While there may not be a GREAT deal of progress aesthetically, I have poured a great many hours into this project since my last update. In short, I reassembled the cabinets (including adding new storage), removed the mirror, got paint on the walls, and replaced the light fixture. BUT DAMN, IT WAS A STRUGGLE.

I mean, it wasn’t that bad. Really only the cabinet-reassembly crushed my soul. But since that’s first…

But You Were So Easy to Disassemble

I carved out about 15 – 30 minutes to put the doors and drawer fronts back onto the cabinets. After that, I planned on painting the bathroom. LOL.

What should have been a 30-, 45-minute MAX, task ended up taking 5 hours and almost ended in tears. Literally, everyone I know got the following image sent to them in some form or another:

But before we get to that, a few quick lessons on cabinet reassembly:

1. It’s not enough to just label which hinges go with which doors and call it a day. You must also label which hinge is the top/bottom hinge or risk doors that don’t close properly.
2. Drilling holes in drawer fronts is a timely process. Add an extra 15 minutes for every new piece of hardware you have to drill for.
3. It’s not, “measure twice, cut once.” It should be, “measure fifteen times, drill a tiny hole, drill with an increasingly large bit until you have what you need.” The only other option is, “Measure twice, drill once, then try to open up that drilled hole for 20 minutes because it is an eighth of an inch off.” That is not a good option.

I got through it, but just the door and drawer part took three hours of my life away. No joke.

Tilt Storage, or, 50 Shades of Rage

The damn tilt-a-shelf just about killed me. You saw the image above, that occurred after reading the instructions (three hours into reassembly) and following them. I drilled the holes based on the template then discovered that it was blatantly incorrect. A rage followed. A white-hot, uncontainable burning rage.

So once that burned out, I called my mom and she came over to help. No joke, these were the thing that broke me. The damn Rev-a-shelf broke me. But that’s okay, I am adult enough to admit it. Thankfully my mom has been there and gets it and helped me return to Earth so we could finish the job together.

Several Bridget Jones quotes later, it was done. These were a little $20 splurge that I rationalized because I had to put the false drawer fronts back on anyway. It would have been more work to remove them later to install this storage, so I just went ahead with it.

Now that I can use them, I love them. They work beautifully and really do give us some nice extra storage for the everyday items. But the installation instructions were beastly and you are working in a tiny, tight space the entire time. I would not recommend these to someone in the midst of another project. If this WAS your project, then you’d be fine. But not as a larger task. Nope. Not even for my worst enemy.

One Week Later…

After the cabinet debacle, I needed a little space from the project. So I took the rest of that weekend off (look! I’m normal!) and waited to start the paint part. Of course, before I could paint, I had to remove the mirror. Having taken one builder mirror off already upstairs, I was prepared for a good few spots of glue connecting it to the wall. (Why they glue it to the wall, I have no idea. The mirror I removed at the old house had been drilled in like normal. BUILDERS THESE DAYS!!) I used a chisel and a small pry bar and popped that baby off without any significant damage to the drywall. “Free stuff” on Craigslist helped me get rid of the mirror by the next morning! Woot!

Once I dug into the paint phase of the project, I knew we were home-free. My husband helped with the rolling after I did all the cutting in. (FWIW, we used the same Sherwin Williams “On the Rocks” shade of gray that we have in most of the house. Consistency, homes!) The hardest area was the ceiling line over the cabinets and in the shower. But damn, the Little Giant ladder is a superstar and can make any difficult height or angle a breeze. I had some wacky configurations going, but it meant I could be up close and personal to get a super clean ceiling line the entire way around. No sore back, no craning neck. And the ceiling line is BEAUTIFUL. My new favorite brush delivered in spades.

As the second coat of paint dried, I studied the instructions for the new light fixture. Lol, just kidding. I threw the power, hopped up onto the cabinet, and swapped out the light fixtures without even untaping the how-to booklet. This ain’t my first rodeo. I can do light electrical with my eyes closed.

The new light fixture and daylight (vs warm white) LED bulbs make a HUGE difference and the new paint is gorgeous. I love, love, love seeing the new pulls on the drawers and the light fixture up on the wall. My vision is really coming together and I couldn’t be happier. My husband is annoyed because now that he sees it, he loves it. He just wishes he could *see* it ahead of time the way I do. But I think it adds to the surprise and delight of these transformations!

On Our Way (gr)Out

Still to come:

1. Grouting the shower tile
2. Rehanging the art and towel rack
3. Hanging the new shelves
4. Installing the inherited mirrors

It may be a little while until the next update, but at least we can enjoy the new look and functional space again. It’s a good tease until the grout comes in and we can “finish” things up!