The Can

Probably the slowest of the projects to be completed, the bathrooms were before and are still nearly identical to each other in style. Except now the style is better.

The smaller of the two bathrooms was especially odd. The toilet and bathtub were in an enclosed room...

(note: lovely, stained linoleum)

(geriatric-friendly bathtub)

...but the sink was a part of the bedroom.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I went to work one day and came home to discover that dad and I had taken away something completely different from the previous evening's conversation.

Conversation: "BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH."

Anne's interpretation: "Let's wait until the Fall to renovate the bathroom."

Dad's interpretation: "I'd better find the crowbar & get a new blade for the Sawzall tomorrow."

If you've ever undertaken a home renovation project, you know that 10% of the effort is expended in destroying old. The other 90% is building it back again. And, at least for me, 20% of that 90% is deciding WHAT to buy: what tiles, what sink, what faucet fixture, what towel bar, what color paint... (Then again, I wasn't the one actually doing the work. Dad may see it differently.)

I knew I wanted white subway tiles on the walls and smaller mosaic tiles on the floor. I first went to a fancy tile place and wound up going home with over $1,000 in tiles for just one bathroom. I was vaguely disturbed. Dad was appalled. Cousin Catherine dragged me to Home Depot to compare prices. Home Depot had the white subway tile at 1/3 of the price of the fancy tile store.

I was also in the market for a new sink and vanity cabinet. Home Depot & Lowe's had plenty reasonably priced traditional looking options, and a few pricier modern options. But IKEA had what I was looking for at the right price. Unfortunately it wasn't in the right location. Charlotte was sold out. Virginia was sold out. New Jersey was sold out. In fact, every place was sold out EXCEPT the store in New Haven, CT. Good thing I knew someone in New Haven. I called Edmund and he agreed to pick up my sink, which I would collect from him some weeks later.

Some weeks later came to pass, and I drove up to NY to pick up the sink. But the boxes didn't look like they contained the cabinet I had specified. And no box looked like it concealed a ceramic sink of any kind. But Edmund did have a receipt proving purchase of 1 Lillangen cabinet, 1 ceramic sink, 1 package of Swedish Fish, and 1 chocolate bar. As far as I could tell, however, only the Swedish Fish and the chocolate actually left Ikea.

Dad, Edmund and I piled into the car with the mystery Ikea boxes to figure out our mistake. Of course, the kind folks at Ikea weren't about to take our word that we just didn't get our proper packages. They would have to consult the security video and get back to us in about 48 hours. But I was leaving to return to Raleigh in 8 hours. 48 hours wouldn't do. I think the customer support rep took pity on me, and after some investigation she discovered that my package was still sitting in the warehouse, marked "LEFT BEHIND BY CUSTOMER." That's right folks. Edmund managed to abandon his purchases and thieve someone else's in the same action.

Well, that's all water under the bridge now. I got the correct items home and assembled them with the help of Ikea's very clear, step by step directions:

Anyway, after all the time and trouble, I believe the end result was worth it: