  And of course, we gave our clock a new home.  I’m thinking that the space might need something else—like a tall, thin vase or maybe a wine bottle that’s painted a fun color.  You know, something to garnish with a flower or two.  There are tons of possibilities, and I have a feeling it will be one of those areas that changes regularly—kind of like a fireplace mantel.

Oh, and two of the best things about this shelf?  1.) There’s a small lip on the shelf that holds pictures in place.  2.) It came with a bar that connects to the wall and the shelf just snaps on top of it—which means it doesn’t tilt away from the wall, but sits nice and tight.  I just hate it when shelves begin to droop.

While we probably could have made this shelf ourselves, sometimes it’s nice to let someone else do the work, don’tcha think?

Floor Plan

Here you have it folks.  The main level floor plan of our house.  This drawing was made possible by a really cool website www.floorplanner.com. We hope that this helps you visualize our house when looking through our house tour.

We will be referencing this drawing often when doing updates to our house.  We will also update this drawing with a few more details over the next few days.

HomeGoods Trio

Just when I thought I’d exhausted my unabashed love for HomeGoods, I realized that every mirror we own is from there!  Granted, we only have three mirrors to our name, but considering that each mirror acts as a focal point, I’d say it’s pretty sweet that we were able to score them at such low prices.

We posted about the first mirror here.  It sits above our fireplace and, after a bit of TLC, adds a burst of color to our living room.  The best news—it only cost $25!

The second mirror lives in our bathroom.  We wanted an espresso mirror to tie in with our espresso vanity.  We wanted something proportional to our vanity, which meant it would be fairly large.  But since there is no natural light in our bathroom—and since we want to make the most of our one and only bathroom—a large mirror would make the space feel lighter and roomier.  After browsing a million mirrors online, I was feeling like we might never find the right one.  We even checked with Lowe’s and Home Depot, only to be disappointed by the limited options that all looked pretty standard.  Not to mention the fact that they seemed a bit pricey to us.  And as always seems to be the case, just when we were ready to give up, we eyed this beauty lingering in the aisle of HomeGoods—for just $60.

For such a large mirror that met all of our desires, we were ecstatic.  Plus, the frame has a really cool texture, which sets it apart from all the other ho-hum mirrors out there.

Lastly, I’d been looking for something to define the space between my dresser and one of our bedroom windows.  I hadn’t enjoyed the luxury of a full length mirror since my college days when I shared a tiny apartment with three other girls (good memories of crowding in front of the mirror hooked to the bathroom closet door), I was excited that it might be an option.  Because our bedroom isn’t very large, we knew a mirror would open up the space.  I loved this one at West Elm, but it definitely didn’t fit our budget.

Still, I realized that a floor mirror—one that sits on the floor and leans against the wall—would be a great option for our bedroom.  Once again, good old HG came into play.  My mom and sisters were visiting, and they ended up buying it for us as a housewarming gift.  This mirror really brings distinction to our bedroom, and we like how it ties in with our oil-rubbed curtain rods.

And there you have it!  What have been your best HomeGoods finds?

FANBOYS

Grammar, anyone?  I recently used this acronym to teach my students about coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)—and what better way to start off a post about a fan that coordinates with the rest of the bathroom—and it just so happens that it was installed by a boy!  And yes, we’re starting Shakespeare this week—but since not everyone appreciates them as much as me, I promise to do my very best to hold back all the puns that will surely be racing through my mind.

Alright, here’s the down and dirty of it.  Our bathroom had a bizarre window in the shower, so we popped it out and made a cohesive wall of subway tile instead.  Love the subway tile, by the way.  Apparently someone made a law that bathrooms must have either a window or a fan in order for air to vent, so we turned to our trusted friend, the HD.  As it turns out, fans are downright sterile looking these days.  I’m convinced that someone could make a good living just by redesigning some of the fans out there—and selling them at affordable prices.  But working within our budget, we determined to find a functional fan that was not a total eyesore.  Here were some of our options—and these are the good ones!

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We decided to go with the simple look of this fan, since it looked more like a normal light fixture, rather than a vent cover.

Since we want our house to be people-friendly, I wanted to make sure that the sound of the fan was adequate.  Too loud and it would be annoying.  Too soft and people hanging out in the living room might hear your business…you know?  That’s when we spotted a handy little contraption right in the middle of the fan aisle that allowed us to test out the noise level of our fan.  Bingo!  We were satisfied.

