If you give a mouse a cookie...

That's the story of our bathroom. If you replace the shower head & faucets and sink faucets, you may as well take out the UGly shelves. If you take those out, you may as well take out the plastic tiling of various colors. If you do that, you may as well also replace the tub, the pink enamel of which is scraped out and molded in spots. To take out the tub, you pretty much need to rip out the walls down to the studs (plus the wall had cracks). By ripping out the wall, the toilet gets a bit chipped and needs to be replaced completely, not just the gross seat. If you replace the toilet and sink, you have to change the floor (since they won't sit the same). If you've done that, you also should re-route the plumbing for the sink so it can be worked on in the future better. And meanwhile you should take out the dead electrical wires and put in something to code. Then it's tiling the floor, scraping the spaces between, then grouting, then wiping clean VERY carefully and waiting a day before walking on it, then repeating the same with the tub wall tiles (this is the stage we're at)...installing the wires, fixtures, toilet, sink, vanity, light, walls (all carefully measured since it's an old house with unique angles), priming, painting, new window molding etc. that won't need painting each year from too much shower water, then maybe we'll tackle the ceiling. wow. I guess we have a lot left.

But the wiring and the last wall got put up today! And I have scraped the spaces for a vertical row of 2 tiles on the edge. Only 250 more to go?...:)

It is an investment. And already it's looking better. The only problem now is that with the last wall put up, not only can you not walk straight into the kids' future room, but you can't see outside through the front door while using the toilet...