Hardest Part is Done

It doesn't look like much has been accomplished in our master bath, but really the toughest part (for now) is done.  The awful cuts for the bathtub and strange corners are finished.  We might actually have a tile floor by the end of this weekend!

Slow but Steady

Our master suite has been a very slow but steady process.  It's also been a process that leaves me almost useless to helping Trent.  I can paint and I can help unload cement board, but that's about my limit at this stage.  Building a shower floor that has a perfect, consistent slant towards the drain is something I understand but have NO ability to produce.  Whew...good thing Trent can!  With any luck, we'll be starting on the title work early next week (and I can go back to being helpful).

Trent was able to install the shower drain (which I'm super excited about!).  When we lay the tile, we'll put tile over the top of it so it looks invisible.

A Little Trick

I'll let you in on a trick that we've learned after many projects:  buy all the items you need PRIOR to starting the project.  Truthfully, we don't always have this luxury (time, money, pure coincidence can change it all in a heartbeat).  However, when we can buy it all ahead it saves us so much headache! 
For the master suite/bathroom project, we were able to purchase most items ahead.  For the bathroom, it was critical because several of the items were special order.  By having several weeks of prep time, we were able to shop the items and get some great deals!  We've done all our demo and new painting so that this weekend we can start putting the bathroom together.  Below are pics of our assembled pieces for this project.  The only item not pictured is a really cool teakwood bench (for the shower)....I'm hoping Trent knows where it's at, because I can't locate it right now.
1.  Tile Backer board:  Trent loves this brand and it's sometimes tough to locate.  We were lucky enough to score it on sale!

 2.  The shower drain (which will be flat, in the ground) that allows us to have the shower floor be completely flat to the bathroom floor....no step-in.  This should have been CRAZY expensive, but Trent found a guy in Florida who handmade it for a fraction of the cost (the downside is that he didn't speak much English).

 3.  The actual floor and shower wall tile.  It's 12"x24" and I LOVE it.

 4.  The 16" rain shower head - I refuse to take it out of the box and get fingerprints on it until we install it.  Once again, Trent found an amazing deal on this item (which is great since there was NO WAY we were going to spend the going rate for this item).

 5.  The granite for our sinks.  We have terrible luck with buying vanity tops...seriously, it's just comical at this point.  So we ordered this baby early!

6.  The stand alone bathtub (this may be my favorite item).

I Blame Pinterest

I blame Pinterest entirely for this current project.  The beginning plan was to just paint the master bathroom.  The second plan was to just replace the tile and paint in the master bathroom.  The third plan was to also remove the shower insert and tile that as well.  ONE HUNDRED plans later (and many hours on Pinterest), we have a fully demo'd bathroom.  While we are still disputing talking through exactly what the finished product will look like, the new stand alone tub came in and I think I'm going to love it!

 

 

**Sometimes we put new stuff in its place just to imagine what it will look like.  Yes, it means we have to move big items (like a tub) multiple times, but it's totally worth it.**