Before we installed our fan light, I worried that it would interfere with our extra tall shower curtain.  While it comes pretty close to the bar, it actually doesn’t look too awkward, and there’s never been an issue of our curtain bumping up against it.

In an effort to be more energy efficient, we screwed in some CFL bulbs—only to be creeped out by the bluish lighting they emitted.  Seriously, I felt like at any moment aliens would burst out of our light fixture.  At first we thought the weird lighting was just due to the face that we’d used CFL bulbs.  But after a second trip to HD (we pretty much count on a minimum of two trips at this point—although we’re getting better at buying several types just to be sure we have what we need), we discovered that there are soft CFL bulbs that are far less harsh and offer a look similar to that of an incandescent bulb.  They worked!  (I do feel the need to make a confession, since we’re on the topic of light bulbs.  I am a huge fan of soft, cozy lighting.  Even though the soft CFL bulbs are close, I do not love them as much as an old-fashioned light bulb—they’re just a bit too bright for my taste.  The good news is that they’re getting better all the time, as companies are working to merge the soft look with energy conscious technology.)

One final look.

And we’re happy to report that the fan light correlates nicely with the Pottery Barn light that we purchased to hang over our sink.

Both have a milky glass look that we love, as it’s more opaque, giving it a fresh feel.  Yup, you could say we’re fans of the way things worked out in our bathroom.

Ahoy Mate!

We promised that we would give you the details on finding a mate for our vanity, so here’s the scoop on our bathroom counter top.  Because we reconfigured our bathroom layout after knocking out the awkward third door, we suddenly found ourselves faced with more decisions.  Once we finally committed to a vanity, we began exploring our counter top options—and there are a lot of options out there, people.  Laminate, porcelain, granite, corian, cement, butcher block, glass, stainless steel, cast iron, tile,…the list could go on.  What about counter top edges: beveled, bullnose, waterfall, eased, etc.  And that doesn’t even take into account the type of sink!  Under mounts, drop-ins, vessels…I digress.

In a nutshell, my dream bathroom sink consists of a white cast iron counter top with a seamless cast iron bowl.  No back splash.  No weird indentation or rim around the sink.  Sounds so simple, right?  It is.  I love the idea of a classic look that I won’t get sick of—one that doesn’t have all the bells and whistles attached to it.  Sadly, my dream quickly shattered once I looked them up online (click here)—we’re talking close to $1,000…yeah.  Why is it that the simple things are often the most expensive?

 

After my bubble burst and I floated back down to earth, I determined that I would find an alternate plan—one that combined the right look with the right price.  So I started with the obvious question: What’s hot right now?  It seems that lately everyone is raving about granite.  But have you looked at those price tags?  To give it a fair shot, I buzzed over to Planet Granite and look a good look at their remnants, which are essentially leftover pieces of granite that typically sell for less.  A bathroom counter is a good home for a remnant, because bathrooms don’t require nearly as much square footage as kitchens.  No matter though, because even though these pieces are priced lower, they are still expensive.  Plus, we hadn’t bought a sink yet!  You have to take into consideration your personality, too.  Most granite patterns are fairly busy.  Are you going to tire of it within a few years?  What if you want to change your décor?  Will the granite pattern bother you when you decide that your neutral tan walls would look better dressed in a shade of lime green?  I tend to like a more classic style that I can dress up or down, depending on my mood, so I decided to nix the granite idea.

The second option we looked at was a faux natural stone sold at Home Depot.  They had some more subtle designs that seemed a bit more of what we were looking for at a lower price, but it still seemed like an extravagant amount of money to spend.  After staring at the samples for about an hour, Matt finally insisted that I call my mom to get her thoughts on the decision—he knows me too well.  After some serious resistance, I suppressed my pride and dialed.  Within about two minutes, I knew what I had to do.

In a nutshell, my mom brought me back to the basics (as is often the case).  What was it that I loved about Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware vanities and sinks?  Their simplicity.  Their clean and classic look.  But what about the fact that were lots of white sinks out there, but they all had rims and indentations around them, not to mention the unavoidable back splash?  She encouraged me to look again to see if I could compromise by finding a counter top with only one of those—and even thought it might not be exactly what I had been hoping for, it would be pretty close and within budget.  And being within budget is worth it to us, especially if it meets most of the requirements on our wish list.

