I sometimes watch the show Fixer Upper with Jo and Chip, and it always amazes me at how much they can do in such a short amount of time. Of course they don’t do it alone, they have lots of help. It’s a tv show. The houses are so affordable, and they end up looking so darn nice – it almost makes me want to move to Texas. Almost.
Jo’s tagline is “are you brave enough to take on a fixer upper?” And my answer to that is, “Did I have a choice?” Not only did I buy a fixer upper, but like those of us living in the real world, I had no team of contractors (or a handyman husband) to make the fixes. And, I had to live in the disgusting house while the work was slowly completed as I had the money to hire people to fix it. I did what was most necessary, one job at a time. I lived in a cold and leaky house and was just happy to finally have my own home.
This summer I had my own little bathroom renovation done. My daughter’s boyfriend is a carpenter, and he suggested putting beadboard on my bathroom walls. As you can see from the before photos the walls had ugly paneling on the lower half. This is nowhere near being a big bathroom renovation, but it’s an example of what a big difference a small change can make.
The wall next to the toilet was covered with duct tape (that was my own handy fix!) after the plumber had to cut it to access the tub / shower plumbing right after I moved in. There was old, gold and white tile on the walls behind the paneling. That big green shelf came with the house. In fact my house had an all-over, dark green and bright yellow palette. Hideous!
As you can see, the bathroom needed help in the worst way. (By the way, I’d already had the tub re-finished after I moved in. Talk about disgusting.)
Scott did a wonderful job on my bathroom walls. He had to remove the toilet for the weeks it took to finish the project. He even took off the heater and stripped off the layers of gross paint, and I then repainted it white. As the beadboard went up, and the new trim was added, I painted it. My daughter and I painted the upper part of the walls a pretty blue color. Then I painted a little bookcase to put next to the sink as additional storage for towels. As you can see, the green shelf is gone. It’s been replaced with an over-the-toilet shelf that was in the upstairs bathroom.
The bathroom is not done yet. Soon it will have a brand new window! Then I will put up a new window shade and my bathroom fixer upper will be complete. It’s not perfect, but it’s so much better than what it was.
Yes, Jo, I am brave enough.
New England's Narrow Road 