Blast from the Past Guest Bath- Phase One Redo

Our blast from the past guest bath is getting a well deserved update, but as I mentioned in my previous post, we had to do it in stages. So onto stage one....I decided that I ought to tackle the countertop, sink, and faucet, while spontaneously removing the wallpaper somewhere in the mix.

First, I knew I wanted to replace the outdated clamshell countertop with a granite and surprisingly, I had some great luck finding Granite Design Center off Central Expressway in Dallas. The process was pretty easy and painless. We looked at several remnants and I found the perfect one. The colors were right and so was the size. It had some nice grays, a little black, and a little rust color.

{Out with the old.....}

In the details, I went with a white undermount sink to tie in with the white bathtub and opted to go with a beveled edge for the granite. It's amazing all the choices you have when choosing the edging detail for your granite. There must have been 5 or 6 finish options for the edging. My thought process was to mimic my cabinets and go with the beveled look.

{....and in with the new.}

My second plan of attack was the sink faucet. Did I want to go with an oil rubbed bronze or did I want to go with a chrome finish? Satin Nickel I've never been crazy about. I went on my search and looked at Home Depot, Lowe's, and several other places. At first, I was totally sold on the oil rubbed bronze finish. I purchased a fixture at Lowe's, but realized later that night, I wanted to definitely go with chrome. Oil rubbed bronze can be pretty, but it can also look very heavy and stand out when there is a  lot of it. I feel your fixtures should blend with the space. I also heard ORB has a tendency to corrode and who wants to be replacing fixtures every couple years. I referred back to one of my favorite designers, Candice Olson, and noticed she uses a lot of chrome in her spaces. It's crisp, clean, and reflects light nicely. Who doesn't like a little sparkle here and there.

I went with a Moen faucet from Lowe's called Boardwalk. I chose it because honestly, I felt it looked the most expensive. Loved the lines and the weight felt pretty substantial. There were several I looked at from other places that I even questioned felt like a plastic. It's not easy trying to find a good quality faucet that doesn't cost and arm and a leg. There seems to be a lot of low grade faucets out there and high grade faucets, but not too many in between.

After the faucet was installed, I decided I'd try my hand at removing the lovely wallpaper. It had already begun to start peeling in some areas so I thought I'd give it a try, and remove a piece or two all depending on how easy it was to take down. Luckily and by the grace of God, it came down super easy. No need for a steamer or any other fun stuff.

And that covers phase one folks! The granite countertop really made a huge improvement and I feel removing the wallpaper helped open up the space more. I unfortunately don't have a better picture with the sink fixture to show ya'll, but you can start seeing progress which I like!

How about you all?? Any projects you're currently working on and decided to do it in stages? The only thing about doing it in stages, is that you have to have patience. It's a true test for me, but it's going well so far!

Our blast from the past guest bath

It will be two years in August since we moved into our first home. We were fortunate that the house was pretty much move in ready with the exception of painting a few rooms. We've really enjoyed our home for the last couple years, but there's always been one room I've been dying to bring into the 21st century and that's our guest bath.

Take a look! I'd love to get your feelings on it. Do you love the retro pendant lighting, the green speckled tiling in the shower, the clam shell sink, or the Oriental wallpaper?? What's your favorite feature or let me guess, you love all of it and it's glory. I've lived with it 2 years and the time has finally come to slowly start saying good-bye and I couldn't be more thrilled, although I think I might miss my Oriental wallpaper.

Originally, the plan was to hire some folks to get the job done for us, but when the estimates started coming back, we had to rethink things through. I've done a lot of research looking into tiling, new sconces, mirrors, counter tops, sink faucets, wallpaper, etc. When you start adding it up, turns out a simple little redo is going to cost a couple grand or more. Not only do you have to think about your materials and new fixtures, you have to think about the labor costs for electricians and plumbers. Not cheap my friends. Again, we're talking about a simple guest bath and we're looking to do some simple updates. Nothing fancy.

So we've opted to do this baby out in phases. It wasn't feasible to do it all at once. First phase will be replacing the counter top and installing new sink fixtures. That I'll bring you next time. I have a definite vision, and I look forward to bringing you more soon. For now, if you're interested in those pendant lights, they'll be available soon. Let me know!!