The High Water Mark

For most of my adult life, I have had bathrooms most easily distinguished by their lack of creature comforts.  All of them were functional, though they were invariably small and dark.   A few stand out…and not for good reasons. 

The worst of the bathrooms had to be the one on 1st Street when I lived in Nebraska.  In the middle of my first year in that apartment, the landlord confessed that the apartment had been completely built before they realized it had no bathroom.  So they converted a closet into a bathroom.  It was so confined that you could sit on the toilet and either wash your feet in the shower or rinse your hands in the sink.  Or both, if you were very well-coordinated.  The cave-dark room was functional and easy to clean but that was about all that recommended it.

The bathroom in my first house in Nebraska was also small, though larger than that apartment bath and equipped with a window.  Both helped to rank it as a significant improvement, though the original bar was low.  My next house, in New Jersey, had two bathrooms, an improvement in numbers if not design.  The downstairs bath was a pretty decent size, but it sported 1970s linoleum and tile and the ugliest sink ever.  The only member of the household who liked that room was the dog, who enjoyed resting in the cool tub on a hot day.  The upstairs bath, the one most often used, had a small window but it was narrow, cold in the winter, and hot in the summer. Not exactly welcoming.

Five years ago I moved into my dream house.  It has two bathrooms.  And for the first time, they were truly likable rooms.  The downstairs has a half bath; small, but functional and stylish with updated plumbing and features.   I painted it and replaced the tile floor a few years back.  The upstairs bath is a nice size, a room which measures about 12 x 8 with great natural lighting and a whole lot of potential.

Including 80 year old pipes and the potential for a plumbing disaster. 

The renovation began in late April.  Within two weeks, the bathroom was fully functional.  The only remaining task was wallpaper installation.  That job was finished this past week.  I now have new plumbing, a new tub, a new toilet, an amazing tiled shower, and a new tiled floor.   The lower walls have been insulated and replaced with waterproof sheetrock.  Aside from the needed practical improvements, the renovation afforded me the opportunity to paint and wallpaper with colors I have always wanted to use in my bathroom.  I chose crisp white tile for the shower and the floor.  The new walls have a cool blue paint (the color is called rain wash).  There is a line of blue translucent glass tiles in the shower and the wallpaper has a white background with the blue color in both the paper's texture and the blue and green circles.

The new wall between the toilet and the bath houses all-new plumbing and a kick-ass shower head.  JT especially enjoys the new toilet paper stand; he feels it's the height of elegant living.  It's actually a practical choice to prevent a certain young man from yanking the toilet paper holder right out of the wall (and I speak from experience).

The room is large enough to be spacious and the light colors magnify that feature (my dark bathroom days are over!).  There isn't much storage, but what's there is well organized and easily used.  There are some small final additions under consideration.  I'm thinking about adding this storage shelf from Pottery Barn.  I'm considering a print from John W. Golden's etsy shop, though I'm also tempted by some wall decals from Elephannie's etsy shop.  Whatever I decide, those additions are just the frosting on the big improvement that has already been made.

 It's now my perfect bathroom; a well-lit room that is both functional and beautiful.  And it's Life List #28 come true.