Bathroom and Stairs: Progress and Plans

In my last post, I shared then-and-now photos of our kitchen and dining room. I’m continuing my six-months-later series with our stairs and half bathroom. These obviously aren’t After (TM) photos, just progress shots. Let’s dive in!

Before:

Now:

What’s been done:

• Not much!
• Painted the bathroom walls and trim.
• Took down the hardware.
• Hung a new mirror.
• Installed new black hinges and doorknob.
• That’s it.

Before:

Now:

I told the painter he didn’t have to do anything with this staircase. I look forward to tackling it at some point, but it’s not pressing. I need to test it for lead and research the safest and most effective way to remove paint from spindles (e.g. chemical strippers, heat gun, raging fire…).

Before:

Now:

Because there are so many weird angles in the bathroom, I chose to use the same color of paint (Irish Mist) on the walls and the ceiling. It helps make it look a little less choppy.

Before:

Now:

Not too huge a change, really! But it feels so much better, and “just paint” belies the amount of work a professional paint job entailed. Everything was filthy and uneven, and our painter scrubbed, sanded, patched, primed, and painted the trim, walls, and ceiling. And, new hinges have a surprisingly big impact!

Before:

During:

Now:

That dumb, crowded rosette on the top left kills me. I can’t wait to replace all of the trim in this house!

Jarrod declared that the half-bath would be my “stunt room” and I’m excited to make that happen. It’s actually something my mom would do, too, in the houses we worked on: be more daring in powder rooms because you can be. I think I’ll steal heavily from this inspiration:

Photo from Design*Sponge

What I plan to do, short term (within a year or so):

• Nothing. I don’t want to waste time or money on lipstick for a pig.
• Well, okay, maybe some art and some plants.
• Well, okay, maybe a new light fixture if I know that it will work with my future bathroom plans.

What I plan to do, longer term (within two to three years, maybe):

• Full bathroom remodel: I hope this shouldn’t be overly expensive, because the room is so small (reducing the amount of materials and labor needed).
• Remove the wall and floor tile.
• New tile floor.
• Install wainscoting.
• Wallpaper!
• New sink, toilet, light fixtures, door, and trim.
• For the stairs: refinish the landing, treads, risers, stringers, balusters, newels, and handrail. I would have only known half those terms without the aid of Google.