Check out the similarities between this vanity from Restoration Hardware and our own...

That’s when I stumbled upon a Swanstone counter top—a matte (I’m a matte lover for its subdued look—and the fact that he’s my hubby…pun intended!), white counter top, seamless bowl with no rim/indentation—and a back splash (no way to remove it—grrr)—all for under $200.  And that resolved it for us.  I know that some people are willing to spend big bucks to get the perfect look, but life is just too short to lose sleep over blowing your budget, so stick to your guns and find something that works within your price range.  The great news is that you can usually find something close or even DIY it!

Here is our vanity with its new mate...

We replaced our entire vanity and counter top, but what about the rest of you?  I’d love to see your bathroom solutions—be it a painted vanity, updated sink, or complete overhaul.   

Real Life Shark Bites

What did you think we were talking about? Plumbing, of course! When it comes to soldering copper pipes, we get an “A” for effort, but a “D” for results. So if you’re like the rest of us and struggle with this complicated task, know that you’re not alone. During the few times we’ve taken our torch to the pipes, we only seem to get about 75% of the soldering to work. Clearly this is why plumbing is a skilled trade. With that said, I still think that it’s worth it to try soldering first, but if you just can’t seem to get it, or you need a quick fix, then Shark Bites (aka Gator Bites at Lowe’s) are the way to go.

When we bought our house, the plumbing barely worked. The house had basically been abandoned for a year, and the galvanized pipes had literally corroded so badly inside that when we turned on the faucets, we were lucky to squeeze out a drip of water. So we did what most people do and hired a plumber. Eventually we decided to upgrade to copper piping, because it is still the best option available. Herman’s Plumbing, a local company, had our house re-plumbed in a matter of hours. Plumbers are truly amazing to watch. They make it look so easy!

Several months later, during our bathroom remodel, we had to move the water supply lines over for our new sink and vanity. This simple sounding project quickly became a daunting task. We tried soldering pipes for literally two hours before we called a plumber to come to the rescue. We were amazed when even the plumber couldn’t get the joint to hold—that was a first. He finally gave up using his torch and solder, and ran out to his truck. When he came back, he enlightened us by introducing what may be one of the best inventions in this modern age: the Shark Bite. We were mesmerized at the ease in which it was placed. In a matter of seconds, the job was finished—hours of work resolved in a blink of an eye. Who knew?

Since that day, I have been a firm believer in the Shark Bite phenomenon. It may seem a bit pricey, but will be completely worth the cost if it saves you a call to the plumber. We actually bought a few extra to keep on hand just in case we encounter a plumbing emergency down the road.

We’re all about being honest about the good, the bad, and the ugly—and the truth is that most DIY projects require a “learn as you go” attitude. Before buying our house, we had zero experience in these areas, but during our limited time as home owners, we’ve found that the best way to figure it out is to just give it a whirl—the only thing you have to lose is some time and maybe a bit of your pride. In the end, you could save a wad, in addition to tucking some more experience under your tool belt. And before you know it, you’ll have added some invaluable skills to your growing repertoire! To all of you DIY plumbers out there, we tip our hats off to you—and if you have ever used a Shark Bite, we’d love to hear about your experience.

Good Resources:

Shark Bite Warranty

Click here and here to read more about Shark Bites.

Click here for a step by step tutorial on how to solder copper pipes.

Vanity Fair

Today has been absolutely glorious.  The sun has shimmered all day long, and the air is so mild that we propped our front door open to let a warm breeze waft through our house while we putter around—in the middle of February!  Just another reason we love Colorado.  Is anyone else about ready to jump out of their skin thinking about daylight savings time?!  I can hardly wait until we gain an extra hour of daylight—blissful!

Hmmm…where was I?  Oh yes—bathroom vanities.  When we decided to knock out the third bathroom door, we gained some serious wall space.  Before, we were pretty much confined to a pedestal sink, and no matter how darn cute they are, they offer little in the area of storage and functionality.  Instantly I began researching our new vanity options.

My first instinct was to make a DIY vanity out of a dresser, especially after seeing our friends’ charming bathroom.

While scouring American Classics Marketplace, a huge building stuffed with antique treasures, I spotted several unique pieces that I thought would look great in our bathroom.

