Our bathroom is in decent shape at the moment, if you ignore the cracked tile floor, mildewed grout, lack of knobs for the bathtub and damp, unventilated shower. We do ignore these things, but we don't particularly like them. Plus, it seems crazy to have a separate bathtub and shower stall in a 945 ft2 house.
The current plan is to take out the shower and turn it into a closet that will open onto the hall. This will provide a much-needed place to store the vacuum, mop, ironing board and other bulky items that are currently propped in various corners. We're also going to replace the floor, make new cabinets, install a new countertop and convert the tub to a tub/shower combo. AND, we're getting a new sink. Well, new to us.
In fact, we already got the sink. Our design plan is to go with the vintage/modern look that worked so well in the kitchen. So, we have been on the lookout for a nice vintage sink to go with the tub we've already got. For the last few months, we've been poking around architectural salvage stores, including Pasadena Architectural Salvage and even Hippo Hardware in Portland. Both places had nice old sinks, priced between $125 and $175. That's an okay price, but not great.
A couple of weeks ago, we decided to stop by the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store in Pasadena, just to see what they had available. When we pulled up, I was delighted to find a huge selection of vintage sinks stacked in the parking lot. They had about 20 or 30 different models of various ages and conditions. After poking around for a while, we picked our favorite: a white, porcelain sink that kind of matches our tub. The price tag for this lovely vintage sink? $15!
Not only do we get the environmental benefit of buying a salvaged product instead of new, but the sink was a crazy bargain. And, the money we did pay goes to Habitat for Humanity, a great organization. It's a win-win-win. I am thrilled.
Hopefully, our luck will hold out, and we'll find some other bargains for the rest of the bathroom project. Right now, we're thinking of using cork for the floor and Dakota's going to make concrete countertops. We're still contemplating the material for the tub/shower walls, although we might go with Corian, because Dakota is becoming a certified fabricator. Plus, no tile means no scrubbing grout.
The bathroom remodel won't begin until the kitchen is completely done, which will probably be another month or so. But, hopefully, it'll go relatively quickly. It's a smaller room and the plan is less ambitious than a floor to ceiling kitchen remodel. I'll let you know when the work begins.
We have Corian, along with some stainless steal for out kitchen counter tops. Corian is GREAT! Easy to clean, and when its gets a bit scratched up, someone can come and they actually sand it down and its is truly good as new. It also comes in a variety of colors. We have white on the inside of our kitchen and a dark gray by our grill. I highly recommend Corian.