World's smallest bathroom (well, it's at least in the running...)

Before the woman who briefly lived here before us, a couple owned this house since the 60s. Our realtor told us how, as they got older, they no longer wanted to have to go downstairs (especially in the middle of the night) to use the restroom. So, they had a toilet added into the closet that sits above the full bathroom. That was the extent of this "bathroom:" simply a toilet in the closet, and a bare light bulb on the ceiling. No sink, no toilet paper holder, nothing. There's not even really any room to turn around.

Here it is:

I think the last owner didn't really know what to do with the room, either. She never added anything to it and might not have even used it. When we went and looked at the house, we were even asked, "What did you think of that weird toilet in the closet?"

When Andrew and I talked seriously about putting in an offer on the house, I asked him what we should do about that closet. Should we pull out the toilet and have the sewer line capped? He thought that would be silly, especially since we have little kids who might need to go potty in the middle of the night. He made sense, so I started brainstorming ideas for the water closet. I decided I didn't want the room to be an apology. "Yeah, we have a toilet in the closet. Weird, right?"

So, I decided to own it! Plus, with tiny spaces, you can do things you'd never even consider doing in a standard-sized room. I decided to try wall paper for the first time. I decided to hang pictures. I decided to add a mirror (a basic one that I brought up from the main bathroom downstairs. That room is a whole other story for another time). We got a towel ring and a toilet paper holder. Here is the finished bathroom:

Because of where the sewer line was, there was a big gap left behind the toilet. By big, I mean 10-11 inches!

So, I filled it will a shelf! I looked everywhere and finally found a floating shelf on Target.com that fit the dimensions of the space almost perfectly.

See something different in that picture? Yes indeed, I found a toilet tank sink! It is actually the coolest thing I've ever seen. I got it online from SinkPositive, and it's an eco-friendly sink. Instead of going into the toilet tank when you flush, the clean water from the line first goes through the faucet. You wash your hands with that clean water, and the used "gray water" then fills the toilet tank. So, the water automatically flows as soon as you flush the toilet. I took a video of it because I think it's so neat. At the time of the video, the bathroom wasn't yet completed.

                       

Finally, we replaced the bare bulb with a simple pull-chain light with a cover. We also swapped the bulb to a CFL so no tall people would burn their head stepping into our bathroom closet. Powder room. Water closet. WC. I don't know what to call this room.

One final look:

The room is simple, obviously. But I just think it now looks like a bathroom instead of a weird toilet in a closet. And that makes me happy :) I now consider our house to officially be a 1.5 bath!

Toilet Brushes and the Underwear Rule

Toddlers add laughter to life. Don't believe me? If you have a good sense of humor, try parenthood.

I really wanted to get the downstairs toilet clean. There have been pee stains under the seat for a few days now. Tonight, I finally had a few minutes to conquer it. I pulled out the toilet brush and walked toward the bathroom. Oliver caught a glimpse of me and yelled, "Me!" He ran over and impatiently whined while I scrubbed. I let him know he'd have a turn after me. Once I finished, I handed him the toilet brush.

I expected him to just scrub at the toilet as he had before. Instead, he took it and ran upstairs. Whatever. I quickly finished wiping down the toilet and then trotted upstairs. I discovered my husband holding Jo and laughing heartily. At that moment, we heard the sound of the toilet flushing, and Oliver burst out of the bathroom, running full speed to the other bathroom down the hall, waving the toilet brush all the way. That sent Andrew into a deeper fit of laughter. What can I say? Our kid likes to help.

Fast forward an hour or two. I'm upstairs with Oliver, and he asks me to take his shirt off. That is not unusual. Whenever Oliver gets anything on his sleeves (water, lotion, etc.), he asks me to take his shirt off. So, I did. Then, Oliver peeled off his pants, his socks, and his undies. I thought maybe he was going to play bath time. Ever since Joanna had her first bath, Oliver likes to climb into her plastic tub and pretend to bathe in it. Imagine my surprise when my naked toddler hopped into bed and yelled, "Mom, snuggle!" I was both horrified and amused. I knew immediately what spurred this bizarre behavior. After his bath the day before, I'd taken him straight to his bed and put his covers on him and rubbed his body vigorously to keep him warm in the cold air after his warm bath. But I didn't expect Oliver to reenact that! And how do you teach a two-year-old what is and isn't appropriate, anyway?

I did the best I could. I told Oliver that he had to have his undies on to snuggle. I put his underwear back on him and then climbed into bed for snuggles. Cue Andrew's entrance. I had to explain the entire naked-snuggle situation to him, and I finished with, "What could I do? I told him he had to have undies on to snuggle."

I'm telling you, toddlers are observant and have impeccable memories. Oliver can do something once and then remember it months later when the situation arises again. No wonder parents get in trouble with their little kids repeating the things they say. It's simultaneously hilarious and shocking.

So, there you have it: our evening with Oliver. Parenthood at its finest.

Our New Toilet

The top photo is our new toilet, and the bottom is the old one.

Andrew and I have a new toilet! Haha, it's funny what's all exciting when you're a home owner. Really, though, it's quite the improvement. The last toilet ran all the time, used gallons of water to flush, and was really (really) gross. I don't think the last owners were fans of cleaning their toilets, to be honest.

We removed the last toilet, and the last floor, and the last baseboards, and the last sink & cabinet. We also removed the toilet paper holder because it was crazy-crooked.

Since then, we've gotten the new floors in; we put in the new, thicker baseboards; and, today, my dad installed our new toilet. It's so exciting! Once we get the piece we need, we'll put in the sink, add the mirror and towel ring, hang a few photos, and call it good!