Projecting Home: Bathroom Phase I

Once we got the shower working, we wanted to make our bathroom a little more personalized. The future goal of this room is to fully remodel it, but for now we will stick to Phase I.

Bathroom Phase 1:
- Paint Vanity
- Replace Hardware (pulls, hinges)
- Replace Drawer Slides
- Install Towel Hooks and Shower Curtain Rod
- Organize Drawers
- Caulk the tub

Before Pictures

View as you walk in

Shower area

Vanity

Vanity and sink

Look at that wonderful liner paper! gag
And yes, those are OLD BRACES BINDERS IN THE CORNER, GROSS!!!!

Ugly cabinet and hardware (same as in kitchen)

Not to mention the terrible rolling drawers

Getting Started

Step one was to remove all the doors and drawers.

This was easy, just pull the drawers out and unscrew the door.

Nasty stains!

Here is the cheap old drawer slides, rolling wheels with a hanging slide on top.

The wood literally slid on the wheels and some of the drawers had really warn down as a result.

Just look at the dust!

Painting

To do the painting, we did the following process.

Thanks Young House Love!

1. Scrub like hell to get off junk

2. Sand with 3M 60 grit sand paper

3. Sand with 3M 220 grit sand paper

4. Degloss with Klean-Strip "Easy Liquid Sander Deglosser" we got from Home Depot

5. Prime with Zinsser 1-2-3 primer

6. Paint with Benjamin Moore Advance Paint in "Decorator's White" for the insides and "Copley Gray" for the front surfaces of the vanity

Here are some pictures of the process

Hardware and Drawer Slides

The Next thing was to replace these terrible drawer slides

We used Hickory bottom mount ball bearing slides

They seem to work pretty good...

Especially when you buy the correct length...

I did have to make one little fix up.

In order for the drawer slide to connect properly on the bottom, I glued a shim to act as a spacer. If this was not installed then the slide would be uneven.

Putting the hardware back on was the last task.

First I measured center vertically

Then horizontally

I used a template and picked the holes closest to center and marked them.

Here is what the handle looks like

Notice that the handles will counter sink into the drawer

Pick a drill bit that is larger than the protrusion

You will use this for your counter sink.

I also put some painters tape down to avoid splinters

Here are the drill bits I used.

The small one was 3/32" that started the hole

Then I used 3/16" for the through hole
Then 9/32" for the countersink (this was perfect for the handle)

To finish the installation, just screw in the hardware from the back.

And you are all set!

Since we used the same size hinges, we were able to reuse the holes.

Attach to the door first.

Then attach to the cabinet.

Make sure the door is level.

How to Caulk a Tub

This is actually really easy, you just clean, tape, caulk, wipe, remove tape.
Thanks YHL!

Clean with a utility knife

Or our friend "Mr. Handy"

Tape at your width desired.

Load your caulk gun and look BA.

After applying, run your finger to smooth it out.

Remove the tape.

OPTIONAL:

If a few spots aren't super smooth after running your finger prior to removing the tape, you can run your finger again. But BEWARE! This can really mess with your setup if you don't apply your pressure appropriately!