In this 100+ yr old house of ours in northern NB when we bought it, was a finished attic - complete with an old bathroom!
Well, it was sort of complete! Aside from the shag carpet on the floors etc, the ceiling, walls and floors of the attic level were somewhat finished when we bought it. It contained 2 small bedrooms at the back side of the house (now my workout room and sewing/gift-wrapping room), a very tiny outdated bathroom and a huge room at the front of the house running the entire width of the house with really old windows - but offering so much natural light.
Hmmm! What will this floor be? I’m thinking at that point, a paint studio for my business I had been contemplating - unless Joe claimed it first for an office space.
Let The Fun Begin
It didn’t take long for us to rip up the shag carpet in all of the rooms, I can tell you. We had thought to hire someone to refinish the hardwood floors we found under them, but Joe and I thought we could manage that project ourselves given the budget we had to work with. And so we did!
But the bathroom was the one room that I couldn’t wait to tear into because it contained an original cast iron clawfoot tub which I absolutely love! How they ever got that huge and heavy tub up this narrow attic stairwell, we still haven’t figured out, but for sure, everything else had to have been finished around it. And that meant there would be NO getting it back down the stairs if we chose to not keep it without demolishing the entire stairwell.
Easy decision!
It Wasn't Pretty!
The bath tub was with its original faucets – the older sink with the same, along with a really old icky and badly stained toilet, and no window making for a double "ick!!" The bathroom was dark, dreary and an eyesore. But the clawfoot tub held great promise, as did the sink and fixtures.
Where Do You Even Begin?!
We started with taking out the garbage we were finding stored in and strewn around under the tub. Once that was out, we called someone in to install a new toilet. We could have done it ourselves but Joe was working on other projects in the house and I wanted to get things moving. And as it often times happens, things weren’t moving fast enough with so many projects ahead of us. When you stop and look at the big picture in an older house like ours, it can be daunting with so many things needing improvement, so I sometimes have to take a deep breath, step back and just see it one project at a time – especially when doing the work ourselves. Otherwise, it can be completely overwhelming.
Things Are Looking Hopeful
Once the new toilet was installed, we decided that the claw foot tub had to be resurfaced, refinished or painted. Again, our budget dictated, so after a thorough scrubbing of the entire room, we opted for painting the outside of the tub once looking into resurfacing and the cost of having it professionally done.
The inside of the tub we were able to get clean and stain free after much elbow grease on Joe’s part. The faucets - I absolutely didn’t want to change! They were as much the charm of the tub as the tub itself, so they stayed.
Next was the wall. We opted for bead-board and chair rail molding. By this time, Joe was free to switch gears from another project in the house so he installed the bead-board and molding and I primed and painted the room.
New Bathroom Plumbing But Still Ugly
Next came the sink. Again, we had no interest in swapping out the faucets but we were a bit concerned about the plumbing so had someone install new pipes.
The Floor Of The Bathroom
The flooring in the bathroom was hardwood and was in relatively decent condition, so I used an electric palm sander to sand off the surface stains and finish, and restained in Minwax Early American. Once dried, I applied 3 coats of the water-based clear coat, Varathane.
Hiding The Bathroom Plumbing
Once the floor was finished, I had to come up with something to hide the plumbing under the original wall-mounted sink we had every intention of keeping. So I went digging in my stash of fabrics and found a lone natural color cotton duck curtain panel I hadn’t yet found a window for and likely wouldn’t. Perfect!
I then called upon my seamstress skills (which amount pretty much to sewing straight lines if I’m to be perfectly honest), and made a sink skirt which I mounted to the inside of the sink with Velcro and glue.
The Finishing Touches To Our Attic Bathroom
A few accessories to finish off our new attic bathroom, along with added ventilation and exhaust fan, and a sweet chandelier, and we have a pretty and functional bathroom honoring those days gone by.
The "Hotel de Paris" sign over the tub is one of my creations from My Painted Porch Vintage Signs when I was still making wooden signs full-time. It was the perfect addition to the tub wall and the final piece to finish off the room as I had been imagining it.
A lit candle, glass of wine and many, MANY bubbles found me relaxing in my new sanctuary, and not wanting to leave!
And the attic was finished!
And Who Won The Huge Room At The Front?
Our room at the front of the house once finished, did find itself as Meyers Design Studio, where signs were created for my other business, My Painted Porch. New windows, a big bright wide open space for 3 long worktables, my computer desk in the corner where I took orders, corresponded with customers and designed signs, made for an amazing workspace with a birds-eye view of the neighborhood!
The room has since been swapped out in favor of my music room where I write and record in my decision to live a passion that had been lying dormant for awhile, just not yet buried.
Eliza age 8, having fun in my music roomThe room also now houses my treadmill, too large for the workout room but on the same floor when I again later swapped out the room as I switch focus to my Etsy shops in getting our girl through a university degree. It's most definitely a space allowing for creativity, no matter the genre of art!
And it now has a beautiful new antique bathroom! And I don't have to leave the floor for anything!!
Well, except for coffee that is!
Lots of coffee!
Up Next in Design & DIYs: Proving My Case For The Second Kitchen Sink
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