What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Realtors don't really take the summer off - or weekends - but business does slow down.  Wanting to make the best of that opportunity, we undertook some renovations to our home.  My husband and I live in 1978 split foyer.  We have 4 young adult children who come and go.  Having 2 bedrooms and a bath downstairs where our guests can have some privacy is the perfect floor plan for our needs.

The problem was the bathroom.  For starters, it was literally in the family room. When someone was using the bathroom there was really no privacy, even with the door closed, if you know what I mean.  It was small, classic 70s harvest gold, and the hockey-puck size rust hole that developed in the tub meant it was definitely time for a renovation.

My husband had the brilliant idea of building a new bathroom using half of our large storage room, creating a door right next to the bedrooms. The bathroom style was inspired by the work of my favorite TV designer, Sarah Richardson.  Here is the exact bathroom that was my inspiration. (Scroll to the white and green bathroom.)  I DVRed the show and was able to show the contractor the look I was going for.

Our contractor was the wise and experienced Roger Amendola.  His right-hand man, Socrates, was the hard-working and meticulous craftsman that put it all together.

Roger guided me to some resources.  I basically chose the next-to-the-least expensive of every option I had: tile, faucets, lighting, cabinets, drawer pulls.  The only place I splurged was with the frameless glass for the shower.  Worth every penny.  I even sewed the roman shades myself. 

Here's the bathroom.  Tah Dah!

My splurge - the frameless glass shower.

This is the original bathroom.

At the same time we were able to move the washer and dryer from the unfinished storage room - exposed studs, concrete floors -  into what was the old bathroom.  Now I have a  cheery, pretty, and clean laundry room.

This is the old bathroom, new laundry.

While I was at it I redecorated one of the guest bedrooms.  Furniture from Craigs List. Hand-me-down bed linens. Carpet from Home Depot. I made the bedskirts, pillows and window coverings.  Art is from art.com and lighting from Pottery Barn.

We didn't tell our kids what we were doing, and it was an absolute blast to see their faces and hear them exclaim when they saw "their" new bathroom. Just like the HGTV shows.

Now only 2 more bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, family room, etc. etc. . . . left to do. Time to sell more houses!