Bathroom Update Preview (Lots of Pics- LONG POST)

Hey all.. as you know I don't post on the weekends.. but I'm afraid my posting will be scattered the next couple days.. so I thought I would give you a preview of my Bathroom update and how its been going..


So.. here we go.. First DIY Home Improvement project EVER...Ive always up cycled and updated items.. never a WHOLE ROOM...

Just so you can get a reminder.. this was the state of my bathroom when we moved in.. DEF not bad... in very great condition.. nothing broken.. everything working well.. however the bathroom itself was just not my style.. The Dream is so some day demo the WHOLE bathroom.. but that's not in the budget.. so to make it live able to my taste we are updating

One last look.. you can see in the bottom the subway tile.. DEF does not go with the walls..lol..

My Mom.. God Bless her.. made a 3 hour trek again this weekend to help me strip the wallpaper.. I have never done this and she has.. made sense for her to be here.. sooo we got to work.. 

in a bathroom that was supposedly ALLLLL horsehair plaster.. we only found one Horse Hair plaster wall.. and this was the paper I found under the current wallpaper.. seriously.. I wish I could describe this paper.. best word I can think of.. is at least 50-70 years old.. (my House was built in 1890 for those who are wondering)

Me scraping remnants on the walls..

here is the ONE horsehair plaster call in the bathroom.. let me just state makes wall paper removal very easy..scrapes so nice.. its scraping plaster.. not drywall.. 

We got INCREDIBLY lucky.. we were able to peel my WHOLE bathroom in a little over an hour.. Thanks to Lowes and there removal Tip which I will post at the bottom.. we had the paper off in nice large sections..

A NON horsehair plaster wall.. but its also not a drywall.. I dunno what it is.. but this was the condition of the wall UNDER THE PAPER.. who on earth does Home improvement like this..

The one thing I want to caution everyone on.. if you own and Old house or newer home.. something I must have been in the cloud about.. be prepared for what is under walls.. be prepared in ANY DIY improvement project for the unexpected.. we were not expecting to find the grout and stuff from old tile that was in the bathroom.. we were not prepared for anything but horsehair plaster walls.. we had to run out and by Spackle and ended up spackling the WHOLE bathroom.. had to get the walls paintable.. granted it was not super expensive for the Spackle, the tools to Spackle that had to be purchased added up.. so BE PREPARED..

here was the 5 gallon drum of compound we ran to home depot for

Here is hubby starting the mudding around 10:30 last night.. my  mom and Hubs stayed up till 12:30 getting the whole room done.. I had taken my PM meds and ended up asleep by 11..lol

One of the more fun parts of the update was updating my brass fixure shower.. its hard to tell due to the poor lighting.. but I swear its now a brushed nickel look.. thanks to a can of rustoleum.. I taped off and papered the shower and moldings so I could spray paint.. Thanks to my SIL Jeanette for finishing it up.. LOOKS AWESOME..

OK SO.. thats what I have for updates at the moment..

My mom is currently Sanding down all the Spackle so we can work on painting today.. probably wont be all put together and done today.. but it will be a good start.. I may have to do some painting during rest time for the kids during the week.. but its all doable..

TIPS

ok.. so here are a few tips and tricks I picked up on my first DIY home improvement project

1- BUDGET- just found out you should set aside 10% extra from what is budgeted for your project.. this will cover the random cost that I PROMISE you will pop up and unless you want a half done bathroom with no sink in it..lol.. then ya gotta be able to run and get what you need right away.. if you dont encounter a problem maybe it will be a nice new fixture or piece of art for the room your working on.

2-WALLPAPER REMOVAL- Before you go buying the latest fad chemical that promises swift removal.. try the classic trick of warm water and vinegar in a squirt bottle.. I took super hot tap water and heated up a cup of vinegar in the microwave.. then I purchases a handy dandy big squirt bottle.. we would squirt a large section.. let it sit for a bit.. then took our scraper and peeled a little section.. we were then able to just peel back the paper.. minimal scraping.. no harsh chemicals as well as easy removal.. 

3-WALLPAPER/GROUT REMOVAL- a section of our bathroom apparently has been tiled before.. however the grout was not removed.. my SIL Jeanette had a 1/2 n 1/2 mixture of Warm water and Liquid Fabric softener.. we were able to remove a chunk of the grout but also to smooth out what was there.. much easier when Mudding a WHOLE room..

4- NOTHING HAPPENS OVER NIGHT-In my up in the clouds head I had hoped to just remove paper and get painting.. the logical side knew this would not happen.. BE LOGICAL.. any project is going to take longer than we want or hope.. this was scheduled to be a weekend project.. and while alllll the difficult time consuming work is done.. I will not have a mess of a bathroom turned over into a beauty in 2 days.. things take time to dry.. things done properly take time.. and after all the planning.. don't you want your project to come out right?? like you hope in your head?? I personally do.. soo give yourself time.. while all the paper down spackling and basic work will be done this weekend.. I will probably have to add the top layer of paint throughout the week..I'm OK with this.. Id rather a bathroom I want and love than something I'm gonna have to spend fixing and redoing again.. or worse.. leaving in bad condition not the way I want it to be..

Best Of Luck.. as soon as the paint is on and dry and everythings put back in order.. Ill gladly post some new pics.. hope your all having a wonderful weekend..

My mom is currently sanding.. and I'm watching the kiddos.. who are both sickie.. Hubby went to church.. so.. i have a few minutes to blog.. woo hoo..

Much Love and Blessings

Shanun