A Big Dilemma

Hear that? That's the sound of the plans for the Guest Bedroom/Nursery coming to a big, screeching halt. Why? Well, there is another problem area of the house that is screaming out "Fix me first!!".



This is my bathroom. The Monet Room, if you will (we also have a Van Gogh sunflower bathroom in the basement, if you can believe it). The previous owner had a professional artist come in and adorn the walls with art... art to be enjoyed while you're.... doing your business ;). The bold walls aren't my biggest issue. Nor is it the carpet on the floor (YES - CARPET!!). And it isn't the lack of storage or disco strip lighting, though those certainly are problems to be fixed. No, the biggest issue, the one forcing us to address this room now, is this:



It may look small, but this is an extra deep compact soaker tub... enclosed in glass. To a short, pregant woman, its a death trap.

Our initial thought was to do a 'quick fix' on the room - paint out the walls, replace the carpet with vinyl, take out the glass enclosure, put in a grab bar, and put up a shower curtain. Easy job. But then I started thinking about how it would really function... I'd have a hard time bathing a baby because of the high tub walls (I'd either have to climb in the tub and take a bath too, or stand outside the tub because kneeling doesn't give me enough reach). Other option is to just take a shower with the baby... but the thought of jumping over that tub wall with a wet baby in my arms is not appealing either. Then there's the lack of storage and counterspace...where to put all the baby wipes and such.

To top it all off, the timeline is a problem. Try and do a reno after the baby comes, and I will have to lug baby down two flights of stairs all the way to the basement bathroom, in the meantime. Wait until the few months before baby is born, and I will have to lug my big third trimester belly down and up two flights of stairs to the bathroom. That is so not happening.

So, our only option is to do the bathroom renovation now. Right now. No waiting, no breather from the kitchen reno, no sitting back. We do the bathroom now in the next two months, and still have some time to do the Guest bedroom.

Oh dear.

If anyone has any other solutions, I would so love to hear them. This is one reno I am not looking forward to.