Minty Green Refreshing Progress

The old bathroom wouldn't know what to make of itself. We went with an 18 inch deep tub at 32 inches wide. There are no messaging jets, but then, what are they worth in the end? The newly renovated space is wider than the tub, so we went with a bit of a box to finish it off. The alternative was to build a box up to the ceiling, or, in retrospect, it might have made for a second storage space. I think ultimately the larger space will be worth more than the added storage.



Speaking of which, the new linen closet is progressing nicely. Made from the ashes of the recycling closet/ place to stick random Styrofoam blocks, the new linen closet is going to be a huge success I think. The house is storage poor so this is an important feature. Now we can buy paper products in bulk :) Finally a designated space to put my absurd collection of plastic bins. Right?


By the end of the day we expect to have the first coat of mud and tape up. Pictured is where our very slanted bedroom door used to be. You'll notice it only moved about 4 feet. This is going to provide us with a designated area for the vanity. Sharing a bathroom inevitably means tripping over each other. The added square feet will also, obviously help alleviate this problem. We opted for a single sink as ultimately we are more concerned about navigating the space.



Another important component in the placement of the door is our old air return. Originally it was placed in the floor in front of the bedroom door. If the dog or cat walked through the door 100 times in a day, 100 times a day they would jump over this roaring pit. We diverted the vent to the right and up into the wall behind the chimney. While this might seem like a large undertaking to save a few square feet, it also relocated the air exchange to the kitchen which is open to the dining room/living room space. In other words, 2/3rds of the house. This should improve the air flow to the furnace and possibly make the unit more efficient. On top of it all, we are going to be pouring a self leveling compound in this corner Wednesday. As you could imagine, the air return would have certainly been an obstacle.

Motivators

The single greatest motivator in this renovation was to finally shower in the bathroom after spending five years using a makeshift shower in the middle of the basement laundry room.  Pictured is where The Old Cow (a 4 ft claw foot tub) once sat along side a commode, below a partial flight of attic stairs.  Our second greatest motivator was to increase the layout and square footage of our bathroom to include everything above.  The new room is approximately 9x6 ft with an additional 2x4 ft entry.

In an effort to save usable space we included in this project a slight entry way.  Presently this entrance is covered by a canvas tarp.  To the right of this doorway is an opening to our future linen closet.  Once accessible from another room of the house, this closet once served as a center for sorting and storing recyclable materials.  The future home of our recycling bins for paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, etc. is still a great mystery.

Looking forward to what next week brings, I've included an image of some of the lighting that will be included in the room.  Hanging from the 10 ft ceiling, we wanted lighting that would provide ample light in a practical way.  Although this pendant light take 2 light bulbs with a max of 60 watts each, we were advised that compact fluorescent bulbs put out substantially less heat.  With this in mind, we have the option to increase wattage if extra light is needed while saving on our electric bill.  We will be making up for our recent contribution to the local land fills for years to come.  I will be sure to recycle the cardboard box this light came in.