The downstairs bathroom is still in a state of demolition, but I can see things starting to take shape! Evan and I are both off work for the next 6 days (!), and we’re hoping to get a lot of work done on the house.
My mother and I have been passing this antique mirror back and forth for the past 10 years (we both tend to be a little…fickle *cough* when it comes to, well, everything), and I’m reclaiming it now for the bathroom. I don’t mind that the silver has deteriorated so much—it looks nice, and frankly, I’d rather see less of myself in the mornings than more. Real-life retouching!
We also decided to buy the smaller ÅNN sink from IKEA rather than the one we’d been planning on. I’d been wishing for quite some time that I could buy the small one, but until recently it wasn’t available in North America. Weirdly, IKEA still does not have it on their US or Canadian websites or catalogs, nor is it on display in Paramus. Employees don’t even seem to know about it, but they have it in stock! I actually found out that it was available totally by accident—the IKEA guy was looking up the larger sink for me, and I saw the small one in the stock list while I was peeking over his shoulder.
We’ve also ordered our toilet, and we have a junk guy coming early next week to haul away all of our construction debris. So exciting! I don’t want to jinx anything, but it’s looking like this bathroom is going to come together a lot more quickly than the other one did. PHEW!
28 Comments
lovely combination!!
i’m so jealous you get to renovate your bathroom. 😉
yay! good luck and i hope it moves along quickly for you! did you choose a faucet for the sink yet?
Lena, if you’re really jealous, you’re more than welcome to come and finish up the renovation for me! I won’t stop you. 😉
Heather, this sink can only be used with this faucet, so that’s the one we’re using. I’m a little worried about IKEA faucets in the long term (though we have one in our kitchen, and so far it’s been great), so we might buy an extra one just to have on hand in case something goes wrong.
We still need to pick out a tub faucet and showerhead! It’s so hard to find something that’s well-designed, good quality, AND within our budget.
i can’t wait to be a homeowner and show off all my handywork, just like you 🙂
i would love to help but i think it might be quite the hike from WI…
that’s the sweetest little sink and I love the curves of it with the shape of the mirror.
Anna, I love your blog and your design style. I’m also remodeling an old house and I look to D16 often for inspiration. I just wanted to come out from the lurker’s corner and say hi.
What an awesome sink! I know that I have seen that mirror before, either at your place or your mom’s, but I know I have seen it. I think it will look amazing in your bathroom. Why are faucets so expensive? I mean, I know if I really think about it I guess I can see why, but still, some of them are so damn expensive, especially the ones I like the most!
can’t wait to ready about the process and to see the final result – your transformations are always so great!
Adam, I had it above my dresser in our apartment in White Plains. You have a good memory, that was more than 10 years ago! (Wow, it’s been that long…)
I wonder if you could use something like this:
http://www.everyvesselsink.com/Danzeand174%3B-D215158T-DNZ2974.html
That site has a few in that style and they seem like they might fit the ÅNN sink. I searched “faucet” and then narrowed it down on the left to “wall mounted faucets.”
Forgive me – I’ve had bathroom hardware on the brain non-stop for the past month.
Now that I look at it, the spout might stick out too much. I think that they might come in different spout sizes though.
this is going to sound strange, but i am so jealous of your toilet! we are currently renovating our bathroom as well and i wanted that exact one (round front/one piece beauty), unfortunately we have a 10″ rough-in and because we don’t want to mess with our perfectly lovely white subway tile (and live in a co-op) it is just not possible.
i can’t wait to see how it all turns out.
(for both of us)!
I think the old mirror will add a real touch of character to your bathroom!
Hey Anna- are you using a local ‘junk’ remover guy? When we ripped out the carpet on the first floor and got rid of all the trash the previous owners left we were at the point when we really didn’t have time to investigate different junk removal companies and we ended up going with that Got Junk company which turned out to be crazy expensive. We will be ripping out all the floors and carpet upstairs around February or so and are looking for an alternative that isn’t so, ummm, expensive. Or maybe we just might need to get a dumpster if we do decide to rip down dry wall. yuck. The mirror is quite beautiful and great choice on the sink! The delightful thing about Ikea is that just when you think you have memorized the catalogue and know every item on their showroom floor there is always a little surprise that just seems to solve the problem at hand. It has been a pleasure to watch the progress on your house. Your taste and refinement is beyond question, my dear.
