One Room Challenge Week 1
Im so excited to be writing this post. For almost a year now I have dreamt of remodeling our bathroom. For those that are new, I live in a 1940 style artdeco house. It is super fun and quirky but along the way it has had SEVERAL bad remodels done to it.
It has been rented a few times, and had several owners. Between these factors and the age of the house, there are several things inside that need MAJOR attention.
Last year we remodeled our girls room. We started with that room because our girls are getting older, and we wanted them to feel like they had a space that was theirs. It took FOREVER. I mean like 2 years forever. I haven’t shared a big reveal on that yet since I have a few projects to do still and can’t officially call it “finished.” It still needs a door….and a few smaller items.
But here I am started another project before I finish my other ones haha. It’s how I roll.
I learned about the One room challenge last year and have been itching to do the bathroom for it. I had hoped the other projects would be finished by then, but well… life happened and they are not. But its ok. I will get there. I just pulled the trigger and signed up for the challenge. It is 8 weeks long. I don’t know if I will share more than once a week here, but I will for sure be sharing lots more updates over on Instagram if you want to follow along there.
The bathroom. Here it is in all it’s glory.
So
much
tile
The original listing photos from 2013 show red carpet.
I AM STILL SHOCKED PEOPLE DID THIS.
I know it was popular, but its just so gross.
Another fun thing we found as we started demoing, is that the walls are completly covered in mirrored tile. Like the 1970’s gold flecked antiqued tile. Then whoever lived here over the years decided to wallpaper over it. Then plaster over the wallpaper..
The laziness is astounding.
So Since the whole room is practically covered in glass, the demo is going to move slower. I can’t just hulk smash my way through because that would result in glass shards EVERYWHERE, and I don’t really fancy glass shards in my skin… So it are going to try and pry the mirrors off in the biggest chunks possible.
In the kids room, when we demoed it was a ton of lathe and plaster. Removing all of this so we could insulate was a lot of work BUT SO WORTH IT.
We live in Idaho. It’s COLD for most of the year. Our house is not isulated on any of the exterior walls… like at all. It is a stucco house, made of cinderblock construction. While demoing the kids room we found out that all of the exterior walls in the house are just painted/ wallpapered cinderblock. ( which explains our heating bill.)
The house is a giant square.
So that means about 2 walls in every room are exterior. The bathoom sits in the top corner of the house, meaning two of its walls and the ceiling are exposed. It has always been cold but we have plans to change that.
In the kids room we build out the exterior walls with 2×2″ pieces of wood, and put insulated panels over the top of that. We did this for two reasons. It allowed us to add outlets ( because there was none) and warmth. We also replaced the windows with newer much more efficient ones. We used PEAK windows and I couldn’t be happier.
We wanted black windows and everywhere else I got quoted was almost double in price, plus they custom make them to the size we need, which is crucial in a old home, with CINDERBLOCK WALLS.
Their factory is local to me, but I don’t know if they ship but if you are looking for great windows, I can’t recommend them enough.
We got a quote for 3 bathroom window for $1500. That is delivered, and custom sized too.
Someone asked about the privacy of our bathroom on Instagram… ya… We live on a corner, with a bathroom that is mostly windows. There have been incidences. haha. One time while my husband got out of the shower a pair of ladies walking by, looked up and made eye contact with him. He said they both gasped and shielded their eyes in shock. We put up curtains that week.
Which wasn’t easy to do with tile trim around the windows, and now we know… mirrors for walls. So we just used spring loads extension bars on the inside of the window casing. Ghetto , but its what we could do quick.
So with these windows that we ordered for the bathroom we added a privacy panel on the sash of the window, ( the lower half.) I love how much natural light they let in , but privacy was my first concern. We ordered the windows to have reeded glass which I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT. This is what it will look like on the lower half.
We have some big plans for this room. When decided the new layout some big ideas came out that included moving walls, plumbing etc. After sitting down and looking at our budget and how we use the space we paired back our huge ideas a little. This is our main bathroom, and we share it with our kids. We don’t have a master bathroom. So when we were designing this we were initially trying to make it that.
BUT
Then we realized the space just isn’t big enough to accomplish all of the master bathroom dreams we had. So we tried to think about how we use the space.
Frequently my husband and the kids are trying to get ready in the space at the same time each morning. Someone will be in the shower, and someone needs to use the toilet, someone needs the mirror etc.
Right now if you flush or turn on the sink while someone is showering, the shower water goes cold. Thank you old plumbing.
So that was the first thing to fix. Here is a list of the items we wanted to fix or address with this remodel:
- Water going cold during showers
- Privacy with windows
- Coldness of room
- Lighting issues at night
- Floor around tub leaking to the floor beneath
- storage is poor
- multiple people needing the space at the same time
- No ventilation fans- moisture buildup
So here is our idea. Minus the tub. We took that idea out and it will just be open.
To make plumbing easier we are going to leave the toilet where it is, but…. drumrolll.
We are going to rotate it.
We are going to take out the vanity area that exists now, and build walls around the toilet area. Using a pocket door we will create a little water closet for the toilet. I AM STOKED ABOUT THIS. It will have it’s own ventilation fan, and privacy.
Across from the water closet we will put the vanity where the deep cupboards were, also taking out a closet in the hallway to gain more space. We will add storage there, as well as a big mirror and beautiful sink.
Then we will be removing the bathtub. Its an old cast iron drop in tub with lots of leaking issues around the floor. We will be building a large built in shower in its place.
We thought about double shower heads, but then just decided on the one. Someday we will have the master bath of our dreams, and it will be great. This is what we need now.
Across from the shower and in the window area will be more storage and towel hooks.
I know that this tile is really popular right now, so I was hesitant to use it…. BUT
Look at our fire place downstairs.
This is the original fireplace ( the plaster needs a little love) BUT I AM OBSESSED. So pretty much all of the esthetic for the rest of the house is being based off of this. The house has arches, and circles everywhere, with fun art deco lines. So we are matching it.
The room will be mostly white with black floors. I am adding in some black marble features on a wall, with gold accents. I am really excited about the overall look we are going to try and achieve, and it goes with the era and style of our house, which I think is important to us.
Here are the things my husband and I will be doing for the 8 week challenge:
- Demo, demo , demo.
- Building walls for water closet and switch toilet
- Building walls for walk in shower
- Remove old windows
- Replace with new windows
- Build out exterior walls for insulation
- Re-wire old outlets and lights
- Add light and bluetooth switch by vanity
- Add puck lights and ropelight in shower area
- Add ventilation fans in two areas
- Drywall all non water walls
- Texture and Paint
- Tile the shower and replace hardware
- Tile the floor and fix any damaged subfloor areas
- Build a custom vanity
- Build a cement countertop
- Build additional storage by the windows
- Decorate!
I am not sure we will get this huge list done in 8 weeks, but I am DETERMINED to try at least.
Demo is underway, and will be slow moving since the tile is cemented to the exterior wall cinderblocks. So Ill just be over here chipping away to get it all off the next couple of days! Check back next week for the One room challenge update on the Bathroom!
#oneroomchallenge #ORC #apartmenttherapy #homerenovation
-Amanda