Bath Remodel

As mentioned, I am sharing pictures from my sister in laws master bath today. It went with the blue and white theme from Friday- wish I had these pictures handy then!

Sunday morning my husband walks into our guest bath and exclaims "What are you doing?!?!?!" I was standing on the side of the bathtub, with my arms above my head, pulling wallpaper off the walls.

We have a bad history of wallpaper removal, and the very idea of it gives my husband anxiety. At our last home- a 100 year old Victorian- there was horrible green and white scroll wallpaper in the dining room. I decided to take it down, not realizing that there was about 30 layers of paper on the wall! The last layer wasn't sized or anything, and taking it down even took some of the plaster off the walls. My husband is an engineer and he found me having an anxiety attack in the middle of our dining room when I discovered that the last resident had actually wallpapered over a 5 inch hole in the plaster near the fireplace. Duane also said that the paper was so thick it was giving the room an "R value" and insulating it!!! We ended up painting over top of it instead.

So, he walks in a room and finds me tearing down paper, and immediately says "what about last time we did this?"

I tried to accept this paper. It is textured and has fish on it. Big blue and teal fish. Our guest bath look like "The Life Aquatic" missing the trendy music and the lovely Bill Murray/Owen Wilson combination. I convinced myself we would go for a beach theme and I bought a waffle weave white shower curtain, put seashells out in crystal bowls, and pretty blue candles. BUT, it didn't look beachy. It looked like the 1988 "Golden Girls" Florida home- I could see Estelle Geddy in this bathroom.

Then I went to the bridal shower at my SIL's and she had just redone her brand new guest bath (they built their home 2 years ago). And that inspired me! I am ripping paper and glue off this week, and will be painting over the weekend. I love nesting and am so excited about this new project! I have plans to do a paint treatment of somesort- I am also going to replace the faucet, paint the vanity, and hang pictures.

Here is my sister in laws master bath. This is the alcove where the tub rests. It has a lovely vault here. I wanted to take pictures of her cabinetry, too- but decided to just show the pretty clawfoot tub. This is really the only cottagey room in her home. She chose just the right shade of blue with the white beadboard accents, and I love how the tub looks out on their acreage.

BTW- we have a tiny "childs tub" in West Virginia that I want to use and don't know how just yet. It had been removed from the guest bath in the Victorian home, and I took it with us when we moved since no one would use it AS a guestbath tub. The thing is teensy- its only about 36 inches long, but has all the features of a regular clawfoot tub. Every one that saw our home when it was up for sale asked to buy it, too. Its doll sized- sooooo sweet. The idea use for it would be in a powder room, where it could be displayed but not necessarily intended for use. But, with our impending large family, I don't think we can waste space. We will NEED the extra bathrooms for use, not just looks.




This is a closeup of the vanity items she collects on the little table beside the slipper clawfoot tub. She picked up most of the older pieces in England, and then a few little things around town. I have a small perfume bottle collection myself, and like this idea for displaying them. I would love to incorporate some of these details into our master bath when we redo it in the spring! I am leaning toward a spa theme for our bath however. It is going to be "mamas retreat"- ha!



This morning Tilly is leaning up on my shoulder while she watches "Go baby" on the t.v. They have finished up their bottles and their 15 minutes of viewing is up. Its time for them to get into their exersaucers for twenty minutes. We have the strictest schedule EVER, but, they love it and seem to flourish with the schedule, so we keep it. Lucas has his entire hand in his mouth. No wait- he has the cordless phone in his mouth! Hmpfh!