Bathroom Plans

We've had plans to redo the bathroom forever, it seems. Back last spring, we were going to get it started but then we decided to work on the patio project instead and that lasted all summer. Then in the Fall, we tried to get started again, but realized we needed to do a lot of saving first. I realized we needed a tile saw, a vanity and toilet before we could even start. Together this was about $400.

Then birthdays and Christmas came up. The only thing we had gotten so far was the vanity, which we got on clearance for $75. But no toilet and no tile saw. In the meantime, I added to my little pile of tile that I was slowly storing up.

With some Christmas money from in-laws, we agreed to put it to a new toilet. This means that all we have left to get is the tile saw. The bathroom project is just around the corner.

This doesn't include the tile, new paint, mirror and lights that we still need to get. But it is very close. I'm hoping we'll have a new bathroom by springtime.

In the meantime, I'm finishing up our stairway project. It's an easy one, and it's coming along well. I need to finish painting but have to borrow a ladder from our neighbors so I can get all the way to the  ceiling. With some of my Christmas money, I bought a pendant lamp that we'll hang from the ceiling. It's going to make the stairway so much more cheerful on the way to the scary basement.

This is the "before" pic. The after will be coming soon, I hope!

It is such a slow thing, these renovations. But I like doing it this way--saving and working as we go. It gives a sense of accomplishment, no matter how small the project is.


We haven't started saving at all for our "Door Project." All the doors are broken in some way and need to be replaced. Henry's door has never opened and closed well. You have to put a lot of muscle into opening and closing it. A real fire hazard.

So today, as a temporary fix, Dennis shaved off a little portion of the bottom of the door. You never have seen a happier kid--Henry is so proud to have a door opens and closes freely. Makes me feel both happy and sad at the same time. I wish I could fix all these things all at once, but at the same time, it's good for the kids to appreciate little things that we take for granted all the time.