a bathroom facelift {part 3}

Part 3!  We install a vanity top, a faucet, and redo some plumbing!  I am the most proud of this part so far because I thought we might have to give up and call a plumber.. but we didn't.  And it looks awesome.  And nothing leaks (!!!)

Here's where we end up:


Now let's see how we got there, yea?

Incase you missed it and want to catch up, you can find Parts 1 and 2 of the hallway bathroom facelift here and here.

i need your help...

The shower door is installed!!

Before I get to talking about that, I have a much more pressing issue.  We been searching for accessories to complete the hallway bathroom. One topic of much debate has been a soap pump (I know, big issue).  We prefer foaming soap, but most options for foaming soap dispensers are the cheaper single-use type or other really clunky / awkward looking ones. I finally came across these gems on Amazon:

Umbra Birdie Foaming Soap Pump

Soo cute!  (And the video review cracks me up!)  Now the question is, black or white??  The black one looks like a little penguin which I love, but the white one is cleaner looking and would be a little more subtle against the white counter top.

a bathroom facelift {part 2}

Guess what?  I'm finally done my weekly trips to Ann Arbor!  Made the flight from DTW to BOS for the last time (for a while, at least) on Friday afternoon.  I was so excited to return home and relax for the rest of the day, but was met with an even bigger surprise - Adam had arranged to work from home so he was there to meet me.  This worked out really well too, since we had a large freight shipment coming in that day... the new shower door!  I won't get to that yet in this post, but coming soon.  

Picking up where we left off last time with the hallway bathroom facelift...

6// Painting the vanity

We decided to keep the old vanity base, but to spruce it up with a fresh coat of paint, some caulking to fill in cracks / seams, and new cabinet handles.  Here's what we were dealing with before:

room & board in boston

So I guess it's true!  If you live in Back Bay, you may have been wondering what's going to fill the spaces formerly occupied by the Other Side Cafe, Island Hopper, that mattress store(?), etc.  I had heard rumors of it being Room & Board, but that they had pulled out of the deal.  Looks like it's back on for 2013.

full story from boston.com here

While I'll miss having some of those local dining spots nearby, especially Other Side, this could be fun from an inspiration and home improvement perspective! (West Elm is a bit of a walk right now.. possibly bad news for my wallet haha)

I wonder how they will do though.  And I kinda wish it were Target instead.  I'll remain hopeful for the space formerly occupied by Best Buy / Virgin.

a bathroom facelift {part 1}

A while back (ok, a long while back) I alluded to some planned "renovations" to our hallway bathroom.  I've been waiting until I had something exciting to share.  I've decided that moment is now.  

I know you're so excited to know what paint color we picked, but you get so much more!  Patching holes in walls!  Painting the walls!  Installing a sconce!  Putting in new plumbing!  Designing & installing a custom vanity top!  Finding storage baskets!

The vision was to have a clean, contemporary look that's a little masculine (mostly Adam uses this bathroom) and a bit of a contrast from the rest of the apartment.  I had been feeling inspired by some photos of dark, high-contrast bathrooms and decided to go that route. 

I'll walk through the whole process to date, but let's start with the end.  Very proudly, I present our progress as of last week:

And here's a before photo:

Yep, that's the same bathroom - and we're not even done!  From zoomed out it's hard to see all the beautiful new details, but we'll get there along the way.