HOUSE: Newburgh

Downstairs bathroom: It has begun.

Demolition is now underway in our small (about 5’x5′) second bathroom! First some before pictures…

Yes, the light from that fixture is just about as flattering as you’re imagining it is! Picture, if you will, the entire room painted a pale, mental hospital corridor green. Nice, yes? That’s what it was like when we bought the house. Adam painted it white so I wouldn’t have to suffer excessively while getting ready in the mornings. (At the time, I thought it would be “a few months” before we got around to renovating this bathroom. HAH. Two and a half years later…)

I feel sort of bad for the toilet. It’s stamped 1958 inside, which means it’s been doing its job for 50 years! It’s cute, too, but it’s woefully inefficient and really does need to be replaced.

The sink (not cute) was hanging off the wall and dripping excessively, so we actually got rid of it a couple of weeks ago. You’ll have to survive without photos. Don’t you love all of the drill-holes in the tile?! I assume someone was test-drilling for studs—through tile. Nice!

The tub is staying. It’s deep and it’s cast iron, and I like the corner style. We’ll have it refinished, though, since it’s presently coated with a combination of water stains, rust rings, and latex paint. (And no, we’re not keeping that tile!!! Seriously, who picks out things like that? Nobody likes mauve-tinged gray-beige.)

I love this little window! It’s one of my favorite things in the house. It’s staying, of course.

Ugh. Disgusting, I know. There’s more here, if you must.

Demo photos to come…

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29 Comments

  • Reply euni October 20, 2008 at 1:04 pm

    this is really funny. i was just thinking about how i want to redo the bathroom before the spring… i think i will probably have the same “hah” moment in two years, realistically. 🙂

  • Reply michelle October 20, 2008 at 1:26 pm

    judging from your other bathroom, i cant wait to see what you guys do with this one! And yeah, that light is pretty awful haha

  • Reply Heather October 20, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    Hi – I’m pretty excited to be moving from Brooklyn to Newburgh in November. One of our first projects will be the downstairs bathroom…looking forward to seeing how yours turns out!

  • Reply Kelly Anne October 20, 2008 at 2:07 pm

    Oh, I’m so glad you’re keeping that window! What a lovely little thing it is.

  • Reply Cupcakes and Cashmere October 20, 2008 at 2:14 pm

    i can’t wait to see the ‘after’ pics since it looks like you’ve got a great canvas with which to start. i adore that little window, it’s got so much charm!

  • Reply Caity October 20, 2008 at 3:35 pm

    The bathroom looks beautiful! I like the window, too. 🙂

  • Reply Brittness October 20, 2008 at 3:58 pm

    Hey, did you ever post final pictures of your other bathroom? I saw leftover bindweed wallpaper in the pantry, but not the bathroom?? I’m dying for some visuals of the final product.

    Love your blog!

  • Reply Courtney October 20, 2008 at 4:16 pm

    That window is adorable! I can’t wait to see how this bathroom turns out since the other one looks so amazing!

  • Reply Barb F (Australia) October 20, 2008 at 4:41 pm

    Oh cool, can’t wait to see how this one turns out! I like the bath, it has nice lines – glad you’re keeping it.

  • Reply erin@designcrisis October 20, 2008 at 4:44 pm

    I can’t wait!!!

    And I’m curious to see how the tub refinishing turns out since we have almost the same tub and it also needs a new paint job. I thought about doing it myself, but I read that the paint is super toxic. After 15 years of dunking my hands in photo chems, I think I’ll leave that job to the pros…

  • Reply Beth October 20, 2008 at 5:35 pm

    I am anxious to hear you “think out loud” as you begin to design this space. We are starting to remodel our house and frankly I don’t know where to begin. For instance, do you first think of color? The fixtures? What is your “jumping off” point? Do you look for pictures online and seek to copy them to some extent? There are many pictures that inspire me but I still don’t know where to begin when it comes to my own space. Advice?

  • Reply DiP October 20, 2008 at 7:16 pm

    “It’s stamped 1958 inside, which means it’s been doing its job for 50 years! It’s cute, too, but it’s woefully inefficient and really does need to be replaced…”

    Easy!!!
    I’m stamped 1959 and in much the same condition!
    8-D

  • Reply Adam October 20, 2008 at 8:22 pm

    I’m serious when I tell you I could not remember what anything looked like in that bathroom except for the shelves. All I could see when I closed my eyes was that tile color. I had forgotten how awesome that tub is! I am dying to see the demolition photos!!!

