The Bathroom Saga: Before and ALMOST After!

Alright kiddos, you asked, so here they are. The bathroom pics!

The reason I never shared the "before" bathroom pictures with you is because, quite frankly, I am so embarrassed by them, I wanted to wait until I had a normal bathroom to show you and finally, I do! Well, almost. And it's about time I give up the goods, dontcha think?

First off, the before. The awful, mold infested, paint-peeling-off-the-wall and fake linoleum before pictures.

Ahh, that beautiful blue toilet. I do not miss thee. Or your torn vinyl seat that scratched my bum. And that paint peeling off the wall? (See there in the top corner?) I don't miss you either.

Another view of the blue toilet and the hideous brown heating element. Oh, and don't forget that ugly bear rug that had become permanently attached to the equally ugly linoleum. That's right, after years and years of being in the same spot, that rug has become one with the linoleum. May I remind you that this was all before I moved in. I would have moved that rug ASAP if I could have.

Now for the good stuff. See above the tiny blue sink, measuring a whopping 12"x12", the shower that wasn't properly installed (if you look closely, you can see the yellow caulk on the rear wall and the rust along the edges of the tub) and the mold on the ceiling.

All gone. Torn out. Removed. Trashed.

Here's an even better picture of the sink and the fake blue tile that was on the wall behind it. As you can tell, someone (me) might have gotten mad one day and attempted to rip that paneling/wallpaper crap off. Much to my dismay, the stuff was stuck on good.

Now that you have an idea of what I've been living with and hating for the last year, here's some shots of the in-process work. We Kevin tore everything out, down to the studs, and started from scratch.

At this point, the bathroom was deemed off limits to me, the pregnant one, but that didn't stop me from snapping a few pics while Kevin was at Lowe's for the fifteenth time. I'm pretty sure we own part of that store now. Every time Kevin went to go fiddle with the plumbing, something went wrong. The pipe under the shower had to be cut off, the water lines on the sink weren't long enough and the welds were so old, he had to do some damage control under the house. I don't envy him because by "under the house" I mean a teeny tiny crawl space that he's lucky he still fits into. (My pregnancy cravings aren't good for either of our waistlines!) Then, on Sunday night, when he was installing the new toilet, the recieving line didn't fit the new commode so he had to run to Wal-Mart at 11 at night praying they had what he needed. Thankfully, they did otherwise we would have been pottyless all night.

Have I mentioned this is our only bathroom? So for two weeks, my poor sister had to deal with me begging to use her shower on a daily basis. I owe ya sis.

And now, what you've all been waiting on, the almost after pictures!!

The new (larger!) sink and mirror. I couldn't find a medicine cabinet to match the dark espresso brown vanity, so we went with a mirror. Hubs wasn't too crazy about this idea so we compromised and added a cabinet above the toilet for more storage.

I told you the bathroom is still in process, so ignore the tools but notice the pretty white toilet and my lovely floors I worked so hard on! I know my hard work doesn't compare to the blood, sweat and angry tears my sweet husband put into this bathroom but dammit, that floor is my baby.

The new shower, complete with see-through shower liner which will soon be replaced. We have one of those fancy curved curtain rods that Kevin has been coveting so I know he's itching to get it up and see how it looks.

And finally, the throne with cabinet above. Again, ignore all the tools and unfinished work, we have a little bit of work left to do but we're so close, I can't wait to show you guys the final product.

A few of the things we hope to get done in the next few days:

• Cut, paint and attach the trim around the window and floors
• Pick out curtains and install those
• Put up towel bars, curtain rod and other accessories
• Touch up paint 
• Caulk around the floor of the bathtub

So all in all, very minimal work. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

And in case you're not over loaded with pictures already, I'll leave you with a few side by side shots of the before and after bathroom.

I'm in love.