i live in a 75 year-old house.

this holiday weekend will be spent finishing a bathroom remodel. prior to me moving in, the bathroom had only received a single upgrade, and what a pos it was. the previous owners had laid down some sort of super-thick outdoor floor tile and spread thick coats of plaster on the wall and then run their fingers through the plaster in an apparent attempt to mimic a van gogh sky. the floor tile was so thick that the friggin' door wouldn't close completely (my house isn't level, but that's another story). the floor tile was brown, so they painted the walls brown to match. that might have been fine if the wall tile wasn't green and blue (a 1930's green and blue, if that helps). some of the wall tile was cracked or broken, so they painted those brown as well.

prior to moving in, the inspector indicated that there was evidence of prior water damage under that bathroom. if you're keeping track, the walls were a huge problem and the floor was a huge problem. did i mention that the sink was cracked and the toilet was an embarassment to the sink?

i hired a guy to remodel; let's call him tony. i bought all the fixtures and supplies (i'm very picky), and paid him just for the labor. he completely gutted my bathroom; took everything out except the tub. replaced the floor joists and subfloor. at one point, i didn't have a floor for three days. open the door, and it was a three foot drop to the dirt. he indicated that all the work would take 7-10 days. it took six weeks. the quality of his work was outstanding. he speaks english, but not the same english i speak so i compensated by talking louder.

fast forward to two months later. i still haven't finished painting. or putting the fixures up. or the shower curtain rod. basically, once he left, the project was put on hold because i'm a lazy sob.

this weekend that's all changing.

this weekend, that room becomes a bathroom once again. my project to make a cruddy 75 year-old bathroom into a new 75 year-old-style bathroom will be complete. it's funny. all the work and effort just to end up near where the house started. mosaic floor tile. subway wall tile. pedestal sink. matching crapper. all of this stuff is different than what was installed 75 years ago, but it feels right and it looks fresh.

soon i will have a party where everyone will be invited to come use my bathroom. i even installed a magazine rack. feel free to bring cheese. maybe i can get v to post some pics.