ORC Spring 2024 - Week 2
/I don’t want to brag… but this is the second blog I’ve written in less than two weeks 💁♀️ Even if I am posting at the end of the window haha.
Not a lot of actual work got done this week. I am still scrambling to get work and life things knocked out. #COVID put me so much farther behind than I thought! On top of that, through the miraculous drug Paxlovid, I tested negative for COVID on Thursday of last week. Saturday morning I jetted off to meet some of my cousins for the eclipse! We picked Dallas as our meetup point in the path of totality. We actually stayed at an Airbnb in Granbury, TX, about an hour and a half west of Dallas. The view was absolutely gorgeous! It was an amazing time catching up with the fam and experiencing the eclipse with them. If you ever have the chance to chase totality, I highly recommend! It was a very unique experience. 10/10.
Anyhooo, for Week 2 of the One Room Challenge, let’s go over the plans I have to remedy the atrocities in my bathroom. If you didn’t catch that part, you can get up to date with Week 1’s blog HERE.
I’ve have almost 7 years to think about what I want to do to this bathroom. To be clear, this ORC project is a bridge to get me through a couple more years until I want to spend the money on a full renovation, which would look a lot different than this update.
For starters, I would get rid of the tub *GASP* I know! It’s almost sacrilege to say, but Frank and I don’t use the tub. We would much rather have a large walk-in shower instead. That would be much more practical for us, and I don’t think the lack of a tub would be a dealbreaker for any future renter we might have. It’s a one-bedroom condo; we aren’t going to have any people raising families in here. And if someone should need a tub for a functional purpose, like bathing a dog or soaking something, there are some collapsible options that would fit the bill.
That is the major change I would make. But I would also change the aesthetic in a more refined and permanent way than I will be doing in the next 7 weeks. But that is for another time.
For this update, I started the process by ruminating daily on the functional things I wanted to fix:
Better and more shower storage that isn’t visible when the curtain is open
Fixing the cracking grout and gross caulk before water damage becomes a concern
Giving us a place to put our clean clothes for after the shower, other than teetering on the sink or on the toilet lid
Creating more storage in general, including more hooks for towels and clerty clothes (not clean/not dirty clothes that can worn one more time before being laundered)
Minimizing grout in general, as it is hard to keep looking clean
Generally, fixing a few minor things that are difficult to clean – like closing the gap below the vanity where tumbleweeds of hair go to die. I just never feel like it’s clean under there, even after I vacuum it out.
Aesthetically, y’all know how much I hate the green tile. So obvi, that has to go. I also want more and different colors in there. It’s pretty bland right now. I’ve been really drawn toward English cottage, cozy vibes and earthy colors in the last few years. I will be taking my bedroom in that direction later this year, so I figured I would get started with giving the bathroom a nudge in that direction. I also plan to carry some of the same color palette through to the living room, kitchen, and bedroom so that my place feels more cohesive.
I pulled together some images to get the creative juices flowing and start feeling inspired. This part, while super fun (because SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!!) can also feel overwhelming after a while (because SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!!). I think my clients feel this as well. So, I limit myself after a certain point to stop scrolling and start distilling the common threads in the inspiration images. What is it about them that I am drawn to? Is it the exact item or just a vibe? Once I work on that I bit, I start curating the images that best represent what I’m looking for onto one moodboard.
For my bathroom, this is what I landed on:
From there, I started pulling together some actual products that give this sort of vibe. There are plenty of ways for introduce this new aesthetic, even in such a small space. Everywhere you look, there’s an opportunity to change something. Below is the design board I put together with the product images that I think will work well:
So far, I have landed on the following changes I’ll be working on:
Apply a treatment to the green tile to cover it completely; remove built-in shelves and towel bars during this process
Reglaze the tub, or research other alternatives
Install new shower faucet, trim, and storage
Install a decorative treatment on the ceiling for added texture
Install wallpaper above the tile
Paint vanity and cover portions of the side and front to give more interest and prevent dirt and hair from getting trapped underneath
Replace sink faucet and stopper, vanity lighting and hardware
Recess the medicine cabinet and add trim
Create new built-in storage near the vanity
Add more wall hooks and storage shelves
Deep clean floor grout and change the color to better match new color scheme
Install a decorative treatment on the floor over existing tiles
Recaulk the shower and toilet
Paint the interior side of the door and secure the Elfa door rack to the door (rather than over the door)
Add a magnetic door catch
Replace ventilating fan
Source a new shower curtain and install a ceiling track
Whew. Anyone else need a wee nap just reading that list? You should see my Asana project for this. It is… quite extensive. I know this is going to be a big challenge to get this done, but isn’t that what I wanted? Of course, I will also miss all of Week 4 due to a preplanned trip to the Dominican Republic to celebrate Frank’s 40th birthday. What’s one less week?…. 😭
Wish me luck, folks. I’m going to need it.
PS. Just a reminder that you can follow along with other designers and participants on the ORC blog HERE! There are a ton of talented people out there, so you should check them out.