A few years ago I had had it with our old bathroom. It was complete with purple carpet & pink fixtures, original from the previous owner! I hated the carpet..I have boys need I say more, and had asked my hubby to rip it out several times. We had talked about it but nothing was getting done, so while he was hunting I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I went to Home Depot & got all the materials I needed to remodle this bathrooom! Including a sink, toilet, tile, fixing for the sub floor, fixtures, paint, & tools! I could do this ! The fact that I had no idea what I was doing, had never done any of it, and didn’t even get a how to book! Oh did I mention I had four month old baby & a 3 year old to look after?

YEAH you can imagine how this one turned out! After I had to do the tile twice (Don’t ask) & call a friends husband, cut myself so many times I couldn’t count. I had a half finished mess for my husband to come home to!

He was very sweet, and some what dissapointed I think to find his wife who had hijacked his Home Depot card & all she had gotten him was more work to do.

This I know for sure: know what you know & know what you don’t. I did a few things wrong here.

- I had no idea how to really do any of this & did not take the time to understand before hand. This kind of project is not a figure it out as you go kind of thing.

-I over estimated my ability! I knew I was in trouble but instead of just stopping I kept on making a bigger mess.

-I was in a hurry, never try & do something you have never done with a hard  & fast deadline it never works.

-I wouldn’t throw in the towel

In retrospect I would have been better off hiring a professional or at the very least taking some classes on the sneak at lowes or homedepot before hand so I was ready. I am not saying a wife could not remodel a bathroom in a weekend & surprise her hubby, but she should be a little better prepared than I , to avoid a costly, embarrassing, bathroom blunder like mine!

My husband finally finished tiling the bathroom floor and tub surround yesterday (a project which has taken several days), so the exciting moment arrived where he and my father-in-law could install the sink, cabinet and vanity.

They carried it in, put it up against the wall, and woops, turns out it’s too high–the backsplash on the sink covers the two junction boxes for electrical outlets–so actually it’s the junction boxes that are too low. But moving them would require moving and recutting holes in the wall, which has already been sheetrocked, plastered and painted.

This sent my husband into yet another state of stress, and he spent the rest of the day shopping at Home Depot and Lowes for ideas to fix the situation. He found nothing that would work, which means he’ll have to chop down the bottom of a cabinet so it’s lower than normal to fit into the space.

If I had my way, we’d put in a pedestal sink and the problem would be solved–plus it’d look so much nicer. But the bathroom is so small (and so is the house) that we need the storage provided by cabinets and drawers.

This is just one of the many unanticipated situations you run into when doing it yourself. I wish we were featured on “Flip That House” because it would make for several entertaining episodes and examples of what not to do (or what to think about in advance). But unfortunately every house is different and presents these little surprises and challenges, no matter how much planning and thought you put into it!