Eight bazillion photos of my bathrooms, you're welcome

We found out yesterday that Dave's car is officially Totaled, which is such a complete relief. I mean, neither of us would ever EVER wish a car accident on the other person, obviously, but we'd had his car listed for sale for months and it had generated zero interest. I mean that in the most literal sense of the word: we got not one single call. It's hard to explain, though... I'm glad that we don't have to deal with selling that car anymore, and particularly happy that we are going to be paid more money by the insurance company than we could have gotten from a private sale (had we ever made one), but I'm not exactly thrilled that it took a car accident to get us to this point. I'm pretty sure I didn't need to clarify that for you, but there it is.

But then, in all honesty, it is actually kind of nice sometimes when decisions just get made for you. I can't change the fact that there WAS an accident, so now I'm enjoying the fact that we are going to be able to get a newer and more suitable car for our family – and we're going to do it faster and for less money than we had originally planned.

So far the month of January (all 12 days of it; I can't believe we're not even halfway through) has been... well, I'm not even sure what to say. Dave got a big (much-deserved) promotion and a raise. We finally finished the bathroom. We cleaned out the attic. My beloved Auburn Tigers won the National Championship and to celebrate at 12:30am on a Tuesday morning (as I promised my friends on Facebook I would), I ran screaming through my neighborhood wearing nothing but socks and an Auburn flag and asked Dave to record it. I would be HAPPY to post it for you, but first I have to edit it as there was a bit of a wardrobe malfunction before I left the house and Dave caught it on film and it is not safe for anything except blackmailing me out of all my money and dignity.

Did you see that part up there about how we finished the bathroom? So you know I don't have much money to be blackmailed out of, anyway, but you'll still have to wait for the Edited Version.

But to tide you over, how about some photos of the aforementioned Time and Money Suck known as our master bathroom? Before we start, I would like to remind you that we began this epic journey in January of 2010. One whole year ago this month, we tore out the whole freaking bathroom and threw it away bit by bit, as much as the garbage men would take every Tuesday and Friday. Then in February we shopped for stuff like a vanity and a light fixture and a medicine cabinet, which we stored at other people's houses (only for a week or two, was what we told them) and then I went out of town and Dave installed and replumbed (is that a word?) the bathtub and then... [insert sound of gears grinding to a halt].

We didn't do anything for a few months (here's an article I wrote about WHY), until Dave got a friend to come over and help him put up new drywall and cement board, and then for a few months after that, Dave would go into the bathroom for a few hours every Saturday and, to the best of my knowledge, sand the walls. He sanded the walls forever, you guys. Always with the sanding. The background noise of my weekends was always scratcy paper on drywall. Tools were everywhere, all over our entire bedroom – I was being impaled by screwdrivers on my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night- and he wasn't using any of them except sheets of sandpaper. And I stopped cleaning because every time I cleaned anything, he'd go back in there and sand something (SERIOUSLY, WHAT WAS HE SANDING FOR THREE STRAIGHT MONTHS) and there would be a fresh coat of dust over everything in the upstairs level of the house.

Yes. Yes, indeed, it did drive me BONKERS.

But now that it's over, I can tell you it was absolutely, 100 percent worth it.

Let's start with some before photos. Technically these pictures are of the bathroom we renovated in 2006, but it was identical to the master bath, except that the master bath was painted blue and was much, much dirtier. Keep in mind that we haven't put in all the finishing touches in the after photos - I'll be adding a towel bar and some decorative accents when I find them.

BEFORE:

AFTER:








(Also, HOW AWESOME IS MY HUSBAND?)

For comparison purposes, here's how the 2006 renovation of the hall/kids' bath turned out (some of you long-time readers might remember it):

Comments

[Shelly]

Holy transformation, Batman! Wow. That is amazing.

Also...

WAR EAGLE!!!

That damn game nearly gave me a heart attack.

[Sarah]

It looks amazing! And you've totally nailed why we've done so few renos lately...

[A]

Great job. Your aesthetic and craftsmanship are inspiring!

