This Dilapidated Farmhouse, Part 1

Welcome to the first in what will surely be many, many parts of This Dilapidated Farmhouse.

If you're not already aware, I live in a house, built around 1890 that has seen better days--much better days. Right now the roof is on, the second floor is gutted, the first floor remains paneled and partially gutted, and I have no kitchen. But, in time, I'm sure that my sacrifices will pay off.

(I have to keep telling myself this, or I'll lose my mind, and there's not much left, so I have to be extra careful here....)

For this first part, I'll be discussing the first floor bathroom/laundry room combo area. First of all, no room should have a seven-word name, so we'll just call it the first floor bath. Three words are so much better.

I already have a bathroom design picked out, but it won't work for the first floor.

This will be on the second floor.

Yes, that's a picture of The Beatles back there and yes, I will have to include that in my design as well.

The reason why this cannot go on the first floor, is because the first floor bath will be what I walk into when I come in from being outside, working on fence or training horses, in all types of weather (snow, rain, mud, etc). You get the idea....

So I made a mental list of design element must-haves, which I'll write out for your benefit, since you can't read my mind.

And trust me, that's a good thing!

The new bathroom/laundryroom is where the kitchen used to be, so I pretty much have a bare space to work with (will post pictures later). Dad has already had the dividing wall between the bathroom and laundry room areas completed. We just need to add a door to the entire room and start in on the subfloor.

My first floor bath must be:

1. Durable
2. Inexpensive
2. Convenient
3. Easy to clean
4. Easy to organize (and keep that way)
5. Neat
6. Pretty
7. Comfortable

Keeping in mind that it will take years to finish the rest of the house and my limited funds, I'm going to attempt to use a lot of inexpensive materials, but still try to retain some element of design that will hopefully not go out of style by the time the rest of the house is completed.

I really love the use of the dark wood against the yellow here. I have considered dark wood, but I feel like the bathroom and the laundry room (just around the other side of the wall) should have the same basic design elements. The simplicity of the above design appeals to me, though.



I love this idea for a double vanity. I'm not sure I'd have room, or even want one on this first floor bath, but this is a great idea for the second floor. I do like the green and white, though--it could easily be carried over into a laundry room. The little dividing wall between the vanity and shower is something I'm considering between a toilet and a vanity in the new room, if the bathtub/shower really does fit where Dad had intended for it to originally go.




Uh...no.



Here we go! The vanity will have to be much different, but the basics are all here.... The inset shower/bath combo, the windowless north wall that I was struggling with, the natural wood elements (that I believe will hide any wear and tear better, or at least disguise it as "rugged charm"), and an easy-to-clean structure.

Now it will have to be converted, design-wise, into a farmhouse style, but the basic elements are there. I'd say this is almost deco, which I do love, but would not look suitable on my farm. I will keep searching (and sharing), but this gives me a glimmer of hope, and some ideas....

Scary, huh?

Keeping the desperation hope alive,