I think I’ve mentioned (over and over) that our first priority once we got the house was to settle the kids in as much as possible. This prioritized the upstairs bathroom, which looked like this when we moved in:



Not beautiful (the CARPET! the BORDER! the WEIRD CUPBOARD BETWEEN THE VANITY AND TOILET!), but honestly, in a house this old, it’s nice to have a space already dedicated to doing your business, in addition to a room with plumbing and electricity. Oh, I probably should offer some perspective on the upstairs. Here we are, on the top of the stair landing, at the front of the house. There are 5 rooms on this floor – four equally sized bedrooms and one bathroom.

Okay, so now that I hope you can imagine yourself there, imagine helping to demo:


Also, real shiplap. Eat your heart out, Joanna Gaines.
I look back on the dates these photos were taken and cringe a bit. If you’re in the midst of planning a renovation and came here for before and after photos, I’m disappointing you. We did demo in late August; it’s now November and we still don’t have a completed bathroom. It just takes time – no HGTV Quick Reveals in real life.

After much deliberation, we chose to keep the footprint of the bathroom the same – it was hard, because we have 12 and 14 year old kids of different genders. They are in the prime of desiring privacy, and each had their own bathroom at our previously renovated house:


I mean, who wants to curl their hair while their brother takes a shower? So we really wanted to make a private toilet room at minimum, but the window placement and overall size (7’10×7’6) made extra walls and door pretty impossible.
But families do it all of the time – the previous family here had four kids and the parents upstairs, all with one bathroom! So my privileged kids would be fine. And they agreed the layout worked for them.
We did choose to remove the tub so they could have a bigger shower. We added a bench and niche for toiletries.

We still had to update the plumbing and electrical, so with the removal of the old ceiling, this will be a very “new” bathroom for this old house.
Stay tuned for how I attempt to keep the old character through the finishes. It’s a great story!
Chuck Rooney
Bathrooms seem to take a lot of the budget. But it’s looking good.
Melissa
I am so loving these posts!! I can wait to see it finished…gonna have to buy a bigger tub of popcorn Lol.
Maria Greene
I shared a bathroom with 3 sisters and mom. Nothing like taking a bath with one 1 sister on the toilet, one brushing her teeth and the other applying mascara. Dad had his own restroom. 😁
molly@iotlavalleyfarm.com
We’re all four sharing a bathroom now, so it’s been….interesting. My kids won’t forget this, that’s for sure!
Sarah Caldwell
Thanks for sharing, Molly!
Way to go, Bonnie! : )
Linda
Really enjoying watching this house transition to “livable”. Keep the posts coming.
Martha Feland
The shower looks great and the entire bathroom looks so much larger! Great work!
molly@iotlavalleyfarm.com
You know I think so highly of your taste, so your compliment means the world!
Amy
I can totally sympathize with the slow process that is home renovations. Our kids bath is sitting with stud walls and since our electrician just told us that January will be the earliest he can get to us, they will be living with it a while longer. The HGTV 6-week completions are definitely not realistic. But I know that you will create a beautiful bathroom that the kids love and is still true to the house and its history.
molly@iotlavalleyfarm.com
Yes – it’s so hard to make decisions, then once you do, you have to wait for progress!
Holly
I love seeing all the photos! And I’m just jealous there are FOUR bedrooms up there. 🙂 Can’t wait to see how the bathroom turns out!
molly@iotlavalleyfarm.com
Are you suggesting Randy and I have more kids??? hahaha
Rachel
I’m enjoying your blog. I have friends who got their bathroom renovation paid for by letting a hgtv crew follow them around for a week while they did it.
You guys are TV talent worthy!!
Pandra
Love Eli’s shower!! The bathrooms look great! Loving seeing you renovating…you should consider Vloging!!! For real! I would watch!!