Our first home redo project required putting up drywall - first and last time. We can and will do a lot of things ourselves, but we will never do drywall again. It's madness.

[Jessica]

It looks amazing! I hate our bathroom but our house is a rental so we can't change much. I love your, sink, although I have dreams of huge counter space in my next bathroom.

[Leah]

Hey, that reminds me. . . I believe we are STILL owed a video of you in scuba gear? Hmmmm?

[Ashley]

That tile is gorgeous! Well done!

[Maura]

Congrats to Dave on his promotion! Sweet! He did an awesome job on the bathroom. It looks fabulous! You must be soooo thrilled.

[Farrell]

Love it all but ESPECIALLY the shower!!!

[Life of a Doctor's Wife]

Wow - the bathroom looks AWESOME!

Also, congrats to Dave on the promotion and raise - that's AWESOME as well!

What a month you guys have had, already! Seems like a great start to the year (except for the accident, which THANK GOD everyone is okay).

[Shawnna]

Where did you find that sink? LOVE IT!!

Don't you love having a handy husband who helps to save money. I feel the insanity of having a project take FOREVER, but I'd much rather do it ourselves than fork over a boat load of cash!

[Wiz]

It looks great!

I forgot you were an Auburn grad!! I always have to cheer for the SEC even though I am a TN grad!

[blueviolet]

It looks really beautiful. Renovations are a huge pain, but they're always worth it in the end.

[Alyssa]

Wow, he did an awesome job! It looks really great. Can I maybe borrow him???

[HereWeGoAJen]

Oh, that is awesome! It looks beautiful. We are painting our bathroom, but now I want to redo the whole thing too.

[Molly]

I am literally swooning over that sink. Like, seriously. Where is it from?

[DevilsHeaven]

OMG!! That Shower ROCKS. We are getting ready to do the same, but we only have ONE full bath. And sorry, but I'm not about to bathe in the sink of the half-bath, so we'll be staying @ my mother's while she winters in AZ. My cousin also just finished a bathroom reno, and IKEA is the place to be. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the huge medicine cabinet that is mirrored INSIDE as well as outside. I feel ya on the dust and tools. Our dining room(which started out as a paint job & ceiling fan instillation) took 6 months. Freaking drywall dust!!
I can't wait!!

[Nanica]

It looks beautiful. Your hubby is awesome if we lived closer I would totally borrow him for three months to sand our basement :) since mine gets lonely down there.

[Becky]

WAR EAGLE! Huge Auburn fan here too. When they scored with that field goal at the end of the game I started crying, I was so excited. I am married to a Bama fan, so this National Title means so much more to me, since Bama did it last year!

[Jennifer]

Gorgeous pictures!! I LOVE your vanity. And the tile is awesome too. So happy for you that it's done as well.

[jes]

LOVE your vanity. I need details, please. (Seriously. Email me.) :)

[Miriam]

Awesome- but HOW do you keep those rolls of toilet paper on the shelf and not pulled down, torn apart, strewn all over the house by a toddler? THAT part is awesome.

[Jen]

That tile is amazing! And I love the vanity. Super job!

[John Rambo]

BOYCOTT AMERICAN WOMEN
Why American men should boycott American women

http://boycottamericanwomen.blogspot.com/

I am an American man, and I have decided to boycott American women. In a nutshell, American women are the most likely to cheat on you, to divorce you, to get fat, to steal half of your money in the divorce courts, don't know how to cook or clean, don't want to have children, etc. Therefore, what intelligent man would want to get involved with American women?

American women are generally immature, selfish, extremely arrogant and self-centered, mentally unstable, irresponsible, and highly unchaste. The behavior of most American women is utterly disgusting, to say the least.

This blog is my attempt to explain why I feel American women are inferior to foreign women (non-American women), and why American men should boycott American women, and date/marry only foreign (non-American) women.

BOYCOTT AMERICAN WOMEN!

[joaaanna]

WOW! It really looks incredible! Great job!

But yeah, I'm with you, I don't get what he was sanding this whole time. BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!!!

[joaaanna]

Wait a minute... what the HELL is that comment above mine?