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?

Ding Dong, The Piano Bench Is Here

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Once upon a time, we had an empty entryway. This wasn't the end of the world, at first, because we were working on our new home and still trying to decide what to do with it.

But then the real Chicago winter reared its head, and we realized something: Sometimes, you need a place to rest your bum as you wrangle your poor chilly feet out of your huge winter boots. And, especially during a real Chicago winter, you cannot sit on the floor (read: wet booty). Not to mention the fact that you need a place to drop your bags that's elevated from the floor, where they can get wet or snowy or salty. Just... yuck.

Also, we needed something to go underneath the vintage map of Europe we swiped off of Etsy a few months ago.

We had our eyes on an old bench Justin's father made when he was a kid (furniture design is kind of his thing and he must have known early on, because the bench is absolutely gorgeous and very solid). Unfortunately, we were in a bit of a rush to put it all together, because really, truly did need something there, and we couldn't make it out to Michigan to retrieve said bench from a storage unit.

So, we turned to another great place for finding treasures: My parents' basement. Half of their basement is finished -- the other half consists of about two thousand square feet of stuff. Everything from Christmas decorations to old sewing tables to electronics to piano benches.

So, we swiped a dark wood piano bench to serve its place in our entryway. We weren't sure if we'd leave it as is or perhaps stencil a print on the top.

You can definitely tell that this bench is an oldie (but a goodie?). It's slightly crooked and there are more than a few dings in the wood, itself. We're planning to take a good old walnut to the surface to fill in the dings, then work from there.

I mentioned possibly messing around with stenciling the top... but we're also considering turning it into a backed bench. If we can find pillows to fit, the bottom (where the sheet music would be kept in a typical piano bench), we may be able to use it as an open bench.

What's your vote? What do you think? If only the good people from YoungHouseLove would stop in and give me their advice... :)

P.S. Momma got a new wide angle lens and some wonderful flashes (with flash accessories to boot) for Christmas. What does that mean? More and much better interior/DIY/decor shots and posts to come! Get ready for some real beauty, friends!