Mini Bathroom Makeover at the Mountain Cottage Part 1

 Hello friends!

The downstairs mini makeover in our downstairs bathroom at the mountain cottage is finished.  However, I'll be showing you how it looks a little different now, in a few days.

We really didn't want to reno this bathroom because we changed our plans to build a larger bathroom where the front porch is now and make this bathroom a laundry room.

But...the toilet was darn near falling through the floor...more on that later.

This post will not be pretty, but I promise the next one will be. I just didn't want to mix the two posts together. I'm sure you'll understand why when you see the pics.

Here's what the bathroom looked like when we bought the house. This is the MLS photo. It was a small, dysfunctional full bath.

Since this was a mini makeover and we plan to make this into a laundry room in a few years, we decided not to touch the tub/shower.

This is why the mini makeover was imperative:

When the house was built, the plumber cut the floor joist to allow the drain to go through the floor. Over time, the wax seal didn't seal and water was leaking into the floor joists and rotting them. Every time we sat on the toilet we felt like we were going to fall through the floor. We couldn't wait any longer to fix the bathroom.

Mr. DIY cut out the vinyl flooring and this is what he found.

Ewwwww

He cut out the floor joists and installed new ones. 

Then he added a new piece of solid sub floor.

The ridiculous sideways vanity was removed. 

We're thinking that the vanity was too large, so it was turned sideways to fit. Lots of things were wacky with this house. 

Old sink plumbing...

New sink plumbing...

After removing all the wallpaper, he installed new drywall on the lower half of the walls behind the plumbing.

Electrical was moved for the new light. Mr. DIY hooked up a temporary bulb.

Instead of spending more time and money on porcelain tile, he picked up some inexpensive vinyl planks.

A new vanity light was installed.

We found this vanity on Craigslist several years before and I was going to paint it a lighter color. However, I was really sick(for months) during the time he was working on the bathroom.(see my other blog for details on how I'm recovering). 

 I also wanted a lighter top, but I really didn't care at the time.

So, this is where we stood for a time until we found a mirror. 

Only, the mirror didn't make it better because the vanity was just plain awkward and not the right dimensions for the room. Plus, it was too dark for the look I wanted. 

Still, we were so happy to be able to use this bathroom! I believe this bathroom was finished in 2019 and cost us between $600 and $700. 

A few months ago, I saw a Lowe's ad for a cute vanity and it was on sale for $199. Mr. DIY really liked it and he said he didn't mind swapping the vanities out. We ordered it online and picked it up a few days later at the Lowe's near our mountain cottage.

This is the vanity...Isn't it so much cuter?

Next time I'll show you a proper before and after. I promise the new post will be so much prettier. Mr. DIY even installed some white floating shelves for some storage.

If you'd like to see PRETTY part 2 - The Reveal... click HERE

Pam