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…until Matt started drilling me about their durability and size.  (Husbands...you’ve gotta love the dose of reality that they bring to the table.) Although I believe that we could have made it work, it’s completely possible that we would have put a lot of effort into restoring a vanity with loose drawers, wobbly legs, and an imperfect height. The truth is, when your house contains only one bathroom, you don’t have quite as much room to play around.

I boldly began again.  To compare the different styles of bathroom vanities on the market, I went online and searched some of my favorite sites—Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware.  Now keep in mind that I rarely ever buy anything from these stores, despite being sorely tempted, as they are most definitely out of our budget price range.  Still, they know how to design a beautiful, clean bathroom, which is a look I covet, yet often struggle to find among major retailers.  It didn’t take long before this look began tugging on my heartstrings.

Now, if only I could find a similar look elsewhere for less… On to Home Depot and Lowe’s.  In all honesty, I wasn’t that impressed with the selection in their stores, but thankfully, online was a different story.  We ended up finding this vanity, which we felt shared some of our favorite features of the Pottery Barn vanity—storage, a rich espresso color, chunky legs, and an exposed shelf underneath for storing towels or simple accessories.  The price tag was a little more than we had originally anticipated, but with a 10% off coupon and the knowledge that we had saved our fair share of money on other house projects, we swallowed hard and placed the order.

Several weeks later, our brown beauty arrived on our doorstep.  We were thrilled with the color, as the online reviews varied in their thoughts on the tone—some thought it was reddish and some thought it was black.  We were hoping it leaned toward the black/espresso side of things, and to our relief, it did.  But as is the case with many house projects, there was a hang up.  As in a busted drawer and a cabinet door that didn’t close properly.  While I wiped away a tear or two, we loaded the vanity back into the box and hauled it to the nearest HD right before they closed for the night (we I have never been known to wait around for my patience).  To give them credit, they immediately returned the vanity and bumped us to the top of the list for a new one.  We signed, wondering how many more weeks we would brush our teeth using the kitchen sink.

But before we knew it, a second vanity appeared on our doorstep, and this time it was pristine condition.  Oh happy day!  Details soon to come on how we chose a mate for our vanity.

Just Call Us “Team Tile”

You know how when you start tinkering around with things, it can suddenly turn into a huge project?  Well, that’s essentially what happened during our bathroom remodel.  It started with, “This tile is uggggly.”  Before we knew it, we were yanking off speckled brown tile left and right, grinning madly about our success.  It was my first true experience with demo, and I loved it!  Just remember that demo is only the first part of the process…it doesn’t end there.

 

Before we bought our house, I was positive that I wanted a bathroom decked out with clean, white subway tile in the shower, layered against a black and white hexagon tile floor, like this.  When I found out that it was possible to buy sheets of hex tile online through Home Depot, I flipped out and nearly ordered it on the spot, but thanks to some good sense, we decided to check out our local options in hopes of striking a better deal.  Once we started looking around, I realized that I am not a fan of busy patterns—I prefer to stick to the basics so that I don’t tire of it too quickly, plus I can always change the paint or décor down the road if the tile is simple enough (think of all the people who installed pea green tile back in the day…I wonder how long it took before they realized what they had actually committed to!).  Not only am I not a huge fan of busy patterns, I also am not a huge fan of black—as in, other than clothing, nothing that I own is black!  When it comes down to it, I am way more of a brown tone gal.

After searching the big boys, Home Depot and Lowe’s, we took a chance on a place called The Carpet Exchange.  Turns out that despite their very misleading name, they actually carry tons of tile (I let them know they should change the name of their store—I’m sure they’ll be forever grateful to me when their customer base increases dramatically overnight).  While The Carpet Exchange wasn’t necessarily the least expensive, they had a better selection than the other stores.  Once I finally allowed my brain to shift gears, we stumbled across some lovely earthy chocolate brown tile at an affordable price.  That also meant we could use a dark grout (Poleyblend Sable Brown), which would be easier to keep clean than white grout on a bathroom floor—yipes!  While we were at it, we ordered our subway tile through them (we chose matte over glossy), although looking back, I have a feeling we would have gotten the subway tile for a better deal through a big box store.  Live and learn, right?  At least in the world of DIY…

Soon after, Matt went to town tiling the entire bathroom on his own—check out his detailed handiwork!  Isn’t it great?!  And boy are we glad for simple inventions like tile spacers—we used hundreds of them during this project!

