One Room Challenge | Week 1 Half Bath Makeover

Welcome to the first day of the fall 2017 One Room Challenge!  I am so excited about being a guest participant. Over the next five weeks I will transform my downstairs half bathroom from a brown disaster to a room that is light and bright.

ABOUT THE ROOM

I will be updating my downstairs half bath during the course of this project.  This particular bathroom is a bit of an eye sore.  This is sad because it is located just off of the entry way when you walk in the front door. (You can see photos of my entry way here.)  If we have guests over, that is the bathroom they use.  To put it nicely, the space does not go well with the rest of the downstairs.

This is the room as of right now. It has brown walls, no mirror, a dark wood cabinet with a green granite counter top, and a framed picture that does not fit the space very well.

Did you get a look at the toilet?

There is a story, I assure you.  While I was doing the final walk-thru for the house, just two days before closing, I noticed that the downstairs bathroom had a broken toilet seat.  It wasn’t cracked.  It wasn’t slightly askew. It was broken completely off the toilet and was leaning against the wall.  The house itself was already going to require a lot of remodeling.  This was just one more thing. One. More. Thing.

My real estate agent was with me when I found the broken toilet seat.  He asked, “Is this a big enough deal to keep you from closing on this house?”

Yes, it was.  I was so upset because it was one more thing!  Every wall had to be painted.  All the trim had to be painted.  All the floors had to be replaced.  It needed a new AC, furnace, and hot water heater.  It needed 3 bathroom renovations and a new kitchen.  It had old appliances in the kitchen.  (We found out two weeks later that the refrigerator had to be replaced immediately.)  I needed to buy a washer and dryer because there wasn’t an existing set.  There were no mirrors in the bathrooms.  One. More. Thing.

Jamie, my real estate agent, assured me that the toilet seat would get replaced.  When my husband and I showed up to closing, Jamie had a gift for us.  The gift was a new toilet seat encrusted with the faux money.  I agree, it was really funny.  It was even funnier when we actually used it!

Interested in buying one of the beauties for yourself?  You can get one on Wayfair for about $72. They aren’t cheap.  However, I can tell you that it is sturdy.  We have had ours gracing our toilet seat for nearly two years.

Despite the hilarity of the story, I am ready to see it go.  We need a toilet that is chair height with an elongated bowl.  My husband complains that he feels cramped using that bathroom.  It isn’t the size of the space that is causing the issue.  It is yet again the toilet.

THE DESIGN PLAN

The room floor plan will remain the same.  There will be no change to the light fixture, the water faucet, or the cabinet knobs. Changes will include the following:

• The toilet will be updated with a fixture that better suites our needs.  It will be chair height with an elongated bowl.
• The cabinet will be painted white.  The counter top will remain the dark green granite.
• A new mirror with white trim will be added above the counter.
• The walls will be painted.
• The trim will be painted.
• New curtains and decor elements will be incorporated to add design interest to the space.

I have picked colors for the paint from a striped hand towel (shown in the image above) that I have been using in that bathroom.  I like the white with the creamy beige/gray color.  I will be painting the trim white and the walls a color called Toasted White by Behr.  I will also be painting the cabinet white.  I intend to paint the cabinet with left over paint from my living room built-in bookcase project. (You can see details about that project here.)

My plan includes a bit of DIY.  I intend to sew curtains for window.  I have been in search of fabric that is bright, has a white back ground, and has a hint of the same dark green of the counter top.  I found a lovely fabric for $4 a yard at Hobby Lobby.  A swatch is in the image above.

I am excited about sewing the curtain myself so it is exactly the right size for the window.  The window is small.  I don’t want curtains that hang to the floor.  I also don’t want curtains that are too big and take up too much space on the wall.

THE PROJECT PLAN

I will finish this project over the course of the next five weeks. The project plan by week is as follows:

• Week two – sand, prime, and paint trim and window
• Week three – prime and paint walls
• Week four – sand, prime, and paint cabinet
• Week five – remove existing toilet and add a new toilet
• Week six – sew new curtain and add decorative elements to the space

I look forward to sharing the details of this project as it progresses over the coming weeks!

Want to read more? You can catch up clicking the links below:

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4| Week 5| Week 6