Wednesday, December 9, 2009

More House Pics - Upstairs Bath

Here are some pics of the redecorated/revamped upstairs bath. The bathroom was redecorated as part of my intention to coordinate the entire upstairs (three bedrooms plus bath) to an "en suite" more high fashion, but comfortable, look. I wanted a black/white toile bedroom, and the color scheme that was put in place to go with the old but still serviceable light grey carpeting was put together. The bathroom revmaps started in March with installation of a new light fixture above the sink. Gone was the cheapo box fixture that I had installed 19 years ago when the place was first built. I had always meant to replace it - and then didn't get around to it... In its place went a much more sleek antique bronze fixture with burnished gold accents and alabaster glass shades. It took longer than I had anticipated to finish the project because I had greatly overestimated my ability to do the painting, etc. myself. In the weeks before the new light fixture was installed, I had lots of fun shopping. I had purchased new towels, a new shower curtain in a lovely black/cream toile pattern, and envisioned taking down the large plate glass mirror and putting up a handsome framed mirror in its place, with Paris-oriented artwork or framed photos in black and white flanking its sides. I ended up hiring Kevin the Wonder Handyman to perform the actual work, thank Goddess for Kevin. In one of those twists of fate, I had already contracted with Kevin to paint the bathroom and master bedroom in November, before I signed the listing contract to sell the house two days before Kevin was scheduled to start painting. So the way things have turned out is now bitter sweet. I have a lovely new bathroom, all set for the new owners. The 3'x5' plate glass mirror is gone. In its place is a 2'x 3.5' beveled mirror, outer frame black, inner frame a sort of tortoise shell-finished wood. Countertops, woodwork and vanity remained the same. The walls went several shades darker and more tan than the original antique white I'd painted them 19 years before. The original cheapo vinyl which over the years had "shrunk" and pulled away from the wall behind the door and underneath the vanity was torn out and replaced. the towel rod on the wall opposite the "wet" wall was repositioned so now it is centered on the wall itself, rather than centered opposite the toilet (I never liked that location). I did not put up the framed photographs that I wanted, as the house now had to be ready for "viewing" by potential buyers, which meant stripping it of most of my personality. I love the wall color; these photos don't show it to best advantage. It is sort of a cross between wet sand and creamy peanut butter. The shower enclosure and the "decorator white" vanity top now really pop against the wall color! Kevin did a perfect paint job. I love the new flooring too! I compromised on the flooring. I had originally wanted to put down a black marble-look vinyl tile. Kevin told me that with the joints between the vinyl squares, no matter how tightly they were laid eventually they would shrink and the joint lines would widen. There was the danger of water that ended up on the vinyl leaking through to the sub-flooring. Better, he said, to put down sheet vinyl in any area where there is a potential for water to be spilled, such as in a kitchen and bathroom. Within my budget, and after searching online and in a couple of different stores, I could not locate a sheet vinyl in the black marble look that I had envisioned, so with the help of my friend, Ann, I picked out this sheet vinyl instead. It is heavily textured, has a matt finish and is soft and warm under bare feet. It is also that all important "neutral" that the real estate brokers stressed was a must. As it happened, there were two color families of this particular pattern and the "darker" one went perfectly with the new wall color. I obtained a sample and the product number and passed them along to Kevin along with the funds he requested. He picked up the vinyl he needed and one night when I came home from the office it was all finished! The shower curtain is coming with me, as are the rugs and the linens. I will leave the mirror for the new owners, although it is not technically a "fixture." I will not leave them without a decent bathroom mirror. I intend to duplicate the look of my revamped bath in the new house - wherever that may be. But I will definitely go for the "black marble look" flooring :)

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