10 December 2000

Hi Everyone

As you may know, James and I have begun a bathroom renovation project.  So far, at Steve's suggestion, we decided to include glass brick windows in the bathroom and WC.   Tomorrow, the contractors arrive with sledge hammers and chisels to remove all the old tile and begin the rest of the renovation,

James left for Jakarta, Indonesia on government business today, so he'll miss most of the noise, mess and commotion.  We thought doing the bulk of the work while he's away would minimize the impact on our routines, since the toilet will be out of commission for a day, and the shower and bath will be out of commission for the entire week.

Today, I thought I'd  snap a few pictures so we have "before" and after shots... these aren't really before shots, since the glass bricks went in last week, but you'll get the idea...
 

The glass bricks occupy the same area as the old window, but admit an amazing amount of extra light.  The bathtub in the shot above will be moved to the opposite wall, where we will have a combined shower-tub.  All the brown-green tile will be removed.  We will have white tile on the floor in a diagonal pattern, with a dark green border.

The new vanity will be along the wall where the towel racks are currently.  They don't show well in this picture, but the existing towel racks are a 70's style translucent brown plastic.   Needless to say, these will go in the renovation, as will the "complementary" green-brown-flowered tile.  What were they thinking of in the 70's anyway?

The bidet will also go, and will be replaced with a new shower-bath combination.  A second toilet will be installed on the adjoining wall, to the left of the existing vanity.

The existing shower goes too, and becomes the other end of the shower-bath combination.  I've wanted to get rid of this terrible tile since we moved in, but the shower gave us the excuse we needed since it started to leak and spoil the plaster on the other side of the wall.

The tile in the toilet will also be changed to match that in the bathroom and laundry.  Currently, the tile in the existing toilet, bathroom and laundry are all different shades of brown-green, and are a real eye soar, since they adjoin the same space.

While I was at it, I thought I'd show you the rest of the house, for those of you that haven't been here.  We have some ideas for future projects in other parts of the house, although for now  we will wait to begin these until well into the future.

We'll probably paint the kitchen cupboards white to brighten up the room.  We're also thinking of adding additional cupboards above the counter to the right, not shown.  That isn't to say that this house is short of cupboards or storage space... it probably has more than any other place I've lived!

In the lounge room, we'll eventually replace the existing carpet, which is beginning to show its age.  Alternatively, we might install floor boards. The glass bricks were a good idea in the bathroom, Steve..  any other good decorating ideas for this room?  I'd like to get a small round table for this space.. similar to the one Mom and Dad have in the kitchen on Drysdale.

Turning 100% degrees from where the previous picture was taken are the bay windows.  Pillows on the couch are by Janet and Dorothy.

This is the dining area, with Mom's oil painting hanging on the wall.  This paining hung in a place of honour in my grandparent's home for decades.  I'm privileged to have it here, now.

I hope that this e-mail message hasn't been too large with all the embedded images,  that nobody's e-mail system fell over as a result, and that it was worth the wait in download time.  I sent them this way, since Mom prefers this format over attachments.

I'll keep you posted on how we proceed with the renovation.  James and I worked hard with the contractor and bathroom tile people to get it right.  I think it will work well... we will keep you posted!

cheers,

Brian