Bathroom makeover

The full bathroom downstairs has been through a lot recently. First, there was fungus among us (mold in the drywall from a baseboard heater leak), which I cut out of the wall with an exacto knife and cleaned.

Our mold lab report revealed that we had a variety of non-rent-paying guests living in the wall including: Penicillium sp., Cladosporium sp., Aspergillus sp., Rhizopus/Mucor sp. and Ulocladium sp.

Then a newly tiled floor (with radiant heating underneath!) and drywall repairs.

Notice the "cap" over the toilet's place, which is only a piece of cardboard. Most days this worked out fine, other days it smelled like the sewer that it is. Kevin had to retrofit the old toilet fixings with a new flange and wax ring to bring the pipes up to the new floor level.

Then a new paint color in muted green to complement the muted yellow of the family room and hallway as well as trim with quarter-round to hide the extra board that jutted out from the floor. The purpose of the board was to prevent the gypsum that was poured over the radiant flooring from seeping into the then open walls and not surprisingly, it became cemented in place.

Starting to look like a bathroom again!

Then came a new vanity, cabinet and mirror that Savannah helped to pick out. She really wanted white to match the faucet she had selected. It might sound unusual to match a vanity to a faucet but she loves her faucet, which says very clearly "Hot" and "Cold" on the handles so she always knows which is which. She thinks all of the faucets in our house should be labeled accordingly.

I think these are really cute in a cottage-like style. The light sage green, which reminds me of our dearly departed kitty of the same name, is very calming in a spa sort of way. The one thing we don't like about this bathroom now is the light, but we're not in a hurry to change it. At least it is energy-efficient.



I also get extra storage space above the toilet without having to deal with a medicine cabinet.


Savannah's special faucet.

And finally, a new toilet that Kevin had to use some measure of ingenuity to install now that the floor was raised 2 inches higher over the old plumbing fixtures. He doesn't like cheap toilets and splurged on a Toto SanaGloss model that met all of his criteria. It is low flow (energy efficient) and powerful (less work for the plunger). If he ever replaces the toilet in our master bathroom, it will be an even more luxurious one-piece model (if you can consider a toilet a luxury item) but it won't be the kind that keeps records of our individual health and vitals, which sounds like a nifty feature to me.


As for the bathroom makeover, I think I like it.