One Room Challenge Week 5: So close we can taste it!

Let’s jump right into it, shall we? We’ve just wrapped up Week 5 of the 6-Week One Room Challenge, and there’s been a ton of progress since our last update!

Linda of Calling it Home created the One Room Challenge for design bloggers to make over a room in 6 weeks and share updates every week along the way. We’ve joined in as guest participants, and here’s what we’ve been up to the past 4 weeks, renovating our master bathroom into the Modern Nautical space of our dreams 🙂

Week 1: The Blah “Befores” and the Design Plan

Week 2: Demo Time!

Week 3 // Rebuilding and Changing Up The Plan

Week 4 // Tiled Floors and an Upgraded Vanity

So this was our to-do list this week:

Install new sconces // we did this LAST NIGHT, so you’ll have to check Instagram for a fun peek at those! ✓

Repair drywall, finish painting ✓

Install toilet ✓

Install vanity (we still need to adhere everything, but it’s in place- and it looks GREAT) ✓ish

Build drawer boxes (didn’t get to this one- the plumbing isn’t finalized, and we’ll have to work around how much space is left)

Tile shower (alllllmost there- we got about 90% done)

Reinstall Ben’s closet items ✓

Reinstall baseboards (some of our tools got burgled, our air compressor among them, so we’ll have to get a new one before the baseboards can go in)

There was a lot of big progress this week- the room started to become functional again, which was huge! We brought in the vanity, installed the new wood countertop, added the countertop sinks, installed the faucets, and put in the drawers. We don’t want to give away too much of this makeover, but here’s a peek at how some of those finishes are working together (the doors aren’t in place yet, that’s why you get to see the fun random junk under the sink)

Above the vanity went the new round mirrors which are simple and perfect! It’s a completely different look than the huge single mirror, and it was so fun to get a view of the newly tiled shower! (You can also see the new brushed nickel switch plates that were totally Ben’s idea and now I’m super obsessed with them)

Speaking of the shower, this baby was a bit of a beast. The first two walls weren’t too bad- but that last wall was much more challenging than we anticipated. First of all, getting the walls started took a bit of work because we had to create a custom ledger board template. Because we were doing a vertical running bond pattern, we needed a stepped ledger board to start the offset. We also had to work around the niches on this wall, and they gave us tons of grief. Because of where our studs were located, we didn’t have much wiggle room as to where our niches could be located, so we couldn’t really plan how they would match up with the tile pattern. We ended up having to cut some tiny slivers around a few corners- a little nervewracking, but doable!

I also thought I was being super clever when I purchased pre-made niches. They’re labeled as “Ready for Tile!”, and you just cut openings in your hardiebacker and mortar them in. However, for whatever reason, these guys were NOT “Ready for Tile!” Although we were using the recommended Polymer-blend mortar, our tiles just wouldn’t stick. So we spent a good deal of time getting all those puzzle pieces cut just to have them pop out once any pressure was applied 🙁

The helpful team at Floor & Decor recommended a bonding primer. We scraped all the existing mortar off the niches and painted on the primer, so this morning we were able to mortar in the tile. Now we can move on to tiling the floor and the final wall pieces that will  rest on top of the floor. We’re so close we can taste it- I just can’t wait for this part to be done.

BUT! We still made a ton of progress this week. We went from scary red waterproofing to almost-done glass tiles- which made a great difference since we no longer have a terrible red glow casting all over the room like it’s the portal to hell. Or something.

(These were shot with different lenses, hence the totally altered view, but the vertical tiles DEFINITELY make the space feel larger and taller)

I got all of Ben’s closet reinstalled, which was huge! The Elfa system looks great with the new finishes and light, and we hung a black metal mirror that uses the empty wall space perfectly! We finally have a full-length mirror, so I don’t have to creep over to the guest bath to see how fly I look anymore.

So, we’ve got one week left, and still kind of a lot of do. Here’s what’s up before the BIG REVEAL:

Finish tiling the shower

Install the shower door and faucet

Hang artwork and hardware

Reinstall trim and baseboard

Paint touch ups (ugh, the drywall repair has NOT been fun)

Build in new drawers from the faux-fronts (this may end up being a Phase 2 item)

Stain threshold

Final touches: accessories and little details to finish off the space

So, there’s a lot to tackle, and we happen to have had a camping trip with friends planned for this weekend, we there’s about 4 work days left to finish this baby off. there may not be a ton of sleep between now and then, but we’ll get there. (Right?!)