Labor of Love

We have been laboring on our basement for five years doing what we could when we had extra cash. This last weekend my husband finally textured the last parts of the ceiling and I went to work on the bathroom.



The room is painted Sherman Williams Jonquil. I am not sure yellow is the color I would have chosen for a bathroom but I had most of a five gallon can from my kitchen and living room left over. So with budget restraints we use what we have.


A view through the double wide pocket door.

I found a vintage bathtub at an antique mall and painted the outside of it red and the base black. My husband had to build a riser to set the black base on to raise it off the floor in order to run the plumbing. This makes it a little tall for me to step into so I found the perfect little stool and painted it black.

When we originally drew up plans for this part of the basement we were going to make this area into two rooms. That meant the bathroom wouldn't have a window. So we decided to make it one big room and hide all the laundry equipment discreetly behind double doors.

I also need some place to hide my laundry sorter that would be convenient to use. So DH built this for me. This weekend I made panels to cover it that stay in place with Velcro.

I can just roll the sorter out to sort the laundry and push it back when not in use.

This sink was in the basement when we moved in. It looks like it is probably a sink from an old gas station. It was in perfect condition so we decided to use it.

One wall of the bathroom had to be built out about 2 feet from the cement foundation to accommodate plumbing so my DH built in this old window that he found in a house he renovated. You can't tell by the picture but he put a light behind it so it looks like the sun is shining through when it is turned on.

I had an old wrought iron rack that was from my pink phase so I painted it black to hold the towels.

This old medicine cabinet was in my hoard. It was originally pine but I painted it the same color as the walls and then crackled it with an ivory overcoat. Then while we were making the bathroom I talked the husband into building it into the wall.

I needed more storage so I haunted the thrift shops until I found a mahogany dresser. The veneer was coming loose on the top and in places on the sides and bottom. I stripped the bad veneer and filled it with wood putty. When it was dry and sanded I used black spray paint and lightly sprayed the spots I had filled. It almost gives it a shadow effect around the frame.

On top of the dresser I have a old mirror and an angel. I think she is meant to be a Christmas Angel but I love her colors so I decided she is a bathroom angel.

I made curtains for both window from the same material I use for the laundry sorter. Then decided I didn't like seeing the basement windows as they are old so I made some short white panels to fit inside the window.

I put an oriental rug on the floor since this won't be an everyday bathroom.

Now I have one last task I didn't get done this weekend. I need to do something with these shelves I bought to hold bath products. I can't decide if I should paint it white to go with the wood work or paint it black like the rest of the accessories. I don't know if I want to leave it open or make more panels to cover all the bottles. Help! I think I am out of ideas.

So this is how I spent my weekend. But it was indeed a labor of love because I am so excited one room is done. Now I can light the candles and relax in that deep old tub.