Sawdust on the Floor

Over lunch the other day, my wife and I were leafing through the mail.  Among that morning’s mail was a copy of the This Old House magazine. It’s a great magazine full of interesting articles and comments, a magazine that we both enjoy fully.  This particular time she got to the TOH magazine before me, and was deeply into it when she uttered those words that can evoke fear in most men, ” I think this would really look good in our house.” 

Okay, maybe fear is the wrong word, maybe apprehension is a better word.  Because at the time I didn’t have a clue as to what she was looking at.  So as lunch continued, she showed me the bathroom overhaul that had caught her attention.  And she was absolutely correct, the design concept of the bathroom in the article would work really well in our bathroom.  And of course, I apologized for ever doubting her! 
The bathroom that desperately needs some TLC  is our main bathroom.  It was decorated in the late 80′s and I guess the best way to described it is, ” It’s dated”. For the life of me , I don’t know why we ever thought that white and rose colored tiles looked good.  But that’s what’s in there. Plus, the vanity is one of my earliest attempts at cabinet building. Nothing really wrong with it, just a plain old boring vanity. The new design has elements of an Arts and Crafts design, something we both love. But with a twist. 

Most Arts and Crafts work is finished with a rich dark stain,  which really looks fantastic, if you have a big room.  But our bathroom is a standard 1970′s sized bathroom 6′ by 10′.  The typical dark stained colors would shrink that room badly.  The good news is that this particular project used a light green/gray stain for the wood.  Which was a good thing, and a bad thing combined.  The article didn’t give a lot of specifics on the woodwork.  It told who supplied the cabinets and the trim work, but not who manufactured it. Which was the bad part. On the other hand it did tell us that the cabinets were made of oak. While we liked the design ideas and the color, none of the cabinets actually used in the magazine article would fit our particular requirements for size.  That left only one option, using the magazine for inspiration, we would build the vanity and the accompanying trim work in my shop.  As a self respecting woodworker, I couldn’t do anything else and you probably wouldn’t either. 

A lot of remodeling involves moving devices around. We moved several things when we did our kitchen, the gas stove and refrigerator had new locations, but there we had a lot of room to work with. The size of our bathroom really takes that option off the table. Sure, my wife would like a larger tub or walk in shower, but without putting an addition on the back of the house, that’s not going to happen.  Believe me we have considered this option before.  The only option that is somewhat doable, would be to steal room from her office which is on the other side of the shared wall.  But after considerable discussions on the matter, we agree that the best option is to just leave the devices where they currently are.  But the vanity, sink and toilet will be replaced during this remodeling. 

Before we began, we agreed that we needed to figure out how to get the coloration of the bathroom featured in the magazine article for our projected vanity and trim work.  The first step was a trip to the DIY centers, looking for a stain product that came close to the one we desired.  Well after looking at several stain charts, I picked one that was really close. And bought a pint to take home and try.  Somehow I think the stain changed colors on the way to my shop, because the green/gray stain I had picked in the store produced a green that my wife says was teal.  Not even close.  This resulted in a discussion about men being color blind. Honestly I’m not, I was sure it was the right color.  So the next day we went to the local woodworking store, and this time my wife, who claims she is not colored blind, picked out the absolutely perfect stain.

When we tried this stain out, again we were really disappointed.  My green stain was more teal then green, hers was more yellow then green.  The next hour my shop resembled a mad scientist’s lab, as we tried to combine different stains to get somewhere near the desired color. I kept notes on the proportions of each trial,  just in case we really found the magic formula.  We didn’t even come close. 

We considered several other options.  Milk paint was considered and rejected because the finish tends not to be very durable.  We also considered using a latex paint, but that was rejected because the paint would obscure the grain  of the wood, and we wanted it to show.   One option still on the board, is to use latex paint, and then dull the finish with Murphy’s Oil Soap and steel wool, like we did on the on the little red Dresser  that is in my wife’s office.  But that treatment was done on Poplar, this cabinet will be white oak and we are not sure how well the concept would transfer. 

I visited a high end paint store looking for solutions. They did not have any colored interior stains that even came close.  But they do have an exterior deck stain, that looks like a perfect match.  Yeah, I know I’ve said that before, but I took the sample home and my wife agrees that it should work.  The guy at the paint store did warn me that the stain contains a mildewcide as well as a fungicide. The stain producse an odor that can be offensive to people with sensitivities while it dries, so it is not recommended that it be applied in the house.  But since all of the finish work will be done in my shop, neither us of figure it to be a real issue. 

Sounds great, just one issue.  The smallest size he can mix for me to try is a gallon.  Which if it is as perfect as we think it will be won’t be a problem as we have a lot of trim to stain in addition to the vanity.  However, if it’s like our other perfect mixes, a gallon is a lot of useless stain. But unless we can come with a better option, I will be getting a gallon this week to try. 

One other issue to be resolved is the type of sink that the new cabinet will house.  It may sound like a strange thing to be concerned about before we start building, but  it really isn’t.  The size and shape of the sink will affect the size of the drawers in the vanity.  An under mount sink would affect the size and placement drawers differently than say a vessel sink that sits on top of the counter. But a vessel sink may require a change in how the plumbing is connected under the vanity.  So the type of sink needs to be decided before we start building.  

Hey, I just thought of something else that we need to decide.  What type of material will be used for the vanity top. The thickness of the top a long with its weight have to be considered before I build the vanity.   A tiled top has different thickness and weight than a granite top.

I wonder what would have happened if I had just gotten to the TOH magazine first.  Would I have shown her the article or if I were wiser, would I have hidden the article from her.  Well we will never know, will we.  But whether it was this design or another our bathroom needs some TLC.