Updating Our Master Bathroom

I have spent the last two Saturdays updating our master bathroom. I'm just going to give you the final picture first, before I launch into this post.

It's a little grainy, but when I turned on the vanity lights, it was way too bright. 

We moved into our house three years ago. Our first project was switching out the bathroom vanities due to mold. I recounted our master bathroom vanity problems in these two posts:

Crooked Vanity
Crooked Vanity Mystery Solved

At the end of the mystery solved post I wrote the following statement:

Now I just have to find the time/energy/motivation to fill in the sides. It's looked like this for months, because we've gotten used to it. Yikes! One day, I'll wake up and say, "Ugh, I can't believe I've left the vanity looking so horrible for so long. Today's the day!" 

That happened. For THREE years, we left a 48'' vanity in a 52'' space with two gaping holes on either side of the cabinet:

Top: three years of gaps. Bottom: one day of fix. 

Filling in the gaps was so easy, it was just ridiculous that we let it sit for three years. Here's what we did in a collage:

1. Zane cut 2x4s and moulding for the gaps.
2. Zane drilled several tiny holes to "cut" the wainscot away that was invading the space we were going to fill in.
3. We screwed 2x4s to the sides of the vanity.
4. I glued the moulding onto the 2x4s. There was a gap where the wainscot stopped before the moulding.
5. I filled the wainscot gap with spackling plaster (not sure that's the best material for this project, but it worked for us). It took two applications over a week, drying for several days in between. Then I sanded it all down and painted all of it.


I also repainted the walls. The green was dark and depressing, and it clashed with our new bedspread. I chose coordinating colors (Creamy Oat (yellow) and Cream Delight (white)) for the walls and wainscot.

These photos make the green look better, but trust me, the yellow is MUCH prettier, brighter, and cleaner looking. 

I abhor painting, but the results are amazing. It's twice as bright with the yellow walls, and it looks like we installed brand new wainscot and baseboards. Now I want to paint the entire bedroom and the baseboards in our other bathroom. The only thing holding me back is my hate for painting.

Before I started the whole bathroom project two weeks ago, I took the doors off the toilet room and closet. They were a crowded nuisance. My friend did this in her laundry room, but I had never considered it before. I had only wished for pocket doors.

Now that they're gone, it's much more open and less claustrophobic. I love it.

The two-weekend recap:
1. Took off the doors.
2. Filled in the sides of the vanity.
3. Painted the walls, wainscot, baseboards, door frames, and ceiling of shower/toilet room.


I love our "new" bathroom. It's a shame that we're the only two people who see it.