bathroom Archives - The Weekend Country Girl

bathroom, Building a Home, Coldspring, DIY, guest house, Real Life, Texas, vintage style

The Inside of the Guest House is Finished

June 14, 2022June 14, 2022 Karen

Finally, finally, finally we have finished inside of the guest house. It was a project that we will enjoy for years to come and will increase the property value but man it was hard. I don’t recommend 60 years olds to take on this type project in the middle of a pandemic with supply chain issues and a shortage of contractors. Seriously.

We still have the porch ceiling to finish, erosion control, septic for the toilet (but it is happening this week!) and landscaping. It no longer stresses me to walk into the building knowing what we still have to do. Now I just get to enjoy being there.

I am going to link all the projects we have done here, mainly for myself, but if you haven’t followed along it might be something you want to check out. I apologize in advance for all the links!

https://theweekendcountrygirl.com/2021/04/01/progress-sort-of/

https://theweekendcountrygirl.com/2021/04/09/weekly-update-on-the-guest-house/

https://theweekendcountrygirl.com/2021/04/16/week-2-update/

https://theweekendcountrygirl.com/2021/05/02/the-struggle-is-real-remodeling-a-home-is-hard-right-now/

https://theweekendcountrygirl.com/2021/07/26/finally-an-update-on-the-guest-cottage/

*** If you are only going to look at one, this one has a good overview https://theweekendcountrygirl.com/2021/07/30/learning-to-love-the-imperfections/

https://theweekendcountrygirl.com/2021/08/02/why-we-hired-a-pro-for-the-tub/

https://theweekendcountrygirl.com/2021/08/04/installing-a-vintage-kitchen-cabinet/

https://theweekendcountrygirl.com/2022/02/12/a-bathroom-vanity-from-scraps/

We now have a functioning 464 square foot house that has the ability to sleep 4. We have on demand hot water, air conditioning, a six foot antique claw foot tub, a 1935 kitchen sink, hardwood floors and a peaceful front porch.

We added these canvas prints of the gust house to remind us how far we have come.

The twin xl beds can be bolted together to create a king and a very cushy topper makes it more comfy than our bed.

We found the perfectly sized table and chairs on Facebook marketplace and the love seat is a double bed sleeper. The kitchenette is my second favorite area in the house. I love that sink and those vintage upper cabinets.

My favorite space is this beautiful bathroom.

Our final project was the closet. we finally have a place for all the stuff that we need but don’t want to see every day.

Thanks for following along on this year+ long journey.

We love hearing from you.

Blessings,

Karen

bathroom, Coldspring, guest house, Roadside Rescue, vintage style

A Bathroom Vanity From Scraps

February 12, 2022February 12, 2022 Karen

We are nearing the end of putting together the bathroom in the guest house! Hooray! At this point I think we have spent about $3,500 on everything that went into turning a covered porch area into a functioning bathroom. Concrete, framing, Sheetrock, electrical, plumbing, window, lighting, tile, pocket door, tub, tub refinishing, and toilet all added up. We have done most of the work ourselves, except the terrible Sheetrock job and exterior siding. I am ever so thankful for a hard working husband.

One thing we didn’t spend much money on was our bathroom vanity thanks to recycling things we already had and materials given to or collected by us. We literally only purchased paint, the water connects, and the drain pipe for this project.

In my mind I wanted a black vanity with a white top. On a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas I saw an antique porcelain legged vanity that I loved in a restaurant bathroom. A quick look online convinced me that the option may be out of reach. I was disappointed but I had so many other things in the bathroom that I loved, an inexpensive vanity would have been fine.

With my heart set on something white and black to go with our floor meant we had to get creative. In our stash of treasures I spotted a white vanity top that my buddy The Social Planner had given me ( I have great friends) and a grooved wood cornice board from the front window of our house that would work for the skirt. I had lots of legs I thought would work, but it sort of felt like Goldie Locks and the Three Bears. They were either too damaged, too short, or the wrong style.

Deep into the stash Mr. Math spotted two newell posts that were perfect. I bought them a while back at a garage sale. I can’t even remember why I thought I needed them but they were inexpensive and oak. We already had a medicine cabinet in the guest house from the previous owner. The mirror is pretty aged and may need to be replaced eventually but I sort of think it is cool.

The posts in this picture I thought would be perfect but they were too thin and too short.

My husband cut the cornice to fit- and did an amazing job, cut the legs t length, attached the legs with giant screws and glue then even spackled the screw heads for me so I could prime then paint the vanity with a semi gloss cabinet and trim black paint. Mr Math attached leveling feet so that we could get the cabinet level.

Just as I was thinking about purchasing a faucet the hubs surprised me with yet another treasure that I honestly have no idea when or where it came from. He found a chrome faucet in the stash with porcelain handles! It was chrome but had was filthy. A good cleaning and tightening all the parts made it exactly what I needed to finish off the sink.

I really like how it is all coming together.

The mirror looks more distressed in photos than it does in person but we may be getting another mirror cut to fit down the road.

Next up we will be installing the faucet, shower ring and drain in the claw foot tub.

I. Can’t. Wait.

Thank you all for following us on our journey.

Blessings,

Karen

bathroom, Coldspring, vintage style

Why We Hired a Pro for the Tub

August 2, 2021August 3, 2021 Karen

If you know us, you know that we do as much work as we can on our projects unless we don’t have the strength or skills to do the work. We definitely did not not have the skill or experience to refinish our tub and sink so we hired it out. This post is not knocking someone who refinished their own tub or sink. If you were able to successfully do it I applaud you. I just know our limits. Together Mr. Math and I can do basic construction, plumbing, electrical, tile, and paint but haven’t had experience with bathtub refinishing.

We have hung on to the old farm sink since March of 2015. I paid a whole $2.00 for the sink and moved it with us here to Providence Acres. I loved it at first sight and would have been so disappointed if I messed it up trying to DIY refinish it.

It looked rough when we got it but the dark stain was just a moldy hard water spot.

The sink looked much better once I used CLR and toilet bowl cleaner to clear it up but it still wasn’t good enough to use as a kitchen sink.

Once it was cleaned there were rust stains and chips I hadn’t seen before.

The 5 1/2 foot long claw foot tub that we bought on Facebook marketplace for $200.00 was painted lime green on the base when we picked it up. I thought the porcelain looked to be in good shape but once the professional got started on it, I could see the pits and dings all over it.

A pro has access to the chemicals I don’t have and knows how to use them safely. Jesus came with exhaust fans, respirator mask, and a truck load of chemicals. I think his vehicle should have a hazmat warning sticker on it.

Muriatic acid, epoxy bonding agents, super thick oil based primer, and two part epoxy all smelled bad and took gloves and a mask along with a special fine mist sprayer, sander and porcelain bondo meant I would have never been able to have done this job as well as someone who does this for a living.

Jesus showed up at 11:00 with a helper and worked non stop until after 5:00 and then returned the following week to buff out some rough spots after the enamel had cured. We are just thrilled with how both turned out. So clean and shiny!