Don't Lose Your Marble(s) - Bathroom Counter Top

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Other bathroom remodel posts:

Bye Bye Bye to 80s Tile - How To Remove Trim and Tile, Bathroom Renovation Part 1

She Only Wants Me For My Beadboard - Bathroom Renovation Part 2 

Trimming and Caulking and Painting, Oh My! - Bathroom Renovation Part 3 

Paint That Funky Mirror, White Girl - Bathroom Renovation Part 4

It's official: we are over the hump. The worst is over, the tub is back in place, and the walls are painted, beadboarded, and caulked.

But then there is that nasty countertop...

It actually looks inoffensive with the rest of the bathroom finished, but let me give you a reminder of what that baby looks like up close.

Have you ever tried to clean a tile-and-grout countertop? What about after putting on bronzer and blush powder, which unavoidably spills a bit and ends up - you guessed it - on the grout.

Bust out that toothbrush, my friend. You're gonna be scrubbing.

When we finished the rest of the bathroom, we decided to save the old vanity but replace the countertop with something that fit the room better and made it feel more upscale. 

We looked at marble composites, granite, solid surface, and regular marble. In the end, we liked a honed (i.e. not shiny) carrara marble that is white and gray, and pulls from the whites in the floor tile.

The first step in getting this bad boy in place was to remove the existing countertop. For the most part, this wasn't too difficult. Just a process of pounding upward until it broke free.

You may notice, however, that there are some gaps in the beadboard because we cut it to fit around the old counter. Thankfully, because the wall is beadboard behind and next to the sink, we knew we would be putting in a backsplash, which would cover the gap.

The counter top came pre-cut with the hole for the under-mount sink, which was separate. First, the countertop was glued onto the vanity, and then the back splashes were installed as well. We had free installation from Duca Tile, so they took care of gluing it down and caulking the corners.

They also used a two-part epoxy glue to mount the sink underneath the countertop.

Here is a close up of how the marble backsplash looks next to the beadboard we installed.

And here is a farther away shot that includes the sink along with the beadboard, trim, and mirror. 

And now for the fun part... before-and-afters! 

And another angle...

We still have a few tiny projects left - like replacing the beige outlets (we replaced the outlet plates, but the outlets themselves are still a darker color) and installing the hardware for the vanity. But, the big pieces of this bathroom are finally finished.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

• Would you use marble for a bathroom sink, or a different surface?
• Have you ever remodeled a bathroom? Where did you splurge vs save?

Paint That Funky Mirror, White Girl

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Other bathroom remodel posts:

Bye Bye Bye to 80s Tile - How To Remove Trim and Tile, Bathroom Renovation Part 1

She Only Wants Me For My Beadboard - Bathroom Renovation Part 2 

Trimming and Caulking and Painting, Oh My! - Bathroom Renovation Part 3 

When we started remodeling our bathroom, I knew from the get-go that we would be replacing the medicine cabinet mirror. My husband and I are very different heights (1 foot, 3 inches difference), so we need a large enough mirror that will allow each of us to see ourselves.

As it was, I could really only see my collar bones and up in the old mirror. That wasn't going to cut it for me. So, I was on the hunt for something better, and something that would add some more detail to the space. 

Please ignore the mis matched socket plates!

For a while, we considered doing a gilded gold framed mirror. But, over time, I realized it wouldn't quite work. We already have brown, white, and gray going on in that bathroom, and we planned to use silver for the faucet, so I didn't want to throw things off by going a completely new direction with the mirror.

I spotted this gem at Eastown Antiques and was immediately smitten. We have a large mirror above the fireplace that is a similar shape, and the stairwell stained glass window has it, too (see this post for those pictures). So, I liked the idea of pulling that shape into the upstairs.

I took it home and held it up against the beadboard, and was satisfied that it would be a good fit. Unfortunately, with the rest of our bathroom being a grey-tone white ("Satin Snow"), this cream-tone baby was going to stick out. So, I taped her up and, you know, painted her.

Once she was ready, I picked up some high-weight-bearing anchors. The fellas at ACE set me up with this guy:

We measured it out and drilled a hole in the wall, then sent the anchor through (with those wings at the bottom, folded in, going into the wall).

Then, we tightened everything up until just the right amount of hardware was poking through.

And it hung beautifully.

(Note: The trim is not nailed on behind the toilet in this picture, so the shadow looks a little bizarre)

Once the counter and faucet are swapped out, along with the beige light plate covers, we will be in good shape!

