February 8, 2011

and still no sink



Yes the sink debate rages.Well, not rages. Simmers. The sink we found (and didn't buy, stupid, stupid) was snatched up by someone else and without the sink in hand we couldn't proceed unless we changed routes. Keeping the bathroom in a state of suspended construction wasn't really an option so we've proceeded without the sink, the sink bracket, or really, any idea what we are going to do sink-wise. But at least progress has been made. We had paint and trim and a toilet and a medicine cabinet. Well, sort of a medicine cabinet. But I'll get to that in a moment. And Briton at least has been happily using the bathroom for the past few days, despite the fact that there is no curtain. According to him, no one is looking anyway, which is probably true. But still.
There are still many things to do. The blue paint needs to be touched up from painting the trim, the light needs a cover. The medicine cabinet, oh yes, about that, it turns out that getting a medicine cabinet that is 18 inches wide isn't so easy. Our choices were pretty much the ugly, not real wood press board one we took out or something like this which is beautiful and perfect but, you know, not here and not cheap. But while hunting for the sink we came across a stack of vintage metal medicine cabinets for $10 a piece that were an almost perfect fit. Almost because it's a bit short. And also, it has no mirror. But the plan is to add some crown molding around the top to hide the gap and keep an eye out for an appropriately sized mirror (which is equally hard to find, but now I'm thinking that we can have the big piece of mirror glass that came out of the upstairs bathroom cut down and make a frame for it. Maybe. If I can talk Will into it). But all in all, it's coming along nicely. And made much easier by the fact that we now have a nail gun.
I was opposed to nail guns in general up to now. Due entirely to that scene in Lethal Weapon where Danny Glover kills the guy by shooting nails at him. I couldn't help but think 8 year old boy + nail gun = disaster. But after some convincing and demonstration of the safety features (you can't just shoot into the air it turns out) I gave in and man does that thing make construction easier. Now I wish we had had it when we did the kitchen. And the bookshelf. And you can be sure we'll be using it on the siding of the mudroom (I think we've made a decision there as well! Yay!)

So between the nail gun and the discovery that Lowe's paintable caulk is terrible but the stuff you buy at the paint store works like a dream, particularly if you smooth it with a wet sponge (thank you painter's forum!) have meant that our bathroom is much more finished looking than earlier projects. So much so that Will is working his way through the house re-caulking all the places that we previously caulked so that they can be repainted without it turning sticky and yellow. Tonight we will seal the quarter round and the toilet and clear out all the tools and this week I'm hoping to find the perfect curtain so that those of us with more modesty than an 8 year old can use it. And then, well, we'll just wait until inspiration strikes or a sink finds us that is perfect for the room. Or perfect enough.

Anyone have any ideas on that front? Maybe a metal pedestal sink? Something else entirely? What do you think?

By the way, this bathroom is the hardest place to take a photo of, I can't seem to get any kind of all over shot. So my apologies for the partial wall shots.