New Toilet In Da House

Picked the longer line and it was installed and working in less than 5 minutes. OK, maybe 10. The vanity got a first coat of polyurethane while Tammy painted some baseboard and trim. There does seem to be light at the end of this DIY tunnel.

New Toilet and Shower Curtain

The toilet went in easily except the old one was standard height and the new one has a higher seat. Because of the difference, the line from the valve to the tank wasn't long enough. Another trip to Lowes to get that part tomorrow and it should be all set. While at Lowes tonight, (Yes we went to Lowes tonight and then found out we needed the new line), we picked up caulk and a new double rod curved shower curtain.  I have a feeling they are going to call us by first name before long. We are in there a couple of times a week.

Tomorrow finish the toilet, caulk the all the tile, and then on to polyurethane the vanity and medicine cabinet.

Progress Slows Because of the Weather

The heat and humidity left the stain on the vanity still tacky. So we wired and hung the new light fixture (Wow is it bright!) and hung the new mirror.  With the fixtures up the wall imperfections seemed to be less noticeable. Sealing the floor tile will let us put replace the toilet and then it's all about getting the vanity finished. Hopefully the stained vanity will dry enough to allow for the multiple coats polyurethane to be applied.

Vanity Almost Finished Except for the Polyurethain Coats

The vanity has been exceeding our expectations and since the wood looked so good we decided to go with a vessel sink. Here is the latest progress with the dark finish and the type of sink we're going with.

The Vanity Refinishing Progress

Step by step we work on getting the vanity into shape.  The top looked good enough that we started stripping the doors, drawers and the rest of the piece.

Vanity - Vanity - Vanity

Shopping for vanities boils down to one thing and one thing only.  Money. You can spend as much as you want. Custom made with baby seal lined drawers and dipped in gold. The cheaper ones look like crap and the whole baby seal thing turned us off.  So what to do?  DIYNetwork had a idea promo for using a piece of furniture as a vanity. Searching Craigslist while we were doing our other work paid off. We found a china buffet we hoped would work. It would have to be refinished and if it doesn't work we use a real vanity as a back up.  Here is the start of the refinishing of the buffet.  The top has a coat of stripper applied - it didn't come with an orange top.

What would the wood look like under that white paint and varnish? Pretty damn good - FTW!!!

Fixing Up the Walls and Slapping on the Paint

Spackle on the walls... a lot of sanding... and painting.  They walls are done. The color is awesome. You'll have to wait to see the walls all done. It's worth the wait.