The kid’s bathroom was one of the priority rooms to complete before we moved into the house. Exhibit A – the wallpaper – no picture can capture the horror. Metallic silver and gold sky-scrapers on the walls and they even covered the dual medicine cabinets with the wall paper. Did I mention that the bathroom is directly at the top of the stairs so you could see the wallpaper from the front hallway when you walked into the house?
There were plenty of other issues. There was water damage that was much more extensive than we originally thought. Once the wall paper was peeled away it was clear that some of the dry wall needed to be replaced. The outlets and switches for the room were very low on the wall (to make room for the 2 medicine cabinets). There were glass doors on the bath tub and those don’t work well with kids. So those were removed prior to moving in.
One of the things we love about the bathroom is the skylight. During the day it fills the bathroom, hallway and stairwell with light. In fact we only recently needed to start using the lights in the room as it has been dark in the morning and evening. We planned to replace the skylight when we moved in due to some signs that it had leaked in the past. We hired a contractor to fix some issues on the outside of the house and when he came to work he realized that the skylight was an odd size and would be a special order (code for twice as much as standard). That project is still on the list to complete.
The vanity was falling apart and although the space appeared large enough for double sinks, there was only one. We measured the space and went off to the home improvement stores to look at options. We quickly realized we were in trouble. The space was 2″ too short for a standard double-bowl vanity and a custom vanity was going to be very expensive. I love the large mirror so we also had to find something that fit below the bottom of the mirror. The light on the mirror is not my favorite, but we would need to replace the entire mirror to remove the light. So it stays.
4 weeks before we moved in to the house I was in IKEA looking for office furniture when I spotted a free standing vanity with double sinks. I measured and it would fit – yay for odd Swedish measurements! It has good storage – drawers with the slow closing mechanism so they don’t slam shut and pinch fingers. It fits the space and looks great. I bought the high priced faucets on the spot as well because I knew they would fit (no need to be running around later for a cheaper option that doesn’t fit). I love how easy it easy for the kids to use the faucets and they look pretty.
Those projects were completed just before before we moved in to the house – this is how the bathroom and master bedroom looked a few days before we moved in. 
And here is how the vanity area looked on move-in day.
In the past month some more work has been completed. Everything that has been done to date: removing wallpaper, replacing drywall, patching, sanding, priming, painiting, updating plumbing with the help of the Plumbers near me, more patching, sanding, painting, etc. was completed by Scott with support from my Dad.
There was a fan above the sink and another above the bathtub – neither had a light and both were very loud. There was also what appeared to be a heat/ac vent at the top of the sky light. Upon further investigation it was simply a grate open to the attic. So we replaced the fan over the bathtub with a new quiet fan with a light. The vent in the skylight was replaced with a second quiet fan (no light) that is tied to the same switch so both run at the same time. And the fan over the sinks was removed and the ceiling was patched – no need for a fan or an additional light in that area of the room. We found a basic medicine cabinet to fit the remaining hole in the wall. And hung a towel bar at a lower height so the kids can reach it.
A shower bar was installed and I found a cute shower curtain to add some fun to the room. The boys love it and count animals each morning when they brush their teeth.
It isn’t a huge bathroom, but it isn’t tiny either. All 3 kids can be at the vanity brushing their teeth on a Sunday morning and everyone has enough space. During the week Juliana is gone by the time the boys are in the bathroom. They stand on their his and his potty chairs to brush and occasionally reach down to “flush” the potty to hear the vroom vroom car noise it makes.
Looks great! It will fill up as they get older.