I was trying to decide how I wanted to renovate the bathroom when the economic hell broke loose, and then I lost the nerve to do anything. On top of that, I was tired of having workmen in my home. So, I left it alone for a while, nasty toilet and all. But a few months ago, I realized that it really wasn't necessary to rip everything out and start anew. I could tart the room up and try to disguise some of the questionable decorating choices that were made forty years ago. So let me give you a lay of the land...
This is the way the bathroom looked when I first visited the condo over a year ago. I guess I should clarify something- somebody did make a few upgrades to the bathroom at some point. So it was a blend of 1968 and 1998.
I know what you're looking at. It's the nasty toilet with the discolored toilet seat. The vanity with the chic woodgrain laminate doors is original. Note how the counter top extended all the way over to the shower door. The ceramic tile floor and shower walls are a later addition, as is the green tiled shower floor and the cheapo sliding glass door. See the handle bars all over the place? There was no way you could slip and fall because no matter where you were, there was always a handle to grab.
The walls were papered in a red vinyl wallpaper that was trying to be marbleized. I stripped the paper off of the walls myself, which just about caused me to lose my mind, not to mention my back and arms. You should have seen the pastel paper that was behind the top layer. The weirdest thing about the bathroom is that mirrored medicine cabinet that extends across the entire wall. The doors slide back and forth. Also, in typical 1968 fashion, there is a commercial fixture over the mirror. There had been a big, long plastic box that fit over the bulbs, but I sent that packing.
The vanity has Kohler fixtures which aren't the worst things I've ever seen, but they're far from great looking. Here, you can see the nice, new, and CLEAN Kohler toilet that I had installed. I had to have my contractor cut off that ledge that extended over the toilet; otherwise, no toilet would have fit because of the height issue.
My dilemma was that if I ripped out that light fixture, the mirror had to go to. And if the mirror went, so did the medicine cabinet. I wasn't upset about that prospect. But if I ripped out the vanity, then walls would have to be redone, and I would have to put in a new floor. At that point, I might as well have renovated everything, which defeated the purpose of my project. So, I left the vanity, the mirror, the shower, the floor, the medicine cabinet, and that awful light intact. Tomorrow, I'll show you the after pictures.