The Problem

I have two bathrooms and one of which in the three years of living in this apartment I have never once used. Sure I have used the mirror and I’ve relieved myself by emptying my bladder in there but I have never once taken a bath or a shower in there, nor has my ass ever touched the toilet seat. Why? Because every time I walked into the bathroom I wanted to puke.

Just Nasty …

Picture a lightly lime green colored sink, toilet, and bathtub. Then picture dark pink 1/4 inch tiles poorly grouted and speckled with green gold and silver flakes. If that isn’t enough to make you want to vomit the walls which I imagine were once white were now brown. This bathroom truly made me nauseous

I’m fairly secure in my masculinity but every time I walked into that bathroom I felt that my manhood was threatened …HA. (Kidding of course) On top of all of this the last fool who lived here decided that he needed more privacy. So he built a wall on the back of the tub which just happens to face the only window. So in doing so he blocked all air flow and natural light while building a shoddy and shitty mold infested wall.

Get to Work …

So I figured what the hell and I did what anyone else in my shoes would of done (That being the shoes of an anal individual who refused to use his own bathroom for three years ….DoH!) …I broke out a sledge hammer and knocked that bitch down. Of course in the process I tore half the tile off the wall because Liquid Nails was used in the walls construction. So in solving one problem I created another by making the tub and shower unusable as the walls were no longer water proof. (They never really were anyway)

After a few weeks of procrastination I finally decided to finish fixing the damn thing. Now don’t get me wrong I don’t mind doing work around the house and in fact if you need some work done I’m probably the best guy to call. However its summer and nothing blows ass more then spending a week trapped inside a small ass bathroom sweating your sack off plastering, sanding, painting, scraping, grinding, caulking, gluing, etc. while inhaling toxic fumes day after day when you could be outside enjoying the weather.

The Fix

Anyway I decided to go ahead and install a tub round. You know one of those tub fitter things that you put up over the existing wall? Anyway after buying what I needed I brought it home and taped it to the wall to get a feel for it. After doing this the room looked even worse. The colors clashed with the pretty pink (Ack!) so apparently I was going to have to go all out and do the whole bathroom.

So that’s what I did. I painted the bathroom in the same color scheme I did my kitchen/bar in which was Rice Cake and Coal Mine. The Rice cake is a light beige color similar to what you see in most newly built town homes although it tends to dry a little darker. Charcoal is exactly what you think it is …Black! So after some overly tedious hand painting of straight lines with model brushes in order to give the bathroom some depth and then installing the shower walls with a new shower head and fixtures I’m finally finished.

Why Do It … ??

I get asked from time to time why I continue to pump money into an apartment that isn’t mine. The answer is simple …My Land Lord loves me and he knows I am only increasing the value of his home. Everything I’ve done were things on his to do list so in his eyes I’m saving him time as well. Plus every penny I spend comes off the rent. If I spend $500.00 to make improvements in a month then I give him the receipts and the balance on the rent.

In other words I’m not spending any money I’m simply paying my rent and making the place more livable in the process. I’m just glad I have Land Lords that are cool and allow me to do whatever the hell I want to the place. Of course it helps that they know I know what the hell I’m doing. In truth I make out like a bandit here and will not move until I decide to build. I have it way to good here to leave so why not make it more my own while I stay.

What’s Next?

Well I need to finish the kitchen but I imagine the next thing I will do is repaint the empty bedroom as it is a light pink. You don’t really notice it during daytime hours but at night you stand there and think WTF was with these people and pink? This is also the room I am looking to rent out and if it’s not pink that’s a plus …HeH.

So over the next few days I need to get my ass in gear and finish all the half started projects I have running so the place is presentable for the party I’m throwing next weekend on the 21st. Lots of sweat and little sleep … Bah.

So like I said remodeling sucks.

I’ll post some before and after pictures later.