Bathrooms, etc.

Y’all…I know there are going to be days when I’m going to feel like The Project is a giant, never-ending hassle. But this day is not today. Right now, remodeling our house is such stupid fun that I can’t believe how lucky I am. Getting to actually stand in rooms that I’ve been planning in my mind for years is some next-level dopamine shit.

Those of you who know me IRL know that the last few years have been rough ones for my little family. For those who don’t, Daughter #2 surprised us in 2020 with a congenital defect that didn’t present until age 11. She subsequently needed three major surgeries in just over two years. And while that is resolutely not what this website is about, it is the lens through which I view my life now. The four of us deal with the repercussions of this trauma regularly. On the flip side, we’ve also learned to let the good days seep into our bones. This week was full of good days for my family*: Daughter #1 got her driver’s license, I accepted a job offer, and THIS HAPPENED:

That right here is most of the flooring of the second story of my house. How did it feel to stand up there for the first time, you might ask? No idea, as I was firmly on the ground. Heights scare the bejesus out of me.

Bathrooms

The new house has three full bathrooms: one on the first floor and two on the second. The layouts for two of these were pretty much no-brainers:

The first image is the downstairs bathroom and the second is the Daughters’ bathroom. For the first, we wanted to make sure that our parents had an accessible space right off of the office/guest room, and a shower stall seemed to fit the bill best. The Daughters were given the option of a shower or shower/tub combo and chose the latter. Both of these bathrooms are approximately 50 square feet, and there are frankly only so many layouts that work. That said, I have a new-found appreciation for the galley bathroom layout after trying to solve the enigma that was the 147 square foot primary bath. After many, many permutations (and a tape, rock, brick, and odd pieces of lumber staging in my side yard) we settled on the following configuration:

For the bathtub, we’re eyeing the Albert + Victoria 67” Barcelona. Sadly, I have yet to find one locally that I can audition in person, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend thousands of dollars without getting right in there. Same goes for toilets; if you see a crazy couple lifting lids and taking a seat in San Carlos’s various plumbing showrooms, that’s probably the Husband and me.

For the bathroom vanity, I think we’re going to go with four drawers instead of cabinet doors. Normally I’m leery of drawers in cabinetry because that’s how they get you, but I think it makes the most sense here. The Husband and I are absolutely giddy about a 74” vanity, since we’ve been sharing <30” ones for nearly 25 years now.

*I would be remiss here if I didn’t mention that it’s been a shitty day for this country and a crap-tastic month for the Middle East. May we all know peace.