It’s a bit ironic; the online articles and posts suggesting that perhaps you should do a home project while you’re quarantined at home. Or the other articles that snidely suggest you’re an overachiever if you even attempt a DIY project now. (The good thing about a quarantine DIY is that no-one is going to show up at your house, when there is junk, tools, and sawdust covering Every. Single. Surface.)

Dueling ladders…
Our bathroom has looked like a third world bathroom for 9 years. When we inherited this little cottage, it was the room we planned to redo first. The smallest, the most-in need, the most bang for our buck… Plus, the kitchen was daunting because, well, it was the kitchen. Truth is, the bathroom has the access into the attic, and it took us a long time to figure out how to get an attic ladder in such a small space. Before, one had to bring in a ladder, and push a piece of plywood away to get up there. Here is how the access door finally turned out:

The attic access door that stopped all progress…
Nine years later, after Covid-19 has relegated us all to our houses, we tackled it. No excuses, nothing else to do. So we’ve actually utilized our time well. Of course, there were times of distress, and interruptions, and arguments, but that’s just routine in DIY projects, and anyone who has ever done a home project knows that to be truth.

It was a great day when this old sink went out for garbage pick up. We put it out a couple of days early, but no one was in the market for a sink and cheap faucets.
When we uncovered the bathroom vanity that we had purchased at a Restore in Pittsburgh, we found a sticky note that had the date of purchase: Sept. 9, 2011. We had gathered supplies in fits and starts since that date.
- We bought floor tiles for the shower early on right after the vanity and the mirror;
- a round copper sink that we found in Deep Creek Maryland one summer on vacation before this little cottage was even ours;
- Mr. H.C. got a pricey toilet for free, and we had it for such a long time, we gave it away to someone else who needed one;
- we had tile for the top of the vanity for so long that when we got it out, we couldn’t figure out how we had thought we were going to put it on, gave up, and bought a new wooden countertop instead. We went to Burton, Ohio to pick it up, two days before the PA lockdown started;
- that same weekend we went to a small independent plumbing place to get some pipe and ended up buying a commode from him. He was so grateful, and it made us aware of how much we just shop at the big box stores because it’s easier. Nothing is the same now, and we all need to think carefully about what stores we want to support.
- Faucet, sink drain, and shower fixtures were purchased a couple of years ago when we thought we were getting ready to do the bathroom. We did the ceiling and some electrical work, and then we ended up doing the back porch instead.
- the replacement window came in just after the PA lockdown started. We have been grateful that plumbing supply and hardware stores are considered essential…
We still don’t have the shower in, but here are some before, during, and after shots:
This was way back before we actually moved in, because the orange and green door was one of the last projects we completed before move-in day.
We needed more nailers for wallboard. What you can’t see in this photo is the blue cotton insulation/sound batts that we put in the walls.
And now! The wall faucets are best left to a professional. Even Mr. H.C. (who is a professional) struggled with placement of pipes inside the wall…
THE FLOOR: (tongue and groove yellow pine, still available at fine lumber yards everywhere…)
Replacing rotten flooring was Mr. H.C’s job.
Sanding, staining, and putting on 4 coats of poly was my job
It matches the floor in the living room…
THE HEATER VENT:
the old
the new
THE TOILET ALCOVE:
for a story on this window see the post Secrets of This Old Cottage
New window
the ugliness of an old toilet gone…
New everything…
SAME SHOT, DIFFERENT YEARS….
Yes, it’s a sad state of affairs when your bathroom looks like this…
At least the door had been painted a couple of years ago…
mostly fini. Only a couple pieces of baseboard trim left to go.
THE VANITY TOP, SINK, AND FAUCETS:
4 coats of water-based poly on grey elm
Wall faucets are tricky and required precision…
No. Words.
Here are some close ups:
We originally thought we would be using the old floor to ceiling shelves here. They are painted and on the back porch. But we kind of like the spareness of this. We’ll see…
We bought this two summers ago at an art estate sale specifically to keep people grilling on the back porch from seeing into the bathroom. :-)
I have a smaller wood lamp that my dad made. I may change it up…
We still have the shower to do…But we’re taking a short break to recover, and try to remember: how was it we were going to put the shower in, anyway?
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