ericamulherin.com » bathroom

Replacing the Bathroom Light

Erica — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:33:27 +0000

I tried to get a good picture that really showed how beautiful the glass is, but I couldn't quite get a good one. My camera made the second one extra dark, but it shows the swirls in the glass really well.

Well…now that I have gone through the experience of installing this thing, I can see why we put it off for a year and a half. What I thought was going to be the most difficult part was the easiest (thanks Home Depot Guy!) It seems like no matter how much you prepare before hand (finding studs, measure, measure, measure,) something unforeseen pops up and makes a seemingly straight forward project take all afternoon. Ugh. But it’s up!

See that hook? That’s for the mirror. The mirror we took off to work on the light.

Now it doesn’t fit. Ha!

I need to move the hook down a little bit, but it’s going have to be a well thought out operation because there is an exact space the mirror will fit so the hook will have to go in a specific spot. That means a lot of measuring and math, which taxes my brain. So hopefully I’ll be able to work on that this week. I’ve come this far and I won’t let a few computations and numbers bring me down.

Bathroom Update: Tiling the Backsplash

Erica — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:24:07 +0000

Wow! I have been busy lately, and most of it has been centered around getting the longest-bathroom-remodel-in-history compeleted. I have bursts and lulls (mostly lulls) and I suppose I finally got tired of staring at the undone bits.

So – I am proud to announce that the tiling is officially done! First there was the tub surround, then the floor, and this past week I finished the counter backsplash! I also took the opportunity to varnish the counter for real this time while I had the sink off. I used a marine sealer I got at a boating supply store and it looks so much better.

I need to repaint that white spot on the wall where I hung an ill conceived soap dish. It was good in theory, but reality was a different story.

This weekend we are focusing on the other major task to do in the room – replacing the light. Check it out:

Isn’t that awesome? And yes…we’ve been living with the wires exposed like that for a while now. It’s amazing what you get used to. If it was as easy as just wiring the new fixture in the old fixture’s place it probably would have been done by now (probably) but it’s more complicated than that and will most likely involved cutting a whole in the wall. Which means patching and retexturing and repainting. Sigh.

After the light is in, we will be almost done. It would just be little bits and finishing details:

Install trim around the floor and next to tub tile.
Finish patching hole in wall were I removed the ugly toilet paper holder
Buy new toilet paper holder
Repaint the cabinet where I splooged it with with grout dye
Install shelves
Hang hand towel hook
Explore new rug options as the ones I have are not working
Find out what kind of art do you hang in a bathroom and get some
Buy toilet tank tray
Buy hand soap dispenser
Buy a new trash can
Buy a new plunger and toilet brush that aren’t heinous
Replace shower curtain

The bathroom floor now has grout.

Erica — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:13:17 +0000

And and Angel’s chorus sings! I will say it again – grouting sucks, however, grouting a floor is a lot easier than grouting a tub surround. I am so happy this project is done, but there is still so much more to do. I think next on the list will be tiling and grouting the backsplash on the sink and I will be DONE with the grouting!

Tiling the Bathroom Floor

Erica — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:42:02 +0000

If you have a house of a certain age, you probably have some sort of flooring similar to this lovely stuff that is in our bathroom:

Isn’t that gross? Now that it’s covered up I can’t believe I stared at it for so long. Yuck. This was my weekend project. We bought all of the supplies, and measured and cut the backer board and got that installed first. That went pretty well. There was a minor hiccup in that the backer board screws seemed to be hitting an impenetrable layer and had to be pounded in. Upon further reflection, and some time away, it was discovered that the torque setting on the drill was the culprit. Yesterday I got to work laying the tile:

I still have a small area around the toilet to do, which I am hoping to get done this week and then it’s on to grouting, which, in all honesty I am not all looking forward to. However, grouting a floor might be a lot easier than a tub surround. Let’s hope, anyway!

Accessorizing the Bathroom

Erica — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 18:26:24 +0000

Now that the tile is up, and the grouting is done I can almost start to think about all of that extra little fun stuff to add to the bathroom. These are my super wishlist items, not very practical (cabinet knobs aside) but that’s why it’s called a wishlist, right?

This beautiful glass nest from HeatherHeather, for cotton balls perhaps? So pretty, via Sunset magazine.
Hanging Air Plant Pod by Mudpuppy- I have seen these everywhere and I love love love them. Perfect for my bathroom.
Tissue holder! From Uncommon Goods
I think these are the cabinet knobs I am going to get. I have been looking EVERYWHERE for something perfect and I am not finding it. I keep coming back to these Anthropologie knobs, so I think I just need to get them already.
A Glassybabby votive. These are made locally (well, Seattle) and they are so beautiful. I think pretty much any one of these colors would work just beautifully.

