Upstairs Bath: Inspiring Another Move

The closer the upstairs bath gets to “finished” the more likely it is that the final product will convince me to do something no one has been able to force me to do in the last eight years, which is–gasp!– live on carpeting.

You may think I’m being overly dramatic about that, but this is what I found when I ripped up the carpet in my first house:

Ruler in The Dirt

Which explains why I basically broke out in a rash every time I walked into that house for the first two weeks I owned it. And I’ll admit, the desire to scratch all of my skin off wherever it touches a piece of carpeting has never really left me.

However, this changes things at the Liberty House…

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That’s a working shower in the upstairs bathroom. Now, I’d prefer brand new tub in there because I’m a bit of a diva about spaces that I spend a lot of time naked in, but after a good scrub down with Iron Out, bleach, and a Magic Eraser, plus a new trim kit on the faucets, the idea of showering in the upstairs bath no longer activates my gag reflex.

This is what it looked like as a crime scene three months ago:

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And now:

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Right? Crazy.

Plus this bathroom has a ton of storage that is missing in the downstairs bath.

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And I’m really loving how the gallery of mirrors is turning out. I still need to make a few spacing adjustments, paint the frames, and put actual mirrors in them.

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But still, between that and the skull how could I not want to use this bathroom every day?

And, adding weight to the argument in favor of moving upstairs is this…

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My grandmother happened to have a spare king sized bedroom set hanging out in her garage, and told me if I could figure out how to get it out of the garage and up to the house I could have it. It took a few days to work out the logistics, but with the combination of a U-Haul trailer and some awesome friends driving out to the middle of nowhere to give me a hand, we got the job done. (It also included me, my mom, and my grandmother using a little red wagon to help us maneuver this beast into the back of that UHaul. Handy things, those RadioFlyers.)

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The southwest style doesn’t exactly fit in with the whole farmhouse vibe, and I’ve got a few ideas for modifying this furniture down the road. BUT there’s a dresser. With drawers. (Not pictured, of course, because they are still wedged in the back of my car, but they do exist.) And this is what my clothes organization system looks like at the moment.

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What? Too much reality? Guys, this is my life.

So this weekend I’m going to finish off the bathroom and give the carpet in the spare bedroom a good vacuuming and febreezin’, which means the only thing standing in the way of moving upstairs is that this room was most recently occupied by a bat, and I’m still not sure where he came from.  But after the random zoo animals (and let’s not even talk about the coyote I chased away from my porch a few days ago) I kind of feel like the bat is the least of my concerns.

 

13 Responses

  1. I love your DIY! It makes me feel so normal! I just bought a house and when I check out blogs like YHL, I feel like if my house isn’t perfect right away then something is wrong. My DIY is much more on par with yours. 2 months in the house and still sleeping on a matress on the floor. 1 toilet that only works if you plunge it every time. And the only room in the house that is finished is the guest room. 🙂

    1. I love this comment Amelia, thank you! I’ve been blogging for a long time and sometimes I wonder why I can’t get it together like some of these other housebloggers do! I love their work, but you know… I live more in the “messy middle” than in the staged and finished end product, and that’s fine too. (YHL definitely does try to keep it real, I think they are just way more “put together” as human beings than I am…lol. And there’s two of them.)

  2. Wagons…they never oulive their usefulness!! That bathroom is coming together wonderfully. What paint plan is in store for those frames? I think the gallery wall in the bathroom is one of the most unique ideas I’ve run across in years! Yeah for thinking outside of the box!

    1. I’m not sure on the paint plan yet. All the black/dark frames are definitely going to go light. I’m not sure if it will all be white? Whites and grays? Color? I’m going to have to start making some decisions this weekend!

  3. I may have to quit reading your blog…we are now hot and heavy into a master bath install. Finally! (nine years of toilet and sink only and using the spare bath). I have only about 4 weeks of this vacation left…just planning the layout took several days. Nice job on the shower. It made me reconsider the walk in one we are planning with all the tiling that goes with it. I only hope it turns out as nice as yours! Love the size of the bedroom!

  4. Wow – that shower looks brand spanking new! Which makes me wonder – why is it so difficult for people to keep their bathrooms clean? Really, people? I’m jealous of your plethora of bathrooms. We have one full bath. One. In the hallway. No master bath. And we have two daughters. Who will become teenagers one day. I’ve been fantasizing about building a master bath since the day we moved in (all of a month ago).

  5. God bless you for this post. There are parts of my 1939 house that haven’t been touched in years, unless you count daily ransacking by Vandals, er, my four boys. It’ll be a while before I get to them, and in the meantime, they’re, well, interesting insights into how I REALLY live. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one.

  6. Your mirror frame wall is looking amazing. I love that big gold frame on the dark wall as is, but it will look good no matter what color you choose. I hear you about the carpet – we found that much dirt and about 1,000 straight pins in ours when we pulled it out. But I don’t think anyone has actually ever died from living on carpet, so you’ll do fine upstairs!

  7. I am not fond of gold anything, but how about a grey-silver for the frames? Would tie well with your facets and contrast great with the wall color.

  8. I’ve been wading painstakingly through your blog from start to finish (well about 6 more months to go till I catch up to where I originally started), and I thought the weird walk in shower was bad, then today I saw that horrible toilet (while eating lunch – unfortunately I had already scrolled down). They weren’t too bad, but on seeing that bath I was nearly sick in my mouth! Honestly, what do some people do – how do they live?! Glad to see the wonderful power of bleach though to bring those ablution items back from the dead for you :o)

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