1964, you can have your sink back now

So you guys may remember a few months ago, we redid the tile in the half bath.  Just to refresh your memory, this is where we started:

I know, I know. I'm not sure what is worse, the sickly green tile, the peeling laminate, or the textured drop ceiling tiles.  Anyway, we started our great tile experiment in this room because the bathrooms in both the Maple and Dogwood room are floor to ceiling tiled in colors that are, shall we say, slightly dated.  Or hideous.  You pick.

Since we weren't sure how the tile painting was going to go (the only thing worse than faded salmon pink tile is faded salmon pink tile with peeling paint over top), we decided to start with the half bath since this could, in the worse case scenario, be locked up, never to be seen again.

Much to our delight, the paint worked, looked decent, and even after a few months, is still holding strong.  It can be scratched - Victor took a gouge out while trying to install the new ceiling - and it is tricky to patch since you have to redo all five layers of paint, but it is a great product considering the price point.  So...here we have a bathroom with nice looking walls, but the same peeling laminate, drop ceiling, and 1964 sink.  We can totally let that go, right?

Hah!  Well, it's a small room, we thought, this shouldn't take too much time or money, right? Right?

Are you done laughing yet?

First things first, Victor took out the old hand sink and we ripped up the laminate.  The floor in that section of the house is slightly bowed, so Victor started off by pouring a floor leveler, then he installed a dark wood style ceramic tile.

Next up, Victor built a new vanity and Frances found a fantastic glass vessel sink for the top.  We painted the vanity dark brown to match the floor.

''

Demolition continued with the removal of the mirror and the drop ceiling.  The door was also taken off.  One side was covered with chestnut, so we removed that to use in repairing the walls in the Cherry Blossom room and the door was refinished and painted the same dark brown as the vanity.  Victor cut another of the full length mirrors down and made a beautiful mirror for above the sink, and Georgina made a shade for the window and painted the window trim to match the rest of the room.  Just two months, a new ceiling, some trim and crown molding, and a new light fixture later, and....

 Y'all, this bathroom has gone from being on of the worst rooms in the house, to my absolute favorite.  And for those keeping score, that's two bathrooms down, four more to go, and just five months until our projected opening date.


We anticipate reopening the Red Leaf River Inn in the Spring of 2015 and hope you will follow along as we renovate and restore this beautiful property in Waynesville, NC.  Find us on Facebook and Google+, follow us on Twitter @RedLeafRiverInn, or visit us at our website.

Cherry Blossom

The Cherry Blossom room before renovations

Upon purchasing this property, one of our owners lamented that, despite the large variety of the tree on the property, we did not have her favorite - the cherry blossom.  Much to our delight, spring revealed that we did have two small cherry blossoms blooming at the back of the house.  The main floor bedroom was then dubbed the Cherry Blossom room as it overlooks the hill where those trees grow as well as the stream, pond, and lower lawn.

Sadly, this much neglected room had nearly all of its potential hidden behind carpeting, fabric on the ceiling, random wood paneling,
and an inexplicable pink faux brick wall.

Revealing the wood floors beneath the carpet

An unexpected plumbing emergency had us pulling up the carpet and tearing down the fabric on the ceiling earlier that expected, but the gorgeous wood floor that was revealed gave us the motivation to keep working on this beautiful room.  Victor ripped out the old air conditioning unit and covered the faux brick with new drywall.  We then primed over the pink walls and repainted the whole room in a soft cream. Victor also used the chestnut paneling from a broken door to fill in the missing wall panels

          

Preparing to cover up the faux brick

Plumbing issues and a dated popcorn ceiling
sent us on the search for ceiling options

   

         Painting ceiling tiles in the main room -
          good thing we plan to replace the floor in there

      

                Installing drywall in the Cherry Blossom room

New paint throughout the room

         

Filling in the odd gaps in the wood paneling

We added a panel to the window to even out the frame

Although we were pleasantly surprised by the good condition of the wood floors when the carpet was pulled up, the ceiling was another story (would you like a movie with your popcorn?), so we purchased styrafoam ceiling tiles from antiqueceilings.com and painted them the same cream as the walls.  Once we get the ceiling tiles up, the floor just needs a little sanding and stain and this room will be ready for decorating. Now the bathroom...that's a whole other project.

We anticipate reopening the Red Leaf River Inn in the Spring of 2015 and hope you will follow along as we renovate and restore this beautiful property in Waynesville, NC.  Find us on Facebook and Google+, follow us on Twitter @RedLeafRiverInn, or visit us at our website.