The Beauty of Free Time...

So when I moved into this apartment earlier in the year, it had a lot of great qualities - large, open, plenty of storage space.  It also had some drawbacks - the owner hasn't put a lot into it over the years.  The floors need to be refinished, a few windows are actually cracked in places, but the thing that really bugged me (once I completed painting the living room) was the bathroom.

It looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in years, and it was kinda blah.

Uh, yeah.  I hated that shower rod.  It was a tension rod and the rubber on the ends had slightly decayed, thereby causing the rod to be hung so high that my curtain barely met the lip of the bathtub.  Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Gross, just gross.

Also, while I did like the brightness of the room, that yellow and white combo wasn't really working for me.  In addition, that unused towel bar in the left corner - it was rusted.  Ick.

And the caulk around the tile trim?  Well, it had turned GRAY, and not only that, but in certain areas, it wasn't applied so well and certain parts of the bathroom had smears of gray caulking.  Yuck!

Last Sunday I walked into my bathroom and thought, "Yeah, this isn't going to cut it any longer."  Five minutes later, I had a putty knife in hand and was off....

Goodbye, yucky gray caulk!

In addition, I had a rusty soap dish.  Normally, I'd just buy a new one, but a special spot was cut out of the tile for it, and I knew I'd have to work with what I had.

Beautiful, isn't it?  Ackk!

And away we go!

Rusty towel bar removed.  Check.  Putty applied over holes.  Check.

While painting the primer, I realized that I was a teensy bit too short and couldn't reach the ceiling in certain areas...so I finished the trim near the ceiling in a pair of platform heels.  Who knew pointy shoes could be so functional?!?

For the soap dish, I scraped off the paint, sanded out the rust, and dunked the dish in a can of white primer that I had around the house.  Looks better, right?

I hadn't planned on replacing the faucet (above), but when I was at Home Depot buying a new shower rod, I felt inclined.  I didn't particularly like this faucet AND it leaked at the base.  

Voila!  No leaks!  It's amazing what a little plumber's putty can do!

Check out that glorious shower rod!!!!

And white caulk!  

Here's the end result....

 It's hard to tell in the pictures, but the bathroom is now a really pretty navy - not royal blue, I promise.

Total Time: 2 days (novice level)

Total Cost: ~$150

Joy of having a decent bathroom:  Priceless

And it's just one more thing I wouldn't have had the energy to do if I were still working.