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Bathroom Makeover Roadblocks and More – One Room Challenge Week 2

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Most room makeovers and remodels never go smoothly. Invariably something unexpected always happens. Here’s the tale of our bathroom makeover roadblocks and more.

Welcome to Week 2 of the One Room Challenge. You can catch up on our guest bathroom makeover design Week 1 Navy and White Mood Board. Full disclosure, I didn’t officially start on my bathroom makeover until this Tuesday! That’s right – just two short days ago. More than likely that is why I am already sharing bathroom makeover roadblocks and more. Let’s start at the beginning.

Navy and White Bathroom Makeover - One Room Challenge Week 1

The Challenge is Real

I love the One Room Challenge specifically because of the challenge. You have just 6 weeks (really 5 working weeks) to complete an entire room makeover. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I do my best work under pressure. But, Jenn and I always do the ORC together. Being that her daytime work schedule is so busy right now, there is no way that she can participate in this challenge this Spring. I hemmed and hawed until the very last minute making sure that I could do this bathroom makeover 95% on my own. Once I felt confident about this I quickly created a plan of action and a mood board. By doing this I had no time to really research anything – availability, sizes, etc.

Navy and White Bathroom Makeover - Mood board for bathroom makeover

For the following week and a half I have experienced frustration and probably every emoji face that there is LOL.After doing my research and homework this is what happened…

Roadblocks

  • See that gorgeous Pearson light fixture pictured above? It’s on back order and won’t be here in time for the ORC reveal. In fact, it’s on backorder until June. So – I had to find another fixture.
  • My current vanity top is 64 inches wide without the side splashes. Guess what? This is a custom order only size. So far the only options that I am finding are very expensive…Like over $1,200 expensive…so that’s not in the budget!
  • I don’t want to throw any big-box store under the bus, so I won’t mention them by name. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at at the big box store and was told that my order wasn’t ready and that they didn’t even carry the merchandise that I ordered from their website! Even though the inventory was clearly marked on the shelf in their store. I showed the order on my phone but it didn’t make a difference, The customer service staff was rude and didn’t even try to assist me.
  • I received my beautiful wallpaper mural – in the rain at my doorstep. Only the tube closing was missing as well as the cellophane protection. This was delivered in the rain on my uncovered and unprotected front porch – so I pray that this wallpaper mural is in mint condition!

Even though there were so many stumbling blocks this week, I was able to rally and create a manageable to-d0 list. I was able to cross a few thing off of my list. Bathroom makeover roadblocks and more…

To Do List

  1. take down wall mirror
  2. remove existing toilet paper holder
  3. take down existing towel bar
  4. remove existing towel ring
  5. tape off walls, baseboards and doorway for wall painting
  6. repair and patch drywall holes before painting
  7. paint walls
  8. tape off walls in preparation for ceiling paint
  9. paint ceiling 
  10. tape off flooring and walls in preparation of painting vanity
  11. remove vanity hardware
  12. remove vanity drawers and doors
  13. prime vanity
  14. paint vanity
  15. seal vanity
  16. add new vanity hardware
  17. change out vanity faucet
  18. clean and degrease tile floors and shower tiles
  19. sand tile floors and shower wall tiles
  20. thoroughly clean tile floors and shower wall tiles
  21. prime floor tiles
  22. prime shower wall tiles
  23. paint floor tiles
  24. paint shower wall tiles
  25. faux paint floor tiles
  26. faux paint shower wall tiles
  27. seal floor tiles – 3 coats
  28. seal shower wall tiles – 3 to 4 coats
  29. add glass subway tile feature wall above vanity
  30. install wallpaper mural feature wall
  31. hang new mirror
  32. remove existing light fixture
  33. install new light fixture
  34. hang new shower curtain rod
  35. hang new shower curtain
  36. install new toilet paper holder
  37. add  two (2) new towel hooks
  38. install new towel ring

I removed the wall mirror with success! Not one crack or chip! This mirror went to Habitat for Humanity.

I don”t know what the cutouts and chips in the sheetrock were for where the the mirror previously hung. Hopefully  these spaces can be buffed out. The bathroom mirror area is a hot mess right now. I am currently on the hunt for a new vanity mirror.

But look at the new paint job! It is so bright white right now. I don’t know why there are so many sheetrock cuts where the mirror was. I’m just excited that the mirror came down in one piece and we donated it to our local Habitat for Humanity. I painted the walls in Benjamin Moore’s Super White. The bathroom is already so much lighter and brighter.

Look at these fab spaces from the designer entries and the guest participants.This is the first of many projects! Please follow along our makeover journey. You can check out our previous One Room Challenge projects HERE and HERE.   We love that Media Partner House Beautiful  is a sponsor of this challenge.

Thanks so very much for following along!

18 Comments

  1. I can’t believe all that crazy stuff happened this week. I know it must have been super frustrating. I’m so proud of you for not letting those things stand in your way though. It’s definitely a tribute to the kind of hard work and professionalism you’ve dedicated to finishing this project. Love the new paint job and I’m excited to see more next week. Big hugs, I believe in you, CoCo

  2. You’ve got a beautiful design board and I can’t wait to see it. Sorry for the frustrations in week one. Glad you’re rallying on, inspiring us all to move past obstacles and not give up. Thanks for sharing with us the real side of the design process. Looking forward to the updates!!

  3. I can’t wait to see this reveal! It’s almost exactly what I would like to do to my guest bathroom. Thanks for doing it first, so I can learn from you! 🙂 Looks like it’s coming along!

  4. Oh my gosh, you poor thing! But you are persevering! I did a bathroom for last year’s spring ORC and it was JUST like this….backorders, frustrations and set backs, but you know what, it was all worth it in the end……it’s one of my favorite projects I have yet to tackle! That wallpaper is beyond gorgeous, can’t wait to see it up. Kudos on getting your mirror out without one crack or chip!!

  5. Oh ladies, those are some terrible roadblocks!! So sorry, but I know you guys are going to knock it out of the park! Also, was the big box the big BLUE box store? Cause, I’ve had similar issues with them more times than I can count!

  6. Oh goodness, I totally feel your frustration and disappointment with these roadblocks! Sorry you had that experience at the big box store. I know you will rally through this and get that bathroom looking gorgeous! Good luck on crossing more things off your list!

  7. I think it’s pretty much a given that something will go off the rails during any room makeover. ORC just makes those issues all the more frustrating because we’re on a strict deadline.
    Your drywall holes aren’t so bad – you should see the disaster my walls are in after I removed my backsplash. Guess we’ll both be working on drywall patching for next week 🙂

  8. What a hard work, but I’m impressed that you were able to keep going and make some good progress. Your mood board looks amazing, and I can’t wait to see it all come together!

  9. I had the same problem! The light I wanted is on back order until July, so I had to settle for another one. Onward and upward…we can do this!! Can’t wait to see your progress next week!

  10. Got a good amount done!! Nice job on the mirror! Those are tricky!! Can’t wait to see the wallpaper!

  11. Oh my word! So many setbacks! We’ve definitely had reno weeks like that. I’m sure it’ll all come together and look amazing in the end 🙂

  12. Fingers crossed that things went better for you over the weekend.

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