One year ago – nearly to the day – I started a mini makeover on the kids’ bathroom. You can see the before pictures and some cabinet painting details on this post. My intention was to do a quick makeover in a week. Paint the walls and cabinets, replace the tile backsplash with two rows of subway tile, add a frame to the mirror, switch out the light and add some art and accessories.
Well, here we are a year later and this is how it looks:
I didn’t quite hit my one week goal.
The cabinets turned out great. I love the hardware (from here). The ombre wave wall is still fun. But the poor thing still looks a mess.
What’s the hold-up?
The backsplash.
I tried to carefully remove the tiles and they were practically cemented to the wall and so the sheetrock is a crumbled disaster from my poor removal tactics. Rather than the simple diy tile job that I was planning on doing myself, I now need Ryan to get out his power tools, cut out the drywall, and patch it back up before any tile can go up. Suddenly the job went from super easy to requiring way more effort and we just haven’t taken the time to finish.
I’m determined, though. I’ve got to get this one done. I know it will turn out great and be such a great before + after if I could just take the time to finish it up.
Please tell me I’m not alone in leaving half-finished projects for this long?!!
So here’s the plan:
- cut out drywall + replace with new
- tile around backsplash
- add frame to mirror
- replace light fixture (it’s been sitting in the corner in the box for a year!)
- add art work + accessories
- paint step stool
Sounds doable, right? Hold me to it, friends. Hold me to it.
Would you please do a post on how you frame your mirror? I would like to frame ours this summer and would like to see how it turns out for you!
Sure! Hopefully we’ll get to it this spring.
I’ve thought off and on about this bathroom, wondering if I missed the post? Thank you, for keeping it real! This happened to us in our Master Bath… Sigh. What should have been simple turned into one small disaster after another. Regarding our backsplash tile mishap, backer board worked beautifully for us. Should be so easy right? Nice to know it happens to he best and he rest of us! ;) Keep it up lady, I still enjoy your blog several years later. You are inspiring, funny and I’m always grateful to see you in the Inbox.
So totally know this story! We re”did” our kitchen and main bath, along with two kids bedrooms last year and each room has unfinished things – primed, but not painted island wall, new floors without the floor trim around the edges, bathroom patches that have been patched but not painted. It really would take much to finish, and yet they all remain undone! You can do it though!
Ha, you’re so not the only one! I took down the ugly towel ring and falling-off-the wall tp holder in our powder room, part painted the walls…. and then stopped. This was at least a year ago. Having FINALLY found the paint again, I’m determined to at least finish painting this tiny room. After that, framing the mirror, board and batten and possibly planking the ceiling….. Then I can put a new tp holder up, ha!
I know how you feel! We have so many DIY projects in our house and it’s pretty embarrassing! In fact one that will be super easy is painted our headboard & foot board. In the almost 10 years my hubby and I have been married we have removed the cheap headboard that was originally on our bed. For the last 7 years we have been without either. Last summer I found a deal for $65 for a solid head board and foot board on a local FB Swap & Shop. Bought the black paint but didn’t get to it right away. Then took the paint back to have it shaken again and still both pieces are sitting to be painted. My summer project is to start/finish those and also redo the cabinet I bought for my dining room.
Motivation, where are you when I need you??
Oh Emily, this same thing happened to us during our kitchen remodel. Try as I might, there was just no way to gently pry those tiles off! We ended up ripping them off…dry wall chunks and all and then very neatly cutting away the drywall with a carpenters knife (score, score, score then yank). We then cut plywood (although cement backer board would work too) of the same thickness as the drywall to neatly fill the space and screwed to studs. Cement backer board is really only necessary if it is in a shower or for walking on–super rigid. We actually had a professional install the new tile and he said the plywood was just fine (and this was behind our kitchen sink). Of course we just made sure the tile covers the gap between the plywood and drywall, so we didn’t have to mud or anything! Phew! Oh the joys of remodeling…especially DIY style. Contemplating our bathrooms, too… But new deck must come first, though, because BBQ time is here! Woo hoo!
I’ve always loved that wave wall. Can’t wait to see afters and hopefully a tutorial on how you frame the mirror. We have one of them big things in our master & I so want to change it or frame it!
you are definitely not alone!
I started making over my daughter’s kitchen set 2 years ago, it’s still sitting half done in my basement. My husband asked me if I’ll have done for her graduation.
She’s not quite six! ;)
I guess he knows me too well.
I’m delighted to see you aren’t completely perfect. I found your blog several months ago & was beginning to think you were. Thanks for letting us see that you’re human like the rest of us. :)
p.s. The bathroom is adorable even in it’s unfinished state. I love your ability to mesh playful and classy so seamlessly.
Instead of drywall could you just throw some backer board on there?
yeah. Something to give a surface for the tile. It doesn’t even have to look pretty!
I have a bathroom that it like that myself, half painted for the last year. We had new granite put in the kitchen so we took the old granite and put it in the bathroom. The tile came off and left a mess like yours. We repaired it and wanted to paint the same color, unfortunately the paint was not the same so the bath is two different colors.
I am actually painting it this week. Wish me luck.
Haha, you’re certainly not the only one! We’ve been renovating our tiny house for over 2 years now, and it’s still not done! Getting closer to moving in, though, thankfully! :-) These things take time… and, as I often remind my hubs, things NEVER go as planned, or as quickly as you expect. You just gotta roll with it! :-) You’ll get there… and you’ll love it once it’s done. :-)
I can top you! When we moved into our current home, the master bedroom had floral wallpaper on the top half of the walls and a neutral paint on the bottom, divided in the middle by a chair rail. “Who puts a chair rail in the master bedroom?” I thought. I promptly took the chair rail down with the intention of removing the floral wallpaper and repainting the walls one solid color. That was 20 years ago! The floral wallpaper remains but at least there is no chair rail! In my defense I will say that in those 20 years we have completed many projects on the “public” areas of the house as well as the boys’ rooms and their bathroom. Sometimes the best laid plans can be derailed by everyday life!