The before:
These are the same fixtures that were here while I was growing up. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Or refinish it, or remodel it ... My philosophy is a little different! The after
:
Clawfoot tub salvaged from my favorite uncle's barn - refinished and painted
Antique vanity and copper sink.
The original louvered door to the hot water heater closet - 40+ years of lead paint sanded and stained. NEVER AGAIN!
Big John is a hell of a handy guy. He's proven that time and again over the last 14 years. He should have known what he was getting into with me from the very beginning when he had to completely rebuild the front porch of my farm house in Jarrell. I had put it up for sale so that we could move back home, regardless of the fact that termites had feasted on that porch for years. The expression, "hanging by a thread" comes to mind! He sure did a good job. We got it sold, moved back, bought the family home, and started changing everything! My bathroom was the last hold-out. (I'm convinced that separate bathrooms are the way to a happy marriage. Try it, you'll see what I mean!)
I know Big John needed a break from bringing all of my designs to life in the rest of the house, but it just gave me more time to dream BIG! We went all out on this one, and it's every cowgirl's dream. So here's the story of how an ugly duckling turned into a beautiful swan ...
Our agreed-upon plan was to start demolition of this small space - only about 90 square feet - on the last day of school. Big John had taken off about 10 days to get the job done. Plenty of time - this ain't our first rodeo! If we waited until school was out, I wouldn't be stressed about having to look and smell presentable to the public. (But with the way 6th graders smell, especially in May, I doubt that anyone would have noticed if I weren't rosy fresh!) I came home 2 days PRIOR to the end of school to a big surprise - a gutted bathroom. Apparently Big John decided to get a jump on the project. Looking back, that was probably a real good idea. It went downhill fast.
A day later, as I was heading to Big John's bathroom to shower, he mentions, "By the way, my shower has been draining a little slow." Good to know. Not pleasant to stand in, but good to know. By that Friday night, the only functioning shower in the house was no longer draining "a little slow." It just wasn't draining. Now you might have figured by now that Big John can pretty much do it all. I say pretty much, because the month ahead would prove to me that he CAN'T do plumbing. He spent the next 3 days cussing, throwing, slamming, and hollering. And I spent the next three nights taking a water hose shower in the back yard. Boy was I pissed! (Word to the wise: if you find yourself in this situation, be sure you're the first one to the hose. The warm water runs out FAST.) Nothing Big John did was going to get that water to go down the shower drain. The last ditch effort was to pour sulfuric acid down it. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. We were immediately driven out of the house by the noxious fumes. Throughout this whole-house remodel we've inhaled our fair share of asbestos tile dust and lead paint particles, but we were no match for sulfuric acid gases. I did manage to grab my phone on the way out of the house. An ultimatium was issued: "I'm making a phone call. You decide - do I call a divorce lawyer or a plumber?" We settled on the plumber. Unfortunately by then it was 4:30 pm. I could have sworn I heard the man who answered my phone call choke back a laugh when I asked if he could send someone right away. "Nope. We MIGHT get there tomorrow." Two days and $1000 later our drains were flowing freely again! Hallelujah! That was the best money I've ever spent. But now Big John knows how to unclog a drain, so I'll probably never see a plumber again. Oh well.
With that problem solved, it was time to work on the project at hand - rebuild a bathroom from the ground up. So we did.
It all started with the tub. My favorite uncle had an old clawfoot tub in the barn for as long as I can remember. Being the antiquer/junker that I am, I've had my eye on it. No matter that it only had 3 legs. They were the most beautiful, rusted clawfeet I'd ever seen! And as a matter of fact, they seem to be the only 3 of their kind in the world! Scratch that idea of "just finding another one somewhere. They're all over the place, Big John!" No matter that it was a rusted, scratched up mess. We'll just get it refinished. No fixtures? No problem! I've seen hundreds of faucets in antique stores. I'll just grab something that will work. (Now is a good time to let you know that I'm not as good with the details when it comes to design. I'm more of a "big picture" kind of girl!) 
With a full summer vacation ahead of me and optimism on my side, I set out on a mission to find the missing foot. The internet was my tool of choice, and I searched high and low, far and wide, coast to coast for this damn foot. In case you're wondering, this foot is "special" because the ball part of the ball and claw is a full ball - it's a sphere. EVERY single clawfoot I've seen is only a half-ball - only round in the front. The backs are all hollow. This was a glorious discovery on my part - at first. Surely that means that mine is older, more authentic, more valuable. Now I'm convinced it only means it's extinct. I'm still waiting to hear from a guy in New York City as to whether he's got a match or not. For now - likely forever - the tub sits on 3 beautiful feet and 1 hidden 4x4 post. You work with what you got!
The next "issue" with my beloved tub was the fact that we had no faucetry. I knew it would be a cinch to find that - people use old clawfoot tubs all the time. I went back to the Internet and started searching. The more I looked, the more confused I became. You see, it turns out there are many types of tubs, and each one seems to have different types of faucets in different configurations. I was having trouble finding anything that seemed to match up to the holes in our tub. I was sure it was just a matter of looking in the right place. By this time Big John realized that I was dead set on having THAT tub in my new bathroom. I have a penchant for old things - and most especially old things that have a link to my family. I was using this tub, come hell or high water. Poor Big John. With no luck on the Internet, we went to town and started looking at some of those high dollar design shops. Try as I might, I couldn't stop the helpful little salesgirl from telling Big John that the set-up we were looking for would run us at least $1500. (I'd pretty much figured that out through my "research," but had thought it best to keep it to myself until just the right time - you know, when it's too late to turn back. I've learned a thing or two in the last 14 years!) Once I picked Big John up off the showroom floor and put him back in the pickup, we agreed we needed to do whatever it took to get that tub in working order. Thankfully I found a place called Signature Hardware online. They're sales associates were so helpful, and we were able to get all that we needed! The only part of this tub project that went off without a hitch was the refinishing. We had a great man from town come out and work his magic. He was even able to fill in an extra hole in the tub that we decided we didn't need (still not sure what that one was for.)His work has a 5 year warranty - but he let us know he's retiring in a year, so ... That's my kind of luck!
With the tub complete and ready for installation, we turned our attention to the floor. Once the floor was done, we would be able to move the tub into the bathroom through the old doorway, which was going to be walled over. The new doorway - an old closet entrance that was taken into the bathroom - was only 24 inches wide. Once the bathroom furnishings were in, they weren't coming out! I had my heart set on hardwood floors - specifically some left from our freinds, Su and Dyke, that they gave us when they moved to Vernon. At the last minute, Big John decided we didn't have enough. On a whim, we chose tiger striped bamboo flooring! Amazing! We ordered it, waited a week for it to come in (during which time we got the walls completed), and then set out to install. Now we've put down about 15oo square feet of hardwood so far in this house reno, so we planned on getting the bathroom floor done in half a day ... with our eyes closed ... and one hand tied behind our backs. No big deal. Piece of cake. Or so we thought. We'd bought the nails, rented the nailer, put down the sub floor and moisture barrier. We were ready to lay some floor!
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