More Civility in the Bathroom, It’s Complicated Out Back

Last week I got started lining up missing parts for all kinds of things. Like my bedroom door. I got the other bedroom done to rent it but mine? Pfft.

A lot of the work is on hold for the Irishman. (The door is on hold until the goods arrive.) But the bathroom stuff, at least the most important bathroom stuff, is done!

I started with 2 towel bars mounted to drywall. Not much to say about that; it was an easy job. As for the towels, they were from my mom. Back when the house was half demolished she kept a tile in her purse to get the blue right.

And she lost a big fight with my grandmother trying to make her get rid of the pink and green flower towel. So imagine my disappointment when she didn’t comment on it!

Then came the towel bar inside the tub surround. Same style, but the anchors that came with the bar won’t work on tile. So I went to Home Depot, asked not 1 but 2 people, ended up sitting on the floor in the aisle looking at the bottom shelf while debating with the sales guy. In the end I got toggle bolts, which he thought was overkill. Here they are threaded through the mounting plate for the bar.

And then it came time to drill the tile. This was terrible. It took about a half hour per hole and made a lot of that red dust I never wanted to see again. And this was with a fancy carbide tile and glass bit.

And as for the magnetic soap dish, I decided to go ahead and get the cheapo one. Turns out it’s chrome colored plastic, the instructions are in Korean, and the metal thing you drive into the soap has a smiley face on it. It goes on the tile with a 3M stickum pad. Perfect. It is even cheaper looking than I thought it would be but you can’t actually see it.

More holes. More dust. 4 hours of drilling. Ugh.

And here it is with the bathroom and me all cleaned up! The tub corners (and the mold growing in the tile grout) are free and clear!

I still want to get a second shelf. While I was doing this it came to my attention that my roommate is keeping her razor in her bedroom to keep the bathtub clutter-free. So I’ll be starting this fun all over again soon.

And now I have a container garden in the making! Mostly herbs and tomatoes but I got some flowers too. I used any containers that fell into my lap, whether they are antique crockery or plastic.

Then after this a friend texted me that he’s moving to DC for the summer and I can have his containers and plants. Do I want them? Duh. They’re free. So for now I’m looking a little like a hoarder again.

I’m thinking of redoing the coconut liners and putting the long boxes on my back fence and then putting the other containers wherever I can make them fit. I’m a little short on showy color for now so maybe I’ll get some petunias. I have plenty of sun. He did give me summer pansies and stuff.