(Note: The trim is not nailed on behind the toilet in this picture, so the shadow looks a little bizarre)

Before and after:

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

• Do you like medicine cabinet mirrors for their storage?
• What would YOU have done for a mirror in this bathroom?

Bye Bye Bye to 80s Tile - Bathroom Renovation Part 1

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If you saw my upstairs house tour, you know there was one room, in particular, that needed some serious help. The upstairs bathroom, while technically functional, had been renovated (maybe in the 80s or 90s?) in a way that made it totally stand out from the rest of the house. From the fat upper trim to the pink-and-cream tile everywhere, we were determined to tackle this early on so that we could enjoy the bathroom.

Here is what we were working with at first:

For some reason, this tile simply looks dirty to me. Even after I'd given it a good old fashioned scrubbing, it had a grungy, grime-covered look to me. Not exactly what you want to see in a bathroom, where you're supposed to be getting clean.

On top of just being dirty looking, awfully colored tile, it was put everywhere. Even the countertop was tiled, which is one of my pet peeves in homes because it is so dang difficult to clean, and it's really easy to stain tile grout with makeup. They also brought this tile all the way around the walls of the room.

So, stage one of this bathroom remodel was to get rid of everything bad in the room, i.e. wall tile.

First, I removed the medicine cabinet/mirror that was hung above the sink. This was pretty simple - just a process of removing all visible screws and pulling the medicine cabinet out of the wall to reveal the lathe behind it.

The next step was to remove the trim. It had been caulked on top, so I used a box cutter to score a line in the caulk. This loosens the grip there so that the trim can be pulled off more easily.

Then, I used a chisel and hammer to get underneath the trim from above until it was a bit removed from the wall.

Occasionally, switching to a bar helped me get more leverage against the wall.

Once there was a visible gap between the trim and wall, I pulled it off with my gloves on.

We weren't sure if we were going to re-use this trim or not, so we wanted to keep it intact and orderly - just in case. I used a permanent marker to write the location of each piece on the back, to avoid confusion later on if we decided to use them.

Once the trim was off, we also removed the light plates so that we could get to the tile underneath them. Then, we got to work on the tile, itself.

We used a chisel and hammer (and occasionally the bar) to remove the tile from the wall. The chisel was placed at a very slight angle, almost flat against the wall, and pushed up against the side or top of a piece of tile. We hit the end of the chisel with a hammer until the tile pieces came loose.

Note: If you are doing this, wear gloves! Chipped tile can be very sharp, and it's easy to get cuts all over your hands, so wear some leather work gloves for protection.

The first wall (above) was fairly easy to remove the tile from. Pieces fell off easily, and some even fell off in pairs.

As we worked our way around the room, however, we ran into some problems. Whoever did this bathroom remodel (clearly quite a while ago) had done each wall a little differently.

In some areas, the "1980s remodelers" put a piece of drywall up against the plaster wall and glued the tile to the drywall. Where this was the case, the tile was ripping the drywall, but this wasn't much of an issue - we simply removed the drywall piece along with the tile, revealing the smooth, intact plaster wall behind it (see photo above).

In other places, the "1980s remodelers" skipped the drywall and simply glued the tile directly to the plaster. Where this was the case, removing the tile caused the plaster to rip and crumble, revealing the lathe behind it (see photo below, and my terrified face).

So, we ended up with a mostly clean break where there had been drywall, but one wall looked awful and would clearly need to be repaired (hmm... guess which wall?).

We considered doing this ourselves, but ended up calling someone to come help us hang and screw in the drywall. After completely botching the removal, it seemed wise to get a little help. He hung the drywall and then mudded and sanded around them to make the patching look smooth.

Next, we got started on installing what would be covering up those walls. 

What do you think it was?!

Kitchen Update - Aint No Party Like An Island Party

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Ladies and gentleman, you're invited to the island party!

Location: In My Kitchen

Date and Time: All Day, Everyday 

This kitchen update was (kind of) free, extremely convenient, and very, very functional. The "kind of" free part includes reusing an old piece of furniture we didn't think we would need again.

When we lived in Chicago, we purchased a kitchen island. We wanted to have a non-permanent piece (we were renting) that would give a focal point to our kitchen and provide a space for people to congregate around.

We ended up purchasing the "Threshold Kitchen Island" from Target. It was (and still is) an unbeatable price at $249 plus my wonderful mother's 10% Target discount for having a Target Red card.

