magickmermaid

The Throne Roome is Finally Compleat!

(Sound of trumpets and gnomes cheering in the background.)

When I moved into my house the bathroom was absolutely dreadful. Henri was extremely amused. (You can read all about my journey of first-time home-ownership and DIY adventures on The Gnome and I Page.)

BEFORE —-“Les années 1980 téléphonèrent. Ils veulent récupérer leur salle de bains!” (“The 1980s called; they want their bathroom back!”)
The First Reno: I hired a contractor to replace the peeling ceiling, remove the ugly plastic shower surround, add tile around the tub/shower, install a new light fixture and medicine cabinet. I painted the beige walls sea green. And found the perfect lace curtain designed with seahorses, coral, shells and starfish . Then I had to do something about the hideous floor.

After ripping out the horrid vinyl flooring, I painted what was underneath green to match the walls (the only affordable option at the time). And painted the faux tile wainscoting white to brighten up the room. The painted floor was not the best of ideas. A painted floor needs to be sealed. But as I am highly allergic to oil-based paints, polyurethane, and every fume-emitting substance I could not do this. Hence, the floor needed constant touch-ups. And 5 years later it had reached the point of no return. Affordable or not, I had to get this fixed.

The Final Chapter in which the room is restored to 1928 glory: I hired my trusty contractor to tile the floor and install beadboard wainscoting. I painted the radiator with the same paint as the kitchen radiator. And the cabinet handles (original to the house) as well. The toilet roll holder, also original to the house, was rusty in places. I soaked it overnight in white vinegar which removed all the rust. Then I painted the walls green (again). And painted the wainscoting, cabinets, woodwork around the window and door white. And painted the inside part of the door white as well. I made a window shade out of a new sheet to complete the reno. (Now the bathroom is so bright Henri says he needs to wear sunglasses.)

The Grand Entrance-One of my best friends made the gorgeous mermaid wall-hanging.

Although I don’t have the clawfoot tub I’ve always wanted, at last I have a proper bathroom befitting the Queen of this castle. And Henri says the makeover will be featured in Better Gnomes and Gardens Magazine.

View from the bathroom window. Still blooming mid-September!

37 comments

  6. I love your make-over! (And all the reality of normal peoples’ live. Don’t have money to get it all done in one go!) And don’t we all secretly dream of a clawfoot tub? Your color choices are fab. What an inviting room it has become! Plus, I learned a new word. ‘Atroce’ & loving it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      • In Australia, we moved pretty much every year. Comes with a lot of work but also with a lot of sorting out and making the new place look nice. Now in our shoe box, we seem to accumulate WAY too much stuff … Your home is your castle. Yours looks really nice 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        • I know what you mean. I lived in several apartments over the years. And was not allowed to make too many changes so I never really felt “at home”. Although home maintenance takes a lot more time than I thought it would, at least now I am in charge. 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

    • Thank you so much, Jo Nell! I love old houses and the idea of preserving their original features. I really wanted a Victorian but that was well beyond my price range. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  12. Love, love, love, LOVE IT!! I especially like the little border where you can display shells. Now you should re-install your front door so that everyone gets to first admire your bathroom before entering the rest of your house.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thank you so much, Susan! LOL! 😀 Strangely enough, if both the front door and bathroom door are open one could actually see inside the bathroom! This completely made me crazy when I first moved in. Hence, the gold curtain on the far right of the photo. When closed, it separates the front of the house from the back.

      Like

      Reply

I would love to hear from you!

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.