Hi all!
OK, I know this is waaaaaaaaay off topic, but I wanted to show some pics of a home improvement project I've been working on. We bought our house just a few months ago in September and I've been working on different stuff here and there to bring it more in line with the wishes of our "design team" (my wife)
The latest project is the downstairs half-bath. Most of the interior of the house was pretty blah when we bought it. So we went in knowing we'd be doing a lot of work. And when I say "we" I mean. . . "me."
Here's a before pic of what it looked like. The house was built in 1964, and it had brownish ceramic tile on the floor, some cream-colored wallpaper, and off white/brown ceramic tile halfway up the walls. The cabinet was just clearcoated bare wood with a gold-speckled white laminate countertop. There was a flat pane mirror with a 4 foot fluorescent light fixture.
Nothing was really wrong with it, it just wasn't our style.
I didn't really take any in progress pics, but here's what I did and how it looks now.
I began by steaming off the old wallpaper. Turns out there were 2 layers on there, and I discovered that steaming old wallpaper is one of my least favorite things to do!
Once the wallpaper was down, I knocked off all the ceramic wall tile. This was much more fun as I got to use a chisel/pry bar and hammer. I love those breaking noises!!
I removed the doors from the cabinet, sanded them as well as the frame, and added some 3/8" rope moulding for some visual detail. The entire cabinet was painted a semi-gloss black and given a coat of water based polyurethane. The old ceramic sink was removed and the countertop was sanded to roughen it up before laying down some new textured black laminate with DAP contact cement. The texture doesn't show up well in the pics but it looks pretty cool in person!
Before laying down the new laminate, I mounted a new section of 3/4" plywood where the old sink was. This was attached from underneath with 4 steel flat brackets. After the laminate had dried I drilled 2 holes for the plumbing for the new Kraus vessel sink and waterfall faucet. We decided on this style because it just looks so cool!
The walls were painted with Valspar "granite" paint. Very nice texture and natural, just slightly uneven appearance. Once the walls were done, I added new baseboards and a chair rail. The chair rail was painted to match the cabinet.
We got a new mirror in a pewter frame, and I installed a new light fixture over it. It has a nice wrought iron look and even though the pic is washed out, the glass has the appearance of old candles. It's nice!
The finishing touch was a new black toilet.
My wife wanted a sort of jungle theme, so we got some leopard accessories including; a toilet seat, small area rug, trash can/tissue box cover, a square "bin," some small glass trays, a soap dispenser, and a couple of decorative boxes.
Just for fun, here's the before and after side by side. Well actually it's the after and before.
*Whew!!* Lots of work, but the "design team" is very happy, so that makes me happy.
Thanks for looking!
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Originally Posted by superjedi 