On top of the price, we loved the hidden storage. While open-shelving kitchen islands are pretty, this one offers a way to store things out of sight, and the inside drawers even pull out, in case you are putting something heavy on it.

Additionally, the "bar" side of the island can be extended or folded down (it's up in the picture above, and down in the picture below), which gives you the option of having a two person breakfast bar in your kitchen.

When we moved out of our Chicago apartment, we had a little debate over whether or not to keep it. We weren't sure if it would fit with the rest of our mid century furniture, and we didn't envision needing it. But, I assured my husband that, even if it wasn't in a kitchen, it could be a temporary piece in a guest bedroom or office. If you put the bar flap down, it seems a bit like a short dresser.

Little did we know how handy it would turn out to be.

When we bought our new house, we realized it would fit perfectly. Between the simple white cabinets and the butcher block top, it was going to be a perfect or almost-perfect fit for the space, without us having to shell out any cash.

Once the island was set in the middle of the kitchen and our dishes and other appliances were put in place, we transformed this room into a functional work space that allows multiple chefs to be in the kitchen at once. It made a huge difference in the amount of counter space we have to work with.

Another thing I love about this island is that it allows my husband to be sitting/drinkingcoffee/eating at the counter while I am still moving around in the kitchen. This house has a separate kitchen and dining room, so we would have otherwise spent a lot of mornings with me making my breakfast in the kitchen while he is eating or drinking coffee in the dining room.

Instead, we can enjoy the morning coffee/breakfast ritual together, in the same room. Huzzah!

For the sake of comparison, here are some before-and-after shots of the stove and island transformation.

Quick Note: These "before" pictures also leave out the much more fitting stainless steel stove/oven we purchased. If you missed that, you can check it out here.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• What do you think about the change?
• Do you like kitchens with islands, or do you prefer to keep the space open?
• What do you do with all of your kitchen appliances? Clearly mine are sitting out on the counter, because I use them a lot, but I'm trying to figure out a cleaner way to display them.

My American Four Square - Upstairs House Tour

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I totally fell off the face of the earth for the last week due to a bathroom renovation that is driving me nuts and eating up a lot of my time.

Forgive me. Pictures coming soon. That makes up for my absence, right?

Now, picking up where the downstairs house tour left off... [If you missed it, click here to read it!]

As you head upstairs, the staircase turns inward and there is a beautiful stained glass window. The clear shape in the middle of this window mimics the mirror above the fireplace.

Stained glass window in stairwell

To the left, at the top of the stairs, is what we are currently using as a master bedroom.

Master bedroom

The floors in the bedrooms upstairs are in pretty poor condition because they haven't been refinished as recently as the downstairs floors. I have mixed feelings on this - it does give the upstairs a nice patina and historic look, but it isn't the most comfortable on bare feet, so we will probably cover any issues with rugs and eventually refinish it.

That said, many of these rooms have wonderful natural light. This part of the city is on a hill, so we are able to get extra light on this side of the house because all of the houses East of us are on lower ground. The natural light is what I love most about this room. It wakes me up softly every morning and makes it easier to get out of bed because there is no avoiding the fact that the day has begun!

There is also a door to the third floor from this bedroom. The door is around the bend to the left, by the window that faces East, and it leads up a stairwell to a well-lit and fairly large third floor that is currently empty.

Office #1

Across from the master bedroom is what my husband is using as his office. It's also on the side of the house with gorgeous natural light, so it will be a great space for him to work in (he works remotely, so he's in there all day). This room has a neat shape, and is very bright and spacious.

Office #2

Next to my husband's office is what is currently my office. It already looks significantly different than it does in this picture (posts coming soon), after a curtain change and a serious case of paint. In this picture, the walls are covered in a textured wallpaper that gives this room more of a beige look which I didn't care for... but the texture of the wallpaper ended up looking very cool painted! ;-)

Guest Room

Across from my office is the guest room. This is a view of the corner where the door to the hallway and door to the closet are. This room was pretty dark, due to some black out curtains, but we have swapped them out to give the room a brighter feel. Still awaiting furniture, which we are retrieving from Chicago this weekend.

And finally... drumroll please... the upstairs bathroom. This has been the bane of my existence for the past week because we are renovating it. The previous owners started the project, but now we are picking up the baton. It looks like one of the owners renovated it quite a while ago and it ended up having a very dated feel due to the wall tile, among other things. 

Stay tuned for a more updated (but still era friendly) bathroom post! 

^Go ahead and wave goodbye to that wall tile because it's not invited to stick around.

:)