It all started with a simple question..

I asked my sweetie if he'd mind if I painted over the icky bathroom wallpaper as a quick fix.   It was completely covered in wallpaper from the late 80's.   I wasn't able to wash it because it was paper, not vinyl and it was filthy.   I was tired of the nasty peach and off white which looked dark, drab and dirty.   I did check to see that indeed, you could paint over wallpaper by first coating it with a decent primer. 

But no, my sweetie said he'd just strip the wallpaper off and then we could paint.  Then he decided that we could get rid of the nasty peel and stick tiles because the room was small enough for vinyl flooring remnants which are usually available inexpensively.   More work than I'd anticipated, but still not an awful lot.   Then I mentioned that I'd paint the ugly plywood vanity as well.  It was painted in that awful off-white paint and no longer came clean.  I guess that happens when your paint is 20 years old.  The vanity counter top seeped dirt and didn't quite fit the bottom part, so my sweetie figured we should just change it out too.  And so the discussion went....   Just so you know, this particular redo wasn't in the works for a couple of years since it was useable, just ugly and nasty.

 Then came the actual work part.   The wallpaper was stuck to wallpaper which was stuck directly to the drywall.   We couldn't even get the wallpaper off by steaming it.  It was a horrible job,  beyond words.  Why would anyone not put a basecoat of something on fresh drywall?   We couldn't find an affordable piece of flooring in town and weren't going into the city so ended up with ceramic tile, which at least is fairly easy to install.

  I wasn't fast enough to get a full before picture.  This one is missing the different wallpaper print on the bottom half and the little border separating the two of them.  I've been told that the old cupboards were better built than anything you can get nowadays, but the drawer fronts were starting to wiggle off amongst other problems with it.  Cheap plywood is still cheap plywood whether it is new or old.. not better I think.

 It still needs decorating and a punch of colour, plus some details like towel bars added and some towel storage etc,  but to all extents and purposes, it's finally done.   It's brighter now.  It is easier to clean and I think it looks much better.