The Great Bathroom Renovation of 2016.... Part 1

So I took these BEFORE Photos of our Master Bathroom last Wednesday, the day before I began living in a Construction Zone.
It's a basic bathroom really.

Here is the toilet.  The "thing" between the toilet and the sink/vanity cabinet is a tile covered surface that I suppose was to be used as a vanity table with a chair.  We just throw our toiletries on top of it and put a waste basket underneath.
Notice that there is a halfway/kneewall behind the tiled surface and the sink top adjoining it, in front of the mirror.

Here is the tub area.  This is the same tile used on that tiled vanity across the room.

Well, except that this whirlpool tub was replaced before we moved in(as they didn't think the old whirlpool tub worked-it did work but the previous owners had the power to the jets shut off-a whole other kettle of stinky fish that was!). The plumber who replaced the tub had to take out the bottom row of tiles and replaced them with a half row(this tub was taller than the old tub)of plain ivory colored tiles, which didn't match the white tiles with diagonal pastel colored stripes that are the old tiles.
But what was worse was that the plumber(or whoever he hired to do the retiling work)also removed a hunk of the backerboard behind the tiles and never replaced or repaired that before putting new tiles on!
So we have been living with nothing behind the bottom row of tiles for 15 years and being as it's a shower/tub area-which gets a lot of moisture obviously-it's been nearly impossible to keep clean as you can't put any pressure on the caulk/tiles there.  Yes, there is no grout between those tiles in that row, just caulk....lots and lots of caulk over the years.

We finally gave up cleaning and using this tub/shower about a year ago when we decided to redo this bathroom.
I won't show you a close-up of this photo as it's gross.

This is the bathroom closet door.  It too is broken and has never closed properly.  It was cut down from a larger door blank and never hung correctly.

Notice too that all the room trim and door(also the bathroom door)is this faux wood color.  I suppose that was the "in" color for doors/trim when this palace was built in the 1980's....or plastic wood-look trim was cheaper and easier to finish off than real wood trim(no sealing or painting required).

This is the toilet and a good shot of the floor in the room.
The toilet is NOT white or off-white or ivory.
It is the palest tint of GREEN known to man.
See the roll of tp on the right to compare white to the green of this toilet.

Now the green in the tiles in the room are about 3 shades deeper.  To add to this cachophony of color notice that the floor vinyl tiles are another 10 shades darker than the tile so we have 3 shades of green in a very small room that aren't even in the SAME COLOR PALETTE!

Needless to say my color sense is assaulted every time I have to go into this room!

Now let's add the vanity/sink in.  The cabinet is a builder's grade oak color with crappy door handles.
The sink/counter top is an ivory colored faux marbling item with a styleless chrome faucet.
Doesn't the ivory counter top look just spiffy next to the white tiles with pastel strips?
Bonus-you can see the moldy caulk over the tub in the mirror!!
Living the dream folks, living the dream.....

Here's a better shot of the tiles.....they are textured too boot!
Pastel pink, green and blue dashes of color on a white background.  I guess the builder was covering lots of bases in case you wanted to change the color scheme/decor in here. lolz

And here is the wall with the bathroom door, next to the sink/counter top and the mirror.
You'll notice that the towel ring is a deluxe $10 model and that the mirror is just a huge sheet (4x4.5 feet?) of mirror glued to the drywall with a thin metal strip nailed to the wall to frame it.
Classy......

"Who needs a mirror THIS BIG??", I ask as I wave to y'all! lol

And over the mirror is a soffit housing two spotlights potlights.
There is also a soffit over the tub area.  It's a strange design choice at best which we will explore more fully in a later post.

So that was the State of the Bathroom last week.

On Thursday that all changed however......and not a moment too soon!

Sluggy