Our downstairs bathroom – and the only bathroom when we moved in – is a mess. Eventually, we’ll renovate but it is a low priority on the list of work to be done. The bathroom is functional but it isn’t pretty. Thomas has the camera today so I can’t show you the present nightmare but here’s the picture from the MLS listing before we bought the house:
The old lady knick-knacks are gone but the filthy floor tile, uneven walls, grubby wallpaper, crumbling ceiling tiles and the cartoon skunk stickers below the mirror and other random places on the walls remains. There’s also no storage with the exception of an ancient shelf above the toilet and it’s nothing you would want to place anything you want to touch again. Unfortunately, we have to use this bathroom for Adam’s bath as our bathroom upstairs doesn’t have a tub.
At the very least, we needed a clean space to put towels and tub toys. I also have most of the cleaning supplies in there because we don’t have space anywhere else. I thought about a cheap wood shelf for the corner next to the sink but the space is very narrow and the floor and walls uneven. Thomas offered to build a shelf with wood we had leftover from other renovation projects.
The new shelf fits perfectly, holds towels, toys, lots of cleaning supplies, extra toilet paper and there’s still room.
(Edited to add: I realize that all the cleaning products within a baby’s reach looks like we’re morons but Adam doesn’t have access to this room for many reasons. When he has his bath, I undress him in his bedroom and hand him to Thomas from the doorway of the bathroom. The only thing that he touches (or touches him) in this room is the bathtub.)
Cost: Nothing but Thomas’ time and talent.
Saved: $0. Not spent $20 – $40.
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Great job doing yourself what you otherwise would have purchased! Are you putting that $20 into your savings goal now?
I can’t count this towards our savings but am happy that we were able to solve the problem without spending anything!
You definitely have to work with what you have! I can’t wait to see the “after” pic! 🙂 Great job!!
I can relate with this! We have just one bath in our home, and you can tell that an elderly woman lived here before we bought the house two years ago. Renovating it is not in the budget, but we can definitely take your lead and work with what we have.
I’ve been thinking a lot about some of our storage needs and how I can take care of them while doing this challenge. Ill certainly be looking towards the scraps of wood in the basement now to see what can be made. Thanks!
Looks great! 🙂 And lots of room on it for “stuff”!! I always kept our cleaners under the bathroom sink too… kids never played in the bathroom or had access to it, so i’d never peg you for an “idiot”. 😉
It is a good use of space! Once your baby is bigger, you could add a door on the front and cover the exposed side – a few hinges and a latch aren’t hard to put on and you keep the functional shelf.