I’ve been lurking for a bit too – I love to see what you are doing as I’m in the middle of long-term house renovations myself. I wanted to chime in on a couple of things.
Anna – how did you even know about the smaller Ann Sink and how small is it actually? I love that sink but the larger one won’t fit in my space.
I also really like the old mirror – that is a funky combination.
As for faucets – Consumer Reports recently did a renovation article and a report on faucets. They found little difference in them in a wide price range, except
for the finish’s durability being important.
That sink is amazing and next to the mirror is pure style.
You make such awesome choices.
O, to have two full bathrooms…
One can be used while the other is renovated…
I fantasize about redoing our bathroom – which is asking for it! …worn floor tile, subway tile with random holes drilled into it, a ball-foot tub that needs to be refinished, and to top it all off, a shower “ring” constructed of PVC pipe suspended from a nasty drop ceiling (yes, you read that correctly!)… But, alas, I don’t know how we’re ever going to do it short of not showering for month.
Regan: Yes, we’re using a local guy. We’ve used him twice before, and he’s been great. I think we initially found him on Craigslist? He has a big truck, and you pay a fee to have him (and his sons, who work with him) put as much stuff in his truck as will fit. Dumpsters don’t work for us for a few reasons, the main one being that we don’t have a driveway, and our city requires a permit (and time limit) to keep one on the street. It’s just easier to let stuff build up for a year and then have our guy come and haul it all away at once! Hopefully this will be the last huge batch of construction debris for a long, long time.
Cindi: I knew about the smaller ANN sink because it’s been available in Europe for quite some time, and I’d had my eye on it since we bought our house. Here’s the info for the sink:
Item code 401.444.69
15″ W
12 3/4″ H
15 1/2″ D (front to back)
Your blog is always so inspiring!
You truly have a way of blending old with new – which takes a good eye to achieve correctly!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, you’ve motivated me enough to get working on my son’s bedroom ceiling today. (Ripping down ugly fake dropped ceiling, repairing original ceiling!).
It’s so wierd… another lena wrote exactly what I meant to write: I love the combination too, the sink is beautiful! And yes, I’m also jealous of the renovation 🙂
Love the mirror… I wouldn’t give it back 😉
I love that mirror. You are so lucky to have one in the family – you wouldn’t believe how expensive it is to find a mirror which looks ‘aged.’ I would love something similar.
hi! I love the sink/faucet combo…just found it at my local Ikea. however, there were 2 display faucets and they both looked pretty bad…worn and sort of peeling or discolored in places. since the ANN faucet is the only that will work with the sink, I was wondering how well yours has held up over the past couple of years. Still looking good? thanks!
Joanna, I’ve only had my sink/faucet in use for about 7 months, but so far, the faucet looks the same as it did new.
I did buy a backup faucet, though, just in case anything happens to it. I doubt standard plumbing fittings are compatible with IKEA faucets.
I also have an IKEA faucet in my kitchen, and after 3 1/2 years, it’s still just fine.
Did your plumbers have trouble installing your sink and faucet? We are having two issues: 1) Tailpiece from drain to p-trap ( U shaped pipe) is too short and needs another pipe to bridge the distance. The better design solution is a longer drainpipe but unlikely to be available from IKEA. 2) Flexible supply lines included with sink are not standard and don’t seem to fit with std. American shut off valves.
Did you encounter either/both of these challenges. If so, how did you/your plumber trouble shoot?
Husband wants to return sink and faucet, but I’d love to find a work around. Any advice would be timely and appreciated!
Bessie, our plumber didn’t mention having any problems, but I think he may have had to use a non-standard connector. It didn’t seem like a big deal, though. I’m at work right now, but if you’d like, I can take a photograph of the underside of my sink for you tonight.
Anna, Thanks for your quick response. I would really appreciate a photo of the underside, especially showing where the flexible supply lines meet the oval shaped valves. We were looking thru your pics on flickr for just that. Would you be able to email it this evening? Many thanks! Bessie
No problem, Bessie! I’ll take a bunch of pics tonight. 🙂