Can I Use My Bathroom? Not Yet.

As I write this, it’s more than a week into the remodel of my master bathroom, and I’m happy to say there have been no ugly surprises. Well, when my contractor, Vince, took the mirror down he uncovered some of the horrible pink and green wallpaper that used to be in the master bedroom. I shivered at the sight as I remembered the days spent with my dad trying to get that stuff off the walls. However, I’ll take the memory of monstrous wallpaper over the experiences I’ve heard from other people. For example, my hair stylist found black mold permeated her drywall and had to have men in hazmat suits remove it before she and her husband could continue with their remodeling.

Each day after work, I’ve gone into my bathroom to see the progress. Vince completed almost all the demo work on the first day. Only a small patch of yellow and white tiles in one section of the floor remained. The next day he roughed in the electrical. After that, it took him a couple of days to put up drywall, mud the seams and rough in the shower drain. On day five he cut the niche in the shower. As goofy as it sounds, that has made me the happiest so far. My old shower had no place to put anything except a bar of soap. Now, I will have a niche to put all my stuff and no longer have to risk kicking things around the shower. Yes! Already that makes all my current inconveniences worth it.

To make things as easy as possible, I moved into the guest bedroom. As much as I planned ahead, I’m finding it takes longer to do many things due to the disruption of my routine. I’m also slightly more sleep-deprived because I’m in a different bed.

My cat, Calder, has had to adjust as well. When I leave in the morning, I put him in my home office to keep him safe and out of everyone’s way. He has all the essentials – food, water, and a temporary litter box. I think he likes having an upstairs restroom, but the novelty appears to be wearing thin since he’s begun trying to escape when I take him into the office. So far, I’m winning the fight to keep him in there.

Though the remodeling is going well, there’s still much to be done, and I remain somewhat braced against the unknown. So, please keep sending your positive thoughts my way. It certainly helps! Ohmmmmmm.