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The bath room was cramped. It originally opened out into a hallway that ran between the two front bedrooms. You can see where the hallway opened into the living room.
This made for tight quarters.
 
Hot water and laundry were in the utility room in back of the kitchen. This was an adobe room added to the original adobe structure. Apparently the tenants had the washer and dryer to the right of water heater, in front of the window into the kitchen.
We have removed that wall, and the addition is now part of the kitchen.
We also thought new plumbing might be in order. There was a leak under the kitchen floor.
The bathroom had an issue or two as well.
We had plans for the bathroom and laundry. We decided the hallway was wasted space and enlarged the bathroom right into it. The laundry is now in the bathroom where the hall way used to be and the bathroom now opens into the rooms on either side.
The gray box the size of a shoebox you see above the washer is the house water heater. It is an electric Eltron Steibel On Demand unit, and it can supply enough hot water for two of the following three items simultaneously: shower, washing machine or dishwasher.
You won't ever run out of hot water in the shower unless the electricity goes off. (Or someone turns on the both the washer and dishwasher.)
Of course, June was a hot month, so our issue was finding cold water - even the city supply ran warm.
Below you can see through the wall into the former front bedroom. Its wall to the living room is gone, as well. This is now the den and will be our computer center. It is already the home of our satellite high speed internet modem.
Below, you see the bathroom taking shape.
Basically, we have taken the house from 8 rooms to three: "U" shaped den-livingroom-kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. The house has gone from a cramped little thing to a suprisingly spacious living space.
To expand the width of the master bedroom, Jim moved the walls two feet towards the front of the house, so the den is a bit smaller than the old front bedroom. But this will give us room to build a closet into the bedroom.
We have tried to keep the spirit of 1914 alive as much as we could. They may have had an out house initially, which was NOT what we had in mind. But Jim was able to find this 1914 high tank toilet which we have restored and installed.
You can also see my choice of tile - the octagonal "subway" style tile. I will never use itsy bitsy tile like this again. My preference now is for one room-size sheet of porcelain......
In my dreams, huh?
When we pulled the old tub, we found a claw foot antique.
We had it refinished, and bought new faucets and shower enclosure. The porcelain overhead sure looks good, but has a lousy spray. The telephone handheld spayer works much better.
I have indulged in more bubble baths in the last two months than in the last two years.
I managed to screw up the toilet every time I flushed it during the first month. Believe it or not, there is a learning curve to a high tank. But I seem to have it figured out and Jim was able to take the ladder out of the bathroom.
Back Dog
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