It’s getting so close to the end of the One Room Challenge. Next week is reveal week, and I have a lot to do before then! I’m feeling the pressure, but I’m also excited to have this room done! My tendency is to bounce back and forth between projects, and I haven’t let myself do that since starting this project.
This week consisted of wrapping up the vanity facelift and creating storage in the old doorway. I think both turned out great! Not only do they both look so, so much better, but they also add more functionality to the space which is very important in a house that lacks storage.
Part I: Vanity
After making cabinet doors for the uppers in my kitchen, I decided I would tackle one more cabinet door project in this bathroom (it saves so much money). I tried an easier method to create the doors, and it went much faster but still wasn’t problem free. In the end it all worked out and I am very happy with the end result. The vanity looks so much prettier. The best part, the doors actually close and are soft close! Talk about an upgrade.
Remember the – we’ll call it a shift in design– that I had with my counters? Well, that forced me to order new hardware for the vanity. My first order was a TOTAL disaster. The knobs that shipped were SOOOO tiny. No wonder they were such a great price.
After adding the miniature knobs to my growing return pile, I searched Amazon once again for knobs that would coordinate with my new, dark counter. I found some, for a good price, that look so good with the tricorn black vanity.
Part II: Doorway
I touched on this doorway in my week 1 post. This used to be the entry into the house. I don’t have great photos or video to show how bad the design was, but below is a mockup of the original layout vs the new layout. Essentially, when using the back door to the house, you entered into the mud/laundry room which opened to the bathroom. There was a doorway between the two rooms, but no door! From the bathroom you entered the kitchen. If you were using the bathroom and someone showed up at the back door, they had a perfect view of you. Also, in order to get to the backyard, you had to go through the bathroom. Not very practical.
The laundry room has been reconfigured and an entryway has been added from the laundry room into the kitchen/dining room. I didn’t want to totally remove the old doorway from the bathroom for a few reasons:
- The trim around the doorway is nice, old, and good quality
- The vanity is built into the doorway trim and the vanity is staying
- I wanted to use the space for additional storage, if possible
So, instead of removing the trim and drywalling over the old doorway, I turned it into a feature wall with storage at the bottom. There isn’t a lot of storage, but it’s the perfect place to store toilet paper! I also made a teeny tiny counter out of scrap mdf, spray paint, and epoxy. Next week I plan to add artwork and shelves.
When the One Room Challenge ends, I plan to finish the laundry room and kitchen that I’ve been working on for a year. After that, another new project!