Bathroomalooza

Halle-freakin-lujah! The new bathroom lights are up and the new shower curtain is done. This bathroom is finally finished.

And just so you know, HGTV is a network of LIES! All of those weekend warrior and makeover shows make each project look as if it took about 30 minutes to complete--a few days at most. I'm here to tell you, this bathroom is a prime example of how things really happen.

Flashback to January of this year. I ordered the wallpaper and finished the design on the shower curtains with Susan, the designer I used to work for. Took me over a month to schedule someone to hang the wallpaper. They had to come back again because the print register was off on some of the rolls and she put them up anyway (an understandable mistake since the pattern is kind of busy and the repeats are big.)

Ordered the new light fixtures (took me forever to make a decision). Lighting is a mystery to me, so I was kind of nervous. The back plates on the replacement fixtures turned out to be smaller than those on the original ones, so gaping socket box holes stared smugly from behind when the newbies were installed--potentially dangerous, definitely ugly. Called in some local design friends who all weighed in on a solution. We decided that mirrors cut to size and placed behind the fixtures would be best. Easier said than done.

I went to a glass and mirror company with my problem, but they weren't that interested in such a small job. Jim at Renditions Framing (best frame shop in Indianapolis) took it on. Jim and Linda, John's mom, had already created the sink mirror and its frame. Jim not only ordered the little mirrors cut to size for me, he cut the holes by hand--twice (we ended up needing two sets of holes). John installed them for me (thank you God for letting me marry an engineer!). A few minor adjustments on the shades and the lights were done.

With the shower drapery we tried to do a French tieback (string is hidden in the fabric of the drape) for the outer curtain. Unfortunately, the fabric turned out not to be suited for this treatment--the stiff material doesn't gather in a flat fold very well. I must admit that we kind of wondered from the beginning if a French tieback would fly. It didn't, but even this was no real problem. The workroom wonders just ripped the seams out (since the workroom was really backed up this took a few more weeks). Eventually I'll do a more traditional tieback, but the curtain is fine hanging straight for now.

So this one little bathroom took about nine months. I'm no professional, so maybe the pace is not too surprising. But I've seen Susan end up in similar situations with clients screaming at her the entire time about things over which she has no control.

I'm really happy with the results though. And as I watered the garden today I ran across this perfect Dahlia flower. The plant (a birthday gift for John from his aunt) has been blooming in the garden all summer, despite the fact that I hardly ever water it. The colors were always pretty, but something about the cooler fall days have given it a rich sunsety color (the photo makes it look less subtle than it is). I decided that since it is a survivor it deserved a spot in the most challenging place in the house.