Primary Bathroom, Closet, Bedroom, Flooring Before Renovation
More pink and beige tile with baskets of flowers on some accent tiles
More flesh colored formica and particle board and more orange plastic handles. The vanity drawer didn't work properly because the tracks were worn out. Lots of shiny brass fixtures. Notice the shower door curb.
Beige tile on the walls
Garden tub that we never bathed in, not even once. We used it to keep our shoes in and to sit on the step for putting on our shoes.
The shower had a 5-inch step down after stepping over the curb. This picture shows why we had to tile the entire house. There was no way to renovate the bathroom and get rid of the garden tub without retiling. The tile was discontinued, and we didn't want to introduce a fifth floor variation with a different tile. We already had this tile, brown berber carpet in the primary bedroom, laminate in the two back bedrooms, and brown ceramic tile in the sunroom, not to mention the glazed pink tile at the outside entryway. When we were first looking at houses back in 2018, our realtor showed us a house that we called, "The house of seven floors," with a tip of the hat to Edgar Allen Poe. Now we know why someone ends up with seven different flooring materials. It's very difficult to live in a house and re-tile the entire house with the same tile.
Our designer said that this shelf was a popular feature in bathrooms. It was a plant stand. We removed it.
We called this curved tile from the living room, through the bedroom, and into the bathroom as "the runway." The differences in the grout led us to believe that it was added after the house was built, perhaps when they re-carpeted the bedroom. To keep from wearing a path through the bedroom carpet, they put in this curved path of tile. We hated it. We were constantly stepping on the sharp carpet tacks that held the carpet next to the tile. It was another reason to tile the entire primary suite and the rest of the house. Plus, the berber carpet was beyond gross when we moved in. It had a measurable amount of dust thickness on top, not just a light dusting.
The primary walk-in closet had bi-fold mirror doors, but one of the rollers was missing and I was unable to find a replacement. Often the door would come off the track. It always scraped. It was awkward and we hated it.
The wire shelving was inefficient. The right side of the closet was not deep enough for hanging clothes. Because of the way the door opened, you would walk face first into hanging clothes. It made it difficult to actually use it as a walk-in closet. It was a punishment to use the closet.
The floor tile was very shiny and dated looking, not horrible, just bleh.
The tile in the sunroom was a mottled earthy brown with shades of pink that never looked or felt clean.
The grout was filthy except for where the previous owner had a rug. You can see the zebra marks on each tile. The color was a grayish mauve. Basically, our house looked like the golden girls decorated it in 1985.
Floor tile demo
We had all of the floor tile removed in August 2024 before the bathroom renovation could begin.
They did a great job protecting our new cabinets during demo. They even sealed the upper cabinets to keep dust and debris out. They also covered up the faucet.
They protected our washer and dryer and the laundry room cabinets.
All of the floor was removed except for the two back bedrooms and the second bath, spaces that we lived in and stored things so they could re-tile the house. We lived on concrete floors that never felt clean, no matter how many times we vacuumed and mopped.
However, they couldn't re-tile until the primary bathroom was complete.
The workers had to dig trenches and move plumbing lines under the concrete slab floor.
We lived like this for four months, during two hurricanes, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.
Closet system arrived via freight truck
The new glass shower has zero curb. The floor gradually slants to the linear drain.
The round tub with the free-standing faucet we thought would be something to fill in an empty space and not be used. It turns out, we use the tub as much as the shower because it's quick and easy to clean. The faucet has a hand shower attached and the tub has an integrated seat. Of course, you can use it as a tub and fill it up with water, too.
The towels now hang where the plant shelf used to be.
The bathroom has always been open to the bedroom. It took some getting used to. But there's a privacy fence between us and the neighbors. And we have window blinds, if necessary.
The shower control allows you to use either or both the hand shower or the fixed shower head. The temperature is set, so all you have to do is push a button (or two) for the water to flow.
Our Toto washlet and new toilet. A true revelation.
New closet system. We followed the design of Kim and Bruce, but put together and installed this one ourselves. This one hangs on the wall (anchored in the studs) and leaves the floor uncluttered. It also has drawers and doors to conceal more stuff. We decided to ditch the mirrored bi-fold doors and leave it open. The old track was embedded in the tile floor.
We replaced the standard knobs with ones that matched our closet and linen doors.
It's so convenient to just walk in and out. Placing the hanging clothes on the left opened up so much space. Our dresser is mostly empty now, except for a few rarely used items, like wool socks, for example.
T-shirts and shorts are our staples.
The sunroom got the same flooring as the rest of the house.
The floor tile pattern flows without a break into the sunroom.
The front entrance also got re-tiled with the same tile.
It's hard to believe how much difference the new entry tile made.
We replaced a faulty 52-inch fan with a sleeker 65-inch fan that works great. There's a LED light above the shelf in the living room. It's also on a dimmer.
After the completion of phase II, we immediately began planning for the third and final phase: tiling the remaining two bedrooms and bath and renovating the bath. Along the way, we updated door handles and hinges and painted all of the doors, closet doors, trim, and new 5 1/2 inch baseboards throughout. In a little over two months, demolition began on the second bathroom and the flooring removal in the second and third bedrooms. Stay tuned for pictures tomorrow.
Click below for Phase III: Back Bedrooms and 2nd Bath
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