The downstairs bathroom

We finally finished our bathroom this past weekend. It sure has been a long two and a half weeks…but so worth it! The bathroom needed a little more work then just cosmetic changes. We ended up changing around some of the lighting, plumbing and even removed the baseboard heat. The walls needed a lot of patching. Like I said before, it was the first room we ever built when we bought our house eight years ago. At the time we really had no clue how to mudd or tape drywall…or even how to hang drywall for that matter. Thankfully our skills have improved a lot over the years.To keep costs down we decided to keep the same sink and toilet. Although there was much debate over making our own sink out of a galvanized bucket, but in the end I couldn’t find the perfect stand to mount it on to and I was not willing to wait any longer. I’m not very patient when it comes to such things. The light fixture above the mirror came from the outdoor lighting section at Home Depot and the Ocean Spray crate was a find from upstairs in the barn. I knew it would have a purpose one day.Our walls are painted Moroccan Red from Benjamin Moore and the Ply-Bead sheets are painted Brilliant White. We use the Ply-Bead sheets because they are cheaper and quicker to install then regular bead board.The cast iron tub came with the house. We did have to purchase new fixtures for the tub and shower because we went cheap the first time around and we had to fix leaks all too often. This time around we chose to spend the money on some good fixtures. We are learning that some things are just not worth going cheap on. I purchased our shower curtain from Amazon. It is a little girlie for the hubby but I love it…and so do the girls! My little girl wants me to make her a dress out of it. It does look a lot like my ruffle maxi skirt doesn’t it? I found this little table at the local antique store.It fits the space perfectly and I love the look of it. The wall mounted drying rack was another find from a local antique store. The moment I saw it I was like a giddy little school girl. It was exactly what I had wanted and it was in perfect condition. It doesn’t look like it was ever used. I think it fits the space perfectly and at least now I don’t have to hang my clothes over the shower rod to dry. Plus it is super cute.The laundry area got changed around a bit. We moved our washer and dryer over to one end and installed some cabinets above. Then we added a work table to fold clothes on. The cabinets came from a Habitat for Humanity Store and were really cheap and thankfully in great condition. I think we got all 3 for $60. All they needed was a little washing and some paint. One of the cabinet doors didn’t match so we left it off. Eventually the hubby is going to make me some square bins out of sheet metal to fit the spaces perfectly but for now baskets and buckets that I already had around the house will do. I’m trying to give the hubby some time off from working on the house. Nice of me, right?Another one of my favorite finds was this laundry cart. It is made by Moda and I purchased it from Amazon. Yes, it was pricey but it is completely adorable! I have convinced the hubby that it will help me keep the laundry caught up and that it will work perfectly at my craft booth if I ever do a craft fair again. Oh and did I mention that it is from Moda…and it is super cute?!The hubby built the counter top and put it at the perfect work height for me. A comfortable workspace will get use an uncomfortable will not.Now I have no excuse for the laundry to get piled up!And of course no room is ever complete without a canning jar somewhere in it. We finally covered up our painted plywood floors with some 12×12 squares of tile. The type of tile that we ended up going with is primarily used in mudrooms and entryways because of its texture, but I just loved the looks of it. Plus a highly textured floor is always better in a bathroom with kids. I was going to go with natural stone like what we have in our upstairs bathroom but I was nervous about stains and wear and tare on it. This was my second choice…a cheap porcelain ceramic tile. The tile came out great except for one little spot, that is totally my fault. One night the hubby cut out all of the tiles and I lay-ed them all down the next day. Unfortunately I started on the wrong side of the room and ended up with one crooked tile. Thankfully you will never know because it is hidden under the sink.Some before and afters.And because I always love looking at the pictures of when we first purchased the house. This is the room that we decided to build our bathroom in. When we purchased the house they were using this room as a wood shed and the bathroom was located right in the middle of the kitchen. We decided to get the bathroom out of the kitchen fast and this was the perfect spot. Gosh was a crazy 8 years it has been!Linking up over Whisper Wood Cottages 1st project of the year party.

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