bathroom update

So...  you may remember a post I created back in November about a bathroom renovation?  It's right here.  Anyway, I know it has been forever...  The thing is, we finished up "our plan" about a week ago.  We started off quickly, but then a certain birthday party took over for a bit and we finally wrapped it up over Christmas vacation.  The problem?  It looks too good!  We were only planning a bandaid fix with a $500 budget, but because it turned out even better than we hoped, we're now contemplating tiling the shower...  I guess I should back up and show you some pictures and then tell you about the second phase of our plan.

Okay, so these aren't the most amazing photos, but it's really hard to photograph a super bright space and capture the color.  I tried.

Door, sanded and repainted.  Also, new hinges which I forgot to photograph, but I will!

view from the top of the stairs

new bead board ceiling and light fixture

left side:  original walls, just sanded and repainted, new bead board, cabinet, towel racks, and trashcan, and Brian's new radiator cover

repainted vanity, new sink and faucet, repositioned outlet, penguin soap dispenser, new toilet paper roll holder, and new medicine cabinet

the most exciting part: new walls, ceiling, and bead board

ahhhhhhhhhh

another shot of the medicine cabinet and framing

painted the frame around the sky light glossy white

painted ceiling and fan cover

radiator cover Brian built from scratch (the floor is slanted, not the cover)

trimmed the baseboards with molding and quarter round

quarter round on vanity

And now we're looking at phase two.  The original plan just involved buying a new faucet and handles for the shower and replacing the old.  This is why we chose the yellow we did, because it matched the old shower surround.  But, when we went to Home Depot, we couldn't find a three handle fixture in brushed nickel, only the single dial.  Then, in talking with an employee, we soon learned that we would need to hire someone to switch the plumbing from one to two and when we got a quote, found out this will cost an additional $500.  But it's also apparently much safer than the three handle when you have kids, since they can easily burn themselves the other way.  So...  we feel like we should make this switch but since that's double our budget, we stopped here.  This option would also require us to cut new holes and as a result, we'll need a new surround.  So this is where we are today.  We pulled the surround from the wall to look behind, it wasn't falling off.

Yesterday I spent some time online and in Home Depot and Lowes.  It turns out there are tile options that are actually cheaper than a plastic surround, but obviously require much more work.  Tile would be a million times nicer looking and a better investment.  We're just hoping we'll be able to do it ourselves.  Here's the option I think we'll go with:

It's only $2.57 a square foot, which costs over $100 less than the surround.  I love that it's traditional from a historical preservation standpoint, but just a little bit funky.  I've spent some time reading up on tile installation and watching tutorials online.  I hope to update soon with fabulous, stress free results!!!