Daily Home Renovation Tips

In today’s home renovation tip we have a ‘before’ and a partial ‘after’ picture of the existing existing en suite. It is a partial after as it shows only one side of the en suite. When we get the replacement battery for our 7 year old digital camera we’ll include the other side of the ‘after’ en suite.

BEFORE
The picture below shows the sink & cupboard plus the jacuzzi step up tub in the existing en suite in a very crowded bathroom. This was not going to meet the needs of our physically challenged family member. They took up way too much room for the family member to be able to maneuver therein. Plus, they were not usable as designed. The sink & cupboard and the bath tub were removed, along with the tile flooring as it was dangerous should the family member fall. Also removed was the wall paper, lighting and the swing type door (not shown in picture). 

AFTER
The picture below shows the current en suite including: - Free standing sink, including an automatic faucet
- More maneuvering room (i.e. less crowded bathroom)
- New lighting
- Berber carpet replaced the tile flooring
- Pocket door replacing the swing type door for more room

The toilet and new tub cannot be seen on the right (we will post a future picture).The free standing sink was a great idea. It required horizontal support 2 X 4’s in behind the drywall and for good measure we also had installed a metal support bracket underneath that covered most of the bottom part of the sink followed by a 90 degree turn so it also lay flush against the wall immediately beneath the sink. The sink also has a non-obtrusive towel bar on the front (although not being used in the picture).

The automatic faucet was more expensive than we thought. Since they are in all airport and hotel washrooms we thought how much more expensive could it be. It was almost triple the cost. However, it is easier for our family member and saves water as the family member does not have to be reminded to turn it off when done. A lot of work went into renovating this bathroom, but it now meets the needs of the family member, and that’s why we did this move and renovation in the first place. 

Lastly, notice the mirror. Can you tell how around the outer edge of the mirror it seems to be the same color / colour as the paint on the wall? We’ll talk about that in another tip.