Happy Bathday Mom!

For my mother's upcoming birthday (her 49th, of course), I thought that perhaps she would like an update on her half-bath downstairs. The teeny bathroom has been the same since the house was built save for one small scroll of stencil that I put over the top of the towel bar back when vine stencils were cool.  The entire bathroom revolved around a certain shade of green that can't even be named but resides somewhere between lime and pea.  The toilet was this color, the sink was this color, and the floor was an even worse version of this color.

The medicine cabinet in this bathroom was a ginormous mirrored box that was partially held together by rubber bands.  I do not joke.   So I called the siblings to get the backing of pitched in funds that I would need.  And with my Dad's (reluctant) approval, I began the work on the half-bath last week. The only promises that I had to make were that the medicine cabinet HAD to go (my Dad's request) and that the putrid green toilet HAD to stay (my mom's).  Once upon a time a plumber once told her that she should never get rid of that toilet.  Apparently it was the Mac Daddy of all porcelain thrones.  Note that I did use the word "was".  That, my good folks, is what we call foreshadowing.

Now you should know that my mother's favorite color is royal blue.  And by favorite, I mean the only color she will ever wear or use in any decorating scheme.  So I set out to intricately work together royal blue and the putrid lime/pea green.  And look what I found:

I also set out to buy a new vanity to replace the old weird laminate counter top that was streaked with putrid green veins.  But my Dad didn't like that idea.  Because the vanity would've been 4 inches shy of the wall on either side and, "stuff would be falling down in there".  (his words, not mine)  So my plan B became tiling OVER the weird laminate counter top and installing a new white sink.  I picked out a basic white tile for the counter and used the pretty glass tiles (read: expensive) as a back splash.

Then it came time to do the floor.  So I enlisted my Dad to help me remove the toilet.  Except that the Daddy Mac had been there for so long that he had no intentions of moving.

To make a very long story short(er), in my frustrations with the toilet, I smashed right through the porcelain with a screwdriver.  But let's be candid here, I wasn't too disappointed with having to replace the putrid green toilet.  Back to Home Depot we went, and back with a new white toilet we came.  The floor went in very easily and my Dad replaced the toilet the next day.

The new medicine cabinet was easy to hang, but installing the new lighting fixture presented a slight wire relocating situation.

All in all, I think the bathroom turned out really lovely.  even if it did take no less than 12 trips to Home Depot/Lowes.