It's still being built, but I figured I'd share some of the process and my wife's genius.
Why
Our master bathroom is a knee-knocker, literally. If you sit on the toilet you cannot open the door without smacking your knees. Personally, it's never really bothered me. My brain registered it as silly, I shrugged, and moved on. Carrie tagged it as something that needed fixing for future resale value of the house. She was right the last time, so she's clearly the family expert.
Before Carrie
The closet and bathroom in our master bedroom are adjacent. One door swings out (as intended) and the other door swings inward (a head-scratcher).
The door that swings in leads to our master bath. There's room for a toilet, a shower, and a sink. That's it. There's no place for a toilet paper holder.
Next to the bathroom is our closet which is considerably bigger. Carrie suspects that the builders piped the rooms wrong. She's looked up other houses like ours in the neighborhood online and all the pictures suggest the bathroom and the closet were switched in later models.
To top it off, we have a cool nook. When we bought the house, I thought "This would be a neat place to curl up and read." To date, I've never done it.
It's mostly become storage space. We throw things there when we're moving them around to make room elsewhere.
Carrie's Design
Carrie measured and drafted out all of her plans.
My wife does her homework!
After she went through umpteen revisions, she drew the concept art.
Some of it has changed due to parts or pieces of her idea not being available or being more expensive than planned. It's clear that if Shane demonstrates any artistic talent, he will have inherited from Mommy.
Construction
Day 1 was demo. Thursday, a crew of at least seven men came in to destroy the walls and haul.
Best story of the day: Shane was confused. One of the construction workers had his dreads pulled back into a ponytail. Shane kept asking Mommy about "the girl."
"No Shane, that's a boy. Look! He has a beard!" Carrie replied.
"No, Mommy! It's a girl!"
The other works loved it.The man smiled and laughed along, too. Cute three year olds can say almost anything and be instantly forgiven!
By the time I arrived, all of the construction workers were gone. The plumber and his assistant were working on the pipes. We talked a little bit and they finished up about an hour later.
Day 2 was Friday.
This was my new shower.
Our other bathroom is right across from Shane's room. It was also temporarily filled with tons of clothes from our newly demolished closet. Instead of risking tripping around and waking up Shane, my daily bedhead was dealt with over the counter.
A morning shift came in and drywalled. The rest of the work was done by an electrician who seemed like a real character. I figured he might have been from an island by his accent. A few Spanish words mingled in with his speech and then I guessed Trinidad and Tobago. Turns out I was right! I like meeting people from different backgrounds; they have interesting stories. Carrie really liked him, as well. He clearly knew what he was doing and was fun to talk to. We'll have to save his card in case we ever need an electrician for whatever new project Carrie's dreaming of!
Day 3 started the following Monday.
This was my new shower.
Our other bathroom is right across from Shane's room. It was also temporarily filled with tons of clothes from our newly demolished closet. Instead of risking tripping around and waking up Shane, my daily bedhead was dealt with over the counter.
A morning shift came in and drywalled. The rest of the work was done by an electrician who seemed like a real character. I figured he might have been from an island by his accent. A few Spanish words mingled in with his speech and then I guessed Trinidad and Tobago. Turns out I was right! I like meeting people from different backgrounds; they have interesting stories. Carrie really liked him, as well. He clearly knew what he was doing and was fun to talk to. We'll have to save his card in case we ever need an electrician for whatever new project Carrie's dreaming of!
Day 3 started the following Monday.
Here's where I stopped keeping track as well as I wanted to. Mud/putty was added around the dry wall, floor was laid, and holes were patched (but not all of them!).
Day 4 may have been different or it may not have. I can not tell you. Carrie and I worked and traded Shane shifts. All I knew what I was still shoving my head under the sink each morning, so I could go to work without greasy hair pointing every which way.
I'm sure there was still sanding and patching and fixing odds and ends.
Day 5 I started keeping track of things again, but I didn't get a picture. Tiles were lain and spacers were set between them.
Day 6 the men who laid the tile returned to fill in the grout work. They were also in charge of installing the door for our new closet.
This was the day I took off work to help with Shane and the truck decided to smell like burning.
Day 7 the vanity was installed. There were a few tiles that didn't set right and had to be fixed. The wainscoting and trim began to be hung, too.
Day 8 and 9 were Saturday and Sunday. One of the men from the last several days, Mike, came back out to work each morning for several hours. He had been scheduled to return on Monday, but his boss decided to schedule him for a new job then instead. Mike finished up the wainscoting, trim, shower door, and did a little bit of cleanup.
I took some pictures Sunday while Shane napped.
My wife was inspired by all the work. Sunday, she went to Home Depot to research closet options after church. Carrie ended up installing a few hangers while Mike was still working on the other side of the room.
Yes, this is what my wife will do for fun. Naturally, I was on Shane and dog duty.
Day 10
The Final Result
I will continue to update this. We're getting there, but we're not done yet!
I will continue to update this. We're getting there, but we're not done yet!
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