The One Room Challenge, which takes place each April and October, involves transforming a room in just six weeks while blogging the process with weekly posts each Thursday. As you can see, I'm off to a great start by posting a day late on the first week! But if you think that's bad, just wait until you see the room.
The room I'm tackling is the guest ensuite shower room as it is the only remaining room in the house that is virtually untouched since the day we moved in. We put off doing it for so long because we don't really need it; after all, it'll only be used a couple of times a year when guests come to stay. On the other hand, when guests do come, it's always such a let-down to open the door and see bare plaster walls, the plywood sub-floor, and everything that should be installed in the room just stacked up against the wall in boxes. It has been a forgotten corner of the house for too long, and now it's time to show it some love.
But before we get started, let's have a look at the before.
The room hasn't been completely ignored up until now. I have already painted the pine door leading from the guest room, as well as the windowsill, in Old White by Annie Sloan. Hubby also replaced the brushed steel door handle with black cast iron knobs and spray-painted the brass hinges and plates to match.
The plumbing for the wash basin was originally installed with a pedestal sink in mind. But we wanted to add some storage to this tiny space by having a cabinet (vanity) underneath the sink, so we had the plumbing moved from the floor onto the wall behind the sink.
You can still see the little 'Mickey Mouse' on the floor where the waste pipe and hot and cold water inlets originally came through! The patching on the wall where we chased for the new plumbing was just roughed in a while back, so that will need to be tidied up before we paint the room.
Other than that, this room is unchanged since the day we first viewed the house.
The soil pipe and water inlet for the toilet are in the floor underneath the window. Opposite the window wall is a 90cm shower tray. It's nice to have a generous-sized shower, but it really dominates this small room. That's why we've chosen a shower enclosure with a sliding clear glass door and a reflective chrome frame.
For some bizarre reason, the plumber installed the shower tray with the drain against the back wall so, once the shower enclosure goes up, it won't be easy to access it for cleaning etc. Then again, that's just one in a long list of weird-and-not-so-wonderful things the plumber did in this house.
Above the shower tray, you can see the electrical and plumbing outlets for the shower unit itself.
Dangling down from the top of that picture, you can see the pull-cord from the isolation switch for the shower, which is installed in the ceiling. There is also a flush-mounted globe light fixture that the builder installed. I hate them because I've yet to see one of these lights that is anything other than a glowing insect graveyard. I have no idea how the flies get in, but they always do.
Next to the shower is a radiator. We intend to move that onto the back wall, just like we did in the master ensuite. In its current position, it seems to close off that space beside the shower, and we need to make the most of every square inch of space in this tiny room. By moving it onto the back wall, it gives the feeling that it's easier to walk into that space and so it seems less like wasted space.
Well, that's the not-so-grand 'before' tour of the guest ensuite. I can't wait to start making some changes in here! The plan is to:
- Level the sub-floor
- Move the radiator
- Relocate the light switch
- Paint the ceiling and walls
- Tile the shower enclosure
- Tile the floor
- Paint the sink unit
- Install the shower
- Install the shower enclosure
- Fit skirting boards
- Plumb in the sink
- Plumb in the toilet
- Change the light fixture
- Add a wall light
- Hang a mirror and some artwork
- Finishing touches: toilet roll holder, accessories etc.
It's a lot to get done in a very short time-frame, so cross your fingers for me that I can pull it off.
I'll get into the specifics of the design plan next week but, in the meantime, here's a sneak preview of what's in store:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJfwYJ9A-la/?taken-by=thehousethatwill
Follow The House that Will
Facebook | Instagram | Bloglovin'
I promise to post on time from now on, so check back next Thursday to see more. And of course, do also check out all the other projects being undertaken as part of the One Room Challenge. Last time, the challenge involved over 200 rooms ... that's a lot of inspiration!
Related posts:
One Room Challenge: Guest Ensuite Reveal
One Room Challenge: Guest Ensuite (Week 5)
One Room Challenge: Guest Ensuite (Week 4)
One Room Challenge: Guest Ensuite (Week 3)
One Room Challenge: Guest Ensuite (Week 2)
