Designing Therapy
I've been gifted with some pretty amazing people. One of them is Todd.
Todd came along in my work family at a time when his knack of separating the small stuff from the big stuff and communicating it succinctly was blessed relief to me. He was positive when I was negative, he was encouraging when I was down, and he was steady when I was topsy-turvy.
Todd has a pretty incredible life story and he's only 36. He's fought in war and come home scarred but not damaged. He's created a perfectly lovely family with a gorgeous wife and 4 beautiful kids. He's built a thriving business based on his ability to see a story, condense it into the most important parts, then tell it through pictures, music and emotion. He has a large and ever-growing group of friends.
And now, he also has Metastatic Melanoma.
Talk about a gut-punch. And I'm speaking for myself. Talk about anger. Talk about every futile emotion I could feel. I had 'em.
None was particularly helpful to Todd (or to me if I'm being transparent, but I'm kinda used to wandering around in the weeds of futility from time to time. I'd insert the eye-rolling emoji here if I knew how to do it).
Soon after this journey began Todd gifted me with a text that just said "can you do something for me?" Oh, heck yeah. He asked for help with a master bathroom renovation for he and his sweetie pie wife.
Well, speaking from way too much experience, I've discovered that when wallowing in the gulf of sadness or anger there's a life preserver out there. That life preserver is called "quit thinking about how you're (which means me) feeling and get busy doing something for someone".
I went out to get a look at the space and hear what Todd and his wife wanted. A new, super fabulous jetted tub with a built-in heater, speakers, bluetooth, and changeable led lights was on the menu. (They're young and have the techno brains to figure out how to turn it on. #goals)
We all agreed on more natural light and a spa-like, relaxing space. Here, a few before pictures.
And here's the sketch I drew that same night.
To know Todd is to know that he gets things moving...no grass grows under his feet. This project got underway fast...and Todd's BFF, Scotty, was the man to do it. Scotty and his crew at E&M Construction in Dandridge were incredible and got this bathroom transformed within a week. Golly, it makes the bathroom renovation by Outdoorman and I look positively sloth-like by comparison.
Demolition took just about half a day and then it was on to the fun part. The existing floor was removed to make way for those ceramic tiles that look like wood. Those are just oh-so-smart in a bathroom. We found them in-stock at Lowe's which was super handy. Just look at a before and an after.
Removing the closet from the middle of the bathroom revealed space for 2 more windows. Yee haw...there can never be too much natural light in a bathroom and extra points if a trio of windows is placed in a wall. (I have an affinity for odd numbers...and occasionally for odd people.)
The old bathroom was dark. Dark, like in wall color and dark, like in one small recessed fixture in the ceiling to light up the tub, toilet and shower. Eww for dark bathrooms.
We chose to paint the new shiplap walls with one of my favorite Benjamin Moore whites, "Swiss Coffee". The vintage style bead board Todd chose for the ceiling was stained with Minwax, "Special Walnut" for added warmth. With so much of a bathroom being white, a bit of natural wood is always a good thing. Todd decided the vanity cabinets would look better painted so we picked the BM shade "Revere Pewter" for that. It's a great shade of warm grey and made 'em look like new.
Before painting.
Additional lighting was added with recessed halogen lights over each sink and the shower. Two new fixtures in an industrial style replaced the non-descript builder's choice over the sinks. We chose a long iron feature light for over the tub and can't wait until it comes in. These new fixtures will add bunches of light when needed, but sometimes, a soothing soak in the tub is in order so put all the lights ya can on dimmer switches.
Some of my other posts have revealed a tendency to mix metals in a room. I think it adds to the "collected over time" look. I managed to talk Todd in to polished nickel for the towel hooks but it was a no-go when I tried sneaking in a bit of unlacquered brass (#givebrassachance). The existing dark bronze sink faucets remain and will go well with the vintage-look dark mirrors that are a'comin.
UPDATE: The gorgeous new mirrors arrived and then we realized the vanity lights were too low. Todd had a genius idea to turn the lights upside down and that worked like a charm. Just take a look at our vanity before and after.
Oh, hey! Note to self...make sure I'm out of the picture next time.
The finish line for the new and improved bathroom is now in sight. What started with Todd asking for help designing a bathroom to ease his aches ended up easing some of mine.
Thanks, Todd. What's next?
