This is another project I dreaded. I was afraid of what I would unearth.
But I took a deep breath, opened all the doors and stepped into the bathtub to take a picture.
This is the boys’ bathroom, the same bathroom where I put on my makeup and do my hair. I did the makeup drawer earlier this month, but was too scared to do the entire bathroom.
I emptied out the cabinet and the laundry bin on the far right, which is where we have always stored bulky items like the humidifier and my curling iron, flat iron, and blow dryer. The previous homeowner used it 35 years straight for–wait for it–laundry.
I was expecting trash, old makeup, expired lotions, or something crazy, like a shoe. I was not expecting a tray of fossils from the Museum of Natural History.
I have big plans for the laundry bin, but I’m not going to tackle it this month. At the bottom of the bin was a paper bag, which I always thought was just a cheap drawer liner. (Like, really cheap.) Turns out, I think the prior owner was covering up a patch of mold. At least, I think that’s mold. I’ll look at it next month as well as research how to remedy whatever is going on down there. I suspect a very long time ago someone tossed their wet towels in there. It’s localized, so I think I’m okay. (Any experts out there?) Until then, the bin stays empty.
Toss pile, donate pile, keep pile.
In September, back when I was young and naive, I hoped to paint the interiors and lose the 80s contact paper. I decided to leave that for another day. What is important is that the interiors are organized and thoughtful. This William Morris business is a lot like being a woman. You have to work on your personal development first and your boobs second. Also, I just noticed the contact paper has roses. I have a soft spot for roses.
The only area that gave me any trouble was the large center cabinet. Once I purged everything, I had nothing to put in there! I had to think about what to store inside. Contraband? Naughty children? In the end I placed two extra towels and some toilet paper just so it looked…homey? Inhabited? No idea.
I was so pleased with how well the cabinet went that I did the final drawer, too. This means the bathroom is DONE. Done, except for the medicine cabinet, interior painting, mold, new drawer pulls and handles, and contact paper. Other than that, totally done!
New here? For the next 31 days Im living according to the famous William Morris quote. You can learn more about the project here.
Looking Good! You must have felt a real sense of euphoria after completing that task! Can’t wait to see what you tackle next.
I had to laugh, I clean mold for a living and am on my way to work. All you need is to use Kilz spray paint after spraying it with bleach and letting it dry. Love your blog.
Thanks, Kim! (For the tips and the compliment.) :)
Nice job! :)
I’m still laughing – “homey and inhabited”!! Why oh why do we feel compelled to fill up space if there is space? Why can’t we just leave it {gasp} empty?? I believe it’s one of the great questions of our time. Or not. Maybe it’s just a great question. :-)
Your posts continue to inspire me to clean out all of my hiding places – so, thanks. :-)
The reason we need to fill up an empty space is because if we didn’t, the world would spin of its axis and go careening into darkness. Or is that just a myth?
Great job! I kind of like the contact paper, too. :)
I’m with Kim above. Bleach and Kilz paint. Though I don’t think I’d want to keep laundry in there – it’s too closed in, if anything is wet or smelly. Maybe you could use it to store something else?
I’m definitely jealous of your ’empty space’ to fill. I don’t get much of that here in our one bedroom apartment.
Loving this series, thanks for inspiring me to clean!
{hangs head in semi-shame}
We’re preparing to sell my parents’ home, and the day of reckoning has finally come where my brothers and I have to finally get all of our stuff out of their attic. You know, the kind of stuff that was SO IMPORTANT that we couldn’t throw it away, but not nearly important enough to take with us.
Two hours in (we weren’t exclusively dealing with our leftovers) I came across a box that was covered in that exact contact paper. Apparently, 13-15 year old me thought that having what appears to be a vodka box covered in rose contact paper in her room to hold her high school notes, trinkets and things of sentimental value was tres’ chic.
Hah! The contact paper lives on.
I have zero storage space in two of our bathrooms, except for these hideous seventies box-style vanities that take up a third of the tiny bathrooms and have no drawers. When we redo.them, I think I’m getting rid of the vanities altogether, but in the meantime, my hairdryer is shoved into the same tiny space as the cleaning supplies.
We plan on redoing this bathroom, too.
‘Personal development first. Boobs second.’ Heh. You’ve given me a glimmer of hope on tackling my bathroom. Thanks.
Looks great–did you pitch all the partial tubes of stuff? I seem to have a ton of products in my vanity and wonder if I just need to break down and toss them out. Keep thinking I will use them but they are out of sight and therefore out of mind.
I tossed everything I haven’t used within the last month. So, I tossed everything. O_o
Oh good! I’m glad to see you were able to toss those items out, too. We really need so little to beautify.
It took me awhile, but eventually I tossed old lotions and soaps and medicine and vitamins that were 7-10 years old. I always “thought” I’d use them, but of course didn’t. It felt AMAZING to only have what I use. I’m pretty proud of our bathroom closet now! Oh, an aside, I just lay pretty scrapbooking paper in the drawers in the bathroom to cover up the uglyness. Now they’re so pretty it’s fun to open them (too bad it’s in the downstairs bathroom no-one uses). It’s a cheap, quick fix.
The contact paper does live on! Like Meg, I recently went to my parents’ home and came across a little trunk with my stuff. I covered it with that same contact paper, oh, about 20 years ago.
Still inspired by this series, I stayed up until 1:00 a.m. painting the downstairs toy closet. Don’t know how much my boys will appreciate it, but I am definitely not going to be ashamed anymore when visitors see it :)
Awesome!
If any of you do a project inspired by this series and live to blog about it, please drop a link to that post in the comments. :)
I’m *not* an expert, but I think that with where we live, the localized mold won’t be a problem. It will probably stay localized. But you could always prime the entire drawer if it bothers you.
I actually kind of like that contact paper. Big florals!
AWESOME!!!! {come do mine? ;}
m ^..^