It's A Two-fer!

I know, I know.. I'm terrible at updating. It's not that I don't have things for you, it's just that I like things to be perfect before I share them. So, today you get TWO finished projects! One by us, and one that's a shared victory between us and the contractor!

First up, our mailbox!

I'm still waiting for my Hogwarts letter...

This brilliant piece of nerdy art is courtesy of Carrie and our friend Giancarlo. While I lay in bed, horrendously hungover (whiskey bad..), they turned our plain white mailbox into this gem. I love it! The previous mailbox was black.. and missing a door. So we figured if we needed a new one, we might as well do it up!

Now for a more substantial project- we can move on to the bathroom! In case you've not had the opportunity to see the bathroom we inherited with this house, let me just share some pictures with you. That should help you understand why renovating the bathroom was an absolute must for me!

Is that faux marbling? Why, yes!

Even on the ceiling!

The vanity wasn't too offensive, but not our style..

Unfortunately, some of what made this as horrible as it was is not visible in these photos. All of the door and window trim was painted a flat brown. It almost looked like someone took tempra paint, and just slapped it on there. The best part though, was the bathtub. I kid you not, the tub was sealed, in more than one place, with DUCK TAPE. (Yep. It's actually duck, not duct.) I have to assume that at some point the caulking started to fail and instead of, you know, buying a tube of caulk- the previous owner thought that taping it up should do the trick. I SO wish I had a photo of it. It was... really scary.

At any rate, our original plan was to put in new walls and ceiling (because I COULD NOT live with that stuff), a new tub, and a new floor. Somehow though, the more I thought about it, the more I just wanted to change everything. So we did. New vanity, new toilet, new lights.. Also, the window felt too small. It seemed like, if we were taking the whole room apart anyway, why not enlarge the window and put in a new one?! Of course, doing all of that meant ripping the entire bathroom down to the studs and starting fresh.

That's our brand new tub!

Nothing like using the toilet in a shell of a room!

That will shortly be a closet!

Much to our surprise and delight, the contractor was even able to enlarge the size of the closet in the room. We thought we might lose it altogether, but some creative thinking solved that problem. Once he was finished putting the tub and window in, walls up and floor down, he moved on to the fixtures and the paint. I am happy to say that it came out beautifully. After we moved in, Carrie and I added the finer touches- matching towel and TP hangers, shower curtain, shelves, art and so on. Unfortunately, it's a small space, which makes it hard to photograph, so bear with me!

BEHOLD:

Carrie and I went on a special mission just for this shower curtain!

We still need a window treatment. 

Much better, right!? I know. Photos don't do the color justice, either. You lose the nuance of it- I believe it was called "Jamaica Bay", and it's actually an aqua sort of shade. Here are some more photos!

I wasn't sure about that fixture until it was up there.

I think the vanity inspired the room..

Extra storage and decor in one!

This mermaid was painted by the aforementioned Giancarlo!

Anyway! I hope you enjoyed the first big room reveal! We're very, very pleased. A word to the wise though- cleaning that floor is a pain in the ass! I do not recommend white grout! Still, it does look gorgeous, huh?