Bathroom Remodel Part 5 - We've got tile; and a poll...

The renovation of our bathroom is really coming along - although the rest of our house seems to be falling apart in the process. Plumbing and electric were (mostly) completed the week of 2/21, which left last week for the installation of our tile. HOLY COW that is a messy job. I CANNOT believe how much dust was created by that whole process. Granted, Matt keeps a super-clean work site, but still - every day after the tilers left I started cleaning. There is still a layer of dust all over everything in the whole house, even though I did dust a good bit after it looked like the dirty work was done. Anyway - it's not going anywhere until I get to it, and right now we're on a bit of a deadline to get as much as we can finished, as the vanity cabinets should be here in two weeks, and Matt is having knee surgery on March 23. Not much will get done after that, for a while anyway, although he swears he'll only be laid up for a day or two. Right. So! Let's recap where we've been! This is a good exercise for me, because right now my upstairs looks like a bomb went off, and I need to see how much progress is being made :)

The weekend of 2/19 we (well, Matt) demo-d the bathroom for the plumbers. He sliced through the laminate counter in order to remove that sink so the plumbers could adjust the water lines for the new cabinets.

Next was removing the fiberglass shower surround. This thing, while easy to clean, really doesn't make the best use of the space. By removing it, we gained almost 6 inches side to side, and added at least another 8 front to back.

I only included this picture because I'm in it and I think its funny :)

Matt pulled the surround out in one piece, hoping to donate it to Habitat for Humanity, however due to our floor plan we realized we wouldn't be able to get it out of our bedroom. So Matt had to cut it in half :(

I made him put a bandanna on as a dust mask :)

The plumber was here for 3 days, and when he left it looked like this:

After the plumbing was finished, Matt ripped up the rest of the tile that was left on the floor, and removed the other sink and vanity. The tile people came Monday morning last week and removed the rest of the tile around the tub...

...and put up the hardibacker around the shower. They framed out two niches for shampoos, soap, razors and such :)

...and they poured the cement for the shower bottom.

Tuesday bright and early  - I have to say, all our contractors were fantastic, no complaints in that area - the tile guys got to work. Tuesday they put in the floor in the bathroom and new laundry room, Wednesday and Thursday they tiled the shower and tub, and Friday they did the grout. Our shower now looks like this...

Left shower wall with 'poo niches

A shelf for ladies to shave their legs :)

Subway tile with a black pencil liner and chair rail top

2" marble hexagon flooring

Right shower wall

We've been working in the bathroom and laundry all weekend, and I didn't realize until late Sunday evening that I didn't have any pictures - and with no natural light and one light fixture already removed, the ones I have here don't really convey just how amazing it all looks. Also, everything but the shower is covered in construction stuff so I really couldn't show you all THAT. I'm really thrilled with how it's turning out, and am happy that we're now at a point where I can pitch in and help. Matt's more than happy to let me handle the painting, and as for me? Give me some caulk, spackle and a gallon of paint and my ipod, and I'm in my happy place :)

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We're at the point now where we're trying to make decisions about how to finish this all off, and I'm really on the fence about towel bars. Seems a silly thing to struggle over, and I'm sure 3 months from now I won't care one way or the other, but we need to pick one so I'm asking for opinions between two.

This hand towel ring and matching bath towel bar matches the light fixtures we're installing. It's also very similar in design to what we already have, which may be why I'm hesitant on this one. I guess I'm not crazy about the ring, but I do like the look of the towel bar that matches it.

This one matches the plumbing fixtures, and I can't decide if I like the style or not. I think I do. I like that it's different from most ones you see out there, but I guess I'm having trouble picturing it in our bathroom.

Matt has no opinion on this, he's leaving this one up to me - so if you have a thought, chime in. This is pretty much one of the last decisions to be made, and I will be REALLY glad when it's done :) Then I can move on to re-doing our mudroom - I know exactly what I want to do in there!