Then and Now: Bathroom

A friend (Hi Tammy!) asked if we liked the Cardiff house or the Glasgow house better. To be honest, I'm not sure. Both houses are lovely and I'm just glad that we get to live in one of them. I'm pretty sure Niall will say Glasgow, but the location has a lot to do with it. However, when it comes to bathrooms, I definitely like the Glasgow one better.

It didn't start out as much to look at.  Just the typical three piece suite, in less than ideal condition.

But now I really like it.

I realize now the bathtub was beyond saving, but I seriously considered trying to save this guy.  We ended up kicking it to the curb, and about two minutes later got the Mr. Metal to come and collect it for scrap.  (It was steel and HEAVY.)

The new tub is extra wide (at least for a UK tub) and as long as we could possibly fit in the space.  At the suggestion of the plumbers, we have the bath taps on one end and the shower head and controls on the other.

If you (like us) don't have room for a separate shower, having the tub taps and shower head on opposite sides is nice way to go.  

And do you see the shelf under the shower head?  It may not look like much, but it is one of my favorite things.  It's long enough to hold all the bits and bobs and deep enough to hold the shampoo bottles.  Niall had to drive to a random post office Rutherglen (about 20 minutes away) to get it, but it was worth the trip.  (Especially since I didn't have to make it.)

When we first looked at the house, I genuinely thought there had been a fire in the bathroom.  But (maybe this is even worse?) the black on the ceiling was mold.  Delicious.

I'm an happy to report the mold is gone.  (Looking at the picture above makes me feel like I should go clean the ceiling one more time just to make sure it really is mold free.)

When we knocked down the fireplace and took out the wall we had this temporary view into the bathroom.

When the wall was rebuilt, we got about 12 inches of extra room in the bathroom.  It may not sound that big, but I feel like it makes a difference.

For example, now we have room for this fancy radiator!  (It's behind the door, and we bought it with the money we made on ebay selling things left behind in the house and garage by the previous owners.)  The bathroom walls are painted in our favorite mis-tint blue.  (Also making appearances in the back bedroom and kitchen.)  I'd mentioned the floor previously, but as a reminder the tiles are Edwardian reproduction ones from Vives.

I'd mentioned it before, but we had special toilet seats installed for the kids.  One month in and they're still a hit with our three year old.  (That's the plumber's shoe.  And the brown cabinet is no longer next to the toilet.  But the point is there is room for it.  Okay.  I'll stop harping on about the extra 12 inches.)

Just kidding.  The extra 12 inches took the room from this size...

To this.  (And the mirror above the toilet is the original mirror from the bathroom.  I love it.)

Sorry, UK.  But one thing I don't understand is the bathtubs here.  Why does it seem that all the non-claw foot baths have to have some sort of panel put on the front?  I didn't want a plastic one.  We couldn't decide on a tile or wood one.  So we settled on a mirror bath panel.  The joiner put in plywood with panels cut in case we ever have to access the pipes.  We had a glazier special cut the mirror for us (with beveled safety glass) and the joiner installed it.  Time will tell.  I like how it looks, but I don't know how functional it will be.  (So far so good.  It is installed with eight pre-drilled holes and special glass screws.)