The renovation that wouldn’t end has finally come to an end. As I was looking back over the pictures to prepare this post, I realize it’s taken a YEAR to get this 4′ x 8′ space finish. In our defense, we’ve had a pretty busy year and the half bathroom was just not a priority. We did hear some grumblings from the teenagers that frequent our home, because they had to hoof it up the steps to use the facilities, but other than that, it didn’t inconvenience anyone.  Nevertheless, it’s finally finished.

Here’s how it started…

…well, THIS is actually how it started the day we moved in…

…but I really prefer to block that carpet entirely out of my memory.   We put down the sticky-back black tile (after removing the carpet, of course) until we could afford something better and I did the best with the space that I could with the budget I had.

In the latter months of 2010, I spotted a call for entries to a contest by True Value…the SOS DIY Disaster Contest.  I don’t ever enter contests, but for some reason I felt like this was one I could win.  All I needed to do was submit a video of my space.  I recruited my husband to be my camera crew and shot an impromptu video in my very best painting clothes.

My youngest son wandered into our shoot and flushed the toilet. That’s what the giggling was all about.

My video was picked to be in the top ten and I put a call out for your votes to help me win.  Boy, did you come through!  People were voting from all computers they owned every single day.  My father-in-law even hopped out of bed late one night to get his vote in for the day.  Your votes won me a $2500 gift card from True Value to spend on my 1940’s bathroom.  Thank you, thank you, kisses and hugs!

We shopped and ordered things from True Value as soon as we had the gift card in hand.  Then a toilet, sink, tank, beadboard and all of the rest sat in my living room.

 It would have cost $1800 if I ordered the mosaic tile I wanted through True Value, so I ordered the exact same thing off of Amazon for $300.  When that arrived, I added the boxes of tile to the other boxes already in the living room.   When we finally opened them up to have the tile installed, we realized this…

I got two different tones of tile.  ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!  If you heard a loud scream sometime in April, that was me.

We were able to sort it out and exchange the tiles that didn’t match.  The tiles were installed sometime in May and I may or may not have snuggled up to them when the grout was dry.

I then got the painting done, we had a (seat-less) toilet installed…

…and I put a sketch together to show my husband what I wanted the back wall to look like.

In November, my mom and I installed the bead board, trim, new light and hung the (free) antique mirror.  We finally finished it all up a couple of weeks ago and here it is…  (You’ll have to forgive the pictures.  There is zero natural light in there.)

There are still a few little things I want to do, like make a sink skirt and finish the painted stool, but I’m calling the renovation “done.”

Since this is a long post, let’s do a quick recap.

Before…

After…

Sigh.