One Room Challenge Week 2: Terrazzo Tile and the Demo

Lessons Learned So Far

It's the second week of the One Room Challenge and we've learned a few lessons already. 

Demoing a bathroom involves an incredible amount of dust, some unfavourable smells and a garage full of building materials. You would think I would know this considering I've done several bathroom renovations for clients - but the difference here is that I get to design, stop by and chime in with how I would like the tile done and then I get to go home. I think I vacuumed four times this weekend alone.

The good news is, bathroom demo when done by my husband, goes very quickly.

The bad news is, we now have no main floor bathroom. Did I mention we live in a bungalow? The main floor is the floor. So now I find myself feeling like we are camping and planning out my basement bathroom trips strategically as to minimize stair climbs that involve baby gates, toddler negotiations and - did I mention I don't like basements?!

Oh well, I am keeping my eye on the prize and feeling more excited every day.

One thing I am incredibly excited for is that large format terrazzo tile. It's a whopping 24 x 24 and has just a little bit of sparkle mixed in with a ton of matte. At first I worried that it might be too trendy but when I brought it home, both of our daughters exclaimed that nothing less than this exact tile would be acceptable. I am now completely in love with it.

I love how it's so subtle depending on the light and cannot wait to get it on the new subfloor and other layers of whatever goes under tile (yes I leave these details to the contractors).

Demo was a family affair and I shared some pretty funny videos in my Instagram Stories of our girls going at the wall with a hammer.

It was so funny in fact (and apparently memorable), that our toddler Ben carried his plastic hammer up the stairs and into our living room only to ram it against the wall with a look of triumph (I suppose we will file this under another lesson learned - because despite the fact that he's not even two years old, he left a sizeable dent).

During the demo Andrew suggested adding a little more work to the project by removing this linen closet pictured above. The closet eats up the bathroom floor space and the door opened right into the area where we would be standing by the sink. Considering this bathroom is shared by five people, I think the added space will compensate for the reduced storage. Initially I worried about where we would put all of the things that are now safely hidden behind a door but I quickly came around to open shelving, baskets and hopefully a whole bunch of new towels.

Here is the bathroom floating built-in shelves inspiration

via Studio McGee (she has the best style!) 

Note how the shelving is framed in at the ceiling and the floor.

Here is the state of the bathroom currently after demo. Andrew has roughed in the built in area at the top and bottom of where the floating shelves will go. I love that he is willing to go the extra mile to add in these details (that will surely involve a very annoying drywalling and sanding process) to make our new bathroom exactly what we want.

What's Next?

Now that everything old is out and on our garage floor, Andrew has been busy framing the new built in shelving area, laying down new subfloor and marking out where electrical and plumbing will go. 

Meanwhile I have been busy partnering with some amazing brands and can't wait to share all of the goodies that will arrive in the mail. I feel compelled to add in a note regarding how these partnerships enabled this impromptu renovation. I often wonder how people can afford to just do full gut renovations all through their home so I want to be open about the costs of this renovation and how lucky we are to collaborate in kind on many of the elements. 

Want to check out more design inspiration and One Room Challenge projects? Follow along to see all of the projects shared by the featured designers & guest participants! And if you missed week one, hop over here to see the full plans for this main family bathroom renovation!