I don’t even remember what I’ve told you guys about the work currently going on at our house, but the basement project continues. We’ve picked up a bit of speed, and have gone in a bit of a different direction.
The original plan makes the most sense, really. Do ALL the drywall. Then ALL the finishing. Then ALL the painting. And so on. Because why would one finish one room but not the other? Because they’re running out of room upstairs, thats why. So we’ve jumped ship from that plan and are focusing solely on ONE bedroom and the bathroom. Now that all the drywall is installed, taped, and ready, we won’t lose any money by doing things room by room. It’ll be more of a hassle, getting smaller batches of materials, going room by room. But its going to get us a complete bedroom and bathroom a lot quicker. That being said, we’ve gotten enough paint for the entire basement, because why not?
Doors and handles for the one bedroom and bathroom have been ordered, and we’re waiting on that. In the meantime, we’ve been doing some research on bathroom vanities and toilets and all that good stuff. We ran into the city Saturday night to go scout out a few places with the kids. We had a couple in mind, but figured we’d keep open minds.
Aaaaand it was SO disappointing! We went to Home Depot and found one or two that were ok and fit what we wanted, but we had one we had seen online at Lowes that we liked so much more. We thought we could get a toilet there that matched the ones we had upstairs, but of course they’re about twice the cost we wanted to pay, and we’d have to order them anyway. So we left Home Depot with nothing, except for a bit more paint. We checked Co-op, but there wasn’t much to see there. The kids looked inside display toilets. That was about it. Lowes was the final place to hit, and in the past, they’ve really surprised us by having exactly what we’re looking for in terms of bathroom stuff. We walked through the bathroom demo section over and over and could not locate the vanity we had in mind. We finally flagged down an employee and said there were two in stock, but no demo. I immediately asked what their return policy was and he said something along the lines of “Well, you can open the box but thats about it…” After looking through the demos once more to see if anything was even close and determining there wasn’t, we left empty handed. I was SO annoyed!! Why is a white vanity, between 36″-40″ that isn’t ugly or brutally expensive so hard to find?!?!
We went home and I got my research on. I. Looked. Everywhere. Scoured all the websites. Considered shipping from Ikea. We even priced out Brady building it. We came to terms with the fact that we don’t need anything fancy or special AT ALL. Our current vanities are super plain, and thats all we need. Simple. Thats all! So we poked around everywhere, weighed dollars and looks and reviews and made our choice. We also gave up on getting a toilet that matched our upstairs ones. I know our house doesn’t have to match floor to floor, but I really like our toilets. Its such a silly thing, but I do! Yet I do not want to pay that much for a toilet. So we decided to let that go. Reminding ourselves that we want quality, but simplicity, was a good thing. We were more prepared for today because of that.
We hit Home Depot and grabbed a flat bed cart and headed to the back of the store. I know the aisle number, so it was an easy find. It was really pretty, actually. I’m really happy with our choice. We limped it onto the cart while the kids tried madly to hold the cart in place 😉 It was cute. From there, we went to the toilets and picked a nice, plain, basic toilet that was on sale. Was fine. Grabbed an extra wax seal in case we mess up the installation on our first try. Then to the faucets, where we planned to get a particular faucet that also was on sale, but was a nice brand and just what we needed. Unfortunately, it was sold out. But!! You guys should know this! I asked an employee if they had any more in stock anywhere, and he came over and asked which one. I showed him the empty spot on the shelf and he confirmed they were sold out, but he asked us our second choice. We pointed to one about $30 more expensive, and he gave it to us for the price of the one on sale!! Woot! Definitely glad I asked! Thank you, random Home Depot guy!
We wandered into the lighting section to see if they had any fixtures comparable to what we have in our house, and were stopped by a sweet older man. His face was lit up with a big smile. He gestured towards the kids and said “Wow! Look at all of your helpers!” And he wasn’t being sarcastic or backhanded or anything. He and his wife stopped to chat for just a minute, and had nothing but lovely things to say about children. We thanked them honestly, saying not all comments are always very nice, and that what he had said felt really genuine. A definitely step up from some we’ve heard before.
We loaded everything and everyone into the van and made it home in time for lunch! Was a totally successful morning at Home Depot. SO much better than our previous attempt on the weekend.
Now to just get the rest of the things in hand so we can legitimately start putting that bathroom together! Flooring needs to happen first. And we forgot the pee trap. And the toilet flange. And I’m not sure if we have a shower head or not… But we’re getting there!