The final reveal (The DIY Series, Part 4)

 First, the BEFORE pictures. 

 This  was when I first started the project. 

 

See the ugly wood towel ring?  And the ugly mirror?  Ugh I was so tired of those.  

And now are you ready?

Well. . . here's the mirror glued to the wall and re-framed. 

 

I chose a red that coordinated with the lovely ugly tub.   You can also see the nice white countertop, and the new brushed nickel towel ring, rod, and drawer pulls. 

 Here's the tub surround, which you've mostly seen.

 Gotta love a curved shower rod.  It makes so much difference!

 Oh, I've got to mention, the one big mistake I made was failing to finish sanding and painting the ceiling before I glued the tub surround.  I even caulked it first.  That was dumb.  Luckily, you can't see in the pictures, but painting last made for a sloppy job.

I also painted the tile wall.  Maybe that wasn't the best idea, but it looks nice.  What do you think of the glass tile?  I just love it.

 Here are my hands at the end of the project.  I'm in need of a good manicure, I'll tell ya!

 Oh, I almost forgot. . . the final picture!

I'm pretty happy with it!

So now, to finish this series, I just want to list a few of the tender mercies.  I really feel like Heavenly Father prepared me to do this project.  

• Three years ago, I watched a handyman replace a corner shower in our old rental.  I guess for me, watching is how I learn, so this helped prepare me for picking and installing a new tub surround, as well as dealing with mold.
• One year ago, I helped my brother build cupboards into a wall.  Okay, mostly I watched, but seriously, it taught me most of what I needed to know for this project.  It also provided me with some new tools like my beloved California Framer, a drywall square and sander, and it introduced me to the misery of sanding drywall.  
• When we first moved into our house, we had to tile the kitchen backsplash.  I bought a sheet of glass tile as a sample, which I loved, but it was too expensive to do for that big job.  I saved that sample though, and when I was going through my garage, I found it just when I needed it for this project.  What's more, Lowe's still sold it.  Perfect!
• I also just *happened* to have the exact amount of tile adhesive left from my kitchen job to do the two strips bordering my tub.  
• I only needed one small tub of grout.  That was nice because shower-grade grout is expensive.
• The tile was the exact widths I needed.  You'll notice from the previous post that on one side of the tub, it's only 3 tiles wide, while the other is five tiles wide.  Did I plan that?  Absolutely not.  But I am so grateful that it worked out that way.  I didn't have to cut tile, which made it easier for me.  (Some of the tile is a bit squished together.
• The Captain pointed out that I didn't have a hole for the shower head.  That was important.
• He also pointed out that some of the tile stuck out and even bounced when pressed.  Luckily, the adhesive was still fresh, so I pulled a bit of tile off to discover a bent, old metal corner strip that needed to be screwed down.  How did I miss that?  That would've been a major weak point had the tile dried without my fixing that.
• My kids managed to entertain and even feed themselves and take care of the baby for days.  They ate a lot of cereal.  Thankfully, said cereal has 4g+ of fiber and is fortified.
• The new paint was a mistint and only cost $5 for the gallon.
• I could go on and on and on.  I felt so blessed throughout the project, but boy am I glad it's done!