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And that, my friends, is a wrap for Team Tile!

Doors Galore

In addition to the funky window inside the shower, our bathroom also sported three doors.  That’s four escape routes for a very small room—heck, five if you count the door to the bath closet.  At first glance, three doors didn’t concern us.  At least the bathroom was accessible, right?  We loved that there was a door connected to the master bedroom, along with an entrance immediately off the living room.  The only door that seemed a bit frivolous was the one leading into the back guest bedroom.  But like I said, we weren’t too concerned.

Then the rents came to town.  Parents—gotta love ‘em.  Especially my dad, who is the epitome of a self-made handyman; if he doesn’t know how to do it, he’ll bulldoze his way through it.  Dad, if you’re out there, you know I love this about you!  As we gave them the house tour (or should I say the stand-in-one-spot-and-you-can-pretty-much-see-the-whole-house-at-a-glance), we asked them if they thought all three bathroom doors were really necessary.  After a quick hash through the pros and cons—where the pros far outweighed the cons—they both agreed that two doors would be quite enough.  And within about two minutes, my dad and Matt were making a list of all the supplies they would need from Home Depot.

Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t realize how insane we were to try to refinish floors and knock out a door / frame in a wall—which, by the way, also tacked on a plumbing project, as well as the removal of some wall tile, since the pipes had to be adjusted—because this ended up being one of the absolute best changes we made to our house.

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Despite the stress.  Despite running to HD a bazillion times within 48 hours.  Despite the fact that we then had to reconfigure our bathroom vanity situation, which meant returning the adorable pedestal sink we had already purchased and *cough* removed from its packaging (note to self—do not remove packaging until you’re installing item)—more details soon to come on how we picked out our new vanity.  Thank goodness Home Depot allows you to return nearly anything without raising a fuss about it.  Plus, if you buy items using your credit or debit card, they can look up your purchase without the original receipt within a 90 day window.  Gotta love a customer friendly store.

After two grueling days of sanding floors and knocking out a door in the midst of it all, we gained some beautiful space in our bathroom (hooray for extra storage and counter space—and a larger mirror!), and so did the guest bedroom (the additional wall area created a perfect niche for our desk).  While I usually am a stickler to the plan, I must admit that being flexible in this case was 100% worth it.

Once Upon a Bathroom

Our house has one bathroom.  This is not unusual for a downtown house of our size, but one bathroom in this day and age certainly is.  The upside—scrubbing only one toilet and shower!  But having only one bathroom means it had better combine function and style in one package—at least in my perfect world.  In a nutshell, our bathroom originally had neither.  In fact, our bathroom had some really odd things going on with it…check out the shower.

If you’re wondering why there is a shower curtain at the back of the shower (in addition to the front curtain), it’s to cover the wooden window that some genius plopped right in the middle of a place that should be totally private, not to mention waterproof!  To give the poor builder some credit, they probably were required to stick to a code that said if there was no fan, there had to be a window in its stead.  (By the way, I wonder if that’s how the word “instead” originated.  Hmm.  Pardon the English teacher digression.)  Whatever the case, we knew the window either had to be replaced by a more waterproof version or completely knocked out.  Since we weren’t all that confident in knocking out walls—or windows—we buzzed over to the Home Depot to check out the cost of a replacement window.  Turns out it would cost about $200 to replace the wooden window with a vinyl (aka waterproof), blurred (aka private) window, and that did not include installation—another area of concern.  But $200 isn’t exactly pocket change when you’re on a budget, and we weren’t totally convinced that the window wouldn’t warp at some point.  On top of that, if we ever are able to replace all the windows in our house, we’d like them to be uniform, and we definitely weren’t ready to commit to a window style at that point.

In the end, our friend told us that he could remove the window, and while he was at it, install special waterproof cement boards, Durock.  That brought a grin to our faces, because it meant we could get rid of the built-in soap bar holder (a mar in nearly every shower) and redo all of the tile starting with a clean slate.  Plus, we’d never have to worry about any weirdness with our neighbors knowing exactly when we happen to be showering....

And thus began the gutting of the bathroom—a happy day and the beginning of an epic journey.  Well, maybe not epic, but definitely long and dangerous full of adventures.  Does anyone else have a funky bathroom story to share?  Do Tell.