The bathroom's painted. It took two coats of the Behr primer and two coats of the Eddie Bauer. The Behr covered very well but just needed the extra coat for good measure. I'm starting to suspect Ms. Laura's sister smoked. That end of the house was hers. I didn't suspect smoking since I didn't smell any residual odors but when I took down the cover to the exhaust fan, it was extra funky. Yellow and all gummy and just nasty. Anyway, the paint color turned out fantastic and was exactly what I had hoped; white with just a very feint hint of grey. If you're ever using the Valspar Eddie Bauer paint, work quickly. I'm no slacker but by the time I had cut in and gone back to start rolling, the roller started sticking to the brush strokes and it almost blistered. It would've been better had I not cut in the whole room first, but did each wall at a time to keep it fresh. This paint dries very quickly, and I still prefer Behr for consistency, coverage, and workability.
The antique medicine cabinet and sink are in place and the whole room looks amazing despite still having an ugly yellow fiberglass shower (I just shut the curtain and try not to acknowledge it). For the sink, I chose to keep the original basin taps that came on it. They appeared to be in good shape except for a small amount of pitting. Plus, I didn't have the money to spend on a new faucet like I wanted, which basically looked like these, anyway. I also used rigid supply lines and chrome piping for a more authentic look since flexible lines weren't available long ago. Those details made a major difference, I think. When I had initially tried the electrical connections on the medicine cabinet, nothing worked. I bought two new starters for the ballasts and two new bulbs and now everything's good as new. Without a doubt, that cabinet is the item that really ties the room together. I texted my friend, Jeff, and told him I could never thank him enough for such a cool housewarming gift and sent him a photo of it, finally in its place after fifty-one years in a box. Since it was in the original box I didn't want to destroy all the packing just for nostalgia's sake, so I saved the shipping label. I also took a picture of the back of the sink where it's stamped with the date of manufacture. I had to use a pencil and smudge it with my finger so the impression could be seen. How nice it is to finally have a sink in there and not have to stick my hands in the shower to wash them! I can't help but wonder if this is what the bathroom would've looked like, had it been a part of the original house and not an add-on.
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| Guess where I was sitting when I took this picture? :-) |
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| Sink date: February 8, 1945 |
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| "Bin No. 11 Date: 2/5/60 Register No. 1755" "From C.M. McClung & Co. The Home of Honest Hardware" "Just over at Knoxville Tennessee" "To: Wagner Hdw & (looks like 'F' and can't read the rest)" "Statesville, NC" |
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| Good luck getting warm water. It's either hot or cold unless you swish your hands back and forth really fast. |
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