  • Reply heather October 20, 2008 at 9:50 pm

    You have an amazing friend there – I can never get anyone to help me paint! I just love that little window and I’m so glad they didn’t change it in the previous “re-model.” I too can’t wait to see this renovation, especially since you’ve inspired my new b-room with your other spectacular bathroom.

  • Reply Elisabet October 21, 2008 at 3:41 am

    Looking forward to se the progress, we’re having someone to look at our bathrooom this friday, to give us a costestimate, I need all inspiration I can get.
    And the tiles! My husbands parents chose that pattern and colour for their kitchen wallpaper whan they renovated the kitchen a few years ago, they kept the original 70’s dark brown tile to go with that (the walls were beige before), the 80’s whiteish plastic floor stayed too, and the 70’s plastic and textile-mix rag rugs in brown and beige. The oak veneered cupboard doors were replaced by plastic laminate ones, supposed to look like birch. Horrible. I think people choose these things because they want something “neutral”.

  • Reply lesley October 21, 2008 at 8:45 am

    I love Anna because she knows how to use “it’s” and “its” properly.

    When I bought my house, the entire interior had just been painted a color my friend decreed “Ken-doll flesh”. Sellers going for “neutral”. It was REVOLTING.

  • Reply Keli October 21, 2008 at 9:22 am

    I’m sure you already know this, but don’t forget to donate your old toilet and any leftover tile in decent condition to your local Habitat for Humanity Re-store!

  • Reply Seth October 21, 2008 at 9:29 am

    Hideous.

  • Reply Anna at D16 October 21, 2008 at 9:29 am

    Keli, that’s definitely great advice (and a Habitat ReStore JUST opened in Newburgh last month — we didn’t have one anywhere near us previously!), but they only accept low-flow toilets. The tile will not be in usable condition after it has been removed from the walls. (It’s very difficult to salvage used tile, and the labor involved is seldom worth the results unless there is historical value attached.) If Habitat will accept our old sink, we will donate it to them.

    Fortunately, it looks like we have a vintage plumbing collector who wants to take the toilet. 🙂

  • Reply Anna at D16 October 21, 2008 at 9:31 am

    I love Anna because she knows how to use “it’s” and “its” properly.

    That’s why I get out of bed in the morning, Lesley! To spend my days punctuating correctly and writing with proper grammar. 🙂

  • Reply Fiona October 21, 2008 at 10:36 am

    I’m so excited! (which may make me pathetic, but hey, whatever)

    I can’t wait to see what you do, since I need to renovate my bathroom as well. I really liked the way your last bathroom turned out, and I may use the same floor tiles.

  • Reply kim_dti October 21, 2008 at 5:09 pm

    Wow – and I thought my bathroom had bad tile. Since I’m too busy with my kitchen to do my bathrooms (yet), I look forward to seeing yet another reno of yours for ideas for my own.

  • Reply momo October 21, 2008 at 6:33 pm

    exciting, anna! i can’t wait to see the little oasis you carve out. also on previous posts: you and nicole, what dolls!!!! in 1992 opaque tights were nowhere to be found in my town so i used to layer 2-3 pairs of black semi-sheers. i lived virtually in the desert, so no wonder i was skinny as a whip!

  • Reply E October 21, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    I get so excited when you post pictures of your house. I love seeing the progress of all the renovations that you do!

  • Reply Julia October 22, 2008 at 12:59 am

    The way the leaves and vines are growing outside the window is really picture perfect!

  • Reply Never teh Bride October 22, 2008 at 7:17 am

    I, too, am happy that you’re keeping that awesome little window. At first I couldn’t tell if it was a painting, just because of the way the leaves are framed. It would make a fab picture frame, actually, if circumstances kept you from actually keeping it in the window.

  • Reply lesley October 22, 2008 at 7:51 am

    >That’s why I get out of bed in the morning, Lesley! To spend my days punctuating >correctly and writing with proper grammar. 🙂

    SOMEBODY has to do it! 🙂

  • Reply Shashi October 22, 2008 at 12:43 pm

    Wow, it’s going to be cool when it’s done.

  • Reply Luna October 27, 2008 at 9:32 am

    Ooo, I used to live in an apartment with a tiny perfect window like that. It framed the view of a beautiful distant tree – or, should I say, it framed it for me. See, I’m short. It took me a while to realize almost everyone else in my life looked out my beautiful little window and saw nothing but traffic.

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