The grouting is done

Erica — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:54:30 +0000

An Angel’s chorus sings “Hallelujah!” as the GROUTING! IS! DONE! And, to repeat the wise words of Nothing But Bonfires, “Grouting can go to hell.” I read that before I started grouting and, oh Lordy, grouting totally sucks ass. My arm/hand is killing me. I wish I had a better “before” picture so you could get the horror of the moldy grotesque shower doors, but it completely slipped my mind until my Dad started the demolition. I think you can, however, get the overall griminess of the old bathroom. I had forgotten how bad it was until I looked at this picture. Gross. There is so, so, so much more to do, but I am SO freaking glad this part of it is done. Time for a cocktail!

Sewing, Tiling, Digging, Drawing

Erica — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 22:54:30 +0000

Wow, it’s been a while since I posted around this here blog. What have I been up to? Let’s see….

1. Crazy MAJOR progress on the pencil skirt. This is a close up of the fabric and lining around the zipper. Just a few finishing touches and she’ll be done and ready to wear. Just as soon as I get new shoes, and figure out a top to wear with it. Neglecting your wardrobe for years leads to gaping holes that are expensive to fill.

2. Getting ready to plant some garlic! I am so excited about this. I’ve dug a trench, but it still needs a little more working and also some compost in order to get ready for glorious cloves. Oh. I need to procure some garlic as well. Minor detail.

3. I have FINISHED [cue Angels chorus] tiling the glass in the tub surround which includes the small fiddly cuts in the corners. I just need to resume with the subway tile up to the ceiling and then – grouting! Huzzah! I am still trying to find cabinet knobs, need to tile the floor, install the new lighting, shelves, buy accessories, new towels…still much to do.

4. I have been trying to get back into the illustration groove and have been experimenting a little with making custom brushes in Photoshop. It’s been a hard battle, as I have not been sure if illustration was something that I want to move forward with, but I can’t seem to get away from it. We’ll see.

Tiling…it’s not that hard

Erica — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:56:59 +0000

Tile is on the wall! I was so afraid to start this project…the fact that I kept putting it off for, um…MONTHS is evidence enough. I finally got to the point where I couldn’t put if off any longer, staring at the backerboard day after day was making me crazy.

It’s messier than I thought it would be. I didn’t realize that the mastic would get everywhere, This is definitely a goopy finger project. I highly recommend having a bucket with rags and water next to you if you are going to tackle something like this.

Before I began I reread This Young House’s entry on their bathroom project, and it was really helpful. I also had a tiling book on hand to get me started.

There also might have been a panicked call to Dad to reassure me that I was doing everything correctly (which I was). Thanks Dad!

The most time consuming part of this project so far has been measuring and cutting the end pieces. Several times I mis-measured, cut tiles, realized I mis-measured, swore a bit..got glue all over the place…you know, that sort of thing. I kept forgetting to take off the measurement for the grout line. I would measure the space and cut the tile according to that measurement. D’oh!

I won’t be making that mistake again and I think the rest of it will go smoothly. I hope.

The Perfect Towel Hook

Erica — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:09:12 +0000

The bathroom makeover has slowed to a painful crawl after the initial frenzy of activity. This is mainly due to the fact that the people who know what they are doing are no longer here (parents) which leaves just Jeffery and me.

Everything is functioning, the tub/sink/toilet work, it’s just the cosmetics. Like tiling. I have a three day weekend ahead and I have already declared it to the universe and anyone within range that I WILL BE TILING THIS WEEKEND. There. Now the internet knows!

We had to take all of the towel racks off the walls to fill in the holes in order to repaint the bathroom, which has left us without a place to hang our towels,

and as a consequence, they are scatter all over the house, draped on chairs, doors, and the elliptical machine. I don’t want a towel rack, I want hooks and it’s been a little difficult to find the perfect hook. I have narrowed it down to two, both from Anthropologie and I think I am going to go with # 1 as the blue and black with fit with the color scheme.

I actually have hook #2, and while I love, love, love, the black and white stripe…the hook is just a little too big for the space. I think it could live on the back of the door perhaps.

So..yeah..tiling..I’m scared! Wish me luck!

Tile decisions

Erica — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:38:29 +0000

You know…I just was not happy with either of the two choices of trim tile we were debating for the counter backsplash and the tub. They were stock from Home Depot, and while they were nice, they weren’t quite right. So…everything has been on hold while we waited for samples from Anchor Bay Tile. They came really quickly and we have a consensus. We are going to go with the little round penny tiles in a color blend called Izu. I think they will look so good, especially since they will echo the shape of the floor tiles. Yay!

Question: I will need a special saw/bit for cutting glass, yes?