The Downstairs Bathroom Before & After

At last, the downstairs bathroom is finished! Phew! Didn't think it would take so long but got there in the end!  I LOVE bargains and rummaging around antique, vintage and second hand jumk shops which is just as well as I had a tight budget - I have to say I got some nice bargains.  When I first started the room I was going to use chrome or satin nickel finish taps etc I've always disliked gold taps - thought they were a bit tacky!  but I when I bought the bath it had brass taps in a gold finish and the more I looked at it the gold taps the more I liked them, the colour is so aged and warm, so decided to keep them.  But I did want a shower and tap mixer for cleaning the bath (it only came with two taps) so I bought a shower/bath mixer set and switched out the taps and put the taps from the bath onto the sink (that had very ugly chrome taps).

Before . . . 

The bathroom was very tired and in need of an overhaul.  Also, the layout wasn't ideal for a bath, so we rejigged things.  We put the bath in front of the window and moved the toilet to where the shower had been giving us much better floor area.

During . . . 

I love tongue in groove panelling, I decided to go for this over tiles on the walls because I felt it had a warmer feel and added more character to the room. 

Originally I wanted to put Cornforth White on here, a pale grey colour but when I tried the sample pot it was way too dark.  This is a small room facing North West so doesn't have great light.   Here I'm trying out Strong White (top left) Skimming Stone (bottom left) Blackened (top right) and Great White (bottom right) all by Farrow & Ball.  I actually liked all of them but ended up going for Farrow & Ball Pointing on the panelling and Strong White on the upper wall.  

After. . . 

 Before . . .

 During . . .

After . . .

Before . . .

The main reason we started this particular project was because we wanted to take out the shower unit and put in a bath.   Then the tiles were hacked off and the whole area replastered.  All the fittings we took out I sold through ads rather than putting them on a skip.

 After . . .

 

Before . . .

 

After . . .

 

I have two of these mirrors but the problem is I want to use them everywhere - I love them!

 Before . . .

After . . .

 Phew!  Almost done, my husband Niall (its the Irish version of Neill and is pronounced like the English Neill) just had to fill the holes left by the old wall lights.

Niall trying to explain how to fill holes properly while I'm trying to make him laugh for the camera!

 Work done, time for some fun . . .some flowers . . 

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some candlelight . . .

 

I really enjoyed doing up this room despite being on a tight budget, actually looking and finding the bargains made it exciting    Guess how much the bath cost??

 

I found the Victoria and Albert claw foot bath on donedeal.ie (online second hand ads) together with the sink and toilet for €250!!!!! BARGAIN!!  These were definitely my best buys.  I adore the bath. 

 
Vintage Bath and shower mixer bought from an ad on  Adverts.ie   €30

Vintage Cast Brass Chandelier bought in CJM Furniture Cork a second hand store in Cork €30.
 

 Vintage Gold and Cream Oval Mirror bought in Pandemonium  a second hand store in Kinsale selling an eclectic mix of new and secondhand clothing, jewelry, art, furniture and collectibles. Bought for  €30.

Vintage brass candleholder bought in CJM Furniture a second hand furniture store €5.

Not only did I save myself a small fortune buying second hand items, another bonus is that all these things have been recycled and saved from the dump!  Antiques, vintage, preloved whatever you call them they're all second hand and they're all GREEN!!

So tonight I can finally enjoy my new bathroom, some candles, some lavender and some bubbles - in the bath and in the  glass!  

Sharon

xxxx