When the Open Concept is Taken Too Far
We started the hall bathroom remodel several weeks ago, a bit backwards perhaps— with a door. Years ago, I bought an antique leaded glass door with the hopes to use it as the door for the hall bathroom, since it was so pretty and the bathroom was not. My main objection to the hall bath was that whomever added it on, placed the toilet smack in the middle of the doorway, with the door open, it was not a pretty sight, especially since you see it from the kitchen.
My handy hubby, the engineer did another stretching job to the door, it was wide enough, but not long enough to cover the opening and hang from the sliding mechanism. Then, there was the task of filling holes from door knobs and dead bolts. And finally, hours of filling, sanding, priming and painting! A substantial header needed to be put in place to hold the heavy duty sliding mechanism to allow us to hang the door.
Next up was what to do with the leaded glass that offered lots of beauty, but little privacy needed for a bathroom. I thought an antique mirror behind the leaded glass would offer the necessary privacy, and thought it would be interesting from the kitchen/hall side. As for the bathroom side, I am planning on a sheet of wallpaper that will compliment the bathroom, or maybe blackboard paint.
The actual tear down of the bathroom or demo to the studs was next. The house was built in 1938, when a 2X4 was exactly that, not today’s shaved down version. When the bath was added, this factor was not taken into consideration, hence uneven walls with odd bulges and waviness. My engineer decided the only way to fix it was to strip it down to the studs. Besides, the reason for the remodel was to move the toilet from, “front and center”, to under the window and move the sink to where the toilet had been for a more pleasing view.
This bathroom was “carved” out of what we expect was a “laundry area” and stolen bedroom closet space on the common wall behind where the toilet was placed. We decided to take more out of the closet area, by removing some of the upper storage, that had been left with the previous remodel. We wanted the new sink area to have full ceiling height, rather than the lowered ceiling that was from the previous remodel. This would allow for a nicer lighting fixture and a more spacious feeling in this tiny three quarter hall bath.
The demolition of the surrounding walls, left the toilet standing in my husband’s office; pretty convenient for him, but lacking privacy all around! He is wasting no time getting the remainder of the closet walls reframed, thus closing in the bathroom from the office side, at least.
Next up will be further demolition of the shower tile and floor tiles. Floor tiles have been ordered along with a mirror/medicine cabinet. Stay tuned.
