Bathroom - A little spring fever coming on

I have allowed myself up through the end of April to get through the bathroom portion of my 3 room challenge.  I'm on target of course since I've decided to only do half of the room.  It has been exciting to make progress, but this time of year it is getting tough to keep focus on interior projects.  Our weather here has helped in the sense that the temps have been hovering around the freezing mark. 

Even with the freezing weather, my mind has been turning to other things...visiting our daughter in Ohio, getting taxes done (yuk!), thinking about the last room of this challenge, keeping on budget on this challenge, when will I be able to rake the leaves we left on our lawn last year (there were a bunch), when can we open the cottage, and boy, do I have a lot of clean up to do before even tackling the last room.

It is hard to say what the biggest change is for this bath remodel.  I thought it would be fun to attempt a time lapse photo presentation, so I've been taking shots since January and trying to keep the camera at the same angle.  It's been on a tripod, but I've had to put it away every day.  The pics have been taken at various times of the day so lighting varies, but take a look at this:

Installation of my beautiful counter top

Drilling holes into the bottom of the counter top was stressful.  I needed to do this to install the pieces that would hold the screws in place for the sink supports.  I started out with a drill bit that I thought was a masonry bit, but after almost 1/2 hour alternately drilling and putting the bit into cool water to keep it from melting off, I decided to look up what a masonry bit is.

Notice the tip - this IS a masonry bit

Smoother tip - NOT a masonry bit

With the right drill bit and some patience, I drilled 4 one half inch holes in about 1 hour without breaking the bit or the counter.

After installing the faucet on the counter and the counter on the cabinet and the sink under the counter, we found our drain was not in line with the existing pipes, so I sent Don off to the hardware store.  Three trips later and a bunch of extra parts, we found the right combination to allow the faucet to run and not leak.

What's next?  

The electrician is coming back to do the final switch hookups and to install my lighting.  Which of these lamp shades do you like best?  The one on the right came with the lighting fixture.  The one on the left was a find at St. Vincent's in Verona.

I'll add the mirror after that and make a roman shade for the window.  After some clean up in the shower area on the other side of the room, adding accessories (towel bars, towels, etc), and adding up receipts spent on this room, I'll be able to call this portion of the challenge done.

Can't wait for spring, so here is a little of it, thanks to photobucket.com.

Couldn't resist this one!

Hope you'll check back in two weeks.  I should be sewing up a roman shade.

Bathroom - Choices made and more to make

Schedule Delay

Demo was scheduled to start 1/4/2014.  Instead my husband Don and I decided to drive our daughter Harmony from Wisconsin to Ohio to get her back to school on time after her flight back had been cancelled due to winter storm conditions.  We didn't plan that one well and ended up getting stranded in Columbus, Ohio for an extra day, then in Danville, Illinois for a night.  The roads in Indiana were pure ice on the way back and we felt very lucky to make it back home when we did.

                                  

 

Choices Made

So, what's a gal to do in Columbus, Ohio?  I searched the internet for the nearest Habitat Restore, of course!  I found 2 only 15 minutes away from Harmony's apartment.  You know I like to find bargains and I did.  At the first store I found the doors I needed to complete medicine cabinets I plan to build.  The style matches my existing cabinet doors.  This definitely steers me into the direction of keeping the old traditional doors rather than upgrading to something more contemporary.  I'm okay with that.  The cost: $5.50 for each door.

New unfinished medicine cabinet doors

At the second store (Yes, I went to both!), I found a NEW and unused American Standard sink for $29.50 complete with mounting hardware.  It retails at American Standard for $162.00, but I also found it online for 1/2 that price at another online source.  It really does pay to search several sources and often.  Inventory can change daily.  I'm known to spend my lunch hour and weekends visiting my favorite 2nd hand stores.  I hadn't decided on an under mount sink, but this deal made up my mind.

My new 'Tudor' sink

Choices to Make

I've researched counter top materials and I find myself drawn to quartz.  It is the most maintenance free material I know.  Granite will stain if not treated regularly and solid surface material like Corian can scratch.  I don't want concrete.  I thought about tempered glass, but it is a bit modern for the style direction this bathroom is taking.  We have quartz (Silestone) in our kitchen and I love it.  Finding a bargain on the specific colors I like is pretty unlikely.  In addition, it has to be the correct size and have a custom hole cut for my new sink and whatever faucet I find.  I'm willing to pay retail on this if I have to since it will definitely add value to our home.  It would be great if I can save some money installing it myself.  We will see.

                                             


Aside from potential electrician work, another element that can be costly is the faucet choice.  I've been searching for faucets with an oil rubbed bronze finish, but I fell in love with a new finish I hadn't seen before - Champaign Bronze.  It is very elegant, but I fear it might be a finish that may be short lived like brass.  I did mention in a prior post that I wanted to stick with the metal finish started in the Foyer with the lighting.  The counter top and the faucet definitely need to work together.  On top of that, I'm bugged a bit that an oil rubbed bronze finish will mean my drain will be very dark against the white of the sink.  I'm striving for a clean look, yet wanting a traditional style.  That's part of the allure of the Champaign Bronze right now.

Champaign Bronze - left; Oil Rubbed Bronze - right

What do you think?

It's your turn!  Tell me what choices are your favorites for counter top material and color.  What faucet finish would you go with?

Click here for a counter top survey.

Click here